The States and Union. [volume] (Ashland, Ohio) 1868-1872, 1869-03-10
FAREWELL ADDRESS.
President johnson.
WAsHINGroN. Marcl

WASHINGTON, March 3.
To the People of the United States:
The robe of Office, by constitutional
limitation, this day falls from my
shoulders, to be Immediately assumed
by my successor. For him the for
bearance and cooperation of the Amer
lean people, in all his efforts to ad-
minister the Government within the
pale of the Federal Constitution, are
sincerely invoked. Without ambition
to crafty, party ends to subserye, or
personal quarrels to avenge al the
sacrifice of the peace and welfare of
see the Constitution of the Republic
again recognized and obeyed as the
supreme law of the land, and the
whole people, North, South, East and
West, prosperous and happy under its
wise provisions. In surrenderine the
high Office to which ] was called four
years ago., at a memorable and terri
BILE crisis, it is my privilege, L trust,
to say to the people of the United
States a few parting words in vindica-
ton ct an official course, so ceaseless
ly assailed by political leaders to whose
plans and wishes my policy to restore
the Union has been obnoxious. In a
period of difficulty and turmoil almost
without precedentin the history of any
people, consequent upon the closing
scenes of a great rebellion and the as
sassination of the President, it was,
perhaps, too much on my part to ex-
pect of devoted partisans who rode on
the wave of excitement which, at that
time, swept all before them, that de-
gree of federation and magnanimity
which 1 sought to recommend and en-
force, and which / believe, in good
time, would have advanced us infinite
ly further on the road to permanent
peace and prosperity than We have
thus far attained,
Doubtless had /, at the commence
ment of my term of office, unhesita-
tingly lent its powers, or perverted
them, to purposes and plans outside
of the Constitution, and become an
instrument to schemes of confscation
and Of general and oppressive disqual-
ification, l would have been hailed as
all that was true, loyal and deserving,
as the reliable head of a party, what
ever I might have been as the Execu-
tive of a nation. Unwilling, howev-
er, to accede to the propositions of
extremists, and bound to obey, at ev-
cry personal hazard, my oath to defend
the Constitution, I need not, perhaps,
be surprised at having met the fate of
others whose only rewards for uphold
ing constitutional rights and laws have
been the Consciousness of having at
tempted to do their duty, and the
calmer judgment of history-of time.
A mysterious Providence assigned to
me the office of President. 1 was, by
the terms of the Constitution, the
Commander-in-C Chief of nearly q mil
lion of men under arms. One of my
first acts was to disband and restore
to the vacations of civil life this i'm
mense host, and to divest myself, as
far as l could, of the unparalleled
powers then incident to the office, and
the times. Whether or not in this
step was right, and how far deserv-
ing of the appreciation of all, the peo-
pie can now, by reflection, judge,
when reminded of the ruinous condi-
ton of public affairs that must have
resulted from the continuance in the
military service of such a vast number
of men. The close of our domestic
conflict found the army eager to dis
tinguish itself in a new field, by an eff
fort to punish European Intervention
in Mexico. By many it was believed
and urged that, aside from the assum-
ed justice of the proceedings, a for
eign war, in which both sides would
cheerfully unite to vindicate the honor
of the national flag and further illus
trate the national prowess, would be
the surest and speediest way of awak-
ening national enthusiasm, reviving
to the Union, and occupying
a force concerning which grave doubts
existed, as to its willingness, after
four years of active campaigning, at
once to return to the pursuits ofPeace. J.
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