de your march to the highest
point of national prosperity. The States which had so long been retarded
in their improvement by the Indian tribes residing in the midst of
them are at length relieved from the evil, and this unhappy race--the
original dwellers in our land--are now placed in a situation where we
may well hope that they will share in the blessings of civilization
and be saved from that degradation and destruction to which they were
rapidly hastening while they remained in the States; and while the
safety and comfort of our own citizens have been greatly promoted by
their removal, the philanthropist will rejoice that the remnant of that
ill-fated race has been at length placed beyond the reach of injury or
oppression, and that the paternal care of the General Government will
hereafter watch over them and protect them.

If we turn to our relations with foreign powers, we find our condition
equally gratifying. Actuated by the sincere desire to do justice to
every nation and to preserve the blessings of peace, our intercourse
with them has been conducted on the part of this Government in the
spirit of frankness; and I take pleasure in saying that it has generally
been met in a corresponding temper. Difficulties of old standing have
been surmounted by friendly discussion and the mutual desire to be just,
and the claims of our citizens, which had been long withheld, have at
length been acknowledged and adjusted and satisfactory arrangements made
for their final payment; and with a limited, and I trust a temporary,
exception, our relations with every foreign power are now of the most
friendly character, our commerce continually expanding, and our flag
respected in every quarter of the world.

These cheering and grateful prospects and these multiplied favors we
owe, under Providence, to the adoption of the Federal Constitution. It
is no longer a question whether this great country can remain happily
united and flourish under our present form of government. Experience,
the unerring test of all human undertakings, has shown the wisdom and
foresight of those who formed it, and has proved that in the union of
these States there is a sure foundation for the brightest hopes of
freedom and for the happiness of the people. At every hazard and by
every sacrifice this Union must be preserved.

The necessity of watching with jealous anxiety for the preservation of
the Union was earnestly pressed upon his fellow-citizens by th