We sedulously cultivate the friendship of all
nations as the conditions most compatible with our welfare and the
principles of our Government. We decline alliances as adverse to
our peace. We desire commercial relations on equal terms, being
ever willing to give a fair equivalent for advantages received. We
endeavor to conduct our intercourse with openness and sincerity,
promptly avowing our objects and seeking to establish that mutual
frankness which is as beneficial in the dealings of nations as of
men. We have no disposition and we disclaim all right to meddle in
disputes, whether internal or foreign, that may molest other
countries, regarding them in their actual state as social
communities, and preserving a strict neutrality in all their
controversies. Well knowing the tried valor of our people and our
exhaustless resources, we neither anticipate nor fear any designed
aggression; and in the consciousness of our own just conduct we
feel a security that we shall never be called upon to exert our
determination never to permit an invasion of our rights without
punishment or redress.
In approaching, then, in the presence of my assembled countrymen,
to make the solemn promise that yet remains, and to pledge myself
that I will faithfully execute the office I am about to fill, I
bring with me a settled purpose to maintain the institutions of my
country, which I trust will atone for the errors I commit.
Pages:
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132