The rights which belong to us as a nation are not
alone to be regarded, but those which pertain to every citizen in
his individual capacity, at home and abroad, must be sacredly
maintained. So long as he can discern every star in its place upon
that ensign, without wealth to purchase for him preferment or
title to secure for him place, it will be his privilege, and must
be his acknowledged right, to stand unabashed even in the presence
of princes, with a proud consciousness that he is himself one of a
nation of sovereigns and that he can not in legitimate pursuit
wander so far from home that the agent whom he shall leave behind
in the place which I now occupy will not see that no rude hand of
power or tyrannical passion is laid upon him with impunity. He
must realize that upon every sea and on every soil where our
enterprise may rightfully seek the protection of our flag American
citizenship is an inviolable panoply for the security of American
rights. And in this connection it can hardly be necessary to
reaffirm a principle which should now be regarded as fundamental.
The rights, security, and repose of this Confederacy reject the
idea of interference or colonization on this side of the ocean by
any foreign power beyond present jurisdiction as utterly
inadmissible.
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