The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, Seventeenth Congress, Second Session Page: 19
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19
HISTORY OF CONGRESS.
20
Senate.
President's Annual Message.
December, 1822.
Ordnance Department; that due progress has, in like
manner, been made in the construction of ships of
war; that our Navy is in the best condition, felt and
respected in every sea in which it is employed for
the protection of our commerce ; that our manufac-
tures have augmented in amount and improved in
quality; that great progress has been made in the settle-
ment of accounts, and in the recovery of the balances
due by individuals; and that the utmost economy is
secured and observed in every Department of the Ad-
ministration.
Other objects will likewise claim your attention;
because, from the station which the TJnitcd States hold
as a member of the great community of nations, they
have rights to maintain, duties to perform, and dan-
gers to encounter.
A strong hope was entertained that peace would erfe
this have been concluded between Spain and the inde-
pendent. Governments south of the United States in
this hemisphere. Long experience having evinced the
competency of those Governments to maintain the
independence which they had declared, it was pre-
sumed that the considerations which induced their
recognition by the United States, would have had equal
weight with other Powers, and that Spain herself,
yielding to those magnanimous feelings of which her
history furnishes so many examples, would have ter-
minated, on that basis, a controversy so unavailing,
and at the same time so destructive. We still cherish
the hope that this result will not long be postponed.
Sustaining our neutral position, and allowing to
each party, while the war continues, equal rights, it is
incumbent on the United States to claim of each, with
equal rigor, the faithful observance of our rights, ac-
cording to the well-known law of nations. From
each, therefore, a like co-operation is expected in the
suppression of the piratical practice which has grown
out of this war, anil of blockades of extensive coasts
on both seas, which, considering the small force em-
ployed to sustain them, have not the slightest founda-
tion to rest on. I
Europe is still unsettled, and although the war long i
menaced between Russia and Turkey has not broken 1
out, there is no certainty that the differences between i
those Powers will be amicably adjusted. It is impossi- i
ble to look to the oppressions of the country, respect- !
ing which those differences arose, without being deep- I
ly affected. The mention of Greece fills the mind with
the most exalted sentiments, and arouses in our bo-
soms the best feelings of which our nature is suscep-
tible. Superior skill and refinement ill the arts, heroic
gallantry in action, disinterested patriotism, enthusi-
astic zeal and devotion in favor of public liberty, are
associated with our recollections of ancient Greece.
That such a country should have been overwhelmed, j
and so long hidden, as it were, from the world, under
a gloomy despotism, has been a cause of unceasing I
and dee]) regret to generous minds for ages past. It I
was natural, therefore, that the reappearance of these
people in their original character, contending in favor
of their liberties, should produce that great excitement
and sympathy in their favor, which have been so sig-
nally displayed throughout the United States. A
strong hope is entertained that these people will reco-
ver their independence, and resume their equal station
among the nations of the earth.
A great effort has been made in Spain and Portugal
to improve the condition of the people, and it must be
very consoling, to all benevolent minds, to see the ex-
traordinary moderation with which it has been con-
ducted. That it may promote the happiness of both,
nations, is the ardent wish of this whole people, to the
expression of which we confine ourselves ; for, what-
ever may be the feelings or sentiments which every
individual under our Government has a right to in-
dulge and express, it is, nevertheless, a sacred maxim,
equally with the Government and people, that the
destiny of every independent nation, in what relates
to such improvements, of right belongs, and ought to
be left, exclusively to themselves.
Whether we reason from the late wars, or from
those menacing symptoms which now appear iri Eu-
rope, it is manifest that, if a convulsion should take
place in any of those countries, it will proceed from
causes which have no existence, and are utterly un-
known in these States, in which there is but one or-
der, that of the people, to whom the sovereignty ex-
clusively belongs. Should war break out in any of
those countries, who can foretell the extent to which
it may be carried, or the desolation which it may
spread'! Exempt as we are from these causes, our
internal tranquillity is secure ; and, distant as we are
from the troubled scene, and faithful to first principles,
in regard to other Powers, we might reasonably pre-
sume that we should not be molested by them. This,
however, ought not to be calculated on as certain.
Unprovoked injuries are often inflicted, and even the
peculiar felicity of our situation might, with some, be
a cause for excitement and aggression. The history
of the late wars in Europe furnishes a complete de-
monstration that no system of conduct, however cor-
rect in principle, can protcct neutral Powers from in-
jury from any party ; that a defenceless position, and
distinguished love of peace, arc the surest invitations
to war; and that there is no way to avoid it, other
than by being always prepared, and willing, for just
cause, to meet it. If there be a people on earth whose
more especial duty it is to be at all times prepared to
defend the rights with which they are blessed, and to
surpass all others in sustaining the necessary burdens,
and in submitting to sacrifices to make such prepara-
tions, it is-undoubtedly the people of these States.
When we see that a civil war, of the most frightful
character, rages from the Adriatic to the Black Sea;
that strong symptoms of war appear in other parts,
proceeding from causes which, should it break out,
may become general, and be of long duration; that
the war still continues between Spain and the Inde-
pendent Governments,her late provinces, in this hem-
isphere ; that it is likewise menaced between Portugal
and Brazil, in conscquence of the attempt of the latter
to dismember itself from the former ; and that a system
of piracy, of great extent, is maintained in the neigh-
boring seas, which will require equal vigilance and
decision to suppress it, the reasons for sustaining the
attitude which we now hold, and for pushing forward
all our measures of defence with the utmost vigor, ap-
pear to me to acquire new force.
The United States owe to the world a great exam-
ple, and, by means thereof, to the cause of libert)7 and
humanity, a generous support. They have so far suc-
ceeded, to the satisfaction of the virtuous and enlight-
ened of every country. There is no reason to doubt
that their whole movement will be regulated by a
sacred regard to principle, all our institutions being
founded on that basis. The ability to support our
own cause, under any trial to which it may be ex-
posed, is the great point on which the public solicitude
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Gales and Seaton. The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States, Seventeenth Congress, Second Session, book, 1855; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc30367/m1/8/: accessed April 23, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.