[00:00.34]It is a relief to feel that no heart but my own can know the personal regret,
[00:05.28]and bitter sorrow over which I have been borne to a position so suitable for others rather than desirable for myself.
[00:11.40]The circumstances under which I have been called for a limited period to preside 
[00:15.47]over the destinies of the Republic fill me with a profound sense of responsibility,
[00:19.40]but with nothing like shrinking apprehension.I repair to the post assigned me not as to one sought,
[00:26.98]but in obedience to the unsolicited expression of your will,
[00:30.47]answerable only for a fearless,faithful,
[00:33.65]and diligent exercise of my best powers.
[00:36.23]I ought to be,and am,truly grateful for the rare manifestation of the nation's confidence;
[00:42.59]but this,so far from lightening my obligations,only adds to their weight.
[00:48.01]You have summoned me in my weakness;you must sustain me by your strength.
[00:51.99]When looking for the fulfillment of reasonable requirements,
[00:55.36]you will not be unmindful of the great changes which have occurred,
[00:59.38]even within the last quarter of a century,
[01:01.99]and the consequent augmentation and complexity of duties imposed in the administration both of your home and foreign affairs.
[01:10.19]The great objects of our pursuit as people are best to be attained by peace.
[01:15.78]and are entirely consistent with the tranquillity and interests of the rest of mankind.
[01:21.39]With the neighboring nations upon our continent we should cultivate kindly and fraternal relations.
[01:27.11]We can desire nothing in regard to them so much as to see them consolidate 
[01:32.12]their strength and pursue the paths of prosperity and happiness.
[01:35.63]If in the course of their growth we should open new channels of trade and create additional facilities for friendly intercourse,
[01:41.65]the benefits realized will be equal and mutual.
[01:44.84]Of the complicated European systems of national polity we have heretofore been independent.
[01:50.62]From their wars,their tumults,and anxieties we have been,happily,almost entirely exempt.
[01:57.38]Whilst these are confined to the nations which gave them existence,
[02:00.95]and within their legitimate jurisdiction,
[02:03.75]they can not affect us except as they appeal to our sympathies in the cause of human freedom and universal advancement.
[02:10.67]But the vast interest of commerce are common to all mankind,
[02:14.38]and the advantages of trade and international intercourse must always present a noble field for the moral influence of a great people.
[02:22.30]With these views firmly and honestly carried out,we have a right to expect,
[02:27.45]and shall under all circumstances require,prompt reciprocity.
[02:31.92]The rights which belong to us as a nation are not alone to be regarded,
[02:36.31]but those which pertain to every citizen in his individual capacity,
[02:40.44]at home and abroad,must be sacredly mainatained.
[02:44.49]So long as he can discern every star in its place upon that ensign,
[02:49.17]without wealth to purchase for him preferment or title to secure for him place,
[02:54.59]it will be his privilege,and must be his acknowledged right,to stand unabashed even in the presence of princes,
[03:01.89]with a proud consciousness that he is himself one of a nation of sovereigns,
[03:07.71]and that he can not in legitimate pursuit wander so far from home that the agent whom he shall leave behind in the place,
[03:15.07]which I now occupy will not see that no rude hand of power or tyrannical passion is laid upon him with impunity.
[03:22.77]He must realize that upon every sea and on every soil where our enterprise may rightfully 
[03:28.92]seek the protection of our flag American citizenship is an inviolable panoply for the security of American rights.
[03:36.14]And in this connection it can hardly be necessary to reaffirm a principle which should now be regarded as fundamental.
[03:43.10]The rights,security,and repose of this Confederacy reject the idea of interference or colonization 
[03:50.73]on this side of the ocean by any foreign power beyond present jurisdiction as utterly inadmissible.
[03:57.77]The opportunities of observation furnished by my brief experience as a soldier confirmed in my own mind the opinion,
[04:04.79]entertained and acted upon by others from the formation of the Government,
[04:09.03]that the maintenance of large standing armies in our country would be not only dangerous,but unnecessary.
[04:15.49]They also illustrated the  importance__I might well say the absolute necessity__
[04:20.68]of the military science and practical skill furnished in such an eminent degree by the institution which has made your Army what it is,
[04:29.68]under the discipline and instruction of officers not more distinguished for their solid attainments,
[04:35.41]gallantry,and devotion to the public service than for unobtrusive bearing and high moral tone.
[04:42.06]The Army as organized must be the nucleus around which in every time of need the strength of your military power,
[04:48.62]the sure bulwark of your defense_a national militia_may be readily formed into a well_disciplined and efficient organization.
[04:56.33]And the skill and self_devotion of the Navy assure you that you may take the performance of the past as a pledge for the future,
[05:03.59]and may confidently expect that the flag which has waved its untarnished folds over every sea will still float in undiminished honor.
[05:11.35]But these,like many other subjects,will be appropriately brought at a future time to 
[05:16.97]the attention of the coordinate branches of the Government,
[05:19.47]to which I shall always look with profound respect and with trustful confidence that they will accord to me the aid and support.
[05:26.89]which I shall so much need and which their experience and wisdom will readily suggest.
[05:32.08]We have been carried in safety through a perilous crisis.
[05:35.80]Wise counsels,like those which gave us the Constitution,prevailed to uphold it.
[05:41.77]Let the period be remembered as an admonition,and not as an encouragement,in any section of the Union,
[05:48.63]to make experiments where experiments are fraught with such fearful hazard.
[05:53.47]Let it be impressed upon all hearts that,beautiful as our fabric is,no earthly power or wisdom could ever reunite its broken fragments.
[06:02.08]Standing,as I do,almost within view of the green slopes of Monticello,
[06:06.70]and,as it were ,within reach of the tomb of Washington,
[06:10.59]with all the cherished memories of the past gathering around me like so many eloquent voices of exhortation from heaven,
[06:17.96]I can express no better hope for my country than that the kind Providence which smiled upon our fathers 
[06:24.05]may enable their children to preserve the blessing they have inherited.