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SECOND
INAUGURAL ADDRESS
James
Madison
March
4, 1813
About
to add the solemnity of an oath to the obligations imposed
by a second call to the station in which my country heretofore
placed me, I find in the presence of this respectable assembly
an opportunity of publicly repeating my profound sense of
so distinguished a confidence and of the responsibility
united with it. The impressions on me are strengthened by
such an evidence that my faithful endeavors to discharge
my arduous duties have been favorably estimated, and by
a consideration of the momentous period at which the trust
has been renewed. From the weight and magnitude now belonging
to it I should be compelled to shrink if I had less reliance
on the support of an enlightened and generous people, and
felt less deeply a conviction that the war with a powerful
nation, which forms so prominent a feature in our situation,
is stamped with that justice which invites the smiles of
Heaven on the means of conducting it to a successful termination.
May
we not cherish this sentiment without presumption when we
reflect on the characters by which this war is distinguished?
It
was not declared on the part of the United States until
it had been long made on them, in reality though not in
name; until arguments and expostulations had been exhausted;
until a positive declaration had been received that the
wrongs provoking it would not be discontinued; nor until
this last appeal could no longer be delayed without breaking
down the spirit of the nation, destroying all confidence
in itself and in its political institutions, and either
perpetuating a state of disgraceful suffering or regaining
by more costly sacrifices and more severe struggles our
lost rank and respect among independent powers.
On
the issue of the war are staked our national sovereignty
on the high seas and the security of an important class
of citizens, whose occupations give the proper value to
those of every other class. Not to contend for such a stake
is to surrender our equality with other powers on the element
common to all and to violate the sacred title which every
member of the society has to its protection. I need not
call into view the unlawfulness of the practice by which
our mariners are forced at the will of every cruising officer
from their own vessels into foreign ones, nor paint the
outrages inseparable from it. The proofs are in the records
of each successive Administration of our Government, and
the cruel sufferings of that portion of the American people
have found their way to every bosom not dead to the sympathies
of human nature.
As
the war was just in its origin and necessary and noble in
its objects, we can reflect with a proud satisfaction that
in carrying it on no principle of justice or honor, no usage
of civilized nations, no precept of courtesy or humanity,
have been infringed. The war has been waged on our part
with scrupulous regard to all these obligations, and in
a spirit of liberality which was never surpassed.
How
little has been the effect of this example on the conduct
of the enemy!
They
have retained as prisoners of war citizens of the United
States not liable to be so considered under the usages of
war.
They
have refused to consider as prisoners of war, and threatened
to punish as traitors and deserters, persons emigrating
without restraint to the United States, incorporated by
naturalization into our political family, and fighting under
the authority of their adopted country in open and honorable
war for the maintenance of its rights and safety. Such is
the avowed purpose of a Government which is in the practice
of naturalizing by thousands citizens of other countries,
and not only of permitting but compelling them to fight
its battles against their native country.
They
have not, it is true, taken into their own hands the hatchet
and the knife, devoted to indiscriminate massacre, but they
have let loose the savages armed with these cruel instruments;
have allured them into their service, and carried them to
battle by their sides, eager to glut their savage thirst
with the blood of the vanquished and to finish the work
of torture and death on maimed and defenseless captives.
And, what was never before seen, British commanders have
extorted victory over the unconquerable valor of our troops
by presenting to the sympathy of their chief captives awaiting
massacre from their savage associates. And now we find them,
in further contempt of the modes of honorable warfare, supplying
the place of a conquering force by attempts to disorganize
our political society, to dismember our confederated Republic.
Happily, like others, these will recoil on the authors;
that they mark the degenerate counsels from which they emanate,
and if they did not belong to a series of unexampled inconsistencies
might excite the great wonder as proceeding from a Government
which founded the very war in which it has been so long
engaged on a charge against the disorganizing and insurrectional
policy of its adversary.
To
render the justice of the war on our part the more conspicuous,
the reluctance to commence it was followed by the earliest
and strongest manifestations of a disposition to arrest
its progress. The sword was scarcely out of the scabbard
before the enemy was apprised of the reasonable terms on
which it would be resheathed. Still more precise advances
were repeated, and have been received in a spirit forbidding
every reliance not placed on the military resources of the
nation.
These
resources are amply sufficient to bring the war to an honorable
issue. Our nation is in number more than half that of the
British Isles. It is composed of a brave, a free, a virtuous,
and an intelligent people. Our country abounds in the necessaries,
the arts, and the comforts of life. A general prosperity
is visible in the public countenance. The means employed
by the British cabinet to undermine it have recoiled on
themselves; have given to our national faculties a more
rapid development, and, draining or diverting the precious
metals from British circulation and British vaults, have
poured them into those of the United States. It is a propitious
consideration that an unavoidable war should have found
this reasonable facility for the contributions required
to support it. When the public voice called for war, all
knew, and still know, that without them it could not be
carried on through the period which it might last, and the
patriotism, the good sense, and the manly spirit of our
fellow-citizens are pledges for the cheerfulness with which
they will bear each his share of the common burden. To render
the war short and its success sure, animated and systematic
exertions alone are necessary, and the success of our arms
now may long preserve our country from the necessity of
another resort to them. Already have the gallant exploits
of our naval heroes proved to the world our inherent capacity
to maintain our rights on one element. If the reputation
of our arms has been thrown under clouds on the other, presaging
flashes of heroic enterprise assure us that nothing is wanting
to correspondent triumphs there also but the discipline
and habits which are in daily progress.
Source:
II A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents
509-511 (James D. Richardson ed., 1897).
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