our maritime rights. in these contests， should they occur， and to whatever extent they may be carried， we shall be neutral； but as a neutral power we have rights which it is our duty to maintain. for like injuries it will be incumbent on us to seek redress in a spirit of amity， in full confidence that， injuring none， none would knowingly injure us. for more imminent dangers we should be prepared， and it should always be recollected that such preparation adapted to the circumstances and sanctioned by the judgment and wishes of our constituents can not fail to have a good effect in averting dangers of every kind. we should recollect also that the season of peace is best adapted to these preparations.
if we turn our attention， fellow-citizens， more immediately to the internal concerns of our country， and more especially to those on which its future welfare depends， we have every reason to anticipate the happiest results. it is now rather more than forty-four years since we declared our independence， and thirty-seven since it was acknowledged. the talents and virtues which were displayed in that great struggle were a sure presage of all that has since followed. a people who were able to surmount in their infant state such great perils would be more competent as they rose into manhood to repel any which they might meet in their progress. their physical strength would be more adequate to foreign danger， and the practice of self-government， aided by the light of experience
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