Chapter CLXIII

FAREWELL ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT JACKSON--EXTRACT.

Following the example of Washington, General Jackson issued a Farewell Address to the people of the United States, at his retiring from the presidency; and, like that of Washington, it was principally devoted to the danger of disunion, and to the preservation of harmony and good feeling between the different sections of the country. General Washington only had to contemplate the danger of disunion, as a possibility, and as an event of future contingency; General Jackson had to confront it as a present, actual, subsisting danger; and said:

"We behold systematic efforts publicly made to sow the seeds of
discord between different parts of the United States, and to
place party divisions directly upon geographical distinctions;
to excite the South against the North, and the North against the
South, and to force into the controversy the most delicate and
exciting topics--topics upon which it is impossible that a large
portion of the Union can ever speak without strong emotion.
Appeals, too, are constantly made to sectional interests, in
order to influence the election of the Chief Magistrate, as if
it were desired that he should favor a particular quarter of the
country, instead of fulfilling the duties of his station with
impartial justice to all; and the possible dissolution of the
Union has at length become an ordinary and familiar subject of
discussion. Has the warning voice of Washington been forgotten?
or have designs already been formed to sever the Union? Let it
not be supposed that I impute to all of those who have taken
an active part in these unwise and unprofitable discussions, a
want of patriotism or of public virtue. The honorable feelings
of State pride, and local attachments, find a place in the
bosoms of the most enlightened and pure. But while such men are
conscious of their own integrity and honesty of purpose, they
ought never to forget that the citizens of other States are
their political brethren; and that, however mistaken they may be
in their views, the great body of them are equally honest and
upright with themselves. Mutual suspicions and reproaches may in
time create mutual hostility; and artful and designing men will
always be found, who are ready to foment these fatal divisions,
and to inflame the natural jealousies of different sections of
the country! The history of the world is full of such examples,
and especially the history of republics.

"What have you to gain by division and dissension? Delude not
yourselves with the belief, that a breach, once made, may be
afterwards repaired. If the Union is once severed, the line of
separation will grow wider and wider; and the controversies
which are now debated and settled in the halls of legislation,
will then be tried in fields of battle, and determined by the
sword. Neither should you deceive yourselves with the hope,
that the first line of separation would be the permanent one,
and that nothing but harmony and concord would be found in the
new associations formed upon the dissolution of this Union.
Local interests would still be found there, and unchastened
ambition. And if the recollection of common dangers, in which
the people of these United States stood side by side against
the common foe--the memory of victories won by their united
valor; the prosperity and happiness they have enjoyed under the
present constitution; the proud name they bear as citizens of
this great republic--if all these recollections and proofs of
common interest are not strong enough to bind us together as one
people, what tie will hold united the new divisions of empire,
when these bonds have been broken and this Union dissevered? The
first line of separation would not last for a single generation;
new fragments would be torn off; new leaders would spring up;
and this great and glorious republic would soon be broken into
a multitude of petty States, without commerce, without credit;
jealous of one another; armed for mutual aggressions; loaded
with taxes to pay armies and leaders; seeking aid against each
other from foreign powers; insulted and trampled upon by the
nations of Europe; until, harassed with conflicts, and humbled
and debased in spirit, they would be ready to submit to the
absolute dominion of any military adventurer, and to surrender
their liberty for the sake of repose. It is impossible to
look on the consequences that would inevitably follow the
destruction of this government, and not feel indignant when we
hear cold calculations about the value of the Union, and have
so constantly before us a line of conduct so well calculated to
weaken its ties."

Nothing but the deepest conviction of an actual danger could have induced General Jackson, in this solemn manner, and with such pointed reference and obvious application, to have given this warning to his countrymen, at that last moment, when he was quitting office, and returning to his home to die. He was, indeed, firmly impressed with a sense of that danger--as much so as Mr. Madison was--and with the same "pain" of feeling, and presentiment of great calamities to our country. What has since taken place has shown that their apprehensions were not groundless--that the danger was deep-seated, and wide-spread; and the end not yet.