In conclusion I congratulate you, my fellow-citizens, upon the high state of prosperity to which the goodness of Divine Providence has conducted our common country.  Let us invoke a continuance of the same protecting care which has led us from small beginnings to the eminence we this day occupy, and let us seek to deserve that continuance by prudence and moderation in our councils, by well-directed attempts to assuage the bitterness which too often marks unavoidable differences of opinion, by the promulgation and practice of just and liberal principles, and by an enlarged patriotism, which shall acknowledge no limits but those of our own widespread Republic.

***

Franklin Pierce
Inaugural Address
Friday, March 4, 1853

My Countrymen: 

It is a relief to feel that no heart but my own can know the personal regret and bitter sorrow over which I have been borne to a position so suitable for others rather than desirable for myself.

The circumstances under which I have been called for a limited period to preside over the destinies of the Republic fill me with a profound sense of responsibility, but with nothing like shrinking apprehension.  I repair to the post assigned me not as to one sought, but in obedience to the unsolicited expression of your will, answerable only for a fearless, faithful, and diligent exercise of my best powers.  I ought to be, and am, truly grateful for the rare manifestation of the nation’s confidence; but this, so far from lightening my obligations, only adds to their weight.  You have summoned me in my weakness; you must sustain me by your strength.  When looking for the fulfillment of reasonable requirements, you will not be unmindful of the great changes which have occurred, even within the last quarter of a century, and the consequent augmentation and complexity of duties imposed in the administration both of your home and foreign affairs.

Whether the elements of inherent force in the Republic have kept pace with its unparalleled progression in territory, population, and wealth has been the subject of earnest thought and discussion on both sides of the ocean.  Less than sixty-four years ago the Father of his Country made “the” then “recent accession of the important State of North Carolina to the Constitution of the United States” one of the subjects of his special congratulation.  At that moment, however, when the agitation consequent upon the Revolutionary struggle had hardly subsided, when we were just emerging from the weakness and embarrassments of the Confederation, there was an evident consciousness of vigor equal to the great mission so wisely and bravely fulfilled by our fathers.  It was not a presumptuous assurance, but a calm faith, springing from a clear view of the sources of power in a government constituted like ours.  It is no paradox to say that although comparatively weak the new-born nation was intrinsically strong.  Inconsiderable in population