enactments. I can not doubt that the American people, bound together by
kindred blood and common traditions, still cherish a paramount regard
for the Union of their fathers, and that they are ready to rebuke any
attempt to violate its integrity, to disturb the compromises on which
it is based, or to resist the laws which have been enacted under its
authority.

The series of measures to which I have alluded are regarded by me as
a settlement in principle and substance--a final settlement of the
dangerous and exciting subjects which they embraced. Most of these
subjects, indeed, are beyond your reach, as the legislation which
disposed of them was in its character final and irrevocable. It may
be presumed from the opposition which they all encountered that none
of those measures was free from imperfections, but in their mutual
dependence and connection they formed a system of compromise the most
conciliatory and best for the entire country that could be obtained
from conflicting sectional interests and opinions.

For this reason I recommend your adherence to the adjustment established
by those measures until time and experience shall demonstrate the
necessity of further legislation to guard against evasion or abuse.

By that adjustment we have been rescued from the wide and boundless
agitation that surrounded us, and have a firm, distinct, and legal
ground to rest upon. And the occasion, I trust, will justify me in
exhorting my countrymen to rally upon and maintain that ground as the
best, if not the only, means of restoring peace and quiet to the country
and maintaining inviolate the integrity of the Union.

And now, fellow-citizens, I can not bring this communication to a close