_Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives_:

In taking a general survey of the concerns of our beloved country, with
reference to subjects interesting to the common welfare, the first
sentiment which impresses itself upon the mind is of gratitude to the
Omnipotent Disposer of All Good for the continuance of the signal
blessings of His providence, and especially for that health which to an
unusual extent has prevailed within our borders, and for that abundance
which in the vicissitudes of the seasons has been scattered with
profusion over our land. Nor ought we less to ascribe to Him the glory
that we are permitted to enjoy the bounties of His hand in peace and
tranquillity--in peace with all the other nations of the earth, in
tranquillity among ourselves. There has, indeed, rarely been a period in
the history of civilized man in which the general condition of the
Christian nations has been marked so extensively by peace and
prosperity.

Europe, with a few partial and unhappy exceptions, has enjoyed ten years
of peace, during which all her Governments, whatever the theory of their
constitutions may have been, are successively taught to feel that the
end of their institution is the happiness of the people, and that the
exercise of power among men can be justified only by the blessings it
confers upon those over whom it is extended.

During the same period our intercourse with all those nations has been
pacific and friendly; it so continues. Since the close of your last
session no material variation has occurred in our relations with any one
of them. In the commercial and navigation system of Great Britain
important changes of municipal regulation have recently been sanctioned