Chapter 3 (9)

"To the people of the United States.
Friends and Fellow-Citizens:
The period for a new election of a citizen, to administer the
executive government of the United States, being not far
distant, and the time actually arrived, when your thoughts
must be employed in designating the person, who is to be
clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper,
especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of
the public voice, that I should now apprize you of the
resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among
the number of those, out of whom a choice is to be made. I beg
you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured,
that this resolution has not been taken without a strict
regard to an the considerations appertaining to the relation,
which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that, in
withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my
situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of
zeal for your future interest; no deficiency of grateful
respect for your past kindness; but am supported by a full
conviction that the step is compatible with both. The
acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to
which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform
sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a
deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly
hoped, that it would have been much earlier in my power,
consistently with motives, which I was not at liberty to
disregard, to return to that retirement, from which I had been
reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this,
previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation
of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on
the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with
foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled
to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. I rejoice,
that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal,
no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with
the sentiment of duty, or propriety; and am persuaded,
whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in
the present circumstances of our country, you will not
disapprove my determination to retire. The impressions, with
which I first undertook the arduous trust, were explained on
the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will
only say, that I have, with good intentions, contributed
towards the organization and administration of the government
the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was
capable. Not unconscious, in the outset, of the inferiority of
my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still
more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to
diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of
years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of
retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome.
Satisfied, that, if any circumstances have given peculiar
value to my services, they were temporary, I have the
consolation to believe, that, while choice and prudence invite
me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.
In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to
terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not
permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of
gratitude, which I owe to my beloved country for the many
honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast
confidence with which it has supported me; and for the
opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my
inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering,
though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have
resulted to our country from these services, let it always be
remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in
our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions,
agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst
appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often
discouraging, in situations in which not unfrequently want of
success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the
constancy of your support was the essential prop of the
efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were
effected.
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Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me
to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that
Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its
beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be
perpetual; that the free constitution, which is the work of
your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its
administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom
and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of
these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made
complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of
this blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of
recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption
of every nation, which is yet a stranger to it. Here, perhaps,
I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which
cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger,
natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the
present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to
recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments, which are
the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable
observation, and which appear to me all-important to the
permanency of your felicity as a People. These will be offered
to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the
disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly
have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget,
as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my
sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. Interwoven
as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts,
no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm
the attachment. The unity of Government, which constitutes you
one people, is also now dear to you. It is justly so: for it
is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the
support of your tranquillity at home, your peace abroad; of
your safety; of your prosperity; of that very Liberty, which
you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that, from
different causes and from different quarters, much pains will
be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the
conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your
political fortress against which the batteries of internal and
external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though
often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite
moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value of
your national Union to your collective and individual
happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and
immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think
and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety
and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous
anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a
suspicion, that it can in any event be abandoned; and
indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt
to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to
enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various
parts. For this you have every inducement of sympathy and
interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country,
that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The
name of American, which belongs to you, in your national
capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more
than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With
slight shades of difference, you have the same religion,
manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a
common cause fought and triumphed together; the Independence
and Liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and
joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.
But these considerations, however powerfully they address
themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by
those, which apply more immediately to your interest. Here
every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives
for carefully guarding and preserving the Union of the whole.
The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South,
protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, in
the productions of the latter, great additional resources of
maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of
manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse,
benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture
grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own
channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular
navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes, in
different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of
the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of
a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The
East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and
in the progressive improvement of interior communications by
land and water, will more and more find, a valuable vent for
the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures
at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to
its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still greater
consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of
indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight,
influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic
side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of
interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can
hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own
separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion
with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious.
While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate
and particular interest in Union, all the parts combined
cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts
greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater
security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of
their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of inestimable
value, they must derive from Union an exemption from those
broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently
afflict neighbouring countries not tied together by the same
governments, which their own rivalships alone would be
sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances,
attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter.
Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those
overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of
government, are inauspicious to liberty and which are to be
regarded as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty. In
this sense it is, that your Union ought to be considered as a
main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought
to endear to you the preservation of the other.
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These considerations speak a persuasive language to every
reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of
the Union as a primary object of Patriotic desire. Is there a
doubt, whether a common government can embrace so large a
sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation
in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope, that
a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency
of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a
happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and
full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to
Union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience
shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will
always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those, who in
any quarter may endeavour to weaken its bands. In
contemplating the causes, which may disturb our Union, it
occurs as matter of serious concern, that any ground should
have been furnished for characterizing parties by Geographical
discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western;
whence designing men may endeavour to excite a belief, that
there is a real difference of local interests and views. One
of the expedients of party to acquire influence, within
particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and aims
of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much
against the jealousies and heart-burnings, which spring from
these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each
other those, who ought to be bound together by fraternal
affection. The inhabitants of our western country have lately
had a useful lesson on this head; they have seen, in the
negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous
ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in
the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the
United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the
suspicious propagated among them of a policy in the General
Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their
interests in regard to the Mississippi; they have been
witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great
Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them every thing
they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations,
towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their
wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the
Union by which they were procured? Will they not henceforth be
deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever
them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens? To the
efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Government for the
whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between
the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably
experience the infractions and interruptions, which all
alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this
momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by
the adoption of a Constitution of Government better calculated
than your former for an intimate Union, and for the
efficacious management of your common concerns. This
Government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and
unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature
deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the
distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and
containing within itself a provision for its own amendment,
has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect
for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in
its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of
true Liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right
of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of
Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists,
till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole
people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the
power and the right of the people to establish Government
presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the
established Government. All obstructions to the execution of
the Laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever
plausible character, with the real design to direct, control,
counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the
constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental
principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize
faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to
put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the
will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising
minority of the community; and, according to the alternate
triumphs of different parties, to make the public
administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous
projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and
wholesome plans digested by common counsels, and modified by
mutual interests. However combinations or associations of the
above descriptions may now and then answer popular ends, they
are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent
engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men
will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and to
usurp for themselves the reins of government; destroying
afterwards the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust
dominion. Towards the preservation of your government, and the
permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not
only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to
its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care
the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious
the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the
forms of the constitution, alterations, which will impair the
energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be
directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be
invited, remember that time and habit are at least as
necessary to fix the true character of governments, as of
other human institutions; that experience is the surest
standard, by which to test the real tendency of the existing
constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the
credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual
change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion;
and remember, especially, that, for the efficient management
of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a
government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect
security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find
in such a government, with powers properly distributed and
adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than
a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the
enterprise of faction, to confine each member of the society
within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all
in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person
and property.
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I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the
state, with particular reference to the founding of them on
geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more
comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner
against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature,
having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind.
It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or
less stilled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the
popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is
truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one
faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge,
natural to party dissension, which in different ages and
countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is
itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a
more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and
miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to
seek security and repose in the absolute power of an
individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing
faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors,
turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation,
on the ruins of Public Liberty. Without looking forward to an
extremity of this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be
entirely out of sight,) the common and continual mischiefs of
the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and
duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. It serves
always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the
Public Administration. It agitates the Community with
ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity
of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and
insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and
corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government
itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy
and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and
will of another. There is an opinion, that parties in free
countries are useful checks upon the administration of the
Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty.
This within certain limits is probably true; and in
Governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with
indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But
in those of the popular character, in Governments purely
elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their
natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of
that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being
constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of
public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be
quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its
bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should
consume. It is important, likewise, that the habits of
thinking in a free country should inspire caution, in those
intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves
within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in
the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon
another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the
powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create,
whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just
estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it,
which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to
satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of
reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by
dividing and distributing it into different depositories, and
constituting each the Guardian of the Public Weal against
invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments
ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our
own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to
institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the
distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be
in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment
in the way, which the constitution designates. But let there
be no change by usurpation; for, though this, in one instance,
may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by
which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must
always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or
transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield. Of all
the dispositions and habits, which lead to political
prosperity, Religion and Morality are indispensable supports.
In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who
should labor to subvert these great pillars of human
happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men and
Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious man,
ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace
all their connexions with private and public felicity. Let it
simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for
reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation
desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation
in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the
supposition, that morality can be maintained without religion.
Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education
on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both
forbid us to expect, that national morality can prevail in
exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true,
that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular
government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force
to every species of free government. Who, that is a sincere
friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to
shake the foundation of the fabric? Promote, then, as an
object of primary importance, institutions for the general
diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a
government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that
public opinion should be enlightened. As a very important
source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One
method of preserving it is, to use it as sparingly as
possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace,
but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for
danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel
it; avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by
shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in
time of peace to discharge the debts, which unavoidable wars
may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity
the burthen, which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution
of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is
necessary that public opinion should cooperate.
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To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is
essential that you should practically bear in mind, that
towards the payment of debts there must be Revenue; that to
have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be
devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and
unpleasant, that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from
the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice
of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid
construction of the conduct of the government in making it,
and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining
revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate.
Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate
peace and harmony with all. Religion and Morality enjoin this
conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally
enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at
no distant period, a great Nation, to give to mankind the
magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by
an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt, that, in
the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would
richly repay any temporary advantages, which might be lost by
a steady adherence to it? Can it be, that Providence has not
connected the permanent felicity of a Nation with its Virtue?
The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment
which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible
by its vices? In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more
essential, than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against
particular Nations, and passionate attachments for others,
should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and
amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The
Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or
an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave
to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is
sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest.
Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more
readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight
causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when
accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence
frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody
contests. The Nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment,
sometimes impels to war the Government, contrary to the best
calculations of policy. The Government sometimes participates
in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what
reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of
the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by
pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives.
The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of Nations has
been the victim. So likewise, a passionate attachment of one
Nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for
the favorite Nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary
common interest, in cases where no real common interest
exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other
betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and
wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or
justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite
Nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly to
injure the Nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily
parting with what ought to have been retained; and by exciting
jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the
parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives
to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens, (who devote
themselves to the favorite nation,) facility to betray or
sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium,
sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances
of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for
public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base
of foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or
infatuation. As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable
ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly
enlightened and independent Patriot. How many opportunities do
they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the
arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or
awe the Public Councils! Such an attachment of a small or
weak, towards a great and powerful nation, dooms the former to
be the satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles of
foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me,
fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be
constantly awake; since history and experience prove, that
foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of
Republican Government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must
be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very
influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it.
Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive
dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see
danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the
arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist
the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected
and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and
confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. The
great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations,
is, in extending our commercial relations, to have with them
as little political connexion as possible. So far as we have
already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect
good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary
interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation.
Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the
causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns.
Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate
ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of
her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of
her friendships or enmities. Our detached and distant
situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course.
If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the
period is not far off, when we may defy material injury from
external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will
cause the neutrality, we may at any time resolve upon, to be
scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the
impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly
hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or
war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel. Why
forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our
own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our
destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace
and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship,
interest, humor, or caprice? It is our true policy to steer
clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign
world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for
let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity
to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable
to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the
best policy.
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I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in
their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and
would be unwise to extend them. Taking care always to keep
ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable
defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances
for extraordinary emergencies. Harmony, liberal intercourse
with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and
interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal
and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive
favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of
things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams
of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing, with powers so
disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define
the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to
support them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best that
present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but
temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or
varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate;
constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to
look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay
with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept
under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place
itself in the condition of having given equivalents for
nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude
for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to
expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It
is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride
ought to discard. In offering to you, my countrymen, these
counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope
they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish;
that they will control the usual current of the passions, or
prevent our nation from running the course, which has hitherto
marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter
myself, that they may be productive of some partial benefit,
some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to
moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the
mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures
of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense
for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been
dictated. How far in the discharge of my official duties, I
have been guided by the principles which have been delineated,
the public records and other evidences of my conduct must
witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of
my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to
be guided by them. In relating to the still subsisting war in
Europe, my Proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793, is the
index to my Plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by
that of your Representatives in both Houses of Congress, the
spirit of that measure has continually governed me,
uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it.
After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights
I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under
all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and
was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position.
Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon
me, to maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and
firmness. The considerations, which respect the right to hold
this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail.
I will only observe, that, according to my understanding of
the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the
Belligerent Powers, has been virtually admitted by all. The
duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without
anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity
impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act,
to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards
other nations. The inducements of interest for observing that
conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and
experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to
endeavour to gain time to our country to settle and mature its
yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption
to that degree of strength and consistency, which is necessary
to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes.
Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am
unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too
sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may
have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently
beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which
they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope, that my
Country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and
that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its
service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent
abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon
be to the mansions of rest. Relying on its kindness in this as
in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it,
which is so natural to a man, who views in it the native soil
of himself and his progenitors for several generations; I
anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, in which I
promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment
of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign
influence of good laws under a free government, the ever
favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust,
of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.
GEORGE WASHINGTON."

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1796.
Third Presidential Election.
Washington succeeded by John Adams.

After the appearance of Washington's Farewell Address, the
result of the Presidential election became exceedingly
doubtful. "There was no second man to whom the whole of the
nation could be won over. The Federalists … could not bring
forward a single candidate who could calculate on the
unanimous and cheerful support of the entire party. There
still prevailed at the time a feeling among the people that
the vice-president had a sort of claim to the succession to
the presidency. But even apart from this, Adams would have
been one of the most prominent candidates of the Federalists.
The great majority of them soon gave him a decided preference
over all other possible candidates. On the other hand, some of
the most distinguished and influential of the Federalists
feared serious consequences to the party and the country from
the vanity and violence as well as from the egotism and
irresolution with which he was charged. But to put him aside
entirely was not possible, nor was it their wish. They
thought, however, to secure a greater number of electoral
votes for Thomas Pinckney, the Federal candidate for the
vice-presidency, which, as the constitution then stood, would
have made him president and Adams vice-president.
{3315}
Although this plan was anxiously concealed from the people, it
caused the campaign to be conducted by the party with less
energy than if the leaders had been entirely unanimous. France
was naturally desirous of Jefferson's success. … Wolcott
asserted that Adet had publicly declared that France's future
policy towards the United States would depend on the result of
the election. Some did not hesitate to say that, on this
account, Jefferson should have the preference, but on the more
thoughtful Federalists it exerted the very opposite influence.
There is no reason for the assumption that the issue of the
election would have been different, had Adet behaved more
discreetly. But his indiscretion certainly contributed to make
the small majority expected for Adams completely certain,
while Hamilton's flank movement in favor of Pinckney helped
Jefferson to the vice-presidency. … The result of the
election, however, left the country in a very serious
condition. Washington's withdrawal removed the last restraint
from party passion."

_H. von Holst,
The Constitutional and Political History of the United States,
volume 1, chapter 3._

Adams received 71 votes in the Electoral College and Jefferson
68. As the constitution then provided, the majority of votes
elected the President and the next greatest number of votes
elected the Vice President.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1797-1799.
Troubles with the French Republic.
The X, Y, Z correspondence.
On the brink of war.

"Mr. Adams took his cabinet from his predecessor; it was not a
strong one, and it was devoted to Hamilton, between whom and
the new President there was soon a divergence, Hamilton being
fond of power, and Adams having a laudable purpose to command
his own ship. The figure of speech is appropriate, for he
plunged into a sea of troubles, mainly created by the
unreasonable demands of the French government. The French
'Directory,' enraged especially by Jay's treaty with England,
got rid of one American minister by remonstrance, and drove
out another [Pinckney] with contempt. When Mr. Adams sent
three special envoys [Gerry, Marshall, and Pinckney], they
were expected to undertake the most delicate negotiations with
certain semi-official persons designated in their
correspondence only by the letters X, Y, Z. The plan of this
covert intercourse came through the private secretary of M. de
Talleyrand, then French Minister for Foreign Affairs; and the
impudence of these three letters of the alphabet went so far
as to propose a bribe of 1,200,000 francs (some $220,000) to
be paid over to this minister. 'You must pay money, a great
deal of money,' remarked Monsieur Y ('Il faut de l'argent,
beaucoup de l'argent'). The secret of these names was kept,
but the diplomatic correspondence was made public, and created
much wrath in Europe as well as in America. Moreover, American
vessels were constantly attacked by France, and yet Congress
refused to arm its own ships. At last the insults passed
beyond bearing, and it was at this time that 'Millions for
defence, not one cent for tribute,' first became a proverbial
phrase, having been originally used by Charles C. Pinckney. …
Then, with tardy decision, the Republicans yielded to the
necessity of action, and the Federal party took the lead. War
was not formally proclaimed, but treaties with France were
declared to be no longer binding. An army was ordered to be
created, with Washington as Lieutenant-general and Hamilton as
second in command; and the President was authorized to appoint
a Secretary of the Navy and to build twelve new ships-of-war.
Before these were ready, naval hostilities had actually begun;
and Commodore Truxtun, in the United States frigate
Constellation, captured a French frigate in West Indian waters
(February 9. 1799), and afterwards silenced another, which
however escaped. Great was the excitement over these early
naval successes of the young nation. Merchant-ships were
authorized to arm themselves, and some 300 acted upon this
authority. … The result of it all was that France yielded.
Talleyrand, the very minister who had dictated the insults,
now disavowed them, and pledged his government to receive any
minister the United States might send. The President, in the
most eminently courageous act of his life, took the
responsibility of again sending ambassadors; and did this
without even consulting his cabinet, which would, as he well
knew, oppose it. They were at once received, and all danger of
war with France was at an end. This bold stroke separated the
President permanently from at least half of his own party,
since the Federalists did not wish for peace with France. His
course would have given him a corresponding increase of favor
from the other side, but for the great mistake the Federalists
had made in passing certain laws, called the 'Alien' law and
the 'Sedition' law."

_T. W. Higginson,
Larger History of the United States,
chapter 14._

ALSO IN:
_J. T. Austin,
Life of Elbridge Gerry,
volume 2, chapters 5-8._

_John Quincy and Charles Francis Adams,
Life of John Adams,
chapter 10 (volume 2)._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1797-1800.
Early attitude of the Slavocracy in Congress.
Treatment of Free Blacks.

"Many people will not allow the least blame to be cast on this
period [the later years of the 18th century], because it does
not harmonize with their admiration of the 'fathers,' and
because they have adopted, without any proof, the common view
that the deeper shadows of slavery and slavocracy first
appeared comparatively late. … In reading through the debates
[in Congress], single striking instances of injustice do not
make the deepest impression. It is the omnipresent
unwillingness to practice justice towards colored
persons,—yes, even to recognize them as actual beings. When
the defense of their rights is demanded, then congress has
always a deaf ear. … Swanwick of Pennsylvania laid before the
house of representatives, January 30, 1797, a petition from
four North Carolina negroes who had been freed by their
masters. Since a state law condemned them to be sold again,
they had fled to Philadelphia. There they had been seized
under the fugitive slave law … and now prayed congress for its
intervention. Blount of North Carolina declared that only when
it was 'proved' that these men were free, could congress
consider the petition. Sitgreaves of Pennsylvania asked, in
reply to this, what sort of proof was offered that the four
negroes were not free. This question received no answer. Smith
of South Carolina and Christie of Maryland simply expressed
their amazement that any member whatever could have presented
a petition of 'such an unheard-of nature.'
{3316}
Swanwick and some other representatives affirmed that the
petition must be submitted to a committee for investigation
and consideration, because the petitioners complained of
violation of their rights under a law of the Union. No reply
could be made to this and no reply was attempted. This
decisive point was simply set aside, and it was voted by fifty
ayes to thirty-three noes not to receive the petition. … In
order to reach this result, Smith had produced the customary
impression by the declaration that the refusal of the demand
made by the representatives from the southern states would
drive a 'wedge' into the Union. When, three years later, the
same question was brought before congress again by a petition
of the free negroes of Philadelphia, Rutledge of South
Carolina declared in even plainer terms that the south would
be forced to the sad necessity of going its own way. … The
whites who troubled themselves about slaves or free colored
persons had no better reception. Year after year the Quakers
came indefatigably with new petitions, and each time had to
undergo the same scornful treatment. … In all the cases
mentioned, the tactics of the representatives of the
slaveholding interest were the same and they maintained them
unchanged up to the last. If congress was urged to act in any
way which did not please them, then slavery was always a
'purely municipal affair.'"

_H. von Holst,
Constitutional and Political History of the United States,
volume 1, chapter 8._

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1798.
The Alien and Sedition Laws and
the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions.

"The outrages which we suffered from the injustice of England
and France gave additional bitterness to the strife between
parties at home. The anti-federal press was immoderate in its
assaults upon the administration. It so happened that several
of the anti-federal papers were conducted by foreigners.
Indeed, there were many foreigners in the country whose
sympathies were with the French, and their hostility to the
administration was open and passionate. The federal leaders
determined to crush out by the strong arm of the law these
publishers of slanders and fomenters of discontent. Hence the
famous 'alien and sedition laws' were passed. The remedy
devised was far worse than the disease. It hastened the
federal party to its tomb, and was the occasion of the
formulation of that unfortunate creed of constitutional
construction and of state sovereignty known as the 'Virginia
and Kentucky Resolutions' of 1798-99."

_J. S. Landon,
Constitutional History and Government of the United States,
lecture 6._

The series of strong measures carried by the Federalists
comprised the Naturalization Act of June 18, the Alien Act of
June 25, the second Alien Act, of July 6, and the Sedition Act
of July 14, 1798.

The text of the Naturalization Act is as follows:

June 18, 1798. Acts of the Fifth Congress,
Statute II., Chapter liv.:

"An Act supplementary to, and to amend the act, intituled 'An
act to establish an uniform rule of naturalization; and to
repeal the act heretofore passed on that subject.'