Chapter XI: Part III: Replies to Public Addresses (2)

It is a source of great contentment to me to learn that the measures which have been pursued in the administration of your affairs have met your approbation. Too often we have had but a choice among difficulties; and this situation characterizes remarkably the present moment. But, fellow citizens, if we are faithful to our country, if we acquiesce, with good will, in the decisions of the majority, and the nation moves in mass in the same direction, although it may not be that which every individual thinks best, we have nothing to fear from any quarter.

I thank you sincerely for your kind wishes for my welfare, and with equal sincerity implore the favor of a protecting Providence for yourselves.

TO TABER FITCH, ESQ., CHAIRMAN.

WASHINGTON, November 21, 1808.

SIR,--I have received with great pleasure the address of the republicans of the State of Connecticut, and am particularly sensible of the kindness with which they have viewed my conduct in the direction of their affairs. Having myself highly approved the example of an illustrious predecessor, in voluntarily retiring from a trust, which, if too long continued in the same hands, might become a subject of reasonable uneasiness and apprehension, I could not mistake my own duty when placed in a similar situation.

Our experience so far, has satisfactorily manifested the competence of a republican government to maintain and promote the best interests of its citizens; and every future year, I doubt not, will contribute to settle a question on which reason, and a knowledge of the character and circumstances of our fellow citizens, could never admit a doubt, and much less condemn them as fit subjects to be consigned to the dominion of wealth and force. Although under the pressure of serious evils at this moment, the governments of the other hemisphere cannot boast a more favorable situation. We certainly do not wish to exchange our difficulties for the sanguinary distresses of our fellow men beyond the water. In a state of the world unparalleled in times past, and never again to be expected, according to human probabilities, no form of government has, so far, better shielded its citizens from the prevailing afflictions. By withdrawing awhile from the ocean we have suffered some loss; but we have gathered home our immense capital. Exposed to foreign depredation, we have saved our seamen from the jails of Europe, and gained time to prepare for the defence of our country. The questions of submission, of war, or embargo, are now before our country as unembarrassed as at first. Submission and tribute, if that be our choice, will be no baser now than at the date of the embargo. But if, as I trust, that idea be spurned, we may now decide on the other alternatives of war and embargo, with the advantage of possessing all the means which have been rescued from the grasp of capture. These advantages certainly justify the approbation of the embargo declared in your address, and I have no doubt will ensure that of every candid citizen, who will correctly trace the consequences of any other course.

I thank you for the kind concern you are pleased to express for my future happiness, and offer my sincere prayers for your welfare and prosperity.

TO THE YOUNG REPUBLICANS OF PITTSBURG AND ITS VICINITIES.

December 2, 1808.

The sentiments which you express in your address of October 27th, of attachment to the rights of your country, of your determination to support them with your lives and fortunes, and of disregard of the inconveniences which must be encountered in resisting insult and aggression, are honorable to yourselves, and encouraging to your country. They are particularly solacing to those who, having labored faithfully in establishing the right of self-government, see in the rising generation, into whose hands it is passing, that purity of principle, and energy of character, which will protect and preserve it through their day, and deliver it over to their sons as they receive it from their fathers. The measure of a temporary suspension of commerce was adopted to cover us from greater evils. It has rescued from capture an important capital, and our seamen from the jails of Europe. It has given time to prepare for defence, and has shown to the aggressors of Europe that evil, as well as good actions, recoil on the doers. If these evils have involved our inoffending neighbors also, towards whom we have not a sentiment but of friendship and useful intercourse, it results from that state of violence by which the interests of the American hemisphere are directed to the objects of Europe. Endowed by nature with a system of interests and connections of its own, it is drawn from these by the unnatural bonds which enchain its different parts to the conflicting interests and fortunes of another world, and render its inhabitants strangers and enemies, to their neighbors and mutual friends.

Believing that the happiness of mankind is best promoted by the useful pursuits of peace, that on these alone a stable prosperity can be founded, that the evils of war are great in their endurance, and have a long reckoning for ages to come, I have used my best endeavors to keep our country uncommitted in the troubles which afflict Europe, and which assail us on every side. Whether this can be done longer, is to be doubted. I am happy that so far my conduct meets the approbation of my fellow citizens. It is the highest reward I can receive for my endeavors to serve them; and I am particularly thankful to yourselves for the kind expressions of esteem and confidence, and tender my best wishes for your personal happiness and prosperity.

TO THE SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

WASHINGTON, December 9, 1808.

I am much indebted, fellow citizens, for your friendly address of November 20th, and gratified by its expressions of personal regard to myself. Having ever been an advocate for the freedom of religious opinion and exercise, from no person, certainly, was an abridgment of these sacred rights to be apprehended less than from myself.

In justice, too, to our excellent constitution, it ought to be observed, that it has not placed our religious rights under the power of any public functionary. The power, therefore, was wanting, not less than the will, to injure these rights.

The times in which we live, fellow citizens, are indeed times of trouble, such as no age has yet seen, or perhaps will ever see again. To avoid their calamitous influence, has been our duty and endeavor, and to effect it, great sacrifices of our citizens have been necessary. They have seen that these necessities were forced by the wrongs of others, and they have met them with the zeal which the crisis called for. What course we are finally to take, cannot yet be foreseen; but reading, reflecting, and examining for yourselves, you will find your public functionaries, according to the best of their judgments, directing your affairs, without passion or partiality, with a single view to your rights and best interests. And it is the approbation of those who so read, reflect, and examine for themselves, which is so truly consoling to the persons charged with the guidance of your affairs. For that portion of your approbation which you are pleased to bestow on my conduct, I am truly thankful, and I offer my sincere prayers for your welfare, and a happy issue of our country from the difficulties impending over it.

TO THE ELECTORS OF THE COUNTY OF ONTARIO, IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

December 13, 1808.

The wrongs which we have sustained, fellow citizens, from the belligerent powers of Europe, and of which you have taken so just a view in your address, received by me on the 27th of the last month, could not fail to excite in the bosoms of freemen the sentiments of high indignation expressed by you. The love of peace had long induced us to bear with these aggressions, and the hope of a return to a spirit of justice had encouraged us to persevere in endeavors at amicable adjustment. Their outrages, however, have at length forced us to suspend all intercourse with them, to gather home our resources, and to prepare for whatever may happen. Your approbation of these measures is gratifying to your public functionaries, and the readiness you express to encounter the privations and sacrifices which these aggressions occasion, is honorable to yourselves. The legislature of the nation now assembled together, will decide how long the state of non-intercourse may be preferable to a more serious appeal. The decided support which you tender either of the present, or such other measures as they shall adopt for the good of the Union, and the pledge of your lives, your fortunes and honor for that purpose, are calculated to inspire them with firmness in their deliberations, and an assurance that the result will be supported by their country. The confidence you are so good as to express in the conduct of the administration, is highly gratifying to them, and encourages a perseverance in their best endeavors for the public good. That these may issue in effecting your happiness, and the peace and prosperity of our country, is my sincere prayer.

TO THE CITIZENS OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF PHILADELPHIA IN TOWN-MEETING ASSEMBLED.

February 3, 1809.

In the resolutions and address which you have been pleased to present to me, I recognize with great satisfaction the sentiments of faithful citizens, devoted to the maintenance of the rights of their country, to the sacred bond which unites these States together, and rallying round their government in support of its laws. After the intolerable assault on our maritime rights, by the declarations of the belligerent powers, that we should navigate the ocean only as they should permit, the recall of our seamen, recovery of our property abroad, and putting ourselves into a state of defence, should perseverance on their parts force us to the last appeal, were duties to first obligation. No other course was left us but to reduce our navigation within the limits they dictated, and to hold even that subject to such further restrictions as their interests or will should prescribe. To this no friend to the independence of his country should submit.

Your resolution to aid in bringing to justice all violators of the laws of their country, and particularly of the embargo laws, and to be ready at all times to assist in carrying them into effect, is worthy of the patriotism which distinguishes the city and county of Philadelphia. This voluntary support of laws, formed by persons of our own choice, distinguishes peculiarly the minds capable of self-government. The contrary spirit is anarchy, which of necessity produces despotism. It is from the supporters of regular government only that the pledge of life, fortune, and honor is worthy of confidence.

I learn with great satisfaction your approbation of the several measures passed by the government, and enumerated in your address. For the advantages flowing from them you are indebted principally to a wise and patriotic legislature, and to the able and inestimable coadjutors with whom it has been my good fortune to be associated in the direction of your affairs. That these measures may be productive of the ends intended, must be the wish of every friend of his country; and the belief that everything has been done to preserve our peace, secure the rights of our fellow citizens, and to promote their best interests, will be a consolation under every situation to which the great disposer of events may destine us.

Your approbation of the motives for my retirement from the station so long confided to me, is a confirmation of their correctness. In no office can rotation be more expedient; and none less admits the indulgence of age. I am peculiarly sensible of your kind wishes for my happiness in the tranquillity of retirement. Nothing will contribute more to it than the hope of carrying with me the approbation of my fellow citizens, of the endeavors which I have faithfully exerted to be useful to them. To the all-protecting favor of heaven I commit yourselves and our common country.

TO THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF GEORGIA.

February 3, 1809.

The address which the Legislature of Georgia, the immediate organ of the will of their constituents, has been pleased to present to me, is received with that high satisfaction which the approbation of so respectable a State is calculated to inspire. During the unexampled contest which has so long afflicted Europe, which has prostrated all the laws which have hitherto been deemed sacred among nations, and have so long constituted the rule of their intercourse, we had vainly hoped that our distance from the scene of carnage, and the invariable justice with which we have conducted ourselves towards all parties, would shield us from its baleful effects. But that commerce indispensably necessary for the exchange of the produce of this great agricultural country for the things which we want, increased by a temporary succession to the commerce of other nations, as being ourselves the only neutrals, has brought us into contact with the lawless belligerents in every sea, and threatens to involve us in the vortex of their contests. The privations for the want of a vent for our produce, have been the unavoidable result of the edicts of the belligerent powers. Should the measure adopted in consequence of them, and which meets your approbation, still save the lives and property of our brethren from the insults and rapacity of these powers, it will be a fortunate addition to the other benefits derived from it. On the other hand, should our present embarrassments eventuate in war, I am satisfied that the State of Georgia will zealously emulate her sister States in supporting the government of their choice, and in maintaining the rights and interests of the nation. Our soil, our industry, and our numbers, with the bravery which will be engaged in the cause, can never leave us without resources to maintain such a contest.

To no events which can concern the future welfare of my country, can I ever become an indifferent spectator; her prosperity will be my joy, her calamities my affliction.

Thankful for the indulgence with which my conduct has been viewed by the Legislature of Georgia, and for the kind expressions of their good will, I supplicate the favor of heaven towards them and our beloved country.

TO THE SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT.

February 4, 1809.

The approbation you are so good as to express of the measures which have been recommended and pursued during the course of my administration of the national concerns, is highly acceptable. The approving voice of our fellow citizens, for endeavors to be useful, is the greatest of all earthly rewards.

No provision in our constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the rights of conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority. It has not left the religion of its citizens under the power of its public functionaries, were it possible that any of these should consider a conquest over the consciences of men either attainable or applicable to any desirable purpose. To me no information could be more welcome than that the minutes of the several religious societies should prove, of late, larger additions than have been usual, to their several associations, and I trust that the whole course of my life has proved me a sincere friend to religious as well as civil liberty.

I thank you for your affectionate good wishes for my future happiness. Retirement has become essential to it; and one of its best consolations will be to witness the advancement of my country in all those pursuits and acquisitions which constitute the character of a wise and virtuous nation; and I offer sincere prayers to heaven that its benediction may attend yourselves, our country and all its sons.

TO THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF VIRGINIA.

February 16, 1809.

I receive with peculiar sensibility the affectionate address of the General Assembly of my native State, on my approaching retirement from the office with which I have been honored by the nation at large. Having been one of those who entered into public life at the commencement of an æra the most extraordinary which the history of man has ever yet presented to his contemplation, I claim nothing more, for the part I have acted in it, than a common merit of having, with others, faithfully endeavored to do my duty in the several stations allotted me. In the measures which you are pleased particularly to approve, I have been aided by the wisdom and patriotism of the national legislature, and the talents and virtues of the able coadjutors with whom it has been my happiness to be associated, and to whose valuable and faithful services I with pleasure and gratitude bear witness.

From the moment that to preserve our rights a change of government became necessary, no doubt could be entertained that a republican form was most consonant with reason, with right, with the freedom of man, and with the character and situation of our fellow citizens. To the sincere spirit of republicanism are naturally associated the love of country, devotion to its liberty, its rights, and its honor. Our preference to that form of government has been so far justified by its success, and the prosperity with which it has blessed us. In no portion of the earth were life, liberty and property ever so securely held; and it is with infinite satisfaction that withdrawing from the active scenes of life, I see the sacred design of these blessings committed to those who are sensible of their value and determined to defend them.

It would have been a great consolation to have left the nation under the assurance of continued peace. Nothing has been spared to effect it; and at no other period of history would such efforts have failed to ensure it. For neither belligerent pretends to have been injured by us, or can say that we have in any instance departed from the most faithful neutrality; and certainly none will charge us with a want of forbearance.

In the desire of peace, but in full confidence of safety from our unity, our position, and our resources, I shall retire into the bosom of my native State, endeared to me by every tie which can attach the human heart. The assurances of your approbation, and that my conduct has given satisfaction to my fellow citizens generally, will be an important ingredient in my future happiness; and that the supreme ruler of the universe may have our country under his special care, will be among the latest of my prayers.

TO THE CITIZENS OF WILMINGTON AND ITS VICINITY IN TOWN MEETING ASSEMBLED.

February 16, 1809.

The resolutions which have been entered into by the citizens of Wilmington and its vicinity, are worthy of the well-known patriotism of that place.

The storm which with little intermission has been raging for so many years, which has immolated the ancient dynasties and institutions of Europe, and prostrated the principles of public law heretofore respected, has hitherto been felt but in a secondary degree by us. But threatening at length to involve us in its vortex, it is time for all good citizens to rally round the constituted authorities by a public expression of their determination to support the laws and government of their choice, and to frown into silence all disorganizing movements. Strong in our numbers, our position and resources, we can never be endangered but by schisms at home. It has been the anxious care of the government to preserve the United States from this destructive contest; but whether it can yet be done depends on a return to reason by those who have so long rejected its dictates. On our part, there is no doubt of a continuance of the same desire to conduct the nation quietly through the political storms prevailing, and to lead it in safety through the perils with which we are menaced by the ambition of foreign nations.

I am thankful for the great indulgence with which you have viewed the measures of my administration. Of their wisdom others must judge; but I may truly say they have been pursued with honest intentions, unbiassed by any personal or interested views. It is a consolation to know that the motives for my retirement are approved; and although I withdraw from public functions, I shall continue an anxious spectator of passing events, and offer to heaven my constant prayers for the preservation of our republic, and especially of those its best principles which secure to all its citizens a perfect equality of rights.

TO JOHN GASSAWAY, ESQ.

WASHINGTON, February 17, 1809.

SIR,--I have duly received the resolutions of the republican citizens of Annapolis and Anne-Arundel county, of the 4th inst., which you were so kind as to forward to me.

That the aggressions and injuries of the belligerent nations have been the real obstructions which have interrupted our commerce, and now threaten our peace, and that the embargo laws were salutary and indispensably necessary to meet those obstructions, are truths as evident to every candid man, as it is worthy of every good citizen to declare his reprobation of that system of opposition which goes to an avowed and practical resistance of these laws. To such a resistance I trust that the patriotism of our faithful citizens in no section of the Union will give any countenance. Where the law of majority ceases to be acknowledged, there government ends, the law of the strongest takes its place, and life and property are his who can take them.

I receive with particular pleasure and thankfulness the testimony of the republican citizens of Annapolis and Anne-Arundel, in favor of the course of proceedings during my administration of the public affairs. And I can truly say, in their words, that they have been conducted with the purest regard and devotion to the interests of the people and the national safety and honor; and I pray you, with my acknowledgments for these favorable sentiments, to accept the assurances of my high respect and consideration.

TO CAPTAIN JOSEPH ----, JR.

WASHINGTON, February 17, 1809.

SIR,--The resolutions entered into at a meeting of the officers of the Legionary Brigade of the 1st Division of Massachusetts militia, on the 31st ult., which you have been pleased to forward to me, breathe that spirit of fidelity to our common country which must ever be peculiarly the spirit of its militia, and which renders that the safest and last reliance of a republican nation. The perils with which we have been for some time environed, have been such as ought to have induced every faithful citizen to unite in support of the rights of his country, laying aside little differences, political or personal, till they might be indulged without hazarding the safety of our country. Assailed in our essential rights by two of the most powerful nations on the globe, we have remonstrated, negotiated, and at length retired to the last stand, in the hope of peaceably preserving our rights. In this extremity I have entire confidence that no part of _the people_ in any section of the Union, will desert the banners of their country, and co-operate with the enemies who are threatening its existence. The subscribing officers of the legionary brigade have furnished an honorable example of declaring their attachment to the constitution, the laws, and the union of the States, that they will at the call of law, rally around the standard of their country, and protect its constitution, laws, right and liberties, against all foes. I thank them, in the name of their country, for these patriotic resolutions, the pledge of support they tender will lead them to no more than the honor of a soldier and fidelity of a citizen would of itself require. I salute yourself and the subscribing offices with esteem and respect.

TO THE REPUBLICAN YOUNG MEN OF NEW LONDON, BENJAMIN HEMPSTEAD CHAIRMAN.

February 24, 1809.

The approbation which you are pleased to express of my past administration, is highly gratifying to me. That in a free government there should be differences of opinion as to public measures and the conduct of those who direct them, is to be expected. It is much, however, to be lamented, that these differences should be indulged at a crisis which calls for the undivided councils and energies of our country, and in a form calculated to encourage our enemies in the refusal of justice, and to force their country into war as the only resource for obtaining it.

You do justice to the government in believing that their utmost endeavors have been used to steer us clear of wars with other nations, and honor to yourselves in declaring that if these endeavors prove ineffectual, and your country is called upon to defend its rights and injured honor by an appeal to arms, you will be ready for the contest, and will meet our enemies at the threshold of our country. While prudence will endeavor to avoid this issue, bravery will prepare to meet it.

I thank you, fellow citizens, for your kind expressions of regard for myself, and prayers for my future happiness, and I join in supplications to that Almighty Being who has heretofore guarded our councils, still to continue his gracious benedictions towards our country, and that yourselves may be under the protection of his divine favor.

TO THE REPUBLICANS OF LOUDON COUNTY, CONVENED AT LEESBURG, FEBRUARY, 13, 1809.

February 24, 1809.

The measures lately pursued in preference either to war or an ignominious surrender of our rights as an independent people, have undoubtedly produced the beneficial effects of saving our property and seamen, of lengthening the term of our peace, and of giving time for defensive preparations. Other efficacious results would probably have been produced, in a much higher degree, had not the measures been counteracted by unworthy passions. It is still possible that the blessings of peace may be continued to us, should sounder calculations of interest induce a return to justice by the aggressive nations. But should we be disappointed in what ought to be so justly expected, the solemn pledge of life and fortune in vindication of our violated rights received from yourselves as well as from other citizens, leaves us without apprehension as to the issue of any contest into which we may be forced.

I thank you particularly for the approbation you manifest of my conduct and motives, and the kind concern you express for my future happiness, and I beg leave to tender you my best wishes and assurances of respect.

TO GOVERNOR TOMPKINS.

WASHINGTON, February 24, 1809.

SIR,--I received, a few days ago, your Excellency's favor of the 9th inst., covering the patriotic resolutions of the Legislature of New York, of the 3d. The times do certainly render it incumbent on all good citizens, attached to the rights and honor of their country, to bury in oblivion all internal differences, and rally around the standard of their country in opposition to the outrages of foreign nations. All attempts to enfeeble and destroy the exertions of the General Government, in vindication of our national rights, or to loosen the bands of union by alienating the affections of the people, or opposing the authority of the laws at so eventful a period, merit the discountenance of all.

The confidence which the Legislature expresses in the national administration is highly consolatory, and their determination to support the just rights of their country with their lives and fortunes, are worthy of the high character of the State of New York.

By all, I trust, the union of these States will ever be considered as the Palladium of their safety, their prosperity and glory, and all attempts to sever it will be frowned on with reprobation and abhorrence. And I have equal confidence, that all moved by the sacred principles of liberty and patriotism will prepare themselves for any crisis we may be able to meet, and will be ready to co-operate with each other, and with the constituted authorities, in resisting and repelling the aggressions of foreign nations.

The Legislature may be assured that every exertion will be used to put the United States in the best condition of defence, that we may be fully prepared to meet the dangers which menace the peace of our country. I avail myself with pleasure of every occasion to tender to your Excellency the assurances of my high respect and consideration.

TO GENERAL JAMES ROBERTSON.

WASHINGTON, February 24, 1809.

SIR,--I have duly received your letter covering the resolutions of the citizens of West Tennessee, assembled in the town of Nashville. Every friend of his country must feel the regret and indignation they so laudably express at the unjust and unprecedented measures adopted by the belligerent powers of Europe, violating our maritime rights as a free and independent nation, and compelling us for their preservation to resort to measures the effects of which we must all feel. And all must see with pleasure their honorable declaration against receding from the grounds taken with regard to the belligerent nations, and their reprobation of the surrender of any essential points in difference between us and those nations.

Should the embargo be continued, or a non-intercourse be substituted, it is pleasing to know that our fellow citizens will afford every aid in their power to render it effectual; and if war must at length be resorted to, I have entire confidence in their declarations, that as citizen soldiers they will be ready at the call of their country to prove to their enemies that they know how to value and defend their rights.

I am happy to learn their approbation of the measures adopted by the General Government in relation to Great Britain and France, and particularly thankful for the satisfaction they express with the course I have pursued in the discharge of the arduous duties which devolved on me as chief magistrate of the United States.

I pray you to accept for yourself and them the assurances of my great respect and consideration.

THE REPUBLICANS OF THE COUNTY OF NIAGARA, CONVENED AT CLARENCE ON THE 26TH OF JANUARY, 1809.

February 24, 1809.

The eventful crisis in our national affairs so truly portrayed in your very friendly address, has justly excited your serious attention. The nations of the earth prostrated at the foot of power, the ocean submitted to the despotism of a single nation, the laws of nature and the usages which have hitherto regulated the intercourse of nations and interposed some restraint between power and right, now totally disregarded. Such is the state of things when the United States are left single-handed to maintain the rights of neutrals, and the principles of public right against a warring world. Under these circumstances, it is a great consolation to receive the assurances of our faithful citizens that they will unite their destiny with their government, will rally under the banners of their country, and with their lives and fortunes, defend and support their civil and religious rights. This declaration, too, is the more honorable from those whose frontier residence will expose them particularly to the inroads of a foe.

I receive with great pleasure your approbation of the impartial neutrality we have so invariably pursued, and of the trying measure of embargo rendered necessary by the belligerent edicts, which has saved our seamen and our property, has given us time to prepare for vindicating our honor and preserving our national independence, and has excited the spirit of manufacturing for ourselves those things which, though we raised the raw material, we have hitherto sought from other countries at the risk of war and rapine.

I thank you for your kind wishes for my future happiness in retiring from public life to the bosom of my family. Nothing will contribute more to it than the assurance that my fellow citizens approve of my endeavors to serve them, and the hope that we shall be continued in the blessings we have enjoyed under the favor of Heaven.

TO CAPTAIN QUIN MORTON.

WASHINGTON, February 24, 1809.

SIR,--I have duly received your favor tendering the service of fifty citizens of Tennessee as a company of volunteer riflemen. There are two acts of Congress which regulate the acceptances of these tenders; that of the last year (1808) is for a service of six months, and authorizes the governors to accept; and that of 1807, for a service of twelve months, authorizing the President to accept, who has delegated that power to the governors of the several States. Under whichever of these, therefore, your tender was meant to be made, I must pray you to repeat it to the governor of the State; expressing, at the same time, my great satisfaction at the readiness and patriotism with which I see my fellow citizens resort to the standard of their country when danger threatens it. Accept for your company my thanks on the public behalf, and for yourself the assurances of my respect.

TO THE TAMMANY SOCIETY OR COLUMBIAN ORDER OF THE CITY OF WASHINGTON.

March 2, 1809.

The observations are but too just which are made in your friendly address, on the origin and progress of those abuses of public confidence and power which have so often terminated in a suppression of the rights of the people, and the mere aggrandizement and emolument of their oppressors. Taught by these truths, and aware of the tendency of power to degenerate into abuse, the worthies of our own country have secured its independence by the establishment of a constitution and form of government for our nation, calculated to prevent as well as to correct abuse.

Beyond the great water the torch of discord has been long lighted up, and long and unremitting have been the endeavors of the belligerents to immerge us in the evils they were inflicting on each other, and to make us parties in their quarrels. Whether it will be possible much longer to escape these evils, is difficult to decide; but you do me justice in believing that no efforts on my part have been spared to effect this purpose, and to preserve for our nation the blessings of peace.

I learn with sincere pleasure that the measures I have pursued in directing the affairs of our nation have met with approbation. Their sole object has certainly been the good of my fellow citizens, which sometimes may have been mistaken, but never intentionally disregarded. This approbation is the more valued as being the spontaneous effusion of the feelings of those who have lived in the same city with myself, and having examined carefully and even jealously my conduct through every passing day, bear testimony to their belief in its fidelity.

I am happy, in my retirement, to carry with me your esteem and your prayers for my health, peace and happiness; and I sincerely supplicate Heaven that your own personal welfare may long make a part of the general prosperity of a great, a free, and a happy people.

TO THE CITIZENS OF WASHINGTON.

March 4, 1809.

I received with peculiar gratification the affectionate address of the citizens of Washington, and in the patriotic sentiments it expresses, I see the true character of the national metropolis.

The station which we occupy among the nations of the earth is honorable, but awful. Trusted with the destinies of this solitary republic of the world, the only monument of human rights, and the sole depository of the sacred fire of freedom and self-government, from hence it is to be lighted up in other regions of the earth, if other regions of the earth shall ever become susceptible of its benign influence. All mankind ought then, with us, to rejoice in its prosperous, and sympathize in its adverse fortunes, as involving everything dear to man. And to what sacrifices of interest, or convenience, ought not these considerations to animate us? To what compromises of opinion and inclination, to maintain harmony and union among ourselves, and to preserve from all danger this hallowed ark of human hope and happiness. That differences of opinion should arise among men, on politics, on religion, and on every other topic of human inquiry, and that these should be freely expressed in a country where all our faculties are free, is to be expected. But these valuable privileges are much prevented when permitted to disturb the harmony of social intercourse, and to lesson the tolerance of opinion. To the honor of society here, it has been characterized by a just and generous liberality, and an indulgence of those affections which, without regard to political creeds, constitute the happiness of life. That the improvement of this city must proceed with sure and steady steps, follows from its many obvious advantages, and from the enterprizing spirit of its inhabitants, which promises to render it the fairest seat of wealth and science.

It is very gratifying to me that the general course of my administration is approved by my fellow citizens, and particularly that the motives of my retirement are satisfactory. I part with the powers entrusted to me by my country, as with a burthen of heavy bearing; but it is with sincere regret that I part with the society in which I have lived here. It has been the source of much happiness to me during my residence at the seat of government, and I owe it much for its kind dispositions. I shall ever feel a high interest in the prosperity of the city, and an affectionate attachment to its inhabitants.

TO THE REPUBLICANS OF GEORGETOWN.

March 8, 1809.

The affectionate address of the republicans of Georgetown on my retirement from public duty, is received with sincere pleasure. In the review of my political life, which they so indulgently take, if it be found that I have done my duty as other faithful citizens have done, it is all the merit I claim. Our lot has been cast on an awful period of human history. The contest which began with us, which ushered in the dawn of our national existence and led us through various and trying scenes, was for everything dear to free-born man. The principles on which we engaged, of which the charter of our independence is the record, were sanctioned by the laws of our being, and we but obeyed them in pursuing undeviatingly the course they called for. It issued finally in that inestimable state of freedom which alone can ensure to man the enjoyment of his equal rights. From the moment which scaled our peace and independence, our nation has wisely pursued the paths of peace and justice. During the period in which I have been charged with its concerns, no effort has been spared to exempt us from the wrongs and the rapacity of foreign nations, and with you I feel assured that no American will hesitate to rally round the standard of his insulted country, in defence of that freedom and independence achieved by the wisdom of sages, and consecrated by the blood of heroes.

The favorable testimony of those among whom I have lived, and lived happily as a fellow citizen, as a neighbor, and in the various relations of social life, will enliven the days of my retirement, and be felt and cherished with affection and gratitude.

I thank you, fellow citizens, for your kind prayers for my future happiness. I shall ever retain a lively sense of your friendly attentions, and continue to pray for your prosperity and well being.

TO STEPHEN CROSS, ESQ., TOPSHAM.

MONTICELLO, March 28, 1809.

To the delegates from the various towns in the county of Essex and commonwealth of Massachusetts, assembled on the 20th of February, at Topsham.

The receipt of your kind address in the last moments of the session of Congress, will, I trust, offer a just apology for this late acknowledgment of it. I am very sensible of the indulgence with which you are so good as to review the measures of my late administration, and I feel for that indulgence the sentiments of gratitude it so justly calls for. The stand which has been made on behalf of our seamen enslaved and incarcerated in foreign ships, and against the prostration of our rights on the ocean under laws of nature acknowledged by all civilized nations, was an effort due to the protection of our commerce, and to that portion of our fellow citizens engaged in the pursuits of navigation. The opposition of the same portion to the vindication of their peculiar rights, has been as wonderful as the loyalty of their agricultural brethren in the assertion of them has been disinterested and meritorious. If the honor of the nation can be forgotten, whether the abandonment of the right of navigating the ocean may not be compensated by exemption from the wars it would produce, may be a question for our future councils, which the disclaimer of our navigating citizens may, if continued, relieve from the embarrassment of their rights.

Sincerely and affectionately attached to our national constitution, as the ark of our safety, and grand palladium of our peace and happiness, I learn with pleasure that the number of those in the county of Essex, who read and think for themselves, is great, and constituted of men who will never surrender but with their lives, the invaluable liberties achieved by their fathers. Their elevated minds put all to the hazard for a three penny duty on tea, by the same nation which now exacts a tribute equal to the value of half our exported produce.

I thank you, fellow citizens, for the kind interest you take in my future happiness, and I sincerely supplicate that overruling providence which governs the destinies of men and nations, to dispense his choicest blessings on yourselves and our beloved country.

TO THE REPUBLICAN MECHANICS OF THE TOWN OF LEESBURG AND ITS VICINITY, ASSEMBLED ON THE 27TH OF FEBRUARY LAST.

MONTICELLO, March 29, 1809.

The receipt of your kind address in the last moments of the session of Congress, will, I trust, offer a just apology for its late acknowledgment.

Your friendly salutations on the close of my public life, and approbation of the motives which dictated my retirement, are received with great satisfaction.

That there should be a contrariety of opinions respecting the public agents and their measures, and more especially respecting that which recently suspended our commerce and produced temporary privations, is ever to be expected among free men; and I am happy to find you are in the number of those who are satisfied that the course pursued was marked out by our country's interest, and called for by her dearest rights. While the principles of our constitution give just latitude to inquiry, every citizen faithful to it will, with you, deem embodied expressions of discontent, and open outrages of law and patriotism, as dishonorable as they are injurious; and there is reason to believe that had the efforts of the government against the innovations and tyranny of the belligerent powers been unopposed among ourselves, they would have been more effectual towards the establishment of our rights.

Unconscious of partiality between the different callings of my fellow citizens, I trust that a fair review of my attention to the interests of commerce in particular, in every station of my political life, will afford sufficient proofs of my just estimation of its importance in the social system. What has produced our present difficulties, and what will have produced the impending war, if that is to be our lot? Our efforts to save the rights of commerce and navigation. From these, solely and exclusively, the whole of our present dangers flow.

With just reprobations of the resistance made or menaced against the laws of our country, I applaud your patriotic resolution to meet hostility to them with the energy and dignity of freemen; and thankful for your solicitude for my health and happiness, I salute you with affectionate sentiments of respect.

TO THE FRIENDS OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE UNITED STATES IN BRISTOL COUNTY, RHODE ISLAND.

MONTICELLO, March 20, 1809.

The receipt of your friendly address in the last moments of the session of Congress, will, I trust, offer a just apology for its late acknowledgment.

We have certainly cause to rejoice that since the waves of affliction and peril, raised from the storm of war by the rival belligerents of Europe, have undulated on our shores, the councils of the nation have been able to preserve it from the numerous evils which have awfully menaced, and otherwise might have fallen upon us. How long we may yet retain this desirable position is difficult to be foreseen. But confident I am that as long as it can be done consistently with the honor and interest of our country, it will be maintained by those to whom you have confided the helm of government. A surer pledge for this cannot be found than in the public and private virtues of the successor to the chair of government, which you so justly recognize. Your reflections are certainly correct on the importance of a good administration in a republican government, towards securing to us our dearest rights, and the practical enjoinment of all our liberties; and such an one can never fail to give consolation to the friends of free government, and mortification to its enemies. In retiring from the duties of my late station, I have the consolation of knowing that such is the character of those into whose hands they are transferred, and of a conviction that all will be done for us which wisdom and virtue can do.

I thank you, fellow citizens, for the kind sentiments of your address, and am particularly gratified by your approbation of the course I have pursued; and I pray heaven to keep you under its holy favor.

TO THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLICAN DELEGATES FROM THE TOWNSHIPS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, IN PENNSYLVANIA, CONVENED ON THE 21ST OF FEBRUARY, 1809.

MONTICELLO, March 31, 1809.

The satisfaction you express, fellow citizens, that my endeavors have been unremitting to preserve the peace and independence of our country, and that a faithful neutrality has been observed towards all the contending powers, is highly grateful to me; and there can be no doubt that in any common times they would have saved us from the present embarrassments, thrown in the way of our national prosperity by the rival powers.

It is true that the embargo laws have not had all the effect in bringing the powers of Europe to a sense of justice, which a more faithful observance of them might have produced. Yet they have had the important effects of saving our seamen and property, of giving time to prepare for defence; and they will produce the further inestimable advantage of turning the attention and enterprise of our fellow citizens, and the patronage of our State legislatures, to the establishment of useful manufactures in our country. They will have hastened the day when an equilibrium between the occupations of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, shall simplify our foreign concerns to the exchange only of that surplus which we cannot consume for those articles of reasonable comfort or convenience which we cannot produce.

Our lot has been cast, by the favor of heaven, in a country and under circumstances, highly auspicious to our peace and prosperity, and where no pretence can arise for the degrading and oppressive establishments of Europe. It is our happiness that honorable distinctions flow only from public approbation; and that finds no object in titled dignitaries and pageants. Let us then, fellow citizens, endeavor carefully to guard this happy state of things, by keeping a watchful eye over the disaffection of wealth and ambition to the republican principles of our constitution, and by sacrificing all our local and personal interests to the cultivation of the Union, and maintenance of the authority of the laws.

My warmest thanks are due to you, fellow citizens, for the affectionate sentiments expressed in your address, and my prayers will ever be offered for your welfare and happiness.

TO THE CITIZENS OF ALLEGHANY COUNTY, IN MARYLAND.

MONTICELLO, March 31, 1809.

The sentiments of attachment, respect, and esteem, expressed in your address of the 20th ult., have been read with pleasure, and would sooner have received my thanks, but for the mass of business engrossing the last moments of a session of Congress. I am gratified by your approbation of our efforts for the general good, and our endeavors to promote the best interests of our country, and to place them on a basis firm and lasting. The measures respecting our intercourse with foreign nations were the result, as you suppose, of a choice between two evils, either to call and keep at home our seamen and property, or suffer them to be taken under the edicts of the belligerent powers. How a difference of opinion could arise between these alternatives is still difficult to explain on any acknowledged ground; and I am persuaded, with you, that when the storm and agitation characterizing the present moment shall have subsided, when passion and prejudice shall have yielded to reason its usurped place, and especially when posterity shall pass its sentence on the present times, justice will be rendered to the course which has been pursued. To the advantages derived from the choice which was made will be added the improvements and discoveries made and making in the arts, and the establishments in domestic manufacture, the effects whereof will be permanent and diffused through our wide-extended continent. That we may live to behold the storm which seems to threaten us, pass like a summer's cloud away, and that yourselves may continue to enjoy all the blessings of peace and prosperity, is my fervent prayer.

TO THE REPUBLICAN CITIZENS OF WASHINGTON COUNTY, MARYLAND, ASSEMBLED AT HAGERSTOWN ON THE 6TH INSTANT.

MONTICELLO, March 31, 1809.

The affectionate sentiments you express on my retirement from the high office conferred upon me by my country, are gratefully received and acknowledged with thankfulness. Your approbation of the various measures which have been pursued, cannot but be highly consolatory to myself, and encouraging to future functionaries, who will see that their honest endeavors for the public good will receive due credit with their constituents. That the great and leading measure respecting our foreign intercourse was the most salutary alternative, and preferable to the submission of our rights as a free and independent republic, or to a war at that period, cannot be doubted by candid minds. Great and good effects have certainly flowed from it, and greater would have been produced, had they not been, in some degree, frustrated by unfaithful citizens.

If, in my retirement to the humble station of a private citizen, I am accompanied with the esteem and approbation of my fellow citizens, trophies obtained by the blood-stained steel, or the tattered flags of the tented field, will never be envied. The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.

I salute you, fellow citizens, with every wish for your welfare, and the perpetual duration of our government, in all the purity of its republican principles.

TO JAMES HOCHIE, ESQ., PRESIDENT OF THE ANCIENT PLYMOUTH SOCIETY OF NEW LONDON.

MONTICELLO, April 2, 1809.

SIR,--I have duly received your favor of March 17th, covering resolutions of the Ancient Plymouth Society of New London, approving my conduct, as well during the period of my late administration, as the preceding portion of my public services.

Our lot has been cast in times which called for the best exertions of all our citizens to recover and preserve the rights which nature had given them; and we may say with truth, that the mass of our fellow citizens have performed with zeal and effect the duties called for. If I have been fortunate enough to give satisfaction in the performance of those allotted to me by our country, I find an ample reward in the assurances of that satisfaction. Possessed of the blessing of self-government, and of such a portion of civil liberty as no other civilized nation enjoys, it now behooves us to guard and preserve them by a continuance of the sacrifices and exertions by which they were acquired, and especially to nourish that union which is their sole guarantee. I pray you to accept for yourself and your associates the assurances of my high consideration and respect.

TO HIS EXCELLENCY GOVERNOR WRIGHT.

MONTICELLO, April 3, 1809.