Mr. F R I S B I E's 
 
 
A N 
 
 E U L O G Y 
 
 ON THE 
 
 ILLUSTRIOUS CHARACTER 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 General Ceorge tESaaa&tngton, 
 
 COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF ALL THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED 
 
 STATES OF AMERICA : 
 Who died on Saturday, the 1 4tL of December, 1 799. 
 
 Delivered at Ipfwich, on the -yth day of January. 1800. 
 
 By LEVI FR1SB1E, A. M. 
 \\ 
 
 Minifter of the Gofpel in the fir ft parifh of faid to\vn. 
 PUBLISHED BY DESIRE OF THE HEARERS. 
 
 The. Righteous Jhall bt in ever lofting remembrance. 
 
 DAVI> 
 
 He mourns the dead, who lives as they defire. 
 
 YOUNG. 
 
 TO WHICH IS ADDED 
 
 General WASHINGTON'S parental and affectionate 
 ADDRESS to his Country, declining their future 
 fuffrages for the Prefidency. 
 
 Printed at Newburyport, by EDMUND M. BLUNT, 1800. 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 THE authors, of whofe affiftance the compofer of 
 tbe following Eulogy has availed himfelf, are Doftors 
 Morfe, Ramfey, Young and Mefllre Flechier. He has 
 marked the ideas, cited from thefe authors in their own 
 words, with inverted commas ; but if the reader fhould 
 meet with other thoughts, as probably he may, felected 
 from the fame authors, but clothed in the compofer's 
 own language, and accomodated to his iubject, he will 
 give due credit for them to their original owners. The 
 paffages cited from the immortal WafhingtQi!* writings 
 needed nothing to diftinguifh them but their own fupe- 
 ?jor merit. 
 
AN EULOGY ON THE LATE 
 
 general George 
 
 II. CHRON. xxxvth Chap. 24th and 25th verfes. 
 
 And till Judah and Jerujalem mourned for Jofiah, and Jtrt- 
 iniah lamented for jfojiah, and all the finging men and finding wo- 
 men fpake of jfojiah in their lamentations to this day. 
 
 JL HEIR mourning and lamentation were a fuita- 
 ble precedent for us on this fadly folemn occafion. The 
 wifeft, the beft and moft amiable of men, like Jofiah, 
 though their friends and countrymen vvifli and pray ever 
 fo earneflly for their continuance, cannot live here for- 
 ever. 
 
 IT is the prerogative of Him who reigns in the Hea- 
 vens, and governs all the dates and kingdoms of the 
 earth, to raife up men of eminent talents and virtues to 
 blefs the countries to which they belong ; and it is his 
 prerogative to remove them at his pleafure, as a correc- 
 tion for the errors and vices of their countrymen ; and 
 to teach them the vanity and uncertainty of thofe riches, 
 honors and pleafures, they fo fondly purfue. When 
 men of fuch excellent characters are given to a people, 
 it is their duty to acknowledge the diftinguifhing gift of 
 heaven with gratitude and praife ; and when they are 
 torn from them by a fudden and furprifin;* ftroke, it be- 
 comes 
 
 M38285 
 
comes-them to lament the' lofs ' of fuch eminent bene- 
 factors with a forrow and humiliation, as deep and ex- 
 tenfivc as the frown of heaven, and the lofs they have 
 fuflained. What words have then an emphafis fufficient 
 to exprefs the gratitude we owe to God for the gift of a 
 WASHINGTON, and the anguifli and lamentation of 
 our country that its illujtrious Friend and Father is no 
 more f Yes, he was the Father of our country ; raifcd 
 up by the hand of gracious heaven to affift the birth, to 
 nourifh the infancy, to direct and defend the childhood 
 of our new born empire : but alas ! he is removed from 
 his charge and left us, as deftitute orphans to bewail our 
 unfpeakable lofs ! And yet he is not loft j he lives, he 
 greatly lives in the benefit and glory of his actions, in 
 the veneration and affection of his grateful countrymen, 
 and will live in the records of fame as long as liberty and 
 virtue fhall be relpected and admired. The fragrant 
 odour of his memory fhall flow down the current of fu- 
 ture generations, till they are loft in the ocean of eter- 
 nity. 
 
 SHALL we not then, while we deeply deplore the me- 
 lancholy event, be permitted to confole the forrow of 
 qur hearts, and illumine the fable cloud of our afflictions 
 by contemplating his illuftrious talents and virtues, cele- 
 brating the praife of his eminent and glorious fervices and 
 achievments, and holding him up to view as an example 
 to all who are ambitious to excel, as a model for War- 
 riors, for Statefmen and Magiftrates through all ages, in 
 our own country and throughout the world ? 
 
 To 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 To aflift your minds in thefe fadly folemn, but highly 
 ufef ul reflections, is the talk affigned me on this interefting 
 occafion A tafk how honorable ! and yet how delicate, 
 how arduous; and, I had almofl faid, how ufelefs ? For 
 who is not acquainted with the deeds, the virtues of a 
 Wafhinston ? Whofe heart and mouth is not filled with 
 
 9 
 
 his praife ? Yet why mould it be deemed arduous and 
 difficult to dojuftice to his merit, for who can think of 
 his virtues and not catch from their influence fuch an in- 
 Ipiration, as well render him eloquent in Eulogiums to 
 his memory ? Certainly * no fubject was ever more fuf- 
 ceptible of a folid and fublime eloquence than the Life 
 and the Death" of THE GREAT, the immortal 
 WASHINGTON, COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF 
 ALL THE AMERICAN ARMIES, PRESIDENT 
 FOR MANY YEARS OF THESE UNITED 
 STATES, AND LATE GENERAL AND 
 COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF ALL THEIR 
 FORCES. " In what perfonage did ever the effects 
 of moral, military, and political virtue fhine with 
 greater fplendor, than in this renowned Chief ? How 
 ftrikingly were they exhibited in the formation and con- 
 dud of armies, in bold encounters, honorable retreats 
 and hard fought battles -, in conquering his enemies by 
 force, or wafting away their flrength and numbers by 
 patience and addrefs ;" in accepting, with a becoming 
 diffidence, the higheft offices his country could beftow, 
 in filling them with dignity, wifdom and fidelity, in re- 
 figning them with modefty and moderation, in counfel- 
 ing and advifing the officers and fubjects of government 
 
 to 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 to a courfe of conduct mofl wifely adapted to fecure their 
 liberty, their harmony, virtue, dignity and profperity to 
 the remoteft generations ? " Where can we find another 
 fo liberal, fo difinterefted, fo devoted to the glory and 
 happinefs ot his country ; fo great in adverfity by his 
 courage, in profperity by his medefly, in difficulties by 
 his prudence, in dangers by his valour, and in religion by 
 his piety ?" But no pen, no tongue^ but his own, could do 
 juftice to his merits ; yet thefe were always as filent in his 
 own praifes, as they are at this melancholy moment. 
 Let then his works, and his writings fpeak his juft praifes, 
 thefe will be found the trueft mirrour of his virtue, and 
 his fame. Let as contemplate our beloved Hero enga- 
 ged in the arduous labours of the cabinet and the field. 
 But thefe are fo vaft, fo complicated in their number 
 and variety, that we know not where to begin, or where 
 we fhall be able to end 
 
 LET us then recur to the time and the place at which 
 he made his entrance on the ftage of the world. The 
 parifh of Wafhington in the county of Weftmoreland, 
 and ftate of Virginia, was the favoured fpot, which, on 
 the lith of February old flyle, in the year 1732, gave 
 birth to our illuftrious Hero. Yes, he was a. pure Ame- 
 rican ; he was born in our country ; his genius, his virtues, 
 his actions, are all our own 
 
 AT an early age, he was deprived of his father's patron- 
 age, and the kind attention of his eldeft brother, by their 
 death, and left an object of watchful care and tendernefs 
 
 to 
 
< 9 ) 
 
 to an affectionate mother. His genius needed ndt, iikfi 
 thofe of an inferior grade, the labored inftrudions, dif- 
 cipline and ftimulus of a public univerfity, to call forth 
 its energies, and ripen its improvement. Under the nur- 
 turing care of a private tutor, his active and penetrating 
 mind was able to acquire thofe principles and rudiments 
 of knowledge and fcience, which were neceifary to pre- 
 pare him for the difcharge of thofe high and important 
 offices, he was, hereafter, to fu (lain. What though he 
 \vas not mailer of the language of Greece or of Rome 5 
 he was matter of virtues and accomphlhments fuperior 
 to the nobleft of their fans 
 
 WHEN he was 15 years of age he entered as midlhip- 
 man on board a Britifli veflel ot war, but was prevented 
 taking pofleffion of the'ftation he had obtained, by thsr 
 averfion of his mother to a profefllon fo unfavourable to 
 his morals and his life. Thus an Omnijdent Providence 
 prevented his becoming a fkillful artift in hurling that 
 Britifh thunder, againft whofe bolts, he was deftined to 
 defend the lives and liberties of his countrymen. Hav- 
 ing a firm and enterprizing foul, united to a healthful 
 and vigorous body, neither corrupted nor inervated by 
 the vices and exceffes of youth, he was fitted to perform 
 the duties, and endure the hardlhipsofa life, devoted ta 
 the fafety, the happinefs and glory of his country 
 
 IN the year 17^3, when he wss but little more than 
 .21 yars of age, he accepted and executed a miffion tc 
 
 B treat 
 
treat with the French and Indians at Fort Du Quefne, 
 and to remonftrate to the former againlt their encroach- 
 ments upon the lands of our now weftern territory. To 
 accomr)Rh this miffion, he had to pafs a wild and howl- 
 ing wildernefs for feveral hundred miles, bcfet with ia- 
 vage beafts and more favage men ; and to guard againfl 
 the attacks of violence, and the arts of negociation; but 
 with a con r cioufncfs of his own integrity, a modeft con- 
 fidence in his own abilities, and a humble reliance on the 
 protection of divine Providence, lie " executed the duties 
 of a miffion, fo arduous and difficult, with fingular in- 
 duftry, intelligence and addrefs" 
 
 IN the year 175;, we meet with our beloved Hero 
 making a more confpicuous entrance on the theatre of 
 war ; a theatre on which he was defiined to fhine here- 
 after with fuch diftinpuifhed glory. He be2;an morede- 
 
 . ' O J O 
 
 cidedly to improve his mind in the practical knowledge 
 of military fer vice in the office of Colonel of the Virginia 
 provincial troop?, under the orders and difcipline of Ge- 
 neral Braddock. This gentleman was Britifh comman- 
 der of an expedition n^ainft the French forces at a pod 
 lince denominated Fort Pitr ; and though ikillfu! in the ici- 
 enceand practice of war, he unvvariiy fell into an ambuf- 
 cade near the banks of the river Monongahela. He 
 immediate'y drew up his troops in.clofe order of battle. 
 thereby expofing them, in open view, to the deadly fire 
 of His enemicr, foncca'cd and kcurcd behind the logs 
 and trees of the foreft ; whr, !r!M.'J; far inferior in num- 
 bers 
 
bers to his own forces, cut them down by hundreds and 
 by thoufancls, and left them to lie unburied in the ranks 
 in which they fell a prey to favage beads, and a perpetual 
 monument of the utter infufficiency of a commander 
 who does not unite in his charade r prudence with cou 
 rage, judgment and fagacity with the art of war. 
 
 COL. Wafhington had the prudence and courage to 
 defend the fhattered remains of the routed army againft 
 the further attacks of their enemy, and to conduct their 
 retreat to a ftation of fafety. And he doubtlefs had the 
 vvildom to profit by this fatal inftance of inattention and 
 temerity in his genera!, and to bear it on his mind, as 
 an affeclif^g caution to be forever on his guard againft 
 fuch a difittrous lurprize and defeat. No inftance, it is 
 prefumed, can be found in the whole lerics of his mili- 
 tary operations, in which he prefenteJ an advantage to 
 his enemy, by unguarded (ecurity or intemperate ram- 
 nefs. He knew when to advance and when to retire. 
 No hazards or labours could deter him from engaging 
 an enemy, when warranted by wifdom and prudence : 
 No provocations of his enemy, no cenfure from his pro- 
 fefled friends, no dread of diihonour to his military cha- 
 racter, could impel him to rifque a battle againft the 
 dictates of his own enlightened judgment : his foes might 
 defeat his troops, but could never fubdue their General : 
 they might force him to retire, but could never take 
 him by furprize. It was by a firm and refolute perfeve- 
 rancc in this line of conduct, that hejuftiy acquired the 
 
 illuftrious title of the AMERICAN FABIUS. 
 
 AND 
 
AND that we may be convinced how fully the truth 
 qf thefe oblervations was verified in his practice, let us 
 pafs over in filence the other paflages of his life, and 
 ha lien to that eventful period, when he was chofen Com- 
 iti Chief of all the American forces. 
 
 HE was a member of the Congrefs which convened at 
 Philadelphia on the icth of May, in the year 1775: a 
 year forever cMfpicnous in the annals of American liberty. 
 The f.vord of Britilh (laughter had already been drawn 
 on the plains of Lexingron, and dyed its guilty blade in 
 American blood. An army had been haftily affembled 
 in the vicinity oi: Bofton, compofed of the hardy fons of 
 liberty, whole courage, enthullaftic zeal for the freedom 
 and iafety of their country, and their indignation againft 
 its hwlefs invaders were to fupply the place of military 
 experience, difcipline, and the complicated apparatus cf 
 war. And foon after a detachment from this army gave 
 to the Britons, at the battle of Bunker's hill, a terrible 
 fpecimen of their obftinate valour, and taught them, by 
 the: wide extended (laughter which laid wafte the flower 
 of t'<uii- troops, to confider the mighty expence of blood 
 and treafure, it would cofc them to conquer our country. 
 
 THE appeal was now made to Heaven ; the fpirit of 
 refiftance, through all the States, was blown to a flame, 
 and the Congrefs was deliberating on the moft fuitable 
 find ncceffary meafures to concentrate and direct its 
 force, One of the moft obvious of which was the ap- 
 pointment 
 
( '3 ) 
 
 pointment of a Commander in Chief. And GEORGE 
 WASHINGTON, diftinguilhed by his eminent vir- 
 tues and abilities, as the moft fui table perfon for fuch an 
 arduous ftation, was, on the ijth of June, 1775, unani- 
 moit/ly deBtd and appointed Commander in Chief of all the 
 forces raifed> or to be raifed, for the defence of the colonies. 
 And fuch was the public opinion of his virtues, that the 
 choice was univerfally approved. 
 
 BUT what muft have been the feelings of this great 
 and good man at this awful crijis ? He was fully apprized 
 of the great naval and military ftrength of Great Britain, 
 the fkill and courage of her troops, and her boundlefs re- 
 iources for war ; " he knew that her fleets rode miftrefs 
 of the ocean, and that her flag had waved in triumph over 
 the four quarters of the world." He knew that the A- 
 mericans, though brave, were deficient in martial fkiil 
 and experience, and almoft entirely deftitute of military 
 (lores and the neceflary furniture for war. He knew 
 that their armies muft be at fir ft but little Superior to an 
 undisciplined rabble, and that a feries of months and 
 perhaps years, and an infinite expenfe of labour, of pnti- 
 cnce, and application muft be employed to form them 
 to fuch difcipline, fubordination, and confidence as would 
 enable them to take the field, with a profped of fuccefs, 
 againft an army of veteran foes. He knew that if they 
 mould fail of accomplishing the great objects of their 
 conflict, the yoke of flavery might be riveted forever on 
 the necks of his dear countrymen, and himfelf with his 
 
 principal 
 
( 14 ) 
 
 principal affociates in this arduous enterprize might pro- 
 bably be facrificed to Britifh pelicy or reientment. What 
 courage, therefore, what finiYhefs, what confidence in the 
 juftice of liis caufe, what ardent afiedion for the liberty 
 and fafety of his country, what reliance on the protection 
 of Heaven, muft have infpired his bread, to induce him 
 to accept a command fo full of difficulty, labour, and 
 hazard ? But under the influence of thefe noble princi- 
 ples, he did cheerfully accept it, though with unexampled 
 tnodefty, as may appear from his reply to the Prchdent 
 of Congrefs, announcing his appointment, in the follow- 
 ing words: " Though I am, truly fenfible of the high 
 honour done me in this appointment, yet I feel great dif- 
 trefs from the confcioufnefs that my abilities and military 
 experience may not be equal to the extenfive and im- 
 portant truft. However, as the Congrels defire it, I 
 will enter upon the momentous duty, and exert every 
 power I pofiefs in their fervice, and in fupport of the 
 Glorious Caufe." 
 
 He proceeded to further exprefllons of a modeft con- 
 fidence, but with a caution not to entertain too exalted 
 expectations of his fuccefs, and then added : " As to pay, 
 Sir, I beg leave to affure the Congrefs that, as no pe- 
 cuniary confideration could have tempted me to accept 
 this arduous employment at the expence of my domef- 
 ticeafe and happinels, I do not wiQi to make any profit 
 from it ; I will keep an exacl account of my expence?, 
 thofe I doubt not they will difcharge, and that is all I 
 dffire." 
 
( '5 ) 
 
 In thefe effufions of a great and liberal mind, what an 
 amiable combination do we f-e of magnanimity and mo- 
 defty, of a generofity and courage, worthy of a Wafti- 
 
 ington. 
 
 Immediately on receiving his commiflion, he repaired 
 to Cambridge and took the command of the army, al- 
 ready aiTembled at that place, and began to make fuch 
 arrangements and regulations, as were neceffary to ren- 
 der it refpectable and formidable to its enemies. And 
 here he commenced in earneft the arduous courfe of his 
 military operations, hazards and toils. Minutely to de- 
 tail them, is neither neceflary nor poflible. But could I 
 form a miniature picture of the whole, or could I caufe 
 them to rife up to your view, and pafs in rapid fucceffion 
 before your eyes, I might point out our indefatigable 
 Hero on the heights of Charleftown, of Cambridge, of 
 Roxbury, and Dorchefter ; on the latter I might fhevv 
 you works riling in one night, like an exhalation from 
 the earth, to the furprife and terror of his enemies. I 
 might fliew you thefe enemies haftily evacuating the 
 town of Boflon, and fpeeding their courfe to New- York. 
 I might point out our watchful commander already at 
 that pofl with his army, prepared to receive them, for- 
 tifying, contending, retiring, oppreffed, but not dejected 
 by difappointments and defeats I might prefent him to 
 your wondering eyes, now fighting, and now retreating 
 with mafterly addrefs beneath the covert of the night, 
 and the mifty clouds of the morning, by which heaven 
 Concealed his movements from the view of the enemy, 
 
 and 
 
C 6 ) 
 
 nd exerting all the powers of his mighty foul to fave his 
 army and his country from that utter deftruction, which 
 fcemed juft ready to overwhelm them. I might invite 
 you to notice the various emotions painted on his manly 
 countenance, and the generous tear fwelling in his eye, 
 when he faw his beloved foldiers fubje&ed to defeat, to 
 capture, dejection and death. For his heart was full of 
 ienfibility, and though his pafiions were never permitted to 
 controul his judgment, to dethrone his realon, or to de- 
 range the order and harmony of his foul ; yet, as be- 
 came a moral and a chriflian hero, he indulged, as wif- 
 dom and generofity prefcribcd, to the tender and benev- 
 olent emotions and fympaihies of his heart. Ready, when- 
 ever the duty of his ftation, and the importance of his 
 object required it, to expofe his troops and himfelf to the 
 labors and dangers of fighting and fatigue,yct was he never 
 prodigal of their ftrengthor of their lives ; not a man of 
 them was ever facrificed to his own perfonal honor or 
 fame; not a drop of their blood was med but for the fervice 
 and benefit of his country. His foldiers were his children 
 and friends, they loved, they revered, they adored him 
 as the beft of fathers, and the greateft of men. His 
 voice was their oracle, and his word was their law Yet 
 all their love and veneration for their leader, all their zeal 
 for the liberty and happinefs of their country, could not 
 always render them firm and undaunted in the face of 
 their enemies Hence that ftorm of conflicting paflions, 
 which, on his retreat from New-York, for a moment, 
 harrowed up his foul, magnanimous as it was, when he 
 
 faw 
 
( '7 ) 
 
 law the dejection, the defertion, and diminution of his 
 army, and beheld at one view the dreadful horrors which 
 mud inevitably follow their total defeat and deftrudion. 
 But this conflict was but the agonizing crFort of honor, 
 courage, and patriotifm fuelling and draggling with 
 mighty energy to drive back that formidable engine of 
 hoftile power and violence which feeme'd ju d ready tof 
 crum his beloved country - y and, when deferred by others, 
 to rufh forward, and like another Sampfon, witli 
 his own fingle arm, to make and tumble it td 
 the ground, though at the hazard of burying hirhfelf 
 in the wide-fpreading ruins of its fall. But how 
 Toon did thefe paflbns fubfide into a calrri fub- 
 miffion to the difpofals of Providence, and a determined 
 refolution to defend thecaufe in which he had embarked 
 to the lad extremity, and never to defert it, while one 
 man could be found to aflid him in its fupport ? fo that 
 when he was alked where he mould make a (land ? he 
 coolly, but fignifkantly replied, " Beyond the Allegany 
 mountains, if we are not able to do it before" Behold 
 him, therefore, retreating through the Jerfeys with an 
 handful of troops, deditute of tents, of cloathing and of 
 almod every convenience neceffary to mield them from 
 the rigid feverities of the fealon ; their undiod, wounded 
 feet marking their footdeps with blood ; (corned by 
 their enemies, deferted by their friends, and ready to be 
 overwhelmed with an ocean of furrounding evils and en- 
 emies ; yet under the preffure of this mighty load of 
 complicated fufferings and dangers, his heart /'; ajlranger 
 
 t9 
 
 C 
 
to timidity cr dtfpair. Confcious of the rectitude and 
 purity of his own principles, confident in the juftice and 
 magnitude of his caufe, and relying on the protection of 
 that providence, which had hitherto preferved himfelf 
 and his country from utter ruin ; he waited, in the em- 
 ployment of every practicable meafure, and every pofiible 
 exertion, for the favourable moment which fhould arreft 
 and roll back the headlong current of his affairs. 
 
 AND beheld that favourable moment is happily real- 
 ized when, on the 25111 of December, '76, our immor- 
 tal Commander^ having recruited and marmaled his little 
 army on the Pennfylvania bank of the river Delaware, 
 recrofles that river, clogged with ice, in the darknefs of 
 the night, and in the very teeth of the cold driving tem- 
 ped of fnow and hail, attacks, kills and captures above 
 nine hundred Heffians Rationed at Trenton, and retires 
 with his prifoneis in fafety and triumph ! Behold, a few 
 days after, the enemy coming down upon him, at the 
 fame Trenton, like an angry lion, feeming to have en- 
 circled him within the grafp of his paws, and lying down 
 to reft for the n'ght, fecure of his prey, when tlie cold 
 piercing wind of favouring heaven blowing from the 
 north and congealing the fpongy earth to the hardnefs of 
 a pavement beneath the feet of his troops, (for the ele- 
 ments fought for fflajhitigton) he, with a mafterly addrefs, 
 by a fecret, rapid and circuitous march, gains the rear 
 of the enemy, attacks, defeats and captures their troops 
 at Princeton, and retires in fafety, before the enemy, 
 amazed and embarrafTed, could arrive to revenge the un- 
 cxpeded dif after ! Iw 
 
( 19 ) 
 
 IN this rencounter, our valiant hero delayed a Ipirit 
 of daring intrepidity apparently bordering on raQmefs, 
 by expofing his life, in a critical moment when his troops 
 b?gan to give way, to the mod imminent danger ; but 
 well he knew, that it would be no temerity to hazard a 
 life, however precious, at iuch an interefling crifis, when 
 a failure of fuccefs would render it ufelefs to his country, 
 and liable to be doomed a facrificc to an ignominious 
 fate The deadly balls of the enemy, being turned afide 
 by an invilible hand from bis bread, drove on with in- 
 dignant fury and pierced the gallant bofom of the much 
 lamented Mercer. 
 
 THESE brilliant operations and fucceffes, though by 
 no means decifive, yet furprifed and confounded the ene- 
 my, and were to the army and the country like life from 
 the dead And by letting in motion the fprings of uni- 
 verfal activity and enterprize, produced confequences of 
 the utmoft utility and importance. 
 
 BUT all thefe confequences did not immediately fol- 
 low. For, in the fucceeding year of '77, at Brandywine, 
 at Gernuntown, at Ticonderoga, and at other places, 
 which need not be mentioned, defeat and dilaftcr at- 
 tended the operations of our arms. 
 
 FOR the character and example of our beloved hero 
 were not to be rompleated by a fhort courfe of victories 
 and fuccefles, and then to fink, like a blazing meteor, 
 
 into. 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 into the (hades of darknefs and oblivion. His divine 
 rpafter was forming him in the (chool of adverfity to -a 
 fpirit of refignation, patience and piety, preparing him to 
 aA a part of: diftinguiilied dignity andufefulnefs in future 
 eminent flations, and to exhibit a fhining example of vir- 
 tue and goodnefs to warriors and ftatefmen, and even to 
 perfons of every rank in life, to all future generations 
 In the greateft extremity of his misfortunes, and the low- 
 ed depth of his dipreflion, Congrefs was fo intirely fatis- 
 ficd with his abilities and conduct, and placed fuch a per- 
 fect reliance on the wif-Jom, vigour and uprightnefs of 
 his principles and operations, that they vefted him with 
 powers, the moft ample, compleat, and exter.five in re- 
 gard to the appointments, arrangements and proceedings 
 necdTiiry to the profecution of the war This ponder- 
 ous weight of care and refponfibility he willingly atium- 
 ed with a fingle view, as we have the fulled reafon to 
 believe, to the prefervation and eftablifhment of the lib- 
 erty and independence of his country And hence it was 
 that, far fuperior to thofe ignoble paflions of envy and 
 regard to perional honour and appiaufe, which have 
 fometimes had too much influence on minds, otherwile, 
 in a degree, great and generous, he rejoiced in the fuc- 
 cefs and victory of generals acting at a diftance under 
 his own orders, or thofe of Congrefs, as cordially as if 
 they had been his own With what gladnefs did he hear 
 that the coo!, fteady, and fagacious courage and conduct 
 of General Green, had contended againR his noble antag- 
 pnift with fuch energy and effect, as to leave him only 
 
 the 
 
the empty name and honor of a victory, without per- 
 mitting him to reap any folid advantages from it ? With 
 what lively fatisfaction and triumph did he welcome the 
 intelligence, that, the northern army under the direction 
 of General Gates, infpired by the headlong courage of 
 Arnold, and the difpaffionate intrepidity of Lincoln, had 
 been crowned with the compleat fuccefs of capturing 
 General Burgoyne with his whole army ? Perhaps his 
 generous heart fwelled not with more grateful emotions 
 at the decided iuperiority of his own troops over the 
 forces of Britain at the battle of Monmouth, on the 28th 
 of June, '78, when he had the unfpeakable pleafure of 
 realizing the fruits of his indefatigable activity and dili- 
 gence in forming them to fuch a perfection of military 
 difcipline, courage and {kill, that they were able fuccefs- 
 fully to contend with the braved foldiers in the world. 
 
 BUT paffing over in filence a variety of interefting 
 events and operations ; omitting to mention the detefta- 
 ble plot, and vile defection of an Arnold, which have 
 branded his name with everlafting infamy ; and to expa- 
 tiate on the companionable fate of the haplefs and gene- 
 rous Andre, and the painful regret which wounded the 
 heart of our benevolent hero under the imperious ne- 
 cefiity of putting that amiable youth to an untimely and 
 diihonorable death j we haflen on to the clofmg and 
 crowning operation of this long and calamitous war. 
 The capture of Lord Cornwall is with his whole army, at 
 York-Town, on the i9th of October, 1781, by the uni- 
 ted 
 
ted forces of America and France, afforded the moft 
 lively fatisfadion to the heart of our beloved hero, not 
 only as it witnefled a decided luperiority of his troops 
 over thofe of the enemy, an J crowned them and their Ge- 
 neral with never-fading laurels ot victory and glory, but 
 more efpecially as it furnimed ample ground of hope, 
 that this long and difallrous war would foon be conclu- 
 ded by an honourable and lading peace : a peace which 
 would forever fecure to united America her Liberty, her 
 Sovereignty and Independence The happy event offuch 
 a peace, which had been the objed of all the wifhes and 
 efforts of our hero, and which terminated his military 
 career with felicity and glory, was compleated on the jd 
 day of September, 1783. An event, the bleffmgs of 
 which would probably never have been realized by the 
 States of America, had it not been for the talents and 
 virtues of their ineftimable Wafhington. It was an event, 
 however, of which the happy fruits were in danger of being 
 blaftedby the officers of the American army, when they 
 difcovered that they were to be discharged without re- 
 ceiving that compenfation for their fervices, which they 
 juftly expected, and by the meafures which their refent- 
 ment at fuch unworthy treatment, excited them to pur- 
 fue, for obtaining fatisfadion to their juft demands. 
 
 In this moft difficult and delicate conjnndure, all the 
 powers and virtues of our hero's ioul were called fourth 
 to a new train of objeds and exertions. But inftead of 
 availing himielf of the difcontent and refentment of the 
 
 9 
 
 army 
 
army to ufurp the powers of government, and render 
 himfelf the fovereign mafter of his country, a conduct to 
 which an ambitious and afpiring mind would probably 
 have been prompted, he employed the whole influence of 
 his authority and addrefs, and of his intereft in the affec- 
 tions of his officers, to calm their paffions and to fatisfy 
 their minds that juftice would be done them by their 
 much indebted country. 
 
 THIS noble effort of juftice and benevolence to his mil- 
 itary friends, and of refpecl and affection to the liberties 
 and conflituted authorities of his country, ever facred 
 and dear to his heart, was complcated in his farewell or- 
 ders, in which, with all the dignity of a commander, 
 and all the piety and affection of a father, he gave the 
 mod falutary advice to his officers, and bid them a long 
 and affectionate adieu. 
 
 As thefe orders breathe an ardent and amiable fpirit 
 of wifdom and goodnefs, of generous affection to his ar- 
 my and his country, and of piety to his God, I cannot 
 forbear citing a paragraph or two from fuch an excellent 
 performance, as ftrongly exprefiive of the genuine cha- 
 racter of his heart 
 
 "A CONTEMPLATION" (fays the venerable Chief) 
 " of the compleat attainment (at a period earlier than 
 could have been expected) of the object for which we 
 contended, againft fo formidable a power, cannot but in- 
 fpire us with aftonimment and gratitude. The difad- 
 
 vantageous 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 vantageous circumftances on our part, under which the 
 war was undertaken, can never be forgotten. The fin- 
 gular interpofitions of Providence in our feeble condition 
 were fuch as could fcarcely efcape the attention of the 
 mod unobferving, while the unparalleled perfeverance of 
 the armies of the United States, through almoft every 
 poffible fuffering and difcouragement, for the fpace of 
 eight long years, was little fhort of a (landing miracle." 
 ct And the General being now to conclude with thefe 
 Jaft public orders, to take his ultimate leave, in a fhort 
 time, of the military character, and to bid a final adieu 
 to the armies he has fo long had the honour to com- 
 mand j he can only again offer in their behalf, his re- 
 commendations to their grateful country, and his pray- 
 ers to the God of armies. May ample juftice be done 
 them here, and may the choiceft ot Heaven's favours, 
 both here and hereafter, attend thofe who under the di- 
 vine 'aufpices have fccured innumerable bleffings for 
 others. 
 
 " WITH thefe wiihes and this benediction, the Com- 
 mander in Chief is about to retire from lervice. The 
 curtain of ieparation is drawn, and the military fcene to 
 him will be doled forever." 
 
 Now from this general review of a long and compli- 
 cated ferics of operations and events, various, intereft- 
 ing and extending (rom one extremity of United Ameri- 
 ca to the other, to Canada, to the ocean, and to the king- 
 doms of the European world, mud we not be led to 
 
 form 
 
form the mod enlarged and exalted idea of the genii:'::, 
 the talents and virtues of our mofl excellent Chief ? Of 
 that invincible fortitude and courage which could fuftain 
 his mind under fuch an accumulated load of labor and 
 difappointments ? Of that amazing penetration, force 
 of judgment, and flrctch of thought, which enabled 
 him to look through fuch an endlefs variety of affairs, to 
 give direction to fuch a multitude of movements, and 
 to devife plans and mcafures for carrying into execution 
 fuch vaft and numerous defigns ? The weight of our 
 rifing Empire was laid upon his fhoulders, and he be- 
 came the principal pillar in fupporting the liberty, the 
 independence, the honour and fafety of our weftern 
 world. 
 
 LET no honeft and fcrupulous, but erring mindj let 
 no heart, attempting to difguife far different fentiments 
 under the fpecious covering of humility and piety, cen- 
 fure the honours we pay to his memory as far tranfcend- 
 ing the merit of a mortal j and tax us with idolatry in 
 paying an homage to his virtues, which is due only to the 
 perfections of his God. For we religioufly avow, and 
 wifh to have it forever underftood, that we devoutly ac- 
 knowledge his whole bright afTemblage of abilities, vir- 
 tues and achievements, to have been given him from 
 Heaven in tendernefs and mercy to thefe United States ; 
 and to that original, inexhauflible fountain of being and 
 happinefs, our unfeigned tribute of gratitude and praife, 
 is, and ought to be ultimately, paid. Of this our humbte 
 D Waj 
 
was himfelf deeply fenfible ; this he devoutly 
 and uniformly confefled. And by a fingular humility 
 and modefty, which, while it deprefled and annihilated 
 his virtues and fervices in his own eyes, exalted them in 
 the eyes of God and man, he, for a long time, con- 
 founded the malignant eye of Envy, and awed to filencc 
 her flanderous tongue. 
 
 THUS our beloved hero, having finimed the numerous 
 aiiu arduous labors of his military life, having refisned 
 
 O O 
 
 his cominifllon with a folemnity and dignity, and vvirh 
 expreflions of gratitude and piety becoming a general 
 and a chriftian, retired to the favourite pleafures and em- 
 ployment of rural and dom.efi.ic life. 
 
 AND here, if time would permit, we might view him 
 exercifing, in the fhades of retirement, all the mild and 
 amiable virtues of the gentleman, the citizen, the hui- 
 bandman, the companion, the matter, the hufband and 
 the friend. 
 
 BUT from thefe domeflic and rural enjoyments, ever 
 ineilimabiy dear to his heart, he was foon called forth by 
 his afTecY:cnate and admiring country to a new feries of 
 arduous and important labors. Chofen as a delegate, and 
 elected to preiide in a convention affembled at Philadel- 
 phia, in the month of May, 1787, for the purpofe of 
 forming a con ft i tut; on of government for the United 
 States, he contributed the whole force of his political 
 
 knowledge 
 
knowledge and experience to the accompli foment of 
 thatdefign. And when it was completed and ratified 
 by a large majority of the ftates in the union, the wif- 
 dom, the gratitude and efteem of his countrymen led 
 them to elect him, by their unanimous Cuff rages, to pre- 
 fide as their fupreme magiflratc, and to carry into exe- 
 cution that coniYitution of government, which his talents 
 and virtues had affifted to form. He entered upon the 
 arduous work of this difficult and delicate adminiftration 
 on the 3oth day of April, 1789, at the city of New- 
 York. " The ceremony of his inauguration (lays a ce- 
 lebrated writer) was performed in the open gallery of 
 Federal Hall, in the view of many thoufand fpectators 
 The oath was adminiflered by Chancellor Livingfton 
 Several circumstances concurred to render the fcene un- 
 ufuaily folemn The prefencc of the beloved Father and 
 Deliverer of his Country The impreffions of gratitude 
 for his pall fervices The vaft concourfe of fpedtators 
 The devout fervency with which he repeated the oath. 
 and the reverential manner in which he bowed to kils 
 the facred volume Thefecircamftances, together with 
 that of his being chofen to the mod dignified office in 
 America, and perhaps in the whole world, by the unan- 
 imous voice of more than three millions of enlightened 
 freemen, all confpired to place this amongft the mod 
 auguft and interefting fcenes which have been exhibited 
 on the theatre of this globe." 
 
 AND who, with any appearance of reafon or juftice, 
 can venture to aflert, that the progress of his whole ad- 
 
 miniftration 
 
ininifi ration was not anfwerable in wifdom, fidelity, and 
 integrity to the grandeur, folemnity, and piety of this 
 commencing ad ? To attempt a particular detail of the 
 mod important meafures and tranfadions of this admi- 
 nitlration, to fpccify the particular difplays of prudence, 
 impartiality, firmnefs, and political ability, exhibited by 
 the Prefident, in times the moft trying and critical, 
 nmidft the intrigues and collifions of contending parties 
 and rival interefts, and the dangerous and deluding influ- 
 ence of foreign powers and domeftic factions, would be 
 a tafk as far exceeding my abilities, as the bounds allot- 
 ted to the preicnt performance. 
 
 BUT can any perfon, even of a moderate {"hare of con- 
 fideration, candour and judgment, fufped that this great 
 man was drawn forth from a retreat, which he qffitres us 
 himfelf, he had chofen with the fondefl predilection, and 
 in his own flattering hopes, with an immutable decifion, 
 as the afylum of his declining years $ a retreat that was 
 rendered every day more necelfary, as well as more dear 
 to him by the addition of habit to inclination, and of 
 the frequent interruptions in his health to the gradual 
 wafle committed on it by time can any perfon believe 
 that this great man was thus drawn forth to alTume a 
 itation of the higheft labor, difficulty and refponfibility, 
 hy any other motives than a veneration and love for the 
 voice of his country, and a pure and ardent zeal for the 
 promotion of her deareft intereft, honour and happinefs ? 
 And \yill not every one acknowledge that, from the long 
 
 experiment 
 
experiment which had been made of his virtues and a- 
 bilities, they muft have juftly appeared to his countrymen 
 more equal to the truft he confented to aflame, than 
 thofe of any of his compatriots ? 
 
 DID he nominate and appoint to Rations of fuperior 
 importance men whofe political fentiments he knew to 
 be different from his own ? This was an expreffion of 
 the independence and impartiality of his heart, and was 
 done from a generous preemption, arifing from his own 
 confcious integrity, that they would be influenced by a 
 facred regard to the honour and happinefs of their coun- 
 try, and would facrifke their own private fentiments to 
 the public good. 
 
 AND will it not be acknowledged by every candid 
 mind, that he clearly underftood, and faithfully confult- 
 ed the benefit of his country, in taking, decidedly, a 
 neutral ftation with regard to the contending powers of 
 Europe, and in ftudioufly avoiding the calamity of being 
 involved in the diftracling politics and deftruftive wars 
 of the European Nations: and that while he flrenuoufly 
 cultivated the friendfliip of each, he was rdigioufly 
 faithful and afiiduous to acknowledge the claims, refped: 
 the rights, and promote the intereft and honor of all ? 
 
 IF his talents, his meafures and exertions, were, in 
 any inftance, ineffectual to the execution of a tafk fo 
 arduous and difficult, where is the man whofe talents 
 
 and 
 
( 30 ) 
 
 and meafures would have fecured fuccefs ? Ant! if, in 
 iome inftances, he was not fo happy as to gratify his 
 own wifhes in fatisfying the defires and expectations of 
 all his countrymen, fuch a failure cannot be ftrange ; to 
 have avoided it, muft have baffled the powers of an an- 
 gel, and never can be imputed to the want of ability or 
 virtue in a man. And as his conduct in the adminiftra- 
 tion of Government was full of dignity and excellence, 
 fo unexampled an evidence of his modefty and modera- 
 tion was exhibited in his voluntary retirement from the 
 higheft ftation and firft honors of his country to the 
 comparative filence and obfcuvity of a private life. And 
 his affectionate zeal for the honor and happinefs of his 
 countrymen, in prefent and future generations, was 
 difplayed in that admired Legacy of moral and political 
 wifdom and exhortation, which he bequeathed to them 
 immediately before his retirement. 
 
 ONE act more was neceflary tocompleat his characler, 
 and to crown his moral, political and military virtues 
 and glories with that height of perfection, to which 
 they were deflined to arrive. And that aft he performed 
 by a cheerful acceptance, from the hands of our moft 
 worthy Prefident, of an appointment to the office of 
 General and Commander in Chief of all the armies railed, 
 or to be railed, for the fervice of the United States A 
 principal deiign of raifing thefe armies, being to repel 
 the apprehended attacks or invafions of a powerful and 
 infidious enemy ; the General had " the boundlefs 
 
 field 
 
( 3' ) 
 
 field of public a&ion, inceffant trouble and high ref- 
 ponfibility," which fuch a defign muft comprehend, 
 fully in view ; and his letter to the Prefident, announc- 
 ing his acceptance, is altogether worthy of himfelf. It 
 breathes the warmed fentimcnts of love to his country, 
 the fulleft approbation of the firm, but pacific meafures 
 of government, a juft and dignified indignation againft 
 the bafe and infidious treatment of it, by its enemies, and 
 a determined refolution to oppofe, with all his powers, 
 their unrighteous and hoflile cefigns. 
 
 <{ It was notpoflible," fays he, for me to remain igno- 
 rant of of indifferent to, recent tranfadtions." Thefe 
 tmn(a6lions he particularly recites, and then adds : Thefe 
 could not fail to excite in me correfponding fentiments 
 with thofe my countrymen have fo generally expreflcd 
 in their affecYionate addrefles to you. Believe me. Sir, 
 no one can more cordially approve of the ivife and prudent 
 meafures of your adminijlra tion. They ought to injpii e uni- 
 verfal confidence. Satisfied therefore that you have Jincere* 
 ly wijhed and endeavoured to avert war, andexhaujledto the 
 hjl drop the cnp of reconciliation, we can with pure hearts 
 appeal to Heaven for thejujlice of our caufe ; and may con- 
 fidently truft the final refult to that kind providence zvbo has 
 
 heretofore, and Jo often^fignally favored the people of the U- 
 niied States" 
 
 " Thinking in this manner, and feeling how incum- 
 bent it is upon every perfon, of every defcripticn to con- 
 tribute at all times to his country's welfare, and efpecial- 
 
. 
 ]y in a moment like the prefent, when every thing we 
 
 hold dear and facred is fo ferioufly threatened ; I have 
 finally determined to accept the commiflion of comman- 
 der in chief of the armies of the United States." 
 
 Yes, ye fons of America, ye officers and foldiers, who 
 have enjoyed the happinefs and glory to fertre under his 
 unrivalled command in former years of your country's 
 danger, and are indiflulubly attached to him by the 
 ftrongeil ties of gratitude, veneration and love Your 
 beloved general had determined again to clothe himfelf 
 in armour, and to expofe that venerable head, now 
 grown grey and facred with labours, with years and with 
 honors, to the hazards of the hofli'.e field, in defence of 
 the liberty, the religion, the independence and glory of 
 his country. How did your hearts exult in the prof- 
 peel ? How did you already anticipate, in your imagi- 
 nations, the idea of fuccefs and victory ? How did you 
 feem to behold the defeat of your enemies, and the ter- 
 ror and confufion which feized upon their fouls at the 
 very fight of your Wamington ! 
 
 BUT how can I venture toroufe you from the Reverie 
 of this pleafmg dream ? The God of armies had ap- 
 pointed him to a conflict of a far different kind. To 
 contend with the only enemy by whom he could be van- 
 quilhed. 
 
{ 33 ) 
 
 u Death ! great proprietor of all, 'tis thine 
 To tread out Empires and to quench the Stars 1" 
 Thine all-fubduing, unrelenting hand 
 Has laid our precious Hero in the duft ! 
 How dsep the wound infix 'd in every heart ? 
 
 THE fighs ot forroW are as fincere as his virtues, and 
 as extenfive as his fame Our churches are hung with 
 fables, and every object feems clad with a garment of 
 wo The countenances of the young and the fair have 
 loft their fmiles j their faces are covered with a gloom, 
 and their eyes fuffufed with tears Children lilp the 
 praifes of Walhington, and weep that he is dead The 
 hardy bofoms of ftatefmen and warriors are foftened with 
 grief, and their manly eyes do not difdain to pour a tri- 
 bute of tears on the grave of their own and their coun- 
 try's father and friend Virtue and religion lament the 
 lofs of their favourite fon And were any fo obdurate as 
 riot to lament it, they might expect that the plains, the 
 forefts and the rocks, which have witneflcd his virtues 
 and achievments, would reproach their ftupidity by 
 burfting into fighs and groans ! 
 
 AND have not all the children of America reafon to 
 tremble at the frown of Heaven, and look forward with 
 anxious prefages to the calamities which may fucceed fo 
 doleful an harbinger ? Should not each one lay his hand 
 on his heart, and afk himfelf; Whofe fin has done this 
 execrable deed ? Wai it mine ? Was it my fin whiff) has 
 Jlain the father of my country ? let me tear the execrabk 
 murderer forever from my heart And let me look to that 
 E gracious 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 gracious and holy Saviour, with penitence and hope, who 
 calls me, in thefe loud accents of mingled difpleafure and 
 mercy, to be humble, to reform, and to imitate, to the 
 utmoft of my power, the virtue and the piety of that 
 venerable man, whofe death I fo juftly deplore For 
 though I mall never be able to referable their magnitude, 
 yet I may hope to imitate their fincerity. 
 
 AND thofe virtues, and efpecially that humble and un- 
 affected piety, which was the bads and parent of them all, 
 and which elevated, adorned and fanclified his other il- 
 juftrious talents, accomplimments, and fervices, may not 
 only ferve as an example for imitation, but prove a fourcc 
 of confolation to our wounded fpirits. We may be con- 
 foled with the animating confideration, that death has 
 only hid his mortal clay to fleep for a feafon in the filent 
 tomb ; but that every thing ufeful, amiable and venera- 
 ble in his capacious foul, lives, and will live and fiourilh 
 for ever in the happy climes of immortality 
 
 AND thefe fuggeflions are not the incenfe of cuftomary 
 flattery, offered on the altar of an illuflrious Tomb. 
 For thofe, who had the moft intimate knowledge of the 
 fentiments of his heart, and the actions of his private 
 life, aflure us, that he was a ferious and exemplary be- 
 liever of the truths and precepts of our holy religion ; 
 that he was, fo far as their obfervations could determine, 
 aconftant and humble performer of the duties of fecret 
 retirement and devotion -, and that, in ail the trying 
 fcencs and conjunctures of difficulty and diftrefs, with 
 which he was called to encounter, he undoubtedly had 
 
 recourfe 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 teccurfe to God by prayer for fupport, defence and di- 
 redion. Hence we more eafily account for the uniform 
 conflancy, dignity and excellence of his character, which, 
 like the face of Mofes, fhone with an amiable and ven- 
 erable luftre derived from his fecret intercourfe with God : 
 and for the ultimate, fignal fuccefs of his great defigns, 
 feeing, for their accomp'.ifliment, he had engaged the 
 alliance and afiiftance of heaven. And this fpirit of piety 
 and devotion was evident in his humble and devout at- 
 tendance on the facred ordinances of public wcrfliip and 
 religion. A folemn acknowledgment of the fupreme do- 
 minion of the moft High, of conftant dependence on his 
 allwife and powerful Providence, and of great obligations 
 to his infinite gocJnefs and mercy for all public and pri- 
 vate benefits, were frequently introduced, with marks of 
 cordial lincerity and fatisfadion, into iiich public ads, 
 orders, and addreifes as were of a nature properly to admit 
 of fuch an acknowledgment In the fpeech which he 
 delivered to the fir ft Congrefs, under the new Conftitu- 
 tion, he fays : " It would be peculiarly improper to 
 omit in this firft official ad my fervent fopplicatioas to 
 that Almighty Being, who rules over the univerfe, who 
 prefides in the Councils of Nations, and whofe providen- 
 tial aids can fupply every human defed ; that his bene- 
 didions may confecrate to the liberties and happinefs of 
 the people of the United States, a government inftituted 
 by themfelves for thefe eflcntial purpofes, and may ena- 
 ble every inftrument employed in its adminiftration, to 
 execute with fuccefs the fund ions allotted to his charge. 
 In tendering this homage to the great Author of every 
 public and private good, I affure myfeif that it exprefics 
 
 your 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 your fcntiments not lefs than my own ; nor thofe of my 
 fel'ow citizens at large lefs than either. No people can 
 be bound to acknowledge and adore the invifible hand 
 which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people 
 of the United States. Every ftep, by which they have 
 advanced to the character of an independent Nation, 
 ieems to have been diftinguifhed by fome token of pro- 
 vidential agency. And in the important revolution juft 
 accomplimed in the iyftem of their united government, 
 the tranquil deliberations and voluntary confent of fo 
 many diftin<5r. communities, from which the event has re, 
 fulted, cannot be compared with the means by which 
 mod Governments have been eftablifhed, without fome 
 return of pious gratitude along with an humble anticipaT 
 tion of the future bleffings which the pad feem to prefage. 
 Thefe reflections arifing out of the prefent crifis, have 
 forced themfelves too, ftrongly on my mind to be fuppreff. 
 ed. You will join with me, I truft, in thinking there 
 are none under the influence of which, the proceedings of 
 a new and free Government can more aufpiciou% com* 
 mence." In a following paragraph he adds: " There 
 is no truth more thoroughly eftablimed, than that there 
 exifts in the economy and courfe of nature, an indiflblu- 
 ble union between virtue and happinefs ; between duty 
 and advantage ; between the genuine maxims of an hon- 
 eft and magnanimous policy, and the folid rewards of 
 public profperity and felicity. And we ought to, be no 
 Jefs perfuaded that the propitious fmiles of Heaven can 
 never be expected on a nation that difregards the eternal 
 rules of order and right, which Heaven itfelf has, ordain- 
 ed.'* 
 
 BOIB 
 
( 37 } 
 
 BOLD and uncharitable indeed mud be the lips* which 
 will dare to infinuate, that, confidering the man, and the 
 magnitude of the occafion on which he uttered thefe 
 fentiments, they are not the effufions of a truly pious 
 and magnanimous heart. 
 
 AND thofe, who were fpe&ators and witncfles of the 
 folemn fcene of his laft and expiring moments, allure U s, 
 that they bore an exact correfpondence to the auguft 
 and amiable tenor of his preceding life and actions ; that 
 his foul was patient, ferene, and undaunted at the ap- 
 proach of death, I bat he clofed bis mouth and eyes iviib Us 
 own band, and expired without aflntggU and without agrcan ! 
 O ! blefled man ! How haft thou fled forever from our 
 fight ? But thy righteous name (hall be had in everlaft- 
 ing remembrance ! Yet what is that to thee, if thou art 
 fallen proftrate, funk and loft forever beneath the inexor- 
 able Tiand of fate ? But can we, can we ever believe that 
 the Many the Cbriftian, the Hero, the Saviour, the Father, 
 the Eoajl and Delight of his country ; the bright affem- 
 blage of every amiable aud exalted virtue, the example of good- 
 tiffs and great nefs to the Citizen, the Soldier, the Statef- 
 jnan and the General ; the favourite of his friends, the ter- 
 ror of bis enemies, the glory rf his fpecies and the admiration 
 of the world ; can we believe that he has funk into the 
 drear}' abyfs of eternal nothingnefs and oblivion ? Can we 
 believe that the man, whom many millions of his fellow- 
 citizens lament with fighs of undilTembled forrovv, whom 
 thoufands of furviving military aflbciatcs remember with 
 reverence and Jove, and deplore with vivid emotions of 
 
 painful 
 
painful regret, is forgotten by his God? And forever loft in 
 " the common mafs of matter never dignified with life ?" 
 If we could but fufpeft, that fuch were his myfterious Dsf- 
 tiny> our tears might flow forever without hope of folid 
 alleviation to our diftrefs Even his guardian angels 
 might be fuppofed to weep over this dejtiny of their late 
 delightful charge ! 
 
 BUT they do not, they need not weep j for Faith, Hope, 
 and Chanty faw them, though invifible to mortal eyes, 
 fUnding in the attitude of fufpence, and waiting, with 
 folemn expectation, around his dying bed ; tney beheld 
 them receive his mortal fpirit, when fet at liberty from 
 the ruins of its body, beneath the friendly covert of their 
 wide-extended wings, and efcort it along the etherial 
 road to the realms of light, and to the tribunal of its 
 Redeemer and Judge; who gave to this his faithful fer- 
 vant his full acquittance and applaufe, purged away the 
 fpots and (tains of blamable infirmity and imperfection, 
 which (till adhered to him as a fon of Adam's fallen race, 
 and then adorned him with a crown of glory and a robe 
 ot light* They fuw the faints, the holy martyrs, heroes 
 and angels, thofe blefled inhabitants of the bright abodes, 
 welcome this new-made angel to their blifsful fociety, as 
 a partner and alTociate with themfelves in all that celeftial 
 liberty, perfection, bleflednefs and glory which will beau- 
 tify, improve and enrapture their immortal natures 
 throughout all ages, world without end. 
 
 THE 
 

 THE 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 OF THE LATE 
 
 <eorge Washington, 
 
 WHEN PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, 
 On declining being confidered 
 
 A CANDIDATE FOR THE PRESIDENCY. 
 
 TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 FRIEXDS AXD F E LI.O W-C IT 1ZK N S, 
 
 A HE period for a new election of a Citizen to admi- 
 nifler the executive government of the United States, 
 being not far diftant, and the time actually arrived, 
 when your thoughts muft be employed in designating 
 the perfon, who is to be clothed with that important 
 truft, it appears to me proper, efpecially as it may con- 
 duce to a more diflinci expreflfion of the public voice, 
 that I mould now apprife you- of the refolution I have 
 formed, to decline being confidered among the number 
 of thofe out of whom a choice is to be made. 
 
 I BEG you, at the fame time, to do me the juftice to 
 be affured, that this refolution has not been taken, with- 
 out a Uriel: regard to all the confederations appertaining 
 to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his coun- 
 try ; and that, in withdrawing the tender of fervice which 
 filence in my fituation might imply, I am influenced by 
 no diminution of zeal for your future intereft ; no defi- 
 ciency 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 ciency of grateful refpeft for your pad kmdnefs : But 
 am fupported by a full conviction that the ftep is com- 
 patible with both. 
 
 The acceptance of, anJ continuance hitherto in the 
 office to which your fuffrages have twice called me, 
 have been a uniform facrifice of inclination to the opini- 
 on of duty, and to a deference for what appeared to be 
 your defire. I conftandy hoped that it would have been 
 much earlier 1 in my povvw, confidently with motives, 
 which I was not at liberty to difregard, to return to that 
 retirement, from which 1 had been reluctantly drawn. 
 The ftrength of my inclination to do this, previous to 
 the laft election, had even led to the preparation of an 
 addrefs to declare it to you ; but mature reflection on 
 the then perplexed and critical pofture of affairs with 
 foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of perfons 
 entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the 
 idea. 
 
 I REJOICE, that the ftate of your concerns external as 
 well as internal, no longer renders the purluit of inclina- 
 tion incompatible with the fentiment of duty or propri- 
 ety : And am perfuaded whatever partiality may be re- 
 tained for my fervices, that in the prefent circumftances 
 of our country, you will not difapprove my determination 
 to retire. 
 
 THE impreflions with which I firft undertook the ar- 
 duous truft, were explained on the proper occafion. In 
 the difchargeof this truft, I will only fay, that I have 
 \vithgood intentions, contributed towards the organiza- 
 tion and adminiftration of the government, the beft ex- 
 ertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. 
 
 Not 
 
Not unconfcious, in the outfet, of the inferiority of my 
 qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps ftill 
 more in the eyes of others, has (lengthened the motives 
 to diffidence of myfelf : and every day the increafmg 
 weight of years admonilhes me more and more, that the 
 {"hade of retirement is as neceflary to me, as it will be 
 welcome. Satisfied, that if any circumftances have given 
 peculiar value to my fervices, they were temporary, I 
 have the confolation to believe, that while choice and 
 prudence invite me to quit the political itfene, patrio- 
 tifm 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 fufpend the deep acknowledgment of 
 that debt of gratitude,which I owe to my beloved coun* 
 try, for the many honors it has conferred upon me ; flill 
 more for the ftedfaft confidence with which it has fup- 
 ported me j and for the opportunities I have thence en- 
 joyed of manifefting my inviolable attachment by fervi- 
 ces faithful and perfevering, though in ufefulnefs unequal 
 to my Zeal. If benefits have refuhed to our country 
 from thefe fervices, let it always be remembered to our 
 praife,& as an inftru&ive example in ouf annals,that under 
 circumftances in which the pafllons, agitated in every di- 
 rection, were liable to miflead, arnidft appearances fome- 
 times dubious,-^-vicifiitudes of fortune, often difcoura* 
 ging in fituations, in which not unfrequently want of 
 fuccefs has countenanced the fpirit of criticifm the 
 conftancy of your fupport was the eltential prop of the 
 efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were 
 effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea I fhali 
 
 F 
 
( 4* ) 
 
 cany it with me to my grave, as a ilrong Incitement to 
 unceafing vo\\s, that Hssven may continue to you the 
 choiceft tokens of its beneficence that your union and 
 brotherly affection may be perpetual that the free Con- 
 fUtuticn, v.hich is the work of your hands, may be fa- 
 credly maintained that its adminiftration in every de- 
 partment may be (lamped with wifdom and virtue 
 that, in fine, the happinefs of the people of thefe ftates, 
 under the aufpices of liberty, may be made complete, 
 by fo careful a prefervation and fo prudent a ufe of this 
 bleffing, as will acquire to them the glory of recommend- 
 ing it to the applaufe, the affection, and adoption of ev- 
 ery nation which is yet a ftranger to it. 
 
 HERE perhaps, I ought to (lop. But folicitude for 
 your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and 
 the apprehenfion of danger natural to that folicitude, 
 urge me en an occafion like the prefent, to offer to your 
 folemn contemplation, and to recommend to your fre- 
 quent review, ibme fentiments which are the refult of 
 much reflection, of no inccnfiderable cbfervation, and 
 which appear to me all-important to the permanency of 
 ycur felicity as a people. Thefe will be offered to you 
 with the more freedom, as you can only feel in them 
 the dilmtercfted warnings of a parting friend, who can 
 pofllbly have no perfonal motive to bias his counfel. 
 Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your in- 
 dulgent reception of my fentiments on a former and not 
 diflimihr occafion. 
 
 INTERWOVEN as is the love of liberty with every liga- 
 ment of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is ne- 
 ceflary to fortify or confirm the attachment. 
 
 THE unity of Government which conftitutes you one 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 people, is alfo now dear to you. It is juftly fo ; for it is 
 .ain pillar in the edifice of your real Independence, 
 the fapport of your tranquility at home, your peace 
 abroad ; of yocr fafety ; of your profprrity ; of that very 
 liberty which you fo highly prize. But, as it is eafy to 
 forefee, that from different caufes and from different 
 quarters, much pains wi!l be taken, m: em- 
 
 ployed, to weaken in your minds the convict-on of this 
 truth, as this is the point in your Icrtrefs, againfl 
 
 which the batteries of internal and external enemies will 
 be moft conftantly and (though often corertly 
 
 and infidioufly) directed, it is of infinite moment that 
 you Ih: perly eft. t immenfe value of your 
 
 National Union, to your colle&ive and individual hap- 
 pinefc j that you (hould cherifti a cordial, habitual and 
 immoveabic attachment to it ; accuftoming your'e 
 to think and fpeak of it as o: the piiladium of your po- 
 litical iafety and prcfperity, watching ic: .ervation 
 with jealous ar diicountenancing whatever may 
 iuggeft even a lufpicion that it can in any event be aban- 
 doned ; and indignantly frowning upon the firfl dawn- 
 ing of every attempt to alienate any portion ot our coun- 
 try from the reft, or to enfeeble the lacred ties which 
 now link together the various parts. 
 
 FOR this you have every inducement of fympalhyand 
 interelL Citiz: birth or choice, of a common 
 
 country, that country has a right to concentrate 
 affections. The name of American, which belongs to 
 you in your nations y, muft always exalt the juft 
 
 pride of patriotifm, more than any appellation derived 
 from local difcriminations. With flight fhade* of differ- 
 ence you have the fame religion, manners, habits and 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 political principles. You have in a common caufe fought 
 and triumphed together ; the Independence and Liberty 
 you pofiefs are the work of joint councils, and joint ef- 
 forts, of common dangers, fufferings and fuccefles. 
 
 BUT thefe confiderations however powerfully they ad- 
 dr^fs themfelves to your fenfibility, are greatly out- 
 weighed by thofe which apply more immediately to your 
 inteieft. Here every portion of our country finds the 
 moft commanding motives for carefully guarding and 
 preferving the union of the whole. 
 
 The North in an unreftrained intercourfe -with the 
 South, protected by the equal laws of a common gov- 
 ernment, finds in the production, of the latter, great ad- 
 ditional refources of maritime and commercial enter- 
 prife, and precious materials of manufacturing induftry. 
 The South in the fame intercoude, benefitting by the 
 agency of the North, fees its agriculture grow, and its 
 commerce expand. Turning partly into its own chan- 
 nels the fcamen of the North, it finds its particular na- 
 vigation invigorated and while it contributes, in dif^ 
 ferent ways, to nourifh and increafe the general mafs of 
 the national navigation, it looks forward to the protec- 
 tion of a. maritime ftrength, to which itfelf is unequal- 
 ly adapted. The Eaft in a like intercourfe with the 
 Weft, already finds, and in the progreflive improvement 
 pf 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 Weft derives from the Eaft fupplits requifite to its 
 growth and comfort- and what is perhaps of ftill greater 
 coniequence it mtift of neceffity owe the fecure enjoy- 
 fiientpf indiipeniabje outlets for its own productions to 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 the weight, influence, and the future maritime ftrength 
 of the Atlantic fide of the union, directed by an indiflb- 
 luble community of intereft as one nation. Any other 
 tenure by which the Weft can hold this eflential advan- 
 tage whether derived from its own feparate ftrength, or 
 from an apoftate and unnatural connection with any 
 foreign power, muft be intrinfically precarious. 
 
 WHILE then every part of our country thus feels an 
 immediate and particular intereft in union, all the 
 parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mafs of 
 means and efforts, greater ftrength, greater refource, pro- 
 portionably greater fecurity, from external danger, a lefs 
 frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; 
 and what is of ineftimable value ! they muft derive from 
 union an exemption from thofe broils and wars between 
 themfelves, which fo frequently afflidl neighbouring 
 countries, not tied together by the fame government ; 
 which their own rivalfhips alone would be fufficient to 
 produce, but which oppofite foreign alliances, attach- 
 ments and intrigues would ftimulate and imbitter. 
 Hence likevvife they will avoid the neceffity of thofe 
 overgrown military eftablifhments, which under any 
 form of government are inauipicious to liberty, and 
 which are to be regarded as particularly hoftile to Re- 
 publican Liberty : In this fenfe it is, that your union 
 ought to be confidered as a main prop of your liberty, 
 and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the 
 prefervation of the other. 
 
 Thefe confiderations fpeak a perfuafive language to 
 every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the con- 
 tinuance of the UKION as a primary object of a patriotic 
 Uefire t Is there 3 doubt, whether a common govern- 
 
( 4 )' 
 
 ment can embrace fo large a fphere ? Let experience 
 iblve it. To liften to mere fpeculation in fuch a cafe 
 were criminal. We are authorifed to hope that a pro- 
 per organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency 
 of governments for the refpec~tive fubdivifions, will af- 
 ford a happy iffue to the experiment. It is well worth 
 a fair and a full experiment With fuch powerful 
 and obvious motives to the union, affeding all 
 parts of our country, while experiment fhall not have 
 demonftrated its impracticability, there will always be 
 reafon to diftruft the patriotifm of thofe, who in any 
 quarter may endeavour to weaken its bands. 
 
 In contemplating the caufes which may difturb our 
 union, it occurs as matter of ferious concern, that any 
 ground fhould be furnifhed for characlerifmg parties, by 
 Geographical difcriminations Northern and Southern 
 Atlantic and Weftern ; whence defigning men may 
 endeavour to excite a belief, that there is a real differ- 
 ence of local interefts and views. One of the expedients 
 of party to acquire influence, within particular diftriifls, 
 is to mifreprefent the opinions and aims of other dif- 
 trifls. You cannot fhield yourfelves too much aga'mft 
 the jealoufies and heart burnings which fpring from thefe 
 mifreprefentations ; they tend to render alien to each 
 other thofe who ought to be bound together by frater- 
 nal affection. The inhabitants of our weftern country 
 have lately had a ufetul leffon on this head : They have 
 feen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the 
 unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with 
 Spain, and in the univerfal fatisfadlion at that event 
 throughout the United States, a decifive proof how un- 
 founded were the fufpicions propagated among them, of 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 a policy in the general government and in the Atlantic 
 States unfriendly to their interefts in regard to the Mif- 
 fifippi ; they have been witnefles to the formation of 
 two treaties, that with Great Britain and that with Spain, 
 which fecure to them every thing they could defire, in 
 refpeft to our foreign relations, towards confirming their 
 profperity. Will it not be their wifdom to rely for the 
 prefervation of thefe advantages on the UNION by which 
 they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to 
 thofe advifers, if fuch they are, who would fever them 
 from their brethren, and connect them with aliens ? 
 
 To the efficacy and permanency of your union, a gov- 
 ernment for the whole is indifpenfabie. No alliances, 
 however flrict between the parts can be an adequate 
 iubftitute ; they will inevitably experience the infractions 
 and interruptions which all alliances in all times have ex- 
 perienced Senfible of this momentous truth, you have 
 improved upon your firft efiay, 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 govern- 
 ment the offspring of your own choice, uninfluenced and 
 unawed, adopted upon full inveftigation and mature deli- 
 beration, completely free in its principles, in the diftri- 
 bution of its powers, uniting fecurity with energy, and 
 containing within itfelf a provifion for its own amend- 
 ment, has a juft claim to your confidence and your fup* 
 port. Refpecl: for its authority, compliance with its 
 laws, acquiefcence in its meafures, are duties enjoined by 
 the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The bafis of 
 our political fyftems is the right of the people to make 
 txnd to alter their conftitutions of government. But the 
 
' ** 
 
 v 40 ; 
 
 conftitution which at any time exifts, until changed by 
 an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is fa- 
 credly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power 
 and the right of the people to eftablilh government, pre- 
 fuppofes the duty of every individual to obey the eftab- 
 lithed government. 
 
 ALL obftructions to the execution of the laws, all com- 
 binations and affociations, under whatever plaufible cha- 
 racter, with the real defign to direct, controul, counteract 
 or awe the regular deliberation and action of the confti- 
 tuted authorities, are deftructive of this fundamental 
 principle, and of fatal tendency. They ferve 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 fmall but artful and enter- 
 prifmg minority of the community ; and according to 
 the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the 
 public adminittration the mirror of the ill concerted and 
 incongruous projects of faction rather than the organ of 
 confident and wholefome plans digefted by common 
 councils and modified by mutual interefts. 
 
 HOWEVER combinations or affociations of the above 
 delcription, may now and then anfwer popular ends, they 
 are likely in the courfe of time and things, to become 
 potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious and un- 
 principled men, will be enabled to fubvert the power of 
 the people, and to ufurp for themfelves the reins of go- 
 vernment ; deftroying afterwards the very engines which 
 huve lifted them to unjuft dominion. 
 
 TOWARDS the prefervation of your government, and 
 the permanency of your prefent happy flate, it is requi- 
 fite not only that.rou ft eadily difcountenance irregular 
 
( 49 ) 
 
 t>ppofition to its acknowledged authority, but alfo fiidl 
 you refill with care, the fpirit of innovation upon its 
 principles, however fpecious the pretexts. One method 
 of afiault may be to effect, in the forms of the conftitu- 
 tion, alterations which will impair the energy of the 
 fyftem, 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 lead as ne- 
 ceffary to fix the true character of government, as ot ? 
 other human inftitutions ; that experience is the fureft 
 (landard, by which to telt the real tendency of the exift- 
 ing constitution of a country that facility in changes 
 upon the credit of mere hypothefis and opinion, expofes 
 to perpetual change, from the endlefs variety of hypothe- 
 fis and opinion j and remember, efpecially, that for the 
 efficient management of your common intereft, in a 
 country fo extenfive as ours, a government of as much 
 vigor as is confident with the perfect fecurity of liberty 
 is indifpenfable. Liberty itfelf will find in fuch a go- 
 vernment, with powers properly diflribu ted and adjufted* 
 its fureft guardian. It is, indeed, little elfe than a name, 
 where the government is too feeble to withftand the en- 
 terprifes of faction, to confine each member of the fociety 
 within the limits preicribed by the laws, and to main- 
 tain all in the fecure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights 
 of perfon and property. 
 
 I HAVE already intimated to you, the danger of parties 
 in the ftate, with particular reference to the founding of 
 them on geographical difcriminations; Let me now 
 take a more comprehenfive view and warn you in the 
 mod folemn manner againft the baneful effects of a fpirit 
 f party, generally. G 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 THIS fpirit, unfortunately, is infeparable from our na- 
 ture, having its root in the ftrongeft paflions of the human 
 mind. It exifts under different ihapes in all govern- 
 ments more or Jefsflifled,controuJed, orreprelfcd ; but 
 in thofe of the popular form, it is feen in its greateil 
 fanknefs and is truly their worft enemy. 
 
 THE alternate domination of one faction over another, 
 fhaipened by the fpirit of revenge, natural to party dif- 
 fention, which in different ages and countries has perpe- 
 trated the moft horrid enormities, is itfelf a frightful def- 
 potifm But this bads at length to a more formal and 
 permanent defpotifm. The diforders and miferies,which 
 refult, gradually incline the minds of men to feek fecurity 
 and repofe in the abfolute power of an individual j and 
 focner or later the chief of fome prevailing faction, more 
 able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this 
 difpofition to the purpofes of his own elevation, on the 
 ruins of Public Liberty. 
 
 WITHOUT looking forward to an extremity of this kind 
 (which neverthelcfs ought not to be entirely out of fight) 
 the common and continual mifchiefs of the fpirit of par- 
 ty are fnincient to make it the intereft and duty of a 
 wife people to difcourage and reftrain it. 
 
 IT ierves always to dtftraft the Puplic Councils and 
 enfeeble the Public Adminiflration. It agitates the 
 
 o 
 
 community with ill founded jealoufies and falfe alarms j 
 kindles the animofity of one part againft another, 
 foments occafionally riot and in fur reel ion. It opens the 
 door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a 
 facilitated accefs to the government itfelf through the 
 channels of party pafifans. Thus tue policy and will of 
 
one country are fubjected to the policy and will of Ano- 
 ther. 
 
 THERE is an opinion that parties in free countries arc 
 ufeful checks upon the adminiftration of the government, 
 and Icrve to keep alive the fpirit of Liberty. This with- 
 in certain limits is probably true, and in governments of 
 a. monarchial caft, patriotifm may look with indulgence, 
 if not with favour upon the ipirit of party. But in thofe 
 of the popu)ar character, in governments purely elective, 
 it is a fpirit not to he encouraged. From their natural 
 tendency it is certain there will always be enough of that 
 fpirit for every falutary purpofe. And there being con- 
 ftant danger of excels, the effort ought to be by force of 
 public opinion, to mitigate and affuage it. A fire not to 
 be quenched ; it demands uniform vigilance to prevent 
 its burfting into a flame, lead inftead of warming it fhould 
 confume. 
 
 IT is important likewifc, that the habits of thinking 
 in a free country, fliould infpire caution in thofe entruft- 
 ed with its adminiftration, to confine themfelves within 
 their refpective constitutional fpheres, avoiding in the ex- 
 ercife of the powers of one department to encroach up- 
 on another. The fpirit of encroachment tends to con- 
 folidate the powers of all the departments in one, and 
 thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real 
 defpotifm. Ajuft eflirnate of that love of power, and 
 pronene r s to abufe it, which predominates in the human 
 heart is fufficient to fatisfy us of the truth of this pofition. 
 Tho neceffity of reciprocal checks in the exercife of the 
 political power ; by dividing and distributing it into dif- 
 ferent depofitories, and conflituting each the guardian ot 
 he public weal againft invafions by the others, has been? 
 
evinced by experiments ancient and modern j fome ef 
 them in our country and under our own eyes. To pre-^ 
 ierye them muft be as neceHary as to inftitute them. If, 
 in the opinion of the people, the diftribution or modifi- 
 cation, of the conftitutional powers be in any particular 
 wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way 
 \vhich the conftitution defignates But let there be no 
 change by ufurpation ; for though this, in one inftance, 
 may be the inftrument of good, it is the cuftomary wea- 
 pon by which free governments are deftroyed The pre- 
 cedent rnuft always greatly overbalance in permanent 
 evil any partial or tranlient benefit which the ufe can at 
 any time yield. 
 
 Of all the diipofitions and habits which lead to polit- 
 ical profperity, Religion and Morality are indifpenfable 
 (upports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of 
 patriotifm, who would labor to fubvert thefe great pillars 
 of human happinefs, thefe firmed props of the duties of 
 men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with 
 the pious man ought to refpect and to cherifh them. A 
 volume could not trace all their connections with private 
 and public felicity. Let it fimply be afked, where is the 
 lecurity for property, for reputation, for life, if the fenfe 
 of religious obligation defert the oaths which are the in- 
 flruments of investigation in Courts of Juflice ? And 
 let us with caution indulge the fuppofition, that moral- 
 icy can be maintained without religion. Whatever may 
 be conceded of the influence of refined education en 
 minds of peculiar ftructure, reafon and experience both 
 forbid us to expeft that national morality can prevail in 
 
 fion of religious princiffles. 
 IT is {ubftantially true, that virtue or morality is a 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 neceflary fpring of popular government. The rule in- 
 deed extends with more or lels force to every Ipecies of 
 free government. Who that is a fincere friend to it can 
 look with indifference upon attempts to (hake the foun- 
 dation of the fabric ? 
 
 PROMOTE, then, as an object of primary importance, 
 inftitutions for the general diffufion of knowledge. In 
 proportion as the ftructure of a government gives force 
 to public opinion, it is eflential that public opinion fhould 
 be enlightened. 
 
 As a very important fource of ftrength and fecurity, 
 cherim public credit One method ofpreferving it is to 
 u(e it as fparingly as poflible ; avoiding occafions of ex- 
 pence by cultivating peace, but remembering alfo that 
 timely dilburfements to prepare for dangers, frequently 
 prevent much greater difburfements to repel it. Avoid- 
 ing likewiie the accumulation of debt, not only by (hun- 
 ning occafions of expence, but by vigorous exertions in 
 time of peace to difcharge the debts which unavoidable 
 wars may have occafioned, not ungeneroufly throwing 
 upon pofterity the burthen which we ourfelves ought to 
 bear. The execution of thefe maxims belongs to your 
 reprefentatives, but it is neceffary that public opinion 
 fhould co-operate. To facilitate to them the perform- 
 ance of their duty, it is eflential that you mould practi- 
 cally bear in mind that towards the payment of debts 
 there muft be revenue , that to have revenue there muft 
 be taxes and none can be devifed which are not more 
 or lefs inconvenient and unpleafant that the intrinfic 
 embarraflinent infeperable from the (election of the pro- 
 per objects (which is always a choice of difficulties) 
 ught to be a decifive motive for a candid ccnftruction 
 
t 54 ) 
 
 of the conduct of the government in making it, and for 
 a fpirit of acquiefcence in the meafures for obtaining re- 
 venue which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. 
 
 Obferve good faith and juftice 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 ? Jt will be worthy of 
 a free, enlightened, and (at no diflant period) a great 
 nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too 
 novel example of a people always guided by an 
 exalted juftice and benevolence. Who can doubt 
 that in the courfe of time and things, the fruits of fucli 
 a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages 
 which might be loft by a Ready adherence to it ? Can 
 it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent 
 felicity of a nation with Virtue ? The experiment, at 
 lead, is recommended by every fentiment which eno- 
 bles human nature. Alas ! is it rendered impofiiblc 
 by its vices ? 
 
 In the execution of fuch a plan, nothing is more ef- 
 fenfial than that permanent, inveterate antipathies againfl 
 particular nations, and paffionate attachments for others 
 Ihould be excluded ; and that in the place of them, juil 
 and amicable feelings towards all (hould be cultivated. 
 The nation, which indulges towards another an habitual 
 hatred, or an habitual fondnefs, is in fome degree a 
 flave; It is a Have to its animoftty or to its affedtion, 
 either of which is fufficient to lead it aftray from its duty 
 and its intereft. Antipathy in one nation againft ano- 
 ther difpofes each more readily to offer infult and injury, 
 to lay hold of flight caufes of u&brage, and to be hsugh* 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 ty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occafions 
 of difpute occur. 
 
 Hence frequent coliifions, obftinate, envenomed and 
 bloody conteits. The nation, prompted by ill will and 
 refentment, fometimes impels to war the government, 
 contrary to the bed calculations of policy. The gov- 
 ernment fometimes participates in the national proper 
 fity, and adopts through pafiion what reafon would re- 
 ject ; at other times, it makes the animofity of the nation 
 fubiervient to projects of hoftility inftigated by pride, 
 ambition and other finifter and pernicious motives. The 
 peace often, fometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations 
 has been the victim. 
 
 So likewife, a paffionate attachment of one nation for 
 another induces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the 
 favorite nations facilitating the illufion of an imaginary 
 common intereft, in cafes where no real common intereft 
 exifts, and infufing into one the enmities of the other, 
 betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels 
 and wars o( the latter, without adequate inducement or 
 juftification. It leads alfo to conceffions to the favorite 
 nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly 
 to injure the nation making the conceffions ; by un- 
 necefi-mly parting with what ought to have been retain- 
 ed ; and by exciting jealoufy, ill-will, a difpofition to re- 
 taliate, in the parties from whcm equal privileges are 
 witheld : And it gives to ambitious, corrupted or de- 
 Juded citizens (who devote themfelves to the favorite na- 
 tion) facility to betray, or facrifke the inrerefts of their 
 own country, without odium, fometimes even with pop- 
 ularity ; gilding with the appearances of a virtuous fenfe 
 cf obligation, a commendable deference for public opin- 
 
ion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the bafe or fool- 
 iili compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. 
 
 As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, 
 fuch attachments are particularly alarming to the truly 
 enlightened and independent patriot. How many op- 
 portunities do they afford to tamper with domeftic fac- 
 tions, to practice the arts of feduction, to miflead public 
 opinion, to influence or awe the public councils ; fuch 
 an attachment of a fmall or weak, towards a great and 
 powerful nation, dooms the former to be the fatellits of 
 the latter. 
 
 AGAINST the infidious wiles of foreign influence (I 
 conjure you to believe me, fellow citizens) the jealoufyof 
 a free people ought to be conftantly awake; fince hiftory 
 and experience prove that foreign influence is one of 
 the mod baneful foes of Republican Government. 
 But that jealouly to be uleful muft be impartial ; elfe it 
 becomes the inftruoient of the very influence to be avoid- 
 ed, inftead of a defence againft it. Exceffive partiality 
 for one foreign nation, and exceffive diflike of another, 
 caufe thofe whom they actuate to fee danger only on 
 one fide, and ferve to veil and even fecond the arts of 
 influence on the other. Real patriots who may refift 
 the intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become fuf- 
 pected and odious ; while its tools and dupes ufurp the 
 applaufe and confidence of the people, to furrender their 
 interefts. 
 
 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 connection as poffible. So 
 far as we have already formed engagements, let them be 
 fulfilled with perred good faith. Here let us flop. 
 
* 
 
 ( 57 ). 
 
 EUROPE has a fet of primary interefh^ which to tig 
 have none or a very remote relation. Hence Hie muft 
 be engaged infrequent controverfies, the caufes of which 
 are eflentially foreign to our concerns. Hence there- 
 fore, it muft beunwife in us to implicate ourfelves, by 
 artificial ties, in the ordinary viciffitudes of her politics, or 
 the ordinary combinations and collifions of her friend- 
 fhips, or enmities. 
 
 OUR detached fituation, invites and enables us td 
 purfue a different courfe. If we remain one people un- 
 der an efficient government, the period is not far offj 
 when we may defy material injury from external annoy- 
 ance ; when we may take fuch an attitude as will caufei 
 the neutrality we may at any time refolve upon, to be 
 fcrupuloufly refpected ; when belligerent nations, under 
 the impofiibility of making acquifitions upon us will not 
 lightly hazard the giving us provocation -, when we may 
 choofe peace or war, as our interefts, guided by juftice, 
 fhall counfel. 
 
 WHY forego the advantages of fo peculiar a fituation ? 
 Why quit our own to ftand upon foreign ground ? 
 Why, by interweaving our defliny with that of any part 
 of Europe, entangle our peace and profperity in the toils 
 of European ambition, rivalfhip, intereft, humour or 
 caprice ? 
 
 'Tis our tnae policy to fteer clear of permanent alli- 
 ances, with any portion of the foreign world ; fo far, I 
 mean,as we are now at liberty to do it : for let me not be 
 underftood as capable of patronizing infidelity toexifting 
 engagements. I hold the maxim no lefs applicable td 
 public than to private affairs, that hontfty is always tht' 
 
 H 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 beft policy. I repeat it therefore, let thofe engagements 
 be obferved in their genuine fenfe. But in my opinion, 
 it is unneceffary and would be unwife to extend them. 
 
 TAKING care always to keep ourfelves, by fuitable ef- 
 tablifhments, on a refpectabledefenfivepofture, we may 
 fafely trull to temporary alliances for extraordinary e- 
 mergencics. 
 
 HARMONY, liberal intercourfe with all nations, 
 sre recommended by policy, humanity and intereft. 
 But even our commercial policy Ihould hold an equal 
 and impartial hand ; neither fending or granting exclu- 
 five favors or preferences confulting the natural courfe 
 of things ; diffunngand diverfifying by gentle means the 
 ftreams of commerce, but forcing nothing ; eftablifhing, 
 with powers fo difpofed, in order to give trade a ftable 
 courfe to define the rights of our merchants, and to en- 
 able the government to fupport them j conventional rules 
 cf intercourie, the beft that prefent circumftances and 
 mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable 
 to be from time to time abandoned or varied as experi- 
 ence or circumftances fhall dictate ; conftantly keeping 
 in view, that 'tis folly in one nation to look for difinter- 
 efted favors from another : that it muft pay with a por- 
 tion of its independence for whatever it may accept un- 
 der that character; that by fuch acceptance, it may 
 place itfelf in the condition of having given equivalents 
 ibr nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with in- 
 gratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater 
 error than to expect, or calculate upon real favors from 
 nation to nation. 'Tis an illufion which experience 
 iriuftcure, which ajuft pride ought todifcard. 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 IN offering to you, my countrymen, thefs counfels of an 
 old affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make 
 the flrong and lading imprefiion I could wi(h that 
 they will controul the ufual current of the paffions, or 
 prevent our nation from running the courfe which has 
 hitherto marked the defliny of nations : But if I may 
 even flatter myfelf, that they may be productive of iume 
 partial benefits, fome occafional good ; that they may 
 now and then recur to moderate the fury of party fpirir, 
 to warn againft the mifchiefs of foreign intrigue, to 
 guard againft the impoftures of pretended patriotifm ; 
 this hope will be a full recompsnfe for the folicitude for 
 your welfare, by which they have been dictated. 
 
 How far in the difcharge of my official duties, I have 
 been guided by the principles which have been delinea- 
 ted, the public records and other evidences of my con- 
 duct muft witnefs to you and to the world. To my- 
 felf, the aflurance of my own confcience is, that I have 
 at lead believed myfelf to be guided by them. 
 
 IN relation to the ftill fubfifting war in Europe, my 
 Proclamation of the 22d April, 1795, is the index to my 
 plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that 
 of your reprefentatives in both Houfes of Congrefs, the 
 fpirit of that meafure has continually governed me, unin- 
 fluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. 
 
 AFTER deliberate examination, with the aid of the 
 bed lights I could obtain, I was well fatisfied that our 
 country, under all the circumftances of the caf.-, had a 
 right to take and was bound in duty and intereft to take 
 a neutral pofition. Having taken it, I determined, as 
 far as (hou'.d depend on me, to maintain it with mo* 
 deration* 
 

 THE con fiderat ions which refpect the right to hold 
 this conducl, it is not neceffary on thisoccafion to detail. 
 I will only obferve, that according to my understanding 
 pi the matter, that right, fo far from being denied by 
 any of the Belligerent Powers, has been virtually admit- 
 ted by all. 
 
 THE duty of holding a neutral conduct may be in- 
 ferred, without any thing more, from the obligation 
 \vhichjuftice and humanity impofe on every nation, in/ 
 cafes in which it is free to ac~l, to maintain inviolate the 
 Delations of peace and amity towards other nations. 
 
 THE inducements of intereft for obferving that con- 
 duct will beft be referred to your own reflections and ex- 
 perience. With me, a predominant motive has been 
 to endeavour to gain time to our country to fettle and 
 mature its yet recent inftitutions, and to prcgrefs with- 
 out interruption, to that degree of ftrength and confift- 
 ency, which is neceffary to give it, humanly (peaking, 
 the command of its own fortunes. 
 
 THOUGH in reviewing the incidents of my adminiura- 
 tion, I am unconfcious of intentional error : I am never- 
 thelefs too fenfible of my defects not to think it probable 
 that I have committed many errors. Whatever they 
 may be, J fervently befeech the Almighty to avert or 
 mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I (hall allo 
 carry with me the hope that my country will never ceafe 
 to view them with indulgence ; and that after forty- 
 five years of my life dedicated to its fervice, with an up- 
 right zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be 
 configned to oblivion, as myfelf mud loon be to the 
 manfions of reft, 
 
RELYING on its kindnefs in this as in other things, and 
 actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is To na- 
 tural to a man who views in it the native foil of himfelt 
 and his progenitors for fevera) generations j I anticipate 
 with pleafing expectation that retreat, in which I prom- 
 ife myfelf to realize, without alloy, the fweet enjoyment 
 of partaking in the midft of my fellow-citizens, the be- 
 nign influence of good laws under a free government the 
 ever favorite objecl: of my heart, and the happy reward 
 as I truft, of our mutual cares, labors and dangers. 
 
 yearae, rr a<sn 
 <f J 
 
 United States, i^tb September, 1796. 
 
M38285 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY