CORNELL 
 
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 Davenport Estate 
 
Cornell University Library 
 E312.81 1844 
 
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 olin Overs 
 
AT 
 
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MONUMENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 WASHINGTON'S PATRIOTISM. 
 
.^^ 
 
MONUMENTS 
 
 OF 
 
 WASHINGTON'S PATEIOTISM; 
 
 CONTAINING 
 
 A FAC SIMILE OF HIS PUBLIC ACCOUNTS, 
 
 KEPT DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR, 
 
 AND 
 
 SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING DOCUMENTS CONNECTED WITH HIS MILITARY 
 
 COMMAND AND CIVIL ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 WS^ISI ]g USIBJESiSiS^IEISSIlMlPgo 
 
 . FOURTH EDITION. 
 
 WASHINGTON: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY FRANKLIN KNIGHT. 
 
 1844. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 FAC SIMILE OF LETTERS FROM DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMEN, ADDRESSED TO THE PUB- 
 LISHER. 
 
 FRONTISPIECE— PORTRAIT OF WASHINGTON. From Peale's Painting in the Senate Chamber. 
 
 ANCESTRY OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL STATEMENT OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS OF HIS LIFE. 
 SOUTH-EAST VIEW OF MOUNT VERNON, (plate.) 
 LINES BY THE Reverend WILLIAM JAY. 
 MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTION. 
 VIEW OF THE TOMB, (plate.) 
 
 CERTIFICATE FROM THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTER OP THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT. 
 FAC SIMILE OF WASHINGTON'S ACCOUNT OF PUBLIC EXPENDITURES from 1775 to 1783. 
 WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE, (plate.) 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS, 65 
 
 Washington appointed Commandeh-in-Chiep, ib. 
 
 His Acceptance— Commission, 66 
 
 CIRCULAR LETTER OF WASHINGTON TO THE GOVERNORS OF THE SEVERAL STATES, . *. 
 
 RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS TO ERECT AN EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF WASHINGTON, . . 72 
 
 WASHINGTON VISITS PRINCETON BY REdUEST OF CONGRESS, *. 
 
 Address to him by the President of Congress ib. 
 
 His Reply, 73 
 
 FAREWELL ADDRESS OP WASHINGTON TO THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES, . . . ib. 
 
 Reply of the Officers, 76 
 
 WASHINGTON TAKES LEAVE OF THE OFFICERS OF THE ARMY IN NEW-YORK, ... 77 
 
 SPEECH OF WASHINGTON ON RESIGNING HIS COMMISSION, ib. 
 
 Answer by the President of Congress 78 
 
 WASHINGTON INAUGURATED PRESIDENT OP THE UNITED STATES, ... . . 79 
 
 His Speech, ib. 
 
 Address to him from the Senate, 81 
 
 President's Reply, 82 
 
 Address from the Hodse of Representatives, ib. 
 
 President's Reply, 83 
 
 PROCLAMATION FOR A DAY OF THANKSGIVING, 84 
 
 WASHINGTON'S LEGACY: ok PAReWeLL ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, 85 
 
 LETTER OP WASHINGTON ACCEPTING THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY IN 1798, . . . . 94 ' 
 TOP VIEW OF THE MARBLE SARCOPHAGUS, (plate.) 
 
 FUNERAL ORATION ON THE DEATH OP WASHINGTON BY GENERAL HENRY LEE, ... 95 
 
 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, 100 
 
ANCESTRY OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 The Father op his Country would receive little additional splendour if we could trace his 
 descent from the most illustrious and time-honoured families of England. We love to gaze 
 at him "in the pure atmosphere of his own glory." It is, however, natural that those who 
 inherit his fame should wish to know his origin. 
 
 George Washington was descended from a respectable family of that name anciently 
 established at Twitfield and Warton in Lancashire, and which afterwards gave lords to the 
 manor of Sulgrave, in the county of Northampton. Sir William Washington, of Packington 
 in Leicestershire, the eldest son and heir of Lawrence Washington, Esq., of Sulgrave, 
 married Anne, the half-sister of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham. This Sir William 
 had, among other younger brothers, two named John and Lawrence, and the latter was a 
 student at Oxford in 1622. 
 
 John and Lawrence emigrated to Virginia in 1657, and settled at Bridge's Creek on the 
 Potomac River, in the county of Westmoreland. John was employed as General against the 
 Indians in Maryland, and the parish in which he lived was named after him. He was the 
 father of Lawrence Washington, who died in 1697, leaving two sons, John and Augustine. 
 Augustine died in 1743, at the age of 49, leaving several sons by his two marriages. George, 
 the President, was the eldest by the second wife, Mary Ball, and was born 11th Feb. (old 
 style) 1732. 
 
 As very few can be found who are not in possession of some one of the many admirable 
 Lives of Washington, a memoir is not called for in this work; but a chronological statement 
 of the most striking events in his illustrious career seems not inappropriate in a volume like 
 the present. 
 
PRINCIPAL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Appointed Surveyor of Lands 1748, at 16 years of age. 
 Military Inspector, with the rank of Major, at 19. 
 Adjutant-General, in 1752. 
 Sent as Commissioner to the French, 1753. 
 
 Placed in command of the Troops, and Colonel of the Virginia regiment, 1754. 
 Aid to Braddock at the battle of Monongahela, July 9, 1755.. 
 Again in command of the Virginia Troops, Aug. 14, 1755. 
 Resigns his commission, Dec. 1758. 
 Married, Jan. 6, 1759. 
 
 Elected a Member of the House of Burgesses, 1759. 
 Commissioner for settling military accounts, 1765. 
 Sent to the first Continental Congress, 1774. 
 Chosen a Member of the second Continental Congress, 1775. 
 Elected Commander-in-Chief of the American Array, June 15, 1775. 
 Takes command of the Army at Cambridge, July 2, 1775. 
 Boston evacuated by the British army, March 17, 1776. 
 Battle of Long-Island, Aug. 27, 1776. 
 
 Invested by Congress vpith dictatorial powers, Dec. 27, 1776. 
 Battle of Trenton, Dec. 26, 1776. 
 Battle of Princeton, Jan. 3, 1777. 
 Battle of the Brandywine, Sept. 11, 1777. 
 Battle of Germantown, Oct. 4, 1777. 
 Battle of Monmouth, June 28, 1778. 
 Siege of Yorktown, Oct. 19, 1781. 
 Farewell Address to the Army, Nov. 2, 1783. 
 Takes possession of New- York, Nov. 25, 1783. 
 His last meeting with his Officers, Dec. 4, 1783. 
 Resigns his Commission to Congress, Dec. 23, 1783. 
 
 Delegated from Virginia to the General Convention to form a Constitution, of which body 
 he was chosen President, May 14, 1787. 
 
 Chosen President of the United States, from March 4, 1789, and inaugurated at New- York, 
 April 30. 
 
 Chosen President for a second term, from March 4, 1793. 
 
 Farewell Address to the people, 17th Sept., 1796. 
 
 Retires to private fife, 4th March, 1797. 
 
 Appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States, July 3, 1798. 
 
 Died at Mount Vernon, Dec. 14, 1799. 
 
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The reader will be gratified with the following expression of opinion respecting the Father 
 OF HIS Country, from one of the most eloquent and venerable Divines in England. 
 
 LINES 
 
 WRITTEN ON A DRAWING OP MOUNT VERNON, 
 
 THE SEAT OF GENERAL WASHINGTON: 
 
 Bt the Rev. WILLIAM JAY. 
 
 There dwelt the Man, the flower of human kind, 
 Whose visage, mild, bespoke his nobler mind : 
 
 There dwelt the Soldier, who his sword ne'er drew 
 But in a righteous cause, to freedom true : 
 
 There dwelt the Hero, who ne'er killed for fame, 
 Yet gained more glory than a Csesar's name : 
 
 There dwelt the Statesman, who, devoid of art, 
 Gave soundest counsels from an upright heart: 
 
 And, Columbia, by thy sons caressed. 
 There dwelt the Father of the realms he blessed; 
 Who no wish felt to make his mighty praise, 
 Like other chiefs the means himself to raise; 
 But there, retiring, breathed in pure renown, 
 And felt a grandeur that disdained a Crown. 
 

 q 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
FAC SIMILE OF WASHINGTON'S ACCOUNT OF HIS PUBLIC EXPENDITURES, 
 
 FROM JUNE 1775, TO JUNE 1783. 
 
 Washington declined all pecuniary consideration for his services while achieving the 
 independence of our country, and laying the foundation of this great Republic. He simply 
 asked the reimbursement of his expenses — an exact account of vrhich he kept and presented 
 to the Government in the following statement, drawn up by his own hand at the close of the 
 Revolutionary War. 
 
 Treasury Department. 
 Register's Office, July 1841. 
 
 General Washington's account of his expenses during the Revolutionary War, in his own 
 hand-writing, is on file in this office: — the annexed is afac simile thereof. 
 
 MICHL. NOURSE, 
 Chief Clerk in the Register's Office. 
 
PUBLIC DOCUMENTS 
 
 CONNECTED WITH THE 
 
 MILITARY COMMAND AND CIVIL ADMINISTRATION 
 
 OP 
 
 GEOKGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS-GEORGE WASHINGTON, ESa. APPOINTED GENERAL AND COM- 
 MAND ER-IN-CHIEF-HIS ACCEPTANCE-COMMITTEE APPOINTED TO DRAFT A COMMISSION- 
 THEIR REPORT-RESOLUTION OF THE. CONGRESS. 
 
 In Congress, Philadelphia, June 15, 1775. 
 
 Resolved, That a General be appointed to command all the Continental Forces, raised, or 
 to be raised, for the defence of American Liberty. 
 
 That Five Hundred Dollars per month be allowed for the pay and expenses of the General. 
 
 The Congress then proceeded to the choice of a General, by ballot, and George Washing- 
 ton, Esq. was unanimously elected. 
 
 The President informed Colonel Washington that the Congress had unanimously made 
 choice of him to be General and Commander-in-Chief of the American Forces, and requested 
 he would accept of that employment; to which Colonel Washington, standing in his place, 
 answered: 
 "ilfr. President: 
 
 "Though I am truly sensible of the high honour done me, in this appointment, yet I feel 
 great distress from a consciousness that my abilities, and military experience, may not be 
 equal to the extensive and important trust. However, as the Congress desire it, I will enter 
 upon the momentous duty, and exert every power I possess in their service, and for support of 
 the glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this distinguished tes- 
 timony of their approbation. 
 
 "But, lest some unlucky event should happen, unfavourable to my reputation, I beg it may 
 be remembered by every gentleman in the room, that I this day declare, with the utmost 
 sincerity, I do not think myself equal to the command I am honoured with. 
 
 "As to pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that, as no pecuniary consideration 
 could have tempted me to accept this arduous employment, at the expense of my domestic 
 ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from it. I will keep an exact account 
 of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire." 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to draft a Commission and Instructions for the 
 
 General. 
 The persons chosen to compose the Committee were Mr. Lee, Mr. E. Rutledge, and Mr. J. 
 
 Adams. 
 
 The Committee appointed to draft a Commission to the General, reported the same, which, 
 being read by paragraphs and debated, was agreed to, as follows: 
 9 
 
66 CIRCULAR LETTER OF WASHINGTON TO THE 
 
 In Congress, the Delegates of the United Colonies of New-Hampshire, Massachusetts-Bay, Rhode- 
 Island, Connecticut, New-York, New- Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Counties of New-Castle, Kent, 
 and Sussex, on Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North- Carolina, and South-Carolina: 
 
 TO GEORGE WASHINGTON, ESQ. 
 
 We, reposing special trust and confidence in your patriotism, valour, conduct and fidelity, 
 do, by these presents, constitute and appoint you to be General and Commander-in-Chief of 
 the Army of the United Colonies, and of all the Forces now raised, or to be raised, by them, 
 and of all others who shall voluntarily offer their service, and join the said Army for the 
 defence of American Liberty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof: And you are 
 hereby invested with full power and authority to act as you shall think for the good and wel- 
 fare of the Service. 
 
 And we do hereby strictly charge and require all Officers and Soldiers under your command, 
 to be obedient to your orders, and diligent in the exercise of their several duties. 
 
 And we also enjoin and require of you, to be careful in executing the great trust reposed 
 in you, by causing strict discipline and order to be observed in the Army, and that the Soldiers 
 be duly exercised, and provided with all convenient necessaries. 
 
 And you are to regulate your conduct, in every respect, by the Rules and Discipline of 
 War, (as herewith given you,) and punctually to observe and follow such Orders and Direc- 
 tions, from time to time, as you shall receive from this, or a future Congress of these United 
 Colonies, or Committee of Congress. 
 
 This Commission to continue in force, until revoked by this, or a future Congress. 
 
 Ordered, That the same be fairly transcribed, signed by the President, attested by the 
 Secretary, and delivered to the General. 
 
 Resolved, unanimously. Whereas, the Delegates of all the Colonies, from Nova-Scotia to 
 Georgia, in Congress assembled, have unanimously chosen George Washington, Esq. to be 
 General and Commander-in-Chief of such Forces as are, or shall be raised for the maintenance 
 and preservation of American Liberty ; this Congress doth now declare, that they will main- 
 tain and assist him, and adhere to him, the said George Washington, with their lives and 
 fortunes in the same cause. 
 
 CIRCULAR LETTER FROM GENERAL WASHINGTON, TO THE GOVERNORS OF THE SEVERAL 
 STATES, UPON THE IMPORTANT INTERESTS OF THE UNION. 
 
 Circular Letter from his Excellency George Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of 
 tlie United States of America, to the Governors of the several States. 
 
 Head Quarters, Newburg, June 18, 1783. 
 Sir : The great object for which I had the honour to hold an appointment in the service of 
 my country being accomplished, I am now preparing to resign it into the hands of Congress, 
 and to return to that domestic retirement, which, it is well known, I left with the greatest 
 reluctance ; a retirement for which I have never ceased to sigh through a long and painful 
 absence, in which (remote from the noise and trouble of the world) I meditate to pass the 
 remainder of life in a state of undisturbed repose; but, before I carry this resolution into 
 effect, I think it a duty incumbent on me to make this my last official communication, to 
 congratulate you on the glorious events which Heaven has been pleased to produce in our 
 favour; to oflTer my sentiments respecting some important subjects which appear to me to be 
 intimately connected with the tranquillity of the United States; to take my leave of your 
 
GOVERNORS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 67 
 
 Excellency as a public character, and to give my final blessing to that country in whose 
 service I have spent the prime of my life ; for whose sake I have consumed so many anxious 
 days and watchful nights; and whose happiness being extremely dear to me, will always 
 constitute no inconsiderable part of my own. 
 
 Impressed with the liveliest sensibility on this pleasing occasion, I will claim the indulgence 
 of dilating the more copiously on the subject of our mutual solicitation. When we consider 
 the magnitude of the prize we contended for, the doubtful nature of the contest, and the 
 favourable manner in which it has terminated, we shall find the greatest possible reason for 
 gratitude and rejoicing. This is a theme that will aflford infinite delight to every benevolent 
 and liberal mind, whether the event in contemplation be considered as a source of present 
 enjoyment, or the parent of future happiness ; and we shall have equal occasion to felicitate 
 ourselves on the lot which Providence has assigned us, whether we view it in a natural, a 
 political, or a moral point of view. 
 
 The citizens of America, placed in the most enviable condition, as the sole lords and 
 proprietors of a vast tract of Continent, comprehending all the various soils and climates of 
 the world, and abounding with a]l the necessary conveniences of life, are now, by the late 
 satisfactory pacification, acknowledged to be possessed of absolute freedom and independency; 
 they are from this period to be considered as the actors on a most conspicuous theatre, which 
 seems to be peculiarly designed by Providence for the display of human greatness and 
 felicity: Here they are not only surrounded with every thing that can contribute to the 
 completion of private and domestic enjoyment, but Heaven has crowned all its other blessings, 
 by giving a surer opportunity for pohtical happiness than any other nation has ever been 
 favoured with. Nothing can illustrate these observations more forcibly than the recollection 
 of the happy conjuncture of times and circumstances, under which our Republic assumed its 
 rank asSpng the nations. 
 
 The foundation of our Empire was not laid in a gloomy age of ignorance and superstition, 
 but an epoch when the rights of mankind were better understood and more clearly defined 
 than at any former period : Researches of the human mind after social happiness have been 
 carried to a great extent: The treasures of knowledge acquired by the labours of philosophers, 
 sages, and legislators, through a long succession of years, are laid open for use, and their 
 collected wisdom may be happily applied in the establishment of our forms of Government: 
 The free cultivation of Letters, the unbounded extension of Commerce, the progressive 
 refinement of manners, the growing liberality of sentiment, and, above all, the pure and benign 
 light of revelation, have had a meliorating influence on mankind, and increased the blessings 
 of society. At this auspicious period the United States came into existence as a Nation, and 
 if their citizens should not be completely free and happy, the fault will be entirely their own. 
 
 ' Such is our situation, and such are our prospects; but notwithstanding the cup of blessing 
 is thus reached out to us, notwithstanding happiness is ours, if we have a disposition to seize 
 the occasion, and make it our own; yet it appears to me, there is an option still left to the 
 United States of America, whether they will be respectable and prosperous, or contemptible 
 and miserable as a Nation. This is the time of their political probation; this is the moment, 
 when the eyes of the whole world are turned upon them ; this is the time to establish or ruin 
 their national character for ever; this is the favourable moment to give such a tone to the 
 Federal Government, as will enable it to answer the ends of its institution ; or this may be the 
 ill-fated momect for relaxing the powers of the Union, annihilating the cement of the Con- 
 federation, and exposing us to become the sport of European politics, which may play one 
 State against awther, to prevent their growing importance, and to serve their own interested 
 purposes. For, 'according to the system of pohcy the States shall adopt at this moment, they 
 will stand or fall; and, by their confirmation or lapse, it is yet to be decided, whether the 
 Revolution must ultimately be considered as a blessing or a curse-a blessing or a curse, not 
 to the present age alone, for with our fate will the destiny of unborn millions be involved. 
 
gg CIRCULAR LETTER OF WASHINGTON TO THE 
 
 With this conviction of the importance of the present crisis, silence in me would be a crime. 
 I will, therefore, speak to your Excellency the language of freedom and sincerity, without 
 disguise. I am aware, however, those who differ from me in political sentiments, may perhaps 
 remark, I am stepping out of the proper line of my duty ; and they may possibly ascribe to 
 arrogance or ostentation, what I know is alone the result of the purest intention ; but the 
 rectitude of my own heart, which disdains such unworthy motives, the part I have hitherto 
 acted in life, the determination I have formed of not taking any share in public business 
 hereafter, the ardent desire I feel and shall continue to manifest, of quietly enjoying in private 
 life, after all the toils of war, the benefits of a wise and hberal Government, will, I flatter 
 myself, sooner or later convince my countrymen, that I could have no sinister views in deli- 
 vering with so little reserve the opinions contained in this Address. 
 
 There are four things which I humbly conceive are essential to the well-being, I may even 
 venture to say, to the existence of the United States as an independent power: 
 
 1st. An indissoluble union of the States under one Federal head. 
 
 2ndly. A sacred regard to public justice. 
 
 3dly. The adoption of a proper Peace Establishment. And, 
 
 4thly. The prevalence of that pacific and friendly disposition among the people of the 
 United States, which will induce them to forget their local prejudices and policies, to make 
 those mutual concessions which are requisite to the general prosperity, and, in some instances, 
 to sacrifice their individual advantages to the interest of the community. 
 
 These are the pillars on which the glorious fabric of our independency and national cha- 
 racter must be supported. Liberty is the basis, and whoever would dare to sap the foundation, 
 or overturn the structure, under whatever specious pretext he may attempt it, will merit the 
 bitterest execration and the severest punishment which can be inflicted by his injured country. 
 
 On the three first articles I will make a few observations, leaving the last to the good sense 
 and serious consideration of those immediately concerned. 
 
 Under the first head, although it may not be necessary or proper for me, in this place, to 
 enter into a particular disquisition of the principles of the Union, and to take up the great 
 question which has been frequently agitated, whether it be expedient and requisite for the 
 States to delegate a large proportion of power to Congress, or not j' yet it will be a part of my 
 duty, and that of every true patriot, to assert without reserve, and to insist upon the following 
 positions : That unless the States will suflTer Congress to exercise those prerogatives they are 
 undoubtedly invested with by the Constitution, every thing must very rapidly tend to anarchy 
 and confusion. That it is indispensable to the happiness of the individual States, that there 
 should be lodged, somewhere, a supreme power, to regulate and govern the general concerns 
 of the confederated Republic, without which the Union cannot be of long duration. That 
 there must be a faithful and pointed compliance on the part of every State with the late pro- 
 posals and demands of Congress, or the most fatal consequences will ensue. That whatever 
 measures have a tendency to dissolve the Union, or contribute to violate or lessen the sovereign 
 authority, ought to be considered as hostile to the liberty and independency of America, and 
 the authors of them treated accordingly. And lastly, that unless we can be enabled, by the 
 concurrence of the States, to participate of the fruits of the Revolution, and enjoy the essential 
 benefits of civil society, under a form of government so free and uncorrupted, so happily 
 guarded against the danger of oppression, as has been devised and adopted by the Articles of 
 Confederation, it will be a subject of regret, that so much blood and treasure have been 
 lavished for no purpose ; that so many sufferings have been encountered without a compensa- 
 tion, and that so many sacrifices have been made in vain. Many other con^derations might 
 here be adduced to prove, that without an entire conformity to the spirit of the Union, we 
 cannot exist as an independent Power. It will be sufficient for my purpose to mention but 
 one or two, which seem to me of the greatest importance. It is only in our united character, 
 as an Empire, that our independence is acknowledged, that our power can be regarded, or our 
 
GOVERNORS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 
 
 69 
 
 credit supported among foreign nations. The treaties of the European powers with the United 
 States of America, will have no validity on the dissolution of the Union. We shall be left 
 nearly in a state of nature ; or we may find, by our own unhappy experience, that there is a 
 natural and necessary progression from the extreme of anarchy to the extreme of tyranny j and 
 that arbitrary power is most easily established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness. 
 
 As to the second article, which respects the performance of public justice. Congress have, in 
 their late Address to the United States, almost exhausted the subject ; they have explained 
 their ideas so fully, and have enforced the obligations the States are under to render complete 
 justice to all the public creditors, with so much dignity and energy, that, in my opinion, no 
 real friend to the honour and independency of America can hesitate a single moment respecting 
 the propriety of complying with the just and honourable measures proposed. If their argu- 
 ments do not produce conviction, I know of nothing that will have greater influence, especially 
 when we reflect that the system referr,ed to, being the result of the collected wisdom of the 
 Continent, must be esteemed, if not perfect, certainly the least objectionable of any that could 
 be devised ; and that, if it should not be carried into immediate execution, a national bank- 
 ruptcy, with all its deplorable consequences, will take place, before any different plan can 
 possibly be proposed or adopted ; so pressing are the present circumstances, and such is the 
 alternative now oflfered to the States. 
 
 The abihty of the country to discharge the debts which have been incurred in its defence, is 
 not to be doubted. An inclination, I flatter myself, will not be wanting ; the path of our duty 
 is plain before us ; honesty will be found, on every experiment, to be the best and only true 
 policy. Let us then, as a Nation, be just ; let us fulfil the public contracts which Congress 
 had undoubtedly a right to make, for the purpose of carrying on the War, with the same good 
 faith we suppose ourselves bound to perform our private engagements. In the meantime, let 
 an attention to the cheerful performance of their proper business, as individuals, and as mem- 
 bers of society, be earnestly inculcated on the citizens of America ; then will they strengthen 
 the bands of government, and be happy under its protection. Every one will reap the fruit of 
 his labours ; every one will enjoy his own acquisitions, without molestation, and without 
 danger. 
 
 In this state of absolute freedom and perfect security, who will grudge to yield a very little 
 of his property to support the common interests of society, and insure the protection of 
 government ? Who does not remember the frequent declarations at the commencement of the 
 War, that we should be completely satisfied, if at the expense of one half, we could defend 
 the remainder of our possessions ? Where is the man to be found, who wishes to remain 
 indebted, for the defence of his own person and property, to the exertions, the bravery, and 
 the blood of others, without making one generous effort to pay the debt of honour and of 
 gratitude ? In what part of the Continent shall we find any man, or body of men, who would 
 not blush to stand up, and propose measures purposely calculated to rob the Soldier of his 
 stipend, and the public creditor of his due ? And, were it possible that such a flagrant 
 instance of injustice could ever happen, would it not excite the general indignation, and tend 
 to bring down, upon the authors of such measures, the aggravated vengeance of Heaven ? 
 If, after all, a spirit of disunion, or a temper of obstinacy and perverseness should manifest 
 itself in any of the States; if such an ungracious disposition should attempt to frustrate all 
 the happy effects that might be expected to flow from the Union ; if there should be a refusal 
 to comply with the requisitions for funds to discharge the annual interest of the public debts, 
 and if that refusal should revive all those, jealousies, and produce all those evils which are 
 now happily removed— Congress, who have, in all their transactions, shown a great degree 
 of magnanimity and justice, will stand justified in the sight of God and man ! And that State 
 alone, which puts itself in opposition to the aggregate wisdom of the Continent, and follows 
 such mistaken and pernicious councils, will be responsible for all the consequences. 
 
 For my own part, conscious of having acted, while a servant of the public, in the manner 
 
70 CIRCULAR LETTER OF WASHINGTON TO THE 
 
 I conceived best suited to promote the real interests of my country ; having, in consequence 
 of my fixed belief, in some measure pledged myself to the Army, that their country would, 
 finally, do them complete and ample justice, and not willing to conceal any instance of my 
 official conduct from the eyes of the world, I have thought proper to transmit to your Excel- 
 lency the enclosed collection of papers, relative to the half-pay and commutation granted by 
 Congress to the officers of the Army : From these communications, my decided sentiment 
 will be clearly comprehended, together with the conclusive reasons which induced me, at an 
 early period, to recommend the adoption of this measure in the most earnest and serious 
 manner. As the proceedings of Congress, the Army, and myself, are open to all, and contain, 
 in my opinion, sufficient information to remove the prejudice and errors which may have been 
 entertained by any, I think it unnecessary to say any thing more, than just to observe, that 
 the resolutions of Congress, now alluded to, are as undoubtedly and absolutely binding upon 
 the United States, as the most solemn acts of confederation or legislation. 
 
 As to the idea, which I am informed, has in some instances prevailed, that the half-pay and 
 commutation are to be regarded merely in the odious light of a pension, it ought to be exploded 
 for ever : That provision should be viewed, as it really was, a reasonable compensation offered 
 by Congress, at a time when they had nothing else to give to Officers of the Array, for 
 services then to be performed. It was the only means to prevent a total dereliction of the 
 service ; it was a part of their hire. I may be allowed to say it was the price of their blood, 
 and of your independency; it is, therefore, more than a common debt, it is a debt of honour; 
 it can never be considered as a pension or gratuity, nor cancelled until it is fairly discharged. 
 
 With regard to the distinction between Officers and Soldiers, it is sufficient that the uniform 
 experience of every nation of the world, combined with our own, proves the utility and 
 propriety of the discrimination. Rewards, in proportion to the aid the public draws from 
 them, are unquestionably due to all its servants. In some Lines, the Soldiers have, perhaps, 
 generally had as ample compensation for their services, by the large bounties which have 
 been paid them, as their Officers will receive in the proposed commutation; in others, 
 if besides the donation of land, the payment of arrearages of clothing and wages (in which 
 articles all the component parts of the Army must be put upon the same footing) we take 
 into the estimate, the bounties many of the Soldiers have received, and the gratuity of one 
 year's full pay, which is promised to all, possibly their situation (every circumstance being 
 duly considered) will not be deemed less eligible than that of the Officers. Should a further 
 reward, however, be judged equitable, I will venture to assert, no man will enjoy greater 
 satisfaction than myself, in an exemption from taxes for a limited time, (which has been 
 petitioned for in some instances,) or any other adequate immunity or compensation granted 
 to the brave defenders of their country's cause. But neither the adoption nor rejection of 
 this proposition will in any manner affect, much less militate, against the Acts of Congress, 
 by which they have offered five years' full pay, in lieu of the half-pay for life, which had been 
 before promised to the Officers of the Army. 
 
 Before I conclude the subject on public justice, I cannot omit to mention the obligations 
 this country is under to that meritorious class of veterans, the Non-commissioned Officers and 
 Privates, who have been discharged for inability, in consequence of the Resolution of Con- 
 gress of the twenty-third of April, 1782, on an annual pension for life. Their peculiar 
 sufferings, their singular merits and claims to that provision, need only to be known to interest 
 the feelings of humanity in their behalf. Nothing but a punctual payment of their annual 
 allowance can rescue them from the most complicated misery; and nothing could be a more 
 melancholy and distressing sight, than to behold those who have shed their blood, or lost their 
 hmbs in the service of their country, without a shelter, without a friend, and without the 
 means of obtaining any of the comforts or necessaries of life, compelled to beg their daily 
 bread from door to door. Suffer me to recommend those of this description, belonging to 
 your State, to the warmest patronage of your Excellency and your Legislature. 
 
GOVERNORS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. lyj 
 
 It is necessary, to say but a few words on the third topic which was proposed, and which 
 regards, particularly, the defence of the Republic, as there can be little doubt but Congress 
 will recommend a proper Peace Establishment for the United States, in which a due attention 
 will be paid to the importance of placing the Militia of the Union upon a regular and respect- 
 able footing; if this should be the case, I should beg leave to urge the great advantage of it 
 in the strongest terms. 
 
 The Militia of this country must be considered as the palladium of our security, and the 
 first effectual resort in case of hostility : It is essential, therefore, that the same system should 
 pervade the whole ; that the formation and discipline of the Militia of the Continent should 
 be absolutely uniform: and that the same species of arms, accoutrements, and military 
 apparatus, should be introduced in every part of the United States. No one, who has not 
 learned it from experience, can conceive the difficulty, expense, and confusion which result 
 from a contrary system, or the vague arrangements which have hitherto prevailed. 
 
 If, in treating of political points, a greater latitude than usual has been taken in the course 
 of the Address, the importance of the crisis, and the magnitude of the objects in discussion, 
 must be my apology. It is, however, neither my wish nor expectation, that the preceding 
 observations should claim any regard, except so far as they shall appear to be dictated by a 
 good intention ; consonant to the immutable rules of justice ; calculated to produce a liberal 
 system of policy, and founded on whatever experience may have been acquired by a long and 
 close attention to public business. Here I might speak with more confidence, from my 
 actual observations ; and if it would not swell this letter (already too prolix) beyond the 
 bounds I had prescribed myself, I could demonstrate to every mind, open to conviction, that 
 in less time, and with much less expense than has been incurred, the war might have been 
 brought to the same happy conclusion, if the resources of the Continent could have been 
 properly called forth ; that the distresses and disappointments which have very often occurred, 
 have, in too many instances, resulted more from a want of energy in the Continental Govern- 
 ment, than a deficiency of means in the particular States: That the inefficacy of the 
 measures, arising from the want of an adequate authority in the supreme power, from a 
 partial compliance with the requisitions of Congress in some of the States, and from a failure 
 of punctuality in others, while they tended to damp the zeal of those who were more willing 
 to exert themselves, served also to accumulate the expenses of the War, and to frustrate the 
 best concerted plans ; and that the discouragement occasioned by the complicated difficulties 
 and embarrassments, in which our affairs were by this means involved, would have long ago 
 produced the dissolution of an Army less patient, less virtuous, and less persevering than that 
 which I have had the honour to command. But while I mention those things, which are 
 notorious facts, as the defects of our Federal Constitution, particularly in the prosecution of a 
 War, I beg it may be understood, that as I have ever taken pleasure in gratefully acknow- 
 ledging the assistance and support I have derived from every class of citizens, so shall I 
 always be happy to do justice to the unparalleled exertions of the individual States, on many 
 interesting occasions. 
 
 I have thus freely disclosed what I wished to make known before I surrendered up my 
 public trust to those who committed it to me : the task is now accomplished. I now bid 
 adieu to your Excellency, as the Chief Magistrate of your State ; at the same time I bid a 
 last farewell to the cares of office, and all the employments of public fife. 
 
 It remains, then, to be my final and only request, that your Excellency will communicate 
 these sentiments to your Legislature, at their next meeting ; and that they may be considered 
 as the legacy of one who has ardently wished, on all occasions, to be useful to his country, 
 and who, even in the shade of retirement, will not fail to implore the Divine benediction 
 
 upon it. 
 
 I now make it my earnest prayer, that God would have you, and the State over which 
 you preside, in his holy protection; that he would incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate 
 
^2 VISIT TO PRINCETON. 
 
 a spirit of subordination and obedience to government; to entertain a brotherly affection and 
 love for one another, for their fellow-citizens of the United States at large ; and, particularly, 
 for their brethren who have served in the field; and finally, that He would most graciously be 
 pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that 
 charity, humility, and pacific temper of the mind, which were the characteristics of the divine 
 Author of our blessed religion; without an humble imitation of whose example, in these things, 
 we can never hope to be a happy nation." 
 
 I have the honour to be, with much esteem and respect, sir, your Excellency's most 
 
 obedient and most humble servant, 
 
 Geo. Washington. 
 
 RESOLUTIONS OF CONGRESS TO ERECT AN EQUESTRIAN STATUE OP WASHINGTON-HIS 
 VISIT TO PRINCETON AT THE REQUEST OP CONGRESS-THE PRESIDENT'S ADDRESS- 
 WASHINGTON'S REPLY. 
 
 The following Resolutions were passed on the 7th of August, 1783 : 
 
 By the United States in Congress assembled, Resolved unanimously, ten States being present. 
 That an Equestrian Statue of General Washington be erected at the place where the 
 residence of Congress shall be established. 
 
 Resolved, That the Statue be of bronze, the General to be represented in a Roman dress, 
 holding a truncheon in his right hand, and his head encircled in a laurel wreath : The Statue 
 to be supported by a marble pedestal, on which are to be represented, in basso relievo, the 
 following principal events of the War, in which General Washington commanded in person, 
 viz: The Evacuation of Boston — the Capture of the Hessians at Trenton — the Battle of 
 Princeton — the Action of Monmouth — and the Surrender of York. On the upper part of the 
 front of the pedestal to be engraved as follows : " The United States in Congress assembled, 
 ordered this Statue to be erected in the year of our Lord, 1783, in honour of George 
 Washington, the illustrious Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States of 
 America, during the War which vindicated and secured their liberty, sovereignty, and 
 independence." 
 
 Resolved, That a Statue conformable to the above plan, be executed by the best Artist in 
 Europe, under the superintendence of the Minister of the United States at the Court of 
 Versailles, and that money to defray the expense of the same be furnished from the Treasury 
 of the United States. 
 
 Resolved, That the Secretary of Congress transmit to the Minister of the United States at 
 the Court of Versailles, the best resemblance of General Washington that can be procured, 
 for the purpose of having the above Statue erected, together with the fittest description of the 
 events which are to be the subject of the basso relievo. 
 
 General Washington, at the request of Congress, proceeded to Princeton on the 26th of 
 August, 1783, and being introduced by two Members, the President addressed him as follows: 
 
 " Sir : Congress feel particular pleasure in seeing your Excellency, and in congratulating 
 you on the success of a War in which you have acted. so conspicuous a part. 
 
 " It has been the singular happiness of the United States, that during a War so long, so 
 dangerous, and so important. Providence has been graciously pleased to preserve the life of a 
 General, who has merited and possessed the uninterrupted confidence and affection of his 
 fellow-citizens. In other Nations many have performed services for which they have 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE ARMY. «q 
 
 deserved and received the thanks of the pubhc; but to you, sir, peculiar praise is due, your 
 services have been essential in acquiring and establishing the freedom and independence of 
 your country; they deserve the grateful acknowledgments of a free and independent Nation; 
 those acknowledgments Congress have the satisfaction of expressing to your Excellency. 
 
 "Hostihties have now ceased, but your country still needs your services; she wishes to 
 avail herself of your talents in forming the arrangements which will be necessary for her in 
 the time of Peace; for this reason your attendance at Congress has been requested. A 
 Committee is appointed to confer with your Excellency, and to receive your assistance in 
 preparing and adjusting plans relative to those important objects." 
 
 To which his Excellency made the following Reply : 
 
 " Mr. President : 
 
 " I am too sensible of the honourable reception I have now experienced, not to be pene- 
 trated with the deepest feelings of gratitude. 
 
 " Notwithstanding Congress appear to estimate the value of my hfe beyond any services I 
 have been able to render the United States, yet I must be permitted to consider the wisdom 
 and unanimity of our National Councils, the firmness of our citizens, and the patience and 
 bravery of our troops, which have produced so happy a termination of the War, as the most 
 conspicuous effect of the Divine interposition, and the surest presage of our future happiness. 
 
 " Highly gratified by the favourable sentiments which Congress are pleased to express of 
 my past conduct, and amply rewarded by the confidence and affection of my fellow-citizens, I 
 cannot hesitate to contribute my best endeavours towards the establishment of the National 
 security in whatever manner the sovereign power may think proper to direct, until the 
 ratification of the Definitive Treaty of Peace, or the final evacuation of our country by the 
 British forces ; after either of which events, I shall ask permission to retire to the peaceful 
 shade of private life. 
 
 " Perhaps, sir, no occasion may offer more suitable than the present to express my humble 
 thanks to God, and my grateful acknowledgments to my country, for the great and uniform 
 support I have received in every vicissitude of fortune, and for the many distinguished 
 honours which Congress have been pleased to confer upon me in the course of the War." 
 
 FAREWELL ADDRESS OF GENERAL WASHINGTON TO THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES- 
 ANSWER TO THE SAME, BY THE OFFICERS OF THE ARMY STATIONED AT WEST-POINT. 
 
 RocKr-HiiL, NEAK Pkinceton, November 2, 1783. 
 The United States in Congress assembled, after giving the most honourable testimony to 
 the merits of the Federal Armies, and presenting them with the thanks of their country, for 
 their long, eminent, and faithful service, having thought proper, by their Proclamation bearing 
 date the 18th of October last, to discharge such part of the Troops as were engaged for the 
 War, and to permit the Officers on furlough to retire from service, from and after to-morrow, 
 which Proclamation having been communicated in the public papers for the information and 
 government of all concerned, it only remains for the Commander-in-Chief to address himself 
 once more, and that for the last time, to the Armies of the United States, (however widely 
 dispersed individuals who compose them may be,) and to bid them an affectionate, a long 
 farewell. 
 
 But before the Commander-in-Chief takes his final leave of those he holds most dear, he 
 wishes to indulge himself a few moments in calling to mind a slight review of the past : He 
 will, then, take the liberty of exploring, with his military friends, their future prospects ; of 
 
 10 
 
^4 FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE ARMY. 
 
 advising the general line of conduct which, in his opinion, ought to be pursued ; and he will 
 conclude the Address by expressing the obligations he feels himself under for the spirited and 
 able assistance he has experienced from them, in the performance of an arduous office. 
 
 A contemplation of the complete attainment (at a period earlier than could have been 
 expected) of the object for which we contended against so formidable a power, cannot but 
 inspire us with astonishment and gratitude.— The disadvantageous circumstances on our part 
 under which the War was undertaken, can never be forgotten. The singular interpositions of 
 Providence in our feeble condition, were such as could scarcely escape the attention of the 
 most unobserving ; while the unparalleled perseverance of the Armies of the United States, 
 through almost every possible suffering and discouragement, for the space of eight long years, 
 was little short of a standing miracle. 
 
 It is not the meaning, nor within the compass of this Address, to detail the hardships 
 pecuharly incident to our service, or to describe the distresses which, in several instances, 
 have resulted from the extremes of hunger and nakedness, combined with the rigors of an 
 inclement season ; nor is it necessary to dwell on the dark side of our past affairs. Every 
 American Officer and Soldier must now console himself for any unpleasant circumstances 
 which may have occurred, by a recollection of the uncommon scenes in which he has been 
 called to act no inglorious a part, and the astonishing events of which he has been a witness ; 
 events which have seldom, if ever before, taken place on the stage of human action, nor can 
 they, probably, ever happen again. For who has before seen a disciplined army formed, at 
 once, from such raw materials ? Who, that was not a witness, could imagine that the most 
 violent local prejudices would cease so soon, and that men who came from the different parts 
 of the Continent, strongly disposed by the habits of education to despise and quarrel with each 
 other, would instantly become but one patriotic band of brothers ? Or who, that was not on 
 the spot, can trace the steps by which such a wonderful revolution has been effected, and such 
 a glorious period put to all our warlike toils ? 
 
 It is universally acknowledged, that the enlarged prospects of happiness, opened by the 
 confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, almost exceed the power of description. 
 And shall not the brave men who have contributed so essentially to these inestimable acquisi- 
 tions, retiring victorious from the field of war to the field of Agriculture, participate in all the 
 blessings which have been obtained ? In such a Republic, who will exclude them from the 
 rights of citizens, and the fruits of their labours ? In such a country, so happily circum- 
 stanced, the pursuits of commerce, and the cultivation of the soil, will unfold to industry the 
 certain road to competence. To those hardy Soldiers who are actuated by the spirit of 
 adventure, the Fisheries will afford ample and profitable employment : and the extensive and 
 fertile regions of the West will yield a most happy asylum to those who, fond of domestic 
 'enjoyment, are seeking personal independence. Nor is it possible to conceive that any one of 
 the United States will prefer a national bankruptcy, and the dissolution of the Union, to a 
 compliance with the requisitions of Congress, and the payment of its just debts ; so that the 
 Officers and Soldiers may expect considerable assistance in recommencing their civil occupa- 
 tions, from the sums due to them from the public, which must and will most inevitably be 
 paid. 
 
 In order to effect this desirable purpose, and to remove the prejudices which may have 
 taken possession of the minds of any of the good people of the States, it is earnestly recom- 
 mended to all the Troops, that, with strong attachments to the Union, they should carry with 
 them into civil society the most conciliating dispositions; and that they should prove them- 
 selves not less virtuous and useful as citizens, than they have been persevering and victorious 
 soldiers. What though there should be some envious individuals, who are unwilling to pay 
 the debt the pubhc have contracted, or to yield the tribute due to merit; yet let such 
 unworthy treatment produce no invective, or any instance of intemperate conduct; let it be 
 remembered, that the unbiassed voice of the free citizens of the United States has promised 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE ARMY. 75 
 
 the just reward, and given the merited applause ; let it be known and remembered, that the 
 reputation of the Federal Armies is established beyond the reach of malevolence ; and let a 
 consciousness of their achievements, and fame, still excite the men who composed them to 
 honourable actions, under the persuasion that the private virtues of economy, prudence, and 
 industry, will not be less amiable in civil hfe, than the more splendid qualities of valour, 
 perseverance, and enterprise were in the field. Every one may rest assured that much, very 
 much, of the future happiness of the Officers and Men will depend upon the wise and manly 
 conduct which shall be adopted by them, Avhen they are mingled with the great body of the 
 community. And although the General has so frequently given it as his opinion, in the most 
 public and explicit manner, that unless the principles of the Federal Government were pro- 
 perly supported, and the powers of the Union increased, the honour, dignity, and justice of the 
 Nation would be lost for ever; yet he cannot help repeating, on this occasion, so interesting a 
 sentiment, and leaving it as his last injunction to every Officer, and every Soldier, who may 
 view the subject in the same serious point of light, to add his best endeavours to those of his 
 worthy fellow-citizens, towards effecting these great and valuable purposes, on which our 
 very existence, as a Nation, so materially depends. 
 
 The Commander-in-Chief conceives little is now wanting to enable the soldier to change 
 the military character into that of the citizen, but that steady and decent tenor of behaviour, 
 which has generally distinguished not only the Army under his immediate command, but the 
 different Detachments and separate Armies, through the course of the War. From their 
 good sense and prudence he anticipated the happiest consequences: And while he congratu- 
 lates them on the glorious occasion which renders their services in the field no longer 
 necessary, he wishes to express the strong obligations he feels himself under for the assistance 
 he has received from every class, and in every instance. He presents his thanks, in the most 
 serious and affectionate manner, to the General Officers, as well for their counsel on many 
 interesting occasions, as for their ardour in promoting the success of the plans he had 
 adopted; to the Commandants of Regiments and Corps, and to the Officers for their zeal and 
 attention in carrying his orders promptly into execution; to the Staff", for their alacrity and 
 exactness in performing the duties of their several departments; and to the Non-commissioned 
 Officers and Private Soldiers, for their extraordinary patience in suffering, as well as their 
 invincible fortitude in action. To the various branches of the Army the General takes this 
 last and solemn opportunity of professing his inviolable attachment and friendship: He wishes 
 more than bare professions were in his power, that he was really able to be useful to them all 
 in future hfe: He flatters himself, however, they will do him the justice to believe, that 
 whatever could with propriety be attempted by him, has been done. And being now to 
 conclude these his last public orders, to take his ultimate leave, in a short time, of the military 
 character, and to bid a final adieu to the Armies he has so long had the honour to command, 
 he can only again oflTer, in their behalf, his recommendations to their grateful country, and his 
 prayers to the God of armies. May ample justice be done them here, and may the choicest 
 of Heaven's favours, both here and hereafter, attend those who, under the Divine auspices, 
 have secured innumerable blessings for others! With these wishes, and this benediction, the 
 Commander-in-Chief is about to retire from service. The curtain of separation will soon be 
 drawn— and the military scene, to him, will be closed for ever. 
 
76 
 
 To his Excellency General Washington, Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United States 
 
 of America. 
 
 We, the Officers of the part of the Army remaining on the banks of the Hudson, have 
 received your Excellency's serious Farewell Address to the Armies of the United States. We 
 beg you to accept our unfeigned thanks for the communication, and your affectionate 
 assurances of inviolable attachment and friendship. If your attempts to insure to the armies 
 the just, the promised rewards of their long, severe, and dangerous services, have failed of 
 success, we believe it has arisen from causes not in your Excellency's power to control. 
 With extreme regret do we reflect on the occasion which called forth such endeavours. But 
 while we thank your Excellency for these exertions in favour of the Troops you have so 
 successfully commanded, we pray it may be believed, that in this sentiment our own particular 
 interests have but a secondary place; and that even the ultimate ingratitude of the people, 
 (were that possible,) could not shake the patriotism of those who suffer by it. Still, with 
 pleasing wonder and with grateful joy, shall we contemplate the glorious conclusion of our 
 labours. To that merit in the Revolution which, under the auspices of Heaven, the Armies 
 have displayed, posterity will do justice; and the sons will blush whose fathers were their 
 foes. 
 
 Most gladly would we cast a veil on every act which sullies the reputation of our country 
 — never should the page of history be stained with its dishonour — even from our memories 
 should the idea be erased. We lament the opposition to those salutary measures which the 
 wisdom of the Union has planned; measures which alone can recover and fix, on a perma- 
 ment basis, the credit of the States ; measures which are essential to the justice, the honour, 
 and the interest of the Nation. While she was giving the noblest proofs of magnanimity, 
 with conscious pride we saw her growing fame; and, regardless of present sufferings, we 
 looked forward to the end of our toils and dangers, to brighter scenes in prospect. There 
 we beheld the Genius of our country dignified by sovereignty and independence, supported by 
 justice, and adorned with every liberal virtue. There we saw patient Husbandry fearless 
 extend her cultured fields, and animated Commerce spread her sails to every wind. There 
 we beheld fair Science lift her head, with all the Arts attendant in her train. There, 
 blest with Freedom, we saw the human mind expand; and, throwing aside the restraints 
 which confined it to the narrow bounds of country, it embraced the world. Such were our 
 fond hopes, and with such dehghtful prospects did they present us. Nor are we disappointed. 
 Those animating prospects are now changed and changing to realities; and actively to have 
 contributed to their production is our pride, our glory. But justice alone can give them 
 stability. In that justice we still believe. Still we hope that the prejudices of the misin- 
 formed will be removed, and the arts of false and selfish popularity, addressed to the feelings 
 of avarice, defeated: or, in the worst event, the world, we hope, will make the just distinction: 
 We trust the disingenuousness of a few will not sully the reputation, the honour, and dignity 
 of the great and respectable majority of the States. 
 
 We are happy in the opportunity just presented, of congratulating your Excellency on the 
 certain conclusion of the Definitive Treaty of Peace. Relieved, at length, from long suspense, 
 our warmest wish is to return to the bosom of our country, to resume the character of 
 citizens; and it will be our highest ambition to become useful ones. 
 
 To your Excellency this great event must be peculiarly pleasing: For, while at the head 
 of her Armies, urged by patriot virtues and magnanimity, you persevered, under the pressure 
 of every possible difficulty and discouragement, in the pursuit of the great objects of the War 
 —the freedom and safety of your country; your heart panted for the tranquil enjoyments of 
 Peace. We cordially rejoice with you that the period for indulging them has arrived so soon. 
 In contemplating the blessings of liberty and independence, the rich prize of eight years' 
 
WASHINGTON'S SPEECH ON RESIGNING HIS COMMISSION. 77 
 
 hardy adventure, past sufferings will be forgotten; or, if remembered, the recollection will 
 serve to heighten the rehsh of present happiness. We sincerely pray God this happiness 
 may long be yours; and that when you quit the stage of human hfe, you may receive from 
 the unerring Judge, the rewards of valour exerted to save the oppressed, of patriotism, and 
 disinterested virtue. 
 
 West-Point, November 15, 1783. 
 
 WASHINGTON TAKES LEAVE OP THE OFFICERS OF THE ARMY IN NEW YORK. 
 
 New York, December, 1783. 
 
 The guards having been posted for the security of the citizens. General Washington 
 accompanied by Governor Clinton, and attended by many civil and military officers, and a 
 large number of respectable inhabitants on horseback, made his public entry into the city, 
 where he was received with every mark of respect and attention. His military course was 
 now on the point of terminating; and previous to divesting himself of the supreme command, 
 he was about to bid adieu to his comrades in arms. 
 
 This affecting interview took place on the fourth of December. At noon, the principal 
 Officers of the Army assembled at France's tavern; soon after which their beloved Com- 
 mander entered the room. His emotions were too strong to be concealed. Filling a glass, 
 he turned to them and said, "With a heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of 
 you; I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be as prosperous and happy, as your 
 former ones have been glorious and honourable." Having drunk, he added, "I cannot come 
 to each of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged to you, if each of you will come and 
 take me by the hand." General Knox, being nearest, turned to him. Incapable of utterance, 
 Washington grasped his hand, and embraced him. In the same affectionate manner he took 
 leave of each succeeding officer. In every eye was the tear of dignified sensibility; and not a 
 word was articulated to interrupt the majestic silence and the tenderness of the scene. 
 Leaving the room, he passed through the Corps of Light Infantry, and walked to White-Hall, 
 where a barge waited to convey him to Powles Hook. The whole company followed in mute 
 and solemn procession, with dejected countenances, testifying feelings of delicious melancholy, 
 which no language can describe. Having entered the barge, he turned to the company, and 
 waving his hat, bade them a silent adieu. They paid him the same affectionate compliment, 
 and after the barge had left them, returned in the same solemn manner to the place where 
 they had assembled. 
 
 WASHINGTON'S SPEECH ON RESIGNING HIS COMMISSION.-ANSWER OF THE PRESIDENT 
 
 OF CONGRESS. 
 
 Annapolis, December 23, 1783. 
 
 General Washington having informed Congress of his intention to resign the Commission 
 he had the honour to hold in their service, during the Revolutionary War, they resolved that it 
 should be done in a public audience; and appointed this day for the interesting scene. At a 
 proper moment. General Washington appeared and addressed the President in the following 
 words : 
 
 Mr. President: 
 
 The great events on which ray resignation depended, having at length taken place, I have 
 
78 ANSWER OF THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS. 
 
 now the honour of offering my sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself 
 before them, to surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the 
 indulgence of retiring from the service of my country. 
 
 Happy in the confirmation of our Independence and Sovereignty, and pleased with the 
 opportunity afforded the United States of becoming a respectable Nation, I resign with 
 satisfaction, the appointment I accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to 
 accomplish so arduous a task, which, however, was superseded by a confidence in the recti- 
 tude of our cause, the support of the supreme power of the Union, and the patronage of 
 Heaven. 
 
 The successful termination of the War has verified the most sanguine expectations; and 
 my gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my 
 countrymen, increases with every review of the momentous contest. 
 
 While I repeat my obligations to the Army in general, I should do injustice to my own 
 feelings not to acknowledge, in this place, the peculiar services and distinguished merits of the 
 gentlemen who have been attached to my person during the War. It was impossible the 
 choice of confidential Officers, to compose my family, should have been more fortunate. 
 Permit me, sir, to recommend in particular, those who have continued in the service to the 
 present moment, as worthy of the favourable notice and patronage of Congress. 
 
 I consider it as an indispensable duty to close this last solemn act of my official life, by 
 commending the interests of our dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, and those 
 who have the superintendence of them, to his holy keeping. 
 
 Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of action, and 
 bidding an affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have so long acted, 
 I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life. 
 
 To which the President of Congress returned the following Answer: 
 
 Sir: The United States in Congress assembled, receive, with emotions too affecting for 
 utterance, the solemn resignation of the authorities under which you have led their Troops 
 with success through a perilous and a doubtful War. 
 
 Called upon by your country to defend its invaded rights, you accepted the sacred charge, 
 before it had formed aUiances, and whilst it was without funds or a Government to support 
 you. 
 
 You have conducted the great military contest with wisdom and fortitude, invariably 
 regarding the rights of the civil power, through all disasters and changes. You have, by the 
 love and confidence of your fellow-citizens, enabled them to display their martial genius, and 
 transmit their fame to posterity. You have persevered, till these United States, aided by a 
 magnanimous King and Nation, have been enabled, under a just Providence, to close the War 
 in freedom, safety, and independence; on which happy event we sincerely join you in con- 
 gratulations. 
 
 Having defended the Standard of Liberty in this new world; having taught a lesson useful 
 to those who inflict, and to those who feel oppression, you retire from the great theatre of 
 action, with the blessings of your fellow-citizens; but the glory of your virtues will not ter- 
 minate with your military command; it will continue to animate remotest ages. 
 
 We feel, with you, our obligations to the Army in general, and will particularly charge 
 ourselves with the interests of those confidential Officers, who have attended your person to 
 this affecting moment. 
 
 We join you in commending the interests of our dearest country to the Almighty God, 
 beseeching him to dispose the hearts and minds of its citizens to improve the opportunity 
 afibrded them of becoming a happy and respectable Nation. And for you, we address to him 
 our earnest prayers, that a fife so beloved, may be fostered with all his care; that your days 
 may be happy as they have been illustrious; and that he will finally give you that reward 
 which this world cannot give. 
 
79 
 
 INAUGURATION OF GENERAL WASHINGTON, AS PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES-THE 
 PRESIDENT'S SPEECH-ANSWER OF THE SENATE-PRESIDENT'S REPLY-ANSWER OF THE 
 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES— THE PRESIDENT'S REPLY. 
 
 New York, ,B.pril 30, 1789. 
 This day the great and illustrious Washington, the favourite son of Liberty, and deliverer 
 of his country, entered upon the execution of the office of First Magistrate of the United 
 States of America; to vfhich important station he had been unanimously called by the united 
 voice of the people. The ceremony which took place on this occasion was truly grand and 
 pleasing, and every heart seemed anxious to testify the joy it felt on so memorable an event. 
 His Excellency was escorted from his house by a Troop of light dragoons, and the Legion 
 under the command of Colonel Lewis, attended by a Committee of the Senate and House of 
 Representatives, to Federal Hall, where he was formally received by both Houses of Congress, 
 assembled in the Senate Chamber; after which he was conducted to the gallery in front of the 
 Hall, accompanied by all the Members, when the oath prescribed by the Constitution was 
 administered to him by the Chancellor of this State, who then said, '■'■Long live George 
 Washington, President of the United States;" which was answered by an immense concourse 
 of citizens, assembled on the occasion, by the loudest plaudit and acclamation that love and 
 veneration ever inspired. He then made the following Speech: 
 
 Fellow-citizens of the Senate, and of the House of Representatives : . 
 
 Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no event could have filled me with greater anxieties 
 than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 
 fourteenth day of the present month: on the one hand, I was summoned by my country, 
 whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen 
 with the fondest predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the 
 asylum of my declining years, a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary, as 
 well as more dear to me, by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions 
 in my health, to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other hand, the 
 magnitude and difficulty of the trust, to which the voice of my country called me, being 
 sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens, a distrustful scrutiny 
 into his quahfications, could not but overwhelm, with despondence, one, who, inheriting 
 inferior endowments from nature, and unpractised in the duties of civil administration, ought 
 to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this conflict of emotions, all I dare 
 aver, is, that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of 
 every circumstance by which it might be affected. All I dare hope, is, that if, in executing 
 this task, I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances, or by 
 an aflFectionate sensibihty to this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow-citizens, 
 and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty 
 and untried cares before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which misled me, and 
 its consequences be judged by my country, with some share of the partiality in which they 
 
 originated. 
 
 Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the puMic summons, 
 repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act, 
 my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the Universe— who presides 
 in the Councils of Nations— and whose Providential aids can supply every human defect, that 
 his benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the People of the United 
 States, a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes: and may enable 
 every 'instrument, employed in its administration, to execute with success the functions 
 allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the great Author of every public and 
 
80 
 
 INAUGURAL SPEECH. 
 
 private good, I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own nor those 
 of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and 
 adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the People of the 
 United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent 
 Nation, seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency. And, in the 
 important revolution just accomplished, in the system of their united Government, the tranquil 
 deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities, from which the event 
 has resulted, cannot be compared with the means, by which most Governments have been 
 established, without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble anticipation of the 
 future blessings which the past seems to presage. These reflections, arising out of the present 
 crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with 
 me, I trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which, the proceedings of a 
 new and free Government can more auspiciously commence. 
 
 By the article establishing the Executive Department, it is made the duty of the President 
 "to recommend to your consideration, such measures as he shall judge necessary and 
 expedient." The circumstances under which I now meet you, will acquit me from entering 
 into that subject, farther than to refer you to the great constitutional charter under which you 
 are assembled; and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your 
 attention is to be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more 
 congenial with the feelings which actuate me, to substitute, in place of a recommendation of 
 particular measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism 
 which adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them. In these honourable qualifica- 
 tions, I behold the surest pledges, that as, on one side, no local prejudices, or attachments, no 
 separate views, nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and equal eye which 
 ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests; so on another, that 
 the foundations of our national policy will be laid in the pure and immutable principles of 
 private morality; and the pre-eminence of free Government, be exemplified by all the attributes 
 which can win the aflfections of its citizens, and command t'he respect of the world. I dwell 
 on this prospect with every satisfaction, which an ardent love for my country can inspire: 
 since there is no truth more thoroughly established, than that there exists in the economy and 
 course of nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness, between duty and 
 advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid 
 rewards of public prosperity and felicity: since we ought to be no less persuaded, that the 
 propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a Nation that disregards the eternal 
 rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained: and since the preservation of the 
 sacred fire of Liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of Government, are justly 
 considered as deeply, perhaps, as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of 
 the American People. 
 
 Besides the ordinary objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to 
 decide, how far an exercise of the occasional power, delegated by the fifth article of the 
 Constitution, is rendered expedient at the present juncture, by the nature of objections which 
 have been urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to 
 them. Instead of undertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could 
 be guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my entire 
 confidence in your discernment and pursuit of the public good; for I assure myself that whilst 
 you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of a united and 
 effective Government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience; a reverence 
 for the characteristic rights of freemen, and a regard for the public harmony, will sufficiently 
 mfluence your deliberations on the question, how far the former can be more impregnably 
 fortified, or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted. 
 
 To the preceding observations I have one to add, which will be most properly addressed to 
 
ADDRESS FROM THE SENATE. . gj 
 
 the House of Representatives. It concerns myself, and will, therefore, be as brief as possible. 
 When I was first honoured with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an 
 arduous struggle for its liberties, the light in which I contemplated my duty required that I 
 should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance 
 departed. And being still under the impressions which produced it, I must decline, as 
 inapphcable to myself, any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensably 
 included in a permanent provision for the Executive Department; and must, accordingly, pray 
 that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed, may, during my continuance 
 in it, be limited to such actual expenditures as the public good may be thought to require. 
 
 Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, as they have been awakened by the occasion 
 which brings us together, I shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more 
 to the benign Parent of the human race in humble supplication, that since he has bejen pleased 
 to favour the American People with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and 
 dispositions for deciding with unparalleled unanimity on a form of Government, for the 
 security of their Union and the advancement of their happiness; so his divine blessing may be 
 equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the wise measures 
 on which the success of this Government must depend. 
 
 Go. WASmNGTON. 
 
 Sik: We, the Senate of the United States, return you our sincere thanks for your excellent 
 Speech, delivered to both Houses of Congress, congratulate you on the complete organization 
 of the Federal Government, and felicitate ourselves and our fellow-citizens on your elevation 
 to the office of President, an office highly important by the powers constitutionally annexed 
 to it, and extremely honourable from the manner in which the appointment is made. The 
 unanimous suffiage of the elective body in your favour, is peculiarly expressive of the 
 gratitude, confidence, and affection of the citizens of America, and is the highest testimonial 
 at once of your merit, and of their esteem. We are sensible, sir, that nothing but the voice 
 of your fellow-citizens could have called you from a retreat, chosen by the fondest predilec- 
 tion, endeared by habit, and consecrated to the repose of declining years. We rejoice, and 
 with us, all America, that, in obedience to the call of our common country, you have returned 
 once more to public life. In you all parties confide, in you all interests unite, and we have no 
 doubt that your past services, great as they have been, will be equalled by your future 
 exertions; and that your prudence and sagacity as a statesman, will tend to avert the dangers 
 to which we were exposed, to give stability to the present Government, and dignity and 
 splendour to that country, which your skill and valour as a soldier, so eminently contributed 
 to raise to independence and empire. 
 
 When we contemplate the coincidence of circumstances, and wonderful combination of 
 causes, which gradually prepared the people of this country for independence; when we 
 contemplate the rise, progress, and termination of the late war, which gave them a name 
 among the nations of the earth, we are, with you, unavoidably led to acknowledge and adore 
 the great Arbiter of the Universe, by whom empires rise and fall. A review of the many 
 signal instances of Divine interposition in favour of this country, claims our most pious 
 gratitude. And permit us, sir, to observe, that among the great events which have led to the 
 formation and establishment of a Federal Government, we esteem your acceptance of the 
 office of President as one of the most propitious and important. 
 
 In execution of the trust reposed in us, we shall endeavour to pursue that enlarged and 
 
 liberal policy, to which your speech so happily directs. We are conscious that the prosperity 
 
 of each State is inseparably connected with the welfare of all, and that in promoting the 
 
 latter, we shall effectually advance the former. In full persuasion of this truth, it shall be our 
 
 11 
 
g2 ADDRESS FROM THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. 
 
 invariable aim to divest ourselves of local prejudices and attachments, and to view the great 
 assemblage of communities and interests committed to our charge with an equal eye. We 
 feel, sir, the force, and acknowledge the justice of the observation, that the foundation of our 
 national policy should be laid in private morahty. If individuals be not influenced by moral 
 principles, it is in vain to look for public virtue; it is, therefore, the duty of legislators to 
 enforce, both by precept and example, the utiUty, as well as the necessity, of a strict adherence 
 to the rules of distributive justice. We beg you to be assured, that the Senate will, at all 
 times, cheerfully co-operate in every measure which may strengthen the Union, conduce to 
 the happiness, or secure and perpetuate the liberties of this great confederated Republic. 
 
 We commend you, sir, to the protection of Almighty God, earnestly beseeching him long 
 to preserve a life so valuable and dear to the people of the United States; and that your 
 Administration may be prosperous to the Nation, and glorious to yourself. 
 
 Signed by order: John Adams, 
 
 President of the Senate of the United States. 
 
 In Senate, Ma^ 16, 1789. 
 
 Gentlemen: I thank you for your Address, in which the most affectionate sentiments are 
 expressed in the most obliging terms. The coincidence of circumstances which led to this 
 auspicious crisis; the confidence reposed in me by my fellow-citizens, and the assistance I 
 may expect from counsels which will be dictated by an enlarged and liberal policy, seem to 
 presage a more prosperous issue to my administration, than a diffidence of my abilities had 
 taught me to anticipate. I now feel myself inexpressibly happy in a belief that Heaven, 
 which has done so much for our infant Nation, will not withdraw its providential influence 
 before our political felicity shall have been completed; and in a conviction that the Senate 
 will, at all times, co-operate in every measure which may tend to promote the welfare of the 
 confederated Republic. 
 
 Thus supported by a firm trust in the great Arbiter of the Universe, aided by the collected 
 wisdom of the Union, and imploring the divine benediction on our joint exertions in the 
 service of our country, I readily engage with you in the arduous but pleasing task of 
 attempting to make a Nation happy. 
 
 Go. Washington. 
 
 Sir: The Representatives of the People of the United States, present their congratulations 
 on the event by which your fellow-citizens have attested the pre-eminence of your merit. 
 You have long held the first place in their esteem; you have often received tokens of their 
 affection ; you now possess the only proof that remained of their gratitude for your services, 
 of their reverence for your wisdom, and of their confidence in your virtues. You enjoy the 
 highest, because the truest honour, of being the First Magistrate, by the unanimous choice of 
 the freest People on the face of the earth. 
 
 We well know the anxieties with which you must hav€ obeyed the summons, from the 
 repose reserved for your declining years, into public scenes, of which you had taken your 
 leave for ever; but the obedience was due to the occasion. It is already applauded by the 
 universal joy which welcomes you to your station, and we cannot doubt that it will be 
 rewarded with all the satisfaction, with which an ardent love for your fellow-citizens must 
 review successful efforts to promote their happiness. 
 
 This anticipation is not justified merely by the past experience of your signal services. It 
 is particularly suggested by the pious impressions under which you commence your adminis- 
 
ADDRESS FROM THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES. S3 
 
 tration, and the enlightened maxims by which you mean to conduct it. We feel with you the 
 strongest obligations to adore the invisible hand which has led the American people through 
 so many difficulties, to cherish a conscious responsibihty for the destiny of Republican 
 Liberty, and to seek the only sure means of preserving and recommending the precious deposit 
 in a system of legislation, founded on the principles of an honest policy, and directed by the 
 spirit of a diffusive patriotism. 
 
 The question arising out of the fifth article of the Constitution, will receive all the attention 
 demanded by its importance, and will, we trust, be decided under the influence of all the 
 considerations to which you allude. 
 
 In forming the pecuniary provisions for the Executive Department, we shall not lose sight 
 of a wish resulting from motives which give it a peculiar claim to our regard. Your 
 resolution, in a moment critical to the liberties, of your country, to renounce all personal 
 emolument, was among the many presages of your patriotic services, which have been amply 
 fulfilled; and your scrupulous adherence now to the law then imposed on yourself, cannot 
 fail to demonstrate the purity, whilst it increases the lustre of a character which has so many 
 titles to admiration. 
 
 Such are the sentiments with which we have thought fit to address you. They flow from 
 our own hearts, and we verily beheve, that among the millions we represent, there is not a 
 virtuous citizen whose heart will disown them. 
 
 All that remains is, that we join in your fervent supplications for the blessings of Heaven 
 on our country; and that we add our own for the choicest of those blessings on the most 
 beloved of her citizens. 
 
 Gentlemen: Your very affectionate address produces emotions which I know not how to 
 express. I feel that my past endeavours in the service of my country are far overpaid by its 
 goodness; and I fear much that my future ones may not fulfil your kind anticipation. All 
 that I can promise is, that they will be invariably directed by an honest and an ardent zeal. 
 Of this resource my heart assures me. For all beyond, I rely on the wisdom and patriotism 
 of those with whom I am to co-operate, and a continuance of the blessings of Heaven on our 
 beloved country. 
 
 Go. Washington. 
 
84 
 
 PROCLAMATION FOR A DAY OF THANKSGIVING. 
 By the President of the United States of America. 
 
 A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 When we review the calamities which afflict so many other nations, the present condition 
 of the United States affords much matter of consolation and satisfaction. Our exemption 
 hitherto, from foreign war, an increasing prospect of the continuance of that exemption, the 
 great degree of, internal tranquilhty we have enjoyed, the recent confirmation of that tran- 
 quillity by the suppression of an insurrection which so wantonly threatened it, the happy 
 course of our public affairs in general, the unexampled prosperity of all classes of our citizens, 
 are circumstances which peculiarly mark our situation with indications of the Divine 
 beneficence towards us : In such a state of things, it is, in an especial manner, our duty as a 
 people, with devout reverence, and affectionate gratitude, to acknowledge our many and great 
 obligations to Almighty God, and to implore him to continue and confirm the blessings we 
 experience. 
 
 Deeply penetrated with this sentiment, I, George Washington, President' of the United 
 States, do recommend to all religious societies and denominations, and to all persons 
 whomsoever within the United States, to set apart and observe Thursday,- the nineteenth day 
 of February next, as a day of Public Thanksgiving and Prayer; and on that day to meet 
 together and render their sincere and hearty thanks to the Great Ruler of Nations, for the 
 manifold and signal mercies which distinguish our lot as a Nation: Particularly for the 
 possession of constitutions of government which unite, and, by their union, establish liberty 
 with order; for the preservation of our peace, foreign and domestic; for the seasonable 
 control which has been given to a spirit of disorder in the suppression of the late insurrection; 
 and generally, for the prosperous course of our affairs, public and private; and, at the same 
 time, humbly and fervently to beseech the kind Author of these blessings graciously to prolong 
 them to us — to imprint on our hearts a deep and solemn sense of our obhgations to him for 
 them; to teach us rightly to estimate their immense value; to preserve us from the arrogance 
 of prosperity, and from hazarding the advantages we enjoy by delusive pursuits; to dispose 
 us to merit the continuance of his favours, by not abusing them, by our gratitude for them, 
 and by a correspondent conduct as citizens and as men — to render this country more and 
 more a safe and propitious asylum for the unfortunate of other countries; to extend among us 
 true and useful knowledge; to diffuse and establish habits of sobriety, order, morality, and 
 piety; and, finally, to impart all the blessings we possess, or ask for ourselves, to the whole 
 family of mankind. 
 
 In testimony whereof, I have caused the seal of the United States of America to be 
 affixed to these presents, and signed the same with my hand. 
 
 Done at the City of Philadelphia, the first day of January, one thousand seven 
 hundred and ninety-five, and of the Independence of the United States of 
 America the nineteenth. 
 
 Go. Washington. 
 By the President: 
 
 Edm. Randolph. 
 
85 
 
 WASHINGTON'S LEGACY: 
 
 OR, 
 
 FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 Friends and Fellow-Citizens: 
 
 The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the Executive Government of the 
 United States, being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must 
 be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it 
 appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public 
 voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being 
 considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made. 
 
 I beg you at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured, that this resolution has not 
 been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which 
 binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that, in withdrawing the tender of service, which 
 silende, in my situation, might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future 
 interests; no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness; but am supported by a full 
 conviction that the step is compatible with both. 
 
 The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in the ofiice to which your suffVages have 
 twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a 
 deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped, that it would-have been 
 much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, 
 to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my 
 inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an 
 address to declare it to you; but mature consideration on the then perplexed and critical 
 pbsture of our afliairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to 
 my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. 
 
 I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the 
 pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety; and am persuaded, 
 whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that in the present circumstances of our 
 country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire. 
 
 The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the 
 proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say, that I have with good 
 intentions contributed towards the organization and administration of the Government, the 
 best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in the outset, 
 of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the 
 eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the 
 increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as 
 necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given 
 peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that 
 while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 
 
 In looking forward to the moment which is to terminate the career of my public life, my 
 feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude 
 which I owe to my beloved country, for the many honours it has conferred upon me; still 
 more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me, and for the opportunities 
 I. have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment,, by services faithful and 
 persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country 
 from these services, let it always be remembered, to your praise, and as an instructive 
 
gg FAREWELL ADDRESS. 
 
 example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every 
 direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious— vicissitudes of 
 fortune, often discouraging— in situations, in which, not unfrequently, want of success has 
 countenanced the spirit of criticism— the constancy of your support was the essential prop of 
 the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated 
 by this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows 
 that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence — that your union and 
 brotherly affection may be perpetual— that the free constitution, which is the work of your 
 hands, may be sacredly maintained— that its administration, in every departmentj may be 
 stamped with wisdom and virtue— that, in fine, the happiness of the People of these Sta,tes, 
 under the auspices of Uberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation, and so 
 prudent a use of this blessing, as to acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the 
 applause, the affection, and the adoption of every Nation which is yet a stranger to it. 
 
 Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but 
 with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an 
 occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your 
 frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable 
 observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a 
 People. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the 
 disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias 
 his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my 
 sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion. 
 
 Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation 
 of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment. 
 
 The unity of Government, which constitutes you one People, is also dear to you. It is 
 justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence; the support of your 
 tranxjuillity at home; your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very 
 liberty which you so highly prize. But, as it is easy to foresee, that from different causes, 
 and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken the 
 conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the 
 batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often 
 covertly and insidiously) directed; it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate 
 the immense value of your National Union, to your collective and individual happiness; that 
 you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immoveable attachment to it; accustoming your- 
 selves to think and speak of it, as the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; 
 watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest 
 even a suspicion that it can, in any event, be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the 
 first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to 
 enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts. 
 
 For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by birth or choice, 
 of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of 
 American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride 
 of patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight 
 shades of difierence, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. 
 You have, in a common cause, fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty 
 you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts, of common dangers, sufferings, 
 and successes. 
 
 But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, 
 are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest; here every 
 portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and 
 preserving the union of the whole. 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 87 
 
 The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a 
 common Government, finds, in the productions of the lattei*, great additional resources of 
 maritime and commercial enterprise, and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The 
 South in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture 
 grow, and its comriierce expand. Turning, partly into its own channels, the seamen of the 
 North, it finds its particukr navigation invigorated: and, while it contributes, in different 
 ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward 
 to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in 
 a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvenjent of interior 
 communication, by land and water, will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commo- 
 dities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the 
 East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort; and what is, perhaps, of still greater 
 consequence, it must, of necessity, owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its 
 own productions, to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic 
 side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one Nation. Any 
 other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its 
 own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion with any foreign Power, 
 must be intrinsically precarious. 
 
 While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in 
 the Union, all the parties combined cannot fail to find, in the united mass of means and efforts, 
 greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a 
 less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and what i&of inestimable value, 
 they must derive from union, an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, 
 which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries, not tied together by the same Government, 
 which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign 
 alliances, attachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they 
 will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which,^ under any form of 
 Government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile 
 to Republican Liberty; in this sense it is, that your union ought to be considered as a main 
 prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of 
 
 the other. 
 
 These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, 
 and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a 
 doubt, whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve 
 it. To listen to mere speculation, in such a case, were criminal. We are authorized to hope, 
 that a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the 
 respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair 
 and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of 
 our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there wiU 
 always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those, who, in any quarter, may endeavour to 
 
 weaken its bands. 
 
 In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs, as matter of serious 
 concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geogra- 
 phical discriminations-iVor^Ae™ ^nd Southern-Atlantic and Western; whence designmg men 
 may endeavour to excite a belief that there is a real diff-erence of local interests and views. 
 One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts, is to misrepre- 
 sent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against 
 the iealousies and heart-burnings which spring from these misrepresentations: They tend to 
 render ahen to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal aff-ection. The 
 inhabitants of our Western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they have 
 seen in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of 
 
88 
 
 FAREWELL ADDRESS. 
 
 the Treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the United 
 States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them, of a 
 poUcy in the general Government, and in the Atlantic States, unfriendly to their interests in 
 regard to the Mississippi: they have been witnesses to the formation of two Treaties, that 
 with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them every thing they could desire, 
 in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their 
 wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages, on the Union by which they were 
 procured? Will they not, henceforth, be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would 
 sever them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens? 
 
 To the efficacy and permanency of your union, a Government for the whole is indispensable. 
 No alliances, however strict, between the parts, can be an adequate substitute; they must, 
 inevitably, experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have 
 experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by 
 the adoption of a constitution of Government, better calculated than your former, for an 
 intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This 
 Government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full 
 investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its 
 powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own 
 amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, 
 compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental 
 maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the People to make 
 and to alter their constitutions of Government; but, the constitution which at any time exists, 
 till changed by an explicit' — an authentic act of the whole People, is sacredly obligatory upon 
 all. The very idea of the power and the right of the People to establish Government, 
 pre-supposes the duty of every individual to obey the established Government. 
 
 All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under 
 whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the 
 regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this funda- 
 mental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial 
 and extraordinary force, to put in the place of the delegated will of the Nation, the will of a 
 Party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to 
 the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public Administration the mirror of the 
 ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and 
 wholesome plans, digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests. 
 
 However combinations or associations of the above descriptions may now and then answer 
 popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by 
 which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men, will be enabled to subvert the power of the 
 People, and to usurp, for themselves, the reins of Government; destroying, afterwards, the 
 very engines which lifted them to unjust dominion. 
 
 Towards the preservation of your Government, and the permanency of your present happy 
 state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its 
 acknowledged authority, but also that you j-esist, with care, the spirit of innovation upon its 
 principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to eflfect, in the 
 forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to 
 undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be 
 invited, remember that time and habit are, at least, as necessary to fix the true character of 
 Governments, as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard by which 
 to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facihty in changes, 
 upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the 
 endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that for the efficient 
 management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a Government of 
 
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FAREWELL ADDRESS. gg 
 
 as much vigour as is consistent with the perfect security of hberty, is indispensable. Liberty 
 itself will find in such a Government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest 
 guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the Government is too feeble to 
 withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits 
 prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights 
 of person a«d property. 
 
 I have already intimated to you, the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference 
 to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more compre- 
 hensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit 
 of party, generally. 
 
 This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest 
 passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes, in all Governments ; more or 
 less stifled, controlled, or repressed ; but in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest 
 rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. 
 
 The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, 
 natural to party dissention, which, in different ages and countries, has perpetrated the most 
 horrid enormities, is, itself, a frightful despotism. But this leads, at length, to a more formal 
 and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result, gradually incline the 
 minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and, sooner 
 or later, the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, 
 turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty. 
 
 Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be 
 entirely out of sight) the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient 
 to make it the interest and duty of a wise People to discourage and restrain it. It serves 
 always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administrations. It agitates the 
 community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one part 
 against another, foments, occasionally, riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign 
 influence and corruption, which find a facilitated access to the Government itself, through the 
 channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the 
 policy and will of another. 
 
 There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration 
 of the Government, and serve to keep alive the spirit of hberty. This, within certain limits, is 
 probably true, and in Governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, 
 if not with favour, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in Govern- 
 ments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency it is 
 certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose; and there being 
 constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and 
 assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting 
 into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume. 
 
 It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking, in a free country, should inspire caution 
 in those intrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective consti- 
 tutional spheres, avoiding, in the exercise of the powers of one department, to encroach upon 
 another The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments 
 in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of Government, a real despotism. A just 
 estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predommates m the human 
 heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal 
 checks, in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different deposi- 
 tories, and constituting each the guardian of the pubUc weal against invasions by the others 
 has been evinced by experiments, ancient and modern; some. of them m our country and 
 under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary aS to mstitute them. If, m the 
 opinion of the People, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be m any 
 
 13 
 
90 FAREWELL ADDRESS. 
 
 particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment, in the way which the Constitution 
 designates : But let there be no change by usurpation ; for though this, in one instance, may 
 be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free Governments are 
 destroyed. The precedent must, always, greatly overbalance, in permanent evil, any partial 
 or transient benefit which the use can, at any time, yield. 
 
 Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are 
 indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should 
 labour to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of 
 men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to 
 cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connexions with private and pubhc felicity. 
 Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense 
 of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of 
 justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be maintained 
 without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education, on minds 
 of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect, that national morality 
 can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. 
 
 It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular Government. 
 The rule indeed extends, with more or less force, to every species of free Government. Who 
 that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation 
 of the fabric? 
 
 Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of 
 knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a Government gives force to public opinion, it 
 is essential that public opinion should be enlightened. 
 
 As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of 
 preserving it, is to use it as sparingly as possible; avoiding occasions of expense by culti- 
 vating peace, but remembering also, that timely disbursements to prepare for danger, frequently 
 prevent much greater disbursements to repel it: Avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, 
 not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to 
 discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing 
 upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims 
 belongs to your Representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. 
 To faciHtate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically 
 bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue 
 there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not, more or less, inconvenient 
 and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment inseparable from the selection of the proper 
 objects (which is always a choice of difficulties) ought to be a decisive motive for a candid 
 construction of the conduct of the Government in making it; and for a spirit of acquiescence 
 in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate. 
 
 Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. 
 Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally 
 enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and (at no distant period) a great Nation, 
 to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a People, always guided by 
 an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course of time and things, 
 the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost 
 by a steady adherence to it? Can it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent 
 felicity of a Nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every 
 sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices? 
 
 In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate 
 antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be 
 excluded; and that in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be 
 cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 
 
 91 
 
 fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of 
 which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation 
 against another, disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight 
 causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of 
 dispute occur. 
 
 Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, 
 prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the Government, contrary to 
 the best calculations of policy. The Government sometimes participates in the national 
 propensity, and adopts, through passion, what reason would reject; at other times, it makes 
 the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility, instigated by pride, ambition, 
 and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes, perhaps, the liberty 
 of nations has been the victim. 
 
 So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. 
 Sympathy for the favourite nation, faciUtating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, 
 in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, 
 betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate 
 inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions t,o the favourite nation of privileges 
 denied to others, which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions, by 
 unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained; and by exciting jealousy, 
 ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld: 
 and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the 
 favourite nation) facility to betray, or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without 
 odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding with the appearances of a virtuous sense of 
 obHgation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the 
 base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. 
 
 As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly 
 alarming to the enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford 
 to tamper with domestic factions, to practise the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, 
 to influence or awe the public councils ! Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a 
 great and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter. 
 
 Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow- 
 citizens,) the jealousy of a free People ought to be constantly awake; since history and 
 experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican 
 Government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the 
 instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive 
 partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dishke of another, cause those whom they 
 actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even to second the arts of 
 influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favourite, are liable 
 to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence 
 of the People, to surrender their interests. 
 
 The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations is, in extending our commer- 
 cial relations, to have with them as little political connexion as possible. So far as we have 
 already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. 
 
 Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. 
 Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially 
 foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by 
 artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combmations and 
 collisions of her friendships or enmities. 
 
 Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If 
 we remain one People, under an efficient Government, the period is not far off, when we may 
 defy material injury from external annoyance; when we take such an attitude as will cause 
 
92 
 
 FAREWELL ADDRESS. 
 
 the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belli- 
 gerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard 
 the giving us provocation; when we may choose Peace or War, as our interest, guided by 
 justice, shall counsel. 
 
 Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon 
 foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle 
 our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humour, or 
 caprice? 
 
 It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign 
 world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as 
 capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable 
 to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, 
 let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unne- 
 cessary, and would be unwise to extend them. 
 
 Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive 
 posture, we may safely trust to temporary alUances for extraordinary emergencies. 
 
 Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, 
 and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; 
 neither seeking nor granting exclusive favours or preferences; consulting the natural course 
 of things; diffusing and diversifying, by gentle means, the streams of commerce, but forcing 
 nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to 
 define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, conven- 
 tional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, 
 but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and 
 circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look 
 for disinterested favours from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for 
 whatever it may accept under that character; that by such acceptance it may place itself in 
 the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favours, and yet of being reproached 
 with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or 
 calculate upon real favours from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must 
 cure, which a just pride ought to discard. 
 
 In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare 
 not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will 
 control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our Nation from running the course 
 which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations: But, if I may even flatter myself that they 
 may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and 
 then recur, to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign 
 intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full 
 recompense for the solicitude of your welfare, by which they have been dictated. 
 
 How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the principles which 
 have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to 
 you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at 
 least believed myself to be guided by them. 
 
 In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my Proclamation of the 22nd of April, 
 1793, is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your 
 Representatives in both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually 
 governed me; uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. 
 
 Afler deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well 
 satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and 
 was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as 
 far as should depend upon me, to maintain it with moderation, perseverance, and firmness. 
 
FAREWELL ADDRESS. 
 
 93 
 
 The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary, on this 
 occasion, to detail. I will only observe, that according to my understanding of the matter, 
 that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually 
 admitted by all. 
 
 The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without any thing more, from the 
 obligations which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to 
 act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations. 
 
 The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own 
 reflections and experience. With me a predominant motive has been, to endeavour to gain 
 time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without 
 interruption to that degree of strength and consistency, which is necessary to give it, humanly 
 speaking, the command of its own fortunes. 
 
 Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional 
 error, I am, nevertheless, too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have 
 committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert 
 or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my 
 country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my 
 life dedicated to its service, with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be 
 consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest. 
 
 Relying on its kindness, in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love 
 towards it, which is natural .to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his 
 progenitors for several generations, I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, in 
 which I promise myself to realize without alloy the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the 
 midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free Government — the 
 ever-favourite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, 
 
 labours, and dangers. 
 
 Go. Washington. 
 
 United States, llth September, 1796. 
 
LETTER OF WASHINGTON, ACCEPTING THE COMMAND OF THE AMERICAN ARMY. 
 
 Mount Vernon, t/w/y 13, 1798. 
 Dear Sir: I had the honour, on the evening of the 11th instant, to receive from the hand 
 of the Secretary of War, your favour of the 7th, announcing that you had, with the advice 
 and consent of the Senate, appointed me "Lieutenant-General and Commander-in-Chief of all 
 Armies raised, or to be raised, for the service of the United States." 
 
 I cannot express how greatly affected I am at this new proof of public confidence, and the 
 highly flattering manner in which you have been pleased to make the communication; at the 
 same time, I must not conceal from you my earnest wish, that the choice had fallen upon a 
 man less declined in years, and better qualified to encounter the usual vicissitudes of war. 
 
 You know, sir, what calculation I had made relative to the ptobable course of events, on 
 my retiring from office, and the determination I had consoled myself with, of closing the 
 remnant of my days in my present peaceful abode; you will, therefore, be at no loss to 
 conceive and appreciate the sensations I must have experienced, to bring my mind to any 
 conclusion, that would pledge me, at so late a period of life, to leave scenes I sincerely love, 
 to enter upon the boundless field of public action, incessant trouble, and high responsibility. 
 
 It was not possible for me to remain ignorant of, or indifferent to recent transactions. 
 
 The conduct of the Directory of France towards our country ; their insidious hostihty to its 
 government; thfeir various practices to withdraw the aflfections of the people from it; the 
 evident tendency of their acts, and those of their agents, to countenance and invigorate 
 opposition; their disregard of solemn treaties and the laws of nations; their war upon our 
 defenceless commerce; their treatment of our ministers of peace, and their demands, amount- 
 ing to tribute, could not fail to excite in me corresponding sentiments, with those my 
 countrymen have so generally expressed in their aflfectionate addresses to you. Believe me, 
 sir, no one can more cordially approve of the wise and prudent measures of your administra- 
 tion. They ought to inspire universal confidence, and will, no doubt, combined with the state 
 of things, call from Congress such laws and means as will enable you to meet the full force 
 and extent of the crisis. 
 
 Satisfied, therefore, that you have sincerely wished and eiideavoured to avert war, and 
 exhausted, to the last drop, the cup of reconciliation, we can with pure hearts appeal to 
 Heaven for the justice of our cause ; and may confidently trust the final result to that kind 
 Providence who has heretofore, and so often, signally favoured the People of these United 
 States. 
 
 Thinking in this manner, and feeling how incumbent it is upon every person, of every 
 description, to contribute at all times to his country's welfare, especially in a moment like the 
 present, when every thing we hold dear and sacred is so seriously threatened; I have finally 
 determined to accept the Commission of Commander-in-Chief of the Armies of the United 
 States, with this reserve only— that I shall not be called into the field until the Army is in a 
 situation to require my presence, or it becomes indispensable by the urgency of circumstances. 
 
 In making this reservation, I beg it may be understood, that I do not mean to withhold any 
 assistance to arrange and organize the Army, which you think I can afford. I take the 
 liberty also to mention, that I must dechne having my acceptance considered as drawing after 
 it any immediate charge upon the public; or that I can receive any emoluments annexed to 
 the appointment before entering into a situation to incur expense. 
 
 The Secretary of War being anxious to return to the seat of Government, I have detained 
 him no longer than was necessary to a full communication upon the several points he had in 
 charge. 
 
 With very great respect and consideration, I have the honour to be, dear sir, your most 
 obedient humble servam. Go. Washington. 
 
 John Adams, 
 President of the United States. 
 
SAM^SDIPlHAi^nS. 
 
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95 
 
 Smttai (©ration 
 
 ON THE 
 
 DEATH OF GENERAL WASHINGTON: 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE REQUEST OP CONGRESS, 
 BY MAJOR-GENERAL HENRY LEE, 
 
 MEMBER OF CONGKESS FROM VIRGINIA. 
 
 In obedience to your will, I rise, your humble organ, with the hope of executing a part of 
 the system of public mourning which you have been pleased to adopt, commemorative of the 
 death of the most illustrious and most beloved personage this country has ever produced; 
 and which, while it transmits to posterity your sense of the awful event, faintly represents 
 your knowledge of the consummate excellence you so cordially honour. 
 
 Desperate indeed is any attempt on earth to meet correspondently this dispensation of 
 Heaven ; for, while with pious resignation we submit to the will of an all-gracious Providence, 
 we can never cease lamenting, in our finite view of Omnipotent wisdom, the heart-rending 
 privation for which our nation weeps. When the civilized world shakes to its centre; when 
 every moment gives birth to strange and momentous changes; when our peaceful quarter of 
 the globe, exempt, as it happily has been, from any share in the slaughter of the human race, 
 may yet be compelled to abandon her pacific policy, and to risk the doleful casualties of war; 
 what limit is there to the extent of our loss? — None within the reach of my words to express; 
 none which your feelings will not disavow. 
 
 The founder of our Federate Republic — our bulwark in war, our guide in peace, is no 
 more! Oh that this Avere but questionable! Hope, the comforter of the wretched, would 
 pour into our agonizing hearts its balmy dew. But, alas! there is no hope for us; our 
 Washington is removed for ever! Possessing the stoutest frame, and purest mind, he had 
 passed nearly to his sixty-eighth year, in the enjoyment of high health, when, habituated by 
 his care of us to neglect himself^ a slight cold, disregarded, became inconvenient on Friday, 
 oppressive on Saturday, and, defying every medical interposition, before the morning of 
 Sunday, put an end to the best of men. An end, did I say? his fame survives! bounded only 
 by the limits of the earth, and by the extent of the human mind. He survives in our hearts, 
 in the growing knowledge of our children, in the affections of the good throughout the world; 
 and when bur monuments shall be done away; when nations now existing shall be no more; 
 when even our young, and far-spreading empire shall have perished, still will our Washing- 
 ton's glory unfaded shine, and die not, until love of virtue cease on earth, or earth itself sinks 
 
 into chaos. 
 
 How, my fellow-citizens, shall I single to your grateful hearts his pre-eminent worth ! where 
 shall I begin in opening to your view a character throughout sublime? Shall I speak of his 
 warlike achievements, all springing from obedience to his country's will— all directed to his 
 
 country's good? 
 
 Will you go with me to the banks of the Monongahela, to see our youthful Washington 
 supporting, in the dismal hour of Indian victory, the ill-fated Braddock, and saving, by his 
 judgment and by his valour, the remains of a defeated army, pressed by the conquering 
 savage foe? Or, when oppressed America, nobly resolving to risk her all in defence of her 
 violated rights, he was elevated by the unanimous voice of Congress to the command of her 
 Armies? Will you follow him to the high grounds of Boston, where, to an undisciplined, 
 courageous and virtuous yeomanry, his presence gave the stability of system, and infused the 
 
QQ FUNERAL ORATION. 
 
 invincibility of love of country? Or shall I carry you to the painful scenes of Long-Island, 
 York-Island, and New-Jersey, when, combating superior and gallant armies, aided by power- 
 ful fleets, and led by chiefs high in the roll of fame, he stood the bulwark of our safety, 
 undismayed by disasters, unchanged by change of fortune? Or will you view him in the 
 precarious fields of Trenton, where deep gloom, unnerving every arm, reigned triumphant 
 through our thinned, worn down, unaided ranks, himself unmoved. Dreadful was the night. 
 It was about this time of winter— the storm raged— the Delaware rolling furiously with 
 floating ice, forbade the approach of man. Washington, self-collected, viewed the tremendous 
 scene. His country called; unappalled by surrounding dangers, he passed to the hostile 
 shore; he fought; he conquered. The morning sun cheered the American world. Our 
 country rose on the event, and her dauntless chief pursuing his bloAV, completed, in the lawns 
 of Princeton, what his vast soul had conceived on the shores of the Delaware. 
 
 Thence to the strong grounds of Morristown he led his small but gallant band; and 
 through an eventful winter, by the high efibrts of his genius, whose matchless force was 
 measurable only by the growth of difficulties, he held in check formidable hostile legions, 
 conducted by a chief experienced in the art of war, and famed for his valour on the ever- 
 memorable heights of Abraham, where fell Wolf, Montcalm, and since, our much-lamented 
 Montgomery, all covered with glory. In this fortunate interval, produced by his masterly 
 conduct, our fathers, ourselves, animated by his resistless example, rallied around our country's 
 standard, and continued to follow her beloved chief through the various and trying scenes to 
 which the destinies of our union led. 
 
 Who is there that has forgotten the vales of Brandy wine— the fields of Germantown — or 
 the plains of Monmouth? Everywhere present, wants of every kind obstructing, numerous 
 and vaUant armies encountering, himself a host, he assuaged our sufferings, hmited our 
 privations, and upheld our tottering Republic. Shall I display to you the spread of the fire of 
 his soul, by rehearsing the praises of the Hero of Saratoga, and his much-loved compeer of 
 the CaroUnas? No; our Washington wears not borrowed glory. To Gates — to Green, he 
 gave without reserve the applause due to their eminent merit; and long may the chiefs of 
 Saratoga and of Eutaws receive the grateful respect of a grateful people. 
 
 Moving in his own orbit, he imparted heat and light to his most distant satellites; and 
 combining the physical and moral force of all within his sphere, with irresistible weight he 
 took his course, commiserating folly, disdaining vice, dismaying treason, and invigorating 
 despondency; until the auspicious hour arrived, when, united with the intrepid forces of a 
 potent and magnanimous ally, he brought to submission the since conqueror of India; thus 
 finishing his long career of military glory with a lustre corresponding to his great name, and 
 in this his last act of war, affixing the seal of fate to our nation's birth. 
 
 To the horrid din of battle, sweet peace succeeded; and our virtuous Chief, mindful only 
 of the common good, in a moment tempting personal aggrandizement, hushed the discontents 
 of growing sedition; and, surrendering his power into the hands from which he had received 
 it, converted his sword into a ploughshare, teaching an admiring world that to be truly great, 
 you must be truly good. 
 
 Were I to stop here, the picture would be incomplete, and the task imposed unfinished. 
 Great as was our Washington in war, and as much as did that greatness contribute to 
 produce the American Republic, it is not in war alone his pre-eminence stands conspicuous. 
 His various talents, combining all the capacities of a statesman with those of a soldier, fitted 
 him alike to guide the councils and the armies of our nation. Scarcely had he rested from 
 his martial toils, while his invaluable parental advice was still sounding in our ears, when he 
 who had been our shield and our sword, was called forth to act a less splendid but more 
 important part. 
 
 Possessing a clear and penetrating mind, a strong and sound judgment, calmness and 
 temper for defiberation, with invincible firmness and perseverance in resolutions maturely 
 
FUNERAL ORATION. 
 
 97 
 
 formed, drawing information from all, acting from himself with incorruptible integrity and 
 unvarying patriotism: his own superiority and the public confidence alike marked him as the 
 man designed by Heaven to lead in the great political as well as military events which have 
 distinguished the era of his life. 
 
 The finger of an over-ruling Providence, pointing at Washington, was neither mistaken 
 nor unobserved; when, to realize the vast hopes to which our Revolution had given birth, a 
 change of political system became indispensable. How novel, how grand the spectacle! 
 Independent States stretched over an immense territory, and known only by common difficulty, 
 chnging to their union as the rock of their safety, deciding by frank comparison of their 
 relative conditions, to rear on that rock, under the guidance of reason, a common government, 
 through whose commanding protection liberty and order, with their long train of blessings, 
 should be safe to themselves, and the sure inheritance of their posterity. 
 
 This arduous task devolved on citizens selected by the people, from knowledge of their 
 wisdom and confidence in their virtue. In this august assembly of sages and of patriots, 
 Washington of course was found; and, as if acknowledged to be most wise, where all were 
 wise, with one voice he was declared their chief. How well he merited this rare distinction, 
 how faithful were the labours of himself and his compatriots, the work of their hands and our 
 union, strength and prosperity, the fruits of that work, best attest. 
 
 But to have essentially aided in presenting to his country this consummation of her hopes, 
 neither satisfied the claims of his fellow-citizens on his talents, nor those duties which the 
 possession of those talents imposed. Heaven had not infused into his mind such an 
 uncommon share of its etherial spirit to remain unemployed, nor bestowed on him his genius 
 unaccompanied with the corresponding duty of devoting it to the common good. To have 
 framed a constitution was showing only, without realizing the general happiness. This great 
 work remained to be done; and America, steadfast in her preference, with one voice summoned 
 her beloved Washington, unpractised as he was in the duties of civil administration, to 
 execute this last act in the completion of the national felicity. Obedient to her call, he 
 assumed the high office with that self-distrust pecuhar to his innate modesty, the constant 
 attendant of pre-eminent virtue. What was the burst of joy through our anxious land on this 
 exhilarating event, is known to us all. The aged, the young, the brave, the fair, rivalled each 
 other in demonstrations of their gratitude; and this high wrought, delightful scene, was 
 heightened in its eflfect by the singular contest between the zeal of the bestowers and 
 avoidance of the receiver of the honours bestowed. Commencing his administration, what 
 heart is not charmed with the recollection of the pure and wise principles announced by himself 
 as the basis of his political life. He best understood the indissoluble union between virtue and 
 happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of an honest and 
 magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of public prosperity and individual felicity; 
 watching with an equal and comprehensive eye over this great assemblage of communities 
 and interests, he laid the foundations of our national policy in the unerring, immutable 
 principles of morality, based on religion, exemplifying the pre-eminence of a free government, 
 by all the attributes which win the affections of its citizens, or command the respect of the 
 world. 
 
 "0 fortunati, nimium, sua si bona norint!" 
 
 Leading through the complicated difficulties produced by previous obligations and conflict- 
 ing interests, seconded by succeeding Houses of Congress, enlightened and patriotic, he 
 surmounted all original obstruction, and brightened the path of our national felicity 
 
 The Presidential term expiring, his solicitude to exchange exaltation for humihty returned 
 with a force increased with the increase of age; and he had prepared his Farewell Address 
 to his countrymen, proclaiming his intention, when the united interposition of all around him, 
 enfold byThl; prospects of the epoch, produced a further sacrifice of mchnation to 
 
 13 
 
93 FUNERAL ORATION. 
 
 duty. The election of President followed, and Washington, by the unanimous vote of the 
 nation, was called to resume the Chief Magistracy. What a wonderful fixture of confidence! 
 Which attracts most our admiration, a people so correct, or a citizen combining an 
 assemblage of talents forbidding rivalry, and stifling even envy itself? Such a nation ought 
 to be happy; such a Chief must be forever revered! 
 
 War, long menaced by the Indian tribes, now broke out; and the terrible conflict, deluging 
 Europe with blood, began to shed its baneful influence over our happy land. To the first, 
 outstretching his invincible arm, under the orders of the gallant Wayne, the American Eagle 
 soared triumphant through distant forests. Peace followed victory, and the melioration of 
 the condition of the enemy followed peace. Godhke virtue, which uphfts even the subdued 
 savage ! 
 
 To the second he opposed himself. New and delicate was the conjuncture, and great was 
 the stake. Soon did his penetrating mind discern and seize the only course, continuing to us 
 all the felicity enjoyed. He issued his proclamation of neutrality. This index to his whole 
 subsequent conduct was sanctioned by the approbation of both Houses of Congress, and by 
 the approving voice of the people. 
 
 To this sublime policy he invariably adhered, unmoved by foreign intrusion, unshaken by 
 domestic turbulence. 
 
 " Justum et tenacem propositi virum, 
 Non civium ardor prava jubentium, 
 Non vultus instanlis tyranni, 
 Mente quatit solida." 
 
 Maintaining his pacific system at the expense of no duty, America, faithful to herself, and 
 unstained in her honour, continued to enjoy the delights of peace, while afflicted Europe 
 mourns in ev^ry quarter under the accumulated miseries of an unexampled war; miseries in 
 which our happy country must have shared, had not our pre-eminent Washington been as 
 firm in council as he was brave in the field. 
 
 Pursuing steadfastly his course, he held safe the public happiness, preventing foreign war, 
 and quelling internal discord, till the revolving period of a third election approached, when he 
 executed his interrupted but inextinguishable desire of returning to the humble walks of 
 private life. 
 
 The promulgation of his fixed resolution, stopped the anxious wishes of an affectionate 
 people from adding a third unanimous testimonial of their unabated confidence in the man so 
 long enthroned in their hearts. When before was affection like this exhibited on earth? 
 Turn over the records of ancient Greece— review the annals of mighty Rome— examine the 
 volumes of modern Europe— you search in vain ! America and her Washington only afford 
 the dignified exemplification. 
 
 The illustrious personage called by the national voice in succession to the arduous office of 
 guiding a free people, had new difficulties to encounter. The amicable effort of settling our 
 difficulties with France, begun by Washington, and pursued by his successor in virtue as in 
 station, proving abortive, America took measures of self-defence. No sooner was the public 
 mind roused by a prospect of danger, than every eye was turned to the friend of all, though 
 secluded from public view and grey in the public service. The virtuous veteran, following his 
 plough,* received the unexpected summons with mingled emotions of indignation at the 
 unmerited ill-treatment of his country, and of a determination once more to risk his all in her 
 defence. 
 
 The annunciation of these feelings, in his affecting letter to the President, accepting the 
 command of the army concludes his official conduct. 
 
 * General Washington, though opulent, gave much of his time to practical agriculture. 
 
FUNERAL ORATION. gg 
 
 First in war, first in peaqe, and first in the hearts op his countrymen, he was second 
 to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life. Pious, just, humane, temperate, 
 and sincere; uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was edifying to all around him, 
 as were the effects of that example lasting. 
 
 To his equals he was condescending; to his inferiors kind; and to the dear object of his 
 affections exemplarily tender. Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence, and virtue 
 always felt his fostering hand; the purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public 
 virtues^ 
 
 His last scene comported with the whole tenor of his life. Although in extreme pain, not 
 a sigh, not a groan escaped him; and with undisturbed serenity he closed his well-spent life. 
 Such was the man America has lost! Such was the man for whom our nation mourns! 
 
 Methinks I see his august image, and hear falling from his venerable lips these deep-sinking 
 words : 
 
 " Cease, Sons of America, lamenting our separation. Go on, and confirm by your wisdom 
 the fruits of our joint councils, joint efforts, and common dangers. Reverence religion, diffuse 
 knowledge throughout your land; patronize the arts and sciences: let Liberty and Order be 
 inseparable companions; control party spirit, the bane of free government; observe good 
 faith to, and cultivate peace with all nations; shut up every avenue to foreign influence; 
 contract rather than extend national connexion; rely on yourselves only — be American in 
 thought, word, and deed. Thus will you give immortality to that union which was the con- 
 stant object of my terrestrial labours. Thus will you preserve, undisturbed to the latest 
 posterity, the felicity of a people to me most dear; and thus will you supply (if ray happiness 
 is now aught to you) the only vacancy in the round of pure bliss high Heaven bestows." 
 
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 We, the People of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure 
 Domestic Tranquillity, provide for the Common Defence, promote the General Welfare, and secure 
 the Blessings of Liberty to Ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution 
 for the United States of America: 
 
 Article I. 
 
 Section 1. All Legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the 
 United States, which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives. 
 
 Section 2. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen every 
 second year by the people of the several States, and the electors in each State shall have the 
 qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature. 
 
 No person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of twenty-five 
 years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, 
 be an inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen. 
 
 Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may 
 be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, which shall be deter- 
 mined by adding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to service for a 
 term of years, and, excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The actual 
 enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting of the Congress of the 
 United States, and within every term of ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. 
 The number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State 
 shall have at least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State 
 of New-Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode-Island and 
 Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five. New- York six, New-Jersey four, Pennsylvania 
 eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North-Carolina five, South-Carolina five, and 
 Georgia three. 
 
 When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, the Executive Authority 
 thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies. 
 
 The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other officers, and shall have 
 the sole power of impeachment. 
 
 Section 3. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each 
 State, chosen by the Legislature thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. 
 
 Immediately after they shall be assembled, in consequence of the first election, they shall 
 be divided as equally as may be, into three classes. The seats of the Senators of the first 
 class shall be vacated at the expiration of the second year, of the second class at the 
 expiration of the fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so that 
 one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen by resignation, or 
 otherwise, during the recess of the Legislature of any State, the Executive thereof may make 
 temporary appointments until the next meeting of the Legislature, which shall then fill such 
 vacancies. 
 
 No person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the age of thirty years and 
 been nine years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an 
 inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. 
 
CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. JQI 
 
 The Vice-President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no 
 vote, unless they be equally divided. 
 
 The Senate shall choose their other Officers, and also a President pro-tempore, in the 
 absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall exercise the office of President of the United 
 States. 
 
 The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments: When sitting for that 
 purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is 
 tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no person shall be convicted without the concur- 
 rence of two-thirds of the members present. 
 
 Judgment in cases of impeachnient shall not extend further than to removal from office, 
 and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honour, trust or profit, under the United 
 States: but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be liable and subject to indictment, trial, 
 judgment and punishment, according to law. 
 
 Section 4. The times, places and manner of holding elections for Senators and Representa- 
 tives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may, 
 at any time, by law, make or alter such regulations, except as to the places of choosing 
 Senators. 
 
 The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and such meeting shall be on the 
 first Monday in December, unless they shall, by law, appoint a different day. 
 
 Section 5. Each House shall be the judge of the elections, returns and qualifications of its 
 own members, and a majority of each shall constitute a quorum to do business; but a smaller 
 number may adjourn from day to day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of 
 absent members, in such manner, and under such penaltiesas each House may provide. 
 
 Each House may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly 
 behaviour, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member. 
 
 Each House shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from time to time publish the 
 same, excepting such parts as may, in their judgment, require secrecy; and the yeas and nays 
 of the members of either House, on any question, shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those 
 present, be entered on the journal. 
 
 Neither House, during the Session of Congress, shall, without the consent of the other, 
 adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other place than that in which the two Houses 
 shall be sitting. 
 
 Section 6. The Senators and Representatives shall receive a compensation for their 
 services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They 
 shall, in all cases, except treason, felony, and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest 
 during their attendance at the session of their respective Houses, and m going to and 
 returning from the same; and for any speech or debate in either House, they shall not be 
 
 questioned in any other place. 
 
 No Senator or Representative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be appointed 
 to any civil office under the authority of the United States, which shall have been created or 
 the emoluments whereof shall have been increased during such time; and no person holdmg 
 any office under the United States, shall be a member of either House durmg his continuance 
 in office. 
 
 Section 7. AH bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives, but 
 the Senate may propose or concur with amendments as on other bills. 
 
 Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, 
 before it become a law, be presented to the President of the Umted States, ,f he approve he 
 
1Q2 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his objections, to that House in which it shall 
 have originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and proceed to 
 reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, two-thirdg of that House shall agree to pass the 
 bill, it shall be sent, together with the objections, to the other House, by which it shall likewise 
 be reconsidered, and if approved by two-thirds of that House, it shall become a law. But in 
 all such cases the votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names 
 of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered on the journal of each House 
 respectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the President within ten days (Sunday 
 excepted) after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner as 
 if he had signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case 
 it shall not be a law. 
 
 Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence of the Senate and House of 
 Representatives may be necessary, (except on a question of adjournment) shall be presented 
 to the President of the United States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved 
 by him, or being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate and House 
 of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill. 
 
 Section 8. The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and 
 excises, to pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the 
 United States; but all duties, imposts and excises, shall be uniform throughout the United 
 States; 
 
 To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 
 
 To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several States, and with the 
 Indian Tribes; 
 
 To establish a uniform rule of naturahzation, and uniform laws on the subject of bank- 
 ruptcies throughout the United States; 
 
 To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign coin, and to fix the standard of 
 weights and measures ; 
 
 To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the 
 United States; 
 
 To estabhsh post-offices and post-roads; 
 
 To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing, for limited times, to 
 authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries; 
 
 To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 
 
 To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas, and oflfences against 
 the Law of Nations; 
 
 To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures 
 on land and water; 
 
 To raise and support armies— but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a 
 longer term than two years; 
 
 To provide and maintain a navy; 
 
 To make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces; 
 
 To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrec- 
 tions, and repel invasions; 
 
 To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia, and for governing such part 
 of them as may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the States, 
 respectively, the appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia, 
 according to the discipline prescribed by Congress. 
 
 To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district, (not exceeding 
 ten miles square,) as may, by cession of particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, 
 become the seat of the Government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. jqo 
 
 all places purchased by the consent of the Legislature of the State in which the same shall 
 be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful buildinss— 
 and ° ' 
 
 To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the 
 foregomg powers, and all other powers vested by this Constitution in the Government of the 
 United States, or in any department or officer thereof. 
 
 Section 9. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the States now existing 
 shall thmk proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the year one 
 thousand eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not 
 exceedmg ten dollars for each person. 
 
 The privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of 
 rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it. 
 
 No bill of attainder or ex-post-facto law shall be passed. 
 
 No capitation or other direct tax, shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or 
 enumeration herein before directed to be taken. 
 
 No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any State. 
 
 No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce or revenue to the ports of one 
 State over those of another; nor shall vessels bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to 
 enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 
 
 No money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in consequence of appropriations made 
 by law; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public 
 money shall be published from time to time. 
 
 No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no person holding any 
 office of profit or trust under them, shall, without the consent of the Congress, accept of any 
 present, emolument, office or title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign 
 state. 
 
 Section 10. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confederation; grant letters 
 of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; make any thing but gold and silver 
 coin a tender in payment of debts; pass any bill of attainder, ex-post-facto law, or law 
 impairing the obligation of contracts, or grant any title of nobility. 
 
 No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports 
 or exports, except what may be absolutely necessary for executing its inspection laws: and 
 the net produce of all duties and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for 
 the use of the Treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the 
 revision and control of the Congress. 
 
 No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops or 
 ships of war in time of peace, enter into any agreement or compact with another State, or 
 with a foreign power, or engage in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger 
 as will not admit of delay. 
 
 Article II. 
 
 Section I. The Executive Power shall be vested in a President of the United States of 
 America. He shall hold his office during the term of four years, and, together with the Vice- 
 President, chosen for the same term, be elected as follows: 
 
 Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number 
 of electors equal to the whole number of Senators and Representatives to which the State 
 may be entitled in the Congress; but no Senator or Representative, or person holding an 
 office of trust or profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 
 
JQ4 CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for two persons, of 
 whom one at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves. And they 
 shall make a list of all the persons voted for, and of the number of votes for each; which list 
 they shall sign and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat of the Government of the United 
 States, directed to the President of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the 
 presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes 
 shall then be counted. The person having the greatest number of votes shall be the 
 President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if 
 there be more than one who have such majority, and have an equal number of votes, then the 
 House of Representatives shall immediately choose by ballot one of them for President; and 
 if no person have a majority, then from the five highest on the list, the said House shall, in 
 like manner, choose the President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by 
 States, the Representation from each State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall 
 consist of a member or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the 
 States shall be necessary to a choice. In every case, after the choice of the President, the 
 person having the greatest number of votes of the electors shall be the Vice-President. But 
 if there should remain two or more who have equal votes, the Senate shall choose from them 
 by ballot the Vice-President. 
 
 The Congress may determine the time of choosing the Electors, and the day on which they 
 shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States. 
 
 No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States at the time of the 
 adoption of this Constitution, shall be ehgible to the office of President: neither shall any 
 person be eligible to that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, 
 and been fourteen years a resident within the United States. 
 
 In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his death, resignation, or inability 
 to discharge the poAvers and duties of the said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice- 
 President, and the Congress may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation or 
 inability, both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then act as 
 President, and such officer shall act accordingly until the disability be removed, or a President 
 shall be elected. 
 
 The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services, a compensation, which shall 
 neither be increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected, 
 and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States or 
 any of them. 
 
 Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or 
 affirmation: — "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of 
 President of the United States, and will to the best of my abihty preserve, protect, and defend 
 the Constitution of the United States." 
 
 Section 2. The President shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the 
 United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual service of 
 the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of 
 the Executive Departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, 
 and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences' against the United States, 
 except in cases of impeachment. 
 
 He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, 
 provided two-thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with 
 the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint Ambassadors, other public Ministers and 
 Consuls, Judges of the Supreme Court, and all other Officers of the United States, whose 
 appomtments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law; 
 
CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. jqc 
 
 but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers as they think 
 proper in the President alone, in the Courts of Law,, or in the Heads of Departments. 
 
 The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess 
 of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session. 
 
 Section 3. He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the State of the 
 Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and 
 expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions convene both Houses, or either of them, and 
 in case of disagreement between them, with respect to the time of adjournment, he may 
 adjourn them to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive Ambassadors and othei- 
 pubhc Ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall commission 
 all the officers of the United States. 
 
 Section 4. The President, Vice-President and all Civil Officers of the United States shall 
 be removed from office on. impeachment for, and conviction of treason, bribery, or other high 
 crimes and misdemeanors. 
 
 Article HI. 
 
 Section 1 . The Judicial Power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme Court, 
 and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time ordain and establish. The 
 Judges, both of the supreme and inferior courts, shall hold their offices during good 
 behaviour, and shall at stated times receive for their services a compensation which shall not 
 be diminished during their continuance in office. 
 
 Section 2. The Judicial Power shall extend to all cases in law and equity, arising under 
 this Constitution, the Laws of the United States, and Treaties made or which shall be made 
 under their authority; to all cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls; 
 to all cases of admiralty and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United 
 States shall be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State and 
 citizens of another State; between citizens of different States; between citizens of the same 
 State claiming lands under grants of different States; and between a State, or the citizens 
 thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or subjects. 
 
 In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, and those in which 
 a State shall be party, the Supreme Court shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other 
 cases before mentioned, the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law 
 and fact, with such exceptions and under such regulations as tJie Congress shall make. 
 
 The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by jury; and such trial 
 shall be held in the State where the said crimes shall have been committed; but when not 
 committed within any State, the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may 
 by law have directed. 
 
 Section 3. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying war against 
 them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and comfort. 
 
 No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of two witnesses to the 
 same overt act, or on confession in open court. 
 
 The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of treason, but no attainder of 
 treason shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture, except during the life of the person 
 attainf;ed. 
 
 14 
 
JQ5 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Article IV. 
 
 Section 1. Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, records, and 
 judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may, by general laws, prescribe 
 the manner in which such acts, records and proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 
 
 Section 2. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of 
 citizens in the several States. 
 
 A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from 
 justice, and be found in another State, shall, on demand of the Executive authority of the 
 State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of 
 the crime. 
 
 No person held to service or labour in one State, under the laws thereof, escaping into 
 another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such 
 service or labour, but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or 
 labour may be due. 
 
 Section 3. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no neW 
 State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be 
 formed by the junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the consent of the 
 Legislatures of the States concerned, as well as of the Congress. 
 
 The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all needful rules and regulations 
 respecting the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this 
 Constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States, or of any 
 particular State. 
 
 Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican 
 Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; and on application of 
 the Legislature, or of the Executive, (when the Legislature cannot be convened,) against 
 domestic violence. 
 
 Article V- 
 
 The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both Houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose 
 amendments to this Constitution, or on the application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the 
 several States, shall call a Convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall 
 be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the 
 Legislatures of three-fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three-fourths thereof, 
 as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; provided that 
 no amendment which may be made prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight 
 shall in any manner affect the first and fourth clauses in the Ninth Section of the first Article; 
 and that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the Senate. 
 
 Article VI. 
 
 All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the adoption of this Constitution 
 shall be as valid against the United States under this Constitution as under the Confederation. 
 
 This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in pursuance 
 thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made under the authority of the United 
 States, shall be the Supreme Law of the land; and the Judges in every state shall be bound 
 thereby, anything in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 
 
CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 107 
 
 The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the members of the several State 
 Legislatures, and all Executive and Judicial officers, both of the United States and of the 
 several States, shall be bound by oath or affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no 
 religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the 
 United States. 
 
 Article VII. 
 
 The ratification of the Conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for the establishment 
 of this Constitution between the States so ratifying the same. 
 
 AMENDMENTS 
 
 TO THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES, RATIFIED ACCORDING TO THE PROVISIONS 
 OF THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE FOREGOING CONSTITUTION. 
 
 Article I. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of Religion, or pro- 
 hibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the 
 right of the People peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of 
 grievances. 
 
 Article II. A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the 
 right of the People to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. 
 
 Article III. No Soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the 
 consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 
 
 Article IV. The right of the People to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and 
 effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants 
 shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly 
 describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. 
 
 Article V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, 
 unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or 
 naval forces, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor 
 shalUny person be subject for the same oflfence to be twice put in jeopardy of Ufe or limb; 
 nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of 
 life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for 
 public use without just compensation. 
 
 Article VI. In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and 
 public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been 
 committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed 
 of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; 
 to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favour, and to have the assistance 
 of counsel for his defence. 
 
jQg CONSTITUTION OP THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Article VII. In suits at Common Law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty 
 dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury shall be 
 otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the 
 common law. 
 
 Article VIII. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel 
 and unusual punishments inflicted. 
 
 Article IX. The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed 
 to deny or disparage others retained by the People. 
 
 Article X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor 
 prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the People. 
 
 Article XI. The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to 
 any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by 
 citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of any foreign State. 
 
 Article XII. The Electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote by ballot for 
 President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant of the same 
 State with themselves; they shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and 
 in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct 
 lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-Presi- 
 dent, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
 transmit, sealed, to the seat of the government of the United States, directed to the President 
 of the Senate. The President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and House 
 of Representatives, open all the certificates, and the votes shall then be counted ; — The person 
 having the greatest number of votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a 
 majority of the whole number of Electors appointed; and if no person have such majority, 
 then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three, on the list of those 
 voted for as President, the House of Representatives shall choose immediately, by ballot, the 
 President. But in choosing the President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representa- 
 tion from each State having one vote ; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member 
 or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States shall be necessary 
 to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall not choose a President whenever the 
 right of choice shall devolve upon them, before the fourth day of March next following, then 
 the Vice-President shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other Constitutional 
 disability of the President. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 
 President, shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the whole number of 
 Electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then from the two highest numbers on 
 the list, the Senate shall choose the Vice-President; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of 
 two-thirds of the whole number of Senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be 
 necessary to a choice. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall 
 be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 
 
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