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ACQUIRED BY EXCHANGE

AN INQUIHY

THE FORMATION

WASHINdTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS.

" And harmonize what seems amiss to flow
As severed from the whole,
And dimly understood."

PHILADELPHIA:
PAEEY & McMillan, ptjblishees.
1859.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859,
BY C. SHERMAN & SON,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylrania.

C. SHEBMAK t SON, PKINTKBS,
Corner of Serenth and Cherry Streets, Philadelphia.

PEEFACE.

If the title of this paper had substituted the word Authorship
for the word Formation, it would have contained the ambiguity
which it is the object of the Inquiry to clear away. There are not
many words in our language that describe a greater variety of ope
rations than the word Author. From the first step in production,
even from the mandate to produce a work of any kind, to the perfect
completion of the work, there are many relations to it, and at times
several contributions to it, which may make more persons than one
authors of it, in different senses, with equal justice and exclusiveness.
And only something short of this is the word Authorship ; which,
though it signifies the quality of being an author, and therefore
may comprehend that quality in regard to any property of any sub
ject, yet seems to be generally confined to literary works or compo
sitions in writing, and to admit of nothing being truly predicated of
it, except in this relation. The word Authorship is large enough,
however, in this limited application, to include more than one per
son as possessing this quality in regard to the same thing ; and in
the rather jealous domain of literature, if different persons have
contributed to the same written composition, it sometimes happens
that the application of the word in honor of one rather than another
of them, is the occasion of very lively disputes, where there is per
haps little or no difference of opinion about the respective contribu
tions of the parties, or no previous analysis to ascertain what the
respective contributions were. This word has therefore been care-

IV PREFACE.
fully excluded from the title, and will be as carefully avoided in
the Inquiry, unless with some attendant definition or description, to
show the sense in which it is used. Undoubtedly a written composi
tion may have been so much the mixed work of two persons, that
the authorship of it in some sense may be justly attributed to both.
Where the contributions are well discriminated, the respective au
thorships may be attributed to each. In which class the Farewell
Address will fall, or whether it will fall into either, is reserved for
the judgment of the reader, at the conclusion of the Inquiry.
The writer's aim in this essay, has been certainty in the facts,
and accuracy in his deductions from them. He has therefore scru
pulously endeavored to avoid embellishment in either of these
respects, while he has been regardless of it in any other. He hopes
that the result will give equal relief to the friends of Washington
and to the friends of Hamilton, who for the most part were the
same persons while the objects of their regard were living, some
appearances to the contrary notwithstanding. It cannot be, denied
that there have been since, as there were in the previous day, seve
ral appearances which have manifested greater favor to Washington
and less to Hamilton, independently of the pre-eminent military and
patriotic services of the former ; and that these appearances still
continue, and have been much enlarged ; but perhaps with this dis
tinction, that Washington is praised more and followed less, while
V Hamilton is praised less, and, at least in the great mass of fiscal, com
mercial, and judicial principles and arrangements, which he recom
mended for the Treasury and for the country, is followed more. But
the probability, nevertheless, is, that the friends of both, as supporters
of the same policy, are still the same persons. Their number will
increase, no doubt, from day to day, as these great men shall
become more thoroughly known by their writings, and more impar
tially compared with others ; but it is to their friends only, present
and to come, that the writer can promise himself to supply either
facts or deductions in regard to the Farewell Address, that will be
of any considerable interest.

PEEFACE. V
The manner in which Alexander Hamilton's connection with the
Farewell Address of Washington has been occasionally written and
spoken about, has been a source of discomfort to many persons who
have a great admiration for that remarkable man ; and perhaps of
as much discomfort from the bearing of these remarks upon Wash
ington, as from their bearing upon Hamilton. To all persons who
possess, in the same degree with the writer of this paper, a profound
veneration for the whole character of the Father of his Country,
and at the same time an exalted respect for the intellectual and per
sonal qualities of Hamilton, it must have been for years past a
cause of disturbance, to perceive that by some persons the composi
tion of the Address has been regarded either as an unsupported pre
tension on the side of Hamilton, or as an assistance which he should
have taken effectual means to conceal forever ; and by others, as a
transcript by Washington, with a view to unneedful honor, of what
another had written, fundamental or guiding thoughts, and all.
, That Washington, like other executive chiefs, or heads of mili
tary command, consulted his ministers, officers, and friends, and was
sometimes obliged to use their pens for the expression or the arrange
ment of his thoughts, is not only probable but certain. He left
behind him some traces of this wise practice, and it was more than
once avowed by him ; but that he -had done this at any time and
under any circumstances, with such an appeal, either expressed or
understood, as would reflect upon his minister or friend if he left a
trace of his contributions among his papers, or that in the instance
of this great paper he had cloaked the service so carefully as to
imply a corresponding duty on the other side to do the same, for the
purpose of leaving the honors of the entire written composition
with him, is a thought that cannot be recalled without the greatest
repugnance, from both its aspects. In this last case, the character
of each party .was a guarantee that whatever was asked or done
was properly asked and done; that there was no vain-glory on
either side, no sense of humiliation or superiority, no aspiration
for the honors of authorship at the expense of either truth or loy-

vi PREFACE.
alty, but just such a contribution on each side, if there were two
contributing parties, as would leave to the principal party the merit
and the responsibility of the fundamental thoughts, and to the other
the merit of expanding, defending, and presenting them in the most
suitable form, a task which public engagements, or a particular turn
of mind, may have made unusual to the one, while it was habitual
and easy to the other ; and that no sense of honor had been wounded,
nor any pretension of vanity consulted, by leaving the traces of a
joint co-operation, just as each party has left them. Such as the
character of both Washington and Hamilton gave assurance that
the co-operation, if. it took place, would be, such upon very full
examination of the facts, it turns out to have been. The reader
will probably regard the character of each, after he has considered
the proofs, with as much esteem and admiration as he felt before the
fact of co-operation was known to him. It is not improbable that
he will regard it with even greater.
A recent perusal of the correspondence between Washington and
Hamilton, in regard to the Farewell Address, has led to the prepa
ration of this paper. Part of that correspondence, the letters of
Washington, has been in print for som'e years, and is to be found in
the Congress edition of Hamilton's works. The letters of Hamilton
to Washington have not been heretofore printed. The writer did not
keep a copy of any of them. The originals were found among the
papers of Washington, at the time of his death, and copies of them
have been supplied by Mr. Sparks, the Editor of Washington's writ
ings, and the author of his biography, to Mr. John C. Hamilton, the
author of Hamilton's Life, and of "The History of the Republic,"
now in course of publication, who has given me permission to print
them. I am indebted to the same gentleman for permission to print
certain other papers, derived by him from the kindness of Mr.
Sparks, which enable me to identify the original or preparatory
draught by Washington of a Farewell Address, as the same which
he sent to Hamilton on the 15th May, 1796, and which became the
basis of Hamilton's work. The permission of Mr. Hamilton enables

PREFACE. VU
me to place a copy of this preparatory paper in an appendix. The
originals of Hamilton's letters to Washington, and Washington's
original draught, were, I understand, deposited in the office of the
Department of State, after the conclusion of Mr. Sparks's great
work ; but Mr. Hamilton informs me, that by order of Mr. Marcy,
when Secretary of State, diligent search was made, at Mr. Hamil
ton's request, and these letters and draught were not found.
For the greater convenience of the reader, I have appended to this
Essay, 1. A copy of Washington's original or preparatory draught
of a Farewell Address ; 2. A copy of Hamilton's " Abstract of
Points to form an Address ;" 3. A copy of Hamilton's original
draught of an Address ; 4. Washington's Farewell Address, conform
ing to the record of it in the Department of State ; and 5. A copy
of Washington's autograph paper, from which the Farewell Address
was printed. I should not have felt at liberty to use for this pur
pose the reprint of that autograph paper in the appendix to the fifth
volume of Mr. Irving's Life of Washington ; but I have been favored,
through Mr. Hamilton, with a permission to reprint it, by its pro
prietor, Mr. Lenox, who printed a very fine edition of it for private
distribution. The pagings in Mr. Irving's appendix, are noted in
this reprint, to facilitate a reader in tracing my references to that
appendix.
HORACE BINNEY.
Philadelphia, August 9, 1859.

AN INQUIRY, ETC.

From the first publication of "Washington's Farewell
Address, in September, 1796, it has never been universally
agreed, that the paper was written altogether by the illus
trious man whose name is subscribed to it.
The first intimations of doubt on this point, were confined
to private conversation or society, and with the admission
that the paper spoke Washington's weU-known sentiments,
and was not above the high intellectual capacity he had
uniformly exhibited ; but the doubt was excused by sugges.
tions, that the paper wanted the- presence of Washington's
characteristic forms of expression and construction, and that
it manifested more systematic arrangement and connection,
vdth fuller argumental supports, than were usual in his
writings. This language was confined, also, to comparatively few
persons, as only a few were, at that time, familiar with
Washington's writings. But in subsequent years, as this
famiharity was enlarged, and as rival or unfriendly sentiments
towards Washington and some of his confidential friends,
were more disposed to reveal themselves, the doubts grew
stronger; and, as special facts bearing upon the question

10 EARLY AND LATER OPINIONS
came out from time to time, they became more general.
At length there arose a popular repugnance to the opinion,
which in some degree suppressed further curiosity and
inquiry. The deep and undivided reverence of the people
for Washington, was unwilling to learn, that, even on an
occasion of ceremony, he had worn any vesture but his own.
It was, perhaps, a prejudice ; but it was a natural one, in
such a country as ours was, and some of it may stUl remain.
The lapse of more years, however, and the express mention
of Alexander Hamilton's name as an assistant in the work,
opened the inquiry again, — always in the most deferential
manner towards Washington, but with new features, tend
ing to diversify opinions upon the matter, and in a c'ertain
.degree to embitter them; untiL finally three varieties of
ppinioiL Jvere found to prevail, none of thenr strictly ac-
QoMant with the absolute, truth, yet aU of them professing
the most elevated respect for Washington. They probably
divide the country at the present time. It has been a re
markable test of the universal admiration and love of
Washington among us, that no one of these opinions has
ever disclosed or involved the least abatement in the love of
any of his countrymen towards this immortal man, whose
priority in all hearts has become the established heritage of
his name forever.
One of these varieties of -opinion, existing perhaps as
early as any, among persons in immediate proximity to
Washington, but not then revealed to any extent, and
which had no special basis of fact whatever for it, was, that
the /Farewell Address was a transcript by Washington of
Hamilton's thoughts as well as language. ' Those who en
tertained this opinion, derived it, probably, from what they

OP THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE ADDRESS. 11
erroneously thought was Washington's frequent practice in
his public writings.*
Another variety, with more, but still incomplete, know
ledge of the facts to sustain it, and with a natural partiality
to inchne it to assign the largest contribution of every
ingredient to Washington, though without undervaluing
either the talents or the direct contributions of Hamilton,
regarded the Address as the joint work of both, but the
preponderant work of Washington in all respects — Wash
ington's style in its language, as much as his judgment in
the plan, or his sentiments in the principles. It conceded
to Hamilton a considerable share, but left the contributing
shares of each of the parties perfectly indefinite.
The third variety of opinion was that of a very eminent
and excellent man, from whom it passed to others, with a
result as erroneous as the opinion first noticed, and more
erroneous than the second, being at the same time more
definite in the wrong direction.f
This eminent man, perfectly acquainted with one impor
tant fact in the case, bearing upon Hamilton's connection
with the Address, and entirely unacquainted with all the
rest, reasoned from this fact as if it had been the only fact
in the case, and closely restricted the bearing of it, by an
opinion of his own, which certainly was not Washington's,
that the Farewell Address was in some emphatic way, " a
"personal act — of choice, not of ofiicial duty — and was so

* This thought may be seen in a remarkable letter by the elder President Adams, to
Dr. Benjamin Rush, dated 28th August, 1811. "Works of John Adams," vol. ix,p. 639.
t John Jay. Letter to the Hon. Richard Peters, 29th March, 18 U. Life and
Writings of John Jay, vol. ii, p. 336.

12 MR. jay's abstract opinion.
" connected with other obvious considerations, that he
" (Washington) only, could with propriety write it."
This positive and explicit opinion, which resulted in the
conclusion, not directly expressed, bjit necessarily implied
by the whole letter from which the above extract is taken,
that Washington was the only writer of the Farewell Ad
dress, and Hamilton no more than the corrector or emen-
dator of Washington's original draught, has had decisive
weight with a great many persons ; and from the character
of the writer, and the solemnity with which he expressed
his opinion, and gave the details of his personal knowledge,
could not but have such weight. It in^iged the scale,
before the opposing evidence could be fairly weighed against
it ; and it wiU incline it, until that evidence is exhibited and
deliberately . weighed.
From the time that this letter was pubhshed, in lg33,
and, in only a less extensive degree, from the time of its
date, in 1811, the question assumed an invidious bearing
towards Alexander Hamilton, and on the other hand, towards
the principal party also ; and has at length become almost a
moral question, involving a breach of faith or honor on
Hamilton's part, and of some assumption of another's merit
on the part of Washington, without the countenance of any
other circumstance in their respective Hves to justify or
excuse an imputation of this nature.
In a certain state of opinion respecting the authorship of
the Farewell Address, it would have bgen agreeable to concur
in a part of Mr. Sparks's remarks on this subject, in the
twelfth volume of Washington's Writings, of which he was
the editor ; " that the manner in which that Address origi-
" nated is one of small moment, since its real importance

MR. sparks's opinion. 13
" consists in its being known to contain the sentiments of
" Washington, uttered on a solemn occasion, and designed
" for the benefit of his countrymen." There is no reason
to question the propriety of this remark ; nor would there
be any indisposition to stop there, if Mr. Sparks and others
had stopped there. But Mr. Sparks has proceeded in the
same place to examine the question of origin to some extent,
and has expressed his opinions upon the whole subject,
generally with candor, and always with a fair estimate of
Hamilton's intellectual powers, and of his special aid in the
preparation of this Address; but without making aU the
discriminations which the evidence supports, and with rather
a measurable valuation of the Address itself as a literary com
position, so as to leave the merits of it on a less elevated grade
than they ought to occupy, and the relative contributions of
both Washington and Hamilton to the work, in greater ob
scurity than, now at least, there is any necessity for. Mr.
Sparks also has explained, or excused, this obscurity, by an
implication that in some degree tarnishes the honor of
Hamilton ; for, as Hamilton did preserve, that is to say, did
not destroy, the original draught of the address he had pre
pared for Washington, and did likewise preserve the original
letters of Washington upon that subject, as well as upon
others, it is certainly a tacit reflection upon Hamilton's
honor, for having done this, to say, " that in a case of so
" confidential a nature, and in which his honor was so much
" concerned, it may be supposed that Hamilton would not
'¦'¦ preserve every communication that he received." All this
on the part of Mr. Sparks has been, perhaps inadvertently
and unconsciously, colored or promoted, by reflections from
another paper previously published, to which he refers, the

14 UNEASY STATE OF THE QUESTION.
letter of Mr. Jay to Judge Peters; which ought to have had
no such effect, and can have none at aU at this day, when
the facts are more accurately known. It is not reasonable,
therefore, in this state of Mr. Sparks's impressions, to abide
by the general proposition he seems to espouse, though it is
not very clearly stated, that Washington himself was the
composer or writer of the paper, though with important
assistance from Hamilton. It might have been left there,
but for this reflection upon Hamilton's name ; for the ques
tion is reaUy of no moral importance, however interesting it
may be as a matter of historical or literary curiosity; and
Hamilton's reputation as a writer and thinker, on questions of
public pohcy, requires nothing to be added to it, and can
gain nothing by a decision on this point in his favor, which
it may not very safely do without. But those who honor
Hamilton's patriotism and pure integrity, and his elevated
character in all respects, cannot be contented to let any
obscurity rest upon the point, which there is light enough
in the evidence to remove ; especially under an hypothesis,
that Hamilton, from motives of honor, did not preserve, that
is to say, did destroy, papers which would have made the
point clear, while at the same time he did not destroy, that
is to say, did preserve, the principal paper by which his
claims, whatever they may be, are to be determined. This
is an uneasy state of the question to many persons. It
is quite possible that Mr. Sparks did not perceive the
full bearing of his remark; and it is possible, also,
that the friends of Hamilton have seen more point in
the remark than Mr. Sparks intended to give it. But
it has by this, and like causes, become a duty, both
to Hamilton and Washington, to go over the whole matter

THE writer's general COURSE IN REGARD TO IT. 15
upon original grounds, which is the direct object of this
Inquiry. It need not be said — ^for this will become obvious by the
whole cast of these remarks — that my reverence for Wash
ington, my admiration of him, my interest in his true glory,
even in his honor in all that regards the Farewell Address,
are not, and never have been, inferior to those of any person
I have known ; and at the same time, that none of these
sentiments impair those I have always entertained in the
Kke respects for Hamilton. It will only be necessary for
me to follow the greater interests of truth, to show my per
sonal admiration of both, and to do justice"to _eac.h~„in^ihe
matter of this-celebiated,..paper.
I shall endeavor to make these statements as plain and
clear as possible ; abating none of their plainness and clear
ness by a vain effort for literary effect. This may, perhaps,
take more space than may be agreeable to all; but those
who have an interest in the question, will not be imAvil-
ling, perhaps, to give the necessary time and attention to
it, if they shall perceive that the examination is condu^ed^
in a calm and impartial spirit, with an orderly arrangement
and an ample citation of proofs, a careful deduction of infer
ences, and a fuU concentration of all these influences upon
the pubhshed Farewell Address of Washington.
I shall be under a necessity, in order to avoid a heavy
mass of quotations, of asking the reader to refer to the
printed and published works I shall name, if he desires
more full information than my extracts will give him, or
wishes to test my accuracy in making them ; and when I
shall offer a comparison between the original draught of an
address by Hamilton, and the Farewell Address signed and

16 WASHINGTON'S PURPOSE, NOT TO BE THE ONLY
dated by Washington, on the 17th September, 1796, and
pubhshed by him to the country, I shaU ask the reader to
make, with the exception of two or three clauses collated in
the Inquiry, the entire collation or comparison himself,
with the two papers under his eye, to save me from exhibit
ing, what some persons might deem an invidious parallel, if
they were placed side by side, in opposite columns or pages.
It seems worthy of particular remark at the outset, that
Washington does not appear to have intended, at any time,
to be the unassisted composer or writer of the Farewell
Address. Though it was not, strictly speaking, an official
paper, nor a state paper, appertaining to the regular duties
of his political office, and for which he might, and usually
did, refer to his official ministers and advisers, and some
times to approved friends, for thoughts and clauses, that he
might consider and apply, or modify or reject, at his plea
sure, — it was a paper, in his regard, of a higher grade, and
caUing for . even more consideration, as it was to be ia the
nature of a testamentary declaration of his political prin
ciples, as well as to impart his counsels, and to express his
personal thanks and valediction to the whole people of the /
United States.
The original conception, the fundamental thought, pur- >
pose, or design of this paper, was Washington's ; his first,
and it would seem his only, upon separate consideration
and deliberation, until the purpose was matured, when he
communicated it to another, who approved it. That design ^
comprehended, in addition to his cordial and thankful fare-
weU, upon retiring from civil hfe, a recommendation of
various patriotic counsels and admonitions to his country
men, which should bring before them the blessings of their

17

union mider a federal government, the perfect adaptation of
their diversified soil and climate to such a union, the advan
tages of their mutual dependence and intercommunity, their
common relation to foreign nations, and the dangers of either
local or foreign partialities and antipathies, and of party
spirit in aU its shapes, whether of combinations to control or
obstruct the action of regular authority, or of pervading
jealousy to weaken its effects, or of virulent opposition and
censure, to discourage and drive from public office the
faithful servants who had been selected to administer it.
In a word, the advantages and the dangers of the whole
country, and the maintenance of the Union, under a wise
and equal administration, as the best security and defence
of the public happiness, were to be his theme ; and no man
ever suggested a nobler theme, or was more worthy by his
patriotism, or so well entitled by his services, to make it the
subject of his final discourse and instruction. It was a
paper far above all ordinary official or state papers, was re
lated to topics as high or higher, involving equal or greater
responsibility, addressed to greater numbers, and asking a
perpetual remembrance by the people, as they should tender ,
their political existence.
That Washington ought to have thought that such an
address was so personal, or " so connected with other obvious
" considerations," that he only " could with propriety write
"it," is a pure fancy, if we take in the whole of Wash
ington's thought. Instead of such considerations being
" obvious," they are not even discoverable. No satisfactory
reason can be given for the proposition, that would not have
made it his duty to write everything that purported to
express his personal sentiments, whether official or unoffi-
2.

18 WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO MADISON.
cial — his speeches to Congress, and everything emanating
from his pubhc position. No reason of any kind was given
for it by Mr. Jay, in the place where it was first announced.
Upon the same hypothesis, whatever it may have been, he
ought not to have asked for thoughts, or revision and cor
rection for his own draught of this paper, or for any assist
ance whatever, which was the very thing that was asked of
him who has made the criticism ; and this Avould bring the
Address to a schoolboy exercise, that was to try Washing
ton's progress in composition, and to bring dishonor upon
hiin, if he borrowed a feather, or a feather's weight, from
anybody else.
It is sufficient, however, to know that this thought was
not Washington's thought, upon this or any other occasion
of public concern. He thought the contrary, clearly and
constantly, in regard to the Farewell Address. He thought
it a year or more before the end of his first term of office as
President ; and he thought it till the matter was consum
mated, about six months before the end of his last term.
By a letter dated the 20th May, 1792, he first opened the
subject freely to Mr. Madison.
His letter, and Mr. Madison's reply, and the draught of a
Farewell Address prepared by Madison, at Washington's
request, appear in the twelfth volume of " The Writings of
George Washington," edited by Jared Sparks, in pages 382
to 390. I will present a summary of Washington's letter,
and some extracts from it, in this place.
After saying that he was unable to dispose his mind to a
longer continuation in the office he held, and that he looked
forward with the fondest and most ardent wishes to spend
the remainder of his days, which he could not expect to be

Washington's letter to madison. 19
long, in ease and tranquillity, — and saying further, that
nothing, but a conviction that by declining the chair of
government, it would involve the country in serious disputes
respecting the Chief Magistrate, could induce him to relin
quish the determination he had formed, Washington pro
ceeded to say as follows : —
"Under these impressions, then, permit me to reiterate the
" request I made to you at our last meeting, namely, to think of
" the proper time and best mode of announcing the intention ; and
" that you would prepare the latter." ..." I would fain carry my
" request to you farther than is asked above, although I am sensible
"that your compliance with it must add to your trouble; but as
" the recess may aff'ord you leisure, and I flatter myself you have
" dispositions to oblige me, I will, without apology, desire (if the
" measure in itself should strike you as proper, or likely to produce
" public good, or private honor) that you would turn your thoughts
"to a valedictory address from me to the public, expressing, in
" plain and modest terms, that, having been honored with the Presi-
" dential chair, and to the best of my abilities contributed to the
" organization and administration of the government — that having
" arrived at a period of life when the private walks of it, in the
" shades of retirement, become necessary, and will be most pleasing
" to me ; — (and as the spirit of the government may render a rota-
" tion in the elective officers of it more congenial with the^ideas [the
" people have] of liberty and safety*) — that I take my leave of them
* I possess a/oc ^mile of Washington's letter of 20th May, 1792, to Mr. Madison, to
which, in this place, the copy in Mr. Sparks's Appendix does not literally conform. I
do not vouch for this fac simile, though the reserhblance to Washington's handwriting,
which is familiar to me, is perfect ; and the copy in Mr. Sparks's Appendix, in other
respects, conforms to it. The clause, in the /ac simile to which I refer, is as follows,
without marks of parenthesis, but beginning where the first mark of parenthesis in Mr.
Sparks's copy, which I follow, begins, after the words " pleasing to me ;" — "and the spirit
" of the government may render a rotation in the elective officers of it more congenial with

20 WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO MADISON.
"as a public man, and, in bidding them adieu, retaining no other
" concern than such as will arise from fervent wishes for the pros-
"perity of my country, I take the liberty of my departure from
" civil [life], as I formerly did at my military exit, to invoke a
" continuation of the blessings of Providence upon it, and upon all
"those who are the supporters of its interests, and the promoters
" of harmony, order, and good government." ..." That, to im-
" press these things, it might, among other topics, be observed"—
and then the letter proceeds to state, and very briefly de-
velope, four topics, which, with very Httle variation of
Washington's words, may, in his own order, be represented
as follows : 1. That we are all children of the same country,
great and rich in itself, and capable and promising to be as
prosperous and happy as any which the annals of history have
brought to view ; and that our interest, however diversified
in local or smaller matters, is the same in all the great and
essential concerns of the nation. 2. That the extent of our
country, the diversity of our chmate and soil, and the various
productions of the States, are such as to make one part not only
convenient, but indispensable to other parts, and may render
the whole one of the most independent nations in the world.
3. That the government, being the work of our hands, with
the seeds of amendment engrafted in the Constitution, may,
by wisdom, good dispositions, and mutual allowances, aided

" their ideas of liberty and safety, that I take my leave of them as a public man," &o.
I have heard, and have no reason to doubt, that the fac simile was made from the ori
ginal letter, which came from a member of Mr. Madison's family, after Mr. Madison's
death. The word [life] within brackets is subject to my. preceding remark; it is not
in the /uc simile. Indeed, this manner of bracketing words in a copy, is understood, 1
believe, to be an intimation that the original does not contain the bracketed word ot
words.

Washington's letter to madison. 21
by experience, be brought as near to perfection as any
human institution has ever been ; and, therefore, that the
only strife should be, who should be foremost in facilitating,
and finally accomphshing, such great objects, by giving every
possible support and cement to the Union. 4. And here
Washington's full words are extracted: "that however
" necessary it may be to keep a watchful eye over public
"servants and pubhc measures, yet there ought to be hmits
"to it; for suspicions unfounded, and jealousies too lively,
" are irritating to honest feelings, and oftentimes are pro-
" ductive of more evil than good."
Then coming more generally to the office Madison was
asked to perform, the letter says : —
" To enumerate the various subjects which might be introduced
"into such an address, would require thought, and to mention them
" to you would be unnecessary, as your own judgment will compre-
" bend all that will be proper. Whether to touch specifically any
" of the exceptionable parts of the Constitution, may be doubted.
" All that I shall add, therefore, at present, is, to beg the favor of
" you to consider, first, the propriety of such an address ; secondly,
" if approved, the several matters which ought to be contained in
" it ; thirdly, the time it should appear, that is, whether at the
" declaration of my intention to withdraw from the service of the
" public, or to let it be the closing act of my administration, which
"will end with the next session of Congress."
There is one more clause in the letter, the final clause, a
part of which will be adverted to presently ; but, by what is
already shown, it is manifest that Washington asked Madi
son both to write for him and to think for him in this
behalf; and that he guided Madison in regard only to cer-

22 Washington's letter to madison.
tain topics, leaving to him an unlimited range as to other
subject, of course, to his own revision and judgment, i
which he appears, at all times, to have possessed the fulle
confidence, whether in deciding upon his own capacity ar
language, or upon the capacity and language of anothe
Arid it is made further manifest, that, so far from regardin
the Address as a merely pe'rsonal paper, it was to be, i
one contingency of time, what Washington called " t)
" closing act of his administration ;" thus bringing it i
once into the category of pubhc and official papers.
This, however, is not all that is made plain by the lette
as plain by what it does not say, as by what it does. Cei
tainly, it was a letter that showed confidence and trust, an
so it must have been understood by the parties ; and it de
manded reserve and silence at the time on the part of Mad:
son, from the uncertainty whether Washington would retir*
as he wished to do, and from the consequences that would hav
resulted from bruiting his purpose prematurely to the work
This motive for silence and reserve continued to the time c
Washington's final determination, in the beginning of 179(
and even later than that, as will hereafter be seen. Bu
there is not a word about secrecy in the letter. It is nc
headed "confidential," nor described as confidential, to re
strict the knowledge of it to the parties only ; and the las
clause of the letter proves, that in Washington's mind, th
confidence, as to the Farewell Address, stood upon the sam
footing as if the subject had been the President's speech a
the opening of Congress ; for in precisely the same conditio
of confidence as in the matter of the Farewell Address
Washington adverted to the approaching session of Con
gress, and said : —

NO SPECIAL IMPLICATION OF SECRECY. 23
" I beg leave to draw your attention, also, to such things as you
" shall conceive fit subjects for communication on that occasion ;
" and, noting them as they occur, that you would be so good as .to
" provide me with them in time to be prepared and engrafted with
"the others for the opening of the session."
Since the death of both Washington and Hamilton, a
notion of some special honorary secrecy and confidence, in
this reference for advice and assistance in the matter of the
Farewell Address, has been blended with the consideration
of the whole subject, and has led to both misconceptions
and misrepresentations. If the thought is analyzed with
any care, it will be found to contain, if I may follow Mr.
Jefferson's authority for a word, that sort of belittling appeal
to honor, which one lady of fashion makes to another,
when she borrows her diamonds to show off in. There is
no trace or imphcation of the feeling in this first letter to
Mr. Madison; and those who have suggested it, in some
disparagement of Hamilton, do not appear to have con
sidered how equally it casts back upon the party by
whom the appeal was made, if it was made or intended.
A motive for the honorary secrecy must be imputed to
Washington, before the preservation of papers which reveal
its object, can be imputed to Madison or to Hamilton. If
the preservation of such papers involves Madison or Hamil
ton in the indehcacy of violating secrecy for his own advan
tage, against the understanding and wish of Washington,
that understanding and wish must involve Washington in
the vanity of desiring to pass as the unassisted author of
every part of the Address. There is not a circumstance in
the hfe of either Washington or Hamilton, that justifies the
one imputation or the other ; and a body of proofs will be

24 MR. MADISON'S DRAUGHT.
hereafter submitted, Avhich, if any thing can prove a negative,
will prove that the purpose and thought, in the particular
case, were equally absent from both.
It is unnecessary to say much, in this place, about Mr.
Madison's draught of a Farewell Address. It is printed at
length in Mr. Sparks's edition of Washington's Writings.
It is a rather curt paper, not occupying in the whole three
fuU pages of Mr. Sparks's Appendix, even with an alternative
clause, which was to be omitted, if the notification of Wash
ington's purpose to retire, and the expression of his counsels
and cautions, should make but one paper. It is not unrea
sonable to suppose that Mr. Madison, at that time, may have
known himself to be drawn further away from the pohcy of
Washington, than Washington was aware of His feehngs
of delicacy in the transaction may have been heightened by
the circumstance. The fact is historicaUy true ; and Madi
son's draught foreshadowed the proof of it. Madison confined
himself, in his draught, mainly to a repetition of Washington's
suggestions, developing them to a very moderate extent
only, and not using at all the power delegated to him, to
comprehend other topics. He aimed, as his reply to Wash
ington imports, at that plainness and modesty of language
which Washington had in view, to the extent, as Washing
ton's copy of this paper in his own original draught, vrill
show, of making him speak of his own " very fallible fudg-
" 7nent," of which Washington had not spoken in his letter,
and of his '¦'¦inferior qualifications for the trust" — a dis
claimer of what the unprejudiced part of the world knew
him to possess in a remarkable degree ; and did little more,
and says himself that he " had httle more to do, as to the
" matter, than to follow the just and comprehensive outline

MR. MADISON'S DRAUGHT. 25
" which Washington had sketched." In one particular, and it
was an awakening one, Mr. Madison fell short of even this.
It may be observed, that Washington's language, in the
fourth of the topics expressly suggested by him to Madison,
is very exphcit. In that paragraph the principle assumed-
is, that, " however necessary it may be to keep a watchful
"eye over public servants and pubhc measures," — and
Washington affirms nothing in regard to this necessity, —
he does affirm distinctly, that " there ought to be limits to
" it ; for unfounded suspicions and jealousies too lively, are
" irritating to honest feelings, and oftentimes are more pro-
" ductive of evil than good."
Every one knows that Washington ' had been stung and
irritated by the party arrows that were shot at him person
ally, as well as at certain members of his administration ;
but the breadth and depth of this irritation, and the direc
tion in which it spread, are not so well known. Some of
his papers reveal it with httle disguise. He therefore
meant to assert, in the paragraph referred to, that a liberal
confidence in pubhc servants was, in such a governnient as
ours, the true principle, and a watchful eye only a qualifica
tion of that principle. Madison's draught, on the contrary,
places among the vows Avhich Washington would carry to
his retirement and to his grave, " that its administration, in
" every department, may be stamped with wisdom and virtue,
" and that this character may be insured to it, by that watch-
" fulness which, on one hand, loill be necessary to prevent or
" correct a degeneracy, and that forbearance, on the other,
" from unfounded or indiscriminate jealousies, which Avould
"deprive the public of the best services, by depriving a
" conscious integrity of the noblest incitements to perform
" them."

26 MR. MADISON'S DRAUGHT.
This seems to have been rather an inversion of Wash
ington's meaning, than even a dilution of it ; for by posi
tion, as well as by force of the terms, it affirms watch
fulness to be the principle, and forbearance the qualification.
Though Washington may have observed this, he retained
this form of statement, in so much of the paper he after
wards prepared as was taken from Madison's draught, re
stating, however, in the initial and final paragraphs of his
own section of that paper, the vital part of the same senti
ment, which he had thus emphasized in his letter to Madi
son. Hamilton certainly observed it, and Washington
finally held to a less questionable expression of his views,
as wiU be seen hereafter; and it will also be seen that
Hamilton brings forward in his original draught, modified by
himself or Washington afterwards, the substance of Wash
ington's principle, and philosophically supports it by a dis
tinction between " governments of a monarchical character
" or bias," and governments of a merely elective and popular
kind. The proposition of Washington, in his letter to Madison,
might be regarded as true in the abstract, supposing a
democracy to possess virtue, the " one spring more," which
Montesquieu thinks is necessary to it. But the past expe
rience of our own institutions, compels us to regard it prac
tically as Utopian. If it was not applied in our first and
purest administration of government, it is not likely to be
apphed in any. Mr. Madison must have known, from the
res gesics of times then shortiy past and passing before him,
that he could not safely commit himself, even as a represen
tative pen, to the plain enunciation of Washington's prin
ciple. Hamilton also, perhaps, saw that it was impracticable;

THE AUTHORITIES CITED IN THIS INQUIRY. 27
but he knew it to be Washington's pure and noble thought,
and therefore clothed it in the safest terms in his draught of
an Address.
As Washington surrendered his wish to retire at the end
of his first term of office, the use of Madison's draught was
postponed, until the subject recurred, in the course of
Washington's second term, when his determination to retire
became absolute, and he proceeded to the preparation of
another Farewell Address.
The purpose of this Inquiry calls for some precision in
the reference to proofs or authorities, to show the course of
Washington in this second preparation. All of these proofs
have been for several years before the pubhc, in authentic
printed volumes, with the exception of Hamilton's rephes
to Washington's letters, and parts of Washington's original
or preparatory draught. The case might have been better
understood than it seems to have been, even without the
publication of these excepted parts ; but, as there appears to
be now but a single hnk of the chain wanting, and that not ,
an indispensable one, namely, the copy of Hamilton's ori
ginal draught which he sent to Washington, amending con
siderably the original draught, which he retained, and is now
printed in his works, it may assist the reader to have before
him, in one view, a statement of all the proofs I shall have
occasion to refer to in the course of this Inquiry. They are
as follows : —
1. The Appendix to the twelfth volume of Mr. Sparks's
" Writings of George Washington," No. Ill ; " Washing
ton's Farewell Address," pages 382 to 398, inclusive. This
paper contains copies of the letters between Washington
and Madison, on the subject of the Address — a copy of

28 THE writer's authorities.
Madison's draught — and two portions of Washington's pre
paratory draught, made before he consulted Hamilton. These
portions consisted, 1st, of Madison's draught, and, 2d, of an
original paper by Washington, bearing in Mr. Sparks's Ap
pendix the title or heading of Hints or Heads of Topics.
2. The letters from Washington to Hamilton, on the sub
ject of the Farewell Address, the originals of which are now
in the Department of State, and the printed copies are to
be found in the sixth volume of " The Works of Alexander
" Hamilton, comprising his Correspondence, and his Political
" and Official Writings, exclusive of the Federalist, Civil and
" Military, published from the Original Manuscripts in the
"Department of State, by Order of the Joint Library Com-
" mittee of Congress. Edited by John C. Hamilton, autJior of
" a Life of Hamilton." The letters in that work are printed
in the order of date, and the date of the particular letter
referred to in this Inquiry, will be a guide to the volume
and place where it may be found.
3. Hamilton's letters to Washington on the same subject.
An extract from the first of these in point of date (10th
May, 1796), is printed in the Appendix to the twelfth
volume of Washington's Writings, page 391, in the paper
of- Mr. Sparks, headed " Washington's Farewell Address."
The originals of all the other letters of Hamilton on this
subject, as well as the first, were at one time in the posses
sion of Mr. Sparks ; and copies of them, supphed by him
as I understand, are now in my possession. They will be
either copied at large, or quoted in every material part, if
the letter refers to other matters. The originals, it is un
derstood, were finally deposited in the Department of State.
Whether they are all now there, is, I understand, uncer
tain.

authorities of the inquiry. 29
4. Washington's original draught of an Address, sent by
him to Hamilton, on the 15th May, 1796, for the purposes
described in Washington's letter of that date. I give this
title to a paper left by Washington at his death, and which
subsequently was in Mr. Sparks's possession, for the pur
poses of his edition of Washington's Writings. Mr. Sparks
has supphed a copy of the beginning and conclusion of this
paper to Mr. Hamilton, the author of Hamilton's life, by
whose permission I use them. The two middle parts are
printed in Mr. Sparks's Appendix. One of them is Madi
son's draught ; the other is the paper entitled " Hints or Heads
" of Topics." Together they constitute the entire draught,
as it appears in the Appendix to this Inquiry. The hues
which Washington altered, by drawing a line through them, .
though perfectly legible in the paper, are not material, and
are supplied by asterisks. The words he interlined, to con
nect what is disjoined by the erasure, are printed in italics
on the body of the page in the Appendix.
5. Hamilton's " Abstract of points to form an Address ;"
printed in Hamilton's Works, vol. vii, p. 570.
6. Hamilton's original draught of the Farewell Address ;
printed in the same volume, page 575.
7. Mr. Jay's letter to Judge Peters, dated 29th March,
1811 ; in the second volume of the Life of John Jay, by his
son Wniiam Jay, at page 336.
8. The Farewell Address to the People of the' United
States, by Washington, dated 17th September, 1796; in the
twelfth volume of Washington's Writings, edited by Jared
Sparks, at page 214.
9. The reprint of the autograph copy of Washington's
Farewell Address, with certain clauses and words which had

30 WASHINGTON'S PREPARATION OF A DRAUGHT.
been cancelled in the autograph copy, now restored and
printed at the foot of the respective pages.
These are aU the authorities which are necessary to de
termine the respective contributions of Washington and
Hamilton to the Farewell Address ; and they are all acces
sible, in original or copy, in their original completeness. I
And it is remarkable tiiat they are not only ah that is neces
sary to this end, but that some of them supply irresistible nega
tive proof, that nothing occurred personally, or face to face,
between Washington and Hamilton, to affect the inferences
which the written or printed documents justify; for, except \
a single personal interview between them, before the corre
spondence began, which interview, the correspondence
shows, had no influence whatever on the subsequent work j
of either of the parties, there was not a single instance of :
personal intercourse, direct or indirect, from the beginning ;
to the end of the whole work on both sides. The whole
matter was conducted in writing, and without the interven
tion of any common friend, instructed upon the subject, and
passing between the parties.
Washington himself prepared a draught of a valedictory
address, and showed it to Hamilton in Philadelphia, before
the 10th of May, 1796. On that day Hamilton wrote to
Washington from New York, in regard to this paper, and
Washington sent it to him, with a letter dated the 15th
May. A draught of such an Address, in Washington's hand
writing, either the same which he sent to Hamilton, or
another, wfas found among Washington's papers, after his
death. The paper that was so found, and which I shall

MR. sparks's view OF IT. 31
hereafter refer to as the preserved paper, is described by Mr.
Sparks, in the Appendix to the twelfth volume of Wash
ington's Writings, at page 391, as follows: "It is certain,
" however, that it was Washington's original idea to embody
" in the Address the substance and the form of Mr. Madi-
" son's draught, and to make such additions as events and the
" change of circumstances seemed to require. A paper of
" this description has been preserved, in which is first iu-
" sorted Mr. Madison's draught, and then a series of memoran-
" da or loose hints, evidently designed to be wrought into the
" Address. These are here printed as transcribed from the
" original manuscript :" and then follows a succession of
paragraphs, with the heading Hints or Heads qf Topics,
filling about two pages and a half of the Appendix.
Mr. Sparks's imperfect knowledge of some of the papers
I have referred to, which were not pubhshed matU. after the
completion of his edition of Washington's Writings, and
perhaps something in the very considerable dissimilitude, at
least in form, between the preserved paper and the published
Farewell Address, induced him, probably, to regard it as
uncertain whether this paper was the same which Wash
ington showed, and afterwards sent, to Hamilton, as his
draught of the Address. In this state of doubt or disbehef,
he omitted to print the entire paper in extenso. Some
remarks in the initial part of it, introductory of Madison's
draught, might have given some pain to the surviving family
of Mr. Madison ; and if the paper was in reality, what Mr.
Sparks seems to have thought it was, a speculative paper,
or a paper containing mere memoranda or hints of topics
for an address, and not a definite presentment of Wash
ington's thoughts and language, it may seem to have come

32 description of the paper.
within the discretion of an editor, either to select it or not,
for pubhcation. But the publication of several papers on
the subject of the Address, since that edition of Washing
ton's Writings, particularly Hamilton's original draught, and
Washington's letters to Hamilton, having made it not pro
bable merely, but morally certain, that this preserved paper
is the very draiught which was sent by Washington to Ham
ilton, by a letter of the 15th May, 1796, Mr. Sparks, upon
request, immediately supphed to Mr. John C. Hamilton
copies of the beginning and conclusion of the paper, and
has always, I learn, been ready so to communicate copies of
such of these papers as were in his possession, on this sub
ject ; and by means of them the Avhole draught has been
completed, and appears in the Appendix to this Inquiry.
There can be no reasonable doubt that the preserved paper
at large, is the original draught of Washington, which his
letter to Hamilton refers to. It was also, in some degree, a
completed paper, as far as Washington personally meant to
go. It begins with a formal address to the people, by the
description of " Friends and Fellow-Citizens ;" and it con
cludes with Washington's signature in the usual form, but
without date. Its identity is specially estabhshed by an
alteration on the first page of it, which is noticed in Wash
ington's letter to Hamilton, and is made by a line drawn
through certain expressions, and through a name at the foot
of the first page. As the whole matter is now, at least,
historical, there can be no propriety in leaving any part of a
writing incomplete, which is so manifestly a principal hinge
of the main question. The alteration in the paper has
become, also, a matter of complete insignificancy, in the
personal relation, to Mr. Madison or to any one else, even if.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPER. 33
under any circumstances, the contrary aspect of it can be
thought to justify a departure from the right line of history,
in regard to the acts of great public men, who have left the
records of them for inspection.
There are one or two particulars in which Mr. Sparks, by
his omission to print the concluding paper, and by remarks
upon a part of it which he does print, has unintentionally
done some injustice to Washington. Nothing could have
been further from his intention.
From the concluding part of the preserved paper, Hamil
ton has take:|a some rather touching thoughts of Washington,
in regard to his long life of service, and to the affection which
he bore to the land that had been his birthplace, and the
birthplace of his ancestors for four generations. He also has
taken from it his reference to the Proclamation of Neutrality,
and other matters. A considerable portion of the conclusion,
Hamilton, with Washington's approbation, has omitted ; be
cause, as a public paper, looking to distant posterity, as well •
as to the time present, it was thought best to turn away
from the temporary causes of irritation, which Washington,
with some animation, had referred to as a party injustice to
him. One ought not to question what two such judgments
as Washington's and Hamilton's finally approved. But the
concluding part of Washington's draught appears to be of
the greatest importance to his personal biography. It will
enable the pubhc to know him, even better than he is gene-
raUy known, and neither to love nor to honor him less.
It may show us, that hke AchiUes, he was vulnerable in one
part, not, however, in a lower part of his nature, but in the
sensitive tegument of the higher; and that the arrows of
party had just so far raised the skin, that his arm was up,
3

34 DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPER.
and had given the wave of defiance to his enemies, prepara
tory to a blow, which his deep love of the whole country
arrested. It was magnanimous as weU as wise in Hamilton,
who was a copartner and sufferer in the conffict, to exclude
this portion of the paper from the Farewell Address; but it
colors Washington to the hfe, and with the colors of a grand
and noble nature, not the less impressive because it was
human nature.
In another particular, Mr. Sparks's remarks deserve re
consideration. Being made, probably, under the apprehen
sion that the preserved paper was a mere study by Washing
ton for a larger work, Mr. Sparks has regarded the second
or principal division which he has printed in his Appendix,
as being " a series of memoranda or loose hints, evidently
" designed to be wrought into the Address :" whereas they
contain the great body of Washington's contribution to the
Farewell Address, and are the basis of Hamilton's expan
sions, on the most important points. The thoughts, and
sometimes the language, appear in their appropriate places
in Hamilton's draught; and with Madison's draught, or rather
Washington's letter to Madison, from which that draught
was framed, they are the entire contribution of Washington,
except as he may have added to the copy of Hamilton's
original draught, after its final revision and return to him.
I am compelled to differ from Mr. Sparks on this point as
well as on one or two others ; but nevertheless, I trust, with
all becoming deference to his opinions.*

* There is a fine tone of criticism in a most able and interesting work, now near its
completion, Rawlinson's Translation of Herodotus, with Appendices containing Essays
on important epochs and topics in Ancient History. It is not for the appropriateness

DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPER. 35
That portion of the preserved paper to which the remarks
of Mr. Sparks are apphed, and which is indicated in his

of any of these dissertations to the subject of this Inquiry, but for the author's manly
freedom of dissent from opposite opinions, without the least bitterness, and for his dis
criminating praise without flattery, that I extract a portion or two of his remarks upon
passages in the two best English histories of Ancient Greece. I wish them to be
regarded as exhibiting my own state of feeling in any dissent I may express from the
opinions of Mr. Sparks, or (rf any other writer upon the subject of tne Farewell
Address. When speaking of the extent to which Mr. Grote supposes that the institutions of
Solon permitted all the free inhabitants of Attica except actual aliens, to vote for
Archons and Senators, and to take part in the annual decision of their accountability,
whether these inhabitants were or were not members of the four tribes, Mr. Rawlinson
says, " To me it seems that the admission of these persons to citizenship at this time,
" is highly improbable, and that if it had been a part of the Solonian scheme, we must
"have found distinct mention of it." — "Mr. Grote, in his account of the Clisthenic
" legislation, seems to admit all that is here contended for; but his statements in that
" place appear to me to be wholly inconsistent with those contained in his account
" of the Solonian Constitution :" and then, in a note, the author cites the inconsistent
passages. — 3 Jlawlinson's Herodotus, 406. But soon after, in speaking of his own notes
on the modern portion of the history of Athens, the author says, " Those who require
" more, are referred to the thirtieth and thirty-first chapters of Mr. Grote's history,
" which contain the most accurate digest of the ancient authorities, and the most philo-
" sophical comments upon them, to be found in the whole range of modern literature.''
—Ibid. 412.
So also as to Bishop Thirlwall's history. " If the democratic character of the Solonian
" Constitution has been insufficiently apprehended by some of our writers, by others
" it has been undoubtedly exaggerated to a greater extent. ' To ascribe to Solon (as
" Bishop Thirlwall does) the full organization of the Helisea, as it appears in the time
" of the orators, the institution of the HeUastic oath, of the Nomothets and Syndics,
" and of that bulwark of the later constitution, the graphe paranomon, is to misunder-
" stand altogether his position in Athenian constitutional history, and to fail in dis-
" tingnishing the spirit of his legislation from that of Clisthenes." — Ibid. 405. On the
other hand, when the author is speaking of the internal changes in the Constitution of
Sparta, which grew out of the first Messenian war and conquest, he says, " Perhaps
" there are scarcely sufiicient data to reconstruct the true history of the period ; but the
"view taken by Bishop Thirlwall of the changes made, and of the circumstances
"which led to them, is at once so ingenious and so consistent with probability, that
" it well deserves at least the attention of the student." — " Mr. Grote, without ex-

36 DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPER.
Appendix by a line at the head, in small capitals, as hints,
OR HEADS OF TOPICS, does not appear to warrant such a de
scription. Properly speaking, they are certainly not hints
and heads of topics, but decidedly much more. They are
certainly not hints or heads of topics for the further use of
Washington himself; though it is not improbable that they
were written for the guidance of the person who should
foUow and complete the work.
This heading is not inclosed by Mr. Sparks with marks of
quotation, like the paper that follows, from beginning to
end, and therefore I suppose it to be Mr. Sparks's heading.
I have not seen the original, and it seems to be uncertain
whether the original can be found. If the heading was
Washington's, it must be admitted, that at the time of
writing it, he regarded the eleven paragraphs that follow as
hints or heads of topics ; but the paragraphs themselveSj
instead of being loose hints, slight touches, allusions or sug
gestions, by way of reminder, constitute a perfectly formal
and regular paper, in extension of Madison's draught, hav
ing a beginning and ending, and according to Washington's
plan, sufficiently exhaustive of each of the ten subjects
which succeed the first paragraph.
Of these " Hints, or Heads of Topics," the first and the

" amining it formally, by implication rejects it." — "Bishop Thirlwall's conjectural
" restoration of the fact, is on the whole satisfactory ; and if not history, deserves to
" be regarded as the best substitute for history that is possible, considering the scan-
" tiiiess and Contradictory character of the data.'' — Ih. 361-3.
This is the strain of the critic, free, candid, and explicit, without bitterness, and
without veiling either praise or dissent in generalities ; and there are multitudes of
like examples in the work. A too common fault of some critics among us, has
been vague and personal bitterness, or lavish but indiscriminating praise, from which
it has almost come to be considered, that dissent is an imputation and a challenge.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPER. 37
last of them embrace the subject of party disputes, in
vectives, and malevolent misrepresentations, which Madison
had touched hghtly, and with such apparent misapprehen
sion of Washington's views. One of the central paragraphs,
recommending pride in the name of an American, and ex
posing the danger of the annihilation of our national dignity
by foreign intrigue and influence, and exhibiting both the
follies and evils of foreign engagements, interferences, and
favors, is developed to the extent of twenty-nine hues of
the broad and compact page of the Appendix ; and others
to the extent of ten, eight, and six lines each. These are
not hints, or heads of topics. All the paragraphs consti
tute definite, complete, and well-expressed sentiments,
beginning with a preamble, which sets forth, that if public
aff'airs had continued to bear the aspect they assumed at the
time the foregoing address was drawn (Mr. Madison's pre
paration), he could not have taken the liberty of troubling
his feUow-citizens with any new sentiment, or with a repe
tition more in detail of those which are therein contained ;
but considerable changes having taken place at home and
abroad, he should ask their indulgence, while he expressed
" with more hvely sensibility the foUowing most ardent
" wishes of his heart :" and in the expression of these, he
foUows the formula he had used in his letter to Madison,
and which Madison had pursued in his draught, when he ex
pressed certain of Washington's wishes, as " vows which he
" would carry with him to his retirement and to his grave."
They cannot be accurately described, as " Hints, or Heads
" of Topics ;" though a hint may be taken from anything,
and any single paragraph may be divided into heads of
several topics. They are not, in an accurate sense, " a series

38 DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPER.
" of memoranda or loose hints ;" though by some men, who
take an artistic view of composition, and regard its struc
ture and the combination and bearing of its parts as matter
of essential consideration, they might be so described.
Although the entire paper is now presented in the Ap
pendix to this Inquiry, it will make some of my future
remarks more intelligible, if the substance of these nine
paragraphs intervening between the first and the last of
them, is noticed in this place, in the order in which Wash
ington has arranged the subjects.
The leading paragraph — the second in the paper — ex
presses the ardent msh of Washington's heart, that party
disputes among all the friends and lovers of the country
may subside ; or, as Providence has ordained that men shaU
not always think alike, that charity and benevolence may so
shed their benign influence, as to banish those invectives
which proceed from illiberal prejudices and jealousy. And
then the paper goes on to express hke fervent wishes, 
 that as the AUwise Dispenser of human blessings

has favored no nation with more abundant means of happi
ness than United America, we may not be so ungrateful to
our Creator, or so regardless of ourselves and our posterity,
as to dash the cup of beneficence thus offered to our ac
ceptance :
 that we may fulfil all our engagements, foreign and
domestic, to the utmost of our abilities ; for, in public as
well as in private life, honesty wiU ever be found to be the
best policy :
 that we may avoid connecting ourselves with the
politics of any nation, further than shall be found necessary
to regulate our own trade, that commerce may be placed

DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPER. 39
upon a stable footing, our merchants know their rights, and
our government the ground on which they are to be sup
ported :
 that every citizen should take pride in the name of
an American, and act as if he felt the importance of the
character, by considering that we are now a distinct nation,
the dignity of which will be annihilated, if we enlist our
selves, further than our obligations require, under the ban
ners of any other nation. And moreover, that we should
guard against the intrigues of every foreign nation who
shall intermingle in our concerns, or prescribe our pohcy
with other powers, if there be no infraction of our engage
ments with themselves, as one of the greatest evils that can
befall us as a people ; for, whatever may be their professions,
the event will prove, that nations, hke individuals, act for
their own benefit, and not for the benefit of others ; and
that all their interferences are calculated to promote the
former, and in proportion as they succeed, Avill make us less
independent. Nothing is more certain, than that if we
receive favors, we must grant favors, and, in such circum
stances as ours, we cannot tell beforehand on which side the
balance wHl be found ; but it is easy to prove that it may
involve us in disputes, and finally in war, to fulfil political
alhances ; whereas, if there be no engagements on our part,
we shall be unembarrassed, and at liberty at all times to act
from circumstances, and the dictates of justice, sound pohcy,
and our essential interests :
 that we may be always prepared for war, but never
unsheath the sword, except in self-defence, so long as justice I
and our essential rights and national respectability can be
preserved without it. If this country can remain in peace

40 DESCRIPTION OP THE PAPER.
twenty years longer, such, in all probability, wUl be its
population, riches, and resources, when combined with her
distance from other quarters of the globe, as to bid defiance,
in a just cause, to any earthly power whatever :
 that so long as we profess to be neutral, our pubhc
conduct, whatever our private affections may be, may accord
with our professions, without suffering partiahties or preju
dices to control our actions. A contrary practice is incom
patible with our declarations, pregnant with mischief,
embarrassing to the administration, tending to di'sdde us
into parties, and ultimately productive of all those evils
which proceed from faction :
 that our Union may be as lasting as time ; for while
we are encircled in one band, we shall possess the strength
of a giant, and there wiU be none to make us afraid.
Divide, and we shall become a prey to foreign intrigues and
internal discord, and shaU be as miserable and contemptible
as we are now enviable ajid happy.
The ninth and final wish is, that the several departments
may be preserved in their constitutional purity, without any
attempt of one to encroach on the rights or privileges of
another, — that the General and State Governments may
move in their proper orbits, and the authorities of our own
Constitution may be respected by ourselves, as the most
certain means of having them respected by foreigners.
The concluding paragraph in the division corresponds
with that which I have already noticed as the fourth head
in a part of Washington's suggestions, in his letter to Mr.
Madison, in regard to the treatment of pubhc servants ; and
I shall quote its language hereafter.
These are golden truths, a treasure of pohtical wisdom,;:

DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPER. 41
experience, and foresight, which, from the gravity of their
tone, the depth of their sincerity, their simplicity, and the
tenderness as well as the strength of the concern they
manifest for the whole people, make them in themselves a
" Farewell Address," as it were, from a dying father to his
children. And they are Washington's alone, without sug
gestion by anybody, — Madison, Hamilton, or any other
friend or adviser, — drawn from the depth of Washington's
owa heart ; and if the whole Farewell Address, as it now
stands on record, were decomposed, and such parts dispeUed
as were added to give the paper an entrance into the minds
of statesmen and legislators, and to place it among the per
manent rules of government, the great residuum would be
found in these principles, an imperishable legacy to the^
people. They are the soul of the Farewell Address.
AU these thoughts wiU be found introduced into Hamil
ton's original draught of the Farewell Address, and not
unfrequently in the language in which Washington has ex
pressed them; but, from the bearing that is there given
them, they have not only a different aspect, but a united
and concentrated influence upon one momentous and predo
minant interest. Their aspect is changed. In the Hints, or
Heads of Topics, they have the enunciative form, which is
so common in Washington's writings — simple truths, or
propositions, or statements of wisdom or patriotism, with
httle support by argument, and without a manifest bearing
upon each other, or upon any general truth which they are
meant to establish ; and they have no dependent order or
succession. They are neither branches from a common
trunk, nor rays converging to a common focus, but separate
and independent truths or postulates. With the exception

42 DESCRIPTION OF THE PAPER.
of the preamble and the final clause, they might all change
places with each other, in any way that could be chosen,
and none of them would receive injury, nor would the effect
of the whole be impaired by the change. But when they
are carried into the Farewell Address, they are found to
assume the ratiocinative or argumental form, so characteristic
of Hamilton's writings. They are made to have a general
bearing upon a general truth or aspiration ; and their sepa
rate value, and their combined strength, are augmented by
their order and position.
I must, therefore, assume that these paragraphs, in con
nection with Madison's draught, and the beginning and con-
clusion before mentioned, did, in the design of Washington,
constitute definitely a draught by him of a valedictory address,
so far as he should prepare or arrange it himself; and that
this was the very paper that Hamilton saw before the 10th
May, 1796, and was sent to him by Washington on the
15th May, 1796, as the basis of the work to which Wash
ington called him. This, however, wiU become more evi
dent by the letter itself, to be presently introduced.
It is proper to remark in this place, that if the preserved
paper consisted of the whole of Mr. Madison's draught, and
of aU the paragraphs called " Hints, or Heads of Topics," it
would have filled about five and a half of such printed pages
as are those of Mr. Sparks's Appendix. Washington's be
ginning and conclusion, might have added another such
page and a half, or thereabouts.
I shall now introduce, and in going on, partially apply or
explain the proofs which more speciaUy bear upon the com
position of the FareweU Address.
The reference of the subject to Hamilton, of course pro-

HAMILTON'S LETTER TO WASHINGTON, MAY IOtH, 1796. 43
ceeded from Washington, as is shown by Hamilton's first
letter to Washington. '
Mr. Sparks, in his Appendix, has printed the first part of
this letter as an extract ; and it is the only part of the letter
that has any the least reference to the subject of the pre
served paper. The commencement of the letter, and its
concluding address, are as follows : — " New York, May 10th, 1796.
" Sir,— " When last in Philadelphia, you mentioned to me your wish,
" that I should redress a certain paper, which you had prepared. /
" As it is important that a thing of this kind should be done withy
" great care, and much at leisure touched and retouched, I submit a
" wish, that as soon as you have given it the body you mean it to
" have, it may be sent to me."
* * s!; * * :}! *
" Very respectfully and affectionately,
" I have the honor to be,
" Sir, " Your ob't serv't,
" A. Hamilton."
" The President bf the United States."
Washington rephed on the 15th May, from Philadelphia;
and as this letter is the key to Washington's intentions and
to Hamilton's acts, the entire letter will be given, although j
it may be found at large in 6 Hamilton's Works, p. 120.
The convenience of making an occasional remark upon a
paragraph of it, before the whole is exhibited, will lead to
its being presented in sections. " Philadelphia, May 15th, 1796.
"^ My dear Sir, —
" On this day week I wrote you a letter on the subject of the

44 WASHINGTON TO HAMILTON, MAY 15tH, 1796.
' information received from G  M  , and put it with some
' other papers respecting the case of M. de La Fayette, under
' cover to Mr. Jay, to whom also I had occasion to write. But in
' my hurry (making up the despatches for the post-office next
' morning), I forgot to give it a superscription : of course it had
' to return from New York for one, and to encounter all the delay
' occasioned thereby before it could reach your hands."
" Since then I have been favored with your letter of the 10th
' inst., and inclose (in its rough state) the paper mentioned therein,
' with some alteration in the first page (since you saw it) relative
' to the reference at foot. Having no copy by me, except of the
' quoted part, nor of the notes from which it was drawn, I beg
' leave to recommend the draught now sent to your particular
' attention."

There are some inferences from this part . of the letter,
which, although self-evident, it is thought material to state
with precision in this place.
1. The identical paper or draught which Washington had
prepared, which Hamilton Jiad seen, and which he men
tioned in his letter of the 10th of May, was inclosed in
Washington's letter of the 15th. Some alterations in its
first page, relative to a reference at the foot of the page,
had been made after Hamilton had seen the paper, and be
fore it was inclosed to him. These alterations appear on the
face of the preserved paper, mentioned by Mr. Sparks, a line
being drawn through several words, as weU as through the
name of ** ******* at the foot of the page.
2. Washington, when he so inclosed the draught, had no
copy by him of any part of the draught, except what he
calls "the quoted part," nor of the notes from which ii,
meaning most probably the original part not quoted, had

Washington's letter to Hamilton. 45
been drawn, and therefore he recommends the draught to
Hamilton's particular attention.
Was the preserved paper a different draught, prepared
before Washington's letter of 15th May, and not mentioned
when he sent to Hamilton the draught inclosed in that let
ter % This is to the last degree improbable ; for Washington
said he had no copy by him except of the quoted part,
which was Madison's draught, nor the notes from which the
draught he sent was drawn. Such a previously prepared
paper, if it existed, must therefore have been without a trace
of connection with the draught that was sent. Did Wash
ington, after sending his draught to Hamilton, subsequently
make another draught himself, or prepare Hints or Heads
of Topics, corresponding with the preserved paper in Mr.
Sparks's Appendix % The whole subsequent correspondence
wiU show the futUity of such a suggestion. The draught
sent to Hamilton was therefore the preserved paper. The
letter proceeds : — ~"~^
" Even if you should think it best to throw the whole into a
" different form, let me request, notwithstanding, that my draught
" may be returned to me (along with yours) with such amendments
" and corrections as to render it as perfect as the formation is sus-
" ceptible of; curtailed if too verbose ; and relieved of all tautology
" not necessary to enforce the ideas in the original or quoted part.
" My wish is that the whole may appear in a plain style, and be
" handed to the public in an honest, unaffected, simple garb."
It is from Washington, consequently, that first came, if
not the suggestion that the whole should be thrown into a
different form, the clearly implied authority to Hamilton to
throw it into that form, if he should think it best. The
letter still proceeds : —

46 WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO HAMILTON.
" It will be perceived, from hence, that I am attached to the
" quotation. My reasons for it are, that as it is not only a fact
" that such an address was written, and on the point of being pnb-
" lished, but known also to one or two of those characters, who are
" now strongest and foremost in the opposition to the government,
" and consequently to the person administering of it contrary to
" their views, the promulgation thereof,> as an evidence that it
" was much against my inclination that I continued in office, will
" cause it more readily to be believed, that I could have no view in
" extending the powers of the Executive beyond the limits pre-
" scribed by the Constitution ; and will serve to lessen, in the public
" estimation, the pretensions of that party to the patriotic zeal and
" watchfulness, on which they endeavor to build their own conse-
" quence, at the expense of others who have differed from them in
" sentiment. And besides, it may contribute to blunt, if it does
" not turn aside, some of the shafts which, it may be presumed, will
" be aimed at my annunciation of this event; among which, con-
" viction of fallen popularity, and despair of being re-elected, will
" be levelled at me with dexterity and keenness."
In this paragraph, the reasons of Washington's attach
ment to the " quotation " lead immediately to the inference,
which we now know to be true, that the " quoted part" of
his draught consisted of Madison's draught, and thus iden
tifies the draught sent to Hamilton, as being composed in
part of Madison's draught, and in part of original matter
written by Washington, which is the character of the
" preserved paper," according to Mr. Sparks's account of it.
Madison was certainly one of the '¦'¦one or two" who knew
that the Address was written, and on the point of being
published, in 1792, and who were foreinost in the opposition
to Washington's administration in 1796 ; and Washington
held with some tenacity to what Madison had written, even

WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO HAMILTON. 47
in regard to Washington's very fallible judgment and infe
riority of qualifications, because the reference to it in the
present Address would bring the matter home consciously
to Madison, and with this could hardly fail to recur to
him, at the same time, the consciousness of Washington's
sincerity, candor, modesty, and real greatness and elevation,
that would not put away from him these depreciating
reminders of his first adviser, after their relations had
changed. " Having struck out the reference to a particular character in
" the first page of the Address, I have less (if any) objection to
" expunging those words which are contained within parentheses, in
" pages 5, 7, and 8, in the quoted part, and those in the eighteenth
" page of what follows ; nor to discarding the egotisms (however
" just they may be), if you think them liable to fair criticism, and
" that they had better be omitted, notwithstanding some of them
" relate facts which are but little known to the community."
" My object has been, and must continue to be, to avoid person-
" alities : allusions to particular measures, which may appear
" pointed, and to expressions which could not fail to draw upon
" me attacks which I should wish to avoid, and might not find
" agreeable to repel."
Whether this reference to the eighteenth page of Wash
ington's manuscript draught includes the last portion of the
" Hints, or Heads of Topics," or a part of the Conclusion,
which has been called the fourth paper, it is impossible to
determine, without seeing the copy-book, or the entire
manuscript and its paging, which I have not seen. But
this is not very material. The last paragraph of the " Hints,
" or Heads of Topics," printed by Mr. Sparks, is one of a
personal character, which becomes more pointed in the

48 WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO HAMILTON.
Conclusion, not printed by Mr. Sparks; though it is not
connected there, as it is in the " Hints or Heads of Topics,"
with the motive which led him to retain Madison's draught
as a part of his own paper. " In expressing these senti-
" ments," he says (" Hints, or Heads of Topics," Wash
ington's Writings, vol. xii, p. 394), "it will readily be
" perceived that I can have no other view now, whatever
" malevolence may have ascribed to it before^ than such as
" results from a perfect conviction of the utUity of the mea-
" sure. If public servants, in the exercise of their official
" duties, are found incompetent, or pursuing wrong courses,
" discontinue them ; if they are guilty of malpractices, let
" them be more exemplarily punished : in both cases, the
" Constitution and laws have made provision. But do not
" withdraw your confidence from them, the best incentive
" to a faithful discharge of their duty, without just cause;
" nor infer, because measures of a complicated nature, which
" time, opportunity, and close investigation alone can pene-
" trate, — for these reasons are not easily comprehended by
" those who do not possess the means, — that it necessarily
" follows they must be wrong. This would not only be
" doing injustice to your trustees, but be counteracting your
" own essential interests, rendering those trustees, if not
" contemptible in the eyes of the world, httle better, at
" least, than ciphers in the administration of the govem-
" ment ; and the Constitution of your own choosing would
" reproach you for such conduct."
Such a paragraph as this, as well as others in the con
cluding paper, might very naturaUy be embraced by the
hcense which this part of the letter gives to Hamilton,
But this is not certain. The pages of the copy I possess do

Washington's letter to Hamilton. 49
not, I apprehend, conform to the original ; and there are no
parentheses in the copy, except in two instances, quite un
important. Washington's marks may have been made by
pencil, and become effaced. The references at pages 5, 7,
and 8, cannot be ascertained by the copy. The letter goes
on: —
" As there will be another session of Congress before the political
" existence of the present House of Representatives, or my own,
" will expire, it was not my design to say a word to the Legislature
" on this subject ; but to withhold the promulgation of my intention,
" until the period when it shall become indispensably necessary for
" the information of the Electors (which this year will be delayed
" until the 7th of December). This makes it a little difficult and
" uncertain what to say, so long beforehand, on the part marked
" with a pencil, in the last paragraph of the second page."
The reference in this last sentence, is undoubtedly to the
paragraph of Washington's beginning, as I have called it,
which immediately precedes Mr. Madison's draught, distin
guished by marks of quotation in the paper appended to
this Inquiry, as Washington's original draught.
" All these ideas and observations are confined, as you will
" readily perceive, to my draught of the Valedictory Address. If
" you form one anew, it will, of course, assume such a shape as you
" may be disposed to give it, predicated upon the sentiments con-
" tained in the inclosed paper."
" With respect to the gentleman you have mentioned as successor
" to Mr. P  , there can be no doubt of his abilities, nor, in my
" mind, is there any of his fitness ; but you know, as well as I,
" what has been said of his political sentiments, with respect to
" another form of government ; and from thence can be at no loss
4

50 WASHINGTON'S RELATION TO THE
" to guess at the interpretation which would be given to the nomi-
" nation of him. However, the subject shall have due considera--
" tion; but a previous resignation would, in my opinion, carry with
" it too much the appearance of concert, and would have a bad,
" rather than a good effect. " Always and sincerely,
" I am yours,
« Col. A. Hamiltoh." " GrBO. "WASHINGTON.
The concluding remark in the last paragraph but one off
this letter, is in the full character of Washington, and can- i
not be too weU remembered by the reader. It is the key toj
that part of the Farewell Address that he reserved for him
self It says, in the plainest language, to Hamilton, — my
sentiments are contained in the paper I send you. Certain of
them, which have a bearing upon particular persons or party, i;
and what may be called egotisms, — ^matters touching myself
particularly, — I Ijave no objection to expunge, if you think
them hable,to fair criticism. Correct, amend, make it as
perfect as the\formation is susceptible of, to enforce the ideas
or sentiments that are expressed in the draught. Or, throw
the whole into a different form, if you please ; let it assume
such a shape as you may be disposed to give it ; bu,t the
sentiments contained in the inclosed paper are to be the'.
guide. These show my design, my object, my opinions,
my counsels to the country, my admonitions to the whole
people ; these are mine, and are to be observed in whatever.
plan you may adopt.
And thus Washington's relation to the subject was de
clared and estabhshed at the outset by himself, and will' be
found to have been most faithfully, as well as most inge
niously, observed and followed by Hamilton to the end. j

f !

I I I 11

COMPOSITION OF THE FAREWELL ADDRESS. 51
Washington was the designer, in the general sense, if not in
the artistic. The fundamental and radical thoughts were
his, and were to remain his, even in a new draught. The
Address was to disclose his principles and admonitions, of
which he gave a full outline, in sentiments sufficiently de
lineated by him to characterize and identify them. As to
order, symmetry, amplification, illustration, support by rea
soning, or by- reference to general or known facts or truths,
or even additions of the Same temperament as those he had
expressed, he committed all this to Hamilton, if Hamilton
should think it best, under the names of "form" and
" shape," by which Washington distinguished the external
appearance or composition, from the general and fundamen
tal truths. I may here, as well as anywhere else, ask the
reader to observe, how expressly Hamilton will call upon
Washington to see that none of the thoughts he had desired
to be embodied in the work, had been omitted by oversight ;
and how cautiously, even laboriously, Washington's eye will
be found passing and repassing over the whole, to the very
end. In the month of June following, Hamilton wrote to
Washington upon a subject of public concern, making no
reference to the valedictory ; and Washington replied from
Moimt Vernon, on the 26th of June. Hamilton's letter is
printed in the sixth volume of " Hamilton's Works," page
133; Washington's reply to Hamilton, in the same volume,
page 135. A considerable part of the reply relates to the
pubhc subject only ; but midway, it adverts to the embar
rassment of the administration, " from the conduct of
" characters among ourselves ; and as every act of the
" Executive is misrepresented and tortured, with a view to

52 WASHINGTON TO HAMILTON, 26tH JUNE.
" make it odious," it suggests that the aid of the friends of
government is peculiarly necessary at such a crisis.
" It is unnecessary, therefore, to add," the letter says, "that I
" should be glad upon the present, and all other important occa-
" sions, to receive yours ; and as I have great confidence in the
" abilities and purity of Mr. Jay's views, as well as in his expe-
" rience, I should wish that his sentiments on the purport of this
" letter, and other interesting matters as they occur, may accom-
" pany yours ; for, having no other wish than to promote the true
" and permanent interests of this country, I am anxious always to
" compare the opinions of those in whom I confide, with one ano-
" ther, and these again (without being bound by them) with my
" own, that I may extract all the good I can."
The letter turns, in its concluding paragraphs, to the
subject of the Valedictory Address, and expresses Wash
ington's regret that he did not publish it the day after the
adjournment of Congress ; and gives several reasons for this
regret ; among others,
i'
" that it might have prevented the remarks which, more than pro-
" bable, will follow a late annunciation — namely, that I delayed it
" long enough to see that the current was turned against me, before ii
" I declared my intention to decline. This is Qne of the reasons
" which makes me a little tenacious of the draught I furnished you
" with, to be modified and corrected. Having passed, however,
" what I now conceive would have been the precise moment to have
"addressed my constituents,"
he asks Hamilton's opinion as to the next best time, and |
requests to hear from him as soon as was convenient.
Hamilton answered this letter on the 5th July, the

HAMILTON TO WASHINGTON, 5tH JULY. 53
greater part of the answer being confined to the public
matter, and to Washington's suggestions arising out of it.
What regards the present subject is contained in these
paragraphs : —
" As to your resignation, sir," it proceeds to say, " it is not to be
" regretted that the declaration of your intention should be sus-
" pended as long as possible ; and, suffer me to add, that you should
" really hold the thing undecided to the last moment. . I do not
" think it is in the power of party to throw any slur upon the late-
" ness of your declaration; and you have an obvious justification in
" the state of things. If a storm gathers, how can you retreat ?
" This is a most serious question."
" The proper period now for your declaration, seems to be two
" months before the time for the meeting of the Electors. This
" will be sufficient. The parties will, in the meantime, electioneer
" conditionally, that is to say, if you decline ; for a serious opposi-
" tion to you will, I think, hardly be risked."
" I have completed the first draught of a certain paper, and shall
" shortly transcribe, correct, and forward it I will then also pre-
" pare and send forward, without delay, the original paper cor-
" rected upon the general plan of it, so that you may have both
" before you for a choice, in full time, and for alteration if neces-
" sary." By "first draught of a certain paper," Hamilton undoubt- '
edly meant his own original draught of a Farewell Address.
By " the original jmper corrected upon the general plan of it,"
he as clearly meant Washington's original or preparatory
draught, which had been sent to him on the 15th of May.
The phrase "corrected upon the general plan of it," could not
reasonably have meant corrected upon the face or paper
itself of Washington's draught, but corrected in correspond-

54 AMENDED COPY OF ORIGINAL DRAUGHT
ence or conformity with its general plan, that is to say,
without altering the plan.
Before Hamilton entered upon what he called the first
draught of a certain paper, he appears to have made an
" abstract of points to form an address," a copy of which is
printed in the seventh volume of Hamilton's Works, page
570, and will be found in the Appendix. It places the
points in the order in which they are afterwards developed
in Hamilton's original draught, and must be particularly
noticed hereafter.
It is here called the original draught of Hamilton, for the
purpose of constantly distinguishing it in my future remarks.
Hamilton sent a corrected and amended copy of this draught
to Washington, as he promised to do. His letter says, " he
shall shortly transcribe, correct, and forward it." The original
draught bears an indorsement in Hamilton's handwriting, in
these words : " Copy of the original draught, considerably
amended;" which cannot mean that the paper itself, on
which the indorsement was made, was considerably amended
from some other original, — for the paper itself is singularly
rough, and bears many interlineations, marginal and other
wise, which in some respects deface it, and leaves also a
considerable blank in it, to be, perhaps, afterwards filled
up, — but it must import that the copy of that, the original
draught, was considerably amended ; and this amended or
corrected copy, was the copy, no doubt, which Hamilton sent
to Washington, the rough original which bears the indorse
ment remaining with Hamilton, and being now with Hamil
ton's papers in the Department of State. It was this
corrected copy that was afterwards returned by Washington
to Hamilton, at his request, for revision, and was again cor
rected or revised, and in one or two particulars enlarged by

SENT TO WASHINGTON, AND NOW MISSING. 55
him, and again returned to Washington. This corrected
copy, to distinguish it from the original draught, will here
after be called Hamilton's revision. This large explanation
may be thought superfluous ; but, if attended to, it will be
found to prevent confusion, in the many references which
wiU occur to the different papers, and will also save the
necessity of periphrase.
To what extent, and in what manner the copy of the ori
ginal draught which was sent to Washington, was amended or
corrected, either at first, or upon a revision, cannot be known
with absolute certainty ; for we shall learn hereafter that
/this paper is the only missing hnk. It may be heard of again
' in the course of these remarks, and may, some time or other,
j appear ; but it will not be discovered in time for the pur
poses of this Inquiry. We know from infallible proofs, that
J the amendments or corrections did not go to the extent of
changing the general order, subjects, or sentiments of the
paragraphs in Hamilton's original draught. He may have
struck out three of them, and a part of one or two of them,
and may have added two, or at most three, new ones. He
may have divided a few of the original paragraphs, and con-
soUdated two paragraphs in one, in perhaps two or three
instances. The principal amendments must have been in
words, — a different selection from words or turns of expres
sion nearly synonymous, and not changing the general
thought of the sentence. The comparison of Hamilton's
rough original draught with Washington's printed Farewell
Address, wiU estabhsh the former, as continuing substan
tially to the end, an identity, under all the amendments or
corrections that were made by Hamilton, or Washington.
On the 30th July, Hamilton wrote the letter to Wash
ington which follows : —

.56 HAMILTON'S LETTER TO WASHINGTON, 30tH JULY, 1796.
" New York, 30th July, 1796.
" Sir,— " I have the pleasure to send you herewith a certain draught,
" which I have endeavored to make as perfect as my time and en-
" gagements would permit. It has been my object to render this
" act importantly and lastingly useful, and, avoiding all just cause
" of present exception, to embrace such reflections and sentiments
" as will wear well, progress in approbation with time, and redound
" to future reputation. How far I have succeeded, you will judge.
" I have begun the second part of the task, the digesting the
" supplementary remarks to the first address, which, in a fortnight,
" I hope also to send you ; yet, I confess, the more I have consi-
" dered the matter, the less eligible this plan has appeared to me.
" There seems to me to be a certain awkwardness in the thing, and
" it seems to imply that there is a doubt whether the assurance,
" without the evidence, would be believed. Besides that, I think
" that there are some ideas that will not wear well in the former
" address; and I do not see how any part can be omitted, if it is
" to be given as the thing formerly prepared. Nevertheless, when
" you have both before you, you can judge.
" If you should incline to take the draught now sent, after pe-
" rusing, and noting anything that you wish changed, and will send
" it to me, I will, with pleasure, shape it as you desire. This may
" also put it in my power to improve the expression, and perhaps,
" in some instances, condense.
" I rejoice that certain clouds have not lately thickened, and that
" there is a prospect of a brighter horizon.
" With affectionate and respectful
" attachment, I have the honor to be,
" Sir, " Your very obedient servant,
" The President of the United States." "A. HAMILTON.
On the 10th of August, 1796, Hamilton again wrote to
Washington, as follows : —

HAMILTON TO WASHINGTON, IOtH AUGUST, AND VICE VERSA. 57
" Sir,— " About a fortnight since, I sent you a certain draught. I now
" send you another, on the plan of incorporation. Whichever you
" may prefer, if there be any part you wish to transfer from one to
" another, any part to be changed, or if there be any material idea
" in your own draught which has happened to be omitted, and which
" you wish introduced, — in short, if there be anything further in
" the matter in which I can be of any [service], I will, with great
" pleasure, obey your commands.
" Very respectfully and affectionately,
" I have the honor to be,
" Sir, " Your obedient servant,
" A. Hamilton.
" To the President." " August 10th, 1796.
Washington's draught in its original form, together with
the other on the plan of incorporation, must have been re
turned at the same time with this letter, though it is not so
expressed. The care and return of it were enjoined by
Washington, and he had it, with the other, in his hands,
when he wrote his letter of 25 th August, hereafter given.
On the same 10th August, Washington acknowledged
Hamilton's letter of 30th July, and the draught it
inclosed. " Mount Vernon, 10th August, 1796.
" My dear Sir, —
" The principal design of this letter is to inform you that your
" favor of the 30th ult., with its inclosure, got safe to my hands by
" the last post, and that the latter shall have the most attentive
" consideration I am able to give it.
" A cursory reading it has had; and the sentiments therein con-
" tained are extremely just, and such as ought to be inculcated.

58 WASHINGTON TO HAMILTON, IOtH AUGUST.
" The doubt that occurs at first view, is the length of it for a news-
" paper publication ; and how far the occasion would countenance
" its appearing in any other form, without dilating more on the
" present state of matters, is questionable. All the columns of a
" large gazette could scarcely, I conceive, contain the present
" draught. But, having made no accurate calculation of this
" matter, I may be much mistaken.
" If any matters should occur to you as fit subjects of communi-
" cation at the opening of the next session of Congress, I would
" thank you for noting and • furnishing me with them. It is my
" wish and my custom to provide all the materials for the speech in
" time, that it may be formed at leisure.
" With sincere esteem and affectionate regard,
" I am always yours,
" Geo. Washington.
" Col. a. Hamilton."

One fact that must strike the reader upon perusing this
letter, is the great emphasis which Washington lays upon
the extent or magnitude of Hamilton's draught. Wash
ington had, no doubt, intended his draught for a news
paper, as being the best instrument of diffusive pubhcation.
Upon a cursory reading of this draught, he perceived, as he
thought, that all the columns of a large gazette would
scarcely contain it ; and that it was questionable whether
the occasion would countenance its appearing in another
form, without dilating more on the present state of matters.
Indeed, it is the only fact with regard to Hamilton's draught
which the letter records, except that his letter and draught
had been received, and that the draught had had a cursory
reading : and this fact will be found to have a marked bear
ing on the main question to be answered, namely, the con-

COMPARATIVE LENGTH OP THE TWO DRAUGHTS. 59
tributory shares of Washington and Hamilton in the
Farewell Address.
The two parts of Washington's draught, which Mr.
Sparks has printed in the Appendix to the twelfth volume
of Washington's Writings, — Madison's draught, and Wash
ington's part, called in that Appendix " Hints or Heads of
Topics," — would have filled, as has been remarked, about
five pages of printed matter, of the same size as the pages
in his Appendix ; and if to these be added the beginning
and conclusion of Washington, they wiU make about a page
and a half more ; and these together would not have made
up one-half of what the columns of a large newspaper would
have contained. By recurring to the copy of Hamilton's
original draught, which is presented in the seventh volume
of his Works, beginning at the top of page 575, it will be
found to end seven lines below the beginning of page 594,
and thus to contain nineteen pages. The page of Mr.
Sparks's Appendix contains about a fifth more matter than
Hamilton's page, from which we may deduce that Hamil
ton's draught was more than twofold larger than the entire
preparation of Washington, including all its four parts.
Washington's emphatic remarks show that Hamilton's
draught must have greatly exceeded his own in length,
without excluding from the latter several long paragraphs
which, in accordance with Washington's permission, Hamil
ton had thought it expedient to omit. A more substantial
comparison will be made hereafter.
Before the 25th of August, 1796, Washington must have
received Hamilton's letter of the 10th, which inclosed to
Washington, probably his own draught, and certainly, the
incoi-poration with that draught of Hamilton's corrections

60 WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO HAMILTON, 25tH AUGUST.
or emendations ; for on that, 25th of August, Washington
had in his hands those two papers, — his own draught, and
the same draught corrected or amended by Hamilton, — with
which he had compared a third paper, namely, the amended
copy of Hamilton's original draught.
On that day, Washington addressed the following letter
to Hamilton, returning to him at the same time the copy of
Hamilton's original draught : —
(private.) " Philadelphia, 25th August, 1796.
" My dear Sir, —
" I have given the paper herewith inclosed several serious and
attentive readings, and prefer it greatly to the other draughts,
being more copious on material points, more dignified on the
whole, and, with less egotism, of course less exposed to criticism,
and better calculated to meet the eye of the discerning reader
(foreigners particularly, whose curiosity, I have little doubt, will
lead them to inspect it attentively, and to pronounce their opinion
on the performance)."
" When the first draught was made, besides having an eye to the
consideration above mentioned, I thought the occasion was fair
(as I had latterly been the subject of considerable invective) to
say what is there contained of myself; and as the address was
designed in a more especial manner for the yeomanry of the
country, I conceived it was proper they should be informed of
the object of that abuse, the silence with which it had been
treated, and the consequences which would naturally flow from
such unceasing and virulent attempts to destroy all confidence
in the executive part of the government ; and that it would be
best to do it in language that was plain and intelligible to their
understandings." " The draught now sent comprehends the most, if not all, these
matters, is better expressed, and, I am persuaded, goes as far as
it ought, with respect to any personal mention of myself."

WASHINGTON'S LETTER, 25tH AUGUST. 61
" I should have seen no occasion myself for its undergoing a
" revision; but as your letter of the 30th ult., which accompanied
" it, intimates a wish to do this, and knowing that it can be more
" correctly done after a writing has been out of sight for some time,
" than while it is in hand, I send it in conformity thereto^ with a
" request, however, that you would return as soon as you have care-
" fully re-examined it ; for it is my' intention to hand it to the
" public before I leave this city, to which I came for the purpose of
" meeting General Pinckney, receiving the Ministers from Spain
" and Holland, and for the despatch of other business, which could
" not be so well executed by written communications between the
" heads of Departments and myself, as by oral conferences. So
" soon as these are accomplished, I shall return ; at any rate, I
" expect to do so by, or before, the tenth of next month, for the
" purpose of bringing up my family for the winter."
" I shall expunge all that is marked in the paper as unimportant,
" &c. &c. ; and as you perceive some marginal notes, written with
" a pencil, I pray you to give the sentiments so noticed mature
" consideration. After which, and in every other part, if change
" or alteration takes place in the draught, let them be so clearly
" interlined, erased, or referred to in the margin, as that no mistake
" may happen in copying for the press."
" To what editor in this city .do you think it had best be sent for
" publication ? Will it be proper to accompany it with a note to
" him, expressing (as the principal design of it is to remove doubts
" at the next election) that it is hoped, or expected, that the State
" printers will give it a place in their gazettes ; or preferable to let
" it be carried by my private secretary to that press which is
" destined to usher it to the world, and suffer it to work its way
" afterwards ? If you think the first most eligible, let me ask you
" to sketch such a note as you may judge applicable to the oc-
" casion." " With affectionate regard,
" I am always yours,
"Col. A. Hamilton." " GeO. WASHINGTON.

62 WASHINGTON TO HAMILTON, IST SEPTEMBER.
It is particularly worthy of observation, that Washington, '
after " several serious and attentive readings," and a fort
night's consideration, remarked in this letter, that the copy
of Hamilton's original draught comprehended " mast if not
" all those matters" that personally concerned the feelings i
of Washington. He chose to say it was better expressed,
and went as far as was proper. It leads me to remark, that
a careful comparison of all that was written on both sides,
will discover to every person of candor, that all Washington's
sentiments Avere brought with infinite care into that draught,
nothing omitted, nothing modified, except in such a manner,
in both respects, as to obtain Washington's approbation, and
nothing added through a personal design of the writer, or in
reference to himself, but only to give the greater effect to
Washington's own sentiments.
On the 1st of September, Washington again wrote to
Hamilton (Hamilton's Works, vol. vi, p. 147), saying: —
" About the middle of last week I wrote to you; and that it
" might escape the eye of the inquisitive (for some of my letters
" have lately been pried into), I took the liberty of putting it under
" a cover to Mr. Jay."
" Since then, revolving on the paper that was inclosed therein,'*'
" on the various matters it contained, and on the just expression of
" the advice or recommendation which was given in it, I have re- i
" gretted that another subject (which, in my estimation, is of inte-
" resting concern to the well-being of this country) was not touched
" upon also : I mean education generally, as one of the surest means ,
" of enlightening and giving just ways of thinking to our citizens;
" but particularly the establishment of a university." ^'
And then the letter proceeds at some length to state the

HAMILTON TO WASHINGTON, AND REPLY, 4tH AND 6tH SEPT. 68
advantages of such an institution at the seat of the General
Government, and a purpose, on Washington's part, to con
tribute to its endowment.
" Let me pray you, therefore, to introduce a section in the Ad-
" dress expressive of these sentiments, and recommendatory of the
" measure, without any mention, however, of my proposed personal
" contribution to the plan. Such a section would come in very
" properly after the one which relates to our religious obligations,
" or in a preceding part, as one of the recommendatory measures to
" counteract the evils arising from geographical discriminations."
Hamilton rephed on the 4th of September : —
« New York, Sept. 4th, 1796.
" Sir,—
I " I have received your two late letters, the last but one trans-
" mitting me a certain draught. It will be corrected and altered
" with attention to your suggestions, and returned by Monday's or
" Tuesday's post. The idea of the University is one of those which
" I think will be most properly reserved for your speech at the
" opening of the Session. A general suggestion respecting ^duca-
" tion, will very fitly come into the Address.
" With respect, and affectionate attachment,
" I have the honor to remain,
" Sir, " Your very obed't ser't,
" A. Hamilton.
" The President."
Washington, replied on the 6th of September (Hamilton's
Works, vol. vi, p. 149) : —
" I received yesterday your letter of the 4th instant. If the
" promised paper has not been sent before this reaches you, Mr.

64 HAMILTON TO WASHINGTON, SEPTEMBER 5tH,
" Kip, the bearer of it, who goes to New York, partly on mine and
" partly on his own business, will bring it safely. I only await now,
" and shall in a few days do it impatiently, for the arrival of General
" Pinckney.
jw. " If you think the idea of a University had better be reserved
" for the speech at the opening of the Session, I am content to defer
" the communication of it until that period ; but even in that case,
" I would pray you, as soon as convenient, to make a draught for
" the occasion, predicated on. the ideas with which you have been
" furnished; looking at the same time, into what was said on this
" head in my second speech to the first Congress, merely with a view
" to see what was said upon the subject at that time." v
Hamilton, on the preceding day, had written thus to
Washington : — " New York, Sept. 5th, 1796.
" Sir,—
,^" I return the draught corrected agreeably to your intimations.
' You will observe a short paragraph added respecting Education.
' As to the establishment of a University, it is a point which, in
' connection with Military Schools, and some other things, I meant,
' agreeably to your desire, to suggest to you, as parts of your
' speech at the opening of the Session. There will several things
' come there much better than in a general Address to the People,
' which likewise would swell the Address too much^ Had I had health
' enough, it was my intention to have written it <0ver ; in which case
' I could both have improved and abridged. But this is not the
' case. I seem now to have regularly a period of ill-health every
' summer. " I think it will be advisable simply to send the Address by your
' secretary to Dunlap. It will, of course, find its way into all
' the other papers. Some person on the spot ought to be

returning revision, same to same, SEPT. 8th. 65
" charged with a careful examination of the impression by the
" proof-sheet." " Very respectfully and affectionately,
" I have the honor to be,
" Sir, " Your very obed't serv't,
" A. Hamilton.
" The President."
On the 8th September, Hamilton replied to Washington's
letter of the 6th: — " New York, Sept. 8th, 1796.
" Sir,— " I have received your letter of the 6th by the bearer. The
" draught was sent forward by post on Tuesday.
" I shall prepare a paragraph with respect to the University, and
" some others for consideration, respecting other points which have
" occurred." " With true respect and attachment,
" I have the honor to be,
" Sir, " Your very obedient servant, ,
" A. Hamilton.
" The President."
And thus ends the correspondence between Washington '
and Hamilton on the subject of the Farewell Address, i
That Address was dated and signed by Washington on the
17th of September, nine days after the date of Hamilton's
last letter, and was published on the 19th September, in
Claypoole's Daily Advertiser. An acknowledgment of the
safe arrival of Hamilton's revision, the revised copy of his
amended draught, thus sent forward by post on Tuesday,
5

6Q result of correspondence.
may have been written by Washington; but there is no
copy of such an acknowledgment by letter in Hamilton's
Works, nor a copy of any other letter from Washington to
Hamilton, until the 2d of November, more than six weeks
after the pubhcation of the Farewell Address in the gazette.
It is made manifest by this correspondence, that if Wash- i
ington's original draught is weU identified with the preserved i
paper, and if Hamilton's original draught, also, is identified
with the paper printed in his works, then we may obtain aU
that Washington contributed specifically to the Farewell
Address, and aU that Hamilton contributed, such additions
only excepted as are found in the Farewell Address, and
cannot be traced to either of the preceding draughts ; and
these may have been made by new matter, or by alterations,
in Hamilton's amended copy revised, or by Washington in his
autograph copy. So far as the author of these additions or
alterations shaU remain uncertain by the loss or disappearance
of Hamilton's amended copy afterwards revised, so far the
respective contributors of those additions or alterations wiU
not be distinguished to absolute demonstration ; but it will
be of httle prejudice to the result of this Inquiry; for the
original basis of each contributor being fixed by the two
draughts, — Washington's draught and Hamilton's original
draught, — the differences in the Farewell Address may
either be traced with reasonable certainty to one of the
parties, or be disregarded, as having no influence upon the
main question.
It is proper in this place, for the better apprehension and
estimation of the proofs, to ask attention to one or two matters
not already adverted to.
A corrected and amended copy of Hamilton's original

THE ROUGH REVISION SENT TO WASHINGTON. 67
draught passed once from Hamilton to Washington, on the
30th July, 1796, and once came back from Washington to
Hamilton, on the 25th of August following. I say a cor
rected and amended copy, because Hamilton's letter of 5th
July promised that he would "shortly transcribe, correct,
and forward it;" and he indorsed on the rough original,
" Copy of the original draught, considerably amended"
Washington's draught, and the transcript of that draught
corrected by Hamilton, which, as will hereafter be seen, was
read by Hamilton to Jay, having been sent by Hamilton to
. Washington on the 10th of August, and put aside, with his
own preparatory draught, by Washington's letter of 25th of
August, from his great preference for Hamilton's draught,
they were not the subject of remark by either party after
wards. They may, therefore, be dismissed from further
consideration in this place.
Hamilton's copy of the original draught being returned
to him on the 25th of August for revision, with certain
remarks, he proceeded to revise and correct it, and returned it
to Washington on Tuesday, the 6th September. This revi
sion did not come to Hamilton's hands again, and was not
the subject of further remark between the parties. Hamilton
sent it to Washington in the rough state in which the revi
sion had left it, because, as his letter remarks, he had not
health at the time to transcribe it. The almost necessary
presumption, therefore, is, that the amended copy of the
original draught was the very paper that was revised and
sent back. If the copy had been revised and corrected on
fair paper, there was nothing in the corrections, as we can
very safely infer from the Farewell Address, when compared
with the original draught, of which the copy is said by

68 THE MISSING REVISION. NO CORRECTIONS
Hamilton to have been considerably amended, that such a
writer as Hamilton would not have made on such paper,
without defacing it to a degree that would have called for
an apology. The corrections, we may presume, were en
tirely verbal, — adding a clause on education, and writiug
that, perhaps, in the margin, with a mark of reference to its
place in the body of the Address, which may account for
what will be found to have happened to it in Washington's
autograph copy. This, however, is to some extent conjec
tural; for Hamilton's revision of the amended copy of his
original draught is not accessible to me, nor has it been at
any time, as I understand, to Hamilton's family. I have re
ceived very credible intimations, that" it has been seen at the
city of Washington, many years since Washington's death.
But, for the purposes of this Inquiry, or for the purpose of
gaining any weight whatever to aid the proof of the previous
existence and transmission of the original draught to Wash
ington, or of its internal character as an exemplar of the Ad
dress, I place no rehance on these intimations. They are
noticed only to keep alive the hope, that the paper, if exist
ing, may be placed where it may be used either for the con
firmation, or for the refutation of this Essay. It is impossi- (
ble for any person to stand in a state of more pure neutrahty '\
than I do, as to the direction in which the evidence shah
inchne the scale of literary or artistic merit in the Farewell
Address, to one or the other party. It does not, in truth,
concern either Washington or Hamilton. In their hves
they were far above such a consideration ; and since death
has sealed, indestructibly, the reputation of each, different
as the respective elements of it were, the whole question, in
this aspect, is of no moment whatever. It is the higher

OF IT BY WASHINGTON, BEFORE IT LAST CAME TO HIM. 69
consideration of perfect honor, fidehty, and truth on each
side, in the whole transaction, that has given interest to a
statement of the entire evidence, preparatory to some final
remarks on the bearing of the parties, after the Farewell
Address was pubhshed to the world, in regard to the proofs
of co-operation.
After thus showing incontestably, by the correspondence,
that the amended copy of Hamilton's original draught passed
..once to Washington, and came back to Hamilton, and that
this paper, revised by Hamilton, passed once to Washington,
and never came back, and that Washington had not in the
meanwhile touched hne or word, and did not touch Ime or
word in the body of the work, before it finaUy came back
to his hands, nine or ten days before he signed his Farewell
Address, — he said only " I shall expunge" certain parts, and
made pencil notes in the margin for consideration of other
parts, — we are not only better prepared to estimate any
alterations Washington made after it came back to him, but
are quite prepared, at this time, to dissent from the language
which Mr. Sparks has used, not certainly for the purpose of
obscuring, but to the actual obscuration, of the question of
relative contribution by Washington and Hamilton to the
Farewell Address.
It may be true hteraUy, as Mr. Sparks says, that " several
" letters passed between them." Suggestions were made on
" both sides, some of which were approved and adopted,
" others disapproved and rejected. The draughts were
" sent back and forth from one to the other." All this may
be true literally, but it is not substantially correct, to the
effect of confounding the work of Hamilton with the work
of Washington in the Farewell Address. Washington, at

70 WASHINGTON'S FULL ADOPTION OF IT.
the outset, proposed clauses in regard to party invectives,
and personal sensibility to them, which Hamilton did not
approve; and Washington acquiesced in the rejection of
them. Hamilton made the work " more copious on material
" points, more dignified on the whole, and with less egotism;"
and Washington approved. Washington did not reject
a single sentence that Hamilton had written or suggested.
He said, " I shall expunge certain clauses, as unimpor-
" tant," &c. &c. ; and we shall see what they were by his
aiatograph copy. Seven days after Hamilton's revised
draught was sent back to him, Washington suggested two
new clauses, one of which Hamilton thought out of place,
and Washington acquiesced in its rejection; the other
Hamilton said would fitly come into the revision, and it
is found in the place which Washington had pointed out
as appropriate. The draughts did not go bach and forth
from the one to the other, in the true sense of that idiom.
In such a connection, the expression imphes repetition, for
the purpose of mutual correction and change. It is the
same as to and fro, — several times in opposite directions, fm-
mutual criticism and alteration. The facts show that there
was nothing hke it.
The great fact that comes out of the correspondence, is,
that Washington, speaking of Hamilton's draught, after a
fortnight's consideration, adopts it, with full and strong
praise of its exceUence, greater copiousness and dignity, and
with manifest satisfaction at the prospect of its impression
upon discerning readers, foreigners especially. I honor and
revere Washington infinitely too much to beheve, that he
could have expressed this satisfaction, in connection with
the thought that Hamilton's relation to the paper was to

Washington's adoption of the revision. 71
be forever concealed, to the abounding of his own praise.
The thought was impossible to him. His own sentiments,
in their full presentment, must have been the source of
his satisfaction, and not his praise from the manner of pre
senting them. He did not see for himself that there was
any occasion to revise the draught. He returned it only in
accordance with the writer's wish, for his further improve
ment of it.
There is even stronger proof of Washington's adoption of
this draught, than these expressions. Upon returning the
draught for Hamilton's revision, Washington expressly re
quested, that if change or alteration should take place in it,
it should be so clearly interhned, erased, or referred to in the
margin, as that no mistake might be made in copying it far
the press ; thus, in some degree, adopting Hamilton's subse
quent corrections by anticipation. And well and safely
might Washington do so, after perceiving how faithfully,
and with what true discernment and feehng, his own sen
timents had been already appreciated and expressed by
Hamilton. This full adoption by Washington of Hamilton's corrected
original draught, with more than Washington's usual effu-
' sion of feeling and language, taken in connection with his
eagerness to have it sent back to him without delay, so dis
tinctly marked in any new corrections, as that it might
readily be copied for the press, and with his further inquiry
in regard to the particular gazette that was to pubhsh it,
and his request for the draught of a letter to the editor, if
that course should be thought best by Hamilton, do amount
to such persuasive proof that the revised draught of Hamil
ton, with or without minor alterations by Washington,

72 MR. sparks's doubts of WASHINGTON'S DRAUGHT.
would be copied for the press, signed, and pubhshed by him
as his Farewell Address, that even if Hamilton's original; j
draught and abstract, as well as the amended and revised ;
draught, had been destroyed or lost forever, no person accus- !
tomed to weigh evidence would hesitate to say, from the \
necessary import of Washington',s and Hamilton's letters,
that the Farewell Address was copied and printed from
a draught by Hamilton, and not from Washington's draught,
nor from that draught corrected by Hamilton. I shaU post
pone for the present, a further accumulation of proofe to the
same effect, until I have introduced another topic.
That preparatory draught of Washington, the same which
Mr. Sparks has described, and I have called, the preserved
paper, is so well identified as the draught which Washing
ton sent to Hamilton on the 15th May, 1796, that it must
be unnecessary to say more on that point. A draught was
sent by Washington to Hamilton at that time, beyond aU
doubt. This preserved paper corresponds with it in a,U the
points, which the letter of that date refers to. There is no
other draught or paper by Washington, and, as far as appears,
there never has been, to compete with that preserved paper,
for the character it bears, as a preparatory draught by Wash
ington of a Farewell Address. Its own claims to be that
draught, are the strongest possible on the face of the pre
served paper ; and there is not, nor does there appear ever
to have been, a paper by Washington, that has any claims
whatever to stand in its place. The preserved paper was,
therefore, the draught of Washington, which he sent to
Hamilton at the date referred to.
Yet, from the inabihty of Mr. Sparks so to regard it, has ::
proceeded all the indistinctness of his views in regard to the

THE TIME OF JAY'S INTERVIEW WITH HAMILTON. 73
several contributions of the two parties ; and he appears to
have been fortified in it by Mr. Jay's letter to Judge Peters.
Though not distinct in his views of the degree of participa
tion which each party had in the FareweU Address, Mr.
Sparks is very distinct in his expressions, that there were no
means of ascertaining what Washington's draught was,
though he admits that a draught had been " prepared" by
Washington. He remarks that Hamilton's " note" (of the
10th May, 1796) "is dated more than four months before
" the Farewell Address was published ; and it appears that
" a draught of some sort, had already been ' prepared' by
" Washington." " What were the contents of the draught
" here alluded to, there are nmv no means of ascertaining." And
again : referring to the paper in his own possession as editor
of Washington's Writings, which he has described as Hints,
or Heads of Topics, he says, — " Whether these hints were
" sent to Hamilton, as here written, or to what extent they
" were previously enlarged and arranged, cannot now be
" told." The result with Mr. Sparks, therefore, was, that there was
no point of beginningjor starting, to make his survey of the
joint contribution ; and the non-existence of a ground plot,
by Washington, of what he had contributed in particular,
was consequently something hke a desideratum to one, the
state of whose information disposed him to leave the definite
contribution of each of the parties in uncertainty. It is from
this feehng, I inchne to think, Mr. Sparks took some sup
port from Mr. Jay's letter which he quotes, as showing that
Washington's draught had not been seen by Mr. Jay, and
that the character of that draught was therefore stiU an un
certainty. Mr. Jay's error, in thinking that the FareweU

74 MR. jay's LETTER TO JUDGE PETERS.
Address was, and could only be with propriety, Washington's
draught corrected by Hamilton, was, however, a very much
greater error than that of Mr. Sparks, who erred only in
point of expectation, that Washington's draught could not
be identified.
That interview between Hamilton and Jay, which Mr.
Jay's letter to Judge Peters describes, after previously giving
at great length, his opinions of Washington, and especiaUy
of certain points in Washington's character, and of certain
internal evidence in the FareweU Address, to sustain his
conviction that Washington only was the writer of the Ad
dress, merits particular consideration.
It was after the 30th July, 1796, and before the 10th of
August foUowing, that the interview occurred. The date is
irrefragably fixed in this manner. HamUton's letter of 5th
July to Washington, states that his o'vvn original draught was
then completed, though not copied and corrected. In his
letter to Washington, of the 30th July, Hamilton sent the
corrected copy of it to Washington, and said : " I have
" begun the second part of the task, the digesting the supple-
" mentary remarks to the first address, which, in a fortnight, /
" hope also to send you." This was Washington's draught
corrected " upon the general plan of it." On the 10th of
August, HamUton sent that corrected draught to Washing
ton. This, therefore, was the corrected draught which, be
tween these last two dates, had been read by Hamilton to
Jay, in that interview.
It is proper, in this place, to make a copious extract from
the letter of Mr. Jay to Judge Peters, of the 29th March,
1811, from the " Life and Writings of John Jay," vol. ii,
p. 336:—

MR. jay's letter TO JUDGE PETERS. 75
" Your letter conveyed to me the first and only information I
" have received, that a copy of President Washington's Valedictory
" Address had been found among the papers of General Hamilton,
" and in his handwriting ; and that a certain gentleman had also a
" copy of it in the same handwriting."
" The intelligence is unpleasant and unexpected. Had the
" Address been one of those official papers which, in the course of
" affairs, the Secretary of the proper Department might have pre-
" pared, and the President have signed, these facts would have
" been unimportant ; but it was a personal act, — of choice, not of
" official duty, — and it was so connected with other obvious conside-
" rations, as that he only could with propriety write it. In my
" opinion President Washington must have been sensible of this
" propriety ; and, therefore, strong evidence would be necessary to
" make me believe that he violated it. Whether he did or did not,
" is a question which naturally directs our attention to whatever
" affords presumptive evidence respecting it ; and leads the mind
" into a long train of correspondent reflections. I will give you a
" summary of those which have occurred to me ; not because I think
" them necessary to settle the point in question, for the sequel will
" show that they are not, but because the occasion invites me to
" take the pleasure of reviewing, and bearing testimony to the
" merits of our departed friend."
" Is it to be presumed, from these facts, that General Hamilton
" was the real, and the President only the reputed author of that
" Address? Although they countenance such a presumption, yet I
" think its foundation will be found too slight and shallow to resist
" that strong and full stream of counter-evidence which flows from
" the conduct and character of that great man : a character not
" blown up into transient splendor by the breath of adulation, but
" being composed of his great and memorable deeds, stands, and
" will forever stand, a glorious monument of human excellence."
The writer then proceeds to review at great length the
character and acts of Washington, and his abihties as a

76 MR. jay's letter to judge PETERS.
writer especiaUy, occupying nearly six pages of the volume
with this subject; and, distinguishing, at their close, between
the full composition of such an address, and the correction
of it, which might be a friendly office, he proceeds to say : —

" Among those to whose judgment and candor President Wash
ington would commit such an interesting and delicate task, where
is the man to be found who would have had the hardihood to say
to him in substance, — Sir, I have examined and considered your
draught of an address : it will not do ; it is really good for
nothing. But, sir, I have taken the trouble to write a proper
one for you ; and I now make you a present of it. I advise you
to adopt it, and to pass it on the world as your own. The cheat
will never be discovered, for you may depend on my secrecy.
Sir, I have inserted in it a paragraph that will give the public a
good opinion of your modesty. I will read it to you ; it is in
these words: 'In the discharge of this trust, I will only say,
' that I have with good intentions contributed towards the organi-
' zation 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.' "
" If it be possible to find a man among those whom he esteemed
capable of offering to him such a present, it is impossible to believe
that President Washington was the man to whom such a present
would have been acceptable. They who knew President Wash
ington, and his various endowments, qualifications, and virtuesj
know that, aggregately considered, they formed a tout ensemble
which has rarely been equalled, and perhaps never excelled."
" Thus much for presumptive evidence. I will now turn your
attention to some that is direct.
" The history (if it may be so called) of the Address, is not un-

MR. jay's letter to JUDGE PETERS. 77
" known to me ; but as I came to the knowledge of it under implied
" confidence, I doubted, when I first received your letter, whether I
" ought to disclose it. On more mature reflection, I became con-
" vinced that if President Washington was now alive, and informed
" of the facts in question, he would not only authorize, but also
" desire me to reduce it to writing, that, when necessary, it might
" be used to invalidate the imputations to which those facts give
" color. This consideration terminated my doubts. I do not think
" that a disclosure is necessary at this moment ; but I fear such a
" moment will arrive. Whether I shall then be alive, or in capacity
" to give testimony, is so uncertain, that, in order to avoid the risk
" of either, I shall now reduce it to writing, and commit it to your
" care and discretion, de bene esse, as the lawyers say."
" Some time before the Address appeared. Colonel (afterwards
" General) Hamilton informed me, that he had received a letter
" from President Washington, and with it the draught of a Fare-
" well Address, which the President had prepared, and on which
" he requested our opinion. He then proposed that we should fix a
" day for an interview at my house on the subject. A day was ac-
" cordingly appointed. On that day Colonel Hamilton attended.
" He observed to me, in words to this effect : that after having read
" and examined the draught, it appeared to him to be susceptible of
" improvement — that he thought the easiest and best way was to
" leave the draught untouched and in its fair state, and to write the
" whole over, with such amendments, alterations, and corrections as
" he thought were advisable, and that he had done so. He then
" proposed to read it, and to make it the subject of our considera-
" tion. This being agreed upon, he read it ; and we proceeded
" deliberately to discuss and consider it, paragraph by paragraph,
" until the whole met with our mutual approbation. Some amend-
" ments were made during the interview, but none of much impor-
" tance. Although this business had not been hastily despatched,
" yet aware of the consequence of such a paper, I suggested the
" giving it a further critical examination ; but he declined it, say-

78 MR. jay's letter to judge peters.
" ing that he was pressed for time, and was anxious to return the
" draught to the President without delay. It afterward occurrefd to
" me, that a certain proposition was expressed in terms too general
" and unqualified, and I hinted it in a letter to the President. '•
" As the business took the course above mentioned, a recurrence
" to the draught was unnecessary, and it was not read.^ '^here was
" this advantage in the course pursued, — the President's draught
" remained (as delicacy required) fair, and not obscured by inter-
" lineations, &c. By comparing it with the paper sent with it, he
" would immediately observe the particular emendations and correc-
" tions that were proposed, and would find them standing in their
" intended places. Hence he was enabled to review and decide on
" the whole matter, with much greater clearness and facility than
"if he had received them in separate and detached notes, and with
" detailed references to the pages and lines where they were advised
" to be introduced."

AU this occurred, we must bear in mind, " some time be-
" fore the Address appeared" (the 19th September). It can
hardly be supposed, that what Mr. Jay, after the lapse of
fifteen years, stiU recoUected as some time, was less than some
weeks, in conformity with the date of Hamilton's letter of
the 10th of August.
I do not in this place pause to make a commentary upon
the earlier part of this letter, the ironical part of it espe
ciaUy ; nor upon that singular misconception of Washington's
true greatness, which made him accept from the hands of
Madison, and afterwards tenaciously hold to, those very ex
pressions, which Mr. Jay supposed that no man hving, who
had Washington's esteem, would have presented to him,
and which he therefore regarded as presumptive evidence
that the writing which contained them could have been

MR. jay's letter to JUDGE PETERS. 79
written by Washington only. I cannot, however, avoid
remarking at this time, that this first elaborate argument
against the suggestion that Washington had received assist
ance in the composition of the Farewell Address, so far as
it was founded upon presumption from the language of that
Address, or from the character of Washington, is over
thrown by facts then existing, though unknown to Mr. Jay,
and which are now perfectly clear and plain ; and so far as
it was founded on the facts of that interview between Ham
Uton and Jay, is superseded by his own now manifest mis
take, in supposing that a part of the case in regard to the
formation of the Farewell Address, was the whole. I wUl
restrict my use of the paper in this place, however, to the
concluding part of the extract, or rather to Mr. Sparks's
inference from it, as he quotes it in his Appendix to the
twelfth volume of Washington.
It is irrefragably deducible from this statement, supposing
Mr. Jay's recoUections of the interview to have been per
fectly accurate, after the lapse of fifteen years, that the
paper which Hamilton read to him was Washington's
draught, " corrected upon the general plan of it," which Ha
milton, in his letter of 5th July, said he should prepare and
send forward. Washington's draught, Mr. Jay says, was
not read at that time, the course of the busitiess having
made a recurrence to it unnecessary; which course Mr.
Jay describes, as being that of reading from another paper,
the draught including the particular emendations and cor
rections that were proposed, and which emendations and
corrections, by comparing his draught with this paper,
Washington would find standing in their proper places.
After copying, in his Appendix to the twelfth volume of

80 MR. sparks's remarks upon it.
Washington's Writings, this portion of Jay's letter, Mr.
Sparks says: —
" It may be observed, that Mr. Jay does not profess to have seen
" Washington's first draught ; and, of course, he could not know
" what alterations and amendments had been made by Hamilton.
" He evidently received the impression, however, that the transcript
" was in its matter essentially the same as the original."
The fact that Washington's draught was not read at that
interview, is very clearly stated in Mr. Jay's letter ; though
there is nothing in the letter which professes that Mr. Jay
had not seen the draught, nor which imphes that the
draught was absent. The contrary would be imphed, both
from the office to be performed by the parties, and by the
general context of Mr. Jay's letter. From Mr. Jay's not
catching the name at the foot of the paper, he certainly did
not read it ; for the name was perfectly visible under the line
which erased it, as well as the words crossed by hues above.
It is not material whether Mr. Jay received the impression
that the transcript was in its matter essentially the same as
the original, or not ; though I think there is not a word in
the letter that implies such an impression, and it must have
been a remarkable correction and emendation, if the tran
script was in its matter essentiaUy the same as the original.
But this is of no importance. The material conclusion of
Mr. Sparks is, that Mr. Jay could not know what alterations
and amendments had been made by HamUton. This in
ference is not quite just to Mr. Jay, nor is it quite logical,
from the premises which Mr. Jay states ; for the alterations
and amendments which had been made by Hamilton in

THE SUBJECT OP THE INTERVIEW. 81
transcribing it, might have been known by marks on the
transcript, or by Hamilton's manner of reading it or com
menting upon it ; and in one of these ways it must have
been known, or Mr. Jay would have omitted to perform the
ofl3.ce which Hamilton, in Washington's behalf, had re
quested of him, — that of giving an opinion upon the draught
which " the President had prepared." Without some such
knowledge of the draught, indeed without marks of some
kind on the transcript or on the draught, it is difficult to
understand how Mr. Jay could write as he does, that " by
" comparing it (the President's draught) with the paper
" sent with it, he (the President) would immediately observe
" the particular emendations and corrections that were pro-
" posed, and would find them standing in their intended
"places. Hence he was enabled to review and to decide on
" the whole matter with much greater clearness and facility,
" than if he had received them in separate and detached
" notes, and with detaUed references to the pages and hues
" where they were advised to be introduced." What clear
ness and facihty, and immediate observation, could Mr. Jay
have been able to predicate of alterations and amendments
to a draught of which he knew nothing, directly or indi
rectly, wrought moreover into the body of the transcript,
without anything in original or transcript to guide to them 1
Or how could he know that they would be discovered, except
by a laborious collation of every part of Washington's
draught with every part of the transcript 1 It seems to be a
great injustice to Mr. Jay, to suppose that he could not know
what alterations and amendments HamUton had made ; for
this is saying that he had only heard the transcript read,
and did not know what part was Washington's, and what
6

82 ORIGINAL DRAUGHT OF WASHINGTON
Hamilton's, though the very point of reference to him, for
the joint opinion of Hamilton and himself, was Washington's
draught, which was submitted to them for their opinion.
These remarks may seem to be superfluous ; for, whether
accurate or inaccurate, they have little bearing on the main
point. But in reading this portion of Mr. Sparks's note on
the Farewell Address, I have been at some loss to know,
why the omission to read " the President's draught," at that
interview, and this inabihty of Mr. Jay to know what the
alterations and amendments of Hamilton were, are empha
sized by Mr. Sparks ; and whether it imphes a doubt on the
part of Mr. Sparks, that the draught sent by Washington to
HamUton on the 15th May was before Mr. Jay at that in
terview, or was the same paper which contained the quo
tation of Madison's draught and the " Hints, or Heads of
" Topics," or was something else, unknown to Mr. Sparks,
leaving the character of that draught by Washington a
matter of stiU impenetrable obscurity.
Whatever may have been the state of Mr. Sparks's
opinion, when he wrote his remarks upon the FareweU
Address in the twelfth volume of Washington's Writmgs,
I have little doubt that, with the fuUer information that has
since appeared, he cannot but be at present of the opinion that
Madison's draught and the " Hints, or Heads of Topics," with
the beginning and conclusion I have referred to, did consti
tute the draught which Washington sent to Hamilton with
the letter of the 15th May. The fact, without any reason
able doubt, ip so ; and that what purported to be the draught
of Washington, was before Hamilton and Jay at the time of
that interview, cannot be seriously questioned by anybody.
That is the important fact, that Washington's own

THE SUBJECT OF THE INTERVIEW. 83
draught was the subject that was before them, with Hamil
ton's corrections of that draught ; and that no other draught
was before them. Washington's draught, and HamUton's
transcript of that draught with corrections, were the two
matters before them, if they were two matters ; or the tran
script of Washington's draught with Hamilton's corrections,
was the one matter before them, if it was one matter. And
nothing else was before them. And this settles entirely the
relevancy of Mr. Jay's letter.
Mr. Jay was perfectly ignorant at that time, and probably
to the end of his valuable life, that any original draught of
a FareweU Address by Hamilton was thought of, by either
Washington or Hamilton; and as much so, of course, of
the fact, that a copy of such a draught had been sent by
Hamilton to Washington, befcrre the time of that interview.
The fact of such a draught by Hamilton, concerned himself
as well as Washington. It was a matter stiU pending. It
had no bearing upon the matter which concerned Wash
ington only, to wit, his own draught, for the improvement
of which Hamilton, under Washington's authority, asked
the conference with Mr. Jay. Hamilton, therefore, appears
not to have confided that independent matter to Mr. Jay.
It is from Mr. Jay's ignorance of this, and of some other cir
cumstances, that his defective view of the question of the
Farewell Address proceeded, as wiU be further shown here
after. Eefcurring now to the two leading papers, Washington's
preparatory draught and Hamilton's original draught, with
out at present adverting to Hamilton's amendment and
revision of his own draught, I wiU so far anticipate the con
clusion that may be drawn from a fiUler view of the Avhole

84 GENERAL RELATION TO THE FAREWELL ADDRESS
matter, as to state my apprehension of the general relation
which they bear to the finished FareweU Address. An ana
lysis of HamUton's abstract and original draught hereafter
will demonstrate it.
The fundamental or radical thoughts of the FareweU
Address appear in Washington's preparatory draught, and
without reference to plan or style, and with httle obhgation
otherwise to Madison's draught, which followed Washing
ton's outline, they were originaUy and substantiaUy Wash
ington's. The selection of those thoughts was his. The
responsibility for them was his. The individuality, for use
in the Farewell Address, was his. In what was most strictly
personal to him, the language of the preparatory draught
was frequently, and as often as it could be, brought into the
body of HamUton's draught, and from that into the Address.
In other instances, also, the language of Washington was to
some extent incorporated with the thoughts. On the other
hand, the expurgation of Washington's draught was HamU
ton's. The plan of the Farewell Address was that of Hamil
ton's original draught. The central and dominant thought
of the political part of his draught, and of that Address, was
selected by him from Washington's thoughts, and made the
governing principle of the whole. The bearing of other
thoughts upon that centre was devised by him, and the
'separate suggestions which appeared in various places in
Washington's draught, HamUton developed and augmented,
and worked into his draught ; and he sustained them, not in
the direct logical form, but with coUateral illustrations and
supports of his own, by which he combined and justified the
thoughts of Washington, and made the whole of this por
tion of the Address which foUowed his draught, as much an

OF WASHINGTON'S DRAUGHT AND HAMILTON'S DRAUGHT. 85
argument, as Washington's draught had made it a decla
ration of his political faith.
It is unnecessary to speak of Hamilton's intellectual capa
city for the part of the work that was assigned to him ; but
his special qualification for it was moral, as much as it was
inteUectual. It was his full sympathy with Washington in
both his personal and political aspirations. He knew better
than any man what Washington felt and thought, and as
weU as any man what Washington ought to feel on the
occasion, both ' as a President and as a man ; and he knew
better than Washington what Washington ought to say, and
what he ought to suppress, in matters which had person-
aUy wronged him. Perhaps any man of sense and discretion
is a better judge in this last particular than the party him
self; but Hamilton's special fitness as an adviser in such a
matter, sprang from his true conception of Washington's
greatness, from sympathy with his glory, from a perfect
apprehension of the estimatfe which the world had formed
of him, from accordance with him as to both the men and
the policy that were opposed to him, and as to the proper
principles of administration under the Constitution ; while,
at the same tiriie, Hamilton himself was free from every
particle of rivalry or competition with the great chief of the
country, and supremely elevated above the desire or thought
of vindicating any wrongs of his own, through the resent
ments, in the same direction, of any person whatever.
Two men were never better fitted for just such a joint
work ; fitted by different, and even by contrasting, qualities,
and by reciprocal trust and respect.
Hamilton habituaUy approved Washington's great pur
poses, and generaUy his suggestions made upon deliberate

86 RESPECTIVE QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE WORK,
consideration. Washington, on the other hand, approved
what Hamilton's constructive as well as analytical mind
built up or developed from Washington's suggestions, or
corrected by wise quaUfications ; and ceased to^ approve even
a suggestion of his own, after Hamilton had shown that it
was out of place in the position given .to it, or out of paraUel
or keeping with the ideal which Washington's admirers
throughout the world had formed of him. Hamilton was
slow, therefore, to consent to Washington's abating any por
tion of his claims through an excessive modesty, or impairing
them by condescending to rebuke the invectives which had
irritated him, as he knew him to be far above their reach on
the great theatre of the world ; though he was ready to be
overruled where Washington was to speak personally ; and
probably felt himself to be overruled, in retaining certain
parts of Mr. Madison's language.
Washington's practical and executive life — that great pre
paration of his virtues for the destiny that awaited him — took
him away in early youth from long scholastic training in
letters, and made them of secondary pursuit with him after
wards. He was not addicted to complex or formal compo
sition, though he wrote well and effectively. The seeds of
aU sound political and moral action were in him, and they
grew and expanded with his position, until it became the
highest in the country ; and his also was a singularly wise
judgment to apply the work of another in aid of his own
knowledge or design ; but suggestiveness and facility were
not the most striking properties of his mind. Hamilton, on
the other hand, strenuously cultivated from his youth, his
remarkable genius for speculative inquiry, for pohtical and
legal argument, and for arrangement and order in the mar-

OF THE TWO PARTIES. 87
shaUing- of his thoughts for either persuasion or demonstra
tion. His was the germinating, arranging, and exhibitive
mind, the mind to make a structure from the separate mate
rials provided by the mind of Washington ; but no structure
that Hamilton or any one could raise, was beyond the accu
rate survey and scrutiny of Washington, or his abUity to
appreciate the nature and degree of the connection, depen
dency, and coherence of the parts. Such was the adaptation
of Washington and HamUton to the work of the FareweU
Address. i
HamUton's original draught, as printed in the seventh
volume of his Works, — of which a conrected copy was sent
to Washington on the 30th July, 1796, — is the starting-
point in the coUation and comparison of Hamilton's work,
with the FareweU Address. The draught was altogether
HamUton's preparation, and there can be no doubt of the
genuineness and authenticity of this document. The ori
ginal, in his handwriting, is deposited in the Department of
State. The copy in his Works has been pubhshed under
the authority of Congress. It is printed in such a manner
as, by reference to words and sentences at the foot of the
pages, to indicate what are caUed in the first note, " the
"final alterations in this draught," which does not mean
the final alterations, fr'om the corrected copy sent to Washing
ton the 30th July, nor from the revision sent to Washington
on the 6th September ; but the final alterations in this, the
original draught, before it was amended and sent to Wash
ington, on the 30th July.
The comparison of the FareweU Address must, in the
first instance, be made with this draught. The revision of
the draught, or, as Hamilton expressed it in his letter to

88 THE DISAPPEARANCE OF
Washington of 5th September, "the draught corrected
" agreeably to your intimations," was sent to Washington
on the 6th September, having been returned by AVashington
to Hamilton for revision, at his request, on the 25th August.
It was not found, Mr. Sparks says, among the papers of
Washington. Doubtless Mr. Sparks has -never seen it. It
may, or may not, appear hereafter.
The disappearance of this paper is remarkable. It is the
only paper which relates to the formation of the Farewell
Address, that has disappeared from the papers of Wash
ington on this head, from the year 1792. All the other
papers, it wUl be seen, came into the hands of Mr. Sparks,
the editor of Washington's Writings. There were several
of them, without including the letters of Madison or
Hamilton; — Madison's draught, Washington's copy/ of that
draught, his own paper, called by Mr. Sparks " Hints, or
" Heads of Topics," Washington's completed paper sent to
Hamilton, and HamUton's correction of that paper by incorpo
ration of amendments. They were aU found among the papers
of Washington. This copy of HamUton's original draught,
his revision, is acknowledged by Washington, commented
upon by him several times by letter, was returned by Wash
ington to Hamilton, sent back to Washington, after revision,
by Hamilton, according to Washington's urgent request, for
the purpose of being immediately copied and sent to the
press ; and though its safe arrival does not, from any letter
that remains, appear to have been expressly acknowledged
by Washington, the short clause on Education prepared by.
HamUton at Washington's instance, expressly mentioned by
Hamilton as having been made in the revision, and which
appears in Washington's FareweU Address, in the place which

Hamilton's amended and revised draught. 89
Washington pointed out in Hamilton's copy where it might
conveniently come in, — that little clause, if every other proof
had failed, is as full a letter of acknowledgment that the
revision had come back safely to Washington's hands, as the
most formal receipt which Washington could have signed.
AU these papers were probably kept together by Wash
ington in one place, after the Farewell Address was pub
lished. We know Washington's extraordinary habits of
order and care in the arrangement and preservation of his
papers. His editor has shown it, in the preface to his Avork.
All the other papers I have described, remained at his death;
and they passed into the possession of his nephew and
legatee, Bushrod Washiijgton, one of the most pure, single-
minded, conscientious, and virtuous men, whom this or any
other country has produced. All the papers of Washington
were his special bequest to this nephew, the venerated
Judge of the Supreme Court, and of the Circuit Court of
the United States for the District of Pennsylvania. He
died in Philadelphia, on the 26th of November, 1829 ; and
four or five years before that time, he had placed in the
hands of Mr. Sparks the mass of Washington's papers, for
the preparation of an edition of Washington's Writings.
No person upon earth, who knew Bushrod Washington,
can possibly believe that such a paper as Hamilton's draught,
or any other important paper in Washington's cabinet at
Mount Vernon, could have been separated or displaced from
the mass by him, or ^vith his consent, for the purpose of
concealment. It is equally impossible that it could have
been so separated and put aside by Mr. Sparks, or with his'
consent. I have the fuUest faith, and so must every one
have, who knows the character of Mr. Sparks, that this

90 DISAPPEARANCE OF HAMILTON'S
paper did not come into his possession. He has stated to
that effect, in a written list of the papers appertaining to
the Farewell Address, which was prepared several years
since, a copy of which I have seen.
It would be dangerous, and is quite unnecessary, to
indulge in any speculations concerning the loss or displace
ment of this paper. . I should be wiUing to suppose it to
have been altogether an accident ; and so far as imputations
from me are concerned, it must be considered as so regarded
on my part ; but there is an intimation (as Mr. Jay's reply
states it) in Judge Peters's letter to Mr. Jay of the 14th
March, 1811, that there were two copies of the FareweU
Address, in Hamilton's handwriting, of which Judge Peters
had been recently informed, — one among the papers of
General HamUton, and another in the possession of a
certain person, whose name is not mentioned. As the only
two papers in Hamilton's handwriting, which could purport
to be copies of the Farewell Address, were the original
draught of Hamilton, and the copy sent to Washington,
namely, the paper now in question, there may doubtless be,
in this intimation, a reference to the missing paper. But it
is useless to attempt to foUow it out, with so imperfect a
light, which possibly may also be a deceptive one. One
remark, and one only, will suffice, before I proceed to other
matters. The missing paper could not have been displaced or taken
with a view to assist the claims of HamUton or his famUy
to the authorship of the Farewell Address. If there was
any consciousness in regard to the question of authorship,
by the person who took possession of it, the paper would
have been produced before this, if it had been of a nature to

AMENDED AND REVISED DRAUGHT. 91
defeat those claims; and no friend to Hamilton's claims
would have suppressed it, if it had been found to make
those claims perfectly demonstrative without the trouble of
argument. One consequence of the absence of this revision must be
kept in mind, — and it is quite an important one, unless it
can be supplied to some extent, as it probably can be.
As the origiual draught of HamUton was " considerably
" amended," as weU as revised and corrected by him, and as
Washington, also, altered some of the words of the revision,
we have no absolute assurance that the words of the Fare
weU Address which are not found in the original draught,
were contained in HamUton's amended copy, or in his
revision of it; nor, on the other hand, that they were
placed in the FareweU Address by Washington himself.
And the like must be said of any part of the original
draught, which is not found in the Farewell Address. We
have no absolute assurance that such part was struck out by
Hamilton, in his amended copy, or in the revision ; for it
may have been struck out by Washington after the revision
came to his hands. Either Hamilton or Washington may
have done it. Which of them did it, wiU be a question of
probabUities, when we look at the differences, as shown in
the hght of Washington's autograph Address. The main
question of authorship, in the hterary sense, wUl not however
be sensibly affected by the absence of Hamilton's revision.
In comparing the original draught of HamUton with the
FareweU Address, which the reader must to a great degree
do for himself, the characteristics of identity in mechanism
and substance wiU be found to be very strong in the foUow
ing particulars : 1. The length or extent of each is about the

92 COMPARISON OF HAMILTON'S DRAUGHT
same, and the material almost whoUy the same. The extent, j
about nineteen printed pages, largely exceeds any draught
of Washington that consisted only of the materials noticed
in Mr. Sparks's Appendix, or were sent by Washington to
Hamilton with his letter of 15th May. It exceeds them
more than twofold, which is quite sufficient to account for
Washington's remark in his letter of 10th August: "the*
" doubt that occurs at first view is the length of it for a
" newspaper publication." 2. The number of paragraphs is i
about the same. In the FareweU Address they are fifty-
one ; in the original draught they are fifty. But there have
been a few divisions and consolidations of original paragraphs
of the Farewell Address, as it stands in Washington's Works,
and one paragraph has certainly been added by HamUton in
his revision, and two or three by him, or by Washington.
The final, result is, that the paragraphs are stiU about the
same in number. 3. And this is material : the order or col
location of paragraphs, and the subjects of them, from tlie
beginning to the end of the two papers, the original draught .
and the Farewell Address, is one and the same, making
allowance for the division and consohdation of paragraphs |
before named, and the expansion in two instances. There
is no transposition of the order that we have detected, except
in a partial degree, in a single instance, where part of a para
graph at the end of page 576 and the beginning of page 577 of
the original draught in the seventh volume of HamUton's
Works, is wrought into the last two clauses of the FareweU
Address. In more than twenty instances the paragraphs in the '
FareweU Address begin with the identical words of the corres
ponding paragraphs in the draught, treating of the same sub-
j ects in almost the same language to the close. In at least nine

WITH FAREWELL ADDRESS. 93
other instances, a word at the beginning of a paragraph in
the draught is changed in the Farewell Address ; as essen
tially for substantially ; cherish good faith, for observe good
faith ; towards the execution, for in the execution ; in like
manner, for so likewise ; why should we forego, for why forego ;
in reference to the present war of Europe, for in relation to the
subsisting war in Europe ; after deliberate consideration, for
after deliberate examination ; to the duration and efficacy of
your Union, for to the efficacy and permanency of your Union ;
I have already observed, for I have already intimated. In aU
these instances the corresponding paragraphs proceed with
the same subject, and generaUy in the same language to the
close. Such differences are a conclusive proof of origin, by
uniform limitation of change, along with uniform continu
ation of subject, and generaUy of words, without any change.
This conformity in subject and language may be iUustrated
by a paragraph, taken as an instance, from the body of the
FareweU Address, being the sixteenth paragraph of that
Address, and the nineteenth of Hamilton's original draught,
six of HamUton's previous paragraphs having been consoli
dated in three in the Address, one having been divided into
two, and one altogether omitted.
HAMILTON. ^ WASHINGTON.
ORIGINAL URAtTGHT. FAREWELL ADDRESS.
To the duration and efficacy of your To the effieacy and permanency of your
Union, a government extending over the Union, a government for the whole is in-
whole is indispensable. No alliances, how- dispensable. No alliances, however strict
ever strict between the parts, could be between the parts, can be an adequate
an adequate substitute. These could substitute ; they must inevitably experi-
not fail to be liable to the infractions ence the infractions and interruptions
and interruptions which all alliances in which all alliances iri all times have ex-

94

PARALLEL PARAGRAPH IN EACH.

all times have suffered. Sensible of this
important truth, you have lately esta
blished a Constitution of general govern
ment, better calculated than the former
for an intimate union, and more adequate
to the duration of your common concerns.
This government, the offspring of your
own choice, uninfluenced and unawed,
completely free in its principles, in the
distribution of its powers, uniting energy
with safety, and containing in itself a
provision for its own amendment, is well
entitled to your confidence and support.
Eespect for its authority, compliance
with its laws, acquiescence in its mea
sures, are duties dictated by the funda
mental 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 for the time, and until
changed by an explicit and authentic
act of the whole people, is sacredly bind
ing upon all. The very idea of the right
and power of the people to establish go
vernment, presupposes the duty of every
individual to obey the established govern
ment. — Hamilton's Works, vol. vi, p. 582.

perienced. 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 investi
gation and mature deliberation, com
pletely free in its principles, in the dis
tribution 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, com
pliance with its laws, acquiescence in its
measures, are duties enjoined by the fun
damental maxims of true liberty. The
basis of our political system is the right
of the people to make and to alter their
constitutions of government. But the
Constitution which at any time exists,
till changed by an explicit and authentic
act of the whole people, is sacredly obli
gatory upon all. The very idea of the
power and the right of the people to esta
blish government, presupposes the duty of
every individual to obey the established
government. — Washirigton's Writings,
vol. xii, p. 222.

It is not speaking too strongly to say that the third cha
racteristic I have mentioned, is decisive. It is decisive of
the origin of the Farewell Address, whatever may have been
the verbal alterations of Hamilton's original draught, or of
Hamilton's revision of that draught, or by Washington's

BEARING ON QUESTION OF ORIGIN. 95
autograph copy — even attributing all the changes to Wash
ington, and none of them to Hamilton's correction and
revision. If a paper of fifty paragraphs is found thus to
conform to a paper that preceded it, and especiaUy to one
that was written to be the exemplar of it, in corresponding
paragraphs, identical subjects and thoughts, and closely in
language, though with an occasional difference in words,
every reasonable person must say that the first paper was
the source of the second. .
Mr. Babbidge, in the ninth Bridgewater Treatise, has ex
pressed mathematically, the proportional value of all human
experience against a miracle, — Mr. Hume's theory, — as being
two hundred thousand miUions against one ; and at the same
time has shown by the same method, that the improbabilities
of error in the agreement of six independent witnesses of
good character, unknown to, or without collusion with, each
other, and not deceived respectively more than once in a
hundred times, and testifying to the restoration to hfe of a
dead man, are fivefold as great, that is to say, a miUion
miUions against one. We have at least the benefit of the
Humean proportional improbabihty against the preparation
by one man of such a paper as the Farewell Address, with
out foUowing the preceding paper written by another man ;
for certainly all human experience is against it. But, far
beyond that, we have nearly fifty paragraphs as witnesses,
testifying exactly in the same direction; and, considering
the perhaps infinite variety of thoughts, language, taste, and
arrangement in the written compositions of different men
from the same theme, we may be entitled to say, that no
finite succession of numbers can express the true extent of
the improbabihty of such a correspondence as exists be-

96 SOURCES OF HAMILTON'S DRAUGHT.
tween the Farewell Address and HamUton's original
draught, without the copying of the one, either mediately
or immediately, from the other.
The FareweU Address, if thus compared with HamUton's
original draught, wiU be found to be a transcript of the
draught, with verbal corrections, and the omission of certain
clauses, adding three or four short clauses at the most —
alterations by HamUton, or by Washington, or partly by
one, and partly by the other.
This review of the two structures, throws us back to the
source or sources of Hamilton's original draught. If Ham
ilton was the author of his original draught, that is to say,
the composer and writer of it, and the Farewell Address
was a transcript of that draught with verbal corrections, and
a clause or two struck out or added, then Hamilton was in
the same sense the composer and writer of the FareweU
Address. But was Hamilton the composer and writer of his original
draught ] This is a perfectly proper question, and a sensible
one, also ; for a writer may have copied and not composed
the paper, which another has followed, or he may have taken
frequent and large sentences from the works of other men,
and mechanically followed their plan and arrangement in aU
points. He may have formed his own paper to a great
extent from antecedent ttiaterials, giving it very httle of his
own, so that he is only the compiler of the paper.
There exist authentic materials for answering this question
with very considerable certainty, and which answer wiU do
Washington full justice, and Madison also all the justice that
can be claimed for him. That justice is to be derived through >
Washington's preparatory draught — the preserved paper.

Hamilton's abstract of points. 97
Hamilton, with the just view of making the paper he was
about to write, conform to the sentiments of Washington,
either expressed or understood, and meaning also to produce
a paper that should by its topics, and the order of their de
velopment, engage and impress the minds of patriotic and
wise men throughout the country, prepared an " abstract of
" points to form an Address," which is printed in the seventh
volume of his pubhshed Works, page 570 ; and this paper
has such a clear and important bearing upon the question of
authorship, and has received so little attention from any one
heretofore in this relation, that it must have the more of it
at this time.
The points or divisions of matter are twenty-three in
number, distinguished by Roman numerals.
The first ten of these divisions, without any subdivisions
among them, embrace the expression of Washington's sen
timents and feelings in regard to the announcement of his
intention to retire ; his previous hope, that long ere this it
would have been in his power to do so ; and that he had
nearly come to a final resolution in the year 1792 to do it,
but had been dissuaded from it by the peculiar situation of
affairs, and the advice of confldential friends; his acqui
escence at that time in a further election, in hopes that a
year or two longer would have enabled him to withdraw ;
but that a continuance of causes had delayed it till now,
when the position of our country, abroad and at home, jus
tified him in pursuing his inchnation ; and that in doing it,
he had not been unmindful of his relation as a dutifril citizen
to his country, nor was he now influenced by the shghtest di
minution of zeal for its interest, or gratitude for its past kind
ness, but by a behef that the step was compatible with both.
7

98 Hamilton's abstract of points.
These sentiments occupy the first four divisions, by which
it may be seen how carefuUy Hamilton prepared himself to
carry the spirit of Washington, even in minute personal par
ticulars, into the Address.
) StiU continuing the writer's preparation of heads to intro-
iduce like particulars, the fifth head adverts to the fact that
! the impressions under which Washington first accepted the
office were explained on the proper occasion : the sixth, ' that
' in the execution of it, he had contributed the best exertions
' of a very falhble judgment, anticipated his insufficiency,
' experienced his disqualifications for the difficult trust, and
' every day a stronger sentiment from that cause to yield the
' place. Advance into the decline of life, every day more sen-
' sible of weight of years, of the necessity of repose, of the
' duty to seek retirement,' &c. " Add, seventh. It wiU be
" among the purest enjoyments which can sweeten the rem-
" nant of his days, to partake, in a private station, in the
" midst of his feUow-citizens, the laws of a free government,
" the ultimate object of his cares and wishes."
The eighth division records the single word " Eotation ;''
a subject introduced into Madison's draught at Washington's
suggestion. The ninth, that " in contemplating the moment
" of retreat, he cannot forbear to express his deep acknow-
" lodgments and debt of gratitude for the many honors con-
" f erred on him — the steady confidence which, even amidst
" discouraging scenes and efforts to poison its source, has
" adhered to support him, and enabled him to be useftd—
" marking, if weU placed, the virtue and wisdom of his
" countrymen. AU the return he can now make must be in
" the vows he wUl carry with him in his retirement: 1st. For
" a continuance of the Divine beneficence to the country.

HAMILTON'S ABSTRACT OF POINTS. 99
" 2d. For the perpetuity of their union and brotherly affec-
" tion — for a good administration insured by a happy union
" of AvatchfiUness and confidence. 3d. That happiness of
" people under auspices of liberty may be complete. 4th.
" That by a prudent use of the blessing, they may recom-
" mend it to the affection, the praise, and the adoption of
" every nation yet a stranger to it."
The tenth is as follows : " Perhaps here we ought to end.
" But an unconquerable solicitude for the happiness of his
" country will not permit him to leave the scene, without
" avaUing himself of whatever confidence may remain in
" him to strengthen some sentiments which he believes to be
" essential to their happiness, and to recommend some rules
" of conduct, the importance of which his own experience
" has more than ever impressed on him."
Thus far these sentiments in the abstract are gleaned from
the draught of Madison, who in part took them from the
letter of Washington, and in part originated them under his
instructions ; but they are much more Madison's than they
are Washington's in point of origin ; and having been adopted'
by Washington in his draught, Hamilton has foUowed them, '
and except in one point, hereafter to be noted, a point sug
gested by Washington in his letter to Madison, has exhausted
Madison's draught, modified some of his expressions, and
placed them in the abstract in an order in some respects
Hamilton's own. They are subsequently introduced at the
commencement of HamUton's draught, in language some
thing more easy and fluent, though equaUy plain, omitting
one head altogether, the head of rotation in office, and
changing one phrase of some sharpness responsive to Wash
ington's sensibUity to invective, " amidst discouraging scenes

100 HAMILTON'S ABSTRACT OF POINTS.
" and efforts to poison its source," into " situations in which
" not unfrequently want of success has seconded the criti-
" cisms of malevolence;" and thus abating the pungency of
the phrase in the abstract.
The effort to keep from the Address every pointed refe
rence to the pohtical party maltreatment which Washington
thought he had received, is conspicuous on the part of Ham
ilton throughout, his noble design being to make it speak a
language that was both generous and cathohc, and which
woiUd meet with acceptance at aU future time by wise and
good men. Eotation — Hamilton leaves out altogether from
his draught, thinking, no doubt, though Madison introduced
it upon Washington's qualified suggestion, or perhaps un
qualified, if the original letter to Madison is a truer readiag
than that of Mr. Sparks,* that mere rotation, without regard
to circumstances, was unreasonable and restrictive of the
Constitution ; and that to attempt to state the circumstances,
would lead to suppositions and discriminations which would
' not obtain general assent. In such matters the subsequent
surrender by Washington of personal feelings and personal
predilection, shows both the soundness of his judgment and
the nobleness of his spirit. Even the word " malevolent" has
been struck from the Address, either by HamUton in his
corrected copy, or in his revision, or by Washington himseE
After these heads of the abstract, come the great heads of
the work, with the subdivisions of some of them ; and it is
here that the pubhc principles of the Address begin to
assume their order, and to receive their analysis.
j ; The central thought and sentiment of the piece is the/
* See p. 19, supra.

HAMILTON'S ABSTRACT OF POINTS. 101
Union, which is the eleventh head; and from this aU subse
quent thoughts radiate, and it may be said, with equal truth,
that they all converge to it, iUustrate its value, and tend to
corroborate it. " It is the rock of their salvation ; presenting
" summarily these ideas: 1. Strength and greater security
" from external danger. 2. Internal peace, and avoiding
" the necessity of establishments dangerous to liberty. 3.
" Avoids the effect of foreign intrigue. 4. Breaks the force of
" factions, by rendering combinations more difficult." The
great natural bond of Union, — what may almost be caUed
the rehgion of its nature, is selected by the abstract as the
first matter to be developed — " the fitness of the parts for
" each other by their very discriminations. 1. The North,
" by its capacity for maritime strength and manufacture.
" 2. The agricultural South furnishing materials, and re-
" quiring those protections. The Atlantic board to the
" western country by the strong interests of peace, and the
" western by the necessity of Atlantic maritime protection.
" Cannot be sure of their great outlet otherwise — cannot
" trust a foreign connection. Solid interests invite to Union.
" Speculations of difficulty of government ought not to be
" indulged, nor momentary jealousies — lead to impatience.
" Faction and individual ambition are the only advisers of
"disunion:" arid then, noting for remembrance the jea
lousies existing at that time in the West, in regard to the
Mississippi and its outlet, and the late treaty with Spain,
which tended to allay them, it repeats, " Let confidence be
" cherished ; let the recent experience of the West be a
" lesson against impatienco and distrust."
The twelfth is the " actual government," the government
which the Constitution provides for the Union. " Cherish

102 HAMILTON'S ABSTRACT OF POINTS.
" the actual government. It is the government of our own
" choice — ^free in its principles, the guardian of our common
" rights, the patron of our common interests, and containing
" within itself a provision for its own amendment. But let
" that provision be cautiously used — not abused ; changing
" only, in any material points, as experience shall direct ;
" neither indulging speculations of too much or too httle
" force in the system, and remembering always the extent of
" our country. Time and habit of great consequence to every
" government, of whatever structure. Discourage the spirit
" of faction, the bane of free government ; and particularly
" avoid founding it on geographical discriminations. Discoun-
" tenance slander of public men. Let the departments of
" government avoid interfering and mutual encroachments."
These being the guiding notes for a comprehensive state
ment of the particular advantages of the government which
the Constitution had provided, of the means of amending
cautiously its defects, when ascertained, and of the dangers
which might threaten it, founded on geographical discri
minations, or promoted by encroachments of the depart
ments on each other, the abstract proceeds with heads, to
introduce such admonitions as concern the people in their
personal relations, private and public : " Thirteenth. Morals,
" rehgion, industry, commerce, economy — Cherish pubhc
" credit — Source of strength and security — Adherence to
i" systematic views."
" Also their relations to foreign nations : Fourteenth.
V Cherish good faith, justice, and peace with other nations.
" 1. Because religion and morality dictate it. 2. Because
" pohcy dictates it. If there could exist a nation inva-
" riably honest and faithful, the benefits would be immense.

HAMILTON'S ABSTRACT OF POINTS. 103
" But avoid national antipathies or national attachments :"
and then foUows, in emphatic italics, " Display the evils :
" fertUe source of wars, instrument of ambitious riders."
As distinct heads, then follow four others, which branch
out naturally from the preceding : " Fifteenth. Eepublics
" peculiarly exposed to foreign intrigue ; those sentiments
"lay them open to it. Sixteenth. The great rule of our
" foreign policy ought to be to have as little pohtical con-
" nection as possible with foreign nations ; cultivating com-
" merce with aU by general and natural means, diffusing and
" diversifying it, hvA, forcing nothing ; and cherish the senti-
" ment of independence, taking pride in the appellation of
" American ;" and against this last note the margin adds,
" estabhshing temporary and convenient rules, that com-
" merce may be placed on a stable footing ; merchants know
" their commerce ; how to support them, not seeking favors."
" Seventeenth. Our separation from Europe renders standing
" alhances inexpedient, subjecting our peace and interest to
" the primary and comphcated relations of European inte-
" rests. Keeping constantly in view to place ourselves upon
" a respectable defensive, and, if forced into controversy,
" trusting to connections of the occasion. Eighteenth. Our
" attitude imposing, and rendering this pohcy safe. But
" this must be with the exception of existing engagements,
" to be preserved, but not extended."
The remaining heads of division may be noticed summa
rily. The nineteenth is a hint to remark, that it is not ex
pected that these admonitions can control the course of
human passions; but if it moderates them in some in
stances, Washington's endeavor is rewarded. The twentieth,
that the public records must witness how far his administra-

104 HAMILTON'S ABSTRACT OF POINTS.
tion has conformed to these principles. His conscience
assures him that he believed himself to be guided by them.
Twenty-first. "Particularly in relation to the present war,
" the proclamation of 22d AprU, 1793, is the key to my
" plan. Approved by your voice, and that of your represen-
" tatives in Congress, the spirit of that measure has con-
" tinually guided me, uninfluenced by, and regardless of, the
" complaints and attempts of any of the powers at war, or
" their partisans, to change them." " I thought our country
"had a right, 'under all the circumstances, to take this
" ground, and I was resolved, as far as it depended on me,
" to maintain it firmly." There is a memorandum in the
margin of the second clause of this division, to " touch sen-
" timents with regard to conduct of belligerent powers. A
" wish that France may establish good government." Against
the last clause of it are these words : " Time everything."
The twenty-second is a clause which is introduced into the
original draught of Hamilton, in substantially the same
words, and almost verbatim from that draught into the
FareweU Address of Washington, of which it is the penul
timate clause. It frankly declares, that hoAvever, in review
ing the course of his administration, he may be unconscious
of intentional error, he is too sensible of his own deficiencies
not to believe that he may have fallen into many — depre
cates the evils to which they may tend, and prays Heaven
to avert, or mitigate or abridge them ; — that he carries with
him, nevertheless, the hope that his motives will continue
to be viewed with indulgence ; that after forty-five years of
his life devoted to public service, with a good zeal and
upright views, the faults of deficient abilities will be con
signed to oblivion, as himself must soon be to the mansions

HAMILTON'S ABSTRACT OF POINTS. 105
of rest. — We cannot help envying the noble emotion with
which Hamilton repeated this clause, which was Washing
ton's own thought, out of the full consciousness of what was
stirring in Washington's great heart !
The twenty-third, and last clause of the abstract, is sub
stantially the same with the corresponding clause in the
draught, but is completely altered in the concluding clause
of the FareweU Address. Both the clause in the abstract,
and the clause in the draught, are taken from the conclusion
to Washington's original or preparatory draught. The
alteration in the FareweU Address is by Washington.
It is a declaration that neither interest nor ambition had
been Washington's impeUing motive — that he had never
abused the power confided to him — that he had not bettered
his fortune, retiring with it no otherwise improved, than by
the influence on property of the common blessings of his
country. " I retire," it says, " with undefiled hands and an
" uncorrupt heart, and with ardent vows for the welfare of
" that country which has been the native soil of my ancestors
" for four generations." The sentiments were all just, and
were all suggested, in nearly the same words, by Washington,
in the concluding section of Washington's own draught to
which I have referred ; and therefore his friend and minister
would be naturally desirous that he should close his valedic
tion Avith the expression of them ; but they bordered upon
what the world might mistake for vain-gloriousness, in re
gard to his motives, his purity, his fortune, and his family ;
and we may take pleasure in supposing, that this final clause
Washington himself preferred to put aside, as he did, except
ing only the reference to his American ancestors, the bond of
his affection for his country, the view of whose coming

106 RESULT OF THE ABSTRACT.
happiness and greatness, seemed to gUd the last words of
his FareweU.
After having thus placed before the reader this clear and
orderly abstract, with but httle more elucidation than a copy
of it would give to every one in reading it, we feel some con
fidence in remarking, that it woiUd be written as a syllabus
of Hamilton's original draught, without recurring to Ham
Uton's abstract. The syllabus might be considerably fuUer
in some parts, and less fuU in others. It might omit, in one
or two places, what the abstract notices, and it might notice
in more what the abstract does not contain. But they would
substantiaUy concur; and no person of intelhgence, who
peruses the draught with the abstract before him, can fail
to perceive that the draught is the regular and orderly ex- \
pansion of the abstract, and a symmetrical structure, 'of
which the abstract is the frame, — in some parts the fuU
frame, in other parts the more open frame. This structure
and frame, then, are Hamilton's incontestably.
The first portions of the frame, where it is fullest, were
taken in separate parts from portions of Washington's pre
paratory draught, as Mr. Madison had sketched it, and also
as Washington had completed it ; but by Hamilton they are
placed in a new order. They are what may be called the
personal parts of that draught, having reference to his own
relations with the government, his previous wish to retire,
his present intention to do so, and his motives and feehngs
in regard to the retirement. In these particulars the lan
guage of Washington's draught is adopted as far as it could
be. The structure is buUt upon, and with, and around
Washington's principles and sentiments as they appear
throughout his draught, but upon a plan altogether new.

ANALYSIS OF HAMILTON S DRAUGHT.
none of the elements provided by Washington being
except such as had too pointed a reference to partisi
sition, and the whole being enlarged and combined together
by the collateral thoughts and illustrations of HamUton upon
his new plan ; and this entire plan goes into the FareweU
Address, some portion of the filling up by Hamilton's ori
ginal draught being omitted, most probably by Hamilton in
his amended copy or in his revision, and other portions struck
out by Washington from his final copy, though HamUton
had introduced several of them from express passages in
Washington's preparatory draught. Adopting a mechanical
measure of contribution by the preparatory draught of Wash
ington, when compared with the original matter by HamU
ton, as he extended it in his draught, Washington's part was
not in quantity a moiety of the whole. But such a measure
of those contributions, is obviously unsatisfactory and defec
tive. We may get a better notion of them by an analysis
of HamUton's original draught, which wiU be in fact an
analysis of Washington's Farewell Address. I may say,
however, that the principal original contribution by Mr.
Madison, is that which repeats the vows that Washington
would carry into his retirement and his grave, and is the
ninth head of Hamilton's abstract. AU else is substantially,
and by original suggestion, Washington's or Hanrilton's.
In his original draught, Hamilton made the unity of
Government, or the Union, the central and radiating thought,
and the focus to which aU important reflections from any
quarter of the work, except the personal introduction,
tended. Washington had breathed a warm wish of his heart
for the maintenance of the Union, in that paragraph of the
Hints or Heads of Topics, which I have already transcribed, —

108 ANALYSIS OF HAMILTON S DRAUGHT.
" that it," our Union, " may be as lasting as time ;" and many i
of his sentiments have an obvious influence upon the prospe
rity and continuance of the Union ; but he does not expressly
connect them with that object, nor make it the point to
which they converge.
In Hamilton's original draught, after the personal intro
duction, the great subject is opened at once. Of the love of
hberty, which is first noticed, no recommendation was neces
sary to fortify the attachment of the people to it. Two lines
only are given to that subject. But after these lines which
enter upon the topics of advice and admonition, as soon as
the introduction had closed, all that follows the expression,
UNITY of government, is exhibited and. comprehended as
inducements of sympathy, or motives of interest, in the
people, to maintain the Union.
Hamilton caUs it the main pUlar of their independence, of
their peace, their safety, freedom, and happiness. In his
abstract he had called it the rock of their salvation ; but,
with great propriety, as Washington was to speak, he left
that phrase to its more solemn appropriation, and substituted
in his draught " the main pillar of their independence."
He first speaks of it as the point in their pohtical fortress
against which the batteries of internal and external enemies
would be most constantly and actively, however covertly and
insidiously, leveUed ; and therefore it was of the utmost im
portance that they should appreciate in its full force the
immense value of their pohtical union to their national and
individual happiness, that they should cherish towards it an
affectionate and immovable attachment, and should watch for
its preservation with zealous sohcitude.
For this, he says, you have every motive of sympathy and

ANALYSIS OF HAMILTON'S DRAUGHT. 109
interest ; and foUowing Washington's thoughts, and in some
degree his language, appeals to the people as " children for
" the most part of a common country," and declares that
that country claims, and ought to concentrate their affec
tions ; that the name of American must always gratify and
exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any denomina
tion which can be derived from local considerations. " You
" have, with slight shades of difference, the same religion,
" manners, habits, and political institutions and principles ;
" you have, in a common cause, fought and triumphed toge-
" ther. The independence and liberty you enjoy are the
" work of joint councils, efforts, dangers, sufferings, and suc-
" cesses. By your union you achieved them, by your union
" you wiU most effectually maintain them."
After adverting to the considerations which addressed
themselves to the sympathy or sensibihty of the people to
maintain the Union, he proceeds to show that they were
greatly strengthened or outweighed by those which apphed
to their interest ; and that here every portion of our country
would find the most urgent and commanding motives for
guarding and preserving the union of the whole.
It is then that he introduces that pregnant paragraph, both
succinct and comprehensive, which unfolds the relations,
capacities, and dependencies of the North, the South, the
East, and the West, their strength in combination, their pro
portional security from external danger, less frequent inter
ruption of peace with foreign nations, and exemption from
broUs and wars between the parts, if disunited, which their
rivalships, fomented by foreign intrigue and opposite alhance
with foreign nations, would produce. The germinal thought
is Washington^, the germination is Hamilton's. ! [ i

110 ANALYSIS OF HAMILTON'S DRAUGHT.
The advantages of union being regarded as so conclusive
in this aspect, he proceeds to show that the spirit of party,
the intrigue of foreign nations, and the corriiption and ambi
tion of individuals, are hkely to prove more formidable adver^
saries to the unity of our empire, than any inherent difficulties
in the scheme ; and that it was against these that the guards
of national opinion, national sympathy, national prudence, and
virtue, were to be erected.
Then begins the reference to party differences of opinion,
to menaces of dissolution from one part to another, on account
of this or that measure, tending to make men consider the
Union as precarious, and to weaken the sentiment in its
favor ; with an emphatic rebuke of parties characterized by
geographical discriminations — Northern and Southern States
— Atlantic and Western country — producing groundless
jealousies, which make men ahens to their brethren, and
connect them with ahens ; and sustaining the rebuke by a
reference to the care of the Administration in negotiating
. treaties with Spain for the special benefit of the West, and
j to confirm their prosperity.
' This jealousy between sections, necessitates the Union and
\one government, for which no alliance between the parts can
be a substitute ; and here the draught appropriately refers
to the Constitution, the offspring of the people's choice, and
amendable by them in case of need, but, untU changed,
sacredly binding upon aU, and the government under it, the
offspring of hke choice, entitled to respect for its authority,
comphance with its laws, and acquiescence in its measures,
as weU by the fundamental maxims of true hberty, as by
the principle that the right to estabhsh government presup
poses the duty of every individual to obey the estabhshed

ANALYSIS OF HAMILTON'S DRAUGHT. Ill
government. AU obstructions to laws, all combinations and
associations to counteract the regular-action of the established
authorities, are therefore contrary to the fundamental prin
ciple, and of the most fatal tendency ; and in like manner,
a spirit of innovation upon the principles of the Constitu
tion, by effecting alterations in its forms, which tend to
impair the energy of the system. Time and habit are as
necessary to fix the true habits of governments, as of any
other human institutions. Experience, and not hypothesis
and opinion, is the surest standard by which the tendency of
existing constitutions of government can be tried.
The draught, after thus noticing the Constitution and one
government as indispensable to the duration of the Union,
and that no alliances between parts would be a substitute,
recurs to the subject of party spirit, and solemnly cautions
the people against its baneful effects. The view before
taken is enlarged, so as to comprehend the general aspect
of this feeling, its shapes, its growth, the domination of one
faction over another, the spirit of revenge it excites, and the
formal and permanent despotism in which at length it ends.
Disorders and miseries resulting from this, predispose men
to seek repose in the power of a single man ; and the leader
of a prevaUing faction turns the disposition to the purposes
of his ambitious self-aggrandizement.
Further consequences result from it : it distracts the coun
sels and enfeebles the administration of government — opens
inlets for foreign corruption and influence, which find an
easy access through the channel of party passions. The
notion that parties "in free countries are a salutary check
upon the administration of government, and tend to invigo
rate the spirit of liberty, is, within certain limits, true. In

112 ANALYSIS OF HAMILTON'S DRAUGHT.
monarchical governments, patriotism may look upon it vidth
favor ; in those of a popular kind and purely elective, it is
not to be fostered.
The draught then proceeds to the guards of national
opinion, — in habits of thinking among the people, to pro
duce caution in the several departments, that they may avoid
encroachments upon one another, and change, by usurpation;
of national sympathy, virtue, and prudence, by recommenda--
tions of religion and morality, industry and frugahty ; to the
nurture of public credit, as a means of security and strength;
-to good faith and justice, as leading to peace and harmony
i with aU nations. The last topic is particularly developed ia
; its bearing upon the influence of foreign nations, — the na-
I tional attachments and antipathies it avoids ; the immense
dangers of both; the partialities which the neglect of it
' produces, denying privileges to one and conceding them to
another — exciting jealousy and ill-will, and giving to ambi
tious and corrupted citizens, facility in betraying or sacri
ficing their own country.
Perhaps the finest lessons in the draught of the Address
are taught in this part of it, which unfolds the topic of
foreign influence, its mischiefs and impohcy, and the dissua-
sives from it which are supphed by the true interests of a
united nation. It was a pressing evil in the day of the
FareweU Address. It carried our country to the very edge ;
of the precipice, from which we might have faUen to dis
memberment and ruin, by coalition with France, and her
wars of ambition against the world. If the FareweU Ad
dress saved us from this, though it saved us from nothing
else, it would deserve to be regarded as a blessing from i
Heaven through the counsels of Washington, not less in

ANALYSIS OF HAMILTON'S DRAUGHT. 113
magnitude than the blessing of Independence, which was
vouchsafed to his sword.
It is with this topic that the draught finishes the central
subject and argument. The remainder of it is occupied
with a reference to the proclamation of neutrahty, and the
then existing war, the only occasional topics of the Address ;
and it concludes with a modest peroration, corresponding
with the abstract, and -breathing the fuU heart of the
Father of his Country, to his native land and the people
he had always loved, and had served for three-quarters of
his life.
This analysis of the original draught has been made with
two objects in view. The first has been to demonstrate the
connection between the draught and the abstract, and that
the draught was the appropriate clothing of the abstract,
fitting it as the muscles of the human body do their proper
bones, and having such development and expansion only as
were necessary to give it fit expression and energetic action.
Where Hamilton had the clue to Washington's language as i
weU as thoughts, he followed it faithfuUy, as faithfuUy in/
the abstract as in the draught ; where he had the guidance
of Washington's thoughts or suggestions alone, he notes the
subject more briefly in the abstract, intending to give the
rein more liberaUy to his own thoughts and language in
the development of the draught. We get the pith of tlje
address in the abstract ; and when we go to the draught,
we find it aU plainly and most perspicuously drawn out, so
as to be inteUigible to every capacity, that it might be un
derstood by " the yeomanry," and at the same time so
becomingly, as to " meet the eye of discerning readers, par-
" ticularly foreigners," yet not containing, perhaps, a singli

\

114 THE CHARACTER OF HAMILTON'S DRAUGHT.
metaphor or figure of speech, which is not a perfectly fami
liar one, that it might not be accused of artifice or insince
rity. It is perfectly accurate, in the best style of an elevated
state paper, its general propositions everywhere so qualified,
in a natural and easy manner, as to make them irrefutable,
and without a sentence that is dogmatical, or is averred upon
personal authority, — every proposition being sustained by
both reason and persuasion, the conscience of the writer
going on step by step to the end, in union vidth his intellect.
If Hamilton had not deeply loved and respected Wash
ington, he could not have so clothed his abstract with his
draught. But this is not aU the merit or the claim.
If this is not authorship, in some sense, I know not what
I authorship is, and it covers the entire paper, Washington's
thoughts, and Madison's thoughts, and aU. It seems, indeed,
to be rather a case of complex and skilful authorship in
Hamilton, as we think it must be conceded to be by every
man who has tried his pen in composition, to make a regular
iwork from irregular or unconnected materials, to expand
jthem into new forms, and to give them bearing throughout
I upon one great and cardinal point, the union of the people :
the only object for which it was worth Washington's whUe
to give his counsels to the country, all else in the Address
being ceremony and valediction. It may not have been so
difficult for Hamilton to do this, as it might have been for
others ; for Washington's materials were not irregular to the
eye or the mind of Hamilton. They were aU incorporated
in his own mind in their just order and bearing; and his
work was to exhibit their order, rather than to form it. But >
it is his great praise that he did it with simphcity, fidehty,
and affection ; and it will be no deduction from the praise of

LITERARY CHARACTER OF FAREWELL ADDRESS. 115
Washington, if the memory of Hamilton shall live forever in
the work.
But we have had in view another object. In the progress
of this question about the authorship of the Farewell Ad
dress, it has been thought useful by Mr. Sparks to suggest,
that as a mere literary performance, though able and excel
lent, it is neither extraordinary, nor such as if disconnected
from the name of Washington, woiUd have excited much
curiosity about the author, nor in any degree superior to
many other papers known to be vnritten by each of the per
sons named.
There would be some difficulty, perhaps, in proving the
postulate that is implied in this last comparison. No wri
tings so known have been vouched to its aid. From the
positive part of the averment, I hope it is not presumption
to express my dissent. If state papers, or great pubhc
papers like this, are to be classed among works of hterature
at all, and doubtless they sometimes may be, they must be
subject to those laws of taste which particularly respect the
end or object to be attained, in connection with a rather
didactic manner of attaining it. There is necessarily some
compression in this method ; and making due allowance for
this, or rather looking at the whole work of the Farewell Ad
dress in this direction, the general judgment of men has, in
this dissent, probably concurred. Its simplicity, its purity, its
grouping, its light and shade, the elevation of its tone, and
its, perfect transparency of meaning, make it a work of ex
traordinary hterary merit in the order or class to which it
belongs. We are not to compare it with papers, where the
fields of imagination and of illustrative fact have been wide
open to the writer, and embellishments from every quarter,

116 LITERARY CHARACTER OF FAREWELL ADDRESS.
moral and classical, have been within his reach. The path
of the FareweU Address was almost severely straight, and
the deviations by HamUton to give it flexure, without too
wide a departure, have been managed with great skiU. Per
haps this impression of the paper is partly the effect of early
association, having read it as a college senior with infinite
dehght, within a week probably after its first pubhcation ;
and perhaps also it is as much a moral as a hterary judg-
(^ ment, for it is a paper of infinite discretion, as weU as of
great pohtical wisdom, which I admit it owes as much to
Washington as to Hamilton, though perhaps as to perfect
discretion, not primarUy. But regarding it only as a work
of composition, the general opinion both of educated men
and of statesmen seems to be, that it is not only very able,
but that in the category of state papers it ought to be
regarded as classical. Such a paper would have caused a
most reasonable curiosity to know the author, if it had been
written suppositiously, and would have made the fortune of
the writer if he had been discovered.
But the paper is not seen in its greatest magnitude, when
regarded merely as a hterary performance. It rises to an
elevation higher than most kinds of hterature, in command-
- ing a view of the relations of all the parts of this country to
each other, and of the whole to foreign nations, and in
carrying the eye to the distant future, as the witness and
proof of it« counsels and admonitions. In this aspect, it is
both a platform and a prophecy, a rule for administration,
i and a warning to the whole country ; and it owes this exten-
I sively to HamUton, though primarily and fundamentaUy to
Washington. Its large and pointed references to the spirit of
I party, and especiaUy in the sectional or State relation, seem

ITS POLITICAL OR ADMINISTRATIVE CHARACTER. 117
to have been written with a special apprehension of what is
now unfolding before us, though it must be admitted that
there is one present and most dangerous aspect of that spirit,
which the universal love of freedom then prevalent in the
country, kept back from the contemplation of either Wash
ington or Hamilton, as it did from that of the citizens of the
United States generaUy, untU many years afterwards.
There is one point of great pohtical concernment which,
at least in appearance, is passed over by both Washington
and HamUton, — the point of that drying and wilting inter
pretation of the Constitution, which has assumed the name
of State Eights, — that portion of the doctriue, I mean,
which requfres express words in the Constitution, or neces
sary implication, to carry power to the Government of the
United States — the same jealous disposition in those who
fevor that rule of construction, which kept us out of a Federal
Constitution for five years after the public enemy had left
us free to make one ;* and seems to be exhausting by
desiccation, legislative and judicial, the best blood the Consti
tution possesses, and which, as the Constitution of a Public
State and United Nation, it ought to possess, for the nourish
ment of its powers of internal government, — a doctrine by
which no one of the States has gained anything, nor can
gain anything that wiU not be counterpoised by the gain of

• For a clear and very interesting account of the struggle between State Rights and
a comprehensive and effective Union, I refer to " The History of the Republic of the
" United States of America, as traced in the writings of Alexander Hamilton and his
" Cotemporaries, by John C. Hamilton," — a noble and fearless tribute of filial reverence,
in the form of authentic history, to a most able, frank, honest, and honorable man, and
one of the great men of his Age, and of the WoBLO.

118 ALLUSION TO FEEBLENESS OF CONSTITUTION.
other States, and by which the true Federal strength of aU
the States is, and ever must be, seriously impaired.
The FareweU Address does not notice the point exphcitly ;
but it is there nevertheless. It must be recollected that this
kind of interpretation was the occasion of sharp controversy
in Washington's first cabinet, and that the views of Hamil
ton in regard to it, in opposition to Jefferson and the At
torney-General, Eandolph, obtained Washington's sanction,
after long and deliberate consideration ; and as Washington
was aware that Hamilton had been represented as being
desirous in the Convention to bring on a consohdation of
the States, though with no justice whatever, and most cer
tainly with less justice than Madison might have been, he
probably deemed it best to take no exphcit notice of the
point in his Farewell Address, and Hamilton, as his repre
sentative, only glanced at it, by referring to the debility of
the Government, of which he probably regarded this jealous
interpretation as one of the principal promoters. Yet there
is one clause in the Address which we may infer from strong
evidence was introduced by Washington himself, that may
have been intended to cover this ground, and was substi
tuted by him for a clause in Hamilton's original draught, a
little altered in Hamilton's revision. The three clauses wiU
be cited presently.
Having now exhibited the direct proctfs which bear upon
the formation of the Farewell Address, I proceed to notice a
great and perhaps conclusive indirect proof, which by a
remarkable oversight, has been for some years thought by
many persons to show, that the labor of bringing this great
paper into the world, was the travail of Washington alone,
who has proved his own composition of it by manifold marks

AVASHINGTON'S AUTOGRAPH COPY. 119
in the autograph copy, which was handed to the printer, by
whom it was pubhshed in September, 1796. It is a copy of
this document, with its erasures or cancellations restored and
placed at foot, first printed under the direction of Mr. Lenox,
the proprietor, for private distribution, and recently pub
hshed in the Appendix to the fifth volume of Mr. Irving's
Life of Washington, which enables me to bring together in
this place a notice of the alterations on the face of the auto
graph copy, and of some of the opinions which have been
expressed upon the question of authorship, in the behef that
they are corroborated by those alterations.
Mr. Sparks's remark in view of these alterations, is, I
submit, a misapprehension. After making a general state
ment of facts in regard to the preparation of the Address by
Washington, and to Hamilton's agency in correcting and
improving it, a statement which he believed to include all
that was known with certainty upon the subject, Mr. Sparks
proceeds to say : " It proves that an original draught was
" sent by Washington to Hamilton ; that the latter bestowed
" great pains in correcting and improving it ; that during
" this process several communications passed between them ;
" and that the final draught was printed from a copy," by
which I understand him to mean a copy of Washington's
draught so corrected, " containing numerous alterations in
"matter and style, which were unquestionably made by
" Washington." Washington's Writings, vol. xii, p. 396.
Mr. Sparks does not appear to have seen Hamilton's
original draught, or HamUton's correction and revision of '
that draught, nor to have become aware of them, before he
wrote this paragraph, or before he completed the paper in
his Appendix, upon Washington's FareweU Address. I

120 AUTOGRAPH ALTERATIONS BY WASHINGTON.
should infer, also, that at that time he had not seen the
whole correspondence between Washington and Hamilton
on that subject ; though he certainly had access to General
, Hamilton's letters, which were among Washington's papers.
He appears to have had no knowledge of any draught by
Hamilton, or of anything from Hamilton, but his corrections
and improvements of Washington's draught, the specific
character of which draught he had previously remarked,
there were no means of ascertaining. It is due to him to
state these circumstances ; because independently of them, it
wUl be found impossible to comprehend the process by which
he arrived at the conclusion, that the numerous alterations
in matter and style of that copy from which the Address •
was printed, " were unquestionably made by Washington ;"
unless he used this language with a meaning which few
readers would apprehend from it.
It has been made perfectly clear already, that the auto- ;
graph copy of the Farewell Address was not made from a
copy of Washington's draught corrected and improved.
The letter of 25th August, 1796, from Washington to
Hamilton, proves that Washington selected HamUton's
draught in preference to his own, whether in the original
or in the corrected form ; and it will be made equaUy clear,
that the alterations made by the autograph copy, of the an
terior draught from which it was taken, are not " numerous
" alterations in matter or style " by Washington, in the
ordinary sense of these words, but are, to nearly the whole
extent of the change, a mere abridgment, by canceUation of
certain paragraphs of Hamilton's exemplar, from which the
autograph copy was made. The judgment of Mr. Sparks
was founded, no doubt, upon a state of the facts as they were

THE DRAUGHT FROM WHICH AUTOGRAPH COPY MADE. 121
then apparent to him, but most materially different from
the real state of them, as they now appear.
Other persons, as weU as Mr. Sparks, have made their
suggestions in regard to the inferences which should be
made from these alterations in the autograph copy, now that
the canceUed passages have been restored and printed at the
foot of the page ; and I shall advert to one of those sugges
tions presently, in connection with an important reference to
Mr. Jay's opinion expressed to Judge Peters.
It cannot admit of doubt, that when Washington pro
ceeded to make that autograph copy, which was published
in the gazette, and recorded in the Department of State, he
had before him a draught of the Address, already prepared
by somebody. The autograph paper was not a first draught
— such a suggestion would not have a shadow of support. It
has been shown that there was a previous paper, with which
it corresponds marvellously in almost infinite points. But
what would be decisive, if nothing of the kind had been
shown, there are marks of finish, and some elaboration, in
the whole order and arrangement, and in entire pages of the
autograph copy, — in one place four in number, full and
closely printed pages, — where there does not appear to have
been the second touch of a pen, nor an erasure or cancella
tion of any kind, by Washington or by anybody. Besides,
there are many long clauses, now appearing at the foot of
the pages, which, after being introduced by Washington into
the body of the copy, have been cancelled by him, with
out having been changed, in the course of writing, by the
obhteration or interlineation of a word. The autograph has
several verbal alterations in other parts, such as a writer
might make in revising his own work, or the work of another

122 NOT HAMILTON'S ORIGINAL DRAUGHT,
man ; but in these important parts there is nothing of this
kind; and this is practicaUy an infallible proof that the
autograph is so far the copy of a previous draught. That
it was so throughout, before Washington began to revise
and alter it, wiU be made extremely probable, if not per
fectly clear. The first inquiry is, whose and what was that
previous draught 1
It may be recollected that Hamilton sent his revision '¦
of the amended original draught in a rough state to Wash
ington, on the 6th September, 1796. It was received, pro
bably, the next day, and the autograph was signed and
dated the 17th of September, nine or ten days afterwards.
It may also be recoUected that Washington intended to have
it copied, or at least prepared for being copied, for the press,
immediately. Now, the draught that was before Washington when he
made his autograph copy, was not Hamilton's original draught.
That origincd draught, probably, never left Hamilton's pos
session during his life. Though HamUton's original draught
was the basis of the paper which he transcribed and sent
to Washington, and is also the basis of the autograph
copy, the alteration of words in many places, quite fre
quently throughout the work — the change of paragraphs
by consolidation and division — the occasional introduction
of a new thought, and a new line or two, in pages of the
autograph copy where there is not an interlineation or era
sure by Washington, show that the copy from which Wash
ington was writing, was a different paper. Whoever com
pares the autograph copy with the original draught of
Hamilton, will be convinced of this.
The presumption naturally arises, — and I state it at this

BUT HAMILTON'S REVISION. 123
time only as a presumption, — that the draught from which
Washington made his autograph copy, was Hamilton's
revision. Setting aside for the moment Washington's own
alteration of words, in the autograph, which speak pretty
clearly for themselves, it was just such a draught as we
might expect Hamilton's revision to be.
The original draught, it may be recollected, bears an in
dorsement, in HamUton's handwriting, that it had been
" considerably amended." Words are changed, in the
manner that is shown in the two parallel columns on
page 93 of this essay, of a long clause, taken literaUy from
HamUton's original draught, and the corresponding clause
tejien from Washington's autograph copy, upon which the
cancelhng or altering pen of Washington has not, according
to Mr. Irving's reprint, fallen in a single instance from be-
gmning to end. There are, perhaps, twenty verbal differ
ences between the two clauses, such as a very critical writer
might make in an amendment and revision of his own com
position ; but Washington does not appear to have made a
single one, by change or obliteration in the autograph copy;
and probably no other man than the author would have
thought it a needful improvement to make more than a very
few of them.
In other instances, the order of a sentence or phrase is
improved, — a clause is added upon " education," — and two
or three paragraphs, which are in the original draught of
HamUton, are left out altogether, and not noticed in any
way in the autograph copy. This is strong presumptive
proof that it was HamUton who left them out of his
amended copy.
Nearly a dozen paragraphs in the autograph were copied

124 WASHINGTON'S AUTOGRAPH CANCELLATIONS.
and then canceUed by Washington, and are now seen re
stored at the foot of the pages in the printed copy of the
autograph. Some of these are, probably, the paragraphs
which Washington, in his letter of 25 th August, told Ham
ilton that he should expunge. " I shall expunge," — not
that he had expunged them,— as being " unimportant," «&c.
&c. One of them is a long paragraph, so marked in the
printed copy of the autograph. Hamilton had retouched
them all in his corrected and amended copy, or in his revi
sion of the original draught, just as he had retouched other
paragraphs of that draught, and had left Washington to
expunge them, if he should see fit ; but Washington had
not touched a word before expunging them, but in two in
stances, to be noticed hereafter. It looks as if Washington
had subsequently intended to retain them, but had afterwards
cancelled them, in conformity with his first intention.
All the appearances in the autograph — and some of them
will be further corroborated — show that it was HamUton's
revision of his amended copy of the original draught that
Washington first copied in extenso, and then proceeded to
alter and to cancel. This, I repeat, is only presumption.
The main question wUl not be disturbed by its not being
weU founded; though, if it be well founded, it becomes
demonstrative of the whole question.
The gentleman who is the present proprietor of the auto
graph, and whose remarks upon it are printed as a preface
to the copy in Mr. Irving's work, after seeing the original
draught of Hamilton, and reading certain letters between
Washington and Hamilton, in the possession of Mr. John
C. Hamilton, has expressed, with caution and modesty, the
foUowing opinion : " It seems probable that this " — namely.

OPINIONS EXPRESSED CONCERNING THEM. 125
the autograph copy of Washington — " is the very draught
" sent to General Hamilton and Chief Justice Jay, as related
" in the letter of the latter." And again: " It appears from
" these communications," — the letters between Washington
and Hamilton, — " that the President, both in sending to him
" a rough draught of the document, and at subsequent dates,
" requested him to prepare such an address as he thought
" would be appropriate to the occasion ; that Washington
" consiUted him particiUarly and most minutely on many
"points connected with it; and that, at different times,
" General HamUton did forward to the President three
" draughts of such a paper. The first was sent back to him,
" with suggestions for its correction and enlargement ; from
" the second draught, thus altered and improved, the manu-
" script now printed may be supposed to have been prepared
" by Washington, and transmitted for final examination to
" General Hamilton and Judge Jay ; and with it the third
" draught was sent to the President, and may, probably, yet
" be found among his papers." — The concluding remark of
this gentleman is aU that we shaU further extract : " The
" comparison of these two papers " — Hamilton's original
draught, which the writer speaks of as "probably the
" second of these draughts," compared with Washington's
autograph — " is exceedingly curious. It is difficult to con-
" ceive how two persons could express the same ideas, in
" substantiaUy the same language, and yet in such diversity
" in the construction of the sentences and the position of the
" words." I entirely agree vrith this gentleman in a part of these
remarks. It has been shown to be my supposition, that the
autograph copy of Washington was prepared from the

126 DISSENT FROM SOME OF THESE OPINIONS.
amended or corrected copy of Hamilton's original draught,
altered and improved by his second, which I have caUed his
revision. The differences between the original draught and
Washington's autograph copy — noticed in this gentleman's
closing remark just quoted — are easily explained, upon the
theory that Washington adopted HamUton's revision, and
not Hamilton's original draught, as the exemplar of the
autograph copy.
But I am compelled to express my dissent from the other
remarks and suggestions of the proprietor of the autograph.
The material fact, as he states it, is, in my opinion, rightly
stated ; but the history of Hamilton's agency, and the trans
mission of the autograph copy to Hamilton and Jay, or of
any copy of the FareweU Address prepared by Washington,
after Hamilton's amended and revised copy had been sent to
him, are matters which I think this gentleman would have
regarded differently, if he had had all the letters and papers
in his own hands, for deliberate consideration and compari
son. It is a patient and minute review of the whole of
them, side by side, including Mr. Jay's letter to Judge
Peters, that has obhged me to adopt the opinion, that the
supposed transmission is not only negatived by the corre
spondence, but that it disregards the dates of the letters, the
course of the transaction as it is shown by the letters, and,
most of all, the statement of Mr. Jay himself
The first draught sent by Hamilton to Washington was
not sent back to Hamilton, " with suggestions for its correc
tion and enlargement." Washington's letters of the 10th
and 25th of August are decisive to the contrary. Instead
of suggesting enlargement of that draught, the letter of the
10th August was only apprehensive of its being too large as

AUTOGRAPH COPY NOT SENT TO HAMILTON AND JAY. 127
it was; and instead of suggesting correction, — though the
paper was sent back, at Hamilton's request, for revision, —
the letter of 25th August says that AVashington " should
" have seen no occasion himself for its undergoing a re-
" vision." It says that he should expunge all that was
marked in the paper as unimportant, t&c, and called atten
tion to some marginal notes with a pencil, to obtain
HamUton's mature consideration of the sentiments referred
to. With these very limited qualifications, the letter was a
fuU adoption of HamUton's draught in all points.
It is also a misapprehension to suppose that HamUton's
" second draught," from which " the manuscript now printed
" may be supposed to have been prepared by Washington,"
was " transmitted for final examination to General Hamilton
" and Jay."
There was no such transmission. The letters and dates
are plainly to the contrary. Time alone considered, there
was not sufficient time. The draught was sent back to
Washington, with a letter from HamUton dated the 6th of
September, and the FareweU Address was copied with
Washington's own pen, and was signed and dated for the
gazette and for recording in the Department of State, the
17th of September, 1796.
It must be recoUected, that fifteen years after Mr. Jay had
been consulted about the corrections and emendations of " the
" President's draught," and the only time, so far as his letter
imports, that he ever was consulted in regard to any draught
of the FareweU Address, he speaks in his letter of its having
been some time before the Address appeared ; and we know
that the FareweU Address appeared on the 19th September,
1796, hi a pubhc gazette of Philadelphia. The interval had

128 AUTOGRAPH NOT SENT TO HAMILTON AND JAY.
impressed Mr. Jay's memory. It was long enough to have
made an impression which had lasted nearly fifteen years.
It is not conceivable that any interval whatever would have
been impressed as a distinct fact upon Mr. Jay's memory,
between the time of conference upon an autograph paper, the
exemplar of which was received by Washington on the 7th
of September at the earliest, copied with his own pen after
that, and then transmitted to Hamilton and Jay, reviewed,
corrected, and amended by HamUton, a day fixed for an
interview with Jay to consult about it, and that subsequent
day given to the reading and approval of the emendations,
and after that review returned to Washington and more
fully corrected by him, before the 17th September. Steam
speed is not equal to this. I say nothing of Mr. Jay's omit
ting to write a word of its being an autograph of Washing
ton, which he would have known and noticed as soon as any
one, nor of Hamilton's saying in the interview, that he had
thought it " best to write the whole over with amendments,"
&c. We cannot under such suggestions abandon HamU
ton's letter of 10th August.
But further: from the 6th of September, there was no
letter from Washington to Hamilton, but one of the same
date, which requested HamUton to send the paper by Mr.
Kip, if not sent before, untU the 2d November, six weeks
after the FareweU Address had been printed.* Mr. Jay's

* It is in this letter of 2d November, 1796, from Washington to Hamilton, a letter of
three pages, referring to the case of the minister of France, Adet, and asking Hamil
ton's opinion on the course the Government should take in regard to him, that Wash
ington thus speaks of his unrestrained confidence and freedom of correspondence with
Hamilton : " As I have a very high opinion of Mr. Jay's judgment, candor, honor, and
" discretion (though I am not in the habit of writing so freely to him as to you), it would

AUTOGRAPH NOT SENT TO HAMILTON AND JAY. 129
privity with the subject began and ended in the one inter
view, of which the resiUt was sent to Washington on the
10th August. The supposition that the autograph ever
came back to Hamilton, either individually or for joint con
sultation and alteration by Hamilton and Jay, is therefore
not only without authority from the correspondence, but is
in direct opposition to it, as well as to Mr. Jay's letter to
Judge Peters.
But the decisive consideration against the transmission of
an autograph copy, or any other prepared copy, of the Fare
weU Address to Hamilton and Jay for correction, and the
return of such copy corrected for the final Farewell Address,
is this. There was but one interview between Jay and
Hamilton on this subject — one interview, after the time for
it was previously arranged between them. Mr. Jay's letter
to Judge Peters mentions that, and no other, interview.
The proceedings at that interview are detaUed by Mr. Jay
with great distinctness, both what was said and what was
done. The result of the interview is given with equal dis
tinctness: it was the reading and approving of a paper
containing amendments of "the President's draught," as
Mr. Jay caUs it, of which the original was left fair ; and the
amendments were so made, or arranged, that Washington
would perceive by inspection where they would find their
proper places in that draught. Now, let it be remarked,
such a correction of Washington's draught existed in ori-

" be very pleasing to me, if you would show him this letter (although it is a hurried
" one, my time having been much occupied since my arrival by the heads of depart-
" ments, and with the papers which have been laid before me), and let me have for
" consideration your joint opinions on the several matters herein stated."— Hamilton's:
Works, vol. vi, p. 159.

130 HAMILTON'S CORRECTIONS OF WASHINGTON S DRAUGHT.
ginal at Washington's death, and was found among Wash
ington's papers. It is the same which Hamilton returned
to Washington, on the 10th August, 1796. A copy of it is
in the possession of Mr. Sparks. I have seen and read a
copy of Mr. Sparks's copy.* It is sufficient to say, that it

* A few days after this essay was put to press, and a part of it printed, I was favored
by Mr, John C. Hamilton with a copy of the paper containing Hamilton's corrections of
Washington's draught, received by him from Mr. Sparks ; the paper alluded to in Ham
ilton's letter to Washington, dated 10th August, 1796. It is a paper of thirteen manu
script pages, foolscap, sparsely written on one side of each leaf; and, except on the
first page, written in two columns. The beginning of it is obviously intended to be a
substitute for the beginning of Washington's original draught of an Address,' and modi
fies it to some extent. After completing the correction of this part, there follows, in
the right hand column of the second page, this line, as the beginning of a new para
graph: "The period, &c. (take in the whole Address.)" The words "The period,"
are the initial words of Mr. Madison's draught. See Washington's Works, vol. xii, page
387. The words of the line between parentheses, are therefore a direction to go on
with the whole of Mr. Madison's draught.
The copy then proceeds, in the subsequent pages, to arrange, modify, and add to the
thoughts expressed in the paper entitled by Mr. Sparks, " Hints, or Heads of Topics,"
beginning with the following paragraph, written by Hamilton : " Had not particular
" occurrences intervened to exhibit our political situation, in some respects, under new
" attitudes, I should have thought it unnecessary to add anything to what precedes," &o.
This supplies the first sentence of the " Hints, or Heads of Topics,'' which is as follows:
" Had the situation of our public affairs continued to wear the same aspect they assumed
" at the time the foregoing Address was drawn, I should not have taken the liberty of
" troubling you, my fellow-citizens, with any new sentiment," &o. ; and, after this first
paragraph closes, there is an asterisk, directing the reader to the top of the adjacent
column, on the left hand side, where Hamilton immediately introduces the subject of
the Union, (ihe last but one of Washington's wishes or vows in the " Heads, or Hints of
" Topics,") in these words: " Let me, then, conjure you, fellow-citizens, still more ear-
" nestly than I have done, to hold fast to that Union which constitutes you one people;''
and he goes on through the following pages to page 8 of the manuscript, with an orderly
notice of other parts of the " Hints, or Heads of Topics," very much after the manner
of his original draught, introducing on page 8, opposite to a paragraph in regard to the
spirit of party, the following line, written lengthwise on the right hand margin : " This
"is not in the first— may be interwoven;" tlie first referring, no doubt, to Hamilton's
original and amended draught, already sent on. And then the paper proceeds to the

SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 131
is a correction or emendation of Washington's original or
preparatory draught, and no more ; and in plan, and con-

end of the amendments and of the paper itself in the same manner, closing with these
words : " The nation which indulges against another habitual hatred, or for another
"habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave. It is," &c. Immediately below which
is this direction: "To the end, as in the former.'' At the top of the left hand column
of this last page (13), and opposite to the concluding paragraph, of which I have given
the closing lines, are these words: " Varied from the first I sent, and I think for the
" better. If the first be preserved (1 preferred), 'tis easy to incorporate this."
By recurring to Hamilton's original draught, in his Works, vol. vii, page 589, it will
readily be perceived, that the direction " to the end, as in the former," refers to the
middle of the second paragraph on that page, where these words occur : " That nation
" which indulges towards another an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some
" degree a slave. . . It is a slave to its animosity," &c. Hamilton's direction, therefore,
is to go on to the end of that paragraph, in the copy of his original and amended
draught, sent on the 30th July; perhaps, also, to the end of Washington's Conclusion.
There is no further clause or direction on my copy of the paper, nor was there, I
presume, on the original. We may suppose, therefore, perhaps, that the corrections,
having supplied the place of Mr. Sparks's " Hints, or Heads of Topics," Washington's
Conclusion, as I have called it, was to be followed to the end, after the paragraph
referred to in his own draught first sent
This character of the paper I possess, which I think is here accurately described,
though it substantially accords with Mr. Jay's account of it, makes it difficult to believe
that at least parts of the " President's draught" were not read at that interview from
the very paper itself; for in the copy there are but two words written of Mr. Madison's
draught, nor yet any part of Washington's Conclusion. There is not even an express
direction at the end, to include that Conclusion. But as the subjects contained in the
" Hints, or Heads of Topics" had been corrected and amended by Hamilton, as far as
he intended, and as his own correcting paper did not supply any conclusion at all, the
former direction to go on " to the end, as in the former," may have comprehended the
Conclusion of Washington's paper, as well as the remainder of the paragraph in his
draught first sent.
It would seem to follow, that the lapse of time had in some degree impaired Mr.
Jay's recollections of the interview. Parts of Washington's draught must have been
read from the paper. Neither Madison's draught nor Washington's Conclusion appears
in my copy. The paper, ;noreover, is not a transcript, as Mr. Sparks calls it, but Wash
ington's paper " corrected upon the general plan of it," as Hamilton's letter of 25th
June said it would be, with marks and references to show how the corrections or
amendments should be incorporated.

132 WASHINGTON'S ORIGINAL DRAUGHT, THE ONLY PAPER
spicuously in extent or volume, is a totally different, paper
from the FareweU Address, from Hamilton's original
draught, and from Washington's autograph copy, in either
stage of it, with or without the cancelled passages. But it is
certain, at the same time, that Hamilton's corrections, in
several particiUars, foUowed the sentiments and language
of his original draught, with or without such variations as
he introduced into his amended copy, which he sent to
Washington on the 30th July, 1796, — the corrections of
Washington's draught ha"ving been begun and being under
way before he sent his amended copy to Washington.
It foUows necessarily, fr'om these premises, that the auto
graph copy was not sent to Hamilton and Jay, and that they
had no interview to correct it, and that they did not correct
it ; and, if we may imply a negative from the full affirmative
evidence we possess, that neither Jay nor Hamilton ever
saw it. The paper which was read and approved in that
interview, and sent back, was Washington's original draught,
and not Hamilton's original draught, nor HamUton's revi
sion of that draught, nor Washington's autograph copy of
the FareweU Address, nor anything else but AVashington's
original or preparatory draught amended, the same which
was sent to Washington on the 10th of August. The paper
thus sent to Washington was not the subject of a single
remark by him afterwards, except in his letter of 25th
August, when he inclosed to Hamilton, at his o-^vn request,
the amended copy of Hamilton's original draught, and said,
" I have given the paper herewith inclosed several serious
" and attentive readings, and prefer it greatly to the other
" draughts," — which other draughts were two only, Wash
ington's original or preparatory draught, " left fair," as Mr.

CORRECTED BY HAMILTON WITH JAY. 133
Jay says, and the emendations of it by Hamilton, which hadl
been read by Hamilton to Jay. The supposition, therefore, \
that Hamilton and Jay, or Hamilton with Jay's assistance,
made, by amendment or otherwise, a third draught, after
Washington had sent forward his autograph copy, or a pre-,
pared copy, of the FareweU Address, for correction, con
founds both dates and facts, and puts aU the letters of
Washington and Hamilton, and Mr. Jay's letter to Judge
Peters, just as much as the others, completely out of joint.
Of course, a hasty or current perusal of Hamilton's letters
and original draught might have led to the same impression
in anybody, which the Preface to the copy of the autograph
in Mr. Ir-ving's work expresses ; but the possession of those
letters for the requisite time in my hands, has enabled me
to look 'with great care into the whole series, and to get, I
think, the true bearing of aU.
It may be very safely predicted that such a third draught
as the Preface in Mr. Irving's Appendix postulates, wiU
never be found, since no one of the letters I have referred
to, recognizes it as having existed, and, on the contrary, the
very connected story they teU imphes, necessarily, that it
never did exist. That Hamilton's revision, from which I
have supposed that Washington copied his autograph in
extenso hi the first instance, before he altered any part of it, —
the same which the Preface in Mr. Irving's Appendix caUs
Hamilton's second draught, — will never be found, is another
matter. There can be no doubt that Washington, according
to his uniform habit, of which the traces are strong in regard
to the papers concerning the FareweU Address, did preserve
it up to the time of his death. In aU probabihty, it wUl
not be found, if there has been anything iUicit in its disap-

134 HAMILTON'S REVISION, THE EXEMPLAR OF AUTOGRAPH.
pearance. If it shall be found, it will supersede this con
jecture as to the immediate exemplar of the autograph copy; ,
but there is quite enough in the original draught of Ham
ilton, compared with the autograph copy, to convert all the
conjectures, which the recovery of that revision would
supersede, into most reasonable certainty at the present
time. I assume, therefore, as reasonably weU proved, that Wash
ington wrote that autograph copy from the revision by Ham
ilton of his original draught, amended or corrected, which
was sent to Washington on the 6th of September ; and that
Washington copied the whole of that re'tdsion in extenso, as
it was obviously his intention to do, when he wrote his letter
to Hamilton of the 25th of August; and that afterwards he
canceUed and altered, as the cancelled passages and altered
words, now restored by Mr. Lenox, or by his direction, -wiU
show. This, I repeat, is mere hypothesis ; but the appear- ¦
ances wiU be found to sustain it strongly ; and if they do not,
the main question will stand as it did before the suggestion i
was made.
There are one or two facts or appearances noticed by the
proprietor of the autograph copy, which seem to cross this
theory of a complete transfer of the revision into that copy
in the first instance, before parts were canceUed. But, per
haps, for want of access to the original of the printed copy,
they do not appear to me to be decisive ; and there are also
several facts or appearances which seem to be irreconcUable
with any other hypothesis, or with the actual condition of
the autograph copy, as the printed copy from it shows it to
be. I wiU consider the appearances or facts of each descrip
tion.

SUGGESTIONS TO THE CONTRARY. 135
There is nothing decisive in the fact which is noticed by
the proprietor of the autograph copy, that some of " the altera-
" tions were evidently made during tlie writing of the paper,"
as "in these instances, a part and even the whole of a
" sentence is struck out, which afterwards occurs in the body
"of the Address."
These changes are certainly few and partial, and they may
have been made in the course of the writing, -without con
ducing materiaUy to the proof that this was generaUy the
case -with the other alterations.
The only instances of this nature which I have discovered,
though there may be others, are two, one on page 359 in
Mr. Irving's Appendix, and the other on page 360. The
last wUl be noticed in another place. On page 359, two
lines are transferred from an earher part of a sentence to the
end of a paragraph, which is the end of the same sentence.
It would probably require close inspection of the autograph
to determine that this change had been made "during the
" Avriting of the paper," and not afterwards. I do not mean
to question the fact, for I have not examined the autograph
in reference to this point ; but little if any more space would
have been necessary for the insertion of the two hues can
celled, than is commonly left between paragraphs.
But supposing that in this, and in the other instance to be
noticed presently, Washington did transpose parts of a para
graph " in the course of writing," and even cancel a short
paragraph, and write another leaving out a line or two of the
first, there is strong countervailing evidence against this as
being the general course.
There are ten clauses in smaU type at the foot of the pages
in Mr. Ir-vdng's Appendix which, by the Preface, are indi-

136 ANSWERS TO THE SUGGESTIONS.
cated as having been " struck out," I presume cancelled, in
the body of the autograph, and now restored by careful
examination, and placed at the bottom of the respective
pages. One of these clauses on pages 362, 363, contains nineteen
lines and a fraction in the small type. Another of them on
pages 366, 367, contains nearly fifteen lines. A third on
page 363, contains nearly eleven lines ; and the aggregate of
aU the lines of the clauses referred to as having been so
struck out, and now restored and placed at foot, is a large
fraction of a hne more than sixty lines. AU these hues
were written in the body of the autograph, and then struck
out or cancelled. If they had been printed in the Appendix
in the same type 'with the body of the Address, they would
have fiUed three fuU pages of it, or nearly one-fifth of the
whole Address, as it now stands in Mr. Irving's Appendix.
Of course, I do not mean to be understood as speaking with
technical accuracy, for I have not asked the opinion of a
printer in regard to this fact. It cannot be supposed, I
think, that such masses as these were first written, and then
canceUed in the course of the writing.
There are two other clauses of hke description in pages
361, 366, which might be added to the ten, but I distinguish
them to make a subsequent remark of my own more intel
ligible. The natural and most probable, if not certain course, of
Washington, if it is regarded in the hght of these clauses,
was to write over the whole draught he was copying, includ
ing aU of the clauses referred to, and then to go back and
alter words, or strike out paragraphs, as he should think fit.
To write out, and then to cancel, every part of these twelve

ANSWERS CONTINUED. 137
paragraphs, " in the course of writing," or " during the wri
ting," is a much less reasonable supposition.
One striking fact in regard to all the clauses at the foot
of the pages, is, that but one of them bears a trace of verbal
alteration by Washington ; which is less than the most facUe
and fehcitous writer must have made ,in the first draught
of such long paragraphs. This only exception is on page
366 of Mr. Ir'vdng's Appendix, where constitution is substi
tuted for order, and adherents for retainers. There must, I
think, have been some intention of Washington to retain
. these paragraphs at the time these words were changed. The
rest must aU have been fairly transcribed by Washington
into his autograph Address from the exemplar that was
before him. It can be shown demonstrably that Washington
did not compose any of the ten clauses referred to; and
therefore, if the supposition of his having made the cancella
tion " during the writing," is suggested to give a more usual
appearance of authorship in Washington, it is of no avail ;
for, except in a few of the rather self-justifying thoughts,
Washington's authorship is not there, wherever else it may
be. It was his further consideration of these thoughts that
probably induced him to cancel more than one of these para
graphs ; and the rest, only because they added to the length
of the Address.
Another fact equaUy worthy of notice, is, that when the
ten clauses first referred to were written and then struck
out, nothing was substituted in their place, except in two
instances, one on page 369, and the other on page 375. On
page 369, a clause which was written on a separate piece of
paper, is wafered on or over the passage that had been written
in the autograph copy and then cancelled, and is now printed

138 THE WAFERED PAPER ON EDUCATION.
at foot. That wafered paper bears a clause which Wash
ington, by his letter of September 1st, requested HamUton
to introduce into his revision in regard to education gene
rally, in connection with the subject of a university parti
cularly ; and suggested that a section comprehending both
subjects " would come in very properly after the one which
" relates to our rehgious obligations ; or, in a preceding part,
" as one of the recommendatory measures to counteract the
" evUs arising from geographical discriminations." HamU
ton, in his reply of September 4th, said, that " the idea of
" the university" would be most properly reserved for Wash
ington's speech at the beginning of the session. " A general
" suggestion," he said, " respecting education wiU very fitly
" come into the Address." He introduced it, no doubt, in
his re-vision, in the very place which Washington first pointed
out, " after the clause which relates to our rehgious obhga"
" tions ;" and there Washington has wafered it over a
clause in recommendation of industry and frugahty, which
had been canceUed by him, and is now found at the foot of
the printed page in Mr. Irving's Appendix. As Washington
was specially concerned in this education clause, and could
not have intended to omit it, the natural explanation of the
wafered paper is, that in copying the revision into his auto
graph, perhaps fi-om the education clause being written in
the margin of HamUton's rough revision, and only I'eferred
to by a mark of some kind in the place where it was to go,
Washington overlooked the clause in copying, and had left
no place in liis copy-book for it, except by wafering it over
a very good and rather necessary paragraph on the subject
of industry and economy.
This httle fact is very significant in regard to the manner

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED. 139
of copying the Address. The clause upon education was of
great importance in Washington's estimation ; so much so,
as to have been asked for by a special communication to
Hamilton ; and it was to be the precursor of a recommenda
tion to Congress at its approaching session, to establish a
national university. It must of necessity therefore appear
in some proper place in the Address. It could not be omit
ted. It is not possible that Washington coiUd have had any
objection to the paragraph upon the subject of industry and
frugahty. Habits of this nature were not only of great
iinportance to the people, but they were his own habits, ob
served by himself with due reference to his own station and
fortune, and inculcated upon all his famUy and dependants.
But more than this, it 'was a paragraph necessary to complete
HamUton's view of the moral virtues to be inculcated, after
ha'ring given the first place to religion and morality in their
more solemn acceptation. His abstract announced " industry
" and economy," along with " religion and morals," as matters
upon which the draught was further to dUate ; and so he
introduced the notice in his original draught, and kept it in
the re-vdsion. Why was so good a paragraph obhterated, by
wafering over it the clause upon education ¦?
There is a httle contrivance in some printing offices and
factories which consume much water, by which it is shown
when the supply pump has filled the cistern. It is a float on
the water, and is sometimes caUed a telltale : for when it
shows itself above the top of the cistern, it is seen to bear a
label in pretty large letters, " Stop the pump." The wafered
clause over the paragraph on industry and economy, is a tell
tale. It says that the copy-book was fuU, and that there was
no place to put it in where Washington had suggested it ought

140 CANCELLED PASSAGES IN AUTOGRAPH COPY
to go, but by wafering it over the not so indispensably ne
cessary clause in regard to industry and economy ; and yet
this clause was eight pages distant from the close of the Ad
dress. This is not demonstration, certainly, that the whole
copy was made before the cancellations were begun, but it is
an inducement or persuasion to that opinion.
But much better than these remarks to show that Wash
ington did make that autograph copy from the revision before
he altered it, is the existence of a pre-nous draught which it
closely foUows in paragraphs, subjects, language, and above
all in the order of place or position of every part ; which
previous draught was amended and re-vdsed by its author be
fore the autograph was made, and was so -written, at Wash
ington's instance, as to be readUy foUowed in a copy for the
press, and which revision was in Washington's hands before
the autograph was begun, and was intended to revise the
previous amended draught, — not to alter its substance or
order, nor to add to it in any known particular, except that
which the wafered paper on education exhibits. More than
finite probabUities, as we have suggested, show that the ex
emplar was in that paper, — the revision, and that this was
the model from which the autograph was first written in ex
tenso, and then altered as far as it was altered. We can,
however, confirm and add to these probabUities, by con
sidering the character of Washington's alterations of the
autograph copy.
The ten clauses referred to, amounting together to sixty
lines and a fraction more, which have been restored since can
ceUation, and are now placed at the foot of the pages in the
Appendix, are one and all of them, in point of origin, derived
from Hamilton's original draught, each one of them having

DERIVED FROM HAMILTON'S ORIGINAL DRAUGHT. 141
been altered verbaUy, and not otherwise, by HamUton's
amended copy, or revision, as we have a right to infer,
because the touch of Washington's pen does not appear upon
them, except in the two words on page 366, before referred
to. AU these clauses, after being carried into the autograph
copy, were canceUed in the places where HamUton's original
draught had placed them, the preceding and succeeding para
graphs not being canceUed, but remaining in that autograph
copy precisely as they do in HamUton's draught. It may be
said of aU the clauses which were canceUed by Washington,
that they are not surpassed in truth or pertinency by perhaps
any which were not canceUed. Some of them were founded
upon express suggestion by Washington in his preparatory
draught ; and the most probable motive for canceUing any
of them, — such of them at least as gave no offence to his
modesty, — ^was to abridge the length of the Address. The
cjuiceUation of one of them appears to have been a necessity,
through oversight, because his copy-book was akeady fiiU,
and there was no space left for the education clause. He was
therefore compeUed to wafer it over the clause upon frugahty
and economy, which Washington would hardly have yielded
to anything but to the clause upon which he had speciaUy
instructed HamUton. The canceUed and restored para
graphs, which were derived in point of origin from Ham
Uton's original draught, may be seen in the reprint of the
autograph copy, in the Appendix to this Inquiry, where the
margin opposite to ea§h paragraph respectively, refers to the
page of HamUton's original draught in the same Appendix,
where the clause of origin wUl be foimd inclosed within
brackets. I present in this place, as an Ulustration, one of the longest

142 INSTANCE OF ONE OP SUCH PASSAGES.
clauses which were so cancelled in the autograph copy, and
is now restored, and placed at the foot of the reprint, in
Mr. Irving's work, in pages 362, 363, together 'with the
corresponding clause in Hamilton's original draught.
RESTORED PARAGRAPH FROM HAMILTON'S ORIGINAL
AUTOGRAPH COPY. DRAUGHT.
Besides the more serious causes al- Besides the more serious causes which
ready hinted as threatening our Union, have been hinted at, as endangering
there is one less dangerous, but suffi- our Union, there is another less dan-
ciently dangerous to make it prudent to gerous, but against which it is necessary
be upon our guard against it. I allude to be on our guard : I mean the pota
to the petulance of party dififerenees of lance of party differences of opinion.
opinion. It is not uncommon to hear It is not uncommon to hear the irrita-
the irritations which these excite vent tions which these excite vent themselves
themselves in declarations that the dif- in declarations that the difiFerent parts of
ferent parts of the United States are ill- the Union are ill-assorted, and cannot
affected to each other, in menaces that remain together — in menaces from the
the Union will be dissolved by this or inhabitants of one part to those of ano-
that measure. Intimations like these ther, that it will be dissolved by this or
are as indiscreet as they are intempe- that measure. Intimations of the kind
rate. Though frequently made with le- are as indiscreet as they are intempe-
vity, and without any really evil inten- rate. Though frequently made with le-
tion, they have a tendency to produce vity, and without being in earnest, they
the consequences which they indicate, have a tendency to produce the con-
They teach the minds of men to consider sequence which they indicate. They
the Union as precarious : — as an object teach the minds of men to consider the
to which they ought not to attach their Union as precarious, as an object to
hopes and fortunes ; — and thus chill the which they are not to attach their hopes
sentiment in its favor. By alarming the and fortunes, and thus weaken the sen-
pride of those to whom they are ad- timent in its favor. By rousing the
dressed, they set ingenuity at work to resentment, and alarming the pride of
depreciate the value of the thing, and to. those to ^hom they are addressed, they
discover reasons of indifference towards set ingenuity to work to depreciate the
it. This is not wise. It will be much value of the object, and to discover
wiser to habituate ourselves to reverence motives of indifiference to it. This is
the Union as the palladium of our na- not wise. Prudence demands that we
tional happiness; to accommodate our should habituate ourselves in all onr

OTHER PASSAGES REFERRED TO. 143
words and actions to that idea, and to words and actions to reverence the
discountenance whatever may suggest a Union as a sacred and inviolable pal-
suspicion that it can in any event be ladium of our happiness ; and should
abandoned. — Irving's Washington, vol. discountenance whatever can lead to a
V, p. 362. suspicion that it can in any event be
abandoned. — Hamilton's Works, vol. vii,
p. 581.
These altogether verbal differences are such as a writer
might make in his own composition when amending or re
vising it ; and the greater part of them at least are such as no
one but the author would think of If this paragraph has
been accurately restored at the foot of the reprint of the
autograph copy in Mr. Irving's Appendix, Washington's pen
has not altered a word of it before he canceUed it.
I might add to the ten clauses referred to, another clause,
the last which Washington cancelled, and which has been
restored and placed at the foot of pages 376, 377. It stood
the last in the FareweU Address untU it was canceUed, and
was the very last in HamUton's original draught ; but Wash
ington prepared the last clause now standing in the Farewell
Address, from the first cancelled clause from Hamilton's
revision, which may be found at the foot of page 357 of Mr.
Irving's Appendix.
The two other clauses which I distinguished from the ten,
to make my remark concerning them more inteUigible, are
to be found, the first of them at the foot of page 360. That
clause which, for the reasons already given, I infer to have been
taken from HamUton's revision, is not merely a verbal altera
tion of the corresponding clause in Hamilton's original
draught, but is a reconstruction of a clause of that draught,
in the same relative place, first commenced by Hamilton in
his amended copy sent to Washington the 30th July, placed

144 A PARAGRAPH RECONSTRUCTED FROM THE REVISION.
probably in the same state in his correction of Washington's
draught sent to him the 10th August, and further enlarged
in his re'^ision sent the 6th September. Washington has
struck Hamilton's revised clause fr-om the end of a paragraph,
and has put in its place a clause almost identical with it,
omitting but a single hne. This is the second of the in
stances, so far as I have discovered, which bear upon the
inquiry suggested by the Preface to the autograph copy ia
Mr. Irving's work, whether Washington made the altera
tions in his autograph " during the 'writing" or after the
entire copy was made. To show the extent of the change,
the clause in Hamilton's original draught, enlarged in Ham
Uton's correction of Washington's draught, and stUl further
extended in what I infer to be HamUton's revision, and the
clause as it stands in the Farewell Address, are here pre
sented in paraUel colunms.
HAMILTON. HAMILTON. WASHINGTON.
original draught asd
correction of washing- revision. farewell address.
ton's draught.
that you would cherish to- that you should cherish to- that you should cherish a
wards it an affectionate wards it a cordial and im- cordial, habitual, and im-
and inviolable attachment, movable attachment ; that movable attachment to it,
and that you should watch you should accustom your- accastomiag vourselvesto
for its preservation with selves to reverence it as the think and speak of itas the
zealous solicitude. palladium of your poll- palladium of your political
tical safety and prosperity, safety and prosperity * *
[^Hamilton's Amended adapting constantly your * * * *
Draught of Washington.] loords and actions to that » * * »
momentous idea ; that you watching for its preserva-
that you should habituate should watch for its pre- tion with jealous anxiety,
yourselves to think and servation with zealous discountenancing what-
speak of it as the palladium anxiety, discountenance ever may suggest even u
of your prosperity, and whatever may suggest or suspicion that it can in any

THE SAME SUBJECT. 145
should frown upon what- suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and
ever may lead to suspicion event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon
that it can in any event be frown upon the first dawn- the first dawning of every
abandoned. ingof any attempt to alien- attempt to alienate any
ate any portion of our portion of our country from
country from the rest, or the rest, or to enfeeble the
to enfeeble the sacred ties sacred ties which now link
which now link together together the several parts.
the several parts.
Of course such an alteration as this does not affect the
question of authorship, but it affects the secondary question
of the time and manner of Washington's alteration. If the
right hand paragraph is written in the autograph after the
middle or canceUed paragraph, and not by interlineation, then
if no blank space had been left for it, it must have been
done when the, autograph was in the course of being written,
and not after it had been completely copied in the order of
the revision. If there had been a blank space left, or the
new paragraph was interlined, then the opposite consequence
foUows. The Preface says there are many interlineations,
but does not indicate them distributively, and does not say
whether this was or was not one of them. It is a point of
httle importance, except in the history of the autograph.
The last of the two clauses I distinguished from the ten,
is at page 366 ; and it is quite an interesting alteration, and
must have received much consideration on the part of Wash
ington. We shaU insert here, in paraUel columns, three
clauses : one from HamUton's original draught as it stands ;
another, as we infer, from HamUton's amended copy, or
revision; and in a third column, from Washington's auto
graph, the passage in the paragraph which Washington.
inserted after striking out a part of the paragraph contained
within brackets in the middle column : —
10

146

ANOTHER PARAGRAPH REFORMED.

HAMILTON.
ORIGINAL draught.
And remember also, that
for the efficacious manage
ment of your common in
terests, in a country so ex
tensive as ours, a govern
ment of as much force and
strength as is consistent
with the perfect security
of liberty, is indispensable.
Liberty itself will find in
such a government, with
powers properly distribu
ted and arranged, its surest
guardian and protector. —
[In my opinion, the real
danger in our system is,
that the general govern
ment, organized as at pre
sent, will prove too weak
rather than too powerful.]
— Hamilton's Works, vol.
vii, p. 684.

HAMILTON.
amended and revised.
And remember especial
ly, that for the efiScient ma
nagement of your common
interests, in a country so
extensive as ours, a gov
ernment of as much vigor
as is consistent with the
perfect security of liberty,
is indispensable. Liberty
itself will find in such a
government, with powers
properly distributed and
adjusted, its surest guar
dian. [Owing to you as I
do a frank and free disclo
sure of my heart, I shall
not conceal from you the
belief I entertain, that your
government, as at present
constituted, is far more
likely to prove too feeble
than too powerful.] — 5 Ir
ving's Washington, 366.

WASHINGTON. autograph.
And remember especial
ly, that for the efiBcient ma
nagement of your common
interests, in a country so
extensive as ours, a gov
ernment of as much vigor
as is consistent with the
perfect security of liberty,
is indispensable. Liberty
itself will find in such a go
vernment, with powers pro
perly distributed and ad
justed, its surest guardian.
[It is indeed little less than
a name, where the govern
ment is too feeble to with
stand the enterprises of
faction, to confine each
member of the society
within the limits prescrib
ed by the laws, and to
maintain all in the secure
and tranquil enjoyment of
the rights of person and
property.] — Ibid-

Washington's own clause within brackets in the right
hand column, has perhaps some advantages in point of ex
pression over both the others. It imphes the same truth
which the others strongly express ; and in its terms, as a
conclusion from the premises just before stated, it is an
equaUy exphcit truth; whUe it keeps back the declaration
of an abstract opinion, which might have been misunderstood
by reason of its generality, and extensively perverted by

ALLUSION TO THE FEEBLENESS OF THE CONSTITUTION. 147
misapphcation. It gives out, at the same time, a definite
opinion in favor of a government of more strength, by illus
trations which few would refuse to receive as evidences of
constitutional weakness, and which was felt in some of the
trying periods of Washington's administration.
This is the clause in which, I suppose, Washington meant
to express, or at least to include, his dissent from what is
now the principle of State rights, — that the only constitu
tional powers of the United States are such as are expressly
given in the Constitution, or are necessarily implied from
those which are expressly given ; a principle which, in re
gard to the Constitution of a Nation, the Supreme power of
the Union, one of the co-equal powers of the world, would
seem to be more reasonably apphed to the restraints which
are expressed in it, than to the powers themselves. In
regard to three great examples under the treaty-making
power, the acquisitions of Louisiana and of parts of Mexico,
and the boundary treaty with England, the principle of
express power, or necessary implication, seems to have had
but little play in abridging the fairly implied powers of the
Constitution. The main effect of that principle upon internal
legislation, seems hitherto to have been felt, and, probably,
¦wiU always be most sensibly felt, in the generation of par
ties, which will make a feeble government, whatever the
Constitution may have intended. If it succeeds finally and
completely, it wiU look very much like what, in early times,
would have been called an anti-Federal triumph after a
Federal victory, which the adoption of the Constitution by
the States was acknowledged by all parties to have been.
The remaining instances of interposed new paragraphs by /
Washington call for little remark. The three paragraphs f

148 OTHER ALTERATIONS IN AUTOGRAPH COPY.
upon the right, the duty, and the inducements of interest, to
issue and maintain the proclamation of neutrality, are, one
of them probably, an alteration of Hamilton's re-vision ; and
the other two, perhaps, are Washington's, though this is not
clear. Neither of the three • was in Hamilton's original
draught, though a blank space was left in that part, which
Hamilton possibly fiUed up in his amended copy, or in his
revision ; but, in the autograph, Washington wrote out
the first paragraph, and, from a certain point, cancelled
it, and interlined several lines. He then wrote, on a
separate piece of paper, a paragraph in substitution of the
whole, — ha-ving, nevertheless, the same substance, and
wafered it over both the original and the interhned
words, — making a note on the margin in these words:
" This is the first draught, and it is questionable which of
" the two is to be preferred." Of course, this wafering must
have occurred after the entire address had been copied. If
this is -written on the margin of the wafered paper, the first
. draught was probably Hamilton's ; but, if it was -written on
the margin of the copy-book, I am at fault. The other two,
which have not been altered in any respect, may have been
written by either ; but the good old Doric phrase, " humanly
speaking," in the last of the three, is more like Washington
than Hamilton.
The penultimate clause of the draught before him, which
Washington has cancelled, he has excluded as ha-ving " the
" appearance of self-distrust and mere vanity ;" as, for a like
reason, he had obhterated a preceding one, " to avoid the
" imputation of aftected modesty." Such alterations might
be thought to prove that Washington was revising what
another had indited, and not what he had composed himself

SAME SUBJECT. 149
But the concluding pages of Washington's own draught,
which may be seen in the Appendix, have satisfied me that
this is not decisive.
This penultimate clause of the draught, as it has been
restored and placed at the foot of the page in Mr. Irving's
Appendix, has not been altered in a single word ; but a por
tion of it has been carried into the last paragraph of Wash
ington's Farewell Address, which was probably written by
himself, and is a substitute for the last paragraph in Hamil
ton's original draught. Hamilton himself, perhaps, threw
the two last paragraphs of the original draught into one, of
which Washington has taken a part and rejected a part, and,
adopting one thought from the rejected part, has made a
final paragraph for himself The concluding part of Wash
ington's o-wn draught supplied a portion of these thoughts.
In these minute particulars, the criticisms must be received
as conjectural, especiaUy as the original autograph is not
now before nie.
The alterations in the body of the printed copy of the
autograph, not noticed in the preceding remarks, are gene
raUy verbal, striking out a word or two, and putting in one
or two others. In the twenty-one pages of Mr. Irving's
reprint, there are five several pages, in three of which there
is no such alteration ; in another of them, three words, and,
in the other, two are struck out, and different, but equiva
lent, words substituted. On the other pages there are more
of them, as the for a, against for from, customary for usual,
sparingly for little, shunning for avoiding, permanent, invete
rate for rooted, an for a, to lessen the aspirate in habitual,
and others of hke kind, not always to the improvement
of the language ; and, at least, in one instance, to the

150 SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.
effect of making public opinion co-operate in the discharge
of public debts, instead of coinciding -with it, which was
HamUton's word and meaning. The pages untouched by
Washington's pen in this manner, I presume to be Hamil
ton's original draught, corrected, amended, and revised by
HamUton himself The remaining pages I suppose to be
the same revision, altered verbaUy, just as Washington
appears to have altered them in his autograph copy, and no
further. If this has not been demonstrated in an absolute sense,
the proof faUs short of it only by the absence of HamUton's
revision, — the original draught, however, so far supplying
its place, that no living man, nor aU the men upon earth
combined, could have written such a paper as Washington's
Farewell Address, without the guidance of that original
draught, or of a draught made fi'om it, with just such verbal
corrections of the original as we know came into Washing
ton's hands before the autograph copy was made. If this is
I not the highest degree of argumental evidence, it is the next
¦ door to it, and is the highest practical proof
Mr. Sparks's view of these alterations has, no doubt, been
,' affected by his not being aware, at that time, of the exist-
', ence of HamUton's original draught, and, in some degree
1 also, by Mr. Jay's opinion of the extent of Hamilton's work
\ in the FareweU Address. But Mr. Jay was under a denser
i cloud than Mr. Sparks; and the imperfect light that Mr.
Jay foUowed was moreover a deceptive light. So it appears
to me ; and Mr. Jay has contributed, unintentionally, much
more than Mr. Sparks, to turn the eyes of impartial men
' from the consideration of the evidence, as it has from time
) to time, subsequently, appeared; though the death of Mr.

MR. JAY S OPINION THAT THE ADDRESS -WAS PERSONAL, 151

Jay, in 1829, before the publication of Hamilton's draught,
and .Washington's letters to Hamilton, probably prevented
its having appeared to him.
It is very singular, that so harnUess an inquiry as the
question of the authorship of the FareweU Address, which
Mr. Jay's letter first noticed in a formal examination in
1811, and which Mr. Sparks considered, upon other grounds,
in 1837, the year in which his edition of Washington's
Writings was completed, should have been inseparably
blended, from the first of these dates, — the purport of Mr.
Jay's letter ha-ving been known, though not pubhshed
by his son untU 1833, — -with considerations that affected
the honor of Hamilton on the one side, and the delicacy of
Washington on the other ; — Hamilton, as ha'ving preserved
a draught which he ought to have destroyed, and Wash
ington, as ha-ving retained the reputation of a higher finish
in this work than in Ms letters (this is Mr. Jay's language),
although it was not his o-wn. These considerations resulted,
directly or reflectively, from Mr. Jay's very strongly ex
pressed opinion that the FareweU Address was a personal
act, and that Washington only could with propriety write it.
He might, Mr. Jay admits, have naturaUy submitted his
composition to the judgment of friends, before he put the
last hand to it. They might have advised certain transpo
sitions; "if the connection between any of the relative
" parts was obscure, they would make it more apparent ; if
"a conclusion had better be left to implication than ex-
" pressed, they woiUd strike it out, and so vice versa ; if an
" additional remark or aUusion would give force or hght to
" a sentiment or proposition, they would propose it ; where
" a sentence was too long, they would divide it ; they would

152 AND OF THE EXTENT TO WHICH WASHINGTON
" correct redundancies ; change words less apt, for words
" more apt, &c. &c. &c. To correct a composition in this
" way, is to do a friendly office ; but to prepare a new one,
" and offer it to the author as a substitute for his own,
" would deserve a different appeUation." Jay's Life, vol. u,
page 343.
This distinction, in itself a rather shadowy one, was not
in Washington's mind at aU. He submitted thoughts and
principles as heads or points in the FareweU Address to Mr.
Madison, and asked him to write it out fi'om beginning to end ;
and Mr. Madison did so. He asked HamUton to correct
and amend the preparatory draught, which constituted the
preserved paper, made partly of Madison's draught and
partly of his o-wn composition, but gave HamUton plaia
authority, if he did not by imphcation invite him, to put the
sentiments of the preserved paper into a new plan and in a
different form. Washington's opinion was demonstrably
different on this head, from Mr. Jay's. He asked assistance
in what Mr. Jay regarded the exceptionable form, from Mr.
Madison, and he opened the door to it widely for Hamilton.
He made no secret to one of the two eminent men, that he
had asked and obtained it from the other ; and he meant by
the preserved paper, his preparatory draught, to bring to the
knowledge of the world the pri-vity of Madison with a por
tion of that draught, being quite indifferent to the opinion
they might form of the degree to which that pri-vity had
extended. Mr. Jay moreover distinguished betweeen an official paper
and the FareweU Address ; but Washington made no such
distinction. Mr. Jay distinguished between cases in which
a secretary of the proper department might prepare a paper,

MIGHT PROPERLY ASK ASSISTANCE. 153
and the President sign it, from cases in which Washington
alone should prepare the paper and sign ; but Washington
did not observe this distinction in regard to executive
speeches or messages to Congress, — the most striking of his
pubhc papers. He made no secret of asking assistance in
his speeches to Congress, and asked it of Madison, who was
never in the cabinet untU after Washington had retired from
office, and of HamUton, after he had left Washington's
cabinet to return to the profession of the law. Mr. Jay's
distinction was the formal but perfectly unlimited one. be
tween 'writing an address, and correcting or amending it
after it was written. Washington's better distinction was
the substantial one, between contributing the fundamental
or leading thoughts of a pubhc paper, which it was essential
to him should be his o'wn, and the almost arbitrary forms of
expressing them, which he had no hesitation in committing
to the skill of a trusted friend. I do not speak of his ge
neral practice or habits, but of the distinctions in his mind.
In fine, though Mr. Jay was very able to measure Washing
ton in some of his largest dimensions, he does not seem in
his letter to Judge Peters to have measured him accurately
in the largest of them aU, — the dimensions of that extraor
dinary judgment, which suppressed aU personal vanity in
himself, if he ever had any, estimated with perfect good sense
and wisdom aU the real values that were in him or around
him, neither being misled nor misleading anybody by pre
tensions of any kind, and seeking truth and the best forms of
communicating it, from the friend who could best impart them
to him, for the benefit of the country. He was undoubtedly
modest ; but it is certain that he never feU short of his duty
or the expectations of the country by his modesty ; and it is

154 EFFECT OF MR. JAY'S VIE-W.
also certain, that if every hne of his pen in his communica
tions to Congress or to the people was traced to some other
person, it would not abate his glory, or the honor and love
of this people, a single iota. If his great modesty has con
tributed to the lustre of his immense elevation, as it un
doubtedly has, it wiU be difiicult to prove that he had too
much of it.
All the prejudices which have existed in regard to the
authorship of the FareweU Address, seem to have proceeded
from jealousy of Hamilton, or from this hypothesis of Mr.
Jay ; but how entirely Mr. Jay's imperfect infonnation led
him into the adoption and statement of it, may easily be
made obvious.
Judge Peters's letter had conveyed to Mr. Jay " the first
and only information" he had received, " that a copy of Pre
sident Washington's Address had been found among the
papers of General HamUton, and in his handwriting, and
that a certain gentleman had also a copy of it in the same
handwriting." Of course it would be assumed by some per
sons, that Hamilton had made two copies of the FareweU
Address, and had kept one, and given away another, to fur
nish the future proof of his authorship. It was upon this
hint, and possibly, though not certainly, with something like
this interpretation of it, that Mr. Jay -wrote his reply to
Judge Peters, of the 29th March, 1811, which appears in
the work of Mr. Jay's son.
Every man of experience must be aware of this truth —
and the writer of this Inquiry hopes, that wherever his in
ferences from evidence may caU for its apphcation, he 'wUl
be regarded as having a full consciousness of it — that if an
observer of half a truth proceeds incautiously to infer the

EFFECT OF MR. JAY'S VIEW. 155
whole truth from it, the half truth is just as likely to lead
him wrong as right, and that half a fact is even more so.
We now know that General HamUton left no copy of the
FareweU Address in his handwriting, but only his original
rough draught of such an address, which was found among
his papers, and is now in the Department of State; that
there was a corrected copy and revision of that original
draught, also in his handwriting, which he sent to Wash
ington, and which did not come back. In aU probability,
therefore, it remained among Washington's papers, on the
same subject, untU his death ; and therefore, if any person
had in his hands another paper which purported to be a
copy of the FareweU Address, and was in Hamilton's hand-
'writing, it was this corrected and revised copy of the origi
nal draught.
It must have been obtained consequently from Washing
ton's papers, and from this source only ; and those only, who
had the custody of Washington's papers at and after the
time of his death, can be called upon to explain the circum
stance, if it be true.
It is not surprising that the name of the certain person
who possessed another copy was not disclosed, possibly not
by Judge Peters, certainly not by Mr. Jay in his reply ; and
this gave an air of mystery to the circumstance ; and the
odium of that mystery, whatever it was, was reflected upon
General Hamilton, as is made .obvious by Mr. Jay's letter.
And it thus happened that, in complete ignorance of every
fact in the case, except one, and that a misleading fact, that
HamUton had read to Jay Washington's draught, " written
"over with such amendments, alterations, and corrections," as
HamUton thought advisable, Mr. Jay proceeded to make

156 MR. jay's IMPERFECT KNOWLEDGE OF FACTS.
out what may be called a record, for posterity. Unfortu
nately, it was worse than labor lost, for it was labor unin-
tentionaUy productive of evU. No man would regret it more
i than Mr. Jay himself, if he were h'ving.
Mr. Jay, at that time, and, doubtless, to the end of his
life, was whoUy ignorant of the foUowing most material
facts, which have been already exhibited to the reader : 1.
That Washington had 'written a long and exphcit letter to
Mr. Madison, on the 20th May, 1792, requesting him, at
that time, to 'write a Farewell Address, if he approved the
measure, and making large suggestions to him on the sub
ject. 2. That Madison had rephed to that letter, on the
20th June, 1792, and sent to Washington a draught, con
taining those expressions in regard to Washington's " very
" faUible judgment," and " the inferiority of his qualifica-
" tions," which strike everybody who reads the Farewell
Address, and irresistibly impressed Mr. Jay with the
belief, that no man could have written an address wliich
contained those words, except Washington himself. 3. That
Washington had apphed to HamUton personaUy, in the
spring of 1796, to " redress" the draught which Washington
himself had prepared; and that, on the 15th May of that
year, he wrote to Hamilton, sending him the paper, and
requesting to correct it, and gi'ving him also authority to
write it over anew upon the plan he thought best, founding
it upon the sentiments contained in Washington's paper;
and that Hamilton had executed the last power referred to,
( before his interview with Jay, — the execution of that power
\ being a matter which concerned Hamilton alone untU Wash-
• ington should approve it, and which Hamilton thought
proper to submit to Washington only. 4. That HamUton,

HIS KNOWLEDGE OF THE CASE, LIMITED TO ONE FACT. 157
before his inter'view with Jay, had already, on the 30th July,
sent to Washington that new form of a Farewell Address ;
and, in the letter which inclosed it, promised to send him,
in a fortnight, Washington's own draught, corrected upon
the general plan of it. 5. That the matter upon which he,
Mr. Jay, was consulted, on behalf of Washington by Hamil
ton, was only one of the objects of Washington's letter of the
15th May, this correction of Washington's draught, and
did not comprehend the other — the writing it over anew —
upon the plan HamUton should think best.
If Mr. Jay had known these several matters, he would
have had an outline of all the heads of material facts up to
the time of his interview with Hamilton. But he was not
aware of any one of them ; nor was it necessary that he
should be, to enable him to assist in the correction or amend
ment of Washington's draught, which was an entirely sepa
rate and independent matter. Nevertheless, in this imper
fect state of his knowledge or information, — perfect enough
for the performance of the office Mr. Jay was asked to per
form in Washington's behalf, — but whoUy insufficient to
enlighten him in regard to Hamilton's draught, or to Wash
ington's previous communications with Madison, Mr. Jay
proceeded to express a definite opinion upon the whole mat
ter of the authorship of the FareweU Address. 1. He gave
an exphcit opinion upon the general proposition, that the
FareweU Address was a personal act of Washington, and
that nobody else coiUd, 'with propriety, be its author. 2.
That it was not hkely that HamUton, or any other person
but Washington, was the author, because Washington was
perfectly able to write it himself 3. That if it was " pos-
" sible to find a man among those whom Washington es-

158 EXCUSE FOR MR. JAY'S IMPRESSION.
"teemed, capable of offering him such a present" as an
address, which contained what the FareweU Address does
contain, — the broadest avowals of his very fallible judgment,
and the inferiority of his qualifications, — " it was impossible
" to believe that President Washington was the man to
" whom such a present would be acceptable."
The presumptive internal evidence from the FareweU Ad
dress, combined with that of Washington's abUity, which
Mr. Jay argues at large in his letter, and very well, and the
direct evidence arising from that interview with HamUton,
therefore resulted to impress Mr. Jay's mind with the con
viction, most necessarily implied by his whole letter, though
not, I believe, anywhere in it expressly stated, that Wash
ington was the sole author of the FareweU Address, such
corrections or amendments of it only excepted as Hamilton
had read in that inter'view, and some of little importance,
which had been made by both the parties in the course of it.
But it gives me pleasure to add that, considering the lapse
of time between the date of that interview, in 1796, and Mr.
Jay's letter, in 1811, there is a very reasonable excuse for
Mr. Jay's regarding the corrections and emendations of
Washington's draught by Hamilton, as having gone into the
published Farewell Address ; because almost aU the correc
tions of Washington's draught contain the same thoughts,
expressed in nearly the same language, as in Hamilton's
original draught, and most probably in the amended copy
Hamilton sent to Washington. I am very happy to suppose
that these important passages in the pubhshed Farewell
Address, contributed to recall the corrections or emendations
of Washington's draught, which Hamilton had read to him,
and to strengthen Mr. Jay's belief that the Farewell Ad-

MR. JAY'S WISDOM AND PURITY. 159
dress was identicaUy Washington's draught corrected by
HamUton. But in volume as well as plan, the original
draught of Hamilton, and the corrected draught of Wash
ington, were entirely unlike ; and some long passages which
HamUton may have left in the corrected draught of Wash-
iagton, are excluded altogether from his own, particularly
those on the subject of political calumny and party abuse,
which squared better with parts of Washington's plan than
they did with his own, and which are therefore excluded
from it.
There were few wiser men in this country, and no purer
man anywhere, than John Jay. There is a halo round his
venerable head, which we recoUect, that makes it exceed
ingly painful to represent him as having erred so capitally
in his conclusions, from the partial evidence before him;
especiaUy as his professional astuteness, and the wariness of
his judgment, in judicial or quasi-judicial cases of import
ance, was one of his eminent characteristics. Something,
perhaps, in Judge Peters's letter to Mr. Jay may have
tended to narrow the scope of his inquiry, or a little to
surprise his accurate judgment in this matter ; but I have
looked in vain to the Life of Mr. Jay by his son, and else
where, for further elucidation of the subject.
It is from this letter, perhaps, — probably from Judge
Peters's exhibition of it, or repetition of its contents, at a
day several years before the publication of Mr. Jay's Life
by his son, — that has arisen the uncomfortable feeling I
have adverted to, in regard to the authorship of the Fare
weU Address, and with it the opinion or sentiment of Mr.
Sparks, that in some way it concerned the honor of Ham
ilton, to destroy all traces of his connection with it.

160 HAMILTON'S COURSE IN REGARD TO HIS ROUGH ORIGINALS.
There is not the least e-vidence in the world that the obh
teration of such traces ever entered into the heart or mind
of Washington; and no man of understanding who shaU
carry or trace back such a thought to its root or principle,
can fail to perceive that it wiU infer a weakness in Wash
ington, that is out of keeping with his whole life, and with
the exphcit language of the FareweU Address itself
Hamilton appears to have preserved the abstract and
original rough draught, because there was no motive to
destroy them. He could not have destroyed them with the
supposed motive, without feehng his own respect for Wash
ington in some degree impaired by the motive. He kept
them, as he kept the original draughts of some of the clauses
he had prepared for Washington's speeches, as a record of
his own sentiments, and as a part of the transactions of his
pohtical life. He kept no copy of his corrections of Wash
ington's draught, nor of the amended copy of his o-wn
draught, nor of the revision of that draught, nor of any of
i his letters to Washington on this subject, nor indeed of any-
I thing in regard to it, for the two papers he left behind him were
' not copies, but the rough originals. This was aU that Ham
ilton did. He did not destroy them ; that is aU. Privacy at
the time was material, as the correspondence shows, because
the purpose of Washington to retire, was intended to be held
in reserve, for public reasons, until the last moment. Ham
ilton expressly advised him to this effect. It is from this
cause, perhaps, that no more copies were taken. Hamilton's
own engagements and want of health prevented his making
them, and the employment of a clerk would have endangered
a disclosure of Washington's purpose. The originals of
Washington's letters he preserved, as he probably did or

HAMILTON S RESERVE AS TO HIS DRAUGHT. 161
ought to have done, aU that had ever been addressed to him
by that venerated hand. And this was the extent of his
provision. After HamUton's lamented death, — I place im-
phcit confidence in the femUy tradition — it was not any of
his femUy who discovered the rough original draught, but it
was an eminent pubhc man, to whom access to HamUton's
pohtical papers was aUowed, and who found it in one of
the pigeon-holes of his cabinet. And thus it came to the
world. Such reserve and dehcacy as HamUton observed in regard
to the assistance, Washington may have expected, and it is
commonly expected in hke cases. He may have expected,
that, for the time then present, and perhaps whUe he was
hving, pubhcation would not afford occasion of gossip or
invidious party criticism, and become an instrument in the
hands of party to weaken the influence of his counsels, by
attributing them to the management of others ; which, those
who hved in that day may remember, there were men enough,
high and low, weU disposed to insinuate, without any proof
or shadow of proof. A reserve of this kind may have been
patrioticaUy desirable, without the least infusion of vanity ;
and something of this nature may constitute the true limita
tion of reserve in aU cases of like assistance by a minister or
friend to a pubhc chief, expressing his sentiments in his own
name, whether ofliciaUy or unofficiaUy, to any part of the
country, or to the people at large. I cannot, I think, be
mistaken in the sentiment, that if Washington had desired
more than this, it would have been a weakness ; and that if
HamUton had practised more than this, it would have been
a derogatory suspicion. To annex the pains of dishonor to
the preservation of a paper by the assisting part}-, would not
11

162 WASHINGTON'S PRESERVATION OF ALL THE PAPERS
only in this case misconceive the views of the party assisted,
as they will immediately appear, but would in all cases
encircle the office of a friend with thorns, which might fataUy
wound his character, whether a paper was accidentally or
intentionally preserved by him ; and would end in depri'ring
aU public chiefs of such aid, by surrounding it with insuffer
able penalties. Whatever may be thought of the general
rule or principle, however, Washington's o'wn course demon
strates infaUibly the existence of an exception in this case,
which he was competent to establish, and did estabhsh, com
prehending and justifyiug the course of HamUton, whether
it was accidental or intentional. And this is sho-wn by a
species of evidence quite irresistible.
Washington preserved copies and originals of aU the
papers and correspondence, on the subject of the Farewell
Address, from his first application to Mr. Madison, in 1792,
down to the publication of that Address, in 1796.
He preserved a copy of his letter to Mr. Madison, and
the original of Madison's letter of 20th June, 1792, in reply.
Either Washington preserved them, or Madison the counter
parts, the original of Washington's letter, and a copy of the
reply ; for it is only from one or both of these sources that
Mr. Sparks can have obtained them for his paper on the
Farewell Address. Washington preserved the original of
Madison's draught, the original of his own draught, the
original of HamUton's correction of it, the originals of aU
Hamilton's letters, and we presume, — for this was his
habit, — copies of the letters he had -written to Hamilton,
touching the same matter. He preserved, we have no
doubt, the revision of Hamilton, as he preserved all the
other papers ; for it is moraUy certain that from Washing-

CONCERNING THE ADDRESS, UNTIL HIS DEATH. 163
ton's cabinet it must have come, directly or indirectly, to the
certain person in Mr. Jay's letter, if there was accuracy in
Judge Peters's statement. Washington was even anxious
to keep copies of all these papers ; for he urged upon Ham
ilton the safe-keeping and return of his own draught, because
he had no copy, except of the " quoted part," which was
Madison's ; and of this he had the original. There is no
difficulty, moreover, in suggesting why he was so tenacious
of that draught, and so desirous of its being returned to
him, — namely, that by it would be at all times shown what.-
was his own, and what the contribution of another, to the
Farewell Address. Washington preserved all these papers
untU his death, with his usual and very remarkable care ;
and he left them at his death to the inspection of affection
or curiosity, which he knew to be unlimited in regard to aU
that concerned him. Nay, further: this care of papers, in
relation to a subject vastly more interesting to affection and
curiosity than any paper he ever pubhshed, must be, to
every one who reflects upon it, a most persuasive proof of a
foregone determination or conclusion on the part of Wash
ington, that the full history of the Farewell Address, from
the beginning to the end, including all the parties, and all
their specific contributions, should be known at his death.
One of his noble motives for this, — not looking to himself
at aU, but to the friend whose pubhc virtues he knfew, as
weU as his high-toned fidelity, — may not improbably have
been, to show by them HamUton's part in the preparation of
the Address, and his more than accordance with its senti
ments ; that in this way, by Washington's agency, might be
put down, the inveterate misrepresentations of a rising party,
by the heads of which Hamilton was calumniated as hostUe to '

164 WASHINGTON'S MOTIVES FOR PRESERVING THEM.
republican government, and to the principles of the Consti
tution, Such a motive would have perfectly corresponded
with Washington's known affection and regard. Let us not
be over-jealous for such a man, who was as true as steel to
his principles and friends, and was infinitely above the petty
jealousies which embitter the smaU traffickers for the praise
of the world !
Some of his letters to Hamilton are marked private;
others are not so marked. The very first and fullest of all,
the letter of the 15th May, is not so marked. It is this by
which he commits his Valedictory Address to Hamilton,
mentioning it by name, commenting upon it extensively,
and requesting him to correct it, with authority to write it
anew, if he saw fit — stipulating only for the guidance of his
own sentiments. These were the Man, and these were aU
that he cared to have followed as his o'wn. The letters
of the 26th June, and 10th August are not vaax^eA. private,
nor that of the 6th September. Those of the 25th August
and 1st September are so marked. Can any person, upon
the inspection of these letters, raise the proposition, that
those marked private were to be regarded as speciaUy
private or confidential, and the others not so % or that there
was anything in that mark where it was used, except a par
tial observance of routine, sometimes foUowed by accident,
and Sometimes omitted in the like way, to distinguish a
public letter, or a familiar one, from a letter that was to be
treated with some reserve % There is nothing in this mark,
or in any part of the case, that shows a purpose in Wash
ington to have the intervention of Hamilton treated with
special secrecy. There was an intimation to the contrary,
in the plainness with which he referred to Madison's

SAME SUBJECT. 165
aid, and to his purpose of bringing home to one or two per
sons, the consciousness that the aid had been given upon a
former occasion, and was not giA^en now. If, however, the
maxkprivate, or any other mark, had looked to special reserve,
it must have been used as a restriction for that time only,
and for its then present purpose, because the careful reten
tion of the papers we have referred to, untU Washington's
death, is irrefragable proof to that effect. It is an irrefu
table answer to every one, who shaU impute to Washington
the smaU 'vanity of wishing to pass for the writer of what
he did not write, or to Hamilton the correlative wrong of
preserving what he ought not to have presened. We bring
such men down to a level fex below them, to the level of the
common 'vanities of common men, if we impute such foibles
to them. Washington knew weU, as every great or very
eminent pubhc man has known, that privacy, in its absolute
sense, was not for him. He knew that aU his papers re
lating to pubhc transactions of note, must sooner or later
become kno'wn ; and not from affectionate curiosity only, or
from the envy that foUows pubhc greatness as a shadow,
even after it has become, in one sense, less than a shade
itself but from a grave pubhc and abiding interest in the
Ufa and transactions of the man upon whom they bore.
Washington knew aU this as weU as most men, and possibly
better; and prepared for it accordingly, not by destroying
or inventing, as some have done, but by letting everything
concerning him be seen as it was. The sentiments of that
FareweU Address were his o'wn — ^piincipaUy by his sugges
tion; the leading or fundamental sentiments, exclusively so.
This 'was the gold ; the rest was the minting.
The whole of this invidious objection, which has been

166 THE OBJECTION -TO PRESERVING HAMILTON'S DRAUGHT
noticed, is founded on a mistake. It is a mistake, whether
we regard the subject in the hght of general usage or of
principle, to apply to such a paper as the FareweU Address,
the rule which may be thought to prevaU in cases of confi
dential literary assistance, supplied to a friend who is com
peting for literary honor as an author. That rule cannot
have, and, in the practice of the world, has never received,
an apphcation to the case of a political or mihtary chief,
communicating his instructions or thoughts to the people,
or to any branch of the public authorities. Such communi
cations are essentially a public act, and not a personal one,
except that, in such a leave-taking as Washington's, we
may suppose that he searched the depths of his heart for the
thoughts which he meant to utter to the people ; and very
many of the great thoughts of that paper are from his own
heart. In the first intention, the paper would have been
more a personal one, than it afterwards became, to Wash
ington's entire satisfaction, through a just consideration of
his great pubhc relation to the whole country and people.
The official character in such a case, and the direction to the
whole people, cordd not be thrown off, without impairing the
weight and influence of the writing, and almost its perti
nency. The difference between a speech or message to the
two Houses of Congress, and such an address to the people,
may be a constitutional one in this sense, that there is an
affirmative provision in the Constitution which includes the
one expressly, without expressing the other ; but, in the
sense of public concern, and of executive supervision, there
is no difference between them. Washington did not regard
the paper as a personal one only. He read it to his Cabi-

NOT APPLICABLE TO SUCH A PUBLIC PAPER. 167
net,* and he ordered it to be recorded in the Department of
State. He was not competing for favor as an author, but
recommending principles of government, and rules of political
action, within the range and scope of the Executive office ;
and by whom he was assisted in gi'ving form or expression
to his thoughts, or in suggesting thoughts for his considera
tion, was a matter that no more touched his self-love, or his
sense of self-respect, than the hke service did in regard to a
speech or message to Congress. No one, who has formed a
just estimate of that great man, can imagine that he regarded
his personal dignity, or his personal value and efficiency,
and, least of aU, his true claims to respect and reverence, as
reduced or compromised, in the least degree, by his asking
the aid of a friend, who had been his trusted minister, to
arrange his thoughts, or to improve their expression, upon
any pubhc subject on which he felt it his duty to speak. He
was so high-spirited and sensitive, as weU as sincere, that
the ghmpse of such a thought would have turned him aside,
as certainly, perhaps, as any man that ever lived. The
resort to such assistance was all the more likely to be made,
and was all the more frequently made, because no one was
more justly entitled to feel conscious, that his powers of
thought and expression were such as to place him on a per
fect level with his office and duties ; though, on occasions
when he might encounter criticism from enemies or adversa
ries—and he had them both — he may have thought that his
active life had not permitted him to become so sure of the
various colors and shades of language, or so intimate with

* I state this fact upon the authority of a letter from Colonel Pickering, then Secre
tary of State, which is in the possession of John C. Hamilton, Esq.

168 REMARKS UPON THE RESPECTIVE CONTRIBUTIONS
the best forms of composition, as to enable him to select
with facihty, in the face of such critics, the plan and words
which would give the most certain and effective expression
to his thoughts, and the best protection against their per
versions. It is a small question to raise, after the death of two great
pubhc men, neither of whom, in his hfetime, suffered the
breath of dishonor to condense upon his garments ; and each
of whom, in his claims to a deathless reputation, could have
referred to a thousand proofs that are stronger than the
FareweU Address, or the original draught of it. But, ha-ving
been raised, through accident or design, through le-vity or
malevolence, my admiration of each has made me unwiUing
to withhold the humble labor of putting it in its proper hght
in regard to both.
Having now concluded this Inquiry, after placing in the
body of it, or pointing out in the documents it refers to,
ample and authentic materials from which every reader may
form an opinion for himself, there is little occasion for ex
pressing my own, upon the whole matter. I must avoid,
however, the appearance of affectation, by suppressing it
altogether at the conclusion, after ha-ving, no doubt, inti
mated portions of it incidentaUy, and sometimes perhaps
unintentionaUy, in the course of the essay.
I have not the least intention, however, of either institu
ting, or leading to, a comparison of the respective values of
the several contributions to the FareweU Address. If that
question shall be raised, of which I should think there is
little probabihty, at least among men who have sufficient
sentiment to regard that Address as the testament of Wash-

OF WASHINGTON AND HAMILTON. 169
ington, and Hamilton as the indicter of his Will, the com
parison must have different results, as it shaU be made upon
either political, or moral, or hterary grounds ; for values of
these descriptions are not comparable altogether in their na
ture, one or more of them passing by weight, adjusted upon
exact principles, and one at least by a variable and rather \
arbitrary scale of taste or convention. Even the more pon- '
derable parts are by no means on one side only. My dispo
sition is to describe, and not to compare.
Washington was undoubtedly the original designer of the
FareweU Address ; and not merely by general or indefinite
intimation, but by the suggestion of perfectly definite sub
jects, of an end or object, and of a general outline, the same
which the paper now exhibits. His outline did not appear
so distinctly in his own plan, because the subjects were not
so arranged in it as to show that they were aU comprehended
within a regular and proportional figure ; but when they
came to be so arranged in the present Address, the scope of
the whole design is seen to be contained within the limits
he intended, and to fiU them. The subjects were traced by
him -with adequate precision, though without due connection,
with little expansion, and with little declared bearing of
the parts upon each other, or towards a common centre;
but they may now be foUowed with ease in their proper
relations and bearing in the finished paper, such only ex
cepted as he gave his final consent and approbation to ,
exclude. In the most common and prevalent sense of the word
among hterary men, this may not, perhaps, be caUed author
ship ; but in the primary etymological sense, — the quality of
imparting growth or increase, — there can be no doubt that

170 THE SAME SUBJECT
it is so. By derivation from himself the FareweU Address
speaks the very mind of Washington. The fundamental ^
thoughts and principles were his ; but he was not the com
poser or writer of the paper.
HamUton was, in the prevalent hterary sense, the com
poser and writer of the paper. The occasional adoption of
Washington's language does not materiaUy take fr-om the
justice of this attribution. The new plan, the different
form, proceeded from HamUton. He was the author of it.
He put together the thoughts of Washington in a new
order, and with a new bearing ; and whUe, as often as he
could, he used the words of Washington, his own language
was the general vehicle, both of his own thoughts, and for
the expansion and combination of Washington's thoughts.
HamUton developed the thoughts of Washington, and cor
roborated them — included several cognate subjects, and
added many effective thoughts fi-om his own mind, and
united aU into one chain by the links of his masculine logic.
The main trunk was Washington's ; the branches were
stimulated by HamUton; and the fohage, which was not
exuberant, was altogether his; and he, more than Wash
ington, pruned and nipped off, with severe discrimination,
whatever was excessive, — that the tree might bear the fixdts
which Washington desired, and become his fiiU and fit
representative. This is the impression which the proofs have made upon
me ; and I am not conscious of the least bias or partiahty, in
receiving it from them.
It is quite impossible, I think, to divide the work by any
thing like a sharp hne between Washington and HamUton ;
but there is less difficulty in representing the character of

continued and closed. 171
their contributions, by language in some degree figurative,
-such as, in one instance, I have used already.
We have exphcit authority for regarding the whole Man
as compounded of body, soul, and spirit. The Farewell
Address, in a lower and figurative sense, is hke-wise so com
pounded. If these were di-visible and distributable, we
might, though not with full and exact propriety, aUot the
soul to Washington, and the spirit to Hamilton. The
elementary body is Washington's, also; but HamUton has
developed and fashioned it, and he has symmetrically formed
and arranged the members, to give combined and appro
priate action to the whole. This woiUd point to an aUot-
ment of the soul and the elementary body to Washington,
and of the arranging, developing, and informing spirit to
HamUton, — the same characteristic which is found in the
great works he de-vised for the country, and are stiU the
chart by which his department of the government is ruled.
The Farewell Address itself, while in one respect — the
question of its authorship — it has had the fate of the Eikon
Basilike, in another it has been more fortunate ; for no
Iconoclastes has appeared, or ever can appear, to break or
mar the image and superscription of Washington, which it
bears, or to siUly the principles of moral and political action
in the government of a Nation, which are reflected from it
with his entire approval, and were, in fundamental points,
dictated by himself

APPENDIX.

No. I.

WASHINGTON'S ORIGINAL OR PREPARATORY DRAUGHT OF A
FAREWELL ADDRESS.
[A copy of this document accompanied Washington's letter of
15th May, 1796, to A. Hamilton. The asterisks indicate the altera
tions by Washington, referred to in that letter.]
Friends and Fellow- Citizens : —
The quotation in this Address was composed, and in-
tended to nave been published, m tne year 1792, in time
to have announced to the Electors of the President and Vice-
President of the United States, the determination of the former,
previous to the said election to that office could have been made; but
the solicitude of my confidential friends *** *** ********* **
** ********* *** ** ***** ******** * *** **** **** ****
/************ :(::). ififilf *** *** ***** ** *** *******J.\ **** *
***** ******* ** ************* added to the peculiar situation
of our foreign affairs at that epoch, induced me to suspend the pro
mulgation, lest, among other reasons, my retirement might be
ascribed to political cowardice. In place thereof, I resolved, if it

«» «»*****

174 APPENDIX.
should be the pleasure of my fellow-citizens to honor me again with
their suffrages, to devote such services as I could render, a year or
two longer, trusting that within that period all impediments to an
honorable retreat would be removed.
In this hope, as fondly entertained as it was conceived, I entered
upon the execution of the duties of my second administration.
But if the causes which produced this postponement had any
weight in them at that period, it will readily be acknowledged that
there has been no diminution in them since, until very lately, and
it will serve to account for the delay which has taken place in com
municating the sentiments which were then committed to writing,
and are now found in the following words : —
[MADisoNs " '^^^ period which will close the appointment -with
DEAUGHT.] -Brliich my fellow-citizens have honored me, being not very
distant, and the time actually arrived at which their thoughts must
be designating the citizen who is to administer the executive govern
ment of the United States during the ensuing term, it may be
requisite to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I
should apprise such of my fellow-citizens as may retain their par
tiality towards me, that I am not to be numbered among those out
of whom a choice is to be made.
" I beg them to be assured that the resolution, which dictates this
intimation, has not been taken without the strictest regard to the
relation which, as a dutiful citizen, I bear to my country ; and that,
in withdrawing that tender of my service, which silence in my situa
tion might imply, I am not influenced by the smallest deficiency of
zeal for its future interests, or of grateful respect for its past kind
ness ; but by the fullest persuasion that such a step is compatible
with both.
" The impressions, under which I entered on the present arduous
trust, were explained on the proper occasion. In discharge of this
trust, I can only say, that I contributed towards the organization
and administration of the government the best exertions of which a

APPENDIX. 175
very fallible judgment was capable. For any errors, which may
have flowed from this source, I feel all the regret which an anxiety
for the public good can excite ; not without the double consolation,
however, arising from a consciousness of their being involuntary,
and an experience of the candor which will interpret them.
" If there were any circumstances which could give value to my
inferior qualifications for the trust, these circumstances must have
been temporary. In this light was the undertaking viewed when I
ventured upon it. Being, moreover, still further advanced in the
decline of life, I am every day more sensible, that the increasing
weight of years renders the private walks of it, in the shade of re
tirement, as necessary as they will be acceptable to me.
" May I be allowed to add, that it will be among the highest as
well as purest enjoyments that can sweeten the remnant of my days,
to partake in a private station, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, of
that benign influence of good laws under a free government, which
has been the ultimate object of all our wishes, and in which I
confide as the happy reward of our cares and labors ? May I be
allowed further to add, as a consideration far more important, that
an early example of rotation in an office of so high and delicate a
nature may equally accord with the republican spirit of our Consti
tution, and the ideas of liberty and safety entertained by the people.
" In contemplating the moment at which the curtain is to drop
forever on the public scenes of my life, my sensations anticipate,
and do not permit me to suspend, the deep acknowledgments re
quired by that debt of gratitude, which I owe to my beloved country
for the many honors it has conferred upon me, for the distinguished
confidence it has reposed in me, and for the opportunities I have
thus enjoyed of testifying my inviolable attachment by the most
steadfast services, which my faculties could render.
" All the returns I have now to make will be in those vows, which
I shall carry with me to my retirement and to my grave, that
Heaven may continue to favor the people of the United States with
the choicest tokens of its beneficence ; that their union and brotherly

176 APPENDLS.
affection may be perpetual ; that the free Constitution, which is the
work of their own hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its
administration, in every department, may be stamped -with -wisdom
and with virtue ; and that this character may be insured to it by
that watchfulness over puhHc servants, and public measures, which
on one hand wiU be necessary to prevent or correct a degeneracy,
and that forbearance, on the other, from unfounded or indiscriminate
jealousies, wliich would deprive the public of the best services, by
depriving a conscious integrity of one of the noblest incitements to
perform them ; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of America,
under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful
a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire
them the glorious satisfaction of recommending it to the affection,
the praise, and the adoption of every nation, which is yet a stranger
to it.
"And may we not dwell with well-grounded hopes on this flatter
ing prospect, when we reflect on the many ties by which the people
of America are bound together, and the many proofs they have
given of an enlightened judgment and a magnanimous patriotism?
"We may all be considered as the children of one common coun
try. We have all been embarked in one common cause. We have
all had our share in common sufferings and common successes. The
portion of the earth, allotted for the theatre of our fortunes, fulfils
our most sanguine desires. AU its essential interests are the same ;
while the diversities arising from climate, from soil, and from other
local and lesser peculiarities, will naturally form a mutual relation
of the parts, that may give to the whole a more entire independence,
than has perhaps fallen to the lot of any other nation.
" To confirm these motives to an affectionate and permanent
Union, and to secure the great objects of it, we have established a
common government, which, being free in its principles, being
founded in our own choice, being intended as the guardian of our
common rights, and the patron of our common interests, and wisely
containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, as ex-

APPENDIX. 177
perience may point out its errors, seems to promise everything that
can be expected from such an institution ; and, if supported by wise
counsels, by virtuous conduct, and by mutual and friendly allow
ances, must approach as near to perfection as any human work can
aspire, and nearer than any which the annals of mankind have
recorded. " With these wishes and hopes, I shall make my exit from civil
life ; and I have taken the same liberty of expressing them, which
I formerly used in offering the sentiments which were suggested by
my exit from military life.
" If, in either instance, I have presumed more than I ought, on
the indulgence of my fellow-citizens, they will be too generous to
ascribe it to any other cause, than the extreme solicitude which I
am bound to feel, and which I can never cease to feel, for their
liberty, then- prosperity, and their happiness."
^„„,„„ ., " Had the situation of our public affairs continued
THINTS, OE HEADSn ^
OP TOPICS. to wear the same aspect they assumed at the time the
foregoing address was drawn, I should not have taken the liberty of
troubling you, my fellow-citizens, with any new sentiment, or with
a repetition more in detail of those, which are therein contained ;
but considerable changes having taken place, both at home and
abroad, I shall ask your indulgence while I express, with more
lively sensibility, the following most ardent wishes of my heart.
"That party disputes among all the friends and lovers of their
country may subside, or, as the wisdom of Providence has ordained
that men on the same subjects shall not always think alike, that
charity and benevolence, when they happen to differ, may so far
shed their benign influence, as to banish those invectives which pro
ceed from illiberal prejudices and jealousy.
" That, as the All-wise Dispenser of human blessings has favored
no nation of the earth with more abundant and substantial means
of happiness than United America, we may not be so ungrateful to
our Creator, so wanting to ourselves, and so regardless of posterity,
12

178 APPENDIX.
as to dash the cup of beneficence, which is thus bountifully offered
to our acceptance.
" That we may fulfil with the greatest exactitude all our engage
ments, foreign and domestic, to the utmost of our abilities, whenso
ever and in whatsoever manner they are pledged ; for in public, as
in private life, I am persuaded that honesty will forever be found to
be the best policy.
" That we may avoid connecting ourselves with the politics of
any nation, farther than shall be found necessary to regulate our
own trade, in order that commerce may be placed upon a stable
footing, our merchants know their rights, and the government the
ground on which those rights are to be supported.
" That every citizen would take pride in the name of an Ameri
can, and act as if he felt the importance of the character, by con
sidering, that we, ourselves are now a distinct nation, the dignity of
which will be absorbed, if not annihilated, if we enlist ourselves,
farther than our obligations may require, under the banners of any
other nation whatsoever. And, moreover, that we should guard
against the intrigues of any and every foreign nation, who shall
endeavor to intermingle, however covertly and indirectly, in the in
ternal concerns of our country, or who shall attempt to prescribe
rules for our policy with any other power, if there be no infraction
of our engagements with themselves, as one of the greatest evils
that can befall us as a people ; for, whatever may be their profes
sions, be assured, fellow-citizens, and the event will, as it always
has, invariably prove, that nations as well as individuals act for
their own benefit, and not for the benefit of others, unless both
interests happen to be assimilated ; and when that is the case there
requires no contract to bind them together; that all their inter
ferences are calculated to promote the former ; and, in proportion
as they succeed, will render us less independent. In a word, nothing
is more certain, than that, if we receive favors we must grant favors;
and it is not easy to decide beforehand under such circumstances as
we are, on which side the balance will ultimately preponderate ; but

APPENDIX. 179
easy indeed is it to foresee, that it may involve us in disputes, and
finally in war, to fulfil political alliances. Whereas, if there be no
engagements on our part, we shall be unembarrassed, and at liberty
at all times to act from circumstances, and the dictates of justice,
sound policy, and our essential interests. «
" That we may be always prepared for war, but never unsheath
the sword except in self-defence, so long as justice, and our essen
tial rights and national respectability, can be preserved without it ;
for without the gift of prophecy it may safely be pronounced, that,
if this country can remain in peace twenty years longer (and I
devoutly pray, that it may do so to the end of time), such,' in all
probability, will be its population, riches, and resources, when com
bined with its peculiarly happy and remote situation from the other
quarters of the globe, as to bid defiance, in a just cause, to any
earthly power whatsoever.
" That, whensoever and so long as we profess to be neutral, our
public conduct, whatever our private affections may be, may accord
there-with ; without suffering partialities on one hand, or prejudices
on the other, to control our actions. A contrary practice is not
only incompatible with our declarations, but is pregnant with mis
chief, embarrassing to the administration, tending to divide us into
parties, and ultimately productive of all those evils and horrors,
which proceed from faction.
" That our Union may be as lasting as time ; for, while we are
encircled in one band, we shall possess the strength of a giant, and
there will be none who can make us afraid. Divide, and we shall
become weak, a prey to foreign intrigues and internal discord, and
shall be as miserable and contemptible, as we are now enviable and
happy. " That the several departments of government may be preserved
in their utmost constitutional purity, without any attempt of one to
encroach on the rights or privileges of ajiother ; that the General.
and State governments may move in their proper orbits ; and that
the authorities of our own Constitution may be respected by our-

180 APPENDIX.
selves, as the most certain means of having them respected by
foreigners. " In expressing these sentiments it will readily be perceived, that
I can have no other view now, whatever malevolence might have
ascribed to it before, than such as results from a perfect conviction
of the utility of the measure. If public servants, in the exercise
of their official duties, are found incompetent, or pursuing wrong
courses, discontinue them. If they are guilty of malpractices in
office, let them be more exemplarily punished. In both cases, the
Constitution and laws have made provision ; but do not withdraw
your confidence from them, the best incentive to a faithful discharge
of their duty, without just cause ; nor infer, because measures of a
complicated nature, which time, opportunity, and close investigation
alone can penetrate, — for these reasons are not easily comprehended
by those who do not possess the means, — that it necessarily follows
they must be wrong. This would not only be doing injustice to your
trustees, but be counteracting your own essential interests, render
ing those trustees, if not contemptible in the eyes of the world,
little better at least, than ciphers in the administration of the
government, and the Constitution of your own choosing would re
proach you for such conduct."
As this Address, fellow-citizens, will be the last I shall
ever make you, and as some of the gazettes of the United
States have teemed with all the invective that disappointment, igno
rance of facts, and malicious falsehoods could invent, to misrepre
sent my politics and affections ; to wound my reputation and feel
ings; and to weaken if not entirely destroy the confidence you
had been pleased to repose in me; it might be expected at the
parting scene of my public life, that I should take some notice of
such virulent abuse. But, as heretofore, I shall pass them over in
utter silence ; never having myself, nor by any other with my par
ticipation or knowledge, written, or published a scrap in answer to
any of them. My politics have been unconcealed, plain and direct.

APPENDIX. 181
They will be found (so far as they relate to the belligerent powers)
in the proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793 ; which, having met
your approbation, and the confirmation of Congress, I have uni
formly and steadily adhered to, uninfluenced by and regardless of
the complaints and attempts of any of those powers or their parti
sans to change them.
The acts of my administration are on record. By these, which
will not change with circumstances nor admit of different interpre
tations, I expect to be judged. If they will not acquit me, in your
estimation, it will be a source of regret ; but I shall hope notwith
standing, as I did not seek the office with which you have honored
me, that charity may throw her mantle over my want of abilities to
do better — that the gray hairs of a man who has, excepting the in
terval between the close of the Revolutionary War and the organiza
tion of the new government — either in a civil, or military character,
spent five and forty years — All the prime of his life — in serving
his country, be suffered to pass quietly to the grave — and that his
errors, however numerous, if they are not criminal, may be con
signed to the tomb of oblivion, as he himself soon will be to the
mansions of retirement.
To err is the lot of humanity, and never for a moment, have I
ever had the presumption to suppose that I had not a full proportion
of it. Infallibility not being the attribute of man, we ought to be
cautious in censuring the opinions and conduct of one another. To
avoid intentional error in my public conduct has been my constant
endeavor ; and I set malice at defiance to charge me justly, with the
commission of a wilful one ; or, with the neglect of any public duty,
which in my opinion ought to have been performed, since I have
been in the administration of the government, — an administration
which I do not hesitate to pronounce — the infancy of the 'government,
and all other circumstances considered — that has been as difficult,
deUcate, and trying as may occur again in any futui-e period of our
history; through the whole of which I have to the best of my
judgment, and with the best information and advice I could obtain.

182 APPENDIX.
consulted the true and permanent interest of my country without
regard to local considerations — to individuals — to parties — or to
nations. To conclude, and I feel proud in having it in my power to do so
with truth, that it was not from ambitious views ; it was not from
ignorance of the hazard to which I knew I was exposing my repu
tation ; it was not from an expectation of pecuniary compensation,
that I have yielded to the calls of my country ; and that, if my
country has derived no benefit from my services, my fortune, in a
pecuniary point of view, has received no augmentation from my
country. But in delivering this last sentiment, let me be unequivo
cally understood as not intending to express any discontent on my
part, or to imply any reproath on my country on that account.
[The first would be untrue — the other ungrateful. And no occasion
more fit than the present may ever occur perhaps to declare, as I
now do declare, that nothing but the principle upon which I set out,
and from which I have in no instance departed, not to receive more
from the public than my expenses, has restrained the bounty of
several legislatures at the close of the war with Great Britain
from adding considerably to my pecuniary resources.]* I retire
from the chair of government no otherwise benefitted in this par
ticular than what you have all experienced from the increased value
of property, flowing from the peace and prosperity with which our
country has been blessed amidst tumults which have harassed and
involved other countries in all the hori-ors of war. I leave you with
undefiled hands, an uncorrupted heart, and with ardent vows to
Heaven for the welfare and happiness of that country in which I
and my forefathers, to the third or fourth progenitor, drew our first
breath.
G— Washington.

* In the margin of Ijiis passage, which is here bracketed, Washington wrote : " This
may or not be omitted." The brackets are not in the copy of Washington's drauglit.

APPENDIX. 2g3
No. II.
FAREWELL ADDRESS.
ABSTRACT OP POINTS TO FORM AN ADDRESS.*
Hamilton's "Works, Vol. -VII, p. 570. 1796.
I. The period of a new election approaching, it is his duty to an
nounce his intention to decline.
II. He had hoped that long ere this it would have been in his
power, and particularly had nearly come to a final resolution in the
year 1792 to do it, but the peculiar situation of affairs, and advice
of confidential friends, dissuaded.
III. In acquiescing in a further election he still hoped a year or
two longer would have enabled him to withdraw, but a continuance
of causes has delayed till now, when the position of our country,
abroad and at home, justifies him in pursuing his inclination.
IV. In doing it he has not been unmindful of his relations as a
dutiful citizen to his country, nor is now influenced by the smallest
diminution of zeal for its interest or gratitude for its past kindness,
but by a belief that the step is compatible with both.
V. The impressions under which he first accepted were explained
on the proper occasion.
VI. In the execution of it he has contributed the best exertions
of a very fallible judgment — anticipated his insufficiency — expe
rienced his disqualifications for the difficult trust, and every day a
stronger sentiment from that cause to yield the place — advance into
the decline of life — every day more sensible of weight of years, of
the necessity of repose, of the duty to seek retirement, &c. Add,

¦This indorsement, together witli the whole of this paper, is copied from a draught
in Hamilton's hand. — Ed.

184 APPENDIX.
VII. It will be among the purest enjoyments which can sweeten
the remnant of his days, to partake in a private station, in the
midst of his fellow-citizens, the laws of a free government, the ulti
mate object of his cares and wishes.
VIII. As to rotation.
IX. In contemplating the moment of retreat, cannot forbear to
express his deep acknowledgments and debt of gratitude for the
many honors conferred on him — the steady confidence which, even
amidst discouraging scenes and efforts to poison its source, has ad
hered to support him, and enabled him to be useful — ^marking, if
well placed, the virtue and -wisdom of his countrymen. All the
return he can now make must be in the vows he wUl carry with him
to his retirement : 1st, for a continuance of the Divine beneficence
to his country ; 2d, for the perpetuity of their union and brotherly
affection — for a good administration insured by a happy union of
watchfulness and confidence ; 3d, that happiness of people under
auspices of liberty may be complete ; 4th, that by a prudent use of
the blessing they may recommend to the affection, the praise, and
the adoption, of every nation yet a stranger to it.
X. Perhaps here he ought to end. But an unconquerable solici
tude for the happiness of his country will not permit him to leave
the scene without availing himself of whatever confidence may
remain in him, to strengthen some sentiments which he believes to
be essential to their happiness, and to recommend some rules of con
duct, the importance of which his own experience has more than
ever impressed upon him.
XI. To consider the Union as the rock of their salvation, pre
senting summarily these ideas :
1. The strength and greater security from external danger.
2. Internal peace, and avoiding the necessity of establishments
S^ety, pea»., dangerous to liberty.
and liberty and ^
commerce. 3. Avoids the effects of foreign intrigue.
4. Breaks the force of faction by rendering combinations more
difficult.

APPENDIX. 185
Fitness of the parts for each other by their very discrimina
tions :
1. The North, by its capacity for maritime strength and manu
facture. 2. The agricultural South furnishing materials and requiring
those protections.
The Atlantic board to the western country by the strong interest
of peace, and
The Western, by the necessity of Atlantic maritime protection.
Cannot be secure of their great outlet otherwise — cannot trust a
foreign connection.
Solid interests invite to union. Speculation of difficulty of
government ought not to be indulged, nor momentary jealousies —
lead to impatience.
Faction and individual ambition are the only advisers of disunion.
Let confidence be cherished. Let the recent experience of the
West be a lesson against impatience and distrust.
XII. Cherish the actual government. It is the government of
our own choice, free in its principles, the guardian of our common
rights, the patron of our common interests, and containing within
itself a provision for its own amendment.
But let that provision be cautiously used — ^not abused ; changing
only in any material points as experience shall direct ; neither in
dulging speculations of too much or too little force in the system ;
and remembering always the extent of our country.
Time and habit of great consequence to every government, of
whatever structure.
Discourage the spirit of faction, the bane of free government;
and particularly avoid founding it, on geographical discriminations.
Discountenance slander of public men. Let the departments of
government avoid interfering and mutual encroachment.
XIII. Morals, religion, industry, commerce, economy.
Cherish public credit — source of strength and security.
Adherence to systematic views.

186 APPENDIX.
XrV. Cherish good faith, justice, and peace, with other nations :
1. Because religion and morality dictate it.
2. Because policy dictates it.
If these could exist, a nation invariably honest and faithful, the
benefits would be immense.
But avoid national antipathies or national attachments.
Display the evils ; fertile source of wars — instrument of ambitious
rulers. XV. Republics peculiarly exposed to foreign intrigue, those sen
timents lay them open to it.
XVI. The great rule of our foreign politics ought to be to have
as little political connection as possible with foreign nations.
Cultivating commerce with all by gentle and
EstabliEhing temporary and . , j.jr* JJ' T' "a
convenient rule, that com- natural mcans, diffusing and diversifymg it,
mereemaybepiacedonasta, i^t forc in a nothing— And chcrish the sentunent
Die footing; merchants know .' ./ tj
their commerce; bow to snp- gf independence, taking pride in the appeUa-
port them, not seeking ^t-ors. tion of American.
XVn. Our separation from Europe renders standing alliances
inexpedient — subjecting our peace and interest to the primary and
complicated relations of European interests.
Keeping constantly in view to place ourselves upon a respect
able defensive, and if forced into controversy, trusting to con
nections of the occasion.
XVIII. Our attitude imposing and rendering this policy safe.
But this must be with the exception of existing engagements, to
be preserved but not extended.
XIX. It is not expected that these admonitions can control the
course of the human passions, but if they only moderate them in
some instances, and now and then excite the refiections of virtuous
men heated by party spirit, my endeavor is rewarded.
XX. How far, in the administration of my present office my con
duct has conformed to these principles, the public records must
witness. My conscience assui-es me that I believed myself to be
guided by them.

APPENDIX. 187
XXI. Particularly in relation to the present war, the proclama
tion of the 22d of April, 1793, is the key to my plan.
Touch sentimenta Approved by your voice and that of your represent-
with regard to . .
conduct of bei- ativcs in Congrcss, the spirit of that measure has con-
A"™Lh''°'that tinually guided me, uninfluenced by, and regardless of,
faXh ^ OT- ^^^ complaints and attempts of any of the powers at
ernment. yf^j- ^j- their partisans to change them.
I thought our coimtry had a right under all the cir-
lirae everything, cumstancos to take this grouud, and I was resolved as
far as depended on me to maintain it firmly.
XXII. However, in reviewing the course of my administration,
I may be unconscious of intentional errors, I am too sensible of my
own deficiencies not to believe that I may have fallen into many.
I deprecate the evils to which they may tend, and pray Heaven to
avert or mitigate and abridge them. I carry with me, nevertheless,
the hope that my motives will continue to be viewed with indulgence,
that after forty-five years of my life devoted to public service, with
a good zeal and upright views, the faults of deficient abilities will
be consigned to oblivion, and myself must soon be to the mansions
of rest.
XXIII. Neither interest nor ambition has been my impelling
motive. I never abused the power confided to me — I have not bet
tered my fortune, retiring with it, no otherwise improved than by
the influence on property of the common blessings of my country : —
I retire with undefiled hands and an uncorrupted heart, and with
ardent vows for the welfare of that country, which has been the
native soil of myself and my ancestors iorfour generations.

188 APPENDIX..No. III.
HAMILTON'S ORIGINAL DRAUGHT OF AN ADDRESS.*
Hamilton's Works, Vol. VII, p. 575.
[Memorandum. — The clauses in this reprint which are inclosed by
brackets, with an exception of four words in the 26th paragraph,
that are bracketed in Hamilton's works, show the origin of the
cancelled passages in Washington's autograph copy of the Farewell
Address. The original of this draught is indorsed by Hamilton,
"Copy of the original draught considerably amended."'\ August, 1796.
The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the execu
tive government of the United States, being not very 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 for another term, it appears to me proper, and 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, nevertheless,! to be assured that the resolution which
I announce, has not been taken without a strict regard to all the
considerations attached toJ the relation which, as a dutiful citizen,
I bear§ to my|| country, and that in withdrawing the tender of my
service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced
by no diminution of zeal for its future interest, nor by any deficiency

* This is a copy of .the original draught in Hamilton's autograph. The notes
embrace the final alterations in this draught, but there are many previous erasures
which can only be given in a fac-simile. — Ed.
•f- at the same time. J connected with — inseparable from — incident to.
§ bears. || his.

APPENDIX. 189
of grateful respect for its past kindness, but by a full conviction
that such a step is compatible with both.
The acceptance of, and the continuance hitherto in the office to
which your suffrages have twice called me, has been a uniform sacri
fice of private inclination to* the opinion of public duty coinciding
with what appeared to be your wishes. I had 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 those-f motives had reluctantly drawn me.
The strength of my desire to withdraw previous to the last elec
tion, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to
you, but deliberatej reflection on the very critical and perplexed
posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice
of men§ every way entitled to my confidence, obliged|| me to aban
don the idea.
I rejoice that the state of your national concerns, external as well
as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of my inclination incom
patible with the sentiment of duty or propriety, andf that whatever
partiality any portion of you may still retain for my services, they,
under the existing circumstances of our country, will not disapprove
the** resolutionf f I have formed.
The impressions under which I first accepted the arduous trust of
Chief Magistrate of the United States, were explained on the proper
occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I can only say that I have,
with pure intentions, contributed towards the organization and ad
ministration of the government the best exertions of which a very
fallible judgment was capable ; that conscious atJJ the outset of the
inferiority of my qualifications for the station, experience in my
own eyes, and perhaps still more in those of others, has not dimi-

* combined with a deference for.
? persons.
** my.

t they.

{ mature.

11 impelled.

IT whatever,

fj- to retire.

ttin-

190 APPENDIX.
nished in me the diffidence of myself — and every day the increasing
weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of
retirement is as necessary* as it will be welcome to me. Satisfied
that if any circumstances have given a peculiar value to my services,
they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that while
inclination and prudence urge me to recede from the political scene,
patriotism does not forbid it. [May I also have that of knowing in
myf retreat, that the involuntary errors which I have probably
committed, have been the causes of no serious or lasting mischief to
my country, and thus be spared the anguish of regrets which would
disturb the repose of my retreat and embitter the remnant of my
life ! I may then expect to realize, without alloy, the pure enjoy
ment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, of the benign
influence of good laws under a free government ; the ultimate object
of all my wishes, and to which I look as the happy rewardj of our
mutual labors and dangers.]
In looking forward to the moment which is to terminate the
career of my public life, my sensations do not permit me to sus
pend the deep acknowledgments required by that debt of gratitude,
which I owe to my beloved country, for the many honors it has con
ferred upon me, still more for the distinguished and steadfast confi
dence it has reposed in me, and for the opportunities it has thus
afforded me§ of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services
faithful and persevering — however the inadequateness of my faculties
may have ill-seconded my|| zeal. If benefits have resulted to you,
my fellow-citizens, from these services, let it always be remembered
to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that the
constancy of your support amidst appearances^f dubious, vicissitudes
of fortune often discouraging, and in situations in which, not unfre-

* to me. t retirement. J 1 hope. § I have thence enjoyed.
II have rendered their efforts unequal to ray — disproportional.
U under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable
to the greatest fluctuations.

APPENDIX. 191
quently, want of success has seconded the criticisms of malevolence,*
was the essential prop of the efforts and the guarantee of the mea
sures by which they were achieved.
Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to
my retirement, and to my grave, as a lively incitement to unceasing
vows (the only returns I can henceforth make) that Heaven may
continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence, merited by
national piety and morality — that your union and brotherly affec
tion may be perpetual — that the free Constitution, which is the
work of your own hands, may be sacredly maintained — that its ad
ministration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and
virtue — that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States,
under the auspices of liberty may be made complete, by so careful
a preservation, and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire
them the glorious satisfaction of recommending it to the affection —
the praise — 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 fear that there may
exist projects unfriendly to it, against which it may be necessary
you should be guarded, urge me in taking leave of you, to offer to
your solemn consideration and frequent review, some sentiments, the
result of mature reflection confirmed by observation and experience,
which appear to me essential to the permanency of your felicity as
a people. These will be offered with the more freedom, as you can
only see in them the disinterested advice of a parting friend, who
can have no personal motive to tincture or bias his counsel.
Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every fibre of your
hearts, no recommendation is necessary to fortify your attachment
TO IT. Next to this, that unity of government which constitutes
you one people, claims your vigilant care and guardianship — as a

* sometimes.

192 APPENDIX.
main pillar of your real independence, of your peace, safety, free
dom, and happiness.
[This being the point in your political fortress, against which the
batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly
and actively, however covertly and insidiously levelled, it is of the
utmost importance that you should appreciate, in its full force, the
immense value of your political union to your national and individual
happiness — that you should cherish towards it an affectionate and
immovable attachment, and that you should watch for its preserva
tion with jealous solicitude.]
For this, you have every motive of sympathy and interest.
Children for the most part of a common country, that country
claims and ought to concentrate your affections. The name of
American must always gratify and exalt the just pride of patriotism,
more than any denomination which can be derived from local discri
minations. You have with slight shades of difference the same
religion, manners, habits, and political institutions and principles —
you have, in a common cause, fought and triumphed together. The
independence and liberty you enjoy are the work of joint councils,
efforts, dangers, sufferings, and successes. By your union you
achieved them, by your union you will most effectually maintain
them. The considerations which address themselves to your sensibility,
are greatly* strengthenedf by those which apply to youi: interest.
Here, every portion of our country will find the most urgent and
commanding motives for guarding and preserving the union of the
whole. The North inj intercourse with the South under the equal laws
of one government, will, in the productions of the latter, many of
them peculiar, find vast additional resources of maritime and com
mercial enterprise. § The South, in the same intercourse, will share

* even. f outweighed. J free and unfettered.
§ and precious materials of their manufacturing industry.

APPENDIX. 193
in the benefits of the agency of the North, will find its agriculture
promoted and its commerce extended by turning into its own chan
nels those means of navigation which the North more abundantly
affords ; and while it contributes to extend the national navigation,
will participate in the protection of a maritime strength to which
itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with
the West,* finds a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings
from abroad or manufactures at home. The West derives through
this channel an essential supply of its wants ; and what is far more
uuportant to it, it must owe the secure and permanent enjoyment of
the indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight,
mfluence, and maritime resources of the Atlantic States.f The
tenure by which it could hold this advantage either from its own
separate strength, or by an apostate and unnatural connection with
any foreign nation, must be intrinsically and necessarily precarious,
[at every moment liable to be disturbed by thej combinations of
those primary§ interests which constantly regulate the conduct of
every portion of Europe,] and where every part finds a particular
interest in the Union. All the parts of our country will find in
their Union|| strength, proportional security from external danger,
less frequent interruption of their peace with foreign nations ; and
what is far more valuable, an exemption from those broils and wars
between the parts if disunited, which, then, our rivalships, fomented
by foreign intrigue or the opposite alliances with foreign nations
engendered by their mutual jealousies, would inevitably produce. Tf
These considerations speak a conclusive language to every vir-

* and in the progressive improvement of internal navigation will more and more find.
t directed by an indissoluble community of interests.
J fluctuating. § European.
II greater independence, from the superior abundance and variety of production inci
dent to the diversity of soil and climate. All the parts of it must find in the aggregate
assemblage and reaction of their mutual population — production.
IT consequent exemption from the necessity of those military establishments upon a
large scale, which bear in every country so inenacing an aspect towards liberty.
13

194 APPENDIX.
tuous and considerate mind. They place the continuance of our
Union among the first objects of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt
whether a common government can long embrace so extensive a
sphere ? Let time and experience decide the question. Speculation
in such a case ought not to be listened to. And 'tis rational to
hope that the auxiliary* governments of the subdivisions, with a
proper organization of the whole, will secure a favorable issue to
the experiment. ['Tis allowable to believe that the spirit of party,
the intrigues of foreign nations, the corruption and the ambition of
individuals, are likely to prove more formidable adversaries to the
unity of our empire, than any inherent difficulties in the scheme.
'Tis against these that the guardsf of national opinion, national
sympathy, national prudence and virtue, are to be erected.] With
such obvious motives to union, there will be always cause from the
fact itself to distrust the patriotism of those whoj may endeavor to
weaken its bands. And by all the love I bear you, my fellow-
citizens, I conjure§ you, as|| often as it appears, to fro-wn upon the
attempt. [Besides the more serious causes which have been hinted at, as
endangering our Union, there is another less dangerous, but against
which it is necessary to be on our guard ; I mean the petulance of
partyT differences of opinion. It is not uncommon to hear the irri
tations which these excite, vent themselves in declarations that the
different parts of the Union are ill-assorted and cannot remain
together — in menaces from the inhabitants of one part to those of
another, that it will be dissolved by this or that measui-e. Intima
tions of the kind are as indiscreet as they are intemperate. Though
frequently made with levity and without being in earnest, they have
a tendency to produce the consequence which they indicate. They
teach the minds of men to consider the Union as precarious, as an

* agency of. -j- mounds.
J in any quarter. § exhort — (written first.)
II "often" — instead of "far." If collisions and disgusts.

APPENDIX. 195
object to which they are not to attach their hopes and fortunes, and
thus weaken the sentiment in its favor. By rousing the resentment
and alarming the pride of those to whom they are addressed, they
set ingenuity to work to depreciate the value of the object, and to
discover motives of indifference to it. This is not wise. Prudence
demands that we should habituate ourselves in all our words and
actions to reverence the Union as a sacred and inviolable palladium
of our happiness, and should discountenance whatever can lead to a
suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned.]
['Tis matter of serious concern that parties in this country, for
some time past, have been too much characterized by geographical
discriminations — Northern and Southern States, Atlantic and
Western country. These discriminations,* which are the mere
artifice of the spirit of party, (always dexterous to avail itself of
every source of sympathy, of every handle by which the passions
can be taken hold of, and which has been careful to turn to account
the circumstance of territorial vicinity,J) have furnished an argu
ment against the Union as evidence of a real difference of local
interests and views, and serve to hazard it, by organizing large
districts of country under the direction of § different factions, whose
passions and prejudices, rather than the true interests of the coun
try, will be too apt to regulate the use of their influence. If it be
possible to correct this poison in the affairs of our country, it is
worthy the best endeavors of moderate and virtuous men to effect it.]
One of the expedients which the partisans of faction employ to
wards strengthening their influence by local discriminations,]! is to
misrepresent the opinions and views of rival districts. The people
at large cannot be too much on their guard against the jealousies
which grow out of these misrepresentations. They tend to render
ahens to each other those who ought to be tied together by fraternal
affection. The western country have lately had a useful lesson on

* of party. f sympathy of. J neighborhood.
§ the leaders of. || within local spheres.

196 APPENDIX.
this subject. They have seen in the negotiation by the Executive,
and in the unanimous ratification of the treaty with Spain by the
Senate, and in the universal satisfaction at that event in all parts of
the country, a decisive proof how unfounded have been the suspi
cions instilled* in them of a policy in the Atlantic States, and in
the different departments of the General Government, hostile to
their interests in relation to the Mississippi. They have seen two
treaties formed, which secure to them everything that they could
desire to confirm their prosperity. Will they not henceforth rely
for the preservation of these advantages on that Union by which
they were procured ? Will they not reject those counsellors who
would render them alien to their brethren and connect them with
aliens ?
To the duration and efficacy of your Union, a government ex
tending over the wh61e is indispensable. No alliances, however
strict, between the parts could be an adequate substitute. These
could not fail to be liable to the infractions and interruptions which
all alliances in all times have suffered. Sensible of this important
truth, you have lately established a Constitution of general govern
ment, better calculated than the former for an intimate union, and
more adequate to the duration of your common concerns. This
government, the offspring of your own choice, uninfluenced and
unawed, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its
powers, uniting energy with safety, and containing in itself a provi
sion for its own amendment, is well entitled to your confidence and
support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acqui
escence in its measures, f are duties dictated 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 for the time, and until changed
by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly
binding upon all. The very idea of the right and power of the
* propagated among. f ordinary management of affairs to be left to represent

APPENDIX. 197
people to establish government, presupposes the duty of every indi
vidual to obey the established government.
All obstructions to the execution of the laws — all co7nbinations
and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real
design to counteract,* control, f or awe the regularj action of the
constituted authorities, are contrary to this fundamental principle,
and of the most fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction,§
and to put in the stead of the delegated will of the whole nation the
will of a party, often a small|| minority of the whole community ;
and according to the alternate triumph of different parties, to make
the public administration reflect theli schemes and projects of fac
tion rather than the wholesome plans of common councils and deli
berations. However combinations or associations of this description
may occasionally promote popular ends and purposes, they are likely
to produce, in the course of time and things, the most effectual
engines by which artful, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be
enabled to subvert the power of the people and usurp the reins of
government. Towards the preservation of your government and the permanency
of your present happy state, it is not only requisite that you steadily
discountenance irregular oppositions to its authority, but that you
should be on your guard against the spirit of innovation upon its
prmciples, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault
may be, to effect alterations in the forms of the Constitution tend-
mg to impair the energy of the system, and so to undermine what
cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you
may be invited, remember that time and habit are as necessai-y to
fix the true character of governments as of any other human insti
tutions ; that experience is the sui-est standard by which the real
tendency of existing constitutions of government can be tried ; that

* direct. t influence.
t deUberation or. § to give it an artificial force.
II but artful and enterprising. ^ ill-concerted.

198 APPENDIX.
changes upon* the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion exposes
you to perpetual change from the successive and endless variety of
hypothesis and opinion. And remember also,t that for the effica
cious management of your common interests, in a country so exten
sive as ours, a government of as much force and strength as is
consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable.
Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly
distributed and arranged, its surest guardian and protector. [In
my opinion, the real danger in our system is, that the General
Government, organized as at present, will prove too weak, rather
than too powerful.]
I have already observed the danger to be apprehended from
founding our parties on geographical discriminations. Let me now
enlarge the view of this point, and caution you in the most solemn
manner against the baneful effects of party spirit in general. This
spirit unfortunately is inseparable from human nature, and has its
root in the strongest passions of the human heart. It exists under
different shapes in all governments, butj in those of the popular
form it is always seen in its utmost vigor and rankness, and is their
worst enemy. [In republics of narrow extent, it is not difficult for
those who at any time possess the reins of administration, or even
for partial combinations of men, who from birth, riches, and other
sources of distinction, have an extraordinary influence, by possess
ing or acquiring the direction of the military force, or by sudden
efforts of partisans and followers to overturn the estabhshed order
of things, and effect a usurpation. But in republics of large extent,
the one or the other is scarcely possible. The powers and opportu
nities of resistance of a numerous and wide-extended nation defy
the successful efforts of the ordinary military force, or of any col-
lections§ which wealth and patronage may call to their aid, espe
cially if there be no city of overbearing force, resources, and influ-

* facility in. ¦}¦ always.
J in different degrees stifled, controlled, or repressed. § assemblages.

APPENDIX. 199
ence. In such republics it is perhaps safe to assert, that the conflicts
of popular faction offer the only avenues to tyranny and usurpation.]
The domination of one faction over another, stimulated by that
spirit of revenge which is apt to be gradually engendered, ^and which
in different ages and countries has produced the greatest enormities,
is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more
formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which
result, predispose the minds of men to seek repose and security in
the absolute power of a single man ; and the* leader of a prevailing
faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this
disposition to the purposes of an ambitious and criminal self-aggran
dizement. Without looking forward to such an extremity (which, however,
ought not to be out of sight), the ordinary and continual mischiefs
of the spirit of party make it the interest and the duty of a wise
people to discountenance and repress it.
It serves always to distract the councils and enfeeble the-admi-
nistration of the government. It agitates the community with
ill-founded jealousies and false alarms.f It opens inlets for foreign
corruption and influence, which find an easy access [through the
channels of party passions, and cause the true policy and interest
of our own country to be made subservient to the policy and interest
of one and another foreign nation ; sometimes enslaving our own
government to the will of a foreign government].
There is an opinion that parties in free countries are salutary
checks upon the administration of the government, and serve to
invigorate the spirit of liberty. This, within certain limits, is true ;
and in governments of a monarchical character or bias, patriotism
may look with some favor on the spirit of party. But in those of
the popular kind, in those purely elective, it is a spirit not to be

¦ some.

t embittering one part of the community against another, and producing occasionally
riot and insurrection.

200 APPENDIX.
fostered or encouraged. From the natural tendency of such govern
ments, it is certain there will always be enough of it for every salu
tary purpose, and there being constant danger of excess, the effort
ought to be, by the force of public opinion, to mitigate and correct
it. 'Tis a fire which *cannot be quenched, but demandsf a uniform
vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame — lest it should not
only warm, but consume.
It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking of the
people should tend to produce caution in their public agents in the
several departments of government, to retain each within its proper
sphere, and not to permit one to encroach upon another, — that
every attempt of the kind, from whatever quarter, should meet with
the discountenancej of the community, and that, in every case in
which a precedent of encroachment shall have been given, a cor
rective be sought in [revocation be effected by] a careful attention
to the next choice§ of public agents. The spirit of encroachment
tends to absorb|| the powers of the several branches and depart
ments into one, and thus to establish, under whatever forms, a
despotism. A just knowledge of the human heart, of that love
of power which predominates in it, is alone sufficient to estab
lish this truth. Experiments, ancient and modern, some in our
own country and under our own eyes, serve to confirm it.
If, in the public opinion, the distribution of the constitutional
powers be in any instance wrong, or inexpedient — ^let it be corrected
by the authority of the people in a legitimate constitutional course.
Let there be no change by usurpation, for though this may be the
instrument of good in one instance, it is the ordinary^f instrument
of the destruction** of free government — and the infiuence of the
precedent is always infinitely more pernicious than anything which
it may achieve can be beneficial.

• not to. t demanding. J reprobation.
§ election. II and consolidate. IT and natural.
** death.

APPENDIX. 201
In all those dispositions which promote political happiness,* reli
gion and morality are essential props. In vain does hef claim the
praise of patriotism, who labors to subvert or undermine these great
pillars of human happiness, these firmest foundations of the duties
of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious
man, ought to respect and cherish them. A volume could not trace
all their connections with private and public happiness.
Let it simply be asked, where is the security for property, for
reputation, for life, if the sense of moral and religious obligation
deserts the oaths which are ^administered in 'courts of justice?
Nor ought we to flatter ourselves that morality can be separated
from religion. Concede as much as may be asked to the effect of
refined education in minds of peculiar structure — can we believe —
can we in prudence suppose that national morality can be maintained
in exclusion of religious principles ? Does it not require the aid of
a generally received and divinely authoritative religion ?
'Tis essentially true that virtue or morality is a main and neces
sary spring of popular or republican governments. The rule, indeed,
extends with more or less force to all free governments. Who that
is a prudent and sincere friend to them, can look with indifference
on the ravages which are making in the foundation of the fabric —
rehgion ? The uncommon means which of late have been directed
to this fatal end, seem to make it in a particular manner the duty
of the retiring chief of a nation to warn his country against tasting
of the poisonous draught.
[Cultivate, also, industry and frugality. They are auxiliaries of
good morals, and great sources of private and national prosperity.
Is there not room for regret, that our propensity to expense exceeds
the maturity of our country for expense ? Is there not more luxury
among us, in various classes, than suits the actual period of our
national progress ? Whatever may be the apology for luxury in a
country mature in all the arts which are its ministers and the means
Of national opulence, can it promote the advantage of a young agri-

* prosperity. t Aat man. J instruments of investigation.

202 APPENDIX.
cultural country, httle advanced in manufactures, and not much
advanced in wealth ?*]
Cherish public credit as a mean of strength and security. As
one method of preserving it, use it as little as possible. Avoid oc
casions of expense by cultivating peace, — remembering always that
the preparation against danger, by timely and provident disburse
ments, is often a mean of avoiding greater disbursements to repel it.
Avoid the accumulation of debt by avoiding occasions of expense,
and by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the debts
which unavoidable' wars may have occasioned, not transferring to
posterity the burthen which we ought to bear ourselves. RecoUect,
that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue, that to
have revenue there must be taxes, that it is impossible to devise
taxes which are not, more or less, inconvenient and unpleasant — that
they are always a choice of difficulties — that the intrinsic embarrass
ment which never fails to attend a selection of objects, ought to be
a motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government
in making it — and that a spirit of acquiescence in those measures
for obtaining revenue which the public exigencies dictate, is, in an
especial manner, the duty and interest of the citizens of every
State. [Cherish good faith and justice towards, and peace and harmony
with, all nations. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct, and
it cannot be but that true policy equally demands 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 invariably governed byf those exalted views. Who can
doubt that in a long course of time and events the fruits of such a
conduct would richly repay any temporary advantages which might
be lost by a steady adherence to the plan ? Can it be that Provi
dence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its
virtue ? The experiment is recommended by every sentiment which

* in the infancy of the arts, and certainly not in the manhood of wealth.
¦j" exalted justice and benevolence.

APPENDIX. 203
ennobles human nature. — Alas ! is it rendered impossible by its
vices ?
Towards the execution of such a plan, *nothing is more essential
than that fantipathies against particular nations and passionate at
tachments for others, should be avoided — and that instead of them
we should cultivate just and amicable feelings towards all 
That nation, which indulges towards another an habitual hatred or
an habitual fondness is, in some degree, a slave  It is a
slave to its animosity, or to its affection — either of which is sufficient
to lead it astray from its duty and interest. [Antipathy against one
nation, which never fails to beget a similar sentiment in the other,]
disposes each more readily to offer injury and insult to the other, to
lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and un-
tractable, when accidental or trifling differences arise. Hence fre
quent quarrels| and bitter and obstinate contests. The nation,
urged by resentment and rage, sometimes impels the government to
war, contrary to its own calciilations of policy. The government
sometimes participates in this propensity, and does through passion,
what reason would forbid at other times ; it makes the animosity of
the nations subservient to hostile projects, which originate in ambi
tion and other sinister motives. The peace, often, and sometimes
the liberty of nations, has been the victim of this cause.
In like manner,§ a passionate attachment of one nation to another
produces multiplied ills. Sympathy for the favorite nation, pro-
motingll the illusion of a supposed common interest, in cases where
it does not exist, ^[the enmities of the one betrays into a participa
tion in its quarrels and wars, without adequate inducements or jus
tifications. It leads to the concession of privileges to one nation.

* it is very material.
t that while we entertain proper impressions of particular cases, of friendly or un
friendly conduct of different foreign nations towards us, we nevertheless avoid fixed
and rooted antipathies against any, or passionate attachments for any ; instead of these
cultivating, as a general rule, just and amicable feelings towards all.
I broils. § So likewise. |1 facilitating. IT and communicating to one.

204 APPENDIX.
and to the denial of them to others — which is apt doubly to injure
the nation making the concession, by an unnecessary yielding of
what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will,
and retaliation in the party from whom an equal privilege is with
held. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted* citizens, who devote
themselves to the views of the favorite foreign power, facility in
betraying or sacrificing the interests of their own country, even
with popularity,! gilding withj
As avenues to foreign infiuence in innumerable ways, such attach
ments are peculiarly alarming to the enlightened, independent pa
triot. How many opportunities do they afford to intrigue with
domestic factions, to practise with success the arts of seduction, to
mislead§ the public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils?
Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and power
ful nation, destines the former to revolve round the latter as its
satellite. Against the mischiefs of foreign influence all the jealousy of a
free people ought to be constantly|| exerted ;Tf but the jealousy of it
to be useful must be impartial, else it becomes an instrument of the
very influence to be avoided instead of a defence** agakist it.
Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive dislike
of another, leads to see danger only on one side, and serves to
veilf f the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots, who resist
the intrigues of the favorite, become suspected and odious. Its tools
and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people to betray
their interests.
The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations.

* or deluded. f without odium.
f the appearance of a virtuous impulse, the base yieldings of ambition or corruption.
§ " mislead "for " misdirect." || continually.
IT all history and experience in different ages and nations has proved that foreign
influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government.
¦** guard. ff and second.

APPENDIX. 205
ought to be to have as little political connection with, them as -pos
sible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be
fulfilled with circumspection, indeed, but with perfect good faith ;
here* let it stop.
Europe has a set of primary interests, which have none or a very
remote relation to us. Hence she must be involved in frequent con
tests, the causes of which will be essentially foreign to us. Hence,
therefore, it must necessarily be unwise on our part to imphcate
ourselves by an artificial connection in the ordinary vicissitudes of
European politics — in the combination and collisions of her friend
ships or enmities.
Our detached and distant situation invites us to a different course,
and enables us to pursue it. If we remain a united people, under
an efficient government, the period is not distant when we may defy
material injury from external annoyance — when we may take
such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we shall at any time
resolve to observe, to be violated with caution — when it will be the
interest of belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making
acquisitions upon us, to be very careful how either forced us to
throw our weight into the opposite scale — when we may choose
peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall dictate.
Why should we forego the advantages of so felicitous a situation ?
Why quit our own ground to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, by
interweaving our destiny with any part of Europe, should we en
tangle our prosperity and peace in the nets of European ambition,
rivalship, interest, or caprice ?
Permanent alliance, intimate connection with any part of the
foreign world, is to be avoided ; so far, I mean, as we are now at
liberty to do it ; for let me never be understood as patronizing infi
delity to pre-existing engagements. These must be observed in
their true and genuine sense. f

• but there.
t But 'tis not necessary, nor will it be prudent, to extend them. 'Tis our true policy

206 APPENDIX.
Harmony, liberal intercourse, and commerce with all nations, are
recommended by justice, humanity, and interest. But even our
commercial policy should hold an equal hand, neither seeking nor
granting exclusive favors or preferences — consulting the natural
course of things — diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the
streams of commerce, but forcing nothing — establishing ¦with powers
so disposed* temporaryf rules of iotercourse, the best that present
circumstances and mutual opinion of interest will permit, but tem
porary ; and hable to be abandoned or varied, as time, experience,
and future circumstances may dictate — rememberingj that it is folly
in one nation to expect disinterested favor in another — that to
accept§ is to part vrith a portion of its independence, and that it
may find itself in the condition of having given equivalents for
nominal favors, and of being reproached 'with ingratitude in the
bargain. There can be no greater error in national policy than to
desire, expect, or calculate upon real favors. 'Tis an illusion that
experience must cure, that a just pride ought to discard.
In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and
affectionate friend — counsels suggested by laborious reflection, and
matured by a various experience, I dare not hope that they will
make the strong and lasting impressions I wish — that they ¦will con
trol the current of the passions or prevent our nation from running
the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of all nations.
But|| if they may even produce partial benefit, some occasional
good . . . that they sometimes recur to moderate the violence of
party spirit — to warn against the evils of foreign intrigue — to guard

as a general principle, to avoid permanent or close alliances. Taking care always to
keep ourselves by suitable establishments in a respectably defensive position, we may
safely trust to occasional alliances for extraordinary emei^encies.
* In order to give to trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and
enable the government to support them.
¦f and conventional. t always.
§ any thing under that character. || I may flatter myself.

APPENDIX. 207
against the impositions of pretended patriotism — the having offered
them, must always afford me a precious consolation.
How far in the execution of my present office I have been guided
by the principles which have been recommended,* the public records
and the external evidences of my conduct must witness. My con
science assures me that I have at least believed myself to be guided
by them.
In reference to the present war of Europe, my proclamation of
the 22d of April, 1793, is the key to my plan, sanctioned by your
approving voice, and that of your Representatives in Congress —
the spirit of that measure has continually governed me — uninflu
enced and unawed by the attempts of any of the warring powers,
their agents, or partisans, to deter or divert from it.
After deliberate consideration, and the best lights I could obtain
[and from men who did not agree in their views of the origin, pro
gress, and nature of that war], I was satisfied that our country,
under all the circumstances of the case, had a right and was bound
in propriety and interest to take a neutral position. And having
taken it, I determined asf should depend on me to maintain it
steadily and firmly.J
Though in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am
unconscious of intentional error — I am yet too sensible of my own
deficiencies, not to think it possible§ that I have committed many
errors — [I deprecate the evils to which they may tend] — and fer
vently implore the Almighty to avert or mitigate them. I shall
carry with me, nevertheless, the hope that my motives will continue
to be viewed by my country with indulgence, and that after forty-
five years of my life, devoted with an upright zeal to the public

* " inculcated " for '• recommended." 'J ^s far as.
I Here a large space is found in the draught, evidently left for the insertion of other
matter. § " probable " for " possible."

208 APPENDIX.
service, the faults of inadequate abilities will be consigned to obli
vion, as myself must soon be, to the mansions of rest.
[Neither ambition nor interest has been the impelling cause of my
actions. I never designedly misused any power confided to me.
The fortune with which I came into office, is not bettered otherwise
than by that improvement in the value of property which the
natural progress and peculiar prosperity of our country have pro
duced. I retire* with a pure heart,f with undefiled hands, and
with ardent vows for the happiness of a country, the native soil of
myself and progenitors for four generations.]

* without cause for a blush.
"i" with no alien sentiment to the ardor of those vows for the happiness of his coun.
trv, which is so natural to a citizen who sees in it.

APPENDIX. 209

No. IV.
WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF THE
UNITED STATES.
(The Writings of Washington, vol. xii, p. 214.)
Fkibnds and Fellow-Citizens, —
The period for a new election of a citizen, to administer the
executive government of the United Statee, 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 consi-"
dered 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 silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced
by no diminution of zeal for your future interest ; no deficiency of
grateful respect for your past kindness ; but am supported by a full
conviction that the step is compatible with both.
The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which
your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of
iaclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference for what ap
peared 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 inclina-
14

210 APPENDIX.
tion to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the
preparation of an address to declare it to you ; but mature reflection
on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign
nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my con
fidence, impelled me to abandon the idea.
I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external as well as in
ternal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible
with the sentiment of duty, or propriety ; and am persuaded, what
ever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present
circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determi
nation 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 pohtical scene,
patriotism does not forbid it.
In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to terminate
the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to sus
pend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude, which I
owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred
upon me ; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has
supported me ; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of
manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and per
severing, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have
resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remem-

APPENDIX. 211
bered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals,
that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every
direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes
dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in
which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit
of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop
of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were
effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with
me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that Hea^-
ven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence ; that
your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual ; that the free
constitution, . which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly
maintained; that its administration in every department may be
stamped with wisdom and virtue ; that, in fine, the happiness of the
people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made
complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this
blessing, as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to
the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation, which is
yet a stranger to it.
Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your wel
fare, 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 hgament of your
hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm
the attachment.

212

APPENDIX.

The unity of Government, which constitutes you one people, is
also now dear to you. It is justly so ; for it is a main pillar in the
edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquilhty
at home, your peace abroad ; of your safety ; of your prosperity ;
of that very Liberty, which you so highly prize. But as it is easy
to foresee, that, from different causes and from different quarters^
much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in
your minds the conviction of this truth ; as this is the point in your
political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external
enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly
and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment, that you should
properly estimate the immense value of your national Union to
your collective and individual happiness ; that you should cherish a
cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it ; accustommg
yourselves to think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your
political safety and prosperity ; watching for its preservation with
iealous anxiety ; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a
suspicion, that it can in any event be abandoned ; and indignantly
frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any
portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties
which now link together the various parts.
For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest.
Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has
a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American,
which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt
the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from
local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have
the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You
have in a common cause fought and triumphed together ; the Inde
pendence 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 them
selves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those, which
apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of

APPENDIX. 213
our country finds the most commanding motives for. carefully guard
ing and preserving the Union of the whole.
The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, pro
tected by the equal laws of a common government, finds, in the
productions of the latter, great additional , resources of maritime
and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing
industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the
agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce
expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the
North, it finds its particular navigation in'vigorated ; and, while it
contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general
mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection
of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The
East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the
progressive improvement of interior communications by land and
water, will more and more find, a valuable vent for the commodities
which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West
derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort,
and, what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of neces
sity 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 com
munity of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the
West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its
own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connexion
with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious.
While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate
and particular interest in Union, all the parts combined cannot fail
to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength,
greater resource, proportionably greater security from external
danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign na
tions ; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from
Union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves,
which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together

214 APPENDIX.
by the same governments, which their o'wn rivalships alone would
be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attach
ments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, like
wise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military
establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspi
cious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hos
tile 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 re
flecting 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 expe
rience 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 impracticabihty,
there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those, who
in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands.
In contemplating the causes, which may distui-b oui" Union, it
occurs as matter of serious concern, that any ground should have
been furnished for characterizing parties by Grcoyraphical discrimi
nations. Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence
designing men may endeavor to excite a belief, that there is a real
difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of
party to acquire influence, within particular districts, is to misrepre
sent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield
yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burnings, which
spring from these misrepresentations ; they tend to render alien to
each other those, who ought to be bound together by fraternal affec
tion. The inhabitants of our western country have lately had a

APPENDIX. 215
useful lesson on this head ; they have seen, in the negotiation by
the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of
the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event,
throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were
the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General
Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests
in regard to the Mississippi ; they have been witnesses to the for
mation 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 hence
forth 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, be
tween the parts can be an adequate substitute ; they must inevita
bly 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 Con
stitution 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, unin
fluenced 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 Con
stitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time
exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole
people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power

216 APPENDIX.
and the right of the people to estabhsh Government presupposes
the duty of every individual to obey the established Government.
All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations
and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real
design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular dehbera-
tion and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of
this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to
organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force ; to
put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the ¦will of a
party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the com
munity ; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different par
ties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-con
certed 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 description
may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the
course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cun
ning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert
the power of the people, and to usurp for themselves the reins of
government; destroying afterwards the very engines, which have
hfted them to unjust dominion.
Towards the preservation of your government, and the perma
nency of your present happy state, it Is requisite, not only that you
steadily discountenance Irregular oppositions to its acknowledged
authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of Innovation
upon Its principles, however specious the pretexts.. One method of
assault may be to effect, In the forms of the constitution, alterations,
which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine
what cannot be directly overthro^wn. 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 ;

APPENDIX. 217
that facility In changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and
opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of
hypothesis and opinion ; and remember, especially, that, for the
efficient management of your common Interests, in a country so ex
tensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as Is consistent with
the perfect security of liberty Is Indispensable. Liberty Itself will
find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and
adjusted. Its surest guardian. It Is, Indeed, little else than a name,
where the government is too feeble to withstand the 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 tran
quil enjoyment of the rights of person and property.
I have already Intimated to you the danger of parties in the
state, ¦with particular reference to the founding of them on geogra
phical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive
view, and warn you In the most solemn manner against the baneful
effects of the spirit of party, generally.
This spirit, unfortunately. Is Inseparable from our nature, having
its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists
under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, con
trolled, or repressed ; but, in those of the popular form, It Is seen
in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened
by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in dif
ferent ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormi
ties. 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 for
tunate 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

218 APPENDIX.
continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make It
the Interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the
Public Administration. It agitates the Community with Ill-founded
jealousies and false alarms ; kindles the animosity of one part against
another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the
door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a facihtated
access to the government Itself through the channels of party pas
sions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected
to the policy and will of another.
There is an opinion, that parties In free countries are useful
checks upon the administration of the Government, and serve to
keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is pro
bably true ; and in Governments of a Monarchical cast. Patriotism
may look with Indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party.
But in those of the popular character, in Governments purely elective,
it Is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it
is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salu
tary purpose. And, there being constant danger of excess, the
effort ought to be, by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage
it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to
prevent Its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should
consume. It Is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free
country should Inspire caution, in those Intrusted with its adminis
tration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional
spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to
encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to con
solidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to cre
ate, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just
estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse It, which
predominates in the human heart. Is sufficient to satisfy us of the
truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the
exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing It into dif-

APPENDIX. 219
ferent depositories, and constituting each the Guardian of the Public
Weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experi
ments ancient and modern ; some of them in our country and under
our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to Insti
tute them. If, In the opinion of the people, the distribution or
modification of the constitutional powers be In any particular 'wrong,
let It be corrected by an amendment, in the way which the constitu
tion 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 pros
perity. Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain
would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to
subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props
of the duties of Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally
with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A vo
lume could not trace all their connexions with private and public
fehcity. 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 rehgious 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 struc-

220 APPENDIX.
ture of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential
that public opinion should be enlightened.
As a very Important source of strength and security, cherish
public credit. One method of preserving it Is, to use It as sparingly
as possible ; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but
remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger
frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel It ; avoiding
likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions
of expense, but by vigorous exertions In time of peace to discharge
the debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not unge
nerously throwing upon posterity the burthen, which we ourselves
ought to bear.. The execution of these maxims belongs to your re
presentatives, but It is necessary that public opinion should coope
rate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is
essential that you should practically bear In mind, that towards the
payment of debts there must be Revenue ; that to have Revenue
there must be taxes ; that no taxes can be devised, which are not
more or less inconvenient and unpleasant ; that the intrinsic embar
rassment, 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 Niation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel
example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and bene
volence. Who can doubt, that, in the course of time and things,
the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advan
tages, 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

APPENDIX. 221
every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas ! is It ren
dered Impossible by its vices ?
In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential, than
that permanent. Inveterate antipathies against particular Nations,
and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded ; and that.
In place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be
cultivated. The Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual
hatred, or an habitual fondness, is In some degree a slave. It Is a
slave to Its animosity or to its affection, either of which Is sufficient
to lead It astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy In one
nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and
injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty
and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute
occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody
contests. The Nation, prompted by ill-^wlll and resentment, some
times impels to war the Government, contrary to the best calcula
tions 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 subser
vient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other
sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes per
haps the liberty, of Nations has been the victim.
So hke^wise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for another
produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite Nation,
facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common Interest, In cases
where no real common interest exists, and Infusing Into one the
enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation In the
quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate Inducement or
justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite Nation of
prl^vlleges 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 dis
position to retaliate. In the parties from whom equal prl^vlleges are
withheld. And It gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens.

222 APPENDIX.
(who devote themselves to the favorite nation,) facility to betray
or sacrifice the Interests of their own country, without odium, some
times even with popularity ; gilding, with the appearances of a vir
tuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for pubhc
opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish com
pliances of ambition, corruption, or Infatuation.
As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attach
ments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and inde
pendent 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 de
fence against It. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and
excessive dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see
danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts
of Influence on the other. Real patriots, who may resist the in
trigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious ;
while its tods and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the
people, to surrender their Interests.
The great rule of conduct for us. In regard to foreign nations. Is,
In extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little
political connexion as possible. So far as we have already formed^
engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here
let us stop.
Europe has a set of primary Interests, which to us have none, or
a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged In frequent
controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our

APPENDIX. 223
concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise In us to implicate
ourselves, by artificial ties. In the ordinary vicissitudes of her poli
tics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships
or enmities, s-
Our detached and distant situation Invites and enables us to pur
sue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient
government, the period is not far off, when we may defy material
injury from external annoyance ; when we may take such an atti
tude as will cause the neutrality, we may at any time resolve upon,
to be scrupulously respected ; when belligerent nations, under the
Impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard
the giving us provocation ; when we may choose peace or war, as
our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.
Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation ? Why quit
our own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, by Interweaving our
destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and
prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship. Interest,
humor, or caprice ?
It Is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with
any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, as we are now at
liberty to do it ; for let me not be understood as capable of patron
izing 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 unneces
sary and would be unwise to extend them.
Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments,
on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary
alliances for extraordinary emergencies.
Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended
by policy, humanity, and Interest. But even our commercial policy
should hold an equal and impartial hand ; neither seeking nor grant
ing exclusive favors or preferences ; consulting the natural course
of things ; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams

224 APPENDIX.
of commerce, but forcing nothing ; establishing, with powers so dis
posed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of
our merchants, and to enable the government to support them, con
ventional 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 circum
stances shall dictate ; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in
one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that It
must pay with a portion of Its Independence for whatever It may
accept under that character ; that, by such acceptance. It may place
Itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors,
and yet of being reproached with Ingratitude for not giving more.
There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real
favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience
must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.
In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and
affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and
lasting Impression I could wish ; that they will control the usual
current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the
course, which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if
I may even flatter myself, that they may be productive of some par
tial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then
recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mis
chiefs of foreign Intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pre
tended patriotism ; this hope will be a full recompense for the soli
citude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated.
How far in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided
by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and
other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world.
To myself, the assurance of my own conscience Is, that I have at
least beheved myself to be guided by them.
In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my Proclamation
of the 22d of April, 1793, is the index to my Plan. Sanctioned
by your approving voice, and- by that of your Representatives in

APPENDIX. 225
both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually
governed me, unlnfiuenced by any attempts to deter or divert me
from It.
After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I
could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the
circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in
duty and Interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I
determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with
moderation, perseverance, and firmness.
The considerations, which respect the right to hold this conduct,
it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe,
that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so
far from being denied by any of the Belligerent Powers, has been
virtually admitted by all.
The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without
any thing more, from the obligation which justice and humanity
impose on every nation. In cases in which it is free to act, to main
tain 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 endeavor to gain time to our coun
try 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 Incompe-
15

226 APPENDIX.
tent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be
to the mansions of rest.
Relying on Its kindness In this as In other things, and actuated
by that fervent love towards It, which Is so natural to a man, who
views In It the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several
generations ; I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, in
which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoy
ment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign
influence of good laws under a free government, the ever favorite
object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual
cares, labors, and dangers.
George Washington.
UuiTED States, September 17th, 1T96.

appendix. 227

No. V.
WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS.
(From Autograph Copy.)
[Memorandum. — With the cancelled passages restored, and
printed at the foot of the pages, under the direction of James
Lenox, Esq., the proprietor of the autograph. The marginal
pages are those of the fifth volume of Mr. Irving's Life of Wash
ington. The references at the end of the restored passages, at the
foot of the pages, are to the pages of this Appendix.]
*Friends and Fellow-Citizens : [*356]
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 em
ployed 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 silence In my situation might Imply, I am Influ
enced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency
of grateful respect for your past kindness ; but [am supported by]t
a full conviction that the step is compatible with both.
* for another term ¦f act under

228 APPENDIX.
The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to
which your suffrages have t'wice calkd me, have been a uniform
sacrifice of Inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference
for what appeared to be your desire. — I constantly hoped, that It
would have been much earlier In my power, consistently with
motives, which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to
that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. — The
strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election,
*had even led to the preparation of an address to declare
it to you ; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and
critical posture of our affairs with foreign Nations, and the unani
mous 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 in
ternal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination Incompatible
with the sentiment of duty, or propriety ; and [am persuaded]*
whatever partiality [may be retalned]t for my ser-vlces, [that]J 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, con
tributed [towards]Tf 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 admo
nishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as neces
sary to me as It will be welcome. — Satisfied that if any circumstances
have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I
* that t *"y portion of you may yet retain J even they
§ under || accepted IT to ** not lessened

APPENDIX. 229
have the consolation to believe, that while choice and prudence
invite me to quit- the political scene, patriotism does not forbid
It.[*] *In looking forward to the moment, which Is [intended]
to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do
not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment [of]f that debt
of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country, — for the many
honors It has conferred upon me ; still more for the stedfast confi
dence 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 Ser
vices, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an in
structive example in our annals, that, [ § ] under circumstances In
which the Passions agitated in every direction were liable to [mis
lead], || amidst appearances sometimes dubious, — vicissitudes of for
tune often discouraging, — in situations in which not unfrequently
want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism [the con
stancy of your support] was the essential prop of the efforts and
[a]^ guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. Pro
foundly penetrated with this Idea, I shall carry It with me to the
grave, as a strong Incitement to unceasing vows [**] that Heaven
may continue to you the choicest tokens of Its beneficence — that

* May I also have that of knowing in my retreat, that the involuntary errors, I have
probably committed, have been the sources of no serious or lasting mischief to our
country. I may then expect to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking,
in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free
government ; the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, I trust, of our
mutual cares, dangers, and labours, [/Supra, p. 190.]
In the margin opposite this paragraph is the following note in Washington's Auto
graph also erased, " obliterated to avoid the imputation of affected modesty.''
¦f demanded by J unequal in usefulness
§ the constancy of your support || wander and fluctuate
IT the ** the only return I can henceforth make.

230 APPENDIX.
your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual — that the free
constitution, which Is the work of your hands," may be sacredly
maintained — that its administration in every department may be
stamped with wisdom and virtue — that, in fine, the happiness of the
people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made
complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this
blessing as will acquire to them the glory [ * ] of recommending It
to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is
yet a stranger to It.
Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. — But a solicitude for your wel
fare which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehen-
• sion *of danger, natural to that solicitude, [urge me, on an
occasion like the present, to offer]f to your solemn contemplation,
and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments; which
are the result of much reflection, of no Inconsiderable observa
tion, [ J ] 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 warn
ings of a departing friend, who can [possibly] have no personal
motive to bias his counsels. — [Nor can I forget, as an encourage
ment to It your Indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former
and not dissimilar occasion.]
Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your
hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm
the attachment. 
The Unity of Government which constitutes you one people, is
also now dear to you. — It Is justly so ; — for It Is a main Pillar in
the Edifice of your real Independence ; [the support] of your tran
quillity at home ; your peace abroad ; of your safety ; [ § ] of your

* or satisfaction
f encouraged by the remembrance of your indulgent reception of my sentiments on
an occasion not dissimilar to the present, urge me to offer
J and experience § in every relation

APPENDIX. 231
prosperity [ * ] ; of that very Liberty which you so highly prize.—
But as It Is easy to foresee, that from [different]t causes, and from
different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices em
ployed, to weaken In your minds the conviction of this truth ; — as
this Is the point In your [political] fortress against which the batte
ries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and
actively (though often covertly and Insidiously) directed. It is of
mfinlte moment, that you should properly estimate the Immense
value of your national Union to your collective and individual hap-
pmess ; — that you should cherlshj a cordial, habitual, and immove
able attachment [to It, accustoming yourselves to think and speak
of It as of the Palladium of your political safety and prosperity ;
watching for *its preservation with jealous anxiety; dis
countenancing 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 [ Tf ] derived
from local discriminations. — ^Wlth slight shades of difference, you
have the same Religion, Manners, Habits, and political Principles. —
* in every shape ¦f various J towards it
§ that you should accustom yourselves to reverence it as the Palladium of your po
litical safety and prosperity, adapting constantly your words and actions to that
momentous idea; that you should watch for its preservation with jealous anxiety,
discountenance whatever may suggest a suspicion that it can in any event be aban
doned ; and frown upon the first dawning of any attempt to alienate any portion of
our Country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the
several parts. — [Supra, p. 192.]
II of a common country by birth or choice If to be

232 APPENDIX.
You have In a common cause fought and triumphed together. — The
Independence and Liberty you possess are the work of joint councib,
and joint efforts — of common dangers, sufferings and successes.^
But these considerations, however powerfully they address them
selves 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 guard
ing and preserving the Union of the whole.
The North in an [unrestrained]* intercourse with the South, pro
tected by the equal Laws of a common government, finds In the
productions of the latter [ f ] great additional resources of maritime
and commercial enterprise. — and precious materials of manufacturing
industry. — The South in the same intercourse, *benefiting
by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and
its commerce expand. Turning partly Into Its o'wn channels the
seamen of the North, It finds Its particular navigation In-vlgorated; —
and while it contributes. In different ways, to nourish and increase
the general mass of the national navigation. It looks forward to the
protection of a maritime strength to which Itself is unequally
adapted. — The East, in a like Intercourse with the West, already
finds, and in the progressive Improvement of interior communica
tions, by land and water, will more and more find, a valuable vent
for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at
home. — The West derives from the East supplies requisite to Its
growth and comfort, — and what is perhaps of still greater conse
quence. It must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of Indispen
sable 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]J tenure by which the West can hold this essential ad
vantage, [whether derlved]§ from Its O'wn separate strength, or from

* unfettered + many of the peculiar J The § either

APPENDIX. 233
an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign Power, must
be Intrinsically precarious. [ * ]
[ t ] While [then] every part of our Country thus [feels]! an im
mediate and particular Interest in Union, all the parts§ [combined
cannot fail to find] in the united mass of means and efforts [ || ]
greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security
from external danger, a less frequent Interruption of their peace by
foreign Nations ; and, [what is]"f of inestimable value ! they must
derive from Union aa exemption from those broils and wars between
themselves which [so frequently]** afflict neighbouring countries,
not tied together by *the same government ; which their
o'(vn rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce; but
which opposite forelgp alliances, attachments and intrigues would
stimulate and embitter. — Hence likewise they will avoid the neces
sity of those overgrown Military establishments, which under any
form of Government are inauspicious to liberty, and which [are to
be regarded]tt as particularly hostile to Republican Liberty : In
this sense it Is, that your Union ought to be considered as a main
prop of your Hberty, 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]J{
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 authorised] |||| to hope that a

* liable every moment to be disturbed by the fluctuating combinations of the primary
interests of Europe, which must be expected to regulate the conduct of the Nations of
which it is composed. — [Supra, p. 193.]
t And J finds § of it
1 cannot fail to find If which is an advantage ¦** inevitably
'tt there is reason to regard fl: any §§ they
Hi 'Tis natural

234

APPENDIX.

proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of
governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy
issue to the experiment. 'Tis well worth a fair and full experi
ment. [*] With such powerful and obvious motives to Union,.
[affecting]f all parts of our country [{], while experience shall
not have demonstrated Its impracticability, there ¦will always be
[reason] § to distrust the patriotism of those, who in any quarter
may endeavour to weaken its bands. [ || ] —
*In contemplating the causes which may disturb our
Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern, that [any
ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by]T
G-eographieal discriminations — Northern and Southern — Atlantic

* It may not impossibly be found, that the spirit of party, the machinations of foreign
powers, the corruption and ambition of individual citizens are more formidable adver
saries to the Unity of our Empire than any inherent diflSculties in the scheme. Against
these the mounds of national opinion, national sympathy and national jealousy ought to
be raised. — [Supra, p. 194.]
•j- as X have § cause in the effect itself
II Besides the more serious causes already hinted as threatening our Union, there is
one less dangerous, but sufficiently dangerous to make it prudent to be upon our
guard against it. I allude to the petulance of party differences of opinion. It is not
uncommon to hear the irritations which these excite vent themselves in declarations
that the different parts of the United States are ill affected to each other, in menaces
that the Union will be dissolved by this or that measure. Intimations like these are as
indiscreet as they are intemperate. Though frequently made with levity and without
any really, evil intention, they have a tendency to produce the consequence which they
indicate. They teach the minds of men to consider the Union as precarious; — as an
object to which they ought not to attach their hopes and fortunes ; — and thus chill the
sentiment in its favour. By alarming the pride of those to whom they are addressed,
they set ingenuity at work to depreciate the value of the thing, and to discover reasons
of indifference towards it. This is not wise. — It will be much wiser to habituate our
selves to reverence the Union as the palladium of our national happiness; to accommo
date constantly our words and actions to that idea, and to discountenance whatever may
suggest a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned. (In the margin opposite
this paragraph are the words, " Not important enough.") — [Supra, p. 194.]
IT our parties for some time past have been too much characterized by

APPENDIX. 235
and Western; [whence designing men may endeavour to excite a
belief that there Is a real difference of local interests and views.]*
One of the expedients of Party to acquire influence, within par
ticular districts. Is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other
districts. — You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jea
lousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresenta
tions ; — They tend to render alien to each other those who ought to
be bound together by fraternal affection. — The inhabitants of our
Western country have lately had a useful lesson on this [head.]f —
They have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and In the
unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the Treaty with
*Spain, and In the universal satisfaction at that event,
throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were
the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General
Government and In the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests
in regard to the Mississippi. — They have been witnesses to the
formation of two Treaties, that with G. 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 hence
forth 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

¦* These discriminations,  the mere contrivance of the spirit of Party, (always
dexterous to seize every handle by which the passions can be wielded, and too skilful
not to turn to account the sympathy of neighbourhood,) have furnished an argument
against the [Jnion as evidence of a real difference of local interests and views ; and
serve to hazard it by organizing larger districts of country, under the leaders of con
tending factions; whose rivalships, prejudices and schemes of ambition, rather than the
true interests of the Country, will direct the use of their influence. If it be possible to
correct this poison in the habit of our body politic, it is worthy the endeavours of the
moderate and the good to effect it. — [Supra, p. 195.]
f subject

236 APPENDIX.
the whole is Indispensable. — No alliances however strict between the
parts can be an adequate substitute. — They must inevitably expe^
rience 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 Constitu.
tion 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 unin
fluenced 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 pohtical
systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their Con
stitutions of Government. — But the Constitution which at any time
exists, 'till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole
People, is sacredly obligatory upon all. — The very Idea of the power
and the right of the People to establish Government, presupposes
the duty of every Individual to obey the established Government.
*A11 obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all com-
r*3651 binatlons and associations, under whatever plausible cha
racter with [the real] design to direct, controul, counteract, or awe
the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities,
are destructive of this fundamental principle and of fatal ten
dency. — 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
enterprizing minority of the community; — and, according to the
alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public adminis-

APPENDIX. 237
tration the mirror of the Ill-concerted and Incongruous projects of
faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans
digested by common councils and modified by mutual Interests. —
However combinations or associations of the above description may
now and then answer popular ends, [*] they are likely, in the
course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cun
ning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert
the Power of the People and to usurp for themselves the reins of
Government ; destroying afterwards the very engines which have
lifted them to unjust dominion. —
Towards the preservation of your Government, and the perma
nency of your present happy state, it Is requisite, not only that you
steadily discountenance Irregular oppositions to its acknowledged
authority, but also that you resist with care [the]t spirit of innova
tion upon its principles however specious the pretexts. — One method
of assault may be to effect. In the forms of the Constitution, altera
tions which will Impair the energy of the system, [and thus to]J
undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. — In all the changes
to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at
least as necessary to fix the true character of Governments, as of
other human Institutions — that experience is the surest standard,
by which to test the real tendency of the existing Constitution of a
Country — that facility in changes upon the credit of mere hypo
thesis 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 Inte
rests, In a country so extensive as ours, a Government of as much
vigour as Is consistent with the perfect security of Liberty Is Indis
pensable, — 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 with-

* and purposes ¦[¦ a J to

238

APPENDIX.

stand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the So
ciety within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all
In the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and
property.]* I have already intimated to you the danger of Parties in the
State, with particular reference to the founding of them on Geogra
phical discriminations. — Let me now take a more comprehensive
view, and warn you In the most solemn manner against the 'baneful
effects of the Spirit of Party, generally.
This Spirit, unfortunately. Is Inseparable from [our]f nature,
having its root in the strongest passions of the [human] mind. — It
exists under different shapes in all Governments, more or less stifled,
controuled or repressed ; but in those of the popular form it is. seen
in Its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. — [ J ]
^ „„ *The alternate domination of one faction over another,
[*367] . . .
sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissen-

* Owing to you as I do a frank and free disclosure of my heart, I shall not conceal
from you the belief 1 entertain, that your Government as at present constituted is far
more likely to prove too feeble than too powerful. — [Supra, p. 198.]
t human
J In Republics of narrow extent, it is not difficult for those who at any time hold the
reins of Power, and command the ordinary public favor, to overturn the established
[constitution]'* in favor of their own aggrandizement. — The same thing may likewise
be too often accomplished in such Republics, by partial combinations of men, who
though not in office, from birth, riches, or other sources of distinction, have extraordi
nary influence and numerous [adherents.]! — % debauching the Military force, by sur
prising sonje commanding citadel, or by some other sudden aud unforeseen movement
the fate of the Republic is decided. — But in Republics of large extent, usurpation can
scarcely make its way through these avenues. — The powers and opportunities of re
sistance of a wide extended and numerous nation, defy the successful efforts of the
ordinary Military force, or of any collections which wealth and patronage may call to
their aid. — In such Republics, it is safe to assert, that the conflicts of popular factions
are the chief, if not the only inlets, of usurpation and Tyranny. — [Supra, p. 198]
• order t retainers

APPENDIX.

239

sion, which In different ages and countries has perpetrated the most
honid 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 f6rward 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 the duty of a wise People to discourage and re
strain it. —
It serves always to distract the Public Councils and enfeeble the
Public administration. — It agitates the community with ill-founded
jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part
against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. — It
opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which find a
facilitated access [to the Government itself through the channels of
party passions. Thus, the policy and the will of one country, are
subjected to the policy and will of another.]*
There Is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful
checks upon the Administration of the Government, and serve to
keep alive the Spirit of Liberty. — This within certain limits Is pro
bably 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
Governments purely elective. It is a spirit not to be encouraged. —
From their natural tendency, it Is certain there will always be
enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose, — and there being

¦* through the channels of parly passions. It frequently subjects the policy of our
own country to the policy of some foreign country, and even enslaves the will of our
Government to the will of some foreign Government. — [Supra, p. 199.]

240 APPENDIX.
constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public
opinion, to^ mitigate and assuage It. — A fire not to be quenched, it
demands a uniform vigilance to prevent Its bursting Into a flame^
lest; [Instead of warming, it should]* consume. —
It Is Important, likewise, that the habits of thinking 'in a free
country should Inspire caution In those entrusted with its adminis
tration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional
spheres ; avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department
to encroach upon another. — The spirit of encroachment tends t6
consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to
create, [ ¦[• ] whatever [the form of government, a real]J: despotism.—^
A just estimate of that love of power, and [ § ] proneness to abuse
It, which predominates In the human heart, Is sufficient to satisfy us
of the truth of this position. — The necessity of reciprocal checks in
the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing It Into
different depositories, and constituting each the Guardian of the
Public Weal [against] [j Invasions by the others, has been evinced by
experiments ancient and modern ; some of them In our country and
under our own eyes. — To preserve them must be as necessary as to
institute them. — If In the opinion of the People, the distribution or
modification of the Constitutional powers be In any particular
wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the
Constitution designates. — But let there be no change by usurpation ;
for though this. In one instance may be the instrument of good,
it is the [customary]T[ weapon by which free governments are de
stroyed. — The precedent [ ** ] must al'ways greatly overbalance in
permanent evil any partial or [transient]!! benefit which the
use [ttJ can at any time yield- —
*0f all the dispositions and habits which lead to political
prosperity. Religion and morality are indispensable svl^-

* it should not only warm, but t under J forms a
§ the II from IT usual and natural
** of its use tt temporary Jf itself

APPENDIX. 241
ports. — 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 connections with
private and pubhc fehcity. — Let It simply be asked where is the
security for property, for reputation, for life. If the sense of reli
gious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of in
vestigation in Courts of Justice ? And let us with caution Indulge
the supposition, that morahty can be maintained without rehgion. —
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 morahty can prevail In exclusion of religious
principle. —
'Tis 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 struc
ture 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

* Cultivate industry and frugality, as auxiliaries to good morals and sources of private
and public prosperity. — Is there not room to regret that our propensity to expense
exceeds our means for it? Is there not more luxury among us and more diffusively,
than suits the actual stage of our national progress ? Whatever may be the apology
for luxury in a country, mature in the Arts which are its ministers, and the cause of
national opulence — can it promote the advantage of a young country, almost wholly
agricultural, in the infancy of the arts, and certainly not in the maturity of wealth'! —
[Supra, p. 201.]
(Over this paragraph in the original a piece of paper is wafered, on which the pas
sage is written as printed in the text.) 16

242 APPENDIX.
*publlc credit. — One method of preserving It Is to use It as
[sparingly]* as possible : — avoiding occasions of expense
by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disburse
ments to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater dis
bursements to repel it — avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt,
not only by [shunning]f occasions of expense, but by vigorous ex
ertions In time of Peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable
wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously thro'wing upon poste
rity the burthen which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution
of these maxims belongs to your Representatives, but It Is neces
sary that pubhc opinion should [co-operate.]J — To facilitate to them
the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should prac
tically 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 de^vlsed 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 diffi
culties) 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. [ § ] Culti
vate 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 advan-

¦* little t avoiding J coincide
§ and cultivate peace and harmony with all, for in public as well as in private
transactions, I am persuaded that honesty will always be found to be the best policy. —
[Supra, p. 202.]

APPENDIX. 243
tages which might be lost by a steady adherence to It ? Can it be
that Providence has not connected *the permanent fellcltv [*3711
of a Nation with Its virtue ? The experiment, at least, is
recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. —
Alas I is It rendered Impossible by Itfe 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]f
habitual hatred or [an]J habitual fondness, is in some degree a
slave. It is a slave to Its animosity or to its affection, either of
which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and Its Interests. —
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
trifiing occasions of dispute occur. — Hence frequent collisions, ob
stinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. — The Nation prompted by
ni-'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 subser'vient 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,
facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common Interest In cases
where no real common interest exists, and Infusing Into one [ T[ ]

* rooted t ^ i ^
§ begets of course a similar sentiment in that other, — [Supra, p. 203.]
II its own IF another

244 APPENDIX.
the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation
In the quarrels and wars of the latter, without adequate inducement
rj,own-i ^^ justification : It leads also to concessions to the favourite
[*o72j -_ . . .
*Nation of privileges denied to others, which is apt doubly
to Injure the Nation making th'e concessions ; [ * ] by unnecessarily
parting with what ought to have been retained,! ^^^ hy exciting
jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate In the parties from
whom equal privileges are withheld ; and It gives to ambitious^ cor
rupted, or deluded citizens, (who devote themselves to the favourite
Nation) facihty to betray, or sacrifice the interests of their own
country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity : — ^gilding
with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commend
able deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good,
the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption or infatua
tion. —
As avenues to foreign influence In innumerable ways, such at
tachments are particularly alarming to the truly enhghtened 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 aw* the pubhc councils!
Such an attachment of a small or weak, towards a great and power
ful 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 Re
publican Government. — But that jealousy to be useful must be
Impartial ; else It becomes the instrument of the very Influence to
be avoided. Instead of a defence against it. — Excessive partiality
for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another, cause those
whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil

Istly t 2dly J my friends, § incessantly

APPENDIX. 245
and even second the arts of Influence on the other. — Real Patriots,
who may resist the Intrigues of the favourite, are liable to become
-Btfspected and odious ; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause
and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. —
The great rule of conduct for us. In regard to foreign Nations
*is, [in extending our commercial relations], to have with
them as little Political connection 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 con
cerns. — Hence therefore It must be unwise In us to imphcate our
selves by [ t ] artificial [ties]J In the ordinary vicissitudes of her
politics, [or]§ the ordinary combinations and collisions of her
friendships, or enmities.
Our detached and distant situation Invites and enables us to
pursue a different course. — If we remain one people, under an
efficient government, the period is not far off, when we may defy
material Injury from external annoyance ; when we may take such
an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve
[upon]|| to be scrupulously respected. — When[1[] belligerent ria-
tlons, 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 [ ft ] justice
shall counsel. —
Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? — Why
quit our own to stand upon foreign ground ? — Why, by interweav
ing our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace

* circumspection indeed, but with t ^"
% connection § in || to observe 1 neither of two
** to throw our weight into the opposite scale; "ft our

246

APPENDIX.

and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship. Interest;
humour, or caprice ? —
'Tis 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 affalrs]j, that
P_„ *honesty' is [always] the best policy).— [I repeat it there
fore, let those engagements]§ be observed In their genuine
sense. — But in my opinion It is unnecessary and would be unwise to
extend them. —
Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable estabhshments,
on a respectably defensive posture, we may safely trust to [tempo-
rary]|| alliances for extraordinary emergencies. 
Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended
by policy, humanity and interest. — But even our commercial policy
should hold an equal and Impartial hand: — neither seeking nor
granting exclusive favours or preferences ; — consulting the natural
course of things ; — diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the
streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; — estabhshing with
Powers so disposed — ^in order to give to trade a stable course, to
define the rights of our Merchants and to enable the Government
to support them — conventional rules of Intercourse, the best that
present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit ; but tempo
rary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as
experience and circumstances shall dictate ; constantly keeping in
view, that 'tis folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors
[from]T[ another, — that It must pay with a portion of Its Indepen
dence for whatever It may accept under that' character — that by
such acceptance, it may place Itself In the condition of having

* intimate connections t pre-existing
! for I hold it to be as true in public as in private transactions,
§ those must II occasional IT at

APPENDIX. 247
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. — 'Tis 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 controul 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 recom
pense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been
dictated. —
How far In the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided
by the principles which have been delineated, the public Records
and other evidences of my conduct must witness to You, and to the
World. — To myself, the assurance of my own conscience Is, that I
have at least believed myself to be guided by them.
In relation to the still subsisting War in Europe, my Proclama
tion of the 22d of April 1793 Is the Index to my plan. — Sanctioned
hy your approving voice and by that of Your Representatives In
both Houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually
governed me : — ^uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me
from it.
After deliberate examination with the aid of the best lights I
could obtain, [*] I was well satisfied that our country, under all the

* (and from men disagreeing in their impressions of the origin, progress, and nature
of that war,)— [Supra, p. 207.]

248 APPENDIX.
circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in
duty and interest, to take a Neutral position. — Having taken It, I
determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain It, with
moderation, perseverance, and firmness. —
[The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct,
[it is not necessary]* on this occasion [to detail.] I will only ob
serve, that according to my understanding of the matter, that right,
so far from being denied by any of the Belligerent Powers, has
been virtually admitted by all. — ]!
The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be Inferred, without
*anything more, from the obligation which justice and hu
manity 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 pro
gress without interruption to that degree of strength and consist
ency, which Is necessary to give It, humanly speaking, the command
of its own fortunes.

¦* some of them of a delicate nature would be improperly the subject of explanation.
t The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, some of them of a
delicate nature, would be improperly the subject of explanation on this occasion. I
will barely observe that according to my understanding of the matter, that right so far
from being denied by any belligerent Power, has been virtually admitted by all. —
This paragraph is then erased from the word " conduct," and the following sentence
interlined, " would be improperly the subject of particular discussion on this occasifin.
I will barely observe that to me they appear to be warranted by well-estabUshed prin
ciples of the Laws of Nations as applicable to the nature of our alliance with France
in connection with the circumstances of the War, and the relative situation of the
contending Parties."
A piece of paper is afterwards wafered over both, on which the paragraph as it
stands in the text is written, and on the margin is the following note : " This is the first
draft, and it is questionable which of the two is to be preferred."

APPENDIX. 249
Though in reviewing the Incidents of my Administration, I am
unconscious of Intentional error — I am nevertheless too sensible of
my defects not to think It probable that I [may] have committed
many errors.— [Whatever they may be I]* fervently beseech the
Almighty to avert or mitigate [the evils to which they may tend.]!
— I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never
cease to -view them with indulgence ; and that after forty-five years
of my life dedicated to Its service, with an upright zeal, the faults
of Incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself
must soon be to the mansions of rest. [ { ]
*Relying on its kindness In this as in other things, and
actuated by that fervent love towards It, which Is so
natural to a man, who views in it the native soil of himself and
his progenitors for [several] § generations; — I anticipate with
pleasing expectation that retreat. In which I promise myself to
reahze, 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.

* I deprecate the evils to which they may tend, and — [Supra, p. 207.]
t them
J May I without the charge of ostentation add, that neither ambition nor interest has
been the impelling cause of my actions — that I have never designedly misused any
power confided to me nor hesitated to use one, where I thought it could redound to
your benefit? May I without the appearance of affectation say, that the fortune with
which I came into office is not bettered otherwise than by the improvement in the
value of property which the quick progress and uncommon prosperity of our country
have produced ? May I still further add without breach of delicacy, that I shall retire
without cause for a blush, with no sentiments alien to the force of those vows for the
happiness of his country so natural to a citizen who sees in it the native soil of his
progenitors and himself for four generations ? — [Supra, p. 208.]
On the margin opposite this paragraph is the following note; "This paragraph may
have the appearance of self-distrust and mere vanity."
§ four ir

250 APPENDIX.
and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labours,
and dangers. [ * ] — [^Supra, p. 190.]
G^ Washington.
United States, )
' [ 1796.
11th September, )

* The paragraph beginning with the words, " May I without the charge of ostentation
add," having been struck out, the following note is written on the margin of that which
is inserted in its place in the text : — " Continuation of the paragraph preceding the last
ending with the word ' rest.' "

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