1796 Farewell · Founding Made Plain

1United States 19th September 1796

2Friends & Fellow-Citizens

3The period for a new election of a Citizen,

4 to Administer the Executive government

5 of the United States,

6 being not far distant,

7and the time actually arrived,

8 when your thoughts must be employed

9 in designating the person,

10 who is to be cloathed

11 with that important trust,

12it appears to me proper,

13 especially as it may conduce

14 to a more distinct expression

15 of the public voice,

16 that I should now apprise you

17 of the resolution I have formed,

18 to decline being considered

19 among the number of those,

20 out of whom a choice is to be made.

21I beg you, at the same time,

22 to do me the justice to be assured,

23 that this resolution has not been taken,

24 without a strict regard

25 to all the considerations

26 appertaining to the relation,

27 which binds a dutiful citizen

28 to his country—

29 and that, in withdrawing the tender of service

30 which silence in my situation might imply,

31 I am influenced

32 by no diminution of zeal

33 for your future interest;

34 no deficiency of grateful respect

35 for your past kindness;

36 but am supported

37 by a full conviction

38 that the step is compatible with both.

39The acceptance of, & continuance hitherto in,

40 the office

41 to which your Suffrages have twice called me,

42 have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination

43 to the opinion of duty,

44 and to a deference

45 for what appeared to be your desire.

46I constantly hoped,

47 that it would have been much earlier

48 in my power,

49 consistently with motives,

50 which I was not at liberty to disregard,

51 to return to that retirement,

52 from which I had been reluctantly drawn.

53The strength of my inclination to do this,

54 previous to the last Election,

55 had even led to the preparation of an address

56 to declare it to you;

57but mature reflection

58 on the then perplexed & critical posture

59 of our Affairs with foreign Nations,

60 and the unanimous advice

61 of persons entitled to my confidence,

62 impelled me to abandon the idea.

63I rejoice,

64 that the state of your concerns,

65 external as well as internal,

66 no longer renders the pursuit of inclination

67 incompatible with the sentiment

68 of duty, or propriety;

69& am persuaded

70 whatever partiality may be retained

71 for my services,

72 that in the present circumstances

73 of our country,

74 you will not disapprove my determination

75 to retire.

76The impressions

77 with which I first undertook

78 the arduous trust,

79 were explained on the proper occasion.

80In the discharge of this trust,

81 I will only say,

82 that I have with good intentions,

83 contributed

84 towards the Organization and administration

85 of the government,

86 the best exertions

87 of which a very fallible judgment

88 was capable.

89Not unconscious, in the out set,

90 of the inferiority of my qualifications,

91 experience in my own eyes,

92 perhaps still more in the eyes of others,

93 has strengthened the motives

94 to diffidence of myself;

95and every day the encreasing weight of years

96 admonishes me more and more,

97 that the shade of retirement

98 is as necessary to me as it will be welcome.

99Satisfied that if any circumstances

100 have given peculiar value to my services,

101 they were temporary,

102I have the consolation to believe,

103 that while choice and prudence invite me

104 to quit the political scene,

105 patriotism does not forbid it.

106In looking forward to the moment,

107 which is intended to terminate

108 the career of my public life,

109my feelings do not permit me to suspend

110 the deep acknowledgement

111 of that debt of gratitude

112 which I owe to my beloved country,

113 for the many honors

114 it has conferred upon me;

115 still more for the stedfast confidence

116 with which it has supported me;

117 and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed

118 of manifesting my inviolable attachment,

119 by services faithful & persevering,

120 though in usefulness unequal to my zeal.

121If benefits have resulted to our country

122 from these services,

123 let it always be remembered to your praise,

124 and as an instructive example in our annals,

125 that, under circumstances

126 in which the Passions agitated

127 in every direction

128 were liable to mislead,

129 amidst appearances sometimes dubious,

130 viscissitudes of fortune often discouraging,

131 in situations in which not unfrequently

132 want of Success has countenanced

133 the spirit of criticism,

134 the constancy of your support

135 was the essential prop

136 of the efforts,

137 and a guarantee of the plans

138 by which they were effected.

139Profoundly penetrated with this idea,

140 I shall carry it with me to my grave,

141 as a strong incitement to unceasing vows

142 that Heaven may continue to you

143 the choicest tokens of its beneficence—

144 that your Union & brotherly affection

145 may be perpetual—

146 that the free constitution,

147 which is the work of your hands,

148 may be sacredly maintained—

149 that its Administration in every department

150 may be stamped with wisdom and virtue—

151 that, in fine,

152 the happiness of the people of these States,

153 under the auspices of liberty,

154 may be made complete,

155 by so careful a preservation

156 and so prudent a use

157 of this blessing

158 as will acquire to them the glory

159 of recommending it

160 to the applause, the affection—

161 and adoption of every nation

162 which is yet a stranger to it.

163Here, perhaps, I ought to stop.

164But a solicitude for your welfare,

165 which cannot end but with my life,

166 and the apprehension of danger,

167 natural to that solicitude,

168 urge me on an occasion like the present,

169 to offer to your solemn contemplation,

170 and to recommend to your frequent review,

171 some sentiments;

172 which are the result of much reflection,

173 of no inconsiderable observation,

174 and which appear to me all important

175 to the permanency of your felicity

176 as a People.

177These will be offered to you with the more freedom,

178 as you can only see in them

179 the disinterested warnings

180 of a parting friend,

181 who can possibly have no personal motive

182 to biass his counsel.

183Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it,

184 your endulgent reception of my sentiments

185 on a former and not dissimilar occasion.

186Interwoven as is the love of liberty

187 with every ligament of your hearts,

188 no recommendation of mine is necessary

189 to fortify or confirm the attachment.

190The Unity of Government

191 which constitutes you one people

192 is also now dear to you.

193It is justly so;

194 for it is a main Pillar

195 in the Edifice of your real independence,

196 the support of

197 your tranquility at home,

198 your peace abroad;

199 of your safety;

200 of your prosperity;

201 of that very Liberty which you so highly prize.

202But as it is easy to foresee,

203 that from different causes

204 & from different quarters,

205 much pains will be taken,

206 many artifices employed,

207 to weaken in your minds

208 the conviction of this truth;

209as this is the point in your political fortress

210 against which the batteries of

211 internal

212 and external enemies

213 will be most constantly and actively

214 (though often covertly & insidiously)

215 directed,

216it is of infinite moment,

217 that you should properly estimate

218 the immense value

219 of your national Union,

220 to your collective

221 & individual happiness;

222 that you should cherish

223 a cordial,

224 habitual

225 & immoveable

226 attachment to it;

227 accustoming yourselves

228 to think

229 and speak of it

230 as of the Palladium

231 of your political safety

232 and prosperity;

233 watching for its preservation

234 with jealous anxiety;

235 discountenancing whatever may suggest

236 even a suspicion

237 that it can in any event be abandoned;

238 and indignantly frowning

239 upon the first dawning of every attempt

240 to alienate

241 any portion of our Country

242 from the rest,

243 or to enfeeble the sacred ties

244 which now link together the various parts.

245For this you have every inducement of

246 sympathy

247 and interest.

248Citizens

249 by birth

250 or

251 choice,

252 of a common country,

253 that country has a right

254 to concentrate your affections.

255The name of AMERICAN,

256 which belongs to you,

257 in your national capacity,

258 must always exalt the just pride

259 of Patriotism,

260 more than any appellation

261 derived from local discriminations.

262With slight shades of difference,

263 you have the same

264 Religion,

265 Manners,

266 Habits

267 & political Principles.

268You have in a common cause

269 fought and triumphed together—

270 the independence & Liberty you possess

271 are the work of

272 joint councils,

273 and joint efforts—

274 of common dangers,

275 sufferings

276 and successes.

277But these considerations,

278 however powerfully they address themselves

279 to your sensibility

280 are greatly outweighed by those

281 which apply more immediately

282 to your Interest.

283Here every portion of our country

284 finds the most commanding motives

285 for carefully guarding

286 & preserving

287 the Union of the whole.

288The North,

289 in an unrestrained intercourse with the South,

290 protected by the equal Laws

291 of a common government,

292 finds in the productions of the latter,

293 great additional resources

294 of maritime & commercial enterprise

295 and precious materials

296 of manufacturing industry.

297The South in the same Intercourse,

298 benefitting by the Agency of the North,

299 sees its agriculture grow & its commence expand.

300Turning partly into its own channels

301 the seamen of the North,

302 it finds its particular navigation envigorated;

303and while it contributes, in different ways,

304 to nourish & increase the general mass

305 of the national navigation,

306 it looks forward to the protection

307 of a maritime strength,

308 to which itself is unequally adapted.

309The East, in a like intercourse with the West,

310 already finds,

311 and in the progressive improvement

312 of interior communications,

313 by land & water,

314 will more & more find a valuable vent

315 for the commodities which it brings from abroad,

316 or manufactures at home.

317The West derives from the East

318 supplies requisite to its growth & comfort—

319and what is perhaps of still greater consequence,

320 it must of necessity owe

321 the secure enjoyment

322 of indispensable outlets

323 for its own productions

324 to the weight, influence,

325 and the future maritime strength

326 of the Atlantic side of the Union,

327 directed by an indissoluble community

328 of Interest as one Nation.

329Any other tenure

330 by which the West can hold

331 this essential advantage,

332 whether derived from its own seperate strength,

333 or from an apostate & unnatural connection

334 with any foreign Power,

335 must be intrinsically precarious.

336While then

337 every part of our country

338 thus feels

339 an immediate

340 & particular Interest

341 in Union,

342 all the parts combined

343 cannot fail to find in the united mass

344 of means

345 & efforts

346 greater strength,

347 greater resource,

348 proportionably greater security

349 from external danger,

350 a less frequent interruption of their Peace

351 by foreign Nations;

352 and, what is of inestimable value!

353 they must derive from Union an exemption

354 from those broils and Wars between themselves,

355 which so frequently afflict neighbouring countries,

356 not tied together by the same government;

357 which their own rivalships alone

358 would be sufficient to produce,

359 but which opposite foreign alliances,

360 attachments & intriegues

361 would stimulate and imbitter.

362Hence likewise they will avoid the necessity

363 of those overgrown military establishments,

364 which under any form of Government

365 are inauspicious to liberty,

366 and which are to be regarded

367 as particularly hostile

368 to Republican Liberty:

369In this sense it is,

370 that your Union ought to be considered

371 as a main prop of your liberty,

372 and that the love of the one ought to endear

373 to you the preservation of the other.

374These considerations speak a persuasive language

375 to every reflecting & virtuous mind,

376 and exhibit the continuance of the UNION

377 as a primary object of Patriotic desire.

378Is there a doubt,

379 whether a common government

380 can embrace so large a sphere?

381Let experience solve it.

382To listen to mere speculation

383 in such a case

384 were criminal.

385We are authorized to hope

386 that a proper organization of the whole,

387 with the auxiliary agency of governments

388 for the respective Subdivisions,

389 will afford a happy issue to the experiment.

390’Tis well worth a fair and full experiment.

391With such powerful and obvious motives to Union,

392 affecting all parts of our country,

393 while experience shall not have demonstrated

394 its impracticability,

395 there will always be reason

396 to distrust the patriotism of those,

397 who in any quarter may endeavor

398 to weaken its bands.

399In contemplating the causes wch may disturb

400 our Union,

401it occurs as matter of serious concern,

402 that any ground should have been furnished

403 for characterizing parties

404 by Geographical discriminations—

405 Northern and Southern—

406 Atlantic and Western;

407 whence designing men may endeavour

408 to excite a belief

409 that there is a real difference

410 of local interests and views.

411One of the expedients of party

412 to acquire influence,

413 within particular districts,

414 is to misrepresent the opinions & aims

415 of other Districts.

416You cannot shield yourselves too much

417 against the jealousies and heart burnings

418 which spring from these misrepresentations.

419They tend to render alien to each other

420 those who ought to be bound together

421 by fraternal affection.

422The Inhabitants of our Western country

423 have lately had a useful lesson on this head.

424They have seen,

425 in the Negociation by the Executive,

426 and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate,

427 of the Treaty with Spain,

428 and in the universal satisfaction at that event,

429 throughout the United States,

430 a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions

431 propagated among them

432 of a policy in the General Government

433 and in the Atlantic states

434 unfriendly to their Interests

435 in regard to the Mississippi.

436They have been witnesses

437 to the formation of two Treaties,

438 that with G: Britain and that with Spain,

439 which secure to them every thing they could desire,

440 in respect to our Foreign relations,

441 towards confirming their prosperity.

442Will it not be their wisdom

443 to rely for the preservation of these advantages

444 on the Union by which they were procured?

445Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers,

446 if such there are,

447 who would sever them from their Brethren

448 and connect them with Aliens?

449To the efficacy and permanency of Your Union,

450 a Government for the whole is indispensable.

451No Alliances however strict between the parts

452 can be an adequate substitute.

453They must inevitably experience

454 the infractions & interruptions

455 which all Alliances in all times have experienced.

456Sensible of this momentous truth,

457 you have improved upon your first essay,

458 by the adoption of a Constitution of Government,

459 better calculated than your former

460 for an intimate Union,

461 and for the efficacious management

462 of your common concerns.

463This government,

464 the offspring of our own choice

465 uninfluenced and unawed,

466 adopted upon full investigation

467 and mature deliberation,

468 completely free in its principles,

469 in the distribution of its powers,

470 uniting security with energy,

471 and containing within itself

472 a provision for its own amendment,

473 has a just claim

474 to your confidence and your support.

475Respect for its authority,

476 compliance with its Laws,

477 acquiescence in its measures,

478 are duties enjoined

479 by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty.

480The basis of our political systems

481 is the right of the people

482 to make and to alter their Constitutions

483 of Government.

484But the Constitution which at any time exists,

485 ’till changed by an explicit and authentic act

486 of the whole People,

487 is sacredly obligatory upon all.

488The very idea of the power and the right

489 of the People to establish Government

490 presupposes the duty of every Individual

491 to obey the established Government.

492All obstructions to the execution of the Laws,

493 all combinations and associations,

494 under whatever plausible character,

495 with the real design

496 to direct, controul counteract, or awe

497 the regular deliberation and action

498 of the Constituted authorities

499 are distructive of this fundamental principle

500 and of fatal tendency.

501They serve to organize faction,

502 to give it an artificial and extraordinary force—

503 to put in the place

504 of the delegated will of the Nation,

505 the will of a party;

506 often a small but artful and enterprizing

507 minority of the Community;

508 and, according to the alternate triumphs

509 of different parties,

510 to make the public administration

511 the Mirror of the ill concerted

512 and incongruous projects of faction,

513 rather than the Organ

514 of consistent and wholesome plans

515 digested by common councils

516 and modefied by mutual interests.

517However combinations or Associations

518 of the above description

519 may now & then answer popular ends,

520 they are likely,

521 in the course of time and things,

522 to become potent engines,

523 by which cunning, ambitious

524 and unprincipled men

525 will be enabled

526 to subvert the Power of the People,

527 & to usurp for themselves

528 the reins of Government;

529 destroying afterwards the very engines

530 which have lifted them to unjust dominion.

531Towards the preservation of your Government

532 and the permanency of your present happy state,

533 it is requisite,

534 not only that you steadily discountenance

535 irregular oppositions

536 to its acknowledged authority,

537 but also that you resist with care

538 the spirit of innovation upon its principles

539 however specious the pretexts.

540One method of assault may be to effect,

541 in the forms of the Constitution,

542 alterations which will impair

543 the energy of the system,

544 and thus to undermine

545 what cannot be directly overthrown.

546In all the changes to which you may be invited,

547 remember that time and habit are at least

548 as necessary to fix the true character

549 of Governments,

550 as of other human institutions—

551 that experience is the surest standard,

552 by which to test the real tendency

553 of the existing Constitution of a country—

554 that facility in changes

555 upon the credit of mere hypotheses & opinion

556 exposes to perpetual change,

557 from the endless variety

558 of hypotheses and opinion:

559 and remember, especially,

560 that for the efficient management

561 of your common interests,

562 in a country so extensive as ours,

563 a Government of as much vigour

564 as is consistent

565 with the perfect security of Liberty

566 is indispensable—

567Liberty itself will find in such a Government,

568 with powers properly distributed and adjusted,

569 its surest Guardian.

570It is indeed little else than a name,

571 where the Government is too feeble

572 to withstand the enterprises of faction,

573 to confine each member of the Society

574 within the limits prescribed by the laws,

575 and to maintain all

576 in the secure and tranquil enjoyment

577 of the rights of person and property.

578I have already intimated to you

579 the danger of Parties in the State,

580 with particular reference to the founding of them

581 on Geographical discriminations.

582Let me now take a more comprehensive view,

583 & warn you in the most solemn manner

584 against the baneful effects

585 of the Spirit of Party, generally.

586This spirit, unfortunately,

587 is inseperable from our nature,

588 having its root

589 in the strongest passions of the human Mind.

590It exists under different shapes in all Governments,

591 more or less stifled, controuled, or repressed;

592 but in those of the popular form

593 it is seen in its greatest rankness

594 and is truly their worst enemy.

595The alternate domination of one faction over another,

596 sharpened by the spirit of revenge

597 natural to party dissention,

598 which in different ages & countries

599 has perpetrated the most horrid enormities,

600 is itself a frightful despotism.

601But this leads at length

602 to a more formal and permanent despotism.

603The disorders & miseries, which result,

604 gradually incline the minds of men

605 to seek security & repose

606 in the absolute power of an Individual:

607and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction

608 more able or more fortunate than his competitors,

609 turns this disposition

610 to the purposes of his own elevation,

611 on the ruins of Public Liberty.

612Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind

613 (which nevertheless ought not

614 to be entirely out of sight)

615the common & continual mischiefs

616 of the spirit of Party

617 are sufficient to make it

618 the interest and the duty of a wise People

619 to discourage and restrain it.

620It serves always to distract the Public Councils

621 and enfeeble the Public Administration.

622It agitates the Community

623 with ill founded jealousies and false alarms,

624 kindles the animosity of one part against another,

625 foments occasionally riot & insurrection.

626It opens the door to foreign influence & corruption,

627 which find a facilitated access

628 to the government itself

629 through the channels of party passions.

630Thus the policy and the will of one country,

631 are subjected to the policy and will of another.

632There is an opinion

633 that parties in free countries

634 are useful checks

635 upon the Administration of the Government

636 and serve to keep alive the spirit of Liberty.

637This within certain limits is probably true—

638 and in Governments of a Monarchical cast

639 Patriotism may look with endulgence,

640 if not with favour,

641 upon the spirit of party.

642But in those of the popular character,

643 in Governments purely elective,

644 it is a spirit not to be encouraged.

645From their natural tendency,

646 it is certain there will always be enough

647 of that spirit for every salutary purpose.

648And there being constant danger of excess,

649 the effort ought to be,

650 by force of public opinion,

651 to mitigate & assuage it.

652A fire not to be quenched;

653 it demands a uniform vigilance

654 to prevent its bursting into a flame,

655 lest instead of warming it should consume.

656It is important, likewise,

657 that the habits of thinking in a free Country

658 should inspire caution,

659 in those entrusted with its administration,

660 to confine themselves

661 within their respective Constitutional spheres,

662 avoiding in the exercise of the Powers

663 of one department

664 to encroach upon another.

665The spirit of encroachment tends

666 to consolidate the powers of all the departments

667 in one,

668 and thus to create whatever the form of government,

669 a real despotism.

670A just estimate of that love of power,

671 and proneness to abuse it,

672 which predominates in the human heart

673 is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth

674 of this position.

675The necessity of reciprocal checks

676 in the exercise of political power;

677 by dividing and distributing it

678 into different depositories,

679 & constituting each the Guardian of the Public Weal

680 against invasions by the others,

681 has been evinced by experiments ancient & modern;

682 some of them in our country

683 & under our own eyes.

684To preserve them must be as necessary

685 as to institute them.

686If in the opinion of the People,

687 the distribution or modification

688 of the Constitutional powers

689 be in any particular wrong,

690 let it be corrected by an amendment

691 in the way which the Constitution designates.

692But let there be no change by usurpation;

693 for though this, in one instance,

694 may be the instrument of good,

695 it is the customary weapon

696 by which free governments are destroyed.

697The precedent must always

698 greatly overbalance in permanent evil

699 any partial or transient benefit

700 which the use can at any time yield.

701Of all the dispositions and habits

702 which lead to political prosperity,

703 Religion and morality are indispensable supports.

704In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism,

705 who should labour to subvert these great Pillars

706 of human happiness,

707 these firmest props

708 of the duties of Men & citizens.

709The mere Politician, equally with the pious man

710 ought to respect & to cherish them.

711A volume could not trace all their connections

712 with private & public felicity.

713Let it simply be asked

714 where is the security for property,

715 for reputation, for life,

716 if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths,

717 which are the instruments of investigation

718 in Courts of Justice?

719And let us with caution indulge the supposition,

720 that morality can be maintained without religion.

721Whatever may be conceded

722 to the influence of refined education

723 on minds of peculiar structure—

724 reason & experience both forbid us to expect

725 that National morality can prevail

726 in exclusion of religious principle.

727’Tis substantially true,

728 that virtue or morality is a necessary spring

729 of popular government.

730The rule indeed extends with more or less force

731 to every species of free Government.

732Who that is a sincere friend to it

733 can look with indifference

734 upon attempts to shake the foundation

735 of the fabric?

736Promote then as an object of primary importance,

737 Institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge.

738In proportion as the structure of a government

739 gives force to public opinion,

740 it is essential that public opinion

741 should be enlightened.

742As a very important source of strength & security

743 cherish public credit.

744One method of preserving it

745 is to use it as sparingly as possible:

746 avoiding occasions of expence

747 by cultivating peace,

748 but remembering also

749 that timely disbursements to prepare for danger

750 frequently prevent much greater disbursements

751 to repel it—

752 avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt,

753 not only by shunning occasions of expence,

754 but by vigorous exertions in time of Peace

755 to discharge the Debts

756 which unavoidable wars may have occasioned,

757 not ungenerously throwing upon posterity

758 the burthen which we ourselves ought to bear.

759The execution of these maxims

760 belongs to your Representatives,

761 but it is necessary

762 that public opinion should cooperate.

763To facilitate to them the performance of their duty,

764 it is essential that you should practically

765 bear in mind,

766 that towards the payment of debts

767 there must be Revenue—

768 that to have Revenue there must be taxes—

769 that no taxes can be devised

770 which are not more or less

771 inconvenient & unpleasant—

772 that the intrinsic embarrassment inseperable

773 from the selection of the proper objects

774 (which is always a choice of difficulties)

775 ought to be a decisive motive

776 for a candid construction

777 of the conduct of the Government

778 in making it,

779 and for a spirit of acquiescence

780 in the measures for obtaining Revenue

781 which the public exigencies

782 may at any time dictate.

783Observe good faith & justice towds all Nations

784 cultivate peace & harmony with all—

785Religion & morality enjoin this conduct;

786 and can it be that good policy

787 does not equally enjoin it?

788It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and,

789 at no distant period, a great Nation,

790 to give to mankind

791 the magnanimous and too novel example

792 of a People always guided

793 by an exalted justice & benevolence.

794Who can doubt

795 that in the course of time and things

796 the fruits of such a plan would richly repay

797 any temporary advantages

798 wch might be lost

799 by a steady adherence to it?

800Can it be,

801 that Providence has not connected

802 the permanent felicity of a Nation

803 with its virtue?

804The experiment, at least, is recommended

805 by every sentiment which ennobles human Nature.

806Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices?

807In the execution of such a plan,

808 nothing is more essential

809 than that permanent, inveterate antipathies

810 against particular Nations

811 and passionate attachments for others

812 should be excluded;

813 and that in place of them

814 just & amicable feelings towards all

815 should be cultivated.

816The Nation, which indulges towards another

817 an habitual hatred, or an habitual fondness,

818 is in some degree a slave.

819It is a slave

820 to its animosity

821 or to its affection,

822 either of which is sufficient to lead it astray

823 from its duty and its interest.

824Antipathy in one Nation against another

825 disposes each more readily

826 to offer insult and injury,

827 to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage,

828 and to be haughty and intractable,

829 when accidental or trifling occasions

830 of dispute occur.

831Hence frequent collisions,

832 obstinate envenomed and bloody contests.

833The Nation, prompted by ill will & resentment

834 sometimes impels to War the Government,

835 contrary to the best calculations of policy.

836The Government sometimes participates

837 in the national propensity,

838 and adopts through passion

839 what reason would reject;

840 at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation

841 subservient to projects of hostility

842 instigated by pride, ambition

843 and other sinister & pernicious motives.

844The peace often,

845 sometimes perhaps the Liberty, of Nations

846 has been the victim.

847So likewise, a passionate attachment

848 of one Nation for another

849 produces a variety of evils.

850Sympathy for the favourite nation,

851 facilitating the illusion

852 of an imaginary common interest,

853 in cases where no real common interest exists,

854 and infusing into one the enmities of the other,

855 betrays the former into a participation

856 in the quarrels & Wars of the latter,

857 without adequate inducement or justification:

858It leads also to concessions to the favourite Nation

859 of priviledges denied to others,

860 which is apt doubly to injure

861 the Nation making the concessions—

862 by unnecessarily parting with

863 what ought to have been retained—

864 & by exciting jealousy, ill will,

865 and a disposition to retaliate,

866 in the parties from whom eql priviledges

867 are withheld:

868And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens

869 (who devote themselves to the favourite Nation)

870 facility to betray, or sacrifice the interests

871 of their own country,

872 without odium, sometimes even with popularity;

873 gilding with the appearances

874 of a virtuous sense of obligation

875 a commendable deference for public opinion,

876 or a laudable zeal for public good,

877 the base or foolish compliances

878 of ambition, corruption or infatuation.

879As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways,

880 such attachments are particularly alarming

881 to the truly enlightened and independent Patriot.

882How many opportunities do they afford

883 to tamper with domestic factions,

884 to practice the arts of seduction,

885 to mislead public opinion,

886 to influence or awe the public Councils!

887Such an attachment of a small or weak,

888 towards a great & powerful Nation,

889 dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

890Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence

891 (I conjure you to believe me fellow citizens)

892 the jealousy of a free people

893 ought to be constantly awake;

894 since history and experience prove

895 that foreign influence is one of the most baneful

896 foes of Republican Government.

897But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial;

898 else it becomes the instrument

899 of the very influence to be avoided,

900 instead of a defence against it.

901Excessive partiality for one foreign nation

902 and excessive dislike of another,

903 cause those whom they actuate

904 to see danger only on one side,

905 and serve to veil and even second

906 the arts of influence on the other.

907Real Patriots,

908 who may resist the intrigues of the favourite,

909 are liable to become suspected and odious;

910 while its tools and dupes usurp

911 the applause & confidence of the people,

912 to surrender their interests.

913The great rule of conduct for us,

914 in regard to foreign Nations

915 is in extending our commercial relations

916 to have with them

917 as little political connection as possible.

918So far as we have already formed engagements

919 let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith.

920Here let us stop.

921Europe has a set of primary interests,

922 which to us have none, or a very remote relation.

923Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies,

924 the causes of which are essentially foreign

925 to our concerns.

926Hence therefore it must be unwise in us

927 to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties,

928 in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics,

929 or the ordinary combinations & collisions

930 of her friendships, or enmities.

931Our detached & distant situation

932 invites and enables us to pursue a different course.

933If we remain one People, under an efficient government,

934 the period is not far off,

935 when we may defy material injury

936 from external annoyance;

937 when we may take such an attitude

938 as will cause the neutrality

939 we may at any time resolve upon

940 to be scrupulously respected;

941 when belligerent nations,

942 under the impossibility

943 of making acquisitions upon us,

944 will not lightly hazard

945 the giving us provocation;

946 when we may choose peace or War,

947 as our interest guided by justice

948 shall counsel.

949Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation?

950Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground?

951Why, by interweaving our destiny

952 with that of any part of Europe,

953 entangle our peace and prosperity

954 in the toils of European ambition,

955 Rivalship, Interest, Humour or Caprice?

956’Tis our true policy to steer clear

957 of permanent Alliances,

958 with any portion of the foreign world—

959So far, I mean,

960 as we are now at liberty to do it—

961 for let me not be understood as capable

962 of patronising infidility to existing engagements.

963(I hold the maxim no less applicable

964 to public than to private affairs,

965 that honesty is always the best policy).

966I repeat it therefore,

967 let those engagements be observed

968 in their genuine sense.

969But in my opinion, it is unnecessary

970 and would be unwise to extend them.

971Taking care always to keep ourselves,

972 by suitable establishments,

973 on a respectably defensive posture,

974 we may safely trust to temporary alliances

975 for extraordinary emergencies.

976Harmony, liberal intercourse with all Nations,

977 are recommended by policy, humanity and interest.

978But even our Commercial policy should hold

979 an equal and impartial hand:

980 neither seeking nor granting exclusive favours

981 or preferences;

982 consulting the natural course of things;

983 diffusing & diversifying

984 by gentle means

985 the streams of Commerce, but forcing nothing;

986 establishing, with Powers so disposed—

987 in order to give trade

988 a stable course,

989 to define the rights of our merchants,

990 and to enable the Government to support them—

991 conventional rules of intercourse,

992 the best that present circumstances

993 and mutual opinion will permit,

994 but temporary, & liable to be

995 from time to time abandoned or varied,

996 as experience and circumstances shall dictate;

997 constantly keeping in view;

998 that ’tis folly in one Nation

999 to look for disinterested favors from another—

1000 that it must pay with a portion

1001 of its Independence

1002 for whatever it may accept

1003 under that character—

1004 that by such acceptance,

1005 it may place itself in the condition

1006 of having given equivalents for nominal favours

1007 and yet of being reproached with ingratitude

1008 for not giving more.

1009 There can be no greater error

1010 than to expect, or calculate

1011 upon real favours

1012 from Nation to Nation.

1013’Tis an illusion which experience must cure,

1014 which a just pride ought to discard.

1015In offering to you, my Countrymen,

1016 these counsels of an old and affectionate friend,

1017 I dare not hope they will make

1018 the strong and lasting impression, I could wish—

1019 that they will controul the usual current

1020 of the passions,

1021 or prevent our Nation from running the course

1022 which has hitherto marked the Destiny of Nations:

1023But if I may even flatter myself,

1024 that they may be productive of some partial benefit,

1025 some occasional good,

1026 that they may now & then recur

1027 to moderate the fury

1028 of party spirit,

1029 to warn against the mischiefs

1030 of foreign Intriegue,

1031 to guard against the Impostures

1032 of pretended patriotism—

1033 this hope will be a full recompence

1034 for the solicitude for your welfare,

1035 by which they have been dictated.

1036How far in the discharge of my Official duties,

1037 I have been guided by the principles

1038 which have been delineated,

1039 the public Records and other evidences

1040 of my conduct

1041 must witness to You and to the world.

1042To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is,

1043 that I have at least believed myself

1044 to be guided by them.

1045In relation to the still subsisting War in Europe,

1046 my Proclamation of the 22d of April 1793

1047 is the index to my Plan.

1048 Sanctioned by your approving voice

1049 and by that of your Representatives

1050 in both Houses of Congress,

1051 the spirit of that measure

1052 has continually governed me;

1053 uninfluenced by any attempts

1054 to deter or divert me from it.

1055 After deliberate examination

1056 with the aid of the best lights I could obtain

1057 I was well satisfied

1058 that our country,

1059 under all the circumstances of the case,

1060 had a right to take,

1061 and was bound in duty and interest,

1062 to take a Neutral position.

1063Having taken it, I determined,

1064 as far as should depend upon me,

1065 to maintain it,

1066 with moderation, perseverence & firmness.

1067The considerations which respect the right

1068 to hold this conduct,

1069 it is not necessary on this occasion to detail.

1070I will only observe,

1071 that according to my understanding of the matter,

1072 that right,

1073 so far from being denied

1074 by any of the Belligerent Powers

1075 has been virtually admitted by all.

1076The duty of holding a Neutral conduct

1077 may be inferred, without any thing more,

1078 from the obligation

1079 which justice and humanity impose

1080 on every Nation,

1081 in cases in which it is free to act,

1082 to maintain inviolate the relations

1083 of Peace and amity towards other Nations.

1084The inducements of interest

1085 for observing that conduct

1086 will best be referred

1087 to your own reflections & experience.

1088With me, a predominant motive has been

1089 to endeavour to gain time to our country

1090 to settle & mature its yet recent institutions,

1091 and to progress without interruption,

1092 to that degree of strength & consistency,

1093 which is necessary to give it,

1094 humanly speaking,

1095 the command of its own fortunes.

1096Though in reviewing the incidents

1097 of my Administration,

1098 I am unconscious of intentional error—

1099I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects

1100 not to think it probable

1101 that I may have committed many errors.

1102Whatever they may be

1103 I fervently beseech the Almighty

1104 to avert or mitigate the evils

1105 to which they may tend.

1106I shall also carry with me the hope

1107 that my Country will never cease

1108 to view them with indulgence;

1109 and that after forty five years of my life

1110 dedicated to its Service,

1111 with an upright zeal,

1112 the faults of incompetent abilities

1113 will be consigned to oblivion,

1114 as myself must soon be

1115 to the mansions of rest.

1116Relying on its kindness in this as in other things,

1117 and actuated by that fervent love towards it,

1118 which is so natural to a man,

1119 who views in it the native soil of himself

1120 and his progenitors for several Generations;

1121I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat,

1122 in which I promise myself to realize,

1123 without alloy,

1124 the sweet enjoyment of partaking,

1125 in the midst of my fellow Citizens,

1126 the benign influence of good Laws

1127 under a free Government—

1128 the ever favourite object of my heart,

1129 and the happy reward, as I trust,

1130 of our mutual cares, labours and dangers.

1131Go: Washington