answer History. The Early Republic

www.ourdocuments.gov March 5, 2013

Transcript of P resident G eorge W ashington's Farew ell A ddress (1796)

Friends and Fellow Citizens:

The period for a new election of a citizen to adm inister the executive governm ent of the United States

being not far distant, and the tim e actually arrived when your thoughts m ust be em ployed in designating

the person who is to be clothed with that im portant trust, it appears to m e proper, especially as it m ay

conduce to a m ore distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution

I have form ed, to decline being considered am ong the num ber of those out of whom a choice is to be

m ade.

I beg you, at the sam e tim e, to do m e 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 m y situation m ight im ply, I am

influenced by no dim inution 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 com patible with both.

The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called m e

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 m uch earlier in m y power, consistently with

m otives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirem ent from which I had been

reluctantly drawn. The strength of m y inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to

the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but m ature reflection on the then perplexed and critical

posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanim ous advice of persons entitled to m y

confidence, im pelled m e to abandon the idea.

I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of

inclination incom patible with the sentim ent of duty or propriety, and am persuaded, whatever partiality

m ay be retained for m y services, that, in the present circum stances of our country, you will not disapprove

m y determ ination to retire.

The im pressions 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 adm inistration of the governm ent the best exertions of which a very fallible judgm ent

was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of m y qualifications, experience in m y own

eyes, perhaps still m ore in the eyes of others, has strengthened the m otives to diffidence of m yself; and

every day the increasing weight of years adm onishes m e m ore and m ore that the shade of retirem ent is

as necessary to m e as it will be welcom e. Satisfied that if any circum stances have given peculiar value to

m y services, they were tem porary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite

m e to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.

In looking forward to the m om ent which is intended to term inate the career of m y public life, m y feelings

do not perm it m e to suspend the deep acknowledgm ent of that debt of gratitude which I owe to m y

beloved country for the m any honors it has conferred upon m e; still m ore for the steadfast confidence

with which it has supported m e; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of m anifesting m y

inviolable attachm ent, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to m y zeal. If

benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be rem em bered to your praise,

and as an instructive exam ple in our annals, that under circum stances in which the passions, agitated in

every direction, were liable to m islead, am idst appearances som etim es 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 m e to m y

grave, as a strong incitem ent to unceasing vows that heaven m ay continue to you the choicest tokens of

its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection m ay be perpetual; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, m ay be sacredly m aintained; that its adm inistration in every departm ent m ay

be stam ped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the

auspices of liberty, m ay be m ade com plete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this

blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recom m ending 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 welfare, which cannot end but with m y life, and the

apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge m e, on an occasion like the present, to offer to

your solem n contem plation, and to recom m end to your frequent review, som e sentim ents which are the

result of m uch reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to m e all-im portant to the

perm anency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the m ore freedom , as you can

only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal

m otive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragem ent to it, your indulgent reception of m y

sentim ents on a form er and not dissim ilar occasion.

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligam ent of your hearts, no recom m endation of m ine is

necessary to fortify or confirm the attachm ent.

The unity of governm ent which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a

m ain pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at hom e, 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, m uch pains will be taken, m any artifices

em ployed to weaken in your m inds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress

against which the batteries of internal and external enem ies will be m ost constantly and actively (though

often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite m om ent that you should properly estim ate the

im m ense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should

cherish a cordial, habitual, and im m ovable attachm ent to it; accustom ing yourselves to think and speak

of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous

anxiety; discountenancing whatever m ay suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be

abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attem pt 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 inducem ent of sym pathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a com m on

country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The nam e of Am erican, which belongs to

you in your national capacity, m ust always exalt the just pride of patriotism m ore than any appellation

derived from local discrim inations. W ith slight shades of difference, you have the sam e religion,

m anners, habits, and political principles. You have in a com m on cause fought and trium phed together;

the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of com m on

dangers, sufferings, and successes.

But these considerations, however powerfully they address them selves to your sensibility, are greatly

outweighed by those which apply m ore im m ediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country

finds the m ost com m anding m otives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole.

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a com m on

governm ent, finds in the productions of the latter great additional resources of m aritim e and com m ercial

enterprise and precious m aterials of m anufacturing industry. The South, in the sam e intercourse,

benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its com m erce expand. Turning partly

into its own channels the seam en of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and, while it

contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general m ass of the national navigation, it

looks forward to the protection of a m aritim e strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a

like intercourse with the W est, already finds, and in the progressive im provem ent of interior

com m unications by land and water, will m ore and m ore find a valuable vent for the com m odities which it

brings from abroad, or m anufactures at hom e. The W est derives from the East supplies requisite to its

growth and com fort, and, what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it m ust of necessity owe the

secure enjoym ent of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future

m aritim e strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble com m unity of interest as

one nation. Any other tenure by which the W est can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from

its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, m ust be intrinsically precarious.

W hile, then, every part of our country thus feels an im m ediate and particular interest in union, all the parts

com bined cannot fail to find in the united m ass of m eans 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 of inestim able value, they m ust derive from union an exem ption from those broils

and wars between them selves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the

sam e governm ents, which their own rival ships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite

foreign alliances, attachm ents, and intrigues would stim ulate and em bitter. Hence, likewise, they will

avoid the necessity of those overgrown m ilitary establishm ents which, under any form of governm ent, are

inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this

sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a m ain prop of your liberty, and that the love of the

one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.

These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous m ind, and exhibit the

continuance of the Union as a prim ary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a com m on

governm ent can em brace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to m ere speculation in

such a case were crim inal. W e are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole with the

auxiliary agency of governm ents for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the

experim ent. It is well worth a fair and full experim ent. W ith such powerful and obvious m otives to union,

affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have dem onstrated its im practicability, there

will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter m ay endeavor to weaken its

bands.

In contem plating the causes which m ay disturb our Union, it occurs as m atter of serious concern that

any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discrim inations,

Northern and Southern, Atlantic and W estern; whence designing m en m ay 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 m isrepresent the opinions and aim s of other districts. You

cannot shield yourselves too m uch against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these

m isrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by

fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our W estern country have lately had a useful lesson on this head;

they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanim ous 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 am ong them of a policy in the General

Governm ent and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi; they have

been witnesses to the form ation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure

to them everything they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirm ing their

prosperity. W ill it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by

which they were procured ? W ill they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who

would sever them from their brethren and connect them with aliens?

To the efficacy and perm anency of your Union, a governm ent for the whole is indispensable. No alliance,

however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they m ust inevitably experience the

infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all tim es have experienced. Sensible of this

m om entous truth, you have im proved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of

governm ent better calculated than your form er for an intim ate union, and for the efficacious m anagem ent

of your com m on concerns. This governm ent, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed,

adopted upon full investigation and m ature deliberation, com pletely free in its principles, in the

distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own

am endm ent, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, com pliance

with its laws, acquiescence in its m easures, are duties enjoined by the fundam ental m axim s of true

liberty. The basis of our political system s is the right of the people to m ake and to alter their constitutions

of governm ent. But the Constitution which at any tim e 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 governm ent presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established governm ent.

All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all com binations and associations, under whatever

plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundam ental 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 sm all but artful and enterprising m inority of the

com m unity; and, according to the alternate trium phs of different parties, to m ake the public

adm inistration the m irror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of

consistent and wholesom e plans digested by com m on counsels and m odified by m utual interests.

However com binations or associations of the above description m ay now and then answer popular

ends, they are likely, in the course of tim e and things, to becom e potent engines, by which cunning,

am bitious, and unprincipled m en will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for

them selves the reins of governm ent, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to

unjust dom inion.

Towards the preservation of your governm ent, and the perm anency 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 m ethod of assault m ay be to effect, in the form s of the Constitution, alterations which will

im pair the energy of the system , and thus to underm ine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the

changes to which you m ay be invited, rem em ber that tim e and habit are at least as necessary to fix the

true character of governm ents as of other hum an 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 m ere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of

hypothesis and opinion; and rem em ber, especially, that for the efficient m anagem ent of your com m on

interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a governm ent of as m uch vigor as is consistent with the

perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a governm ent, with powers

properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a nam e, where the

governm ent is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each m em ber of the society

within the lim its prescribed by the laws, and to m aintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoym ent of the

rights of person and property.

I have already intim ated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding

of them on geographical discrim inations. Let m e now take a m ore com prehensive view, and warn you in

the m ost solem n m anner 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

hum an m ind. It exists under different shapes in all governm ents, m ore or less stifled, controlled, or

repressed; but, in those of the popular form , it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst

enem y.

The alternate dom ination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party

dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the m ost horrid enorm ities, is itself a

frightful despotism . But this leads at length to a m ore form al and perm anent despotism . The disorders

and m iseries which result gradually incline the m inds of m en to seek security and repose in the

absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of som e prevailing faction, m ore able or

m ore fortunate than his com petitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the

ruins of public liberty.

W ithout looking forward to an extrem ity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of

sight), the com m on and continual m ischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to m ake 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 adm inistration. It agitates the

com m unity with ill-founded jealousies and false alarm s, kindles the anim osity of one part against

another, fom ents occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption,

which finds a facilitated access to the governm ent 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 adm inistration of the

governm ent and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain lim its is probably true; and in

governm ents of a m onarchical cast, patriotism m ay look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governm ents purely elective, it is a spirit not to be

encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every

salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public

opinion, to m itigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it dem ands a uniform vigilance to prevent

its bursting into a flam e, lest, instead of warm ing, it should consum e.

It is im portant, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those

entrusted with its adm inistration, to confine them selves within their respective constitutional spheres,

avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one departm ent to encroach upon another. The spirit of

encroachm ent tends to consolidate the powers of all the departm ents in one, and thus to create,

whatever the form of governm ent, a real despotism . A just estim ate of that love of power, and proneness

to abuse it, which predom inates in the hum an 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 depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the

others, has been evinced by experim ents ancient and m odern; som e of them in our country and under

our own eyes. To preserve them m ust be as necessary as to institute them . If, in the opinion of the

people, the distribution or m odification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be

corrected by an am endm ent in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be no change by

usurpation; for though this, in one instance, m ay be the instrum ent of good, it is the custom ary weapon

by which free governm ents are destroyed. The precedent m ust always greatly overbalance in perm anent

evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any tim e yield.

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and m orality are

indispensable supports. In vain would that m an claim the tribute of patriotism , who should labor to

subvert these great pillars of hum an happiness, these firm est props of the duties of m en and citizens.

The m ere politician, equally with the pious m an, ought to respect and to cherish them . A volum e could

not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it sim ply be asked: W here is the security

for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the

instrum ents of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that

m orality can be m aintained without religion. W hatever m ay be conceded to the influence of refined

education on m inds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national

m orality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

It is substantially true that virtue or m orality is a necessary spring of popular governm ent. The rule,

indeed, extends with m ore or less force to every species of free governm ent. W ho that is a sincere friend

to it can look with indifference upon attem pts to shake the foundation of the fabric?

Prom ote then, as an object of prim ary im portance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In

proportion as the structure of a governm ent gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public

opinion should be enlightened.

As a very im portant source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One m ethod of preserving it is

to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but rem em bering

also that tim ely disbursem ents to prepare for danger frequently prevent m uch greater disbursem ents to

repel it, avoiding likewise the accum ulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by

vigorous exertion in tim e of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars m ay have occasioned,

not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of

these m axim s belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate.

To facilitate to them the perform ance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in m ind

that towards the paym ent of debts there m ust be revenue; that to have revenue there m ust be taxes; that

no taxes can be devised which are not m ore or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic

em barrassm ent, inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of

difficulties), ought to be a decisive m otive for a candid construction of the conduct of the governm ent in

m aking it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the m easures for obtaining revenue, which the public

exigencies m ay at any tim e dictate.

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harm ony with all. Religion and

m orality 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 m ankind the m agnanim ous and too novel exam ple of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. W ho can doubt that, in

the course of tim e and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any tem porary advantages

which m ight be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has not connected the

perm anent felicity of a nation with its virtue ? The experim ent, at least, is recom m ended by every

sentim ent which ennobles hum an nature. Alas! is it rendered im possible by its vices?

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is m ore essential than that perm anent, inveterate antipathies

against particular nations, and passionate attachm ents for others, should be excluded; and that, in place

of them , just and am icable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards

another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in som e degree a slave. It is a slave to its anim osity

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 m ore readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes

of um brage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur.

Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenom ed, and bloody contests. The nation, prom pted by ill-will

and resentm ent, som etim es im pels to war the governm ent, contrary to the best calculations of policy.

The governm ent som etim es participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what

reason would reject; at other tim es it m akes the anim osity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility

instigated by pride, am bition, and other sinister and pernicious m otives. The peace often, som etim es

perhaps the liberty, of nations, has been the victim .

So likewise, a passionate attachm ent of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sym pathy for

the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an im aginary com m on interest in cases where no real

com m on interest exists, and infusing into one the enm ities of the other, betrays the form er into a

participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducem ent or justification. It leads

also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the

nation m aking the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by

exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are

withheld. And it gives to am bitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote them selves to the favorite

nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium , som etim es even

with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a com m endable

deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish com pliances of

am bition, corruption, or infatuation.

As avenues to foreign influence in innum erable ways, such attachm ents are particularly alarm ing to the

truly enlightened and independent patriot. How m any opportunities do they afford to tam per with

dom estic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to m islead public opinion, to influence or awe the

public councils? Such an attachm ent of a sm all or weak towards a great and powerful nation doom s the

form er to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe m e, 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 m ost baneful foes of republican governm ent. But that jealousy to be useful m ust be

im partial; else it becom es the instrum ent of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense

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 m ay resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to becom e suspected and

odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their

interests.

The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our com m ercial relations, to

have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already form ed

engagem ents, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of prim ary

interests which to us have none; or a very rem ote relation. Hence she m ust be engaged in frequent

controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it m ust be

unwise in us to im plicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the

ordinary com binations and collisions of her friendships or enm ities.

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we rem ain one

people under an efficient governm ent. the period is not far off when we m ay defy m aterial injury from external annoyance; when we m ay take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we m ay at any tim e

resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the im possibility of m aking

acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we m ay choose peace or

war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.

W hy forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? W hy quit our own to stand upon foreign ground?

W hy, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the

toils of European am bition, rivalship, interest, hum or or caprice?

It is our true policy to steer clear of perm anent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I

m ean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let m e not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to

existing engagem ents. I hold the m axim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty

is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagem ents be observed in their genuine

sense. But, in m y opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them .

Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishm ents on a respectable defensive posture,

we m ay safely trust to tem porary alliances for extraordinary em ergencies.

Harm ony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recom m ended by policy, hum anity, and interest. But

even our com m ercial policy should hold an equal and im partial hand; neither seeking nor granting

exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by

gentle m eans the stream s of com m erce, but forcing nothing; establishing (with powers so disposed, in

order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our m erchants, and to enable the governm ent

to support them ) conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circum stances and m utual

opinion will perm it, but tem porary, and liable to be from tim e to tim e 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 m ust pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it m ay

accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it m ay place itself in the condition of having given

equivalents for nom inal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving m ore. There

can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion,

which experience m ust cure, which a just pride ought to discard.

In offering to you, m y countrym en, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they

will m ake the strong and lasting im pression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the

passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto m arked the destiny of

nations. But, if I m ay even flatter m yself that they m ay be productive of som e partial benefit, som e

occasional good; that they m ay now and then recur to m oderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the

m ischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the im postures 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 m y official duties I have been guided by the principles which have been

delineated, the public records and other evidences of m y conduct m ust witness to you and to the world.

To m yself, the assurance of m y own conscience is, that I have at least believed m yself to be guided by

them .

In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, m y proclam ation of the twenty-second of April, I793, is the

index of m y plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both houses

of Congress, the spirit of that m easure has continually governed m e, uninfluenced by any attem pts to

deter or divert m e from it.

After deliberate exam ination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our

country, under all the circum stances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest

to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determ ined, as far as should depend upon m e, to m aintain it,

with m oderation, perseverance, and firm ness.

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 m y understanding of the m atter, that right, so far from being

denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually adm itted by all.

The duty of holding a neutral conduct m ay be inferred, without anything m ore, from the obligation which

justice and hum anity im pose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to m aintain inviolate the relations of peace and am ity towards other nations.

The inducem ents of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and

experience. W ith m e a predom inant m otive has been to endeavor to gain tim e to our country to settle and

m ature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and

consistency which is necessary to give it, hum anly speaking, the com m and of its own fortunes.

Though, in reviewing the incidents of m y adm inistration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am

nevertheless too sensible of m y defects not to think it probable that I m ay have com m itted m any errors.

W hatever they m ay be, I fervently beseech the Alm ighty to avert or m itigate the evils to which they m ay

tend. I shall also carry with m e the hope that m y country will never cease to view them with indulgence;

and that, after forty five years of m y life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of

incom petent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as m yself m ust soon be to the m ansions 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 m an who views in it the native soil of him self and his progenitors for several generations, I

anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I prom ise m yself to realize, without alloy, the

sweet enjoym ent of partaking, in the m idst of m y fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under

a free governm ent, the ever-favorite object of m y heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our m utual

cares, labors, and dangers.

United States

19th Septem ber, 1796

Geo. W ashington

Transcription courtesy of the Avalon Project at Yale Law School.

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