occasional good; that they may now and then recur, to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude of your welfare, by which they have been dictated. How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them. UNITED STATES: September 17th, 1796. GEORGE WASHINGTON. If we look over the catalogue of the first magistrates of nations, whether they have been denominated Presidents or Consuls, Kings of Princes, where shall we find one, whose commanding talents and vir tues, whose overruling good fortune, have so completely united all hearts and voices in his favor? who enjoyed the esteem and admiration of foreign nations, and fellow-citizens, with equal unanimity? Qualities so uncommon are no common blessings to the country that possesses them. By these great qualities, and their benign effects, has Providence marked out the Head of this Nation, with a hand so distinctly visible, as to have been seen by all mer, and mistaken by JOHN ADAMS, 1789. none. His example is complete; and it will teach wisdom and virtue to Magistrates, Citizens, and Men, not only in the present age, but in future generations. JOHN ADAMS, 1799. The only man in the United States, who possessed the confidence of all. There was no other one, who was considered as any thing more than a party leader. The whole of his character was in its mass perfect, in nothing bad, in a few points indifferent. And it may be truly said, that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him in the same constellation with whatever worthies have merited from man an everlasting remembrance. THOMAS JEFFERSON. POLITICAL MAXIMS. I. GOVERNMENT. This great man fought against tyranny; he established the liberty of his country His memory will always be dear to the French people, as it will be to all freemen of the two worlds. NAPOLEON BONAPARTE, THE END OF GOVERNMENT. The aggregate happiness of society, which is best promoted by the practice of a virtuous policy, is, or ought to be, the end of all Government. Influence is not Government. Let us have a Government, by which our lives, liberties, and properties will be secured. POLITICAL INFALLIBILITY. If any power on earth could, or the Great Power above would, erect a standard of Infallibility, in political opinions, there is no being that inhabits the terrestrial globe, that would resort to it with more eagerness than myself, so long as I remain a servant of the public. But as I have found no better guide hitherto, than upright intentions and close investigation, I shall adhere to those maxims, while I keep the watch; leaving it to those who will come after me, to explore new ways, if they like or think them better. THE RIGHT OF A NATION TO ESTABLISH ITS OWN GOVERNMENT. My politics are plain and simple. I think every nation has a right to establish that Form of Government under which it conceives it may live most happy; provided it infracts no right, or is not dangerous to others; and that no governments ought to interfere with the internal concerns of another, except for the security of what is due to themselves. NATIONAL REVOLUTIONS. The rapidity of national revolutions appears no less astonishing than their magnitude. In what they |
