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there must be revenue; that to have revenue | quarrels and wars of the latter, without adethere must be taxes; that no taxes can be de- quate inducement or justification. It leads also vised which are not more or less inconvenient to concessions to the favorite nation of priviand unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrass-leges denied to others, which is apt doubly to ment, inseparable from the selection of the injure the nation making the concessions; by proper objects, (which is always the choice of unnecessarily parting with what ought to have difficulties,) ought to be a decisive motive for a been retained; and by exciting jealousy, ill will, candid construction of the conduct of the govern- and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties ment in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence from whom equal privileges are withheld; and in the measures for obtaining revenue which the it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citipublic exigencies may at any time dictate. zens, (who devote themselves to the favorite nation,) facility to betray, or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.

Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all; religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages that might be lost by a steady adherence to it? Can it be, that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices?

As avenues to foreign influence, in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions; to practise the arts of seduction; to mislead public opinion; to influence or awe the public councils! Such an attachment of a small or weak nation, toward a great and powerful one, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

In the execution of such a plan, nothing is Against the insidious wiles of foreign influmore essential than that permanent, inveterate | ence, (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citiantipathies against particular nations, and pas-zens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be sionate 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

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constantly awake; since history and experience prove, that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and excessive 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 intrigues of the favorite, are liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their inter

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.

Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed and bloody contests. The nation, prompt-ests. ed by ill will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, and 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 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

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Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships and enmities.

Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient gov

crnment, 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 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?

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 in trigues; to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense 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.

'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign In relation to the still subsisting war in Euworld; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty rope, my proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793, to do it; for let me not be understood as capa- is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your ble of patronizing infidelity to existing engage-approving voice, and by that of your representments. 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 unnecessary, and would be unwise, to extend them.

Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, in a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.

atives 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 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

every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations.

Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive 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, in order to give 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 circum-on stances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be, from time to time, abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested 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

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflection and experience. With me, a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress, without interruption, to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes.

Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am, nevertheless, too sensible of my defects, not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope tha 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 | for several generations, I anticipate, with pleaszeal, 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 toward it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors

ing expectations, that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government-the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.*

Attempts have been made to rob Washington of the au- plete. The readers can satisfy themselves in relation to this thorship of this address; thus far without success. No bet-matter, by referring to Mr. Lenox's reprint; in the appenter proof that Washington was the author of it is necessary, than the facts produced by those who assert to the contrary. The copy from which the address was first published, entirely in Washington's own handwriting, marked with corrections and erasures, is now in the possession of Mr. James Lenox, of New York, by whom it has been printed, com

dices to which are reproduced the statement of Mr. Clay. poole; the report of Mr. Rawle; the letter of Chief Justice Jay, and Mr. Sparks' paper. A reference may also be made to Sullivan's Familiar Letters, page 115, and to the interest. ing discourse of the Hon. Luther Bradish, now in the ar chives of the New York Historical Society.

ELIAS BOUDINOT.

Or Mr. Boudinot's ancestors hardly any thing is recorded. His grandfather was one of the numerous Protestants who fled from France to America on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. His father died in the year 1770, and all that is known of his mother is, that she was of Welsh descent. He was born in Philadelphia, on the second of May, 1740. After receiving a classical education, such as the colonies at that period afforded, he commenced the study of law in the office of Richard Stockton,* an eminent lawyer of New Jersey. Soon after he entered upon the practice of his profession, and rose to distinction. Early in life he married the eldest sister of his law preceptor, by whom he had an only daughter. Mrs. Boudinot died in 1808, and he was a second time married to a lady of New York, who survived him.

At the commencement of the difficulties with the mother country, Mr. Boudinot espoused the cause of the colonies, advocating their rights against the encroachments of tyranny and the cruelties of the ministry, with ability and the highest patriotism. In 1777 he was appointed by the Continental Congress, Commissary-general of prisoners, and during the same year he was elected a delegate to that body from the State of New Jersey. In this position he became distinguished, being in November, 1782, chosen President of Congress. In that capacity, subsequently, he signed the treaty of peace, which secured the independence of the United States. Soon after he resumed the practice of his profession, and on the adoption of the Federal Constitution in 1789, he was again elevated to a seat in the lower house of Congress, where he remained, by re-elections, during the succeeding six years, taking an important part in the delib

RICHARD STOCKTON was born at Princeton, New Jersey, on the 1st of October, 1780. His ancestors emigrated from England at an early period of the colony. John Stockton, his father, was a gentleman of extensive fortune, and a high character, a great benefactor to the College of New Jersey, and for many years a judge in the Court of Common Pleas, in the county of Somerset. He acquired his education at an academy in Nottingham, Maryland, under the charge of the Rev. Samuel Finley. He graduated at New Jersey College; read law with David Ogden, of Newark; was admitted to the bar in August, 1754, and at once entered upon the duties of his profession. His practice gradually increased; “as an eloquent and accomplished advocate, he had no competitor." In 1766 he visited England, where he was received with much attention, and often consulted upon the affairs of the colonies. During his visit he used his efforts to obtain the services of Dr. Witherspoon, for the college of his native State, and was successful. Dr. Witherspoon became the president of that institution on the death of Dr. Finley. Mr. Stockton remained abroad some fifteen months. The year following his return he was made a member of Council, and in 1774 he was appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. He was a member of the Congress of 1776, and signed the Declaration of Independence. During the war he suffered the greatest distresses. His residence at Princeton was directly in the route of the British army, in its triumphant march through New Jersey. His home was soon the scene of desolation; his estate was laid waste, his property pillaged and destroyed. Compelled to fly with his wife and children to a place of safety, he sought refuge in the house of an old friend, in the county of Monmouth. But the place of his retreat was soon discovered by a party of refugee royalists, who dragged him from his bed at night; subjected him to every species of insult and indignity; exposed him to all the severity of a most inclement season; and hurried him to New York, where he was thrown into the common jail. His treatment here was so severe as to call for the interposition of Congress; and after his release his health was so broken that he never recovered. He died on the 25th of February, 1781, in the fifty-first year of his age. He married the sister of Elias Boudinot, and left two sons and four daughters. Mrs. Stockton was a woman of highly-cultivated mind, and of excellent literary taste. She was the author of several poetical productions, many of which evince no ordinary merit.-New Jersey Historical Collections, vol. 8 pp. 190-202.

erations of that body. On leaving that station, in 1796, he was appointed, by President Washington, Director of the National Mint, as the successor of Dr. Rittenhouse,* in which office he continued until 1805, performing its duties with such fidelity and ability as commanded universal confidence. Resigning his office, he retired from all public life, and settled in Burlington, New Jersey, where "he passed his time in literary pursuits, liberal hospitality, and active attention to the best interests of his country and of the church of Christ, for which he was ever distinguished.” At an early period of his life he united himself in full communion with the Christian church, devoting himself to the exercise of a liberal public and private charity, and uniformly continuing a zealous and exemplary professor of religion to the day of his death. He was a trustee and a munificent benefactor of the College of New Jersey, founding, in that institution, an extensive and valuable cabinet of natural history, besides bequeathing to it at his death a large sum of money and valuable tracts of land.

In 1812 he was elected a member of the Board of Foreign Missions, and on the organization of the American Bible Society in 1816, he was chosen its first president. In accepting that office he wrote: "I am not ashamed to confess that I accept the appointment of President of the American Bible Society as the greatest honor that could have been conferred on me this side of the grave." A short time after he presented that society with ten thousand dollars, thus effectually aiding in the establishment of that important moral agency, whose powerful and cheering influence is now felt in all the corners of the world.

Mr. Boudinot evinced a great interest in the cause of missions, particularly in reference to the aborigines of America. In 1816 he published a curious work, in which he endeavored, like Mr. Adair,† to establish the conclusion that the American Indians were the descendants of the lost tribes of Israel; ‡ and when the Cherokee youths were brought to the school of the Foreign Missions in 1818, one of them, by his permission, took his name. He continued in the presidency of the Bible Society until his decease, displaying an unremitting interest in the welfare of that institution, and performing the duties of his office even while suffering under the infirmities of a very advanced age and acute bodily pain. He died in the year 1821. By the religion which he professed he was supported and cheered as he went down to the grave. His patience was unexhausted; his faith was strong and triumphant. Exhorting those around him to rest in Jesus Christ, as the only ground of trust, and commending his daughter and only child to the care of his friends, he expressed his desire to go in peace to the bosom of his Father in heaven; and his last prayer was, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!" By his will, Dr. Boudinot, after providing suitably for his only daughter, bequeathed the most of his large estate to those objects which had been dearest to him through life: the promotion of literature and the diffusion of knowledge.§

* David Rittenhouse, the celebrated mathematician, was born at Germantown, Pa., on the 8th of April, 1782, and died 26th of June, 1796. The memoirs of his life were published, in 1818, by his nephew, William Barton, and contain various notices of many of the distinguished contemporaries of Dr. Rittenhouse.

+ James Adair was an Indian trader, and for many years resided among the southern tribes, principally the Chickasaws and Cherokees. He published a History of the American Indians, in 1775. In that work he labored to show, from certain supposed resemblances in manners and customs, the descent of the aborigines of America from the Jews. The most valuable part of his work is in his vocabularies of Indian dialects, and even these are not wholly satisfactory to the ethnological student.

The title of this work is, "A Star in the West; or a humble attempt to discover the long lost Ten Tribes of Israel, preparatory to their return to their beloved city Jerusalem." Dr. Boudinot also published, in 1790, The Age of Revelation; or the Age of Reason an Age of Infidelity; subsequently an oration before the Society of the Cincinnati, which is included in this volume; The Second Advent of the Messiah; and the Life of William Tennent.

In the preparation of this sketch, the editor has relied mainly on the facts as given by Mr. Holmes, in his invaluable Arnals of America, and the brief sketch of Mr. Boud'not's life in the National Portrait Gallery.

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