INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

THIS address was delivered by Mr. Adams, | sense, presence of mind, resolution, or integrity. before both Houses of Congress, on assuming the Presidency of the United States, on the 4th of March, 1797 ::

Measures were pursued to concert a plan to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. The public disquisitions, discussions, and deliberations issued in the present happy constitution of gov ernment.

When it was first perceived, in early times, that no middle course for America remained, between unlimited submission to a foreign legislature and a total independence of its Employed in the service of my country claims, men of reflection were less apprehensive abroad during the whole course of these transof danger from the formidable power of fleets actions, I frst saw the constitution of the and armies they must determine to resist, than United States in a foreign country. Irritated from those contests and dissensions which by no literary altercation, animated by no would certainly arise concerning the forms of public debate, heated by no party animosity, I government to be instituted over the whole, read it with great satisfaction, as the result of and over the parts, of this extensive country. good heads, prompted by good hearts; as an Relying, however, on the purity of their inten- experiment better adapted to the genius, chations, the justice of their cause, and the in-racter, situation, and relations of this nation tegrity and intelligence of the people, under an and country than any which had ever been overruling Providence, which had so signally proposed or suggested. In its general principrotected this country from the first; the rep-ples and great outlines, it was conformable to resentatives of this nation, then consisting of little more than half its present numbers, not only broke to pieces the chains which were forging, and the rod of iron that was lifted up, but frankly cut asunder the ties which had bound them, and launched into an ocean of uncertainty.

The zeal and ardor of the people during the revolutionary war, supplying the place of government, commanded a degree of order, sufficient, at least, for the temporary preservation of society. The confederation, which was early felt to be necessary, was prepared from the models of the Batavian and Helvetic confederacies, the only examples which remain, with any detail and precision, in history, and certainly the only ones which the people at large had ever considered. But, reflecting on the striking difference, in so many particulars, between this country and those, where a courier may go from the seat of government to the frontier in a single day, it was then certainly foreseen by some, who assisted in Congress at the formation of it, that it could not be durable.

Negligence of its regulations, inattention to its recommendations, if not disobedience to its authority, not only in individuals, but in States, soon appeared with their melancholy consequences. Universal languor, jealousies, rivalries of States, decline of navigation and commerce, discouragement of necessary manufactures, universal fall in the value of lands and their produce, contempt of public and private faith, loss of consideration and credit with foreign nations; and, at length, in discontents, animosities, combinations, partial conventions, and insurrection, threatening some great national calamity. In this dangerous crisis, the people of America were not abandoned by their usual good

such a system of government as I had ever most esteemed; and in some States, my own native State in particular, had contributed to establish. Claiming a right of suffrage in common with my fellow-citizens in the adoption or rejection of constitution, which was to rule me and my posterity, as well as them and theirs, I did not hesitate to express my approbation of it on all occasions, in public and in private. It was not then nor has been since any objection to it, in my mind, that the Executive and Senate were not more permanent. Nor have I entertained a thought of promoting any alteration in it, but such as the people themselves, in the course of their experience, should see and feel to be necessary or expedient, and by their representatives in Congress and the State Legislatures, according to the constitution itself, adopt and ordain.

Returning to the bosom of my country, after a painful separation from it for ten years, I had the honor to be elected to a station under the new order of things; and I have repeatedly laid myself under the most serious obligations to support the constitution. The operation of it has equalled the most sanguine expectations of its friends; and from an habitual attention to it, satisfaction in its administration, and delight in its effects upon the peace, order, pros perity, and happiness of the nation, I have acquired an habitual attachment to it, and veneration for it.

What other form of government, indeed, can so well deserve our esteem and love?

There may be little solidity in an ancient idea that congregations of men into cities and nations are the most pleasing objects in the sight of superior intelligences; but this is very certain, that to a benevolent human mind there can be no spectacle presented by any nation

terity.

In that retirement, which is his voluntary choice, may he long live to enjoy the delicious recollection of his services-the gratitude of mankind; the happy fruits of them to himself and the world, which are daily increasing, and that splendid prospect of the future fortunes of his country, which is opening from year to year. His name may be still a rampart, and the knowledge that he lives, a bulwark against all open or secret enemies of his country's peace.

This example has been recommended to the imitation of his successors, by both Houses of Congress, and by the voice of the legislatures and the people, throughout the nation.

On this subject it might become me better to be silent, or to speak with diffidence; but as something may be expected, the occasion, I hope, will be admitted as an apology, if I venture to say, that if a preference, upon principle, of a free Republican government, formed upon long and serious reflection, after a diligent and impartial inquiry after truth; if an attachment to the constitution of the United States, and a conscientious determination to support it, until it shall be altered by the judgments and wishes of the people, expressed in the mode prescribed in it; if a respectful attention to the constitutions of the individual States, and a constant caution and delicacy towards the State govern

more pleasing, more noble, majestic, or august, | tions, and secured immortal glory with posthan an assembly like that which has so often been seen in this and the other chamber of Congress of a government in which the executive authority, as well as that of all the branches of the legislature, are exercised by citizens, selected at regular periods by their neighbors, to make and execute laws for the general good. Can any thing essential, any thing more than mere ornament and decoration, be added to this by robes or diamonds? Can authority be more amiable or respectable, when it descends from accidents or institutions established in remote antiquity, than when it springs fresh from the hearts and judgments of an honest and enlightened people? For it is the people only that are represented; it is their power and majesty that is reflected, and only for their good, in every legitimate government, under whatever form it may appear. The existence of such a government as ours for any length of time, is a full proof of a general dissemination of knowledge and virtue throughout the whole body of the people. And what object of consideration, more pleasing than this, can be presented to the human mind? If national pride is ever justifiable or excusable, it is when it springs, not from power or riches, grandeur or glory, but from conviction of national innocence, information, and benevolence. In the midst of these pleasing ideas, we should be unfaithful to ourselves if we should ever lose sight of the danger to our liberties-ments; if an equal and impartial regard to the if any thing partial or extraneous should infect the purity of our free, fair, virtuous, and independent elections. If an election is to be determined by a majority of a single vote, and that can be procured by a party through artifice or corruption, the government may be the choice of a party, for its own ends, not of the nation for the national good. If that solitary suffrage can be obtained by foreign nations, by flattery or menaces, by fraud or violence, by terror, intrigue, or venality, the government may not be the choice of the American people, but of foreign nations. It may be foreign nations who govern us, and not we, the people, who govern ourselves; and candid men will acknowledge that, in such cases, choice would have little advantage to boast of over lot or chance.

rights, interests, honor, and happiness of all the States in the Union, without preference or regard to a northern or southern, eastern or western position, their various political opinions on essential points, or their personal attachments; if a love of virtuous men, of all parties and denominations; if a love of science and letters, and a wish to patronize every rational effort to encourage schools, colleges, universities, academies, and every institution for propagating knowledge, virtue, and religion among all classes of the people, not only for their benign influence on the happiness of life, in all its stages and classes, and of society in all its forms, but as the only means of preserving our constitution from its natural enemies, the spirit of sophistry the spirit of party, the spirit of intrigue, profligacy, and corruption, and the pesSuch is the amiable and interesting system of tilence of foreign influence, which is the angel government (and such are some of the abuses of destruction to elective governments; if a to which it may be exposed) which the people love of equal laws, of justice and humanity, in of America have exhibited to the admiration the interior administration; if an inclination to and anxiety of the wise and virtuous of all na- improve agriculture, commerce, and manufactions for eight years, under the administration tures for necessity, convenience, and defence; of a citizen, who, by a long course of great ac- if a spirit of equity and humanity towards the tions, regulated by prudence, justice, temper-aboriginal nations of America, and a disposition ance, and fortitude, conducting a people inspired with the same virtues, and animated with the same ardent patriotism and love of liberty, to independence and peace, to increasing wealth and unexampled prosperity, has merited the gratitude of his fellow-citizens, commanded the highest praises of foreign na

to ameliorate their condition, by inclining them to be more friendly to us, and our citizens to be more friendly to them; if an inflexible determination to maintain peace and inviolable faith with all nations, and that system of neutrality and impartiality among the belligerent powers of Europe which has been adopted by the gov

I feel it my duty to add, if a veneration for the religion of a people, who profess and call themselves Christians, and a fixed resolution to consider a decent respect for Christianity among the best recommendations for the public service, can enable me, in any degree, to comply with your wishes, it shall be my strenuous endeavor that this sagacious injunction of the two Houses shall not be without effect.

ernment, and so solemnly sanctioned by both | towards it, founded on a knowledge of the Houses of Congress, and applauded by the moral principles and intellectual improvements legislatures of the States and the public opinion, of the people, deeply engraven on my mind in until it shall be otherwise ordained by Con- early life, and not obscured but exalted by exgress; if a personal esteem for the French na-perience and age; and with humble reverence, tion, formed in a residence of seven years chiefly among them, and a sincere desire to preserve the friendship, which has been so much for the honor and interest of both nations; if, while the conscious honor and integrity of the people of America, and the internal | sentiment of their own power and energies must be preserved, an earnest endeavor to investigate every just cause, and remove every colorable pretence, of complaint; if an intention to pursue, by amicable negotiation, a reparation for the injuries that have been committed on the commerce of our fellow-citizens, by whatever nation; and if success cannot be obtained, to lay the facts before the legislature, that they may consider what further measures the honor and interest of the government and its constituents demand; if a resolution to do justice, as far as may depend upon me, at all times and to all nations, and maintain peace, friendship, and benevolence with all the world; if an unshaken confidence in the honor, spirit, and resources of the American people, on which I have so often hazarded my all, and never been deceived; if elevated ideas of the high destinies of this country, and of my own duties

With this great example before me-with the sense and spirit, the faith and honor, the duty and interest of the same American people, pledged to support the constitution of the United States, I entertain no doubt of its continuance in all its energy; and my mind is prepared, without hesitation, to lay myself under the most solemn obligations to support it to the utmost of my power.

And may that Being who is supreme over all, the patron of order, the fountain of justice, and the protector, in all ages of the world, of virtuous liberty, continue his blessing upon this nation and its government, and give it all possible success and duration, consistent with the ends of his providence.

GEORGE WASHINGTON.

THE ancestors of Washington emigrated from England to Virginia in the year 1657, and settled in the district lying between the Potomac and Rappahannock rivers. Augustine, the father of Washington, was born in 1694. He was twice married, and died in 1743, leaving several sons. George, the subject of this sketch, was the eldest by his second wife, the beautiful Mary Ball, and was born at Bridge Creek, on the twenty-second of February (eleventh, old style), 1732. At an early age he manifested a disposition for a military life, and expressed an ardent desire to enter the service of the British crown. A midshipman's warrant was procured for him, but he was prevented from assuming its duties by the objections of his affectionate mother, who could not reconcile herself to the idea that "her eldest born" should be so completely severed from her and exposed to the hardships and perils of a boisterous profession. He was returned to school, and continued in the study of mathematics and other branches, which should prepare him either for civil or military life. On the completion of his sixteenth year we find him passing over the mountains of his native State upon a surveying expedition, acquiring information respecting the vacant lands, and opinions of their prospective value. This portion of his life, so eloquently described by Mr. Irving, needs no notice here.

At the age of nineteen years he was appointed one of the Adjutants-general of Virginia, with the rank of Major. The duties of this office he performed but a short time. In 1753 he was deputized, at his own desire, to visit the French military posts in the valley of the Ohio and the parts adjacent, to request the withdrawal of the French soldiers from the tract of country then deemed to be within the province and jurisdiction of the colony of Virginia. The fortitude, sagacity, and great judgment with which he perfected this hazardous enterprise, excited the applause and admiration of the royal governor, Dinwiddie, as well as that of his fellowcountrymen. The unwillingness of the French commandant to evacuate the posts prompted the Virginia Assembly to raise a regiment of troops to proceed to the frontier, for the purpose of maintaining their rights. A body of three hundred troops was raised. Washington was placed in command, and having obtained permission from Colonel Fry, the commander of the regiment, marched in charge of two companies, in advance of the other troops, towards the Great Meadows. This was in April, 1754. On his march he surprised and captured a body of the enemy, and, after his arrival at the Great Meadows, erected Fort Necessity, the scene of one of Washington's most brilliant and boldest successes.

In the year 1755 the unfortunate Braddock, with an army of two thousand troops, was sent on an expedition against Fort Du Quesne. That general, aware of the extraordinary merit of Washington, urged him to become a member of his military family, and to accept the position as his aide-de-camp. This invitation was accepted, and on the tenth of May (1755), he joined Braddock at Fredericktown, in Maryland, where he had arrived, on his way to the frontier. The disastrous termination of this expedition is well known. In the battle of the Monongahela, Braddock and nearly one half of his army was slain, and Washington was exposed to the most imminent danger. Two horses were shot under him, and four balls passed through his garments. Soon after these occurrences he returned to his home, and was appointed "Commander-in-chief of all the forces raised and to be raised in Virginia." He accepted this appointment, and devoted

the greater part of the following three years in organizing the troops for the defence of the colony. In 1758 he commanded an expedition to Fort Du Quesne, and drove the French from the western frontier. On the termination of this campaign he left the army. Soon after he married Mrs. Martha Custis, and retired to the enjoyment of domestic life and the cultivation of his estate on the banks of the Potomac. Here he remained until the difficulties with the mother country began to assume a threatening aspect, in 1774, occasionally leaving the quiet of his home to discharge the duties of a county magistrate or a member of the colonial legislature.

On the meeting of the Congress at Philadelphia, in the autumn of 1774, Washington appeared as a delegate to that body from the colony of Virginia. The following year he was chosen Commander-in-chief of the American army, and proceeded to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the main army then lay. To detail his eminent services during the period that followed until the declaration of peace, in 1783, would be to repeat the history of the American Revolution. On the conclusion of the war he resigned his commission, and retired to his home at Mount Vernon.

But he was not long allowed to remain in retirement. On the organization of the Convention at Philadelphia in 1787, for the formation of the Federal Constitution, he was elected president, and after the completion of that instrument he used all his influence to effect its adoption by the States. In 1789 he was elected President of the United States, and remained in office eight years. His conduct in this position was, as it had been throughout his life, a model of firm and dignified moderation. Previous to the expiration of his second term, he issued a farewell address to the people of the United States, which will be found in the subsequent pages of this volume-a permanent legacy to his countrymen, filled with sentiments of patriotism and sound maxims of political sagacity. After the inauguration of John Adams, his successor, he returned to Mount Vernon, where he passed the remainder of his days amidst the pleasures of his peaceful home. In 1798, at the time of the troubles with France, he consented to act as Lieutenant-general of the American army, but never took the field. On Saturday, the fourteenth of December, 1799, he died, in the sixty-eighth year of his age. The most sincere and respectful demonstrations of the national loss in his death were every where shown. Throughout the United States the ablest orators eulogized his character, but so exalted was the sentiment of respect and affection, that few of them did or could equal the demand. There have been popular men, who were great in their day and generation, but whose fame soon passed away. It is not so with the fame of Washington: it grows brighter and brighter with succeeding years.

INAUGURAL ADDRESS.

a great concourse of people, who attested their joy by loud and repeated acclamations, he returned to the Senate, where he delivered the following address:

General Washington was officially notified | all, at the head of the American Republic. On of his election as President of the United States the thirtieth of April, he was inaugurated. on the fourteenth of April, 1789. He imme- | Having taken the oath of office in the view of diately left Mount Vernon, and on the twentythird of the same month arrived at New York, where he was received by the Governor of the State and conducted under an escort of military, through an immense throng of people, to the FELLOW-CITIZENS OF THE SENATE, AND OF THE apartments provided for him. Here he received HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Among the vicisthe salutations of foreign ministers, public bod-situdes incident to life, no event could have ies, political characters, and private citizens of distinction, who pressed around him to offer their congratulations, and to express their joy at seeing the man who had the confidence of

filled me with greater anxieties, than that of which the notification was transmitted by your

order, and received on the fourteenth day of the present month. On the one hand, I was summored by my country, whose voice I can