Washington's Farewell Address

United States 19th September 1796
Friends, & Fellow--Citizens.

The period for a new election of a Citizen, to Administer the Executive government of the United States, being not far
distant, and the time actually arrived, when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person, who is to be cloathed
with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public
voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of
those, out of whom a choice is to be made.

I beg you, at the sametime, to do me 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 my Situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution 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 compatible
with both.

The acceptance of, & continuance hitherto in, the Office to which your Suffrages have twice called me, 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 much earlier in my power, consistently with motives, which I was not at liberty to disregard,
to return to that retirement, from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to
the last Election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then
perplexed & critical posture of our Affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my
confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea.

I rejoice, that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination
incompatible with the sentiment of duty, or propriety; & am persuaded whatever partiality may be retained for my services,
that in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire.

The impressions, 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
Administration of the government, the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in the
outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has
strengthned the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the encreasing weight of years admonishes me more and
more, that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have
given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that while choice and prudence
invite me to quit the political scene, patriotizm does not forbid it.

In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me
to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude wch I owe to my beloved country, for the many honors it has
conferred upon me; still more for the stedfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the
opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful & persevering, though in
usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to
your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that, under circumstances in which the Passions agitated in every
direction were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, viscissitudes 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 me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that Heaven may continue to you
the choicest tokens of its beneficence--that your Union & brotherly affection may be perpetual--that the free constitution,
which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained--that its Administration in every department may be stamped
with wisdom and Virtue--that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be
made complete, by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of
recommending 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 my life, and the apprehension of
danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to
recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments; which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable
observation, and which appear to me all important to the permanency of your felicity as a People. These will be offered to
you with the more freedom as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly
have no personal motive to biass his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your endulgent reception of my
sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion.

Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or
confirm the Attachment.

The Unity of Government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so; for it is a main Pillar in
the Edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home; 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
& from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of
this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal & external enemies will be most
constantly and actively (though often covertly & insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment, that you should properly
estimate the immense value of your national Union to your collective & individual happiness; that you should cherish a
cordial, habitual & immoveable attachment to it; accustoming 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 may suggest
even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned, and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt 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 inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens by birth or choice, of a common country, that
country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity,
must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With
slight shades of difference, you have the same Religeon, Manners, Habits & political Principles. You have in a common
cause fought & triumphed together--The independence & liberty you possess are the work of joint councils, and joint
efforts--of common dangers, sufferings and successes.

But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility are greatly outweighed by those
which apply more immediately to your Interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for
carefully guarding & preserving the Union of the whole.

The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal Laws of a common government, finds in
the productions of the latter, great additional resources of Maratime & commercial enterprise and--precious materials of
manufacturing industry. The South in the same Intercourse, benefitting by the Agency of the North, sees its agriculture
grow & its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation
envigorated; and while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish & increase the general mass of the National navigation, it
looks forward to the protection of a Maratime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse
with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications, by land & water,
will more & more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West
derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth & comfort--and what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must
of necessity owe the Secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the
future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of Interest as one Nation.
Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own seperate strength, or
from an apostate & unnatural connection with any foreign Power, must be intrinsically precarious.

While then every part of our country thus feels an immediate & particular Interest in Union, all the parts combined cannot
fail to find in the united mass of means & 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 inestimable value! they must
derive from Union an exemption from those broils and Wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict
neighbouring countries, not tied together by the same government; which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to
produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments & intriegues would stimulate & imbitter. Hence likewise they
will avoid the necessity of those overgrown Military establishments, which under any form of Government 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 main 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 & virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the
Union as a primary object of Patriotic desire. Is there a doubt, whether a common government can embrace so large a
sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope that
a proper organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective Subdivisions, will afford a
happy issue to the experiment. 'Tis well worth a fair and full experiment. [p. 10 image] With such powerful and obvious
motives to Union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there
will always be reason, to distrust the patriotism of those, who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands.

In contemplating the causes wch may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern, that any ground
should have been furnished for characterizing parties by Geographical discriminations--Northern and Southern--Atlantic
and Western; whence designing men may endeavour 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 misrepresent the
opinions & aims of other Districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies & heart burnings which
spring from these misrepresentations. They tend to render Alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by
fraternal Affection. The Inhabitants of our Western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head. They have Seen,
in the Negociation by the Executive, and in the unanimous 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 among them of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their Interests in
regard to the Mississippi. They have been witnesses to the formation of two Treaties, that with G: Britain and that with
Spain, which secure to them every thing they could desire, in respect to our Foreign relations, towards confirming their
prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by wch they were
procured? Will 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 permanency of Your Union, a Government for the whole is indispensable. No Alliances
however strict between the parts can be an adequate substitute. They must inevitably experience the infractions &
interruptions which all Alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon
your first essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Government, better calculated than your former for an intimate Union,
and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice
uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation & mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the
distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a
just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its Laws, acquiescence in its
measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true Liberty. The basis of our political Systems is the right of
the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of Government. But the Constitution which at any time 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 Government presupposes the duty of every Individual to obey the
established Government.

All obstructions to the execution of the Laws, all combinations and Associations, under whatever plausible character, with
the real design to direct, controul counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the Constituted authorities are
distructive of this fundamental 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 small but artful and
enterprizing minority of the Community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public
Administration the Mirror of the ill concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the Organ of consistent and
wholesome plans digested by common councils and modefied by mutual interests. However combinations or Associations of
the above description may now & then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become
potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the Power of the People, & to
usurp for themselves the reins of Government; destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust
dominion.

Towards the preservation of your Government and the permanency 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 method of assault may be to effect, in
the forms of the Constitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be
directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary
to fix the true character of Governments, as of other human 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 mere hypotheses
& opinion exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypotheses and opinion: and remember, especially, that
for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a Government of as much vigour
as is consistent with the perfect security of Liberty is indispensable--Liberty itself will find in such a Government, with
powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest Guardian. It is indeed little else than a name, where the Government is
too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the Society within the limits prescribed by the
laws & to maintain all in the secure & tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person & property.

I have already intimated to you the danger of Parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of
them on Geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, & warn you in the most solemn
manner against the baneful effects of the Spirit of Party, generally.

This Spirit, unfortunately, is inseperable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human Mind. It
exists under different shapes in all Governments, more or less stifled, controuled, or repressed; but in those of the popular
form it is seen in its greatest rankness and is truly their worst enemy.

The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party
dissention, which in different ages & countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But
this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders & miseries, which result, gradually incline the
minds of men to seek security & repose in the absolute power of an Individual: and sooner or later the chief of some
prevailing faction more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own
elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.

Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight) the common
& continual mischiefs of the spirit of Party are sufficient to make it the interest and the duty of a wise People to discourage
and restrain it.

It serves always to distract the Public Councils and enfeeble the Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill founded Jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot & insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence & corruption, which find a facilitated access to the government 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 Administration of the Government and serve to
keep alive the spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is probably true--and in Governments of a Monarchical cast
Patriotism may look with endulgence, if not with favour, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in
Governments 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 mitigate & assuage it. A fire not to be quenched; it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its
bursting into a flame, lest instead of warming it should consume.

\It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free Country should inspire caution in those entrusted
with its Administration, to confine themselves within their respective Constitutional Spheres; avoiding in the exercise of the
Powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the
departments in one, and thus to create whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of
power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human 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
depositories, & constituting each the Guardian of the Public Weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by
experiments ancient & modern; some of them in our country & under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as
necessary as to institute them. If in the opinion of the People, the distribution or modification of the Constitutional powers be
in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution designates. But let there be
no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by
which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or
transient benefit which the use can at any time yield.

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable
supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labour to subvert these great Pillars of human
happiness, these firmest props of the duties of Men & citizens. The mere Politican, equally with the pious man ought to
respect & to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private & public felicity. Let it simply be
asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the Oaths, which
are the instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition, that morality can be
maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar
structure--reason & experience both forbid us to expect that National morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

'Tis substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule indeed extends with
more or less force to every species of Free Government. Who that is a sincere friend to it, can look with indifference upon
attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric.

Promote then as an object of primary importance, Institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In
proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be
enlightened.

As a very important source of strength & security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly
as possible: avoiding occasions of expence by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare
for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it--avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only
by shunning occasions of expence, but by vigorous exertions in time of Peace to discharge the Debts which unavoidable
wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burthen which we ourselves ought to bear. The
execution of these maxims belongs to your Representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should cooperate. To
facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind, that towards the
payment of debts there must be Revenue--that to have Revenue there must be taxes--that no taxes can be
devised which are not more or less inconvenient & unpleasant--that the intrinsic embarrassment inseperable from the
Selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties) ought to be a decisive motive for a candid
construction of the Conduct of the Government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining
Revenue which the public exigencies may at any time dictate.

Observe good faith & justice towds all Nations. Cultivate peace & harmony with all--Religion & 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 & benevolence. Who can doubt that in the course of time and things the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any
temporary advantages wch 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?

In the execution of such a plan nothing is more essential than that permanent inveterate antipathies against
particular Nations and passionate attachments for others should be excluded; and that in place of them just & 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 occur. Hence frequent collisions, obstinate envenomed and bloody contests. The Nation, prompted by ill will &
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 &
pernicious motives. The peace often, 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
favourite 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 quarrels & Wars of the latter,
without adequate inducement or justification: It leads also to concessions to the favourite Nation of priviledges denied to
others, which is apt doubly to injure the Nation making the concessions--by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have
been retained--& by exciting jealousy, ill will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom eql priviledges are
withheld: And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favourite 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 a laudable zeal for public
good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition corruption or infatuation.

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 practice
the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public Councils! Such an attachment of a small or
weak, towards a great & powerful Nation, dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.

Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me 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 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 intriegues of the favourite, are liable to become suspected and
odious; while its tools and dupes usurp the applause & confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.

The Great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign Nations is in extending our comercial 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.

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 & collisions
of her friendships, or enmities.

Our detached & distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one People, under an
efficient government, 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, Humour or Caprice?

'Tis our true policy to steer clear of permanent Alliances, with any portion of the foreign World--So far, I mean, as we
are now at liberty to do it--for let me not be understood as capable of patronising infidility to existing engagements, (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, on a respectably defensive posture, we may safely trust
to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.

Harmony, 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 favours or preferences; consulting the
natural course of things; diffusing & deversifying by gentle means the streams of Commerce, but forcing nothing;
establishing with Powers so disposed--in order to give to 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 circumstances
and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, & liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and
circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view, that 'tis 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 favours and yet of being reproached
with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect, or calculate upon real favours from
Nation to Nation. 'Tis 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 controul the usual current of the passions, or 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 & then recur to moderate the fury of party
spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign Intriegue, to guard against the Impostures of pretended
patriotism--this hope will be a full recompence 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.

In relation to the still subsisting War in Europe, my Proclamation of the 22d of April 1793 is the index to my Plan.
Sanctioned by your approving voice and by that of Your Representatives 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, perseverence & 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 on every Nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of Peace and amity
towards other Nations.

The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections & experience. With
me, a predominant motive has been to endeavour to gain time to our country to settle & mature its yet recent institutions,
and to progress without interruption, to that degree of strength & 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 that 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 zeal, 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 towards it, which is so natural
to a Man, who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several Generations; I anticipate with pleasing
expectation 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 favourite object of my heart, and
the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labours and dangers.

America