is welcome to my house and welcome to my heart; but, with all his good
qualities, he is not a man of business. His opponent is, with all his
political hostility to me, a man of business. My private feelings have
nothing to do with this case. I am not George Washington, but President
of the United States; as George Washington, I would do this man any
kindness in my power; but as President of the United States, I can do
nothing."
In 1793 Washington was deeply affected by the news of Lafayette's exile
and incarceration in Germany. He took measures at once to secure his
release, if possible, and sent him a thousand guineas. Lafayette's son,
who was named after the American general, George Washington Lafayette,
came to this country, accompanied by his tutor, when his father was
driven into exile. After the close of Washington's public life, young
Lafayette became a member of his family at Mount Vernon. His father was
not liberated until 1797.
The following maxims, gleaned from his prolific writings, disclose the
principles which governed his actions in public life, and at the same
time they magnify his ability as a writer. When we reflect that his
schooldays embraced instruction only in reading, writing, and
arithmetic, to which he added surveying later, the clearness and
elegance of his style become a matter of surprise. His epistolary
correspondence is a model to all who would attain excellence in the art;
and his grasp of thought and practical view of government and science,
are unsurpassed by any statesman. Of the large number of notable
extracts we might collect from his writings, we have space for a few
only, as follows:
"Our political system may be compared to the mechanism of a clock, and
we should derive a lesson from it; for it answers no good purpose to
keep the smaller wheels in order if the greater one, which is the
support and prime mover of the whole, is neglected."
"Common danger brought the States into confederacy; and on their union
our safety and importance depend."
"Remember that actions, and not the commission, make the officer. More
is expected from him than the title."
"Knowledge is, in every country, the surest basis of public happiness."
"True friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and
withstand the shocks of adversity before it is entitled to the
appellation."
"To share the common lot, and participate in conveniences which the
army, from the peculiarity of our circumstances, are obliged to undergo,
has with me, been a fundamental principle."
"The value of liberty is enhanced by the difficulty of its attainment,
and the worth of character appreciated by the trial of adversity."
"It is our duty to make the best of our misfortunes, and not suffer
passion to interfere with our interest and the public good."
"In my estimation, more permanent and genuine happiness is to be found
in the sequestered walks of connubial life than in the giddy rounds of
promiscuous pleasure, or the more tumultuous and imposing scenes of
successful ambition."
"Without virtue and without integrity, the finest talents and the most
brilliant accomplishments can never gain the respect and conciliate the
esteem of the truly valuable part of mankind."
"Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder."
"A good moral character is the first essential in a man. It is,
therefore, highly important to endeavor not only to be learned, but
virtuous."
"The eyes of Argus are upon us, and no slip will pass unnoticed."
"It is much easier to avoid disagreements than to remove discontents."
"The man who would steer clear of shelves and rocks, must know where
they lie."
"Do not conceive that fine clothes make fine men, any more than fine
feathers make fine birds."
"We ought not to look back, unless it be to derive useful lessons from
past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dear-bought
experience."
"Gaming is the child of Avarice, the brother of Iniquity, and the father
of Mischief."
"Religion is as necessary to reason as reason is to religion. The one
cannot exist without the other."
"The propitious smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that
disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which heaven itself has
ordained."
"Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds
of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect
that national morality can prevail, in exclusion of religious
principle."
We might fill many pages with similar quotations from his writings, but
must forbear.
He was urged strongly to serve his country a third presidential term,
but he resolutely declined. Retiring from public service, he left a
remarkable farewell address to the people of the United States, which is
here given in full. Every American boy who has patriot blood in his
veins will delight in being familiar with its every thought and precept.
FAREWELL ADDRESS.
FRIENDS AND 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 clothed 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 apprize 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 same time, 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.
2. The acceptance of and continuance hitherto in the office to
which your sufferages 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 have 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 and critical posture of our affairs with foreign
nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my
confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea.
3. 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; and 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.
4. 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 strengthened the motives to
diffidence of myself and every day the increasing 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,
patriotism does not forbid it.
5. 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 which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors
it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast
confidence with which it has supported me; and for the
opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my
inviolable attachment by services faithful and 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, 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 the guarantee
of the plans by which they were effected.
6. 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
benevolence; that your union and 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 the adoption of every nation which is yet a
stranger to it.
7. 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
motives to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an
encouragement to it, your indulgent 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.
8. 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
tranquillity 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 and 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 and external enemies will be most
constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously)
directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly
estimate the immense value of your national union to your
collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a
cordial, habitual, and immovable 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.
9. 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 America,
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 religion, manners, habits, and
political principles. You have in a common cause fought and
triumphed together; the independence and 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 and preserving the
union of the whole.
10. 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 maritime
and commercial enterprise, and precious materials of
manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse,
benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow
and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels
the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation
invigorated; and while it contributes, in different ways, to
nourish and increase the general mass of the national
navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime
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 and
water will more and 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 and 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 separate
strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connection with any
foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious.
11. While, then, every part of our country thus feels an
immediate and particular interest in union, all the parties
combined cannot fail to find, in the united mass of means and
efforts, greater strength, greater resources, 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 neighboring countries not tied together by the same
government; which their own rivalships alone would be sufficient
to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments,
and intrigues, would stimulate and embitter. 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.
12. These considerations speak a persuasive language to every
reflecting and 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
government for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy
issue to the experiment. 'Tis well worth a fair and full
experiment. 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.
13. In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it
occurs as a 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 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 misrepresent the opinions and aims of
other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against
the jealousies and heartburnings 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 negotiation 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 Great
Britain and that with Spain, which secure to them everything
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 which
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?
14. 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 and 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 and 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
system is the right of the people to make and 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.
15. All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all
combinations 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 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 enterprising 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 modified by mutual interests. However combinations
or associations of the above description may now and 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, and to usurp to themselves the reins of government,
destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to
unjust dominion.
16. Towards the preservation of your government, and the
permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite not only
that you speedily 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 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
hypothesis and opinion exposes to perpetual change from the
endless variety of hypothesis 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 vigor 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, and to maintain all in the secure and
tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property.
17. 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, and warn you in the most solemn manner
against the baneful effects of the spirit of party, generally.
The spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable 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, controlled, 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
dissension, which, in different ages and 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 and miseries which result,
gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and 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 competitor, turns this disposition to the purposes of
his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.