had before served his country in various offices of dignity; who had sat in the famous Congress that produced the Revolution, acted as Governor to his native State, and been Minister Plenipotentiary to a foreign nation.

Mr. Jefferson, having taken the oaths to the Constitution, with a dignified mien, addressed the august assembly of Senators and Representatives. "Friends and Fellow-Citizens,

"Called upon to undertake the duties of the "first executive office of our country, I avail

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myself of the presence of that portion of my "fellow-citizens, which is here assembled, to

express my grateful thanks for the favour "with which they have been pleased to look "towards me, to declare a sincere consciousness "that the task is above my talents, and that I ар"proach it with those anxious and awful pre"sentiments, which the greatness of the charge, "and the weakness of my powers so justly in"spire. A rising nation, spread over a wide and "fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the "rich productions of their industry; engaged " in commerce with nations who feel power and "forget right, advancing rapidly to destinies

beyond the reach of mortal eye; when I con"template these transcendant objects, and see "the honour, the happiness, and the hopes of "this beloved country committed to the issue "and the auspices of this day, I shrink from the ❝contemplation, and humble myself before the

"magnitude of the undertaking. Utterly, in"deed, should I despair, did not the presence of 66 many whom I here see remind me, that in the "other high authorities provided by our Consti"tution, I shall find resources of wisdom, of "virtue, and of zeal, on which to.rely under "all difficulties. To you, then, gentlemen, who "are charged with the sovereign functions of legislation, and to those associated with you, I "look with encouragement for that guidance and "support, which may enable us to steer with "safety the vessel in which all are embarked, "amidst the conflicting elements of a troubled "world.

"During the contest of opinion through which "we have passed, the animation of discussions " and exertions has sometimes worn an aspect "which might impose on strangers unused to "think freely, and to speak and to write what "they think; but this being now decided by "the voice of the nation, announced according to "the rules of the Constitution, all will of course arrange themselves under the will of the law, "and unite in one common effort for the common good. All too will bear in mind this "sacred principle, that, though the will of the majority is in all cases to prevail, that will to be rightful must be reasonable; that the minority

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ઃઃ

possess their equal rights, which equal laws "must protect; and to violate would be oppres

"sion. Let us, then, fellow-citizens, unite with

"one heart and one mind; let us restore to "social intercourse that harmony and affection, "without which liberty, and even life itself, are "but dreary things; and let us reflect, that having "banished from our land that religious intole"rance under which mankind so long bled and "suffered, we have yet gained little if we coun"tenance a political intolerance, as despotic as

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wicked, and capable of as bitter and bloody persecutions. During the throes and convul"sions of the ancient world, during the agonizing

spasms of infuriated man, seeking through "blood and slaughter his long lost liberty, it was "not wonderful that the agitation of the billows, "should reach even this distant and peaceful "shore,-that this should be more felt and fear"ed by some and less by others, and should "divide opinions as to measures of safety; but 66 every difference of opinion is not a difference "of principle. We have called by different

names, brethren of the same principle. We "are all republicans, all federalists. If there be

any among us who would wish to dissolve this "union, or to change its republican form, let "them stand undisturbed as monuments of the "safety, with which error of opinion may be "tolerated, where reason is left free to combat "it. I know, indeed, that some honest men, "fear that a Republican Government cannot "be strong,—that this Government is not strong "enough. But would the honest, in the full

"tide of succesful experiment, abandon a Go"vernment, which has so far kept us free and "firm, in the theoretic and visionary fear, that "this Government, the world's best hope, may,

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by possibility, want energy to preserve itself? "I trust not; I believe this, on the contrary, the 66 strongest Government on earth. I believe it "the only one, where every man at the call of "the law, would fly to the standard of the law, "and would meet invasions of the public order,

his own personal concern. Let us then, "with courage and confidence pursue our own "federal and republican principles; our attach"ment to union and representative government. "Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean, "from the extirminating havoc of one quarter of "the globe, too high-minded to endure the degradations of the others; possessing a chosen

country, with room enough for descendants to "the thousandth and ten thousandth generation; "entertaining a due sense of our equal right to "the use of our own faculties, to the acquisition of "our own industry, to honour and confidence from "our fellow-citizens, resulting not from birth, "but from our actions; and their sense of them "enlightened by a benign religion,-professed "indeed, and practised in various forms, yet all "of them inculcating honesty, truth, temperance, gratitude, and the love of man-acknowledging and adoring an over-ruling Providence, "which by all its dispensations, proves that it

delights in the happiness of man here, and his "greater happiness hereafter; with all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people? Still one thing "more, fellow-citizens; a wise and frugal Go"vernment, which shall restrain men from in

juring one another, shall leave them otherwise "free to regulate their own pursuits and improve"ment, and shall not take from the mouth of la"bour the bread it has earned. This is the sum "of good government: and this is necessary to "close the circle of our felicities.

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"About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exer"cise of duties which comprehend every thing "dear and valuable to you, it is proper you should "understand what I deem the essential principles "of our Government, and consequently those "which ought to shape its administration. I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear; stating the general principle, "but not all its limitations:-Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none; the support of "State Governments in all their rights, as the "most competent administration for our domestic "concerns, and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies; the preservation of the general Government in its whole constitutional vigour, as the sheet-anchor of our peace at

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