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UNION, which is the eleventh head; and from this all subsequent thoughts radiate, and it may be said, with equal truth, that they all converge to it, illustrate its value, and tend to corroborate it. "It is the rock of their salvation; presenting "summarily these ideas: 1. Strength and greater security "from external danger. 2. Internal peace, and avoiding "the necessity of establishments dangerous to liberty. 3. "Avoids the effect of foreign intrigue. 4. Breaks the force of factions, by rendering combinations more difficult." The great natural bond of Union,—what may almost be called the religion of its nature, is selected by the abstract as the first matter to be developed—“ the fitness of the parts for "each other by their very discriminations. 1. The North,

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by its capacity for maritime strength and manufacture. "2. The agricultural South furnishing materials, and requiring those protections. The Atlantic board to the "western country by the strong interests of peace, and the "western by the necessity of Atlantic maritime protection. "Cannot be sure of their great outlet otherwise-cannot “trust a foreign connection. Solid interests invite to Union. Speculations of difficulty of government ought not to be indulged, nor momentary jealousies-lead to impatience. "Faction and individual ambition are the only advisers of "disunion:" and then, noting for remembrance the jealousies existing at that time in the West, in regard to the Mississippi and its outlet, and the late treaty with Spain, which tended to allay them, it repeats, "Let confidence be "cherished; let the recent experience of the West be a "lesson against impatience and distrust."

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The twelfth is the "actual government," the government which the Constitution provides for the Union.

"Cherish

"the actual government. It is the government of our own "choice-free in its principles, the guardian of our common

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rights, the patron of our common interests, and containing "within itself a provision for its own amendment. But let "that provision be cautiously used-not abused; changing

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only, in any material points, as experience shall direct; "neither indulging speculations of too much or too little "force in the system, and remembering always the extent of "our country. Time and habit of great consequence to every government, of whatever structure. Discourage the spirit "of faction, the bane of free government; and particularly "avoid founding it on geographical discriminations. Discoun"tenance slander of public men. Let the departments of government avoid interfering and mutual encroachments." These being the guiding notes for a comprehensive statement of the particular advantages of the government which the Constitution had provided, of the means of amending cautiously its defects, when ascertained, and of the dangers which might threaten it, founded on geographical discriminations, or promoted by encroachments of the departments on each other, the abstract proceeds with heads, to introduce such admonitions as concern the people in their personal relations, private and public: "Thirteenth. Morals,

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religion, industry, commerce, economy-Cherish public "credit-Source of strength and security-Adherence to "systematic views."

"Also their relations to foreign nations: Fourteenth. "Cherish good faith, justice, and peace with other nations. "1. Because religion and morality dictate it. 2. Because policy dictates it. If there could exist a nation invariably honest and faithful, the benefits would be immense.

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"But avoid national antipathies or national attachments:" and then follows, in emphatic italics, "Display the evils: "fertile source of wars, instrument of ambitious rulers."

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As distinct heads, then follow four others, which branch out naturally from the preceding: "Fifteenth. Republics "peculiarly exposed to foreign intrigue; those sentiments lay them open to it. Sixteenth. The great rule of our foreign policy ought to be to have as little political con"nection as possible with foreign nations; cultivating com"merce with all by general and natural means, diffusing and diversifying it, but forcing nothing; and cherish the senti"ment of independence, taking pride in the appellation of "American;" and against this last note the margin adds,

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establishing temporary and convenient rules, that commerce may be placed on a stable footing; merchants know "their commerce; how to support them, not seeking favors." "Seventeenth. Our separation from Europe renders standing "alliances inexpedient, subjecting our peace and interest to "the primary and complicated relations of European inte"rests. Keeping constantly in view to place ourselves upon "a respectable defensive, and, if forced into controversy, "trusting to connections of the occasion. Eighteenth. Our "attitude imposing, and rendering this policy safe. But "this must be with the exception of existing engagements, "to be preserved, but not extended."

The remaining heads of division may be noticed summarily. The nineteenth is a hint to remark, that it is not expected that these admonitions can control the course of human passions; but if it moderates them in some instances, Washington's endeavor is rewarded. The twentieth, that the public records must witness how far his administra

tion has conformed to these principles. His conscience assures him that he believed himself to be guided by them. Twenty-first. "Particularly in relation to the present war, "the proclamation of 22d April, 1793, is the key to my

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plan. Approved by your voice, and that of your represen"tatives in Congress, the spirit of that measure has con"tinually guided me, uninfluenced by, and regardless of, the

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complaints and attempts of any of the powers at war, or "their partisans, to change them." "I thought our country "had a right, under all the circumstances, to take this ground, and I was resolved, as far as it depended on me, "to maintain it firmly." There is a memorandum in the margin of the second clause of this division, to "touch sen"timents with regard to conduct of belligerent powers. A “wish that France may establish good government." Against the last clause of it are these words: "Time everything." The twenty-second is a clause which is introduced into the original draught of Hamilton, in substantially the same words, and almost verbatim from that draught into the Farewell Address of Washington, of which it is the penultimate clause. It frankly declares, that however, in reviewing the course of his administration, he may be unconscious of intentional error, he is too sensible of his own deficiencies not to believe that he may have fallen into many—deprecates the evils to which they may tend, and prays Heaven to avert, or mitigate or abridge them;-that he carries with him, nevertheless, the hope that his motives will continue to be viewed with indulgence; that after forty-five years of his life devoted to public service, with a good zeal and upright views, the faults of deficient abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as himself must soon be to the mansions

of rest. We cannot help envying the noble emotion with which Hamilton repeated this clause, which was Washington's own thought, out of the full consciousness of what was stirring in Washington's great heart!

The twenty-third, and last clause of the abstract, is substantially the same with the corresponding clause in the draught, but is completely altered in the concluding clause of the Farewell Address. Both the clause in the abstract, and the clause in the draught, are taken from the conclusion to Washington's original or preparatory draught. alteration in the Farewell Address is by Washington.

The

It is a declaration that neither interest nor ambition had been Washington's impelling motive-that he had never abused the power confided to him-that he had not bettered his fortune, retiring with it no otherwise improved, than by the influence on property of the common blessings of his country. "I retire," it says, "with undefiled hands and an "uncorrupt heart, and with ardent vows for the welfare of "that country which has been the native soil of my ancestors "for four generations." The sentiments were all just, and were all suggested, in nearly the same words, by Washington, in the concluding section of Washington's own draught to which I have referred; and therefore his friend and minister would be naturally desirous that he should close his valediction with the expression of them; but they bordered upon what the world might mistake for vain-gloriousness, in regard to his motives, his purity, his fortune, and his family; and we may take pleasure in supposing, that this final clause Washington himself preferred to put aside, as he did, excepting only the reference to his American ancestors, the bond of his affection for his country, the view of whose coming

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