ADDRESSES,
MESSAGES, AND REPLIES
by Thomas Jefferson
Response to the Citizens of
GENTLEMEN,
The testimony of esteem with which you are pleased to honour my return to my native country fills me with
gratitude and pleasure. While it shews that my
absence has not lost me your friendly recollection, it holds out the
comfortable hope that when the hour of retirement shall come, I shall again
find myself amidst those with whom I have long lived, with whom I wish to live,
and whose affection is the source of my purest happiness. Their favor was the door thro' which I was
ushered on the stage of public life; and while I have been led on thro' it's varying scenes, I could not be unmindful of those who
assigned me my first part.
My feeble and obscure exertions in their service, and in the
holy cause of freedom, have had no other merit than that they were my
best. We have all the same. We have been fellow-labourers
and fellow-sufferers, and heaven has rewarded us with a happy issue from our
struggles. It rests now with ourselves alone to enjoy in peace and concord the blessings
of self-government, so long denied to mankind: to shew
by example the sufficiency of human reason for the care of human affairs and
that the will of the majority, the Natural law of every society, is the only
sure guardian of the rights of man. Perhaps even this my
sometimes err. But it's
errors are honest, solitary and short-lived. -- Let us then, my dear friends,
for ever bow down to the general reason of the society. We are safe with that, even in it's deviations, for it soon returns again to the right
way. These are lessons we have learnt
together. We have prospered in their
practice, and the liberality with which you are pleased to approve my
attachment to the general rights of mankind assures me we are still together in
these it's kindred sentiments.
Wherever I may be stationed, by the will of my country, it
will be my delight to see, in the general tide of happiness, that yours too
flows on in just place and measure. That
it may flow thro' all times, gathering strength as it goes, and spreading the
happy influence of reason and liberty over the face of the earth, is my fervent
prayer to heaven.
First Inaugural Address,
FRIENDS AND FELLOW-CITIZENS,
Called upon to undertake the duties of the first executive
office of our country, I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my
fellow-citizens which is here assembled to express my grateful thanks for the
favor with which they have been pleased to look toward me, to declare a sincere
consciousness that the task is above my talents, and that I approach it with
those anxious and awful presentiments which the greatness of the charge and the
weakness of my powers so justly inspire.
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 contemplate these transcendent objects, and
see the honor, 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, indeed, should I despair did not the
presence of many whom I here see remind me that in the other high authorities
provided by our Constitution 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 we are all embarked amidst the
conflicting elements of a troubled world.
During the contest of opinion through which we have passed
the animation of discussions and of 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 common efforts 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 possess their equal rights, which equal law must protect, and to
violate would be oppression. 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 intolerance
under which mankind so long bled and suffered, we have yet gained little if we
countenance a political intolerance as despotic, as wicked, and capable of as
bitter and bloody persecutions. During
the throes and convulsions 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 feared by some
and less by others, and should divide opinions as to measures of safety. But
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, we are all Federalists. If
there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this
Let us, then, with courage and confidence pursue our own
Federal and Republican principles, our attachment to union and representative
government. Kindly separated by nature
and a wide ocean from the exterminating 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 our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth
generation; entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own
faculties, to the acquisitions of our own industry, to honor 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
practiced in various forms, yet all of them inculcating honesty, truth,
temperance, gratitude, and the love of man; acknowledging and adoring an
overruling 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 a prosperous
people? Still one thing more,
fellow-citizens -- a wise and frugal Government, which shall restrain men from
injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own
pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of
labor the bread it has earned. This is
the sum of good government, and this is necessary to close the circle of our
felicities.
About to enter, fellow-citizens, on the exercise of duties
which comprehend everything 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 the State governments in all their rights, as the most
competent administrations for our domestic concerns and the surest bulwarks
against antirepublican tendencies; the preservation
of the General Government in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet
anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad; a jealous care of the right of
election by the people -- a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped
by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided;
absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority, the vital principle of
republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle and
immediate parent of despotism; a well-disciplined militia, our best reliance in
peace and for the first moments of war till regulars may relieve them; the
supremacy of the civil over the military authority; economy in the public
expense, that labor may be lightly burthened; the
honest payment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith;
encouragement of agriculture, and of commerce as its handmaid; the diffusion of
information and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason;
freedom of religion; freedom of the press, and freedom of person under the
protection of the habeas corpus, and trial by juries impartially selected. These principles form the bright
constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of
revolution and reformation. The wisdom
of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment.
They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction,
the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we
wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our
steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.
I repair, then, fellow-citizens, to the post you have
assigned me. With experience enough in
subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of this the greatest of all, I have learnt to expect that it will rarely fall to the
lot of imperfect man to retire from this station with the reputation and the
favor which bring him into it. Without
pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and greatest
revolutionary character, whose preeminent services had entitled him to the
first place in his country's love and destined for him the fairest page in the
volume of faithful history, I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness
and effect to the legal administration of your affairs. I shall often go wrong through defect of
judgment. When right,
I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view
of the whole ground. I ask your
indulgence for my own errors, which will never be intentional, and your support
against the errors of others, who may condemn what they would not if seen in
all its parts. The approbation implied
by your suffrage is a great consolation to me for the past, and my future
solicitude will be to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in
advance, to conciliate that of others by doing them all the good in my power,
and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all.
Relying, then, on the patronage of your good will, I advance
with obedience to the work, ready to retire from it whenever you become
sensible how much better choice it is in your power to make. And may that
Infinite Power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to
what is best, and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.
To Elias Shipman and Others, a Committee of the Merchants of
GENTLEMAN,
I have received the remonstrance you were pleased to address
to me, on the appointment of Samuel Bishop to the office of collector of
Of the various executive duties, no one excites more anxious
concern than that of placing the interests of our fellow citizens in the hands
of honest men, with understandings sufficient for their station. No duty, at the same time, is more difficult
to fulfil. The knolege of
characters possessed by a single individual is, of necessity, limited. To seek out the best through the whole
The removal, as it is called, of Mr. Goodrich, forms another
subject of complaint. Declarations by
myself in favor of _political tolerance_, exhortations to _harmony_ and
affection in social intercourse, and to respect for the _equal rights_ of the minority,
have, on certain occasions, been quoted & misconstrued into assurances that
the tenure of offices was to be undisturbed.
But could candor apply such a construction? It is not indeed in the remonstrance that we
find it; but it leads to the explanations which that calls
for. When it is considered, that during
the late administration, those who were not of a particular sect of politics
were excluded from all office; when, by a steady pursuit of this measure,
nearly the whole offices of the U S were monopolized by that sect; when the
public sentiment at length declared itself, and burst open the doors of honor
and confidence to those whose opinions they more approved, was it to be
imagined that this monopoly of office was still to be continued in the hands of
the minority? Does it violate their
_equal rights_, to assert some rights in the majority also? Is it _political intolerance_ to claim a
proportionate share in the direction of the public affairs? Can they not _harmonize_ in society unless
they have everything in their own hands?
If the will of the nation, manifested by their various elections, calls
for an administration of government according with the opinions of those
elected; if, for the fulfilment of that will,
displacements are necessary, with whom can they so justly begin as with persons
appointed in the last moments of an administration, not for its own aid, but to
begin a career at the same time with their successors, by whom they had never
been approved, and who could scarcely expect from them a cordial
cooperation? Mr. Goodrich was one of
these. Was it proper for him to place
himself in office, without knowing whether those whose agent he was to be would
have confidence in his agency? Can the preference of another, as the successor
to Mr. Austin, be candidly called a removal of Mr. Goodrich? If a due participation of office is a matter
of right, how are vacancies to be obtained?
Those by death are few; by resignation, none. Can any other mode than that of removal be proposed? This is
a painful office; but it is made my duty, and I meet it as such. I proceed in the operation with deliberation
& inquiry, that it may injure the best men least, and effect
the purposes of justice & public utility with the least private distress;
that it may be thrown, as much as possible, on delinquency, on oppression, on
intolerance, on incompetence, on ante-revolutionary adherence to our enemies.
The remonstrance laments "that a change in the
administration must produce a change in the subordinate officers;" in
other words, that it should be deemed necessary for all officers to think with
their principal. But on whom does this
imputation bear? On those who have excluded
from office every shade of opinion which was not theirs? Or on those who have been so excluded? I lament sincerely that unessential
differences of political opinion should ever have been deemed sufficient to
interdict half the society from the rights and the blessings of
self-government, to proscribe them as characters unworthy of every trust. It would have been to me a circumstance of
great relief, had I found a moderate participation of office in the hands of
the majority. I would gladly have left
to time and accident to raise them to their just share. But their total exclusion calls for prompter
correctives. I shall correct the
procedure; but that done, disdain to follow it, shall return with joy to that
state of things, when the only questions concerning a candidate shall be, is he
honest? Is he capable? Is he faithful to the Constitution?
I tender you the homage of my high respect.
First Annual Message,
FELLOW CITIZENS OF THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES:
It is a circumstance of sincere gratification to me that on
meeting the great council of our nation, I am able to announce to them, on the
grounds of reasonable certainty, that the wars and troubles which have for so
many years afflicted our sister nations have at length come to an end, and that
the communications of peace and commerce are once more opening among them. While we devoutly return thanks to the
beneficent Being who has been pleased to breathe into them the spirit of
conciliation and forgiveness, we are bound with peculiar gratitude to be
thankful to him that our own peace has been preserved through so perilous a
season, and ourselves permitted quietly to cultivate the earth and to practice
and improve those arts which tend to increase our comforts. The assurances, indeed, of friendly
disposition, received from all the powers with whom we have principal
relations, had inspired a confidence that our peace with them would not have
been disturbed. But a cessation of the
irregularities which had effected the commerce of neutral nations, and of the
irritations and injuries produced by them, cannot but add to this confidence;
and strengthens, at the same time, the hope, that wrongs committed on offending
friends, under a pressure of circumstances, will now be reviewed with candor,
and will be considered as founding just claims of retribution for the past and
new assurances for the future.
Among our Indian neighbors, also, a spirit of peace and
friendship generally prevailing and I am happy to inform you that the continued
efforts to introduce among them the implements and the practice of husbandry,
and of the household arts, have not been without success; that they are
becoming more and more sensible of the superiority of this dependence for
clothing and subsistence over the precarious resources of hunting and fishing;
and already we are able to announce, that instead of that constant diminution
of their numbers, produced by their wars and their wants, some of them begin to
experience an increase of population.
To this state of general peace with which we have been
blessed, one only exception exists.
I wish I could say that our situation with all the other
I lay before you the result of the census lately taken of
our inhabitants, to a conformity with which we are to reduce the ensuing rates
of representation and taxation. You will
perceive that the increase of numbers during the last ten years, proceeding in
geometrical ratio, promises a duplication in little
more than twenty-two years. We contemplate
this rapid growth, and the prospect it holds up to us, not with a view to the
injuries it may enable us to do to others in some future day, but to the
settlement of the extensive country still remaining vacant within our limits,
to the multiplications of men susceptible of happiness, educated in the love of
order, habituated to self-government, and value its blessings above all price.
Other circumstances, combined with the increase of numbers, have
produced an augmentation of revenue arising from consumption, in a ratio far
beyond that of population alone, and though the changes of foreign relations
now taking place so desirably for the world, may for a season affect this
branch of revenue, yet, weighing all probabilities of expense, as well as of
income, there is reasonable ground of confidence that we may now safely
dispense with all the internal taxes, comprehending excises, stamps, auctions,
licenses, carriages, and refined sugars, to which the postage on newspapers may
be added, to facilitate the progress of information, and that the remaining
sources of revenue will be sufficient to provide for the support of government
to pay the interest on the public debts, and to discharge the principals in
shorter periods than the laws or the general expectations had
contemplated. War, indeed, and untoward
events, may change this prospect of things, and call for expenses which the
imposts could not meet; but sound principles will not justify our taxing the
industry of our fellow citizens to accumulate treasure for wars to happen we
know not when, and which might not perhaps happen but from the temptations
offered by that treasure.
These views, however, of reducing our burdens, are formed on
the expectation that a sensible, and at the same time a salutary reduction, may
take place in our habitual expenditures.
For this purpose, those of the civil government, the army, and navy,
will need revisal.
When we consider that this government is charged with the
external and mutual relations only of these states; that the states themselves
have principal care of our persons, our property, and our reputation,
constituting the great field of human concerns, we may well doubt whether our
organization is not too complicated, too expensive; whether offices or officers
have not been multiplied unnecessarily, and sometimes injuriously to the
service they were meant to promote. I
will cause to be laid before you an essay toward a statement of those who,
under public employment of various kinds, draw money from the treasury or from
our citizens. Time has not permitted a
perfect enumeration, the ramifications of office being too multipled
and remote to be completely traced in a first trial. Among those who are
dependent on executive discretion, I have begun the reduction of what was
deemed necessary. The expenses of
diplomatic agency have been considerably diminished. The inspectors of internal revenue
who were found to obstruct the accountability of the institution, have been
discontinued. Several agencies created
by executive authority, on salaries fixed by that also, have been suppressed,
and should suggest the expediency of regulating that power by law, so as to
subject its exercises to legislative inspection and sanction. Other reformations of the same kind will be
pursued with that caution which is requisite in removing useless things, not to
injure what is retained. But the great
mass of public offices is established by law, and, therefore, by law alone can
be abolished. Should the legislature
think it expedient to pass this roll in review, and try all its parts by the
test of public utility, they may be assured of every aid and light which
executive information can yield.
Considering the general tendency to multiply offices and dependencies,
and to increase expense to the ultimate term of burden which the citizen can
bear, it behooves us to avail ourselves of every occasion which presents itself
for taking off the surcharge; that it may never be seen here that, after
leaving to labor the smallest portion of its earnings on which it can subsist,
government shall itself consume the residue of what it was instituted to guard.
In our care, too, of the public contributions intrusted to our direction, it would be prudent to multiply
barriers against their dissipation, by appropriating specific sums to every
specific purpose susceptible of definition; by disallowing applications of
money varying from the appropriation in object, or transcending it in amount;
by reducing the undefined field of contingencies, and thereby circumscribing
discretionary powers over money; and by bringing back to a single department
all accountabilities for money where the examination may be prompt,
efficacious, and uniform.
An account of the receipts and expenditures of the last
year, as prepared by the secretary of the treasury, will as usual be laid
before you. The success which has
attended the late sales of the public lands, shows
that with attention they may be made an important source of receipt. Among the payments, those made in discharge
of the principal and interest of the national debt, will show that the public
faith has been exactly maintained. To these will be added an estimate of appropriations necessary for
the ensuing year. This last will
of course be effected by such modifications of the systems of expense, as you
shall think proper to adopt.
A statement has been formed by the secretary of war, on
mature consideration, of all the posts and stations where garrisons will be expedient,
and of the number of men requisite for each garrison. The whole amount is considerably short of the
present military establishment. For the
surplus no particular use can be pointed out. For defence
against invasion, their number is as nothing; nor is it conceived needful or
safe that a standing army should be kept up in time of peace for that
purpose. Uncertain as we must ever be of
the particular point in our circumference where an enemy may choose to invade
us, the only force which can be ready at every point and competent to oppose
them, is the body of neighboring citizens as formed into a militia. On these, collected from the parts most
convenient, in numbers proportioned to the invading foe, it is best to rely,
not only to meet the first attack, but if it threatens to be permanent, to
maintain the defence until regulars may be engaged to
relieve them. These considerations
render it important that we should at every session continue to amend the
defects which from time to time show themselves in the laws for regulating the
militia, until they are sufficiently perfect.
Nor should we now or at any time separate, until we can say we have done
everything for the militia which we could do were an enemy at our door.
The provisions of military stores on hand will be laid
before you, that you may judge of the additions still
requisite.
With respect to the extent to which our naval preparations
should be carried, some difference of opinion may be expected to appear; but
just attention to the circumstances of every part of the
How far the authority given by the legislature for procuring
and establishing sites for naval purposes has been perfectly understood and
pursued in the execution, admits of some doubt.
A statement of the expenses already incurred on that subject, shall be
laid before you. I have in certain cases
suspended or slackened these expenditures, that the
legislature might determine whether so many yards are necessary as have been
contemplated. The works at this place
are among those permitted to go on; and five of the seven frigates directed to
be laid up, have been brought and laid up here, where, besides the safety of
their position, they are under the eye of the executive administration, as well
as of its agents and where yourselves also will be guided by your own view in
the legislative provisions respecting them which may from time to time be
necessary. They are preserved in such condition, as well the vessels as
whatever belongs to them, as to be at all times ready for sea on a short
warning. Two others are yet to be laid
up so soon as they shall have reserved the repairs
requisite to put them also into sound condition. As a superintending officer
will be necessary at each yard, his duties and emoluments, hitherto fixed by
the executive, will be a more proper subject for legislation. A communication will also be made of our
progress in the execution of the law respecting the vessels directed to be
sold.
The fortifications of our harbors, more or less
advanced, present considerations of great difficulty. While some of them are on a scale
sufficiently proportioned to the advantages of their position, to the efficacy
of their protection, and the importance of the points within it, others are so
extensive, will cost so much in their first erection, so much in their
maintenance, and require such a force to garrison them, as to make it
questionable what is best now to be done.
A statement of those commenced or projected, of the expenses already
incurred, and estimates of their future cost, so far as can be foreseen, shall
be laid before you, that you may be enabled to judge whether any attention is
necessary in the laws respecting this subject.
Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, and navigation, the
four pillars of our prosperity, are the most thriving when left most free to
individual enterprise. Protection from
casual embarrassments, however, may sometimes be seasonably interposed. If in the course of your observations or
inquiries they should appear to need any aid within the limits of our
constitutional powers, your sense of their importance is a sufficient assurance
they will occupy your attention. We cannot, indeed, but all feel an anxious
solicitude for the difficulties under which our carrying trade will soon be placed. How far it can be relieved, otherwise than by
time, is a subject of important consideration.
The judiciary system of the United States, and especially
that portion of it recently erected, will of course present itself to the
contemplation of Congress: and that they may be able to judge of the proportion
which the institution bears to the business it has to perform, I have caused to
be procured from the several States, and now lay before Congress, an exact
statement of all the causes decided since the first establishment of the
courts, and of those which were depending when additional courts and judges
were brought in to their aid.
And while on the judiciary organization, it will be
worthy your consideration, whether the protection of the inestimable
institution of juries has been extended to all the cases involving the security
of our persons and property.
Their impartial selection also being essential to their value, we ought
further to consider whether that is sufficiently secured in those States where
they are named by a marshal depending on executive will, or designated by the
court or by officers dependent on them.
I cannot omit recommending a revisal of the laws on the
subject of naturalization. Considering
the ordinary chances of human life, a denial of citizenship under a residence
of fourteen years is a denial to a great proportion of those who ask it, and
controls a policy pursued from their first settlement by many of these States,
and still believed of consequence to their prosperity. And shall we refuse the unhappy fugitives from
distress that hospitality which the savages of the wilderness extended to our
fathers arriving in this land? Shall
oppressed humanity find no asylum on this globe? The constitution, indeed, has wisely provided
that, for admission to certain offices of important trust, a residence shall be
required sufficient to develop character and design. But might not the general character and
capabilities of a citizen be safely communicated to every one manifesting a _bona
fide_ purpose of embarking his life and fortunes permanently with us? with restrictions, perhaps, to guard against the fraudulent
usurpation of our flag; an abuse which brings so much embarrassment and loss on
the genuine citizen, and so much danger to the nation of being involved in war,
that no endeavor should be spared to detect and suppress it.
These, fellow citizens, are the matters respecting the state
of the nation, which I have thought of importance to be submitted to your
consideration at this time. Some others
of less moment, or not yet ready for communication, will be the subject of
separate messages. I am happy in this
opportunity of committing the arduous affairs of our government to the
collected wisdom of the
To Messrs. Nehemiah Dodge and Others, a Committee of the
Danbury Baptist Association, in the State of
GENTLEMAN,
The affectionate sentiments of esteem and approbation which
you are so good as to express towards me, on behalf of
the Danbury Baptist Association, give me the highest satisfaction. My duties dictate a faithful and zealous
pursuit of the interests of my constituents, and in proportion as they are
persuaded of my fidelity to those duties, the discharge of them becomes more
and more pleasing.
Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies
solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his
faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions
only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the
whole American people which declared that their legislature should "make
no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free
exercise thereof," thus building a wall of separation between church and
State. Adhering to this expression of
the supreme will of the nation in behalf of the rights of conscience, I shall
see with sincere satisfaction the progress of those sentiments which tend to
restore to man all his natural rights, convinced he has no natural right in
opposition to his social duties.
I reciprocate your kind prayers for the protection and
blessing of the common Father and Creator of man, and tender you for yourselves
and your religious association, assurances of my high respect and esteem.
Third Annual Message,
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED
STATES:
In calling you together, fellow citizens, at an earlier day
than was contemplated by the act of the last session of Congress, I have not
been insensible to the personal inconve-niences
necessarily resulting from an unexpected change in your arrangements. But matters of great public concernment have
rendered this call necessary, and the interest you feel in these will supersede
in your minds all private considerations.
Congress witnessed, at their last session, the extraordinary
agitation produced in the public mind by the suspension of our right of deposit
at the
Previous, however, to this period, we had not been unaware
of the danger to which our peace would be perpetually exposed while so
important a key to the commerce of the western country remained under foreign
power. Difficulties, too, were
presenting themselves as to the navigation of other streams, which, arising within
our territories, pass through those adjacent.
Propositions had, therefore, been authorized for obtaining, on fair
conditions, the sovereignty of New Orleans, and of other possessions in that
quarter interesting to our quiet, to such extent as was deemed practicable; and
the provisional appropriation of two millions of dollars, to be applied and
accounted for by the president of the United States, intended as part of the
price, was considered as conveying the sanction of Congress to the acquisition
proposed. The enlightened government of France
saw, with just discernment, the importance to both nations of such liberal
arrangements as might best and permanently promote the peace, friendship, and
interests of both; and the property and sovereignty of all Louisiana, which had
been restored to them, have on certain conditions been transferred to the
United States by instruments bearing date the 30th of April last. When these
shall have received the constitutional sanction of the senate, they will
without delay be communicated to the representatives also, for the exercise of
their functions, as to those conditions which are within the powers vested by
the constitution in Congress. While the
property and sovereignty of the Mississippi and its waters secure an
independent outlet for the produce of the western States, and an uncontrolled
navigation through their whole course, free from collision with other powers
and the dangers to our peace from that source, the fertility of the country,
its climate and extent, promise in due season important aids to our treasury,
an ample provision for our posterity, and a wide-spread field for the blessings
of freedom and equal laws.
With the wisdom of Congress it will rest to take those
ulterior measures which may be necessary for the immediate occupation and temporary
government of the country; for its incorporation into our Union; for rendering
the change of government a blessing to our newly-adopted brethren; for securing
to them the rights of conscience and of property: for confirming to the Indian
inhabitants their occupancy and self-government, establishing friendly and
commercial relations with them, and for ascertaining the geography of the
country acquired. Such materials for
your information, relative to its affairs in general, as the short space of time
has permitted me to collect, will be laid before you when the subject shall be
in a state for your consideration.
Another important acquisition of territory has also been
made since the last session of Congress.
The friendly tribe of Kaskaskia Indians with
which we have never had a difference, reduced by the wars and wants of savage
life to a few individuals unable to defend themselves against the neighboring
tribes, has transferred its country to the United States, reserving only for
its members what is sufficient to maintain them in an agricultural way. The considerations stipulated are, that we
shall extend to them our patronage and protection, and give them certain annual
aids in money, in implements of agriculture, and other articles of their choice.
This country, among the most fertile within our limits, extending along the
Mississippi from the mouth of the Illinois to and up the Ohio, though not so
necessary as a barrier since the acquisition of the other bank, may yet be well
worthy of being laid open to immediate settlement, as its inhabitants may
descend with rapidity in support of the lower country should future
circumstances expose that to foreign enterprise. As the stipulations in this treaty also involve
matters within the competence of both houses only, it will be laid before
Congress as soon as the senate shall have advised its ratification.
With many other Indian tribes, improvements in agriculture
and household manufacture are advancing, and with all our peace and friendship
are established on grounds much firmer than heretofore. The measure adopted of
establishing trading houses among them, and of furnishing them necessaries in
exchange for their commodities, at such moderated prices as leave no gain, but
cover us from loss, has the most conciliatory and useful effect upon them, and
is that which will best secure their peace and good will.
The small vessels authorized by Congress with a view to the
Mediterranean service, have been sent into that sea, and will be able more
effectually to confine the Tripoline cruisers within
their harbors, and supersede the necessity of convoy to our commerce in that
quarter. They will sensibly lessen the
expenses of that service the ensuing year.
A further knowledge of the ground in the north-eastern and
north-western angles of the United States has evinced that the boundaries
established by the treaty of Paris, between the British territories and ours in
those parts, were too imperfectly described to be susceptible of
execution. It has therefore been thought
worthy of attention, for preserving and cherishing the harmony and useful
intercourse subsisting between the two nations, to remove by timely arrangements
what unfavorable incidents might otherwise render a ground of future
misunderstanding. A convention has
therefore been entered into, which provides for a practicable demarkation of those limits to the satisfaction of both
parties.
An account of the receipts and expenditures of the year ending
30th September last, with the estimates for the service of the ensuing year,
will be laid before you by the secretary of the treasury so soon as the
receipts of the last quarter shall be returned from the more distant States. It is already ascertained that the amount
paid into the treasury for that year has been between eleven and twelve
millions of dollars, and that the revenue accrued during the same term exceeds
the sum counted on as sufficient for our current expenses, and to extinguish
the public debt within the period heretofore proposed.
The amount of debt paid for the same year is about three
millions one hundred thousand dollars, exclusive of interest, and making, with
the payment of the preceding year, a discharge of more than eight millions and
a half of dollars of the principal of that debt, besides the accruing interest;
and there remain in the treasury nearly six millions of dollars. Of these, eight hundred and eighty thousand
have been reserved for payment of the first instalment
due under the British convention of January 8th, 1802, and two millions are
what have been before mentioned as placed by Congress under the power and
accountability of the president, toward the price of New Orleans and other
territories acquired, which, remaining untouched, are still applicable to that
object, and go in diminution of the sum to be funded for it.
Should the acquisition of Louisiana be constitutionally
confirmed and carried into effect, a sum of nearly thirteen millions of dollars
will then be added to our public debt, most of which is payable after fifteen
years; before which term the present existing debts will all be discharged by
the established operation of the sinking fund.
When we contemplate the ordinary annual augmentation of imposts from increasing
population and wealth, the augmentation of the same revenue by its extension to
the new acquisition, and the economies which may still be introduced into our
public expenditures, I cannot but hope that Congress in reviewing their
resources will find means to meet the intermediate interests of this additional
debt without recurring to new taxes, and applying to this object only the
ordinary progression of our revenue. Its
extraordinary increase in times of foreign war will be the proper and sufficient
fund for any measures of safety or precaution which that state of things may
render necessary in our neutral position.
Remittances for the instalments of
our foreign debt having been found impracticable without loss, it has not been
thought expedient to use the power given by a former act of Congress of
continuing them by reloans, and of redeeming instead
thereof equal sums of domestic debt, although no difficulty was found in
obtaining that accommodation.
The sum of fifty thousand dollars appropriated by Congress
for providing gun-boats, remains unexpended. The favorable and peaceful turn of affairs on
the
We have seen with sincere concern the flames of war lighted
up again in
Second Inaugural Address,
Proceeding, fellow citizens, to that qualification which the
constitution requires, before my entrance on the charge again conferred upon
me, it is my duty to express the deep sense I entertain of this new proof of
confidence from my fellow citizens at large, and the zeal with which it
inspires me, so to conduct myself as may best satisfy their just expectations.
On taking this station on a former occasion, I declared the
principles on which I believed it my duty to administer the affairs of our
commonwealth. My conscience tells me
that I have, on every occasion, acted up to that declaration, according to its
obvious import, and to the understanding of every candid mind.
In the transaction of your foreign affairs, we have
endeavored to cultivate the friendship of all nations, and especially of those
with which we have the most important relations. We have done them justice on all occasions,
favored where favor was lawful, and cherished mutual interests and intercourse
on fair and equal terms. We are firmly convinced, and we act on that
conviction, that with nations, as with individuals, our interests soundly
calculated, will ever be found inseparable from our moral duties; and history
bears witness to the fact, that a just nation is taken on its word, when
recourse is had to armaments and wars to bridle others.
At home, fellow citizens, you best know whether we have done
well or ill. The suppression of
unnecessary offices, of useless establishments and expenses, enabled us to
discontinue our internal taxes. These
covering our land with officers, and opening our doors to their intrusions, had
already begun that process of domiciliary vexation which, once entered, is
scarcely to be restrained from reaching successively every article of produce
and property. If among these taxes some
minor ones fell which had not been inconvenient, it was because their amount
would not have paid the officers who collected them, and because, if they had
any merit, the state authorities might adopt them, instead of others less
approved.
The remaining revenue on the consumption of foreign
articles, is paid cheerfully by those who can afford to add foreign luxuries to
domestic comforts, being collected on our seaboards and frontiers only, and
incorporated with the transactions of our mercantile citizens, it may be the
pleasure and pride of an American to ask, what farmer, what mechanic, what
laborer, ever sees a tax-gatherer of the United States? These contributions enable us to support the
current expenses of the government, to fulfil
contracts with foreign nations, to extinguish the native right of soil within
our limits, to extend those limits, and to apply such a surplus to our public
debts, as places at a short day their final redemption, and that redemption
once effected, the revenue thereby liberated may, by a just repartition among
the states, and a corresponding amendment of the constitution, be applied, _in
time of peace_, to rivers, canals, roads, arts, manufactures, education, and
other great objects within each state.
_In time of war_, if injustice, by ourselves or others, must sometimes
produce war, increased as the same revenue will be increased by population and
consumption, and aided by other resources reserved for that crisis, it may meet
within the year all the expenses of the year, without encroaching on the rights
of future generations, by burdening them with the debts of the past. War will then be but a suspension of useful
works, and a return to a state of peace, a return to the progress of
improvement.
I have said, fellow citizens, that the income reserved had
enabled us to extend our limits; but that extension may possibly pay for itself
before we are called on, and in the meantime, may keep down the accruing
interest; in all events, it will repay the advances we have made. I know that the acquisition of
In matters of religion, I have considered that its free
exercise is placed by the constitution independent of the powers of the general
government. I have therefore undertaken,
on no occasion, to prescribe the religious exercises suited to it; but have
left them, as the constitution found them, under the direction and discipline
of state or church authorities acknowledged by the several religious societies.
The aboriginal inhabitants of these countries I have
regarded with the commiseration their history inspires. Endowed with the faculties and the rights of men,
breathing an ardent love of liberty and independence, and occupying a country
which left them no desire but to be undisturbed, the stream of overflowing
population from other regions directed itself on these shores; without power to
divert, or habits to contend against, they have been overwhelmed by the
current, or driven before it; now reduced within limits too narrow for the
hunter's state, humanity enjoins us to teach them agriculture and the domestic
arts; to encourage them to that industry which alone can enable them to
maintain their place in existence, and to prepare them in time for that state
of society, which to bodily comforts adds the improvement of the mind and
morals. We have therefore liberally furnished
them with the implements of husbandry and household use; we have placed among
them instructors in the arts of first necessity; and they are covered with the
aegis of the law against aggressors from among ourselves.
But the endeavors to enlighten them on the fate which awaits
their present course of life, to induce them to exercise their reason, follow
its dictates, and change their pursuits with the change of circumstances, have
powerful obstacles to encounter; they are combated by the habits of their
bodies, prejudice of their minds, ignorance, pride, and the influence of
interested and crafty individuals among them, who feel themselves something in
the present order of things, and fear to become nothing in any other. These persons inculcate a sanctimonious
reverence for the customs of their ancestors; that whatsoever they did, must be
done through all time; that reason is a false guide, and to advance under its
counsel, in their physical, moral, or political condition, is perilous
innovation; that their duty is to remain as their Creator made them, ignorance
being safety, and knowledge full of danger; in short, my friends, among them is
seen the action and counteraction of good sense and bigotry; they, too, have
their anti-philosophers, who find an interest in keeping things in their present
state, who dread reformation, and exert all their faculties to maintain the ascendency of habit over the duty of improving our reason,
and obeying its mandates.
In giving these outlines, I do not mean, fellow citizens, to
arrogate to myself the merit of the measures; that is due, in the first place,
to the reflecting character of our citizens at large, who, by the weight of
public opinion, influence and strengthen the public measures; it is due to the
sound discretion with which they select from among themselves those to whom
they confide the legislative duties; it is due to the zeal and wisdom of the
characters thus selected, who lay the foundations of public happiness in
wholesome laws, the execution of which alone remains for others; and it is due to
the able and faithful auxiliaries, whose patriotism has associated with me in
the executive functions.
During this course of administration, and in order to
disturb it, the artillery of the press has been levelled
against us, charged with whatsoever its licentiousness could devise or
dare. These abuses of an institution so
important to freedom and science, are deeply to be regretted, inasmuch as they
tend to lessen its usefulness, and to sap its safety; they might, indeed, have
been corrected by the wholesome punishments reserved and provided by the laws
of the several States against falsehood and defamation; but public duties more
urgent press on the time of public servants, and the offenders have therefore
been left to find their punishment in the public indignation.
Nor was it uninteresting to the world, that an experiment
should be fairly and fully made, whether freedom of discussion, unaided by
power, is not sufficient for the propagation and protection of truth -- whether
a government, conducting itself in the true spirit of its constitution, with
zeal and purity, and doing no act which it would be unwilling the whole world
should witness, can be written down by falsehood and defamation. The experiment has been tried; you have
witnessed the scene; our fellow citizens have looked on, cool and collected;
they saw the latent source from which these outrages proceeded; they gathered
around their public functionaries, and when the constitution called them to the
decision by suffrage, they pronounced their verdict, honorable to those who had
served them, and consolatory to the friend of man, who believes he may be intrusted with his own affairs.
No inference is here intended, that the laws, provided by
the State against false and defamatory publications, should not be enforced; he
who has time, renders a service to public morals and public tranquillity,
in reforming these abuses by the salutary coercions of the law; but the
experiment is noted, to prove that, since truth and reason have maintained
their ground against false opinions in league with false facts, the press,
confined to truth, needs no other legal restraint; the public judgment will
correct false reasonings and opinions, on a full
hearing of all parties; and no other definite line can be drawn between the
inestimable liberty of the press and its demoralizing licentiousness. If there be still improprieties which this
rule would not restrain, its supplement must be sought in the censorship of
public opinion.
Contemplating the union of sentiment now manifested so
generally, as auguring harmony and happiness to our future course, I offer to
our country sincere congratulations.
With those, too, not yet rallied to the same point, the disposition to
do so is gaining strength; facts are piercing through the veil drawn over them;
and our doubting brethren will at length see, that the mass of their fellow
citizens, with whom they cannot yet resolve to act, as to principles and
measures, think as they think, and desire what they desire; that our wish, as well
as theirs, is, that the public efforts may be directed honestly to the public
good, that peace be cultivated, civil and religious liberty unassailed,
law and order preserved; equality of rights maintained, and that state of
property, equal or unequal, which results to every man from his own industry,
or that of his fathers. When satisfied
of these views, it is not in human nature that they should not approve and
support them; in the meantime, let us cherish them with patient affection; let
us do them justice, and more than justice, in all competitions of interest; and
we need not doubt that truth, reason, and their own interests, will at length
prevail, will gather them into the fold of their country, and will complete
their entire union of opinion, which gives to a nation the blessing of harmony,
and the benefit of all its strength.
I shall now enter on the duties to which my fellow citizens
have again called me, and shall proceed in the spirit of those principles which
they have approved. I fear not that any
motives of interest may lead me astray; I am sensible of no passion which could
seduce me knowingly from the path of justice; but the weakness of human nature,
and the limits of my own understanding, will produce errors of judgment
sometimes injurious to your interests. I
shall need, therefore, all the indulgence I have heretofore experienced -- the
want of it will certainly not lessen with increasing years. I shall need, too, the favor of that Being in
whose hands we are, who led our forefathers, as Israel of old, from their
native land, and planted them in a country flowing with all the necessaries and
comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence, and our
riper years with his wisdom and power; and to whose goodness I ask you to join
with me in supplications, that he will so enlighten the minds of your servants,
guide their councils, and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do,
shall result in your good, and shall secure to you the peace, friendship, and
approbation of all nations.
Sixth Annual Message,
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED
STATES IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED:
It would have given me, fellow citizens, great satisfaction
to announce in the moment of your meeting that the difficulties in our foreign
relations, existing at the time of your last separation, had been amicably and
justly terminated. I lost no time in
taking those measures which were most likely to bring them to such a
termination, by special missions charged with such powers and instructions as
in the event of failure could leave no imputation on either our moderation or
forbearance. The delays which have since
taken place in our negotiations with the British government appears to have proceeded
from causes which do not forbid the expectation that during the course of the
session I may be enabled to lay before you their final issue. What will be that of the negotiations for
settling our differences with
The nature of that country requires indispensably that an
unusual proportion of the force employed there should be cavalry or mounted
infantry. In order, therefore, that the
commanding officer might be enabled to act with effect, I had authorized him to
call on the governors of
Having received information that in another part of the
United States a great number of private individuals were combining together,
arming and organizing themselves contrary to law, to carry on military
expeditions against the territories of Spain, I thought it necessary, by
proclamations as well as by special orders, to take measures for preventing and
suppressing this enterprise, for seizing the vessels, arms, and other means
provided for it, and for arresting and bringing to justice its authors and
abettors. It was due to that good faith
which ought ever to be the rule of action in public as well as in private transactions;
it was due to good order and regular government, that while the public force
was acting strictly on the defensive and merely to protect our citizens from
aggression, the criminal attempts of private individuals to decide for their
country the question of peace or war, by commencing active and unauthorized
hostilities, should be promptly and efficaciously suppressed.
Whether it will be necessary to enlarge our regular force
will depend on the result of our negotiation with Spain; but as it is uncertain
when that result will be known, the provisional measures requisite for that,
and to meet any pressure intervening in that quarter, will be a subject for
your early consideration.
The possession of both banks of the Mississippi reducing to
a single point the defence of that river, its waters,
and the country adjacent, it becomes highly necessary to provide for that point
a more adequate security. Some position
above its mouth, commanding the passage of the river, should be rendered
sufficiently strong to cover the armed vessels which may be stationed there for
defence, and in conjunction with them to present an
insuperable obstacle to any force attempting to pass. The approaches to the city of
The gun-boats authorized by an act of the last session are
so advanced that they will be ready for service in the ensuing spring.
Circumstances permitted us to allow the time necessary for their more solid
construction. As a much larger number
will still be wanting to place our seaport towns and
waters in that state of defence to which we are
competent and they entitled, a similar appropriation for a further provision
for them is recommended for the ensuing year.
A further appropriation will also be necessary for repairing
fortifications already established, and the erection of such works as may have
real effect in obstructing the approach of an enemy to our seaport towns, or
their remaining before them.
In a country whose constitution is derived from the will of
the people, directly expressed by their free suffrages; where the principal
executive functionaries, and those of the legislature, are renewed by them at
short periods; where under the characters of jurors, they exercise in person
the greatest portion of the judiciary powers; where the laws are consequently
so formed and administered as to bear with equal weight and favor on all,
restraining no man in the pursuits of honest industry, and securing to every
one the property which that acquires, it would not be supposed that any
safeguards could be needed against insurrection or enterprise on the public
peace or authority. The laws, however,
aware that these should not be trusted to moral restraints only, have wisely
provided punishments for these crimes when committed. But would it not be salutary to give also the
means of preventing their commission?
Where an enterprise is meditated by private individuals against a
foreign nation in amity with the
The states on the coast of
We continue to receive proofs of the growing attachment of
our Indian neighbors, and of their disposition to place all their interests
under the patronage of the
The expedition of Messrs. Lewis and Clarke, for exploring the
river
The attempt to explore the
Very useful additions have also been made to our knowledge
of the
I congratulate you, fellow-citizens, on the approach of the
period at which you may interpose your authority constitutionally, to withdraw
the citizens of the United States from all further participation in those
violations of human rights which have been so long continued on the unoffending
inhabitants of Africa, and which the morality, the reputation, and the best
interests of our country, have long been eager to proscribe. Although no law you may pass can take
prohibitory effect till the first day of the year one thousand eight hundred
and eight, yet the intervening period is not too long to prevent, by timely
notice, expeditions which cannot be completed before that day.
The receipts at the treasury during the year ending on the
30th of September last, have amounted to near fifteen millions of dollars,
which have enabled us, after meeting the current demands, to pay two millions
seven hundred thousand dollars of the American claims, in part of the price of
Louisiana; to pay of the funded debt upward of three millions of principal, and
nearly four of interest; and in addition, to reimburse, in the course of the
present month, near two millions of five and a half per cent. stock. These payments
and reimbursements of the funded debt, with those which have been made in the
four years and a half preceding, will, at the close of the present year, have
extinguished upwards of twenty-three millions of principal.
The duties composing the Mediterranean fund will cease by
law at the end of the present season.
Considering, however, that they are levied chiefly on luxuries, and that
we have an impost on salt, a necessary of life, the free use of which
other-wise is so important, I recommend to your consideration the suppression
of the duties on salt, and the continuation of the Mediterranean fund, instead
thereof, for a short time, after which that also will become unnecessary for
any purpose now within contemplation.
When both of these branches of revenue shall in this
way be relinquished, there will still ere long be an accumulation of moneys in
the treasury beyond the instalments of public debt
which we are permitted by contract to pay. They cannot, then, without a modification
assented to by the public creditors, be applied to the extinguishment of this
debt, and the complete liberation of our revenues -- the most desirable of all
objects; nor, if our peace continues, will they be wanting for any other
existing purpose. The question,
therefore, now comes forward, -- to what other objects shall these surpluses be
appropriated, and the whole surplus of impost, after the entire discharge of
the public debt, and during those intervals when the purposes of war shall not
call for them? Shall we suppress the impost and give that advantage to foreign
over domestic manufactures? On a few
articles of more general and necessary use, the suppression in due season will
doubtless be right, but the great mass of the articles on which impost is paid
is foreign luxuries, purchased by those only who are rich enough to afford
themselves the use of them. Their
patriotism would certainly prefer its continuance and application to the great
purposes of the public education, roads, rivers, canals, and such other objects
of public improvement as it may be thought proper to add to the constitutional
enumeration of federal powers. By these
operations new channels of communication will be opened between the States; the
lines of separation will disappear, their interests will be identified, and
their union cemented by new and indissoluble ties. Education is here placed among the articles
of public care, not that it would be proposed to take its ordinary branches out
of the hands of private enterprise, which manages so much better all the
concerns to which it is equal; but a public institution can alone supply those
sciences which, though rarely called for, are yet necessary to complete the
circle, all the parts of which contribute to the improvement of the country,
and some of them to its preservation.
The subject is now proposed for the consideration of Congress, because,
if approved by the time the State legislatures shall have deliberated on this
extension of the federal trusts, and the laws shall be passed, and other
arrangements made for their execution, the necessary funds will be on hand and
without employment. I suppose an
amendment to the constitution, by consent of the States, necessary, because the
objects now recommended are not among those enumerated in the constitution, and
to which it permits the public moneys to be applied.
The present consideration of a national establishment for
education, particularly, is rendered proper by this circumstance also, that if
Congress, approving the proposition, shall yet think it more eligible to found
it on a donation of lands, they have it now in their power to endow it with
those which will be among the earliest to produce the necessary income. This foundation would have the advantage of
being independent on war, which may suspend other improvements by requiring for
its own purposes the resources destined for them.
This, fellow citizens, is the state of the public interest at
the present moment, and according to the information now possessed. But such is
the situation of the nations of Europe, and such too the predicament in which
we stand with some of them, that we cannot rely with certainty on the present
aspect of our affairs that may change from moment to moment, during the course
of your session or after you shall have separated. Our duty is, therefore, to act upon things as
they are, and to make a reasonable provision for whatever they may be. Were armies to be raised whenever a speck of
war is visible in our horizon, we never should have been without them. Our resources would have been exhausted on
dangers which have never happened, instead of being reserved for what is really
to take place. A steady, perhaps a quickened
pace in preparations for the defence of our seaport
towns and waters; an early settlement of the most exposed and vulnerable parts
of our country; a militia so organized that its effective portions can be
called to any point in the Union, or volunteers instead of them to serve a
sufficient time, are means which may always be ready yet never preying on our
resources until actually called into use.
They will maintain the public interests while a more permanent force
shall be in course of preparation. But
much will depend on the promptitude with which these means can be brought into
activity. If war be forced upon us in
spite of our long and vain appeals to the justice of nations, rapid and
vigorous movements in its outset will go far toward securing us in its course
and issue, and toward throwing its burdens on those who render necessary the
resort from reason to force.
The result of our negotiations, or such incidents in their
course as may enable us to infer their probable issue; such further movements
also on our western frontiers as may show whether war is to be pressed there
while negotiation is protracted elsewhere, shall be communicated to you from
time to time as they become known to me, with whatever other information I
possess or may receive, which may aid your deliberations on the great national
interests committed to your charge.
Special Message on the Burr Conspiracy,
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED
STATES:
Agreeably to the request of the House of Representatives,
communicated in their resolution of the sixteenth instant, I proceed to state
under the reserve therein expressed, information received touching an illegal
combination of private individuals against the peace and safety of the Union,
and a military expedition planned by them against the territories of a power in
amity with the United States, with the measures I have pursued for suppressing
the same.
I had for some time been in the constant expectation of receiving
such further information as would have enabled me to lay before the legislature
the termination as well as the beginning and progress of this scene of
depravity, so far it has been acted on the Ohio and its waters. From this the state and safety of the lower
country might have been estimated on probable grounds, and the delay was
indulged the rather, because no circumstance had yet made it necessary to call
in the aid of the legislative functions. Information now recently communicated
has brought us nearly to the period contemplated. The mass of what I have received, in the
course of these transactions, is voluminous, but little has been given under
the sanction of an oath, so as to constitute formal and legal evidence. It is chiefly in the form of letters, often
containing such a mixture of rumors, conjectures, and suspicions, as render it
difficult to sift out the real facts, and unadvisable to hazard more than
general outlines, strengthened by concurrent information, or the particular
credibility of the relater. In this
state of the evidence, delivered sometimes too under the restriction of private
confidence, neither safety nor justice will permit the exposing names, except
that of the principal actor, whose guilt is placed beyond question.
Some time in the latter part of September, I received
intimations that designs were in agitation in the western country, unlawful and
unfriendly to the peace of the
It was not until the latter part of October, that the
objects of the conspiracy began to be perceived, but still so blended and
involved in mystery that nothing distinct could be singled out for
pursuit. In this state of uncertainty as
to the crime contemplated, the acts done, and the legal course to be pursued, I
thought it best to send to the scene where these things were principally in
transaction, a person, in whose integrity, understanding, and discretion,
entire confidence could be reposed, with instructions to investigate the plots
going on, to enter into conference (for which he had sufficient credentials)
with the governors and all other officers, civil and military, and with their
aid to do on the spot whatever should be necessary to discover the designs of
the conspirators, arrest their means, bring their persons to punishment, and to
call out the force of the country to suppress any unlawful enterprise in which
it should be found they were engaged. By
this time it was known that many boats were under preparation, stores of
provisions collecting, and an unusual number of suspicious characters in motion
on the
The general's letter, which came to hand on the 25th of
November, as has been mentioned, and some other information received a few days
earlier, when brought together, developed Burr's general designs, different
parts of which only had been revealed to different informants. It appeared that he contemplated two distinct
objects, which might be carried on either jointly or separately, and either the
one or the other first, as circumstances should direct. One of these was the severance of the
He found at once that the attachment of the western country
to the present
This was the state of my information of his proceedings
about the last of November, at which time, therefore, it was first possible to
take specific measures to meet them. The
proclamation of November 27th, two days after the receipt of General
Wilkinson's information, was now issued.
Orders were despatched to every intersecting
point on the Ohio and Mississippi, from Pittsburg to New Orleans, for the
employment of such force either of the regulars or of the militia, and of such
proceedings also of the civil authorities, as might enable them to seize on all
the boats and stores provided for the enterprise, to arrest the persons
concerned, and to suppress effectually the further progress of the
enterprise. A little before the receipt
of these orders in the State of Ohio, our confidential agent, who had been diligently
employed in investigating the conspiracy, had acquired sufficient information
to open himself to the governor of that State, and apply for the immediate
exertion of the authority and power of the State to crush the combination.
Governor Tiffin and the legislature, with a promptitude, an energy, and
patriotic zeal, which entitle them to a distinguished place in the affection of
their sister States, effected the seizure of all the
boats, provisions, and other preparations within their reach, and thus gave a
first blow, materially disabling the enterprise in its outset.
In
Not apprized, till very late, that any boats were building
on Cumberland, the effect of the proclamation had been trusted to for some time
in the State of Tennessee; but on the 19th of December, similar communications
and instructions with those of the neighboring States were despatched
by express to the governor, and a general officer of the western division of
the State, and on the 23d of December our confidential agent left Frankfort for
Nashville, to put into activity the means of that State also. But by information received yesterday I learn
that on the 22d of December, Mr. Burr descended the
On the whole, the fugitives from
By the same express of December nineteenth, orders were sent
to the governors of
Surmises have been hazarded that this enterprise is to
receive aid from certain foreign powers.
But these surmises are without proof or probability. The wisdom of the measures sanctioned by
Congress at its last session had placed us in the paths of peace and justice
with the only powers with whom we had any differences, and nothing has happened
since which makes it either their interest or ours to pursue another
course. No change of measures has taken
place on our part; none ought to take place at this time. With the one, friendly arrangement was then
proposed, and the law deemed necessary on the failure of that was suspended to
give time for a fair trial of the issue.
With the same power, negotiation is still preferred and provisional
measures only are necessary to meet the event of rupture. While, therefore, we
do not deflect in the slightest degree from the course we then assumed, and are
still pursuing, with mutual consent, to restore a good understanding, we are
not to impute to them practices as irreconcilable to interest as to good faith,
and changing necessarily the relations of peace and justice between us to those
of war. These surmises are, therefore,
to be imputed to the vauntings of the author of this
enterprise, to multiply his partisans by magnifying the belief of his prospects
and support.
By letters from General Wilkinson, of the 14th and 18th of
September, which came to hand two days after date of the resolution of the
House of Representatives, that is to say, on the morning of the 18th instant, I
received the important affidavit, a copy of which I now communicate, with
extracts of so much of the letters as come within the scope of the
resolution. By these it will be seen
that of three of the principal emissaries of Mr. Burr, whom the general had
caused to be apprehended, one had been liberated by _habeas corpus_, and the
two others, being those particularly employed in the endeavor to corrupt the
general and army of the United States, have been embarked by him for our ports
in the Atlantic States, probably on the consideration that an impartial trial
could not be expected during the present agitations of New Orleans, and that
that city was not as yet a safe place of confinement. As soon as these persons shall arrive, they
will be delivered to the custody of the law, and left to such course of trial,
both as to place and process, as its functionaries may direct. The presence of the highest judicial
authorities, to be assembled at this place within a few days, the means of
pursuing a sounder course of proceedings here than elsewhere, and the aid of
the executive means, should the judges have occasion to use them, render it
equally desirable for the criminals as for the public, that being already
removed from the place where they were first apprehended, the first regular
arrest should take place here, and the course of proceedings receive here its
proper direction.
Special Message on Gun-Boats,
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED
STATES
In compliance with the request of the House of
Representatives, expressed in their resolution of the 5th instant, I proceed to
give such information as is possessed, of the effect of gun-boats in the
protection and defense of harbors, of the numbers thought necessary, and of the
proposed distribution of them among the ports and harbors of the
Under the present circumstances, and governed by the
intentions of the legislature, as manifested by their annual appropriations of
money for the purposes of defence, it has been
concluded to combine -- 1st, land batteries, furnished with heavy cannon and
mortars, and established on all the points around the place favorable for
preventing vessels from lying before it; 2d, movable artillery which may be
carried, as an occasion may require, to points unprovided
with fixed batteries; 3d, floating batteries; and 4th, gun-boats, which may
oppose an enemy at its entrance and co-operate with the batteries for his
expulsion.
On this subject professional men were consulted as far as we
had opportunity. General Wilkinson, and
the late General Gates, gave their opinions in writing, in favor of the system,
as will be seen by their letters now communicated. The higher officers of the navy gave the same
opinions in separate conferences, as their presence at the seat of government
offered occasions of consulting them, and no difference of judgment appeared on
the subjects. Those of Commodore Barron
and Captain Tingey, now here, are recently furnished
in writing, and transmitted herewith to the
legislature.
The efficacy of gun-boats for the defence
of harbors, and of other smooth and enclosed waters, may be estimated in part
from that of galleys, formerly much used, but less powerful, more costly in
their construction and maintenance, and requiring more men. But the gun-boat itself is believed to be in
use with every modern maritime nation for the purpose of defence. In the
From the opinions given as to the number of gun-boats
necessary for some of the principal seaports, and from a view of all the towns
and ports from Orleans to Maine inclusive, entitled to protection, in
proportion to their situation and circumstances, it is concluded, that to give
them a due measure of protection in time of war, about two hundred gun-boats
will be requisite. According to first
ideas, the following would be their general distribution, liable to be varied
on more mature examination, and as circumstances shall vary, that is to say: --
To the
To
To the
To
To
To
The flotilla assigned to these several stations, might each
be under the care of a particular commandant, and the vessels composing them would,
in ordinary, be distributed among the harbors within the station in proportion
to their importance.
Of these boats a proper proportion would be of the larger
size, such as those heretofore built, capable of navigating any seas, and of
reinforcing occasionally the strength of even the most distant port when
menaced with danger. The residue would
be confined to their own or the neighboring harbors,
would be smaller, less furnished for accommodation, and consequently less
costly. Of the number supposed
necessary, seventy-three are built or building, and the hundred and
twenty-seven still to be provided, would cost from five to six hundred thousand
dollars. Having regard to the
convenience of the treasury, as well as to the resources of building, it has
been thought that one half of these might be built in the present year, and the
other half the next. With the
legislature, however, it will rest to stop where we are, or at any further
point, when they shall be of opinion that the number provided shall be
sufficient for the object.
At times when
But they would be manned, in ordinary, with only their
complement for navigation, relying on the seamen and militia of the port if
called into action on sudden emergency.
It would be only when the
It must be superfluous to observe, that this species of
naval armament is proposed merely for defensive operation; that it can have but
little effect toward protecting our commerce in the open seas even on our
coast; and still less can it become an excitement to engage in offensive
maritime war, toward which it would furnish no means.
Eighth Annual Message,
TO THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED
STATES:
It would have been a source, fellow citizens, of much
gratification, if our last communications from Europe had enabled me to inform
you that the belligerent nations, whose disregard of neutral rights has been so
destructive to our commerce, had become awakened to the duty and true policy of
revoking their unrighteous edicts. That
no means might be omitted to produce this salutary effect, I lost no time in
availing myself of the act authorizing a suspension, in whole or in part, of
the several embargo laws. Our ministers
at
This candid and liberal experiment having thus failed, and
no other event having occurred on which a suspension of the embargo by the
executive was authorized, it necessarily remains in the extent originally given
to it. We have the satisfaction,
however, to reflect, that in return for the privations by the measure, and
which our fellow citizens in general have borne with patriotism, it has had the
important effects of saving our mariners and our vast mercantile property, as
well as of affording time for prosecuting the defensive and provisional
measures called for by the occasion. It
has demonstrated to foreign nations the moderation and firmness which govern
our councils, and to our citizens the necessity of uniting in support of the
laws and the rights of their country, and has thus long frustrated those
usurpations and spoliations which, if resisted, involve war; if submitted to,
sacrificed a vital principle of our national independence.
Under a continuance of the belligerent measures which, in
defiance of laws which consecrate the rights of neutrals, overspread the ocean
with danger, it will rest with the wisdom of Congress to decide on the course
best adapted to such a state of things; and bringing with them, as they do,
from every part of the Union, the sentiments of our constituents, my confidence
is strengthened, that in forming this decision they will, with an unerring
regard to the essential rights and interests of the nation, weigh and compare
the painful alternatives out of which a choice is to be made. Nor should I do justice to the virtues which
on other occasions have marked the character of our fellow citizens, if I did
not cherish an equal confidence that the alternative chosen, whatever it may
be, will be maintained with all the fortitude and patriotism which the crisis
ought to inspire.
The documents containing the correspondences on the subject
of the foreign edicts against our commerce, with the instructions given to our
ministers at
The communications made to Congress at their last session
explained the posture in which the close of the discussion relating to the
attack by a British ship of war on the frigate
Our relations with the other powers of
With the
In consequence of the appropriations of the last session of
Congress for the security of our seaport towns and harbors, such works of defence have been erected as seemed to be called for by the
situation of the several places, their relative importance, and the scale of
expense indicated by the amount of the appropriation. These works will chiefly be finished in the
course of the present season, except at New York and New Orleans, where most
was to be done; and although a great proportion of the last appropriation has
been expended on the former place, yet some further views will be submitted by
Congress for rendering its security entirely adequate against naval
enterprise. A view of what has been done
at the several places, and of what is proposed to be done, shall be
communicated as soon as the several reports are received.
Of the gun-boats authorized by the act of December last, it
has been thought necessary to build only one hundred and three in the present
year. These, with those before
possessed, are sufficient for the harbors and waters exposed, and the residue
will require little time for their construction when it is deemed necessary.
Under the act of the last session for raising an additional
military force, so many officers were immediately appointed as were necessary
for carrying on the business of recruiting, and in proportion as it advanced,
others have been added. We have reason
to believe their success has been satisfactory, although such returns have not
yet been received as enable me to present to you a statement of the numbers
engaged.
I have not thought it necessary in the course of the last
season to call for any general detachments of militia or volunteers under the
law passed for that purpose. For the
ensuing season, however, they will require to be in readiness should their
services be wanted. Some small and
special detachments have been necessary to maintain the laws of embargo on that
portion of our northern frontier which offered peculiar facilities for evasion,
but these were replaced as soon as it could be done by bodies of new
recruits. By the aid of these, and of
the armed vessels called into actual service in other quarters, the spirit of
disobedience and abuse which manifested itself early, and with sensible effect
while we were unprepared to meet it, has been considerably repressed.
Considering the extraordinary character of the times in
which we live, our attention should unremittingly be fixed on the safety of our
country. For a people who are free, and
who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best
security. It is, therefore, incumbent on
us, at every meeting, to revise the condition of the militia, and to ask
ourselves if it is prepared to repel a powerful enemy at every point of our
territories exposed to invasion. Some of the States have paid a laudable
attention to this object; but every degree of neglect is to be found among
others. Congress alone have power to
produce a uniform state of preparation in this great organ of defence; the interests which they so deeply feel in their
own and their country's security will present this as among the most important
objects of their deliberation.
Under the acts of March 11th and April 23d, respecting arms,
the difficulty of procuring them from abroad, during the present situation and
dispositions of
The suspension of our foreign commerce, produced by the
injustice of the belligerent powers, and the consequent losses and sacrifices
of our citizens, are subjects of just concern.
The situation into which we have thus been
forced, has impelled us to apply a portion of our industry and capital to
internal manufactures and improvements.
The extent of this conversion is daily increasing, and little doubt
remains that the establishments formed and forming will -- under the auspices
of cheaper materials and subsistence, the freedom of labor from taxation with
us, and of protecting duties and prohibitions -- become permanent. The commerce with the Indians, too, within
our own boundaries, is likely to receive abundant aliment from the same
internal source, and will secure to them peace and the progress of
civilization, undisturbed by practices hostile to both.
The accounts of the receipts and expenditures during the
year ending on the 30th day of September last, being not yet made up, a correct
statement will hereafter be transmitted from the Treasury. In the meantime, it
is ascertained that the receipts have amounted to near eighteen millions of dollars,
which, with the eight millions and a half in the treasury at the beginning of
the year, have enabled us, after meeting the current demands and interest
incurred, to pay two millions three hundred thousand dollars of the principal
of our funded debt, and left us in the treasury, on that day, near fourteen
millions of dollars. Of these, five
millions three hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be necessary to pay what
will be due on the first day of January next, which will complete the
reimbursement of the eight per cent. stock. These payments, with those made in the six
years and a half preceding, will have extinguished thirty-three millions five
hundred and eighty thousand dollars of the principal of the funded debt, being
the whole which could be paid or purchased within the limits of the law and our
contracts; and the amount of principal thus discharged will have liberated the
revenue from about two millions of dollars of interest, and added that sum
annually to the disposable surplus. The
probable accumulation of the surpluses of revenue beyond what can be applied to
the payment of the public debt, whenever the freedom and safety of our commerce
shall be restored, merits the consideration of Congress. Shall it lie unproductive in the public vaults? Shall the revenue be reduced? Or shall it rather be appropriated to the
improvements of roads, canals, rivers, education, and other great foundations
of prosperity and union, under the powers which Congress may already possess,
or such amendment of the constitution as may be approved by the States? While
uncertain of the course of things, the time may be advantageously employed in
obtaining the powers necessary for a system of improvement, should that be
thought best.
Availing myself of this the last occasion which will occur
of addressing the two houses of the legislature at their meeting, I cannot omit
the expression of my sincere gratitude for the repeated proofs of confidence
manifested to me by themselves and their predecessors since my call to the
administration, and the many indulgences experienced at their hands. The same grateful acknowledgments are due to
my fellow citizens generally, whose support has been
my great encouragement under all embarrassments. In the transaction of their business I cannot
have escaped error. It is incident to
our imperfect nature. But I may say with
truth, my errors have been of the understanding, not of intention; and that the
advancement of their rights and interests has been the constant motive for
every measure. On these considerations I
solicit their indulgence. Looking
forward with anxiety to their future destinies, I trust that, in their steady
character unshaken by difficulties, in their love of liberty, obedience to law,
and support of the public authorities, I see a sure guaranty of the permanence
of our republic; and retiring from the charge of their affairs, I carry with me
the consolation of a firm persuasion that Heaven has in store for our beloved
country long ages to come of prosperity and happiness.
To the Inhabitants of
Returning to the scenes of my birth and early life, to the
society of those with whom I was raised, and who have been ever dear to me, I
receive, fellow citizens and neighbors, with inexpressible pleasure, the
cordial welcome you are so good as to give me.
Long absent on duties which the history of a wonderful era made
incumbent on those called to them, the pomp, the turmoil, the bustle and
splendor of office, have drawn but deeper sighs for the tranquil and
irresponsible occupations of private life, for the enjoyment of an affectionate
intercourse with you, my neighbors and friends, and the endearments of family
love, which nature has given us all, as the sweetener of every hour. For these I gladly lay down the distressing
burthen of power, and seek, with my fellow citizens, repose and safety under
the watchful cares, the labors, and perplexities of younger and abler minds. The anxieties you express to administer to my
happiness, do, of themselves, confer that happiness;
and the measure will be complete, if my endeavors to fulfil
my duties in the several public stations to which I have been called, have
obtained for me the approbation of my country.
The part which I have acted on the theatre of public life, has been
before them; and to their sentence I submit it; but the testimony of my native
country, of the individuals who have known me in private life, to my conduct in
its various duties and relations, is the more grateful, as proceeding from eye
witnesses and observers, from triers of the
vicinage. Of you, then, my neighbors, I
may ask, in the face of the world, "whose ox have I taken, or whom have I
defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or of
whose hand have I received a bribe to blind mine eyes therewith?" On your
verdict I rest with conscious security.
Your wishes for my happiness are received with just sensibility, and I
offer sincere prayers for your own welfare and prosperity.