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Show 432 INAUGURAL AND ll"AREWELL ADDRESSES. that our wish, as woll as theirs, iR, that the public o.fl'orts may be directed honestly to tlte public n·ood, that penre be cultivated, civil and religions liberty una ,. 1tilcd, law nnd order preserved, equality of rights maintained, and that state of property, equal or unequal, which results to every man from his own indu. try or that of his fat her' . '\rhc 11 satisfied of these views, it is not in hu man nntnrc that Llt <'y .. hould uot approve and support them. 1n the mean lim <', let us cherish them with patient affection; let us do th em jtl Lice, and more than justice, iu all competitions of interest-and we need not doubt that truth, rca on, and their own interests, will at length prevail-will gaLhct· them into the fold of their country, and will complete that entire union of opinion which gives to a nation the ulcs ing of harmony, and the benefit of nJI its strength. I shall uow ent er on the duties to which my fellowcitizens have again called me, and shal1 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 jnstice; hu t tbe weaknc ses of human natur , ancl the limi ts of my own under. tanding, will produce errors of judgment omet im es injurious to your interc ts. I shall need, th erefo re, all the indulgence which I have heretofore experienced from my constiLucn ts. 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 fathers, as I sra el of old, from their native land, and planted them in a country fl owing with all the necessaries and comforts of life; who has covered our infancy with his providence, and our riper year with his wisdom and power; and to whose o·ood ncss I a k you to join in supplications with me, that he will , o enlighten the minds of your servants, guide their council s, and prosper their measures, that whatsoever they do shall result in yonr good, and shall INAUGURAl .. AND F AREWELJJ ADDRESSgR. 433 secure to you the peace, friendship, and approbation of all nations. INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF JAMES MADISON, PRESI. DENT OF THE UNITED STATES. At his Fir·st Ter·nt of Office, llfarch 4, 1809. Gentlemen of the Sr.nate, and of the liouse of Repre,·entat,ives: Unwilling to depart from examples of the mo. t revered authority, I avail myself of the occasion now presented, to express the . profound impression made on me, by the call of my country, to the station, to the duties of which I am about to pledge myself, by the most solcmu of san cti ons. So distinguished a mark of confidence, proceeding from the deliberate and tranquil sufl'ragc of a free and virtuous nation, wonld, under any circnmstances, have command ed my gratitude and devotion, as well ns filled me wi th an awful sense of the tr ust to be nssumcd. Under the various circumstances which girc pec uliar solclll ni ty to llle existi ng period, I feel thn.t uotlt the honor and the re ponsibilily allotted to me, are incxprcs. iuly enhanced. The present situation of the worl c1 L, indeed, without a para11el; and that of our cou ntry fu11 of difficulties. 'rhe pressure of these two is the more severely felt, because they have fallen upon us at a moment when national prosperity, being at a height not bcforo attai ned, the contrast resul Ling from this change has been rendered the more stl'iking. Under the bell igu influence of our r pnblican institutions, and the maintenance of peace with all nations, whilst so many of them were engaged in bloody and \vastefnl wars, the fmits of a jnst policy were enjoyed in an unrivaled growth of our faculties and reso urces. Proofs of this were seen in the improvements of agriculture; in the successful enterprises of commerce; in the progress of manufactures and useful arts ; in the increase of the public revenue, and 28 |
