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Show 452 INAUGURAL AND FAREvYELL ADDRESSES. gaged in frequent controversie8, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concern~. lienee, therefore, it must be unwise in ns to implicate oursrlves, by artificial tics, in the ordinnry vicissitudes of politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her fl'icndships or enmities. Our detached and dL tant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we r main one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injnry from external annoyance; when we may take snch an attitude as will en use the neutrality wo mny at any time resolve upon, to be scrupulonsly respected; when bc11igerent uations, under the impos ibility of making ncqui itions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation ; when we may choo c peace or war, as our inter ~t, guided by jnstice, shall cou nscl. Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit onr own to stand upon foreign ground ? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any patt of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toiL of Eul'opcnn ambition, rival hip, interest, hnmor·, or caprice? It is ont· true policy to :tccr cl(•ar of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world ; so far, I mean, a.s we arc now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is alwayR the Lest policy. I repent it, therefore, let those erJO'ngcmcnts be observed in their genuine sense. But in my opinion, it is unneccs, ary, and would be un wi e, to extend them. Taking r.are always to keep ourselves, by suitahle establishment., in a r . pectahle defcnsi vc postnre, we ma.y safely trust to t mpornry alliaHCCR for extraordinary emergencies. Hnrrnony, and a liberal intc'rcom·se with nil nations, nre recomm ncl 'd by policy, humanity, and interc~t. Bnt e\'Cn our commercial policy should hold an equal and impnrtial INAUGURAL AND FAREWELL ADDRESSES. 453 hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors 01 preferences; consulting the natural course of thinrrs ; diffu::; iug and diversifying, hy gentle mean., the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; C.'Labli.'hing, with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a table conn; , to d •fine the rights of our merchants, and to enable the go vernnH·n t to support them, conventional rules of in terco urse, the b<:st that present circumstances uml mutual opinions will pcr111it., hut tempornry, and liable to be, from time to time, abandoneu or varied, as experience an<.l cit·cumslan ces shall di ctttte; cons tautly keeping in view, that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from an other; tllat it must pay, with a portion of'its inclepenc.len ce, for whutev ' t' it may accept under that charo.cter; that by such acceptan<·e it may plucc itself in the condition of having giveu equivalents for nominal favor , unu yet of being reproached with iugmtituue for not giving more. There can ue no greater cnor than to expect, or calculate upon, real favors, from nation to nation. It is an illusion which experience must cure, which o. ju 't pride ought to discard. In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsel of an olu and affectionate friend, I da.t·e not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish ; that th 'Y will control the usual current of the pnssions, or pr·eveut ou1• nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations; but if I may even Hatter myself that they may be producti vc of some partial benefit, somo occa ional good ; that they may now and then recur to moderato the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigues, to guard against the impo - tures of pretended patriotism ; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare by which they have been dictated. How far, in the discharge of my official duties, I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, |