In  offering  to  you,  my  countrymen,  these
counsels  of  an  old  and  affectionate  friend,
I  dare  not  hope  they  will  make  the  strong
and  lasting  impression  I  could  wish  ;  that
they  will  control  the  usual  current  of  the
passions,  or  prevent  our  nation  from  run
ning  the  course  wt  ich  has  hitherto  marked
the  destiny  of  nations ;  but  if  I  may  even
flatter  myself  that  they  may  be  productive
of  some  partial  benefit,  some  occasional
good ;  that  they  may  now  and  then  recur
to  moderate  the  fury  of  party  spirit,  to
warn  against  the  mischiefs  of  foreign  in
trigues,  to  guard  against  the  impostures  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  princi
ples  which  have  been  delineated,  the  pub
lic  records,  and  other  evidences  of  my  con
duct,  must  witness  to  you  and  the  world.
To  myself,  the  assurance  of  my  own  con
science  is,  that  I  have  at  least  believed  my
self  to  be  guided  by  them.
In  relation  to  the  still  subsisting  war  in
Europe,  my  proclamation  of  the  23d  of
April,  1793,  is  the  index  to  my  plan.
Sanctioned  by  your  approving  voice,  and
by  that  of  your  representatives  in  both
Houses  of  Congress,  the  spirit  of  that
measure  has  continually  governed  me,  un
influenced  by  any  attempts  to  deter  or  di
vert  me  from  it.
