ultimate term, and what will be their issue, time alone will disclose. But be that what it may, a recollection of our former vassalage in religion and civil government will unite the zeal of every heart, and the energy of every hand, to preserve that independence in both, which, under the favor of heaven, a disinterested devotion to the public cause first achieved, and a disinterested sacrifice of private interests will now maintain.

I am happy in your approbation of my reasons for determining to retire from a station in which the favor of my fellow citizens has so long continued and supported me; and I return your kind prayers by supplications to the same Almighty being for your future welfare, and that of our beloved country.

TO THE GENERAL MEETING OF CORRESPONDENCE OF THE SIX BAPTIST ASSOCIATIONS REPRESENTED AT CHESTERFIELD, VIRGINIA.

November 21, 1808.

Thank you, fellow citizens, for your affectionate address, and I receive with satisfaction your approbation of my motives for retirement. In reviewing the history of the times through which we have past, no portion of it gives greater satisfaction, on reflection, than that which presents the efforts of the friends of religious freedom, and the success with which they were crowned. We have solved by fair experiment, the great and interesting question whether freedom of religion is compatible with order in government, and obedience to the laws. And we have experienced the quiet as well as the comfort which results from leaving every one to profess freely and openly those principles of religion which are the inductions of his own reason, and the serious convictions of his own inquiries.

It is a source of great contentment to me to learn that the measures which have been pursued in the administration of your affairs have met your approbation. Too often we have had but a choice among difficulties; and this situation characterizes remarkably the present moment. But, fellow citizens, if we are faithful to our country, if we acquiesce, with good will, in the

decisions of the majority, and the nation moves in mass in the same direction, although it may not be that which every individual thinks best, we have nothing to fear from any quarter.

I thank you sincerely for your kind wishes for my welfare, and with equal sincerity implore the favor of a protecting Providence for yourselves.

TO TABER FITCH, ESQ., CHAIRMAN.

WASHINGTON, November 21, 1808. SIR,—I have received with great pleasure the address of the republicans of the State of Connecticut, and am particularly sensible of the kindness with which they have viewed my conduct in the direction of their affairs. Having myself highly approved the example of an illustrious predecessor, in voluntarily retiring from a trust, which, if too long continued in the same hands, might become a subject of reasonable uneasiness and apprehension, I could not mistake my own duty when placed in a similar situation.

Our experience so far, has satisfactorily manifested the competence of a republican government to maintain and promote the best interests of its citizens; and every future year, I doubt not, will contribute to settle a question on which reason, and a knowledge of the character and circumstances of our fellow citizens, could never admit a doubt, and much less condemn them as fit subjects to be consigned to the dominion of wealth and force. Although under the pressure of serious evils at this moment, the governments of the other hemisphere cannot boast a more favorable situation. We certainly do not wish to exchange our difficulties for the sanguinary distresses of our fellow men beyond the water. In a state of the world unparalleled in times past, and never again to be expected, according to human probabilities, no form of government has, so far, better shielded its citizens from the prevailing afflictions. By withdrawing awhile from the ocean we have suffered some loss; but we have gathered home our immense capital. Exposed to foreign depredation, we

have saved our seamen from the jails of Europe, and gained time to prepare for the defence of our country. The questions of submission, of war, or embargo, are now before our country as unembarrassed as at first. Submission and tribute, if that be our choice, will be no baser now than at the date of the embargo. But if, as I trust, that idea be spurned, we may now decide on the other alternatives of war and embargo, with the advantage of possessing all the means which have been rescued from the grasp of capture. These advantages certainly justify the approbation of the embargo declared in your address, and I have no doubt will ensure that of every candid citizen, who will correctly trace the consequences of any other course.

I thank you for the kind concern you are pleased to express for my future happiness, and offer my sincere prayers for your welfare and prosperity.

TO THE YOUNG REPUBLICANS OF PITTSBURG AND ITS VICINITIES. December 2, 1808.

The sentiments which you express in your address of October 27th, of attachment to the rights of your country, of your determination to support them with your lives and fortunes, and of disregard of the inconveniences which must be encountered in resisting insult and aggression, are honorable to yourselves, and encouraging to your country. They are particularly solacing to those who, having labored faithfully in establishing the right of self-government, see in the rising generation, into whose hands it is passing, that purity of principle, and energy of character, which will protect and preserve it through their day, and deliver it over to their sons as they receive it from their fathers. The measure of a temporary suspension of commerce was adopted to cover us from greater evils. It has rescued from capture an important capital, and our seamen from the jails of Europe. It has given time to prepare for defence, and has shown to the aggressors of Europe that evil, as well as good actions, recoil on the doers. If these evils have involved our inoffending neigh

bors also, towards whom we have not a sentiment but of friendship and useful intercourse, it results from that state of violence by which the interests of the American hemisphere are directed to the objects of Europe. Endowed by nature with a system of interests and connections of its own, it is drawn from these by the unnatural bonds which enchain its different parts to the conflicting interests and fortunes of another world, and render its inhabitants strangers and enemies, to their neighbors and mutual friends.

Believing that the happiness of mankind is best promoted by the useful pursuits of peace, that on these alone a stable prosperity can be founded, that the evils of war are great in their endurance, and have a long reckoning for ages to come, I have used my best endeavors to keep our country uncommitted in the troubles which afflict Europe, and which assail us on every side. Whether this can be done longer, is to be doubted. I am happy that so far my conduct meets the approbation of my fellow citizens. It is the highest reward I can receive for my endeavors to serve them; and I am particularly thankful to yourselves for the kind expressions of esteem and confidence, and tender my best wishes for your personal happiness and prosperity.

TO THE SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH AT

PITTSBURG,

PENNSYLVANIA.

WASHINGTON, December 9, 1808.

I am much indebted, fellow citizens, for your friendly address of November 20th, and gratified by its expressions of personal regard to myself. Having ever been an advocate for the freedom of religious opinion and exercise, from no person, certainly, was an abridgment of these sacred rights to be apprehended less than from myself.

In justice, too, to our excellent constitution, it ought to be observed, that it has not placed our religious rights under the power of any public functionary. The power, therefore, was wanting, not less than the will, to injure these rights.

The times in which we live, fellow citizens, are indeed times. of trouble, such as no age has yet seen, or perhaps will ever see again. To avoid their calamitous influence, has been our duty and endeavor, and to effect it, great sacrifices of our citizens have been necessary. They have seen that these necessities were forced by the wrongs of others, and they have met them with the zeal which the crisis called for. What course we are finally to take, cannot yet be foreseen; but reading, reflecting, and examining for yourselves, you will find your public functionaries, according to the best of their judgments, directing your affairs, without passion or partiality, with a single view to your rights and best interests. And it is the approbation of those who so read, reflect, and examine for themselves, which is so truly consoling to the persons charged with the guidance of your allairs. For that portion of your approbation which you are pleased to bestow on my conduct, I am truly thankful, and I offer my sincere prayers for your welfare, and a happy issue of our country from the difficulties impending over it.

TO THE ELECTORS OF THE COUNTY OF ONTARIO, IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK.

December 13, 1808.

The wrongs which we have sustained, fellow citizens, from the belligerent powers of Europe, and of which you have taken so just a view in your address, received by me on the 27th of the last month, could not fail to excite in the bosoms of freemen the sentiments of high indignation expressed by you. The love of peace had long induced us to bear with these aggressions, and the hope of a return to a spirit of justice had encouraged us to persevere in endeavors at amicable adjustment. Their outrages, however, have at length forced us to suspend all intercourse with them, to gather home our resources, and to prepare for whatever may happen. Your approbation of these measures is gratifying to your public functionaries, and the readiness you express to encounter the privations and sacrifices which these aggressions