Address in Commemoration of the Inauguration of George Washington as First President of the United States: Delivered Before the Two Houses of Congress December 11, 1889U.S. Government Printing Office, 1890 - 39 pages |
Common terms and phrases
accommodation action affairs American appointments become Cabinet carried century civil close commended committee common conduct confidence Congress Constitution convention course court created danger desire distribution duty effect effort equally executive exercise exist experience fact faith fear Federal four future given governmental ground growth Hamilton happiness hope House human hundred importance increase independence indulgence institutions interests involved judicial Justice liberty mankind ment millions morality nature necessary never object observance occupy operation opinion opposition party patriotism political popular positions possessed practical present preservation President principles progress promotion prosperity prudence questions realize reason recognize reference remained rendered Representatives Republic result rule sagacity seats secured self-government Senate spirit station success Take Thomas Johnson thought thousand tion tribunal true trust Union United urged vast Washington
Popular passages
Page 15 - I shall not, whilst I have the honor to administer the government, bring a man into any office of consequence knowingly, whose political tenets are adverse to the measures, which the general government are pursuing ; for this, in my opinion, would be a sort of political suicide.
Page 13 - Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things ; diffusing and diversifying, by gentle means, the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing...
Page 22 - Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness.
Page 16 - Let me add that a bill of rights is what the people are entitled to against every government on earth, general or particular, and what no just government should refuse, or rest on inference.
Page 9 - The establishment of our new government seemed to be the last great experiment for promoting human happiness by a reasonable compact in civil society.
Page 10 - Under such a view of the duties inherent to my arduous office, I could not but feel a diffidence in myself on the one hand, and an anxiety for the community, that every new arrangement should be made in the best possible manner, on the other. If, after all my humble but faithful...
Page 18 - In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of government, as of other human institutions ; that experience is the surest standard, by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country ; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion.
Page 11 - There has never been," he says, "a state of atheists. You may travel over the world, and you may find cities without walls, without king, without mint, without theatre or gymnasium; but you will never find a city without God, without prayer, without oracle, without sacrifice. Sooner may a city stand without foundations, than a state without belief in the gods. This is the bond of all society and the pillar of all legislation.
Page 16 - Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people", and that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively or to the people.
Page 18 - Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name...