APPENDIX,

CONTAINING

I. John Jay's Letter to Richard Peters on Washington's Farewell Address.

II. The Evidence published by James A. Bayard's sons in refutation of Mr. Jefferson's calumny.

III. Mr. Walsh on French Conscription:-Extract from his Work.

APPENDIX.

WASHINGTON'S VALEDICTORY.

LETTER FROM THE HON. JOHN JAY TO THE HON. RICHARD PETERS.

(Referred to in Letter XXI.)

(COPY.)

Bedford, March 29th, 1811.

DEAR SIR, I have received your letter of the 14th ult., and also the book on Plaster of Paris, which you was so obliging as to send me, and for which accept my thanks.

Your letter conveyed to me the first and only information I have received, that a copy of President Washington's Valedictory Address, has been found among the papers of General Hamilton, and in his handwriting; and that a certain gentleman had also a copy of it, in the same hand-writing.

This intelligence is unpleasant and unexpected. Had the address been one of those official papers, which, in the course of affairs, the Secretary of the proper department might have prepared, and the President have signed, these facts would have been unimportant; but it was a personal act, of choice, not of official duty, and it was so connected with other obvious considerations, as that he only could with propriety write it. In my opinion, President Washington must have been sensible of this propriety, and therefore strong evidence would be necessary to make me believe that he violated it. Whether he did or did not, is a question which naturally directs our attention to whatever affords presumptive evidence respecting it, and leads the mind into a long train of correspondent reflections. I will give you a summary of those which have occurred to me; not because I think them necessary to settle the point in question, for the sequel will show that they are not, but because the occasion invites me to take the pleasure of reviewing and bearing testimony to the merits of my departed friend.

It is to be presumed from these facts, that General Hamilton was the real, and the President only the reputed author of that address. Although they countenance such a presumption, yet I think its foundation will be found too slight and shallow, to resist that strong and full stream of counter evidence, which flows from the conduct and character of that great man; a character not blown up into transient splendor by the breath of adulation, but which, being composed of his great and memorable deeds, stands, and will forever stand, a glorious monument of human excellence.

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So prone, however, is poor human nature" to dislike and depreciate the superiority of its cotemporaries, that when these facts come to be generally known, (and generally known they will be,) many, with affected regret and hesitation, will infer and hint that Washington had less greatness of talent, and less greatness of mind, than his friends and admirers ascribed to him. Nor will the number of those be few, who, from personal or party inducements, will artfully encourage, and diligently endeavor to give currency to such imputations. On the other hand, there are men of candor and judgment, (and time will increase their number,) who, aiming only at truth, will cheerfully trace and follow its footsteps, and, on finding, will gladly embrace it. Urged by this laudable motive, they will attentively examine the history of his life; and in it they will meet with such numerous proofs of his knowledge and experience of men and things in general, and of our national affairs in particular, as to silence all doubts of his ability to conceive and express every idea in that address. A careful perusal of that history will convince them that the principles of policy which it recommends, as rules for the conduct of others, are precisely those by which he regulated his own.

There have been in the world but two systems or schools of policy; the one founded on the great principles of wisdom and rectitude, the other on cunning and its various artifices. To the first of these belonged Washington, and all the other worthies of every country who ascended to the Temple of Honor through the Temple of Virtue. The doctrines, maxims and precepts of this school have been explained and inculcated by the ablest writers, ancient and modern. In all civilized countries they are known, though often neglected; and in free states have always been publicly commended and taught; they crossed the Atlantic with our forefathers, and in our days particularly, have not only engaged the time and attention of students, but have been constantly and eloquently displayed by able men in our senates and assemblies. What reason can there be to suppose that Washington did not understand those subjects? If it be asked, what these subjects comprehend or relate to, the answer is this, they relate to

the nature and duties of man, to his propensities and passions, his virtues and vices, his habits and prejudices, his real and relative wants and enjoyments, his capacities for social and national happiness, and the means by which, according to time, place, and other existing circumstances, it is in a greater or less degree, to be procured, preserved, and increased. From a profound investigation of these subjects, enlightened by experience, result all that knowledge, and those maxims and precepts of sound policy, which enable legislators and rulers to manage and govern public affairs wisely and justly.

By what other means than the practical use of this knowledge, could Washington have been able to lead and govern an army hastily collected from various parts, and who brought with them to the field, all the license and all the habits which they had indulged at home? Could he, by the force of orders and proclamations, have constrained them to render to him that obedience, confidence, and warm attachment which he so soon acquired, and which, throughout all vicissitudes and distresses, continued constant and undiminished to the last? By what other means, could he have been able to frustrate the designs of dark cabals, and the unceasing intrigues of envious competitors, and the arts of the opposing enemy? By what other means could he have been able, in so masterly a manner, to meet and manage all those perplexing embarrassments, which the revolutionary substi tution of a new government,-which the want of that power in Congress which they had not, and of that promptitude which no deliberative body can have,-which the frequent destitution and constant uncertainty of essential supplies,-which the incompetency of individuals on whom much depended, the perfidy of others, and the mismanagement of many, could not fail to engender? We know, and history will inform posterity, that, from the first of his military career, he had to meet and encounter, and surmount, a rapid succession of formidable difficulties, even down to the time when his country was enabled, by the success of their arms, to obtain the honorable peace which terminated the war. His high and appointed course being then finished, he disdained the intimations of lawless ambition to prolong it. He disbanded the army under circumstances which required no common degree of policy or virtue; and with universal admiration and plaudits, descended, joyfully and serenely, into the shades of retirement. They who ascribe all this to the guidance and protection of Providence, do well; but let them recollect, that Providence seldom interposes in human affairs, but through the agency of human

means.

When at a subsequent and alarming period, the nation found that their affairs had gone into confusion, and that clouds portending dan