Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16) — John Shaqi
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16)United States. Congress
History
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 2 (of 16)
United States. Congress
Law -- United States; United States -- Politics and government
The gratitude and admiration of your countrymen are still
drawn to the recollection of those resplendent virtues and
talents which were so eminently instrumental to the
achievement of the Revolution, and of which that glorious
event will ever be the memorial. Your obedience to the
voice of duty and your country, when you quitted
reluctantly a second time the retreat you had chosen, and
first accepted the Presidency, afforded a new proof of the
devotedness of your zeal in its service, and an earnest of
the patriotism and success which have characterized your
Administration. As the grateful confidence of the citizens
in the virtues of their Chief Magistrate has essentially
contributed to that success, we persuade ourselves that the
millions whom we represent participate with us in the
anxious solicitude of the present occasion.
Yet we cannot be unmindful that your moderation and
magnanimity, twice displayed by retiring from your exalted
stations, afford examples no less rare and instructive to
mankind than valuable to a Republic.
Although we are sensible that this event, of itself,
completes the lustre of a character already conspicuously
unrivalled by the coincidence of virtue, talents, success,
and public estimation, yet we conceive that we owe it to
you, sir, and still more emphatically to ourselves and to
our nation (of the language of whose hearts we presume to
think ourselves at this moment the faithful interpreters)
to express the sentiments with which it is contemplated.
The spectacle of a whole nation, the freest and most
enlightened in the world, offering by its Representatives
the tribute of unfeigned approbation to its first citizen,
however novel and interesting it may be, derives all its
lustre--a lustre which accident or enthusiasm could not
bestow, and which adulation would tarnish--from the
transcendent merit of which it is the voluntary testimony.
May you long enjoy that liberty which is so dear to you,
and to which your name will ever be so dear. May your own
virtues and a nation's prayers obtain the happiest sunshine
for the decline of your days and the choicest of future
blessings. For your country's sake--for the sake of
Republican liberty--it is our earnest wish that your
example may be the guide of your successors; and thus,
after being the ornament and safeguard of the present age,
become the patrimony of our descendants.
Mr. VENABLE observed, on a paragraph wherein it speaks of the
"tranquillity of the interior frontier," he did not know what was the
meaning of the expression: he moved to insert "Western frontier" in its
stead.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account