“I ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choices”
Let us，then，with courage and confidence，pursue our own federal and republican principles，our attachment to union and representative government.
Kindly separated by nature and a wide ocean from the exterminating havoc of one quarter of the globe : too high－minded to endure the degradation of the others，possessing a chosen country，with room enough for our descendants to the thousandth and thousandth generation，entertaining a due sense of our equal right to the use of our own faculties，to the acquisition of our own industry，to honor and confidence from our fellow citizens，resulting not from birth but from our actions and their sense of them，enlightened by a benign religion，professed in deed and practised in various forms，yet all of them inculcating honesty，truth，temperance，gratitude，and the love of man，acknowledging and adoring an overruling Providence，which，by all its dispensations，proves that it delights in the happiness of man here，and his greater happiness hereafter―with all these blessings，what more is necessary to make us a happy and prosperous people？
Still one thing more，fellow citizens，a wise and frugal government，which shall restrain men from injuring one another，shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement，and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.
This is the sum of good government:and this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities.
About to enter，fellow citizens，upon the exercise of duties which comprehend everything dear and valuable to you，it is proper you should understand what I deem the essential principles of our government and，consequently，those which ought to shape its administration.
I will compress them within the narrowest compass they will bear，stating the general principle，but not all its limitations.
Equal and exact justice to all men，of whatever state or persuasion，religious or political : peace，commerce，and honest friendship with all nations，entangling alliances with none : the support of the state governments in all their rights，as the most competent administrations for our domestic concerns，and the surest bulwarks against antirepublican tendencies : the preservation of the general government in its whole constitutional vigor，as the sheet anchor of our peace at home and safety abroad : a jealous care of the right of election by the people，a mild and safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution where peaceable remedies are unprovided : absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the majority，the vital principle of republics，from which there is no appeal but to force，the vital principle and immediate parent of despotism : a well－disciplined militia，our best reliance in peace，and for the first moments of war，till regulars may relieve them : the supremacy of the civil over the military authority : economy in the public expense，that labor may be lightly burdened : the honest payment of our debts，and sacred preservation of the public faith : encouragement of agriculture，and of commerce as its handmaid : the diffusion of information，and arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason:freedom of religion，freedom of the press，and freedom of person，under the protection of the habeas corpus，and trial by juries impartially selected.
These principles form the bright constellation，which has gone before us，and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation.
The wisdom of our sages，and blood of our heroes，have been devoted to their attainment : they should be the creed of our political faith，the text of civic instruction，the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust:and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm，let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace，liberty，and safety.
I repair，then，fellow citizens，to the post you have assigned me.
With experience enough in subordinate offices to have seen the difficulties of this，the greatest of all，I have learned to expect that it will rarely fall to the lot of imperfect man，to retire from this station with the reputation and the favor which bring him into it.
Without pretensions to that high confidence you reposed in our first and greatest revolutionary character，whose preeminent services had entitled him to the first place in his country's love，and destined for him the fairest page of the volume of faithful history，I ask so much confidence only as may give firmness and effect to the legal administration of your affairs.
I shall often go wrong through defect of judgment.
When right，I shall often be thought wrong by those whose positions will not command a view of the whole ground.
I ask your indulgence for my own errors，which will never be intentional : and your support against the errors of others，who may condemn what they would not，if seen in all its parts.
The approbation implied by your suffrage is a great consolation to me for the past : and my future solicitude will be to retain the good opinion of those who have bestowed it in advance，to conciliate that of others，by doing them all the good in my power，and to be instrumental to the happiness and freedom of all.
Relying，then，on the patronage of your good will，I advance with obedience to the work，ready to retire from it whenever you become sensible how much better choices it is in your power to make.
And may that infinite power which rules the destinies of the universe lead our councils to what is best，and give them a favorable issue for your peace and prosperity.
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