I 8 o ability to do the work of their today and to solve the problem of their tomorrow. Perhaps it would not be fair to ask more or to expect that they would calmly wait for the vindication and the triumph that they knew the future was to bring them. I' SIMPLICITY T was a long-accepted tradition that on the fourth of On the Way the United States, rode on horseback to the unfinished capitol, made fast his horse at a paling fence, and unattended entered the building to take the oath of office. The truth is that Jefferson, who was staying at Conrad's boarding-house As Jefferson mounted the ing the seat at his right hand. On his Thomas Jefferson In the Senate Friends & fellow citizens 1. Called upon to undertake the duties of the first Executive office of our counting To scolate I avail myself of the presence of that portion of my fellow citizens which there arsonble to express my gutiful thanks for the favor with which they have been pleased to look tovertime. to declare a sincere consciousness that the task is above Talents, & that I approach A Wherra contiments which the greatness of the charge the weakness of my powers so justly inspire. & awful pre. a rising ration spread over a inde & fruitful land, traversing all the seas with the rich proinctions of their induston, senpaped in commence with notraw he feel parsiun Stjorget right, | advancing rapidly, to destinies beyond the reach of mortal eye; of mortal eye; her I contemntals Phase transcondent d'injects & see the honour, the happiness, "I the hopes of this beloved county, commitler' Ito the issue & the auspices of this day I shrink from the contemplation, It has be refore the magnitude of the undertaking. witterly indeed should I despair, did not the of many, whom I here see remind me that in the other high authon les provided in our constitution I shall find resources of insdom, of virtue, & of zenat, on which to vele, difficulties. to you then, gentlemen, who are charged with the sovereign function of legis stion, & to those associated with on, I look with encouragement for that quedare & support enable us to steer with safety the in which we are all embarked, amidst onflicting elements of a troubled world. During the contest of opinion 1 wheeh the con may common vefsel in through which we have past, the animation of discussions & of exestions has sometimes worn an aspect which might impose on strangers unused to think freely & to speak. & to write what they think. but this being now dresded the voice of the nation, enounced according to in the rules of the constitution course arrange themselves under the will of the law, &'unite in common afrosts for the" alf too will bear in mind the sacred forme role that the the wall of the mainly is in ithrases to prevent good. Kisel majonty too valt kespormone thas the there to po , that with, to be rightful must be reasonable, that the minority, possess their equal rights, which equal laws must protect, & to violate would be oppression cet u than bellow citizens, unite with one hear. If one mind, let us restore to social intercourse that harmong & affection without which liber, & even life itself, are but dreary things, and tusreflect Hot land that religious intolereme wiser which markens so long bles I sufferes haining banished from. we have you gained witte if FIRST PAGE OF JEFFERSON'S INAUGURAL ADDRESS "looked up at three men who profoundly disliked and 1 8 0 1 distrusted each other." John Adams and Speaker Sedgwick were conspicuously absent. After a short pause, the president-elect arose and delivered his inaugural address. . Address The manner of delivery of the inaugural was not much The admired, but the speech itself was such that, excepting Inaugural those delivered by Lincoln, it remains the most famous of all such addresses. Jefferson's immediate task was to set forth his political principles and to allay the apprehensions of the country. "Let us," said he, "unite with one heart & one mind; let us restore to social intercourse that harmony & affection, without which Liberty, & even Life itself, are but dreary things. We are all republicans: we are all federalists." He declared that the fear that a republican government cannot be strong was without foundation. "I believe this, on the contrary, the strongest government on earth. I believe that it is the only one whose every man, at the call of the law, would fly to the standard of the law; would meet invasions of public order, as his own personal concern. Sometimes it is said that Man cannot be trusted with the government of himself. Can he then be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let History answer this question." He then enumerated the manifold advantages that America enjoyed and asked: "With all these blessings, what more is necessary to make us a happy and a prosperous people? Still one thing more, fellow citizens, a wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry & improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government, & this is necessary to close the circle of our felicities." He then defined the essential principles upon which such a government must be conducted, “stating the general principle, but not all its limitations. Equal & exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political: Peace, commerce, & honest friend 1 8 0 1 ship 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 anti republican tendencies: The preservation of the General government, in its whole constitutional vigor, as the sheet anchor of our peace at home & safety abroad. A jealous care of the right of election by the people, a mild & safe corrective of abuses which are lopped by the sword of revolution, where peaceful remedies are unprovided. Absolute acquiescence in the decisions of the Majority, the vital principle of republics, from which is no appeal but to force, the vital principle & immediate parent of despotism. A well disciplined militia, our best reliance in peace, & 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 burthened: the honest paiment of our debts and sacred preservation of the public faith: Encouragement of Agriculture, & of Commerce as it's handmaid: The diffusion of information, & arraignment of all abuses at the bar of the public reason: Freedom of Religion, freedom of the press, & 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, & guided our steps through an age of Revolution and Reformation: The wisdom of our Sages & 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 alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to Peace, Liberty & Safety." A Great Speech The address was not the radical pronouncement that many had expected from him who had been denounced "as a fanatic, a visionary, a semi-maniac, a foe to commerce and public credit, a mobocrat who sought to put |