SPEECH 



OF 



THOMAS JEFFERSON, 



^rc;si(^ent c f the United States, 



DELIVERED 



AT HIS INSTALMENT, MARCH 4, ItOl, AT THE 

 CITY OF '.VASillNGTON. 



Friends and Felloiu- Citizens, 

 Called iii)on to undertake the duties of the first ex- 

 ecutive office of our country, I avail myj-elf of the pre- 

 sence of that portion of my fellow-citizens, uliich is 

 here assernhied, to express uiy gratefid thanks, for the 

 favour with which they have been pleased to look to- 

 wards me ; to declare a sincere consciousness, that the 

 task is above my talents, and that I approach it wiih 

 those anxions and awfid presentiments, vvliich the 

 greatness of the charge, and the weakness of my pow- 

 ers, so justly insi)ire. A rising nation, spread over a 

 wide and fruitful land — traversing all the ser^s with the 

 rich productions of their industry — engaged in coiu- 

 mercc with nations who feel power and forget right — 

 advancing rapidly to destinies beyond the reach of mor- 

 tal eye — when T contemplate these transcendent ob- 

 jects, and see the honour, the happiness, and the hopes 

 of this beloved country, committed to the issue and the 

 ausj)ice3 of this day, I shrink from the contomplatiou, 

 and humble myself before the magnitude of the under 



