394 
whom they confide the legiflative duties. It is 
due to the zeal and wifdem of the characters 
thus feleted, who lay the foundation of public 
happinefs in» wholefome laws, the execution of 
* which alone remains for others: and it is due 
‘to the able and faithful auxiliaries, whofe _ 
patriotifm has affociated them. with me in the 
executive functions. 
“© During this courfe of adminiftration, and 
in order to difturb it, the artillery of the Prets 
‘bas been levelled» againft us, charged with 
whatever its licentioufnefs cowld devife or 
dare. Thefe abufes of an inititution fo important 
to freedom and {cience are deeply tobe regret- 
ted, inafmuch as they tend to leffen its uleful- 
nefs and to fap its fatety. They might, per- 
haps, haveibeen corrected by the whoiefome 
punifhments referved to, and provided by, the 
faws of the feveral ftates againtt falfehood and 
defamation ; but public duties “more urgent 
-prefs_on the tyme of public fervants, and the 
offenders have therefore ‘been ieft to find their 
punifhment in the public indignation. > 
‘<Nor was it unintereiting to the world that 
an experiment fhould be fairly and fully made 
whether freedom of: difeuflion, unaided by 
power, is not fufficient for the propagation and 
protection of truth? whether a Government, 
conducting itfelf in the true fpirit of its coafti- 
tution, with zeal and purity, and doing no a& 
which it would be unwilling the whole world 
fhould witnefs, can be written down by falthood 
and defamation? The experiment has been 
tried: You have witneffed the fcene. Our 
fellow-citizens have looked on cool and col- 
lected. They faw the latent fource from which 
thefe outrages proceeded»: Vhey gathered 
around their public functionaries ; and when 
“the conftitution called them to the decifion by 
fuffrage, they pronounced their verdict, ho- 
mourable to thofe who had ferved them, and 
confolatory to the friend of man, who believes 
he may be entrufted with the controul of his 
ewn affairs. : 
‘© No inference is here intended. that the 
laws previded by the States againit falfe and 
defamatory publications fhould not be enforced,’ 
He who has time renders a fervice to the 
public morals and public tranquillity: in res 
forming thefe abufes by the falutary coercions 
of the law. but the experiment is noted to 
prove that, fince truth and reafon Have main- 
tained their ground againft faife epinions in 
deague with falfe fats, the prefs, confined to 
truth, ‘needs no other’ legal reftraint. “Fhe 
public judgment will corre& falfe reajonings 
and opinions; on a ‘full hearing of all paivies, 
~‘énd no other definite Nine can be drawn between 
the ineftimable liberty of the prefs, and its de- 
mnoralizing licentioulnefs, lf there be ftill 
improprietiesy which this rule would not re- 
ftrain, its fupplement mu be fought in the 
eenforihie of publi¢ opinion. —' 
*< Contemplating the union of fentiment now 
manifefted fo generally, as arguing harmony and. 
~happinefs to our future cousfe, 1 offer to our 
country fincere congratulations, With thofe, 
too, not yet rallied to the fame point, the difpo- 
fition to do fo is gaining ftrength. Faéts are 
Picrcing through the veil drawnover them + and 
State of Public Affairs in April, 1805. 
‘fhall proceed 
f May 1, 
our doubting brethren will at length fee that .the 
mafs of their fellow-citizéns, with whom they 
cannot yet refolye to act, as to principles and 
‘meafures, th.nk as they think, and defire what _ 
they defire. - That our with, as well as theirs, 
is that the public efforts may be dire€ted hoe 
nefly to the public good, that peace be culti- 
» 
‘vated, civil and religious liberty unaffailed, 
law and. order prefe‘ved, equality of rights. 
maintained, and that ftate of property, equal 
or unequal, which refults to every man fypm 
his own induftry or that of his fathers. Wher 
fatisfied of thele. views, it is not.in human 
nature that they fhould not approve and fup- 
portthem. In the mean time, let us cherifh: 
them with patient affection. Let us do them 
juitice, and more than juftice, in all competi-~ 
tions of intereft.; and.we need not. doubt that 
truth, reafon, and their own interefts, will at 
length prevail, will gather them into the fold 
of their country, and will complete that entire. 
union of opinion which gives to a nation the 
bleffings of harmony, and the benefit of all its 
firength. my oy 
‘* [ fhail now enter on the duties to which 
my fellow-citizens have again called me, and 
in the {piric of thofe principles 
which they have approved. I fear not thag 
any motives of intereft may lead me aftray 5 
I am fenfible ef no paifion which could feduce 
me knowingly from’ the path of juftice; but 
the weaknefs of human nature, and the limits 
of my own underftanding, will produce errors. 
of judgment fometimes-injurious to. your inte- 
refts, I fhall need, therefore, ali the indule 
gence I have heretofore experienced; the want 
of it certainly will not leffen with increafing 
years. I fhall need, too, the favour of ‘that 
Being in whofe hands we are, who led our fa- 
thers, as Ifrael of old, from. their native lands. 
and planted them in a country flowing with ail — 
tire neceflaries and comforts of life ;’ who-has _ 
covered our infancy with his providence, and 
our riper years with. his wildom,and his power ; ‘ 
and to whole gcodnels I afk you to. join with 
me in fupplivations that he will fo enlighten 
the minds of your fervants, guide their coun- 
cilsy and profper their meafures, that whatfo- 
ever they do fhall refult in your good, and fhall 
fecure to you the peace, friendfhip, and appro= 
bation, of all nations ’” 
WEST INDIES, 
About the middle of February; 2 
French fquadron, with troops on board, 
arrived at’ Martinique, from France, andon 
the 20th invefted'the Ifland of Domine 
On the asft, they teok the town of Rofeau 5; 
the Englifh General Prevoft retiring to 
Fort Rupert, Bot, ina few days aiter- 
wards, having extorted a-ranfom from 
i 
the town, they re-imbarked, and left the 
ifiand. This event has created confider- 
able fenfation in Great Britain, becaule 
it ay 
had been left without naval proteétion, 
One of the French frigates returning ¥ 
with difpatches te Europe was. encoun= 
ppeared that the Welt India Hlands a 
ia 
om 
ae: 
tesedg 
