作者簡介
喬治·華盛頓喬治·華盛頓
中文名：喬治·華盛頓
外文名：George Washington
國籍：美國
出生地：維吉尼亞州威斯特摩蘭縣
出生日期：1732年2月22日
逝世日期：1799年12月14日
職業：政治家，軍事家
信仰：美國聖公會
主要成就：領導美國獨立，主持制憲會議。
身高：187cm
喬治·華盛頓是美國首任總統（1789～1797年），美國獨立戰爭大陸軍總司令。1789年，當選為美國第一任總統，1793年連任，在兩屆任期結束後，他自願放棄權力不再續任，隱退於弗農山莊園。華盛頓被尊稱為美國國父，學者們則將他和亞伯拉罕·林肯並列為美國歷史上最偉大的總統。
英文原稿
Washington's Farewell Address 1796
Friends and Citizens:
The period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the United States being not far distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those out of whom a choice is to be made.
I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both.
The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to which your suffrages have twice called me have been a uniform sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty and to a deference for what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea.
I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the sentiment of duty or propriety, and am persuaded, whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire.
The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will only say that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the organization and administration of the government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious in the outset of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of years admonishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were temporary, I have the consolation to believe that, while choice and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it.
In looking forward to the moment which is intended to terminate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not unfrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete by so careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing as will acquire to them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it.
Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar occasion.
Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the attachment.
The unity of government which constitutes you one people is also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in the edifice of your real independence, the support of your tranquility at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee that, from different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many artifices employed to weaken in your minds the conviction of this truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate the immense value of your national union to your collective and individual happiness; that you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it as of the palladium of your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together the various parts.
For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appellation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes.
But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole.
The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South, protected by the equal laws of a common government, finds in the productions of the latter great additional resources of maritime and commercial enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the seamen of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes, in different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, to which itself is unequally adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communications by land and water, will more and more find a valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. The West derives from the East supplies requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets for its own productions to the weight, influence, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as one nation. Any other tenure by which the West can hold this essential advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be intrinsically precarious.
While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of inestimable value, they must derive from union an exemption from those broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries not tied together by the same governments, which their own rival ships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this sense it is that your union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the other.
These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper organization of the whole with the auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to union, affecting all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken its bands.
In contemplating the causes which may disturb our Union, it occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical discriminations, Northern and Southern, Atlantic and Western; whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heartburnings which spring from these misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our Western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the United States, a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests in regard to the Mississippi; they have been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them everything they could desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of these advantages on the Union by which they were procured ? Will they not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever them from their brethren and connect them with aliens?
To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a government for the whole is indispensable. No alliance, however strict, between the parts can be an adequate substitute; they must inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first essay, by the adoption of a constitution of government better calculated than your former for an intimate union, and for the efficacious management of your common concerns. This government, the offspring of our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government. But theConstitutionwhich at any time exists, till changed by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the people to establish government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the established government.
All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests.
However combinations or associations of the above description may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely, in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion.
Towards the preservation of your government, and the permanency of your present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily discountenance irregular oppositions to its acknowledged authority, but also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its principles, however specious the pretexts. One method of assault may be to effect, in the forms of theConstitution, alterations which will impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true character of governments as of other human institutions; that experience is the surest standard by which to test the real tendency of the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, especially, that for the efficient management of your common interests, in a country so extensive as ours, a government of as much vigor as is consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little else than a name, where the government is too feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to confine each member of the society within the limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property.
I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally.
This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from our nature, having its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy.
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it.
It serves always to distract the public councils and enfeeble the public administration. It agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door to foreign influence and corruption, which finds a facilitated access to the government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will of another.
There is an opinion that parties in free countries are useful checks upon the administration of the government and serve to keep alive the spirit of liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in governments of a monarchical cast, patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of the popular character, in governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And there being constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be by force of public opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of warming, it should consume.
It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country should inspire caution in those entrusted with its administration, to confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of this position. The necessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and distributing it into different depositaries, and constituting each the guardian of the public weal against invasions by the others, has been evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which theConstitutiondesignates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for though this, in one instance, may be the instrument of good, it is the customary weapon by which free governments are destroyed. The precedent must always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient benefit, which the use can at any time yield.
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less force to every species of free government. Who that is a sincere friend to it can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fabric?
Promote then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.
As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it, avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of expense, but by vigorous exertion in time of peace to discharge the debts which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posterity the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is necessary that public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should practically bear in mind that towards the payment of debts there must be revenue; that to have revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from the selection of the proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any time dictate.
Observe good faith and justice towards all nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all. Religion and morality enjoin this conduct; and can it be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it - It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and at no distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt that, in the course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity of a nation with its virtue ? The experiment, at least, is recommended by every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered impossible by its vices?
In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular nations, and passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be cultivated. The nation which indulges towards another a habitual hatred or a habitual fondness is in some degree a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence, frequent collisions, obstinate, envenomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompted by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the government, contrary to the best calculations of policy. The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject; at other times it makes the animosity of the nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the liberty, of nations, has been the victim.
So likewise, a passionate attachment of one nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the latter without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to concessions to the favorite nation of privileges denied to others which is apt doubly to injure the nation making the concessions; by unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained, and by exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the favorite nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, with the appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation.
As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to influence or awe the public councils. Such an attachment of a small or weak towards a great and powerful nation dooms the former to be the satellite of the latter.
Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to believe me, fellow-citizens) the jealousy of a free people ought to be constantly awake, since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one of the most baneful foes of republican government. But that jealousy to be useful must be impartial; else it becomes the instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign nation and excessive dislike of another cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the other. Real patriots who may resist the intrigues of the favorite are liable to become suspected and odious, while its tools and dupes usurp the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests.
The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is in extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little political connection as possible. So far as we have already formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us stop. Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none; or a very remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities.
Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a different course. If we remain one people under an efficient government. the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall counsel.
Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor or caprice?
It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be unwise to extend them.
Taking care always to keep ourselves by suitable establishments on a respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary alliances for extraordinary emergencies.
Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing (with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to enable the government to support them) conventional rules of intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an illusion, which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to discard.
In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our nation from running the course which has hitherto marked the destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself that they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated.
How far in the discharge of my official duties I have been guided by the principles which have been delineated, the public records and other evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed myself to be guided by them.
In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my proclamation of the twenty-second of April, I793, is the index of my plan. Sanctioned by your approving voice, and by that of your representatives in both houses of Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me, uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it.
After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with moderation, perseverance, and firmness.
The considerations which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe that, according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from being denied by any of the belligerent powers, has been virtually admitted by all.
The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and amity towards other nations.
The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be referred to your own reflections and experience. With me a predominant motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption to that degree of strength and consistency which is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes.
Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope that my country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and that, after forty five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of rest.
Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man who views in it the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat in which I promise myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under a free government, the ever-favorite object of my heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers.
Geo. Washington.
中文翻譯
“在導致昌明政治的各種精神意識和風俗習慣中，宗教和道德是不可缺少的支柱。政治家應當同虔誠的人一樣，尊敬和愛護宗教與道德。如果宗教責任感不存在於法院賴以調查事件的宣誓中，那么,哪能談得上財產、名譽和生命的安全呢?我們不可幻想以為道德可不靠宗教而維持下去。”
各位朋友和同胞：
我們重新選舉一位公民來主持美國政府的行政工作，已為期不遠。此時此刻，大家必須運用思想來考慮這一重任付託給誰。因此，我覺得我現在應當向大家聲明，尤其因為這樣做有助於使公眾意見獲得更為明確的表達，那就是我已下定決心，謝絕將我列為候選人。
華盛頓榮登《時代周刊》封面人物（1953年）關於我最初負起這個艱巨職責時的感想，我已經在適當的場合說過了。現在辭掉這一職責時，我要說的僅僅是，我已誠心誠意地為這個政府的組織和行政，貢獻了我這個判斷力不足的人的最大力量。就任之初，我並非不知我的能力薄弱，而且我自己的經歷更使我缺乏自信，這在別人看來，恐怕更是如此。年事日增，使我越來越認為，退休是必要的，而且是會受歡迎的。我確信，如果有任何情況促使我的服務具有特別價值，那種情況也只是暫時的；所以我相信，按照我的選擇並經慎重考慮，我應當退出政壇，而且，愛國心也容許我這樣做，這是我引以為慰的。
講到這裡，我似乎應當結束講話。但我對你們幸福的關切，雖於九泉之下也難以割捨。由於關切，自然對威脅你們幸福的危險憂心忡忡。這種心情，促使我在今天這樣的場合，提出一些看法供你們嚴肅思考，並建議你們經常重溫。這是我深思熟慮和仔細觀察的結論，而且在我看來，對整個民族的永久幸福有著十分重要的意義。
你們的心弦與自由息息相扣，因此用不著我來增強或堅定你們對自由的熱愛。
政府的統一，使大家結成一個民族，現在這種統一也為你們所珍視。這是理所當然的，因為你們真正的獨立，彷佛一座大廈，而政府的統一，乃是這座大廈的主要柱石；它支持你們國內的安定，國外的和平；支持你們的安全，你們的繁榮，以及你們如此重視的真正自由。然而不難預見，曾有某些力量試圖削弱大家心裡對於這種真理的信念，這些力量的起因不一，來源各異，但均將煞費苦心，千方百計地產生作用；其所以如此，乃因統一是你們政治堡壘中一個重點，內外敵人的炮火，會最持續不斷地和加緊地(雖然常是秘密地與陰險地)進行轟擊。因此，最重要的乃是大家應當正確估計這個民族團結對於集體和個人幸福所具有的重大價值；大家應當對它抱著誠摯的、經常的和堅定不移的忠心；你們在思想和言語中要習慣於把它當作大家政治安全和繁榮的保障；要小心翼翼地守護它。如果有人提到這種信念在某種情況下可以拋棄，即使那只是猜想，也不應當表示支持。如果有人企圖使我國的一部分脫離其餘部分，或想削弱現在聯繫各部分的神經紐帶，在其最初出現時，就應當嚴加指責。
對於此點，你們有種種理由加以同情和關懷。既然你們因出生或歸化而成為同一國家的公民，這個國家就有權集中你們的情感。美國人這個名稱來自你們的國民身分，它是屬於你們的；這個名號，一定會經常提高你們愛國的光榮感，遠勝任何地方性的名稱。在你們之間，除了極細微的差別外，有相同的宗教、禮儀、習俗與政治原則。你們曾為同一目標而共同奮鬥，並且共同獲得勝利。你們所得到的獨立和自由，乃是你們群策群力，同甘苦，共患難的成果。
儘管這些理由是多么強烈地激發了你們的感情，但終究遠不及那些對你們有更直接利害關係的理由。全國各地都可以看到強烈的願望，要求精心維護和保持聯邦制。
北方在與受同一政府的平等法律保護的南方自由交往中，發現南方的產品為航海業和商業提供了極其豐富的資源，為製造業提供了十分寶貴的原料。與此相同，南方在與北方交往時，也從北方所起的作用中獲益不淺，農業得到了發展，商業得到了擴大。南方將部分北方海員轉入自己的航道，使南方的航運業興旺了起來。儘管南方在各方面都對全國航運業的繁榮和發展有所貢獻，但它期望得到海上力量的保護，目前它的海上力量相對說來太薄弱了。東部在與西部進行類似的交往中，發現西部是東部自國外輸入商品和在國內製造的商品的重要信道，而這個信道將隨著內地水陸交通的不斷改善而日趨重要。西部則從東部得到發展和改善生活所必不可少的物資供應；也許更重要的是，西部要確保其產品出口的必要渠道，必須靠聯邦的大西洋一側的勢力、影響和未來的海上力量，而這需要把西部看成一個國家，有著不可分割的利害關係。西部如要靠其它任何方式來保護這種重要的優越地位，無論是單靠自己一方的力量，或是靠與外國建立背叛原則和不正常的關係，從本質上來看都是不牢靠的。
由此可見，我國各部分都從聯合一致中感覺到直接的和特殊的好處，而把所有各部分聯合在一起，人們會從手段和力量之大規模結合中，找到更大力量和更多資源，在抵禦外患方面將相應地更為安全，而外國對它們和平的破壞也會減少。具有無可估量的價值的是，聯合一致必然會防止它們自身之間發生戰爭。這種戰爭不斷地折磨著相互鄰接的國家，因為沒有同一的政府把它們連成一氣。這種戰事，僅由於它們彼此之間的互相競爭，即可發生，如果與外國有同盟、依附和陰謀串通的關係，則更會進一步激發和加劇這種對抗。因此，同樣地，它們可以避免過分發展軍事力量，這種軍事力量，在任何形式的政府之下，都是對自由不利的，而對共和國的自由，則應視為尤具敬意。就這個意義而言，應把你們的聯合一致看作是你們自由的支柱，如果你們珍惜其中一個，也就應當保存另一個。
你們是否懷疑一個共同的政府能夠管轄這么大的範圍?把這個問題留待經驗來解決吧。對付這樣一個問題單純聽信猜測是錯誤的。在這種情況下，非常值得進行一次公平和全面的實驗。要求全國各地組成聯邦的願望是如此強烈和明顯，因此，在實踐尚未表明聯邦制行不通時，試圖在任何方面削弱聯邦紐帶的人，我們總是有理由懷疑他們的愛國心的。
在研究那些可能擾亂我們聯邦的種種原因時，使人想到一件至關重要的事，那就是以地域差別－－北方與南方、大西洋與西部－－為根據來建立各種黨派；因為那些心懷不軌的人可能力圖藉此造成一種信念，以為地方間真的存在著利益和觀點的差異。一個黨派想在某些地區贏得影響力而採取的策略之一，是歪曲其它地區的觀點和目標。這種歪曲引起的妒忌和不滿，是防不勝防的；使那些本應親如兄弟的人變得互不相容。
為了使你們的聯合保持效力和持久，一個代表全體的政府是不可少的。各地區結成聯盟，不論怎樣嚴密，都不能充分代替這樣的政府。這種聯盟一定會經歷古往今來所有聯盟的遭遇，即背約和中斷。由於明白這個重要的事實，所以大家把最初的檔案加以改進，通過了一部勝過從前的政府憲法，以期密切聯合，更有效地管理大家的共同事務。這個政府，是我們自己選擇的，不曾受人影響，不曾受人威脅，是經過全盤研究和縝密考慮而建立的，它的原則和它的權力的分配，是完全自由的，它把安全和力量結合起來，而其本身則包含著修正其自身的規定。這樣一個政府有充分理由要求你們的信任和支持。尊重它的權力，服從它的法律，遵守它的措施，這些都是真正自由的基本準則所構成的義務。我們政府體制的基礎，乃是人民有權制定和變更他們政府的憲法。
可是憲法在經全民採取明確和正式的行動加以修改以前，任何人對之都負有神聖的義務。人民有建立政府的權力與權利，這一觀念乃是以每人有責任服從所建立的政府為前提的。
要保存你們的政府，要永久維持你們現在的幸福狀態，你們不僅不應支持那些不時發生的跟公認的政府權力相敵對的行為，而且對那種要改革政府原則的風氣，即使其藉口似若有理，亦應予以謹慎的抵制。他們進攻的方法之一，可能是採取改變憲法的形式，以損害這種體制的活力，從而把不能直接推翻的東西，暗中加以破壞。在你們可能被邀參與的所有變革中，你們應當記住，要確定政府的真正性質，正如確定人類其它體制一樣，時間和習慣至少是同樣重要的；應當記住，要檢驗一國現存政體的真正趨勢，經驗是最可靠的標準，應當記住，僅憑假設和意見便輕易變更，將因假設和意見之無窮變化而招致無窮的變更，還要特別記住，在我們這樣遼闊的國度里，要想有效地管理大家的共同利益，一個活力充沛的、並且能充分保障自由的政府是必不可少的。在這樣一個權力得到適當分配和調節的政府里，自由本身將會從中找到它最可靠的保護者。如果一個政府力量過弱，經不住朋黨派系之爭，不能使社會每一分子守法，和能維持全體人民安全而平靜地享受其人身和財產權利，那么，這個政府只是徒有虛名而已。
我已經提醒你們，在美國存在著黨派分立的危險，並特別提到按地域差別來分立黨派的危險。現在讓我從更全面的角度，以最嚴肅的態度概略地告誡你們警惕黨派思想的惡劣影響。
不幸的是，這種思想與我們的本性是不可分割的，並紮根於人類腦海里最強烈的欲望之中。它以各種不同的形式存在於所有政府機構里，儘管多少受到抑制、控制或約束。但那些常見的黨派思想的形式，往往是最令人討厭的，並且確實是政府最危險的敵人。
它往往干擾公眾會議的進行，並削弱行政管理能力。它在民眾中引起無根據的猜忌和莫須有的驚恐；挑撥派對立；有時還引起騷動和叛亂。它為外國影響和腐蝕打開方便之門。外國影響和腐蝕可以輕易地通過派系傾向的渠道深入到政府機構中來。這樣，一個國家的政策和意志就會受到另一個國家政策和意志的影響。
有一種意見，認為自由國家中的政黨，是對政府施政的有效牽制，有助於發揚自由精神。在某種限度內，這大概是對的；在君主制的政府下，人民基於愛國心，對於政黨精神即使不加袒護，亦會頗為寬容。但在民主性質的純屬選任的政府下，這種精神是不應予以鼓勵的。從其自然趨勢看來，可以肯定，在每一種有益的目標上，總是不乏這種精神的。但這種精神常有趨於過度的危險，因此應當用輿論的力量使之減輕及緩和。它是一團火，我們不要熄滅它，但要一致警惕，以防它火焰大發，變成不是供人取暖，而是貽害於人。
還有一項同樣重要的事，就是一個自由國家的思想習慣，應當做到使那些負責行政的人保持警惕，把各自的權力局限於憲法規定的範圍內，在行使一個部門的權力時，應避免侵犯另一個部門的許可權。這種越權精神傾向於把所有各部門的權力集中於某一部門，因而造成一種真正的專制主義，姑不論其政府的形式如何。
如果民意認為，憲法上的許可權之分配或修改，在某方面是不對的，我們應當照憲法所規定的辨法予以修改。但我們不可用篡權的方式予以更改；因為這種方法，可能在某一件事上是有效的手段，但自由政府也常會被這種手段毀滅。所以使用這種方法，有時雖然可以得到局部的或一時的好處，但此例一開，一定抵不過它所引起的永久性危害的。
在導致昌明政治的各種精神意識和風俗習慣中，宗教和道德是不可缺少的支柱。一個竭力破壞人類幸福的偉大支柱－－人類與公民職責的最堅強支柱－－的人，卻妄想別人贊他愛國，必然是白費心機的。政治家應當同虔誠的人一樣，尊敬和愛護宗教與道德。宗教與道德同個人福利以及公共福利的關係，即使寫一本書也說不完。我們只要簡單地問，如果宗教責任感不存在於法院賴以調查事件的宣誓中，那么，哪能談得上財產、名譽和生命的安全呢?而且我們也不可耽於幻想，以為道德可不靠宗教而維持下去。高尚的教育，對於特殊構造的心靈，儘管可能有所影響，但根據理智和經驗，不容許我們期望，在排除宗教原則的情況下，道德觀念仍能普遍存在。
有一句話大體上是不錯的，那就是：道德是民意所歸的政府所必需的原動力。這條準則可或多或少地適用於每一種類型的自由政府。凡是自由政府的忠實朋友，對於足以動搖它組織基礎的企圖，誰能熟視無睹呢?因此，請大家把普遍傳播知識的機構當作最重要的目標來加以充實提高。政府組織給輿論以力量，輿論也應相應地表現得更有見地，這是很重要的。
我們應當珍視國家的財力，因為這是力量和安全的極為重要的泉源。保存財力的辦法之一是儘量少動用它，並維護和平以避免意外開支；但也要記住，為了防患於未然而及時撥款，往往可以避免支付更大的款項來消弭災禍。同樣，我們要避免債台高築，為此，不懂要節約開支，而且在和平時期還要盡力去償還不可避免的戰爭所帶來的債務，不要將我們自己應該承受的負擔無情地留給後代。
我們要對所有國家遵守信約和正義，同所有國家促進和平與和睦。宗教和道德要求我們這樣做。難道明智的政策不於一樣要求這樣做嗎?如果我們能夠成為一個總是遵奉崇高的正義和仁愛精神的民族，為人類樹立高尚而嶄新的典範，那我們便不愧為一個自由的、開明的，而且會在不久的將來變得偉大的國家。如果我們始終如一地堅持這種方針，可能會損失一些暫時的利益，但是誰會懷疑，隨著時間的推移和事物的變遷，收穫將遠遠超過損失呢?難道蒼天沒有將一個民族的永久幸福和它的品德聯繫在一起嗎?至少，每一種使人性變得崇高的情操都甘願接受這種考驗的。萬一考驗失敗，這是否由人的惡行造成的呢?
在實行這種方針時，最要緊的，乃是不要對某些國家抱著永久而固執的厭噁心理，而對另一些國家則熱愛不已；應當對所有國家都培養公正而友善的感情。一個國家，如果習於其它國家惡此喜彼，這個國家便會在某種程度上淪為奴隸；或為敵意的奴隸，或為友情的奴隸，隨便哪一種都足以將它引離自己的責任和自己的利益。一國對於另一國心存厭惡，兩國便更易於彼此侮辱和互相傷害，更易於因小故而記恨，並且在發生偶然或細瑣的爭執時，也易於變得驕狂不羈和難以理喻。
一國對他國懷著熱烈的喜愛，也一樣能產生種種弊端。由於對所喜愛的國家抱同情，遂幻想彼此有共同的利益，實則所謂共同利益僅是想像的，而非真實的；再者，把它國的仇恨也灌注給自己，結果當它國與別國發生爭執或戰爭，自己也會在沒有充分原因和理由的情況下陷身其中。此外，還會把不給與它國的特權給與所喜愛的國家；於是，這個作出讓步的國家，便會蒙受雙重損害，一是無端損失本身應當保留的利益，一是激起未曾得到這種利益的國家的嫉妒、惡感和報復心理；這給那些有野心的、腐化的或受蒙蔽的公民(他們投靠自己所喜愛的國家)提供了方便，使他們在背叛或犧牲自己國家的利益時不但不遭人憎恨，有時甚至還受到歡迎，並把由於野心、腐化或胡塗而卑鄙愚蠢地屈服的人粉飾成有正直的責任感、順乎民意、或是熱心公益而值得讚揚的人。
總統像一個自由民族應當經常警覺，提防外國勢力的陰謀詭計(同胞們，我懇求你們相信我)，因為歷史和經驗證明，外國勢力乃是共和政府最致命的敵人之一。不過這種提防，要想做到有效，必須不偏不倚，否則會成為我們所要擺脫的勢力的工具，而不是抵禦那種勢力的工事。對某國過度偏愛，對另外一個過度偏惡，會使受到這種影響的國家只看到一方面的危險，卻掩蓋甚至縱容另一方所施的詭計。常我們所喜歡的那個國家的爪牙和受他們蒙蔽的人，利用人民的讚賞和信任，誘騙人民放棄本身的利益時，那些可能抵制該國詭計的真正愛國志士，反而極易成為懷疑與憎惡的對象。
我們處理外國事務的最重要原則，就是在與它們發展商務關係時，儘量避免涉及政治。我們已訂的條約，必須忠實履行。但以此為限，不再增加。
歐洲有一套基本利益，它對於我們毫無或甚少關係。歐洲經常發生爭執，其原因基本上與我們毫不相干。所以，如果我們卷進歐洲事務，與他們的政治興衰人為地聯繫在一起，或與他們友好而結成同盟，或與他們敵對而發生衝突，都是不明智的。
我國獨處一方，遠離它國，這種地理位置允許並促使我們奉行一條不同的政策路線。如果我們在一個稱職的政府領導下保持團結，在不久的將來，我們就可以不怕外來干擾造成的物質破壞；我們就可以採取一種姿態，使我們在任何時候決心保持中立時，都可得到它國嚴正的尊重；好戰國家不能從我們這裡獲得好處時，也不敢輕易冒險向我們挑戰；我們可以在正義的指引下依照自己的利益，在和戰問題上作出抉擇。
我們為什麼要摒棄這種特殊環境帶來的優越條件呢?為什麼要放棄我們自己的立場而站到外國的立場上去呢?為什麼要把我們的命運同歐洲任何一部分的命運交織一起，以致把我們的和平與繁榮，陷入歐洲的野心、競爭、利益關係、古怪念頭，或反覆無常的羅網之中呢?
我們真正的政策，乃是避免同任何外國訂立永久的同盟，我的意思是我們現在可自由處理這種問題；但請不要誤會，以為我贊成不履行現有的條約。我認為，誠實是最好的政策，這句格言不僅適用於私事，亦通用於公務。所以我再重複說一句，那些條約應按其原意加以履行。但我覺得延長那些條約是不必要，也是不明智的。
我們應當經常警惕，建立適量的軍隊以保持可觀的防禦姿態，這樣，在非常緊急時期中，我們才可以安全地依靠暫時性的同盟。
無論就政策而言，就人道而言，就利害而言，我們都應當跟一切國家保持和睦相處與自由來往。但是甚至我們的商業政策也應當採取平等和公平的立易，即不向它國要求特權或特惠，亦不給與它國以特權或特惠；一切要順事物之自然而行；要用溫和的手段擴展商業途徑並作多種經營，絕不強求；與有此意向的國家訂立有關交往的習用條例，俾使貿易有穩定的方向，我國商人的權利得以明確，政府對他們的扶助得以實現，這種條例應為現時情勢和彼此意見所容許的最合理的條例，但也只是暫時的，得根據經驗與情勢隨時予以廢棄或改變；須時時緊記，一國向它國索求無私的恩惠是愚蠢的；要記住，為了得到這種性質的恩惠，它必須付出它的一部分獨立為代價；要記住，接受此類恩惠，會使本身處於這樣的境地：自己已為那微小的恩惠出同等的代價，但仍被譴責為忘恩負義，認為付得不夠。期待或指望國與國之間有真正的恩惠，實乃最嚴重的錯誤。這是一種幻想，而經驗必可將其治癒，正直的自尊心必然會將其擯棄。
雖然在檢討本人任期內施政時，我未發覺有故意的錯誤，但是我很明白我的缺點，並不以為我沒有犯過很多錯誤。不管這些錯誤是什麼，我懇切地祈求上帝免除或減輕這些錯誤所可能產生的惡果。而且我也將懷著一種希望，願我的國家永遠寬恕這些錯誤；我秉持正直的熱忱，獻身為國家服務，已經四十五年，希望我因為能力薄弱而犯的過失，會隨著我不久以後長眠地下而湮沒無聞。
我在這方面和在其它方面一樣，均須仰賴祖國的仁慈，我熱愛祖國，並受到愛國之情的激勵，這種感情，對於一個視祖國為自己及歷代祖先的故土的人來說，是很自然的。因此，我以歡欣的期待心情，指望在我切盼實現的退休之後，我將與我的同胞們愉快地分享自由政府治下完善的法律的溫暖－－這是我一直衷心嚮往的目標，並且我相信，這也是我們相互關懷，共同努力和赴湯蹈火的優厚報酬
