narrative
of the causes of complaint against the British government, Washington
said:--

"I give you these details (and if you should again converse with
Lord Grenville on the subject, you are at liberty unofficially to
mention them, or any of them, according to circumstances) as
evidences of the impolitic conduct of the British government
towards these United States, that it may be seen how difficult it
has been for the executive, under such an accumulation of
irritating circumstances, to maintain the ground of neutrality
which had been taken; and at a time when the remembrance of the
aid we had received from France in the Revolution was fresh in
every mind, and while the partisans of that country were
continually contrasting the affections of _that_ people with the
unfriendly disposition of the _British government_. And that, too,
as I have observed before, while _their own_ sufferings during the
war with the latter had not been forgotten.

"It is well known that peace has been (to borrow a modern phrase)
the order of the day with me since the disturbances in Europe first
commenced. My policy has been, and will continue to be while I have
the honor to remain in the administration, to maintain friendly
terms with, but be independent of, all the nations of the earth; to
share in the broils of none; to fulfil our own engagements; to
supply the wants and be carriers for them all, being thoroughly
convinced that it is our policy and interest to do so. Nothing
short of self-respect, and that justice which is so essential to a
national character, ought to involve us in war; for sure I am, if
this country is preserved in tranquillity twenty years longer, it
may bid defiance in a just career to any power whatever; such, in
that time, will be its population, wealth, and resources....

"In a government as free as ours, where the people are at liberty
and will express their sentiments (oftentimes imprudently, and, for
want of information, sometimes unjustly), allowances must be made
for occasional effervescences; but, after the declaration I have
here made of my political creed, you can run no hazard in asserting
that the executive branch of this government never has suffered,
nor will suffer while I preside, any improper conduct of its
officers to escap