vocable resolution. You are among the small
number of those who know my invincible attachment to domestic life,
and that my sincerest wish is to continue in the enjoyment of it
solely, until my final hour. But the world would be neither so well
instructed, nor so candidly disposed, as to believe me to be
uninfluenced by sinister motives, in case any circumstance should
render a deviation from the line of conduct I had prescribed for
myself indispensable. Should the contingency you suggest take place,
and (for argument sake alone, let me say) should my unfeigned
reluctance to accept the office be overcome by a deference for the
reasons and opinions of my friends; might I not, after the
declarations I have made, (and heaven knows they were made in the
sincerity of my heart,) in the judgment of the impartial world, and of
posterity, be chargeable with levity and inconsistency, if not with
rashness and ambition? Nay, farther, would there not even be some
apparent foundation for the two former charges? Now, justice to
myself, and tranquillity of conscience require that I should act a
part, if not above imputation, at least capable of vindication. Nor
will you conceive me to be too solicitous for reputation. Though I
prize as I ought the good opinion of my fellow citizens, yet, if I
know myself, I would not seek or retain popularity at the expense of
one social duty, or moral virtue. While doing what my conscience
informed me was right, as it respected my God, my country, and myself,
I could despise all the party clamour and unjust censure which must be
expected from some, whose personal enmity might be occasioned by their
hostility to the government. I am conscious, that I fear alone to give
any real occasion for obloquy, and that I do not dread to meet with
unmerited reproach. And certain I am, whensoever I shall be convinced
the good of my country requires my reputation to be put in risque,
regard for my own fame will not come in competition with an object of
so much magnitude.

"If I declined the task, it would be upon quite another principle.
Notwithstanding my advanced season of life, my increasing fondness for
agricultural amusements, and my growing love of retirement, augment
and confirm my decided predilection for the character of a private
citizen, yet it will be no one of these motives, nor the hazard to
which my former reputation might be exposed, or the terror of
encountering new fatigues and troubles, that woul