2932. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, Strength of.—
I know, indeed, that some
honest men fear that a republican government
cannot be strong; that this government is not
strong enough. But would the honest patriot,
in the full tide of successful experiment,
abandon a government which has so far kept
us free and firm, on the theoretic and visionary
fear that this government, the world's
best hope, may by possibility want energy
to preserve itself? I trust not. I believe
this, on the contrary, the strongest government
on earth. I believe it is the only
one where every man, at the call of the laws,
would fly to the standard of the law, and
would meet invasions of the public order as
his own personal concern.—
First Inaugural Address. Washington ed. viii, 3.
Ford ed., viii, 3.
(1801)
