incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares
before me, my error will be palliated by the motives which mislead me,
and its consequences be judged by my country with some share of the
partiality in which they originated.

Such being the impressions under which I have, in obedience to the
public summons, repaired to the present station, it would be peculiarly
improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to
that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the
councils of nations, and whose providential aids can supply every human
defect, that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and
happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by
themselves for these essential purposes, and may enable every
instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the
functions allotted to his charge. In tendering this homage to the Great
Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it
expresses your sentiments not less than my own, nor those of my
fellow-citizens at large less than either. No people can be bound to
acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of
men more than those of the United States. Every step by which they have
advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been
distinguished by some token of providential agency; and in the
important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united
government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many
distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be
compared with the means by which most governments have been established
without some return of pious gratitude, along with an humble
anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage.
These reflections, arising out of the present crisis, have forced
themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with