Though we have not heard of the actual opening of the new Congress,
and consequently, have not official information of your election as
President of the United States, yet, as there never could be a doubt
entertained of it, permit me to express here my felicitations, not
to yourself, but to my country. Nobody who has tried both public and
private life, can doubt but that you were much happier on the banks of
the Potomac than you will be at New York. But there was nobody so well
qualified as yourself, to put our new machine into a regular course of
action; nobody, the authority of whose name could have so effectually
crushed opposition at home, and produced respect abroad. I am sensible
of the immensity of the sacrifice on your part. Your measure of fame was
full to the brim; and therefore, you have nothing to gain. But there are
cases wherein it is a duty to risk all against nothing, and I believe
this was exactly the case. We may presume, too, according to every rule
of probability, that after doing a great deal of good, you will be found
to have lost nothing but private repose.
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