I have reflected much and painfully on the change of dispositions
which has taken place among the members of the cabinet, since the new
arrangement, as you stated to me in the moment of our separation. It
would be, indeed, a great public calamity, were it to fix you in the
purpose which you seemed to think possible. I consider the fortunes of
our republic as depending, in an eminent degree, on the extinguishment
of the public debt before we engage in any war: because, that done, we
shall have revenue enough to improve our country in peace, and defend it
in war, without recurring either to new taxes or loans. But if the debt
should once more be swelled to a formidable size, its entire discharge
will be despaired of, and we shall be committed to the English career of
debt, corruption, and rottenness, closing with revolution. The discharge
of the debt, therefore, is vital to the destinies of our government, and
it hangs on Mr. Madison and yourself alone. We shall never see another
President and Secretary of the Treasury making all other objects
subordinate to this. Were either of you to be lost to the public, that
great hope is lost. I had always cherished the idea that you would fix
on that object the measure of your fame, and of the gratitude which our
country will owe you. Nor can I yield up this prospect to the secondary
considerations which assail your tranquillity. For sure I am, they never
can produce any other serious effect.
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