Econlib

The Library

Other Sites

Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow REPLY TO THE ANSWER OF THE SENATE. - The Works of John Adams, vol. 9 (Letters and State Papers 1799-1811)

Return to Title Page for The Works of John Adams, vol. 9 (Letters and State Papers 1799-1811)

Search this Title:

Also in the Library:

Subject Area: Political Theory
Topic: The American Revolution and Constitution

REPLY TO THE ANSWER OF THE SENATE. - John Adams, The Works of John Adams, vol. 9 (Letters and State Papers 1799-1811) [1854]

Edition used:

The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States: with a Life of the Author, Notes and Illustrations, by his Grandson Charles Francis Adams (Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1856). 10 volumes. Vol. 9.

Part of: The Works of John Adams, 10 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


REPLY TO THE ANSWER OF THE SENATE.

Gentlemen of the Senate,

I thank you for this address. When, after the most laborious investigation and serious reflection, without partial considerations or personal motives, measures have been adopted or recommended, I can receive no higher testimony of their rectitude than the approbation of an assembly so independent, patriotic, and enlightened, as the Senate of the United States.

Nothing has afforded me more entire satisfaction than the coincidence of your judgment with mine, in the opinion of the essential importance of our commerce, and the absolute necessity of a maritime defence. What is it that has drawn to Europe the superfluous riches of the three other quarters of the globe, but a marine? What is it that has drained the wealth of Europe itself into the coffers of two or three of its principal commercial powers, but a marine?

The world has furnished no example of a flourishing commerce, without a maritime protection; and a moderate knowledge of man and his history will convince any one that no such prodigy ever can arise. A mercantile marine and a military marine must grow up together; one cannot long exist without the other.

John Adams.