Your Own Reason Is The

The Application Requisite To The Duties Of The Office I Hold [governor Of Virginia] Is So Excessive, And The Execution Of Them After All So Imperfect, That I Have Determined To Retire From It At The Close Of The Present Campaign.

My Reason For Fixing Them In Office For A Term Of Years, Rather Than For Life, Was That They Might Have An Idea That They Were At A Certain Period To Return Into The Mass Of The People And Become The Governed Instead Of The Governors Which Might Still Keep Alive That Regard To The Public Good That Otherwise They Might Perhaps Be Induced By Their Independence To Forget.

Opinion, And The Just Maintenance Of It, Shall Never Be A Crime In My View.

Love Your Neighbor As Yourself And Your Country More Than Yourself.

While Prudence Will Endeavor To Avoid This Issue Of War, Bravery Will Prepare To Meet It.