It will be much easier to commence the Administration upon a well-adjusted system, built on tenable grounds, than to correct errors, or alter inconveniences, after they shall have been confirmed by habit.

The President, in all matters of business and etiquette, can have no object but to demean himself in his public character in such a manner as to maintain the dignity of his office, without subjecting himself to the imputation of superciliousness or unnecessary reserve.

Under these impressions he asks for your candid and undisguised opinion." Only the replies of Hamilton and Adams have been preserved.

Hamilton advised Washington that while "the dignity of the office should be supported ...

care will be necessary to avoid extensive disgust or discontent....