纽约
1789年4月30日，星期四
Fellow－Citizens of the Senate and of the House of Representatives：
参议院和众议院的同胞们：
Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order，and received on the 14th day of the present month．On the one hand，I was summoned by my country，whose voice I can never hear but with veneration and love，from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest predilection，and，in my flattering hopes，with an immutable decision，as the asylum of my declining years a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more dear to me by the addition of habit to inclination，and of frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual waste committed on it by time．On the other hand，the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me，being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications，could not but overwhelm with despondence one who（inheriting inferior endowments from nature and unpracticed in the duties of civil administration）ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies．
在人生沉浮中，没有一件事能比本月14日收到根据你们的命令送达的通知更使我焦虑不安。一方面，国家召唤我出任此职，对于她的召唤，我永远只能肃然敬从；而隐退是我以挚爱心情、满腔希望和坚定的决心选择的暮年归宿，由于爱好和习惯，且时光流逝，健康渐衰，时感体力不济，愈觉隐退之必要和可贵。另一方面，国家召唤我担负的责任如此重大和艰巨，足以使国内最有才智和经验的人度德量力，而我天资愚饨，又无民政管理的实践，理应倍觉自己能力之不足，因而必然感到难以担此重任。
In this conflict of emotions all I dare aver is that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be affected．All I dare hope is that if，in executing this task，I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of former instances，or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow－citizens，and have thence too little consulted my incapacity as well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me，my error will be palliated by the motives which mislead me，and its consequences be judged by my country with some share of the partiality in which they originated．
怀着这种矛盾心情，我惟一敢断言的是，通过正确估计可能产生影响的各种情况来恪尽职守，乃是我忠贞不渝的努力目标。我惟一敢祈望的是，如果我在执行这项任务时因陶醉于往事，或因由衷感激公民们对我的高度信赖，而受到过多影响，以致在处理从未经历过的大事时，忽视了自己的无能和消极，我的错误将会由于使我误入歧途的各种动机而减轻，而大家在评判错误的后果时，也会适当包涵产生这些动机的偏见。
Such being the impressions under which I have，in obedience to the public summons，repaired to the present station，it would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act my fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe，who presides in the councils of nations，and whose providential aids can supply every human defect，that His benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United States a Government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes，and may enable every instrument employed in its administration to execute with success the functions allotted to his charge．In tendering this homage to the Great Author of every public and private good，I assure myself that it expresses your sentiments not less than my own，nor those of my fellow－citizens at large less than either．
既然这就是我在遵奉公众召唤就任现职时的感想，那么，在此宣誓就职之际，如不热忱地祈求全能的上帝就极其失当，因为上帝统治着宇宙，主宰着各国政府，它的神助能弥补人类的任何不足，愿上帝赐福，保佑一个为美国人民的自由和幸福而组成的政府，保佑它为这些基本目的而作出奉献，保佑政府的各项行政措施在我负责之下都能成功地发挥作用。我相信，在向公众利益和私人利益的伟大缔造者献上这份崇敬时，这些话也同样表达了各位和广大公民的心意。
No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the Invisible Hand which conducts the affairs of men more than those of the United States．Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency；and in the important revolution just accomplished in the system of their united government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of so many distinct communities from which the event has resulted can not be compared with the means by which most governments have been established without some return of pious gratitude，along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to presage．These reflections，arising out of the present crisis，have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be suppressed．You will join with me，I trust，in thinking that there are none under the influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously commence．