Complex and Thorough

George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and James Madison were not ones for short, direct sentences. They tend to go for eloquence, which can mean some very, very long sentences. We're talking entire paragraphs.

Take this one, for instance:

I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing the tender of service, which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your future interest, no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness, but am supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with both. (2.1)

Translation: Don't think I made this decision without thinking of your welfare, and I'm confident your future is still secure.

Washington also doesn't skimp on the ideas. He goes on at length about each of his pieces of advice, laying out a number of reasons why he's saying what he's saying. For example, on the issue of factions, he starts off by reminding people:

With slight shades of difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a common cause fought and triumphed together; the independence and liberty you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts of common dangers, sufferings, and successes. (10.4-5)

But he doesn't stop there. He outlines how every part of the country benefits from being connected to the others, to show how "every part of our country thus feels an immediate and particular interest in union" (13.1). Plus:

One of the expedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. (15.2)

He even brings up the recent treaty with Spain as "decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States unfriendly to their interests" (15.4). And for a little scare: "and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty" (22.3).

This anti-faction section of the speech goes on for about 20 paragraphs. He probably could have shortened that a bit, but one has to cover all their bases.