Yet Jefferson's blind faith in his miserable experiment was unshaken. He refused to consider the substitution for it of any policy but war. In his annual message of November 8, 1808, he characteristically avoided mention ing the embargo, in order to throw on Congress the entire responsibility for it. He sought to divert public senti ment by recommending an appropriation of the much vaunted surplus for a comprehensive scheme Of internal improvements. To New England Federalists it seemed cruelly insulting to boast of prosperity while their section was suffering, and to propose squandering the public revenue for the benefit of the South and West, while refusing to provide an efficient navy to protect New England's commerce.