throughout the nation; in an age of extraordinary personages, Washington
was unquestionably the first man of the time in ability. Review the
correspondence of General Washington--that sublime monument of
intelligence and integrity--scrutinize the public history and the
public men of that era, and you will find that in all the wisdom that
was accomplished or was attempted, Washington was before every man in
his suggestions of the plan, and beyond every one in the extent to which
he contributed to its adoption. In the field, all the able generals
acknowledged his superiority, and looked up to him with loyalty,
reliance, and reverence; the others, who doubted his ability, or
conspired against his sovereignty, illustrated, in their own conduct,
their incapacity to be either his judges or his rivals. In the state,
Adams, Jay, Rutledge, Pinckney, Morris--these are great names; but there
is not one whose wisdom does not vail to his. His superiority was felt
by all these persons, and was felt by Washington himself, as a simple
matter of fact, as little a subject of question, or a cause of vanity,
as the eminence of his personal stature. His appointment as
commander-in-chief was the result of no design on his part; and of no
efforts on the part of his friends; it seemed to take place
spontaneously. He moved into the position, because there was a vacuum
which no other could supply: in it, he was not sustained by government,
by a party, or by connections; he sustained himself; and then he
sustained everything else. He sustained Congress against the army, and
the army against the injustice of Congress. The brightest mind among his
contemporaries was Hamilton's; a character which cannot be contemplated
without frequent admiration, and constant affection. His talents took
the form of genius, which Washington's did not. But active, various,
and brilliant, as the faculties of Hamilton were, whether viewed in the
precocity of youth, or in the all-accomplished elegance of maturer
life--lightning-quick as his intelligence was to see through every
subject that came before it, and vigorous as it was in constructing the
argumentation by which other minds were to be led, as upon a shapely
bridge, over the obscure depths across which his had flashed in a
moment--fertile and sound in schemes, ready in action, splendid in
display, as he was--nothing is more obvious and certain than that when
Mr. Hamilton approached Washington, he came into the presence of one who
surpassed him in the extent, in the comprehension, the elevation, the
sagacity, the force, and the ponderousness of his mind, as much as he
did in the majesty of his aspect and the grandeur of his step. The
genius of Hamilton was a flower, which gratifies, surprises, and
enchants; the intelligence of Washington was a stately tree, which in
the rarity and true dignity of its beauty is as superior as it is in its
dimensions.
* * * * *
VALLEY FORGE
BY HENRY ARMITT BROWN
_From Centennial Address delivered at Valley Forge, June 19, 1878_
The century that has gone by has changed the face of Nature, and wrought
a revolution in the habits of mankind. We to-day behold the dawn of an
extraordinary age. Man has advanced with such astounding speed, that,
breathless, we have reached a moment when it seems as if distance had
been annihilated, time made as nought, the invisible seen, the
intangible felt, and the impossible accomplished. Already we knock at
the door of a new century, which promises to be infinitely brighter and
more enlightened and happier than this.
We know that we are more fortunate than our fathers. We believe that our
children shall be happier than we. We know that this century is more
enlightened than the past. We believe that the time to come will be
better and more glorious than this. We think, we believe, we hope, but
we do not know. Across that threshold we may not pass; behind that veil
we may not penetrate. It may be vouchsafed us to behold it, wonderingly,
from afar, but never to enter in. It matters not. The age in which we
live is but a link in the endless and eternal chain. Our lives are like
sands upon the shore; our voices, like the breath of this summer breeze
that stirs the leaf for a moment, and is forgotten. The last survivor of
this mighty multitude shall stay but a little while. The endless
generations are advancing to take our places as we fall. For them, as
for us, shall the years march by in the sublime procession of the ages.
And here, in this place of sacrifice, in this vale of humiliation, in
this valley of the shadow of death, out of which the life of America
rose regenerate and free, let us believe, with an abiding faith, that to
them union will seem as dear, and liberty as sweet, and progress as
glorious, as they were to our fathers and are to you and me, and that
the institutions which have made us happy, preserved by the virtue of
our children, shall bless the remotest generation of the time to come.
And unto Him who holds in the hollow of His hand the fate of nations,
and yet marks the sparrow's fall, let us lift up our hearts this day,
and unto His eternal care commend ourselves, our children, and our
country.
* * * * *
WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE
BY CANON R.G. SUTHERLAND
With his lean, ragged levies, undismayed,
He crouched among the vigilant hills; a show
To the disdainful, heaven-blinded foe.
Unlauded, unsupported, disobeyed,
Thwarted, maligned, conspired against, betrayed--
Yet nothing could unheart him. Wouldst thou know
His secret? There, in that thicket on the snow,
Washington knelt before his God, and prayed.
Close in their lair for perilous months and days
He held in leash his wolves, grim, shelterless,
Gaunt, hunger-bitten, stanch to the uttermost;
Then, when the hour was come for hardiness
Rallied, and rushed them on the reeling host;
And Monmouth planted Yorktown's happy bays!
* * * * *
A FRENCHMAN'S ESTIMATE OF WASHINGTON IN 1781
BY CLAUDE C. ROBIN
From _Magazine of American History_.
_The following extract from a letter written by Abbé Robin, chaplain in
the French army in America, and bearing date "Camp of Phillipsburg,
August 4, 1781," a few weeks after his arrival in this country, is very
suggestive. This letter was the first of a series of thirteen letters
from the Abbé while in America, which were published in Paris in 1782.
He writes_:
I have seen General Washington, that most singular man--the soul and
support of one of the greatest revolutions that has ever happened, or
can happen. I fixed my eyes upon him with that keen attention which the
sight of a great man always inspires. We naturally entertain a secret
hope of discovering in the features of such illustrious persons some
traces of that genius which distinguishes them from, and elevates them
above, their fellow mortals.
Perhaps the exterior of no man was better calculated to gratify these
expectations than that of General Washington. He is of a tall and noble
stature, well proportioned, a fine, cheerful, open countenance, a simple
and modest carriage; and his whole mien has something in it that
interests the French, the Americans, and even enemies themselves, in
his favor. Placed in a military view, at the head of a nation where each
individual has a share in the supreme legislative authority, and where
coercive laws are yet in a degree destitute of vigor, where the climate
and manners can add but little to their energy, where the spirit of
party, private interest, slowness and national indolence, slacken,
suspend, and overthrow the best concerted measures; although so situated
he has found out a method of keeping his troops in the most absolute
subordination; making them rivals in praising him; fearing him when he
is silent, and retaining their full confidence in him after defeats and
disgrace. His reputation has, at length, arisen to a most brilliant
height; and he may now grasp at the most unbounded power, without
provoking envy or exciting suspicion. He has ever shown himself superior
to fortune, and in the most trying adversity has discovered resources
until then unknown: and, as if his abilities only increased and dilated
at the prospect of difficulty, he is never better supplied than when he
seems destitute of everything, nor have his arms ever been so fatal to
his enemies, as at the very instant when they thought they had crushed
him forever. It is his to excite a spirit of heroism and enthusiasm in a
people who are by nature very little susceptible of it; to gain over the
respect and homage of those whose interest it is to refuse it, and to
execute his plans and projects by means unknown even to those who are
his instruments; he is intrepid in dangers, yet never seeks them but
when the good of his country demands it, preferring rather to temporize
and act upon the defensive, because he knows such a mode of conduct best
suits the genius and circumstances of the nation, and all that he and
they have to expect, depends upon time, fortitude, and patience; he is
frugal and sober in regard to himself, but profuse in the public cause;
like Peter the Great, he has by defeats conducted his army to victory;
and like Fabius, but with fewer resources and more difficulty, he has
conquered without fighting, and saved his country.
Such are the ideas that arise in the mind at the sight of this great
man, in examining the events in which he had a share, or in listening to
those whose duty obliges them to be near his person, and consequently
best display his character. In all these extensive States they consider
him in the light of a beneficent god, dispensing peace and happiness
around him. Old men, women, and children press about him when he
accidentally passes along, and think themselves happy, once in their
lives, to have seen him--they follow him through the towns with torches,
and celebrate his arrival by public illuminations. The Americans, that
cool and sedate people, who in the midst of their most trying
difficulties, have attended only to the directions and impulses of plain
method and common sense, are roused, animated, and inflamed at the very
mention of his name: and the first songs that sentiment or gratitude has
dictated, have been to celebrate General Washington.
IV
THE PRESIDENT
WASHINGTON AND THE CONSTITUTION
BY JOHN M. HARLAN
It is the concurring judgment of political thinkers, that no event in
all the history of the Anglo-Saxon race has been more far-reaching in
its consequences than the organization of the present Government of the
United States. And it is in every sense appropriate to connect the name
of Washington with the Constitution which brought that government into
existence. It is appropriate because his splendid leadership of the
Revolutionary armies made it possible to establish upon this continent a
government resting upon the consent of the governed, yet strong enough
to maintain its existence and authority whenever assailed.
But it is especially appropriate for the reason that he was among the
first of the great men of the Revolutionary period to discern the
inherent defects in the articles of confederation; and but for his
efforts to bring about a more perfect union of the people, the existing
Constitution, it is believed, would not have been accepted by the
requisite number of States. He was indeed the pioneer of the Union
established by that Constitution. Of the accuracy of these statements
there is abundant evidence.
We are only in the spring-time of our national life, and yet we have
realized all that Washington could possibly have anticipated from the
creation of the present Government. What more could be desired in a
system of government than is secured in the existing organizations of
the General and State governments with their respective powers so
admirably adjusted and distributed as to draw from Gladstone the remark
that the American Constitution was "the most wonderful work ever struck
off at one time by the brain and purpose of man"?
Despite the fears of many patriotic statesmen at the time of the
adoption of the Constitution, that that instrument would destroy the
liberties of the people, every genuine American rejoices in the fullness
of a grateful heart that we have a government under which the humblest
person in our midst has a feeling of safety and repose not vouchsafed to
the citizen or subject of any other country; with powers ample for the
protection of the life of the nation and adequate for all purposes of a
general nature, yet so restricted by the law of its creation in the
exercise of its powers, that it cannot rightfully encroach upon those
reserved to the States or to the people.
I will not allude to or discuss particular theories of constitutional
construction, but I may say, and I am glad that it can be truthfully
said, that the mass of the people concur in holding that only by
maintaining the just powers of both the National and State governments
can we preserve in their integrity the fundamental principles of
American liberty.
* * * * *
WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION[11]--1789-1797
BY EDWARD S. ELLIS
WASHINGTON'S PATRIOTISM.--Washington would have preferred to spend the
remainder of his life in his tranquil home at Mount Vernon, but his
patriotism would not allow him to disregard the call of his country. He
had so little money at the time, that his home was threatened by the
sheriff, and he had to borrow funds with which to pay his most pressing
debts.
WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION.--The President-elect left Mount Vernon on
April 16, and the entire journey to New York was a continual ovation. He
received honors at almost every step of the way, and was welcomed to the
nation's capital by the joyous thousands who felt that no reward could
be too great for the illustrious patriot that had enshrined himself
forever in the hearts of his loving countrymen. The inauguration
ceremonies took place April 30, in Federal Hall, on the present site of
the sub-treasury building. Chancellor Robert R. Livingston of New York
administered the oath, in a balcony of the Senate chamber, in full view
of the vast concourse on the outside, who cheered the great man to the
echo. Other ceremonies followed, Washington showing deep emotion at the
manifestation of love and loyalty on the part of all.
THE FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL CONGRESS.--The first session of the first
Constitutional Congress was chiefly occupied in setting the government
machinery in motion. The following nominations for the first Cabinet
were made by Washington, and confirmed by the Senate: Thomas Jefferson,
secretary of foreign affairs, afterward known as secretary of state;
Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury; Henry Knox, secretary of
war; and Edmund Randolph, attorney-general. John Jay was appointed chief
justice of the supreme court, with John Rutledge, James Wilson, William
Cushing, Robert H. Harrison, and John Blair associates. (The Senate
refused to confirm the nomination of Rutledge.)
FEDERALISTS AND REPUBLICANS.--The most urgent question was that of
finance. Hamilton handled it with great skill. The debt of the
confederation and States was almost eighty million dollars. Hamilton's
plan, as submitted to Congress, called for the payment by the United
States of every dollar due to American citizens, and also the war debt
of the country. There was strong opposition to the scheme, but it
prevailed. The discussions in Congress brought out the lines between the
Federalists and the Republicans, or, as they were afterward called,
Democrats. The Federalists favored the enlargement of the powers of the
general government, while the Republicans insisted upon holding the
government to the exact letter of the Constitution, and giving to the
individual States all rights not expressly prohibited by the
Constitution.
THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.--North Carolina did not adopt the Constitution
until November 13, 1789. Little Rhode Island sulked until Massachusetts
and Connecticut proposed to parcel her between them, when she came to
terms and adopted the Constitution, May 29, 1790. It was decided to
transfer the seat of government to Philadelphia until 1800, when it was
to be permanently fixed upon the eastern bank of the Potomac. The third
session of the first Congress, therefore, was held in Philadelphia, on
the first Monday in December, 1790. Through the efforts of Hamilton, the
United States Bank and a national mint were established in that city,
and did much to advance the prosperity of the country.
A PROTECTIVE TARIFF.--In 1791, Hamilton made a memorable report to
Congress. In it he favored a protective tariff, recommending that the
materials from which goods are manufactured should not be taxed, and
advising that articles which competed with those made in this country
should be prohibited. These and other important features were embodied
in a bill, which was passed February 9, 1792.
TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS.--Trouble occurred with the Indians in the
Northwestern Territory and in the South. Georgia was dissatisfied with
the treaty, by which a considerable part of the State was relinquished
to the Indians. The difficulty in the Northwest was much more serious.
General Harmar was sent to punish the red men for their many outrages,
but was twice defeated. Then General St. Clair took his place. Before he
set out, Washington impressively warned him against being surprised,
but he, too, was beaten, and his army routed with great slaughter.
"Mad Anthony" Wayne now took up the task, with nearly three thousand
men, and completed it thoroughly. At Fallen Timbers, August 20, 1794, he
met the combined tribes and delivered a crushing defeat, from which the
Indians did not recover for years. One year later, eleven hundred chiefs
and warriors met the United States commissioners at Fort Greenville and
signed a treaty of peace, relinquishing at the same time a vast tract of
land lying in the present States of Indiana and Michigan.
THE WHISKEY REBELLION.--Among the important laws passed by Congress was
one imposing a duty on distilled spirits. This roused great opposition
in western Pennsylvania, where whiskey was the principal article of
manufacture and trade. The revolt there assumed such formidable
proportions that it became known as the "Whiskey Rebellion," and the
President was compelled to call out the militia, fifteen thousand
strong, to suppress it.
WASHINGTON'S SECOND TERM.--Washington did not desire a second term, but
his countrymen would not permit him to decline. He again received all
the electoral votes cast, while the next highest number went to John
Adams. Strong party spirit was shown, Hamilton being the leader of the
Federalists, and Jefferson the foremost Republican.
"CITIZEN GENET."--During Washington's administrations, France was
plunged into the bloodiest revolution known in history. Her
representative in this country was Edmond Charles Genet (zheh-na),
better known as "Citizen Genet." Landing at Charleston, South Carolina,
in April, 1793, he did not wait to present his credentials to the
government, but began enlisting soldiers and fitting out privateers for
the French service. Many thoughtless citizens encouraged him, but the
wise Washington, finding that Genet defied him, ended the business by
compelling his country to recall him.
JAY'S TREATY.--There was much trouble also with Great Britain, but a
treaty was finally arranged with her by our special envoy, John Jay. One
of its provisions guaranteed payment to British citizens of debts due
them before the war. This caused much opposition, but the time came when
it was admitted that Jay's treaty was one of the best made by our
government.
FOOTNOTES:
[11] From "Young People's History of Our Country." Thomas R. Shewell &
Co., 1900.
* * * * *
WASHINGTON
BY MARY WINGATE
O noble brow, so wise in thought!
O heart, so true! O soul unbought!
O eye, so keen to pierce the night
And guide the "ship of state" aright!
O life, so simple, grand and free,
The humblest still may turn to thee.
O king, uncrowned! O prince of men!
When shall we see thy like again?
The century, just passed away,
Has felt the impress of thy sway,
While youthful hearts have stronger grown
And made thy patriot zeal their own.
In marble hall or lowly cot,
Thy name hath never been forgot.
The world itself is richer, far,
For the clear shining of a star.
And loyal hearts in years to run
Shall turn to thee, O Washington.
* * * * *
WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION[12]
BY EDWARD EVERETT HALE
On the fourth of March, 1789, Elbridge Gerry, who had been chosen to the
Senate of the United States, wrote thus from New York to John Adams:
My Dear Friend: I find, on inquiry, that you are elected
Vice-President, having three or four times the number of votes of
any other candidate. Maryland threw away their votes on Colonel
Harrison, and South Carolina on Governor Rutledge, being, with some
other states which were not unanimous for you, apprehensive that
this was a necessary step to prevent your election to the chair. On
this point they were mistaken, for the President, as I am informed
from pretty good authority, has a unanimous vote. It is the
universal wish of all that I have conferred with, and indeed their
expectation, that both General Washington and yourself will accept;
and should either refuse, it will have a very disagreeable effect.
The members present met to-day in the City Hall, there being about
eleven Senators and thirteen Representatives, and not constituting
a quorum in either house, they adjourned till to-morrow.
Mrs. Gerry and the ladies join me in sincere regards to yourself,
your lady, Colonel and Mrs. Smith, and be assured I remain, etc.
E. GERRY.
So slow was the movement of news in those days, and so doubtful, even
after the election, were all men as to its results, Adams would not
start from Braintree, his home, till he knew he was elected, nor
Washington from Mt. Vernon. Charles Thompson, the Secretary of the old
Congress, arrived at Mt. Vernon on the fourteenth of April and
communicated to Washington the news of his election. No quorum of the
House of Representatives had been formed until the first of April, nor
of the Senate until the sixth. These bodies then counted the electoral
vote, with the result predicted by Gerry in his letter written two days
before.
Washington waited a day before starting to the seat of Government. On
the sixteenth of April he started for New York. He writes in his diary:
About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life and
to domestic felicity; and with a mind oppressed with more anxious
and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out for
New York in company with Mr. Thompson and Colonel Humphries, with
the best dispositions to render service to my country in obedience
to its call, but with less hope of answering its expectations.
The journey began with a public dinner at Alexandria. Said the
gentlemen of Alexandria in their address to him:
Farewell!... Go!... and make a grateful people happy, a people who
will be doubly grateful when they contemplate this recent sacrifice
for their interest.
And Washington in his reply said:
At my age, and in my circumstances, what prospects or advantages
could I propose to myself, for embarking again on the tempestuous
and uncertain ocean of public life?
The journey went on with similar interruptions. The rule so often laid
down by the Virginians afterward that that is the best government which
governs least, was certainly well kept until the thirteenth of April. To
this hour the adventurous cyclist, stopping at some wayside inn to
refresh himself, may find upon the wall the picture of the maidens and
mothers of Trenton in New Jersey. Here Washington met a deputation sent
to him by Congress. A triumphal arch had been erected, and a row of
young girls dressed in white, a second row of ladies, and a third of
their mothers, awaited him. As he passed, the girls scattered flowers,
and sang the verses which Judge Marshall has preserved:
Welcome, mighty chief, once more
Welcome to this grateful shore;
Now no mercenary foe
Aims again the fatal blow--
Aims at thee the fatal blow.
Virgins fair and matrons grave,
These thy conquering arm did save.
Build for thee triumphal bowers,
Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers--
Strew your Hero's way with flowers.
His progress through New Jersey was everywhere accompanied by similar
festivities--"festive illuminations, the ringing of bells, and the
booming of cannon." He had written to Governor Clinton, that he hoped he
might enter New York without ceremony; but this was hardly to be
expected. A committee of both houses met him at Elizabethtown; he
embarked in a splendid barge manned by thirteen pilots, masters of
vessels, and commanded by Commodore Nicholson; other barges and boats
fell in in the wake; and a nautical procession swept up the Bay of New
York. On board two vessels were parties of ladies and gentlemen, who
sang odes as Washington appeared. The ships in the harbor were dressed
in colors and fired salutes as he passed. On landing at Murray's Wharf
he was welcomed by Governor Clinton and General Knox. It is of the
landing at this point that the anecdote is told that an officer asked
Washington's orders, announcing himself as commanding his guard.
Washington, with his ready presence of mind, begged him to follow any
directions he had already received in the arrangements, but said that
for the future the affection of his fellow-citizens was all the guard
that he required.
At the end of the day, in his diary, the sad man says:
The acclamations of the people filled my mind with sensations as
painful as pleasing.
It was some days before the formal inauguration. The two houses of
Congress did not know by what title they should address him, and a
committee had been appointed to discuss this subject. It was finally
agreed that the address should be simply, "To the President of the
United States"--a form which has remained to the present day.
The inauguration finally took place on the thirtieth of April.