from the first day. At the time when the French Revolution had
hardly begun, he was already suspending his judgment, and taking
his position aloof from all parties and all spectators; free from
the presumption of their predictions, from the blindness of their
hostility or their hope. "The whole business is so extraordinary
in its commencement, so wonderful in its progress, and maybe so
stupendous in its consequences, that I am almost lost in the
contemplation. ... Nobody is more anxious for the happy issue of
that business, than I am; as no one can wish more sincerely for
the prosperity of the French nation, than I do." [Footnote 77]
[Footnote 77: Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 89.]
{134}
"If it ends as our last accounts, to the first of August, [1789,]
predict, that nation will be the most powerful and happy in
Europe; but I fear, though it has gone triumphantly through the
first paroxysm, it is not the last it has to encounter before,
matters are finally settled. ... The mortification of the king,
the intrigues of the queen, and the discontent of the princes and
noblesse, will foment divisions, if possible, in the National
Assembly; ... the licentiousness of the people on one hand, and
sanguinary punishments on the other, will alarm the best disposed
friends to the measure. ... To forbear running from one extreme
to another is no easy matter; and, should this be the case, rocks
and shelves, not visible at present, may wreck the vessel, and
give a higher-toned despotism than the one which existed before."
[Footnote 78] "It is a boundless ocean, whence no land is to be
seen." [Footnote 79]
[Footnote 78: Washington's Writings, Vol. X. p. 40.]
[Footnote 79: Ibid., Vol. X. p. 344.]
{135}
From that time, he maintained towards the nations and events of
Europe an extreme reserve; faithful to the principles which had
founded the independence and the liberties of America, animated
by a grateful good-will towards France, and seizing with
earnestness upon every occasion to manifest it, but silent and
self-restrained, as if under the presentiment of some grave
responsibility of which he should be obliged to sustain the
weight, and not wishing to pledge beforehand either his personal
opinion or the policy of his country. When the trying moment
arrived, when the declaration of war between France and England
caused the great revolutionary struggle to break out in Europe,
the resolution of Washington was decided and prompt. He
immediately made proclamation of the neutrality of the United
States. "My politics are plain and simple; ... to maintain
friendly terms with, but be independent of, all the nations of
the earth; to share in the broils of none; to fulfil our own
engagements; to supply the wants and be carriers for them all;
being thoroughly convinced, that it is our policy and interest to
do so." [Footnote 80] "I want an _American_ character, that
the powers of Europe may be convinced, we act for
_ourselves_, and not for others." [Footnote 81]
[Footnote 80: Washington's Writings,
Vol. XI. pp. 382, 102.]
[Footnote 81: Ibid., Vol. XI. p. 83.]
{136}
"Regarding the overthrow of Europe at large as a matter not
entirely chimerical, it will be our prudence to cultivate a
spirit of self-dependence, and to endeavor, by unanimity,
vigilance, and exertion, under the blessing of Providence, to
hold the scales of our destiny in our own hands. Standing, as it
were, in the midst of falling empires, it should be our aim to
assume a station and attitude, which will preserve us from being
overwhelmed in their ruins." [Footnote 82] "Nothing short of
self-respect, and that justice which is essential to a national
character, ought to involve us in war; for sure I am, if this
country is preserved in tranquillity twenty years longer, it may
bid defiance, in a just cause, to any power whatever; such, in
that time, will be its population, wealth, and resources."
[Footnote 83]
[Footnote 82: Washington's Writings, Vol. XI. p 350.]
[Footnote 83: Ibid., Vol. XI. p. 102.]
At first, the approbation was general. The desire for peace, and
the reluctance to express any opinion which might endanger it,
were predominant in men's minds. Upon the principle of neutrality
the cabinet had been unanimous.
{137}
But intelligence from Europe was continually arriving, and was
spreading like wild-fire through the country. The coalition
formed against France assailed the guardian principles of
America, the independence and internal liberty of nations.
England was at its head, hated as a recent enemy, suspected as a
former master. Her decrees and measures in regard to neutral
commerce and the impressment of sailors wounded the United States
in their dignity and their interests. With the great question of
neutrality, particular questions arose, doubtful enough to serve
as a just reason or a pretext for diversity of opinions and
strong expressions of feeling. Upon some of them, as, for
instance, on the restitution of maritime prizes and the mode of
receiving the new minister expected from France, the cabinet was
no longer unanimous. This minister, M. Genêt, arrived; and his
journey from Charleston to Philadelphia was a popular triumph.
Everywhere, on his journey, numerous and enthusiastic democratic
associations assembled, invited him to meet them, and made
addresses to him; the newspapers rapidly circulated through the
country accounts of these rejoicings and the news from France.
{138}
The public feeling grew more and more inflamed. Of an
enthusiastic temperament himself, and blindly borne away by the
desire of engaging the United States in a war to aid his country,
M. Genêt believed himself to have the right and the ability to
dare every thing, and to succeed in every thing. He issued
letters of marque, enrolled American citizens, armed privateers,
adjudged prizes, and acted as a sovereign power in this foreign
territory, in the name of republican brotherhood. And when
Washington, at first astonished and motionless, but soon
determined, vindicated the rights of the general government.
Genêt entered into an avowed contest with him, supported his own
pretensions, broke out into violent abuse of him, encouraged the
spirit of sedition, and even threatened to appeal to the people
against a President who was unfaithful to his trust, and to the
general cause of liberty. No head of a state was ever more
reserved than Washington in the exercise of power; more cautious
in making engagements and taking new steps.
{139}
But, also, no one ever maintained more firmly his declarations,
his purposes, and his rights. He was President of the United
States of America. He had, in their name, and by virtue of their
constitution, proclaimed their neutrality. The neutrality was to
be real and respected as well as his power. At five successive
meetings, he laid before his cabinet the whole correspondence,
and all the documents, relating to this singular contest; and the
cabinet decided unanimously, that the recall of M. Genêt should
be immediately demanded of the French government.
Genêt was recalled. In the opinion of America, as well as in his
demand upon France, Washington gained a triumph. The federalists
indignantly rallied around him. The pretensions and extravagant
conduct of Genêt had alienated many persons of the democratic
party. Jefferson had not hesitated to support the President
against him. A favorable reaction took place, and the contest
seemed at an end.
{140}
But in government, as well as in war, there are victories which
cost dear, and leave the danger still existing. The revolutionary
fever, once more kindled in the United States, did not depart
with a recalled minister. Instead of that harmony of feeling,
that calm after the storm of passions; instead of that course of
prosperity and general moderation, upon which the American
republic was lately congratulating itself, two parties were there
in a hostile attitude, more widely separated, more violently
irritated, than ever. The opposition no longer confined its
attacks to the administration alone, to the financial measures of
government, and to this or that doubtful application of legal
powers. It had, concealed within itself, in the democratic
associations, in the periodical press, and among the foreigners
who swarmed throughout the country, a true revolutionary faction,
eager to overturn society and its government, in order to
reconstruct them upon other foundations. "There exists in the
United States," writes Washington to Lafayette, "a party formed
by a combination of causes, which oppose the government in all
its measures, and are determined, as all their conduct evinces,
by clogging its wheels, indirectly to change the nature of it,
and to subvert the Constitution.
{141}
To effect this, no means which have a tendency to accomplish
their purposes are left unessayed. The friends of government, who
are anxious to maintain its neutrality, and to preserve the
country in peace, and adopt measures to secure these objects, are
charged by them as being monarchists, aristocrats, and infractors
of the Constitution, which, according to their interpretation of
it, would be a mere cipher. They arrogated to themselves the sole
merit of being the friends of France, when in fact they had no
more regard for that nation than for the Grand Turk, farther than
their own views were promoted by it; denouncing those who
differed in opinion, (whose principles are purely American, and
whose sole view was to observe a strict neutrality,) as acting
under British influence, and being directed by her counsels, or
as being her pensioners." [Footnote 84]
[Footnote 84: Washington's Writings,
Vol. XI. p. 378,]
{142}
"If the conduct of these men is viewed with indifference; if
there are activity and misrepresentation on one side, and
supineness on the other, their numbers accumulated by intriguing
and discontented foreigners under proscription, who were at war
with their own governments, and the greater part of them with
_all_ governments, they will increase, and nothing short of
Omniscience can foretell the consequences." [Footnote 85]
[Footnote 85: Washington's Writings,
Vol. XI. p. 390.]
In the midst of this pressing danger, Jefferson, who was little
inclined to engage any further in the contest, and who had
announced his intention six months before, and had only delayed
putting it in execution at the solicitation of Washington
himself, peremptorily withdrew from the cabinet.
The crisis was a formidable one. A general agitation spread
throughout the country. The western counties of Pennsylvania
resisted with violence the tax on distilled spirits. In Kentucky
and Georgia, warlike insurrections, perhaps excited from abroad,
threatened, on their own authority, to take forcible possession
of Louisiana and Florida, and to engage the nation, in spite of
itself, in a conflict with Spain. The war against the Indians
continued, always difficult and of doubtful issue.
{143}
A new Congress had just assembled, full of respect for
Washington; but yet the House of Representatives showed itself
more reserved in its approbation of his foreign policy, and chose
an opposition Speaker by a majority of ten votes. England desired
to maintain peace with the United States; but, whether she had
doubts of the success of Washington in this system, or acted in
obedience to the dictates of her general policy, or from an
insolent spirit of contempt, she continued and even aggravated
her measures against the commerce of the Americans, whose
irritation also increased in its turn. "It has not been the
smallest of these embarrassments," writes Washington, "that the
domineering spirit of Great Britain should revive again just at
this crisis, and the outrageous and insulting conduct of some of
her officers should combine therewith to play into the hands of
the discontented, and sour the minds of those who are friends to
peace. But this, by the bye." [Footnote 86]
[Footnote 86: Washington's Writings,
Vol. XI. p. 63.]
{144}
It was indeed "by the bye," and without any purpose of taking
advantage of it in order to weaken his policy or to exalt his
merit, that he pointed out the obstacles scattered along his
path. As exempt from vanity as from indecision, he took pains to
surmount, but not to display them. At the time when the
ascendency of the democratic party seem to be assured, when the
federalists themselves were wavering, when severe measures
proposed in Congress against England were about, perhaps, to
render war inevitable, Washington suddenly announced to the
Senate, by a message, that he had just nominated one of the
principal leaders of the federal party, Mr. Jay, Envoy
Extraordinary to the Court of London, in order to attempt to
reconcile the differences between the two nations by the peaceful
instrument of negotiation.
The Senate immediately confirmed his choice. The indignation of
the opposition was at its height. They desired war, and
especially, by means of war, a change of policy. The simple
continuance of the present state of affairs promised to lead to
that result. In so excited a state of feeling, in the midst of
the increasing irritation, a rumor from Europe, a new insult to
the American flag, the slightest circumstance, might cause
hostilities to break out.
{145}
Washington, by his sudden resolution, gave a new turn to events.
The negotiations might be successful; they made it the duty of
the government to await the result. If they failed, he remained
in a position to make war himself, and to control it, without his
policy's receiving a death-blow.
In order to give to his negotiations the authority of a strong
and well-established power, at the same time that he was baffling
the hopes of his enemies as to matters abroad, Washington
resolved to repress their efforts at home. The resistance of some
counties in Pennsylvania to the tax on distilled spirits had
become an open rebellion. He announced, by a proclamation, his
firm purpose of enforcing the execution of the laws; assembled
the militia of Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania
itself; formed them into an army; went in person to the places of
rendezvous, with a determination to take the command himself if
the contest became serious; and did not return to Philadelphia
till he had learned, with certainty, that the insurgents would
not venture to sustain it.
{146}
They dispersed, in point of fact, on the approach of the army, a
detachment of which took up winter quarters in the disaffected
country.
Washington, on this occasion, felt that stern but deep joy,
sometimes granted, in free countries, to a virtuous man who bears
firmly the weight of power. Everywhere, especially in the States
which were near the scene of the insurrection, good citizens were
aware of the danger, and felt their obligation to contribute, by
their own efforts, to the support of the laws. The magistrates
were resolute, the militia zealous; a strong public opinion
silenced the hypocritical sophistries of the advocates of the
insurrection; and Washington did his duty with the approbation
and support of his country. A moderate compensation, indeed, for
the new and bitter trials that awaited him.
At about the same period, his cabinet, which had shared his
labors and his glory, withdrew from him. Hamilton, who was the
object of a hostility always increasing, after having sustained
the contest as long as the success of his plans and his honor
required, compelled at length to think of himself and of his
family, resigned.
{147}
Knox followed his example. Thus Washington was surrounded by none
but new men, who, though devoted to his course of policy, had
much less weight of authority than their predecessors, when Mr.
Jay returned from London, bringing the result of those
negotiations, the mere announcement of which had excited so much
indignation.
The treaty was far from accomplishing all that was to be desired.
It did not settle all the questions, nor secure all the interests
of the United States; but it put an end to the principal
differences of the two nations; it assured the full execution,
hitherto delayed by Great Britain, of the agreements entered into
with her when she had recognized the independence of the country;
it prepared the way for new and more favorable negotiations. In
short, it was peace; an assured peace; one which lessened even
those evils, which it did not remove.
Washington did not hesitate. He had the rare courage to adhere
firmly to a leading principle, and to accept, without a murmur,
the imperfections and inconveniences which accompany success.
{148}
He immediately communicated the treaty to the Senate, who
approved it, with the exception of one article, in regard to
which a modification was to be required of England. The question
still remained in suspense. The opposition made their utmost
efforts. Addresses came from Boston, New York, Baltimore,
Georgetown, &c., expressing disapprobation of the treaty, and
requesting the President not to ratify it. The populace of
Philadelphia assembled in a riotous manner, marched through the
town, carrying the articles of the treaty at the end of a pole,
and formally burned them before the house of the British minister
and consul. Washington, who had gone to pass some days at Mount
Vernon, returned in haste to Philadelphia, and consulted his
cabinet on the question of immediately ratifying the treaty,
without awaiting the arrival from London of the modification
which even the Senate had declared necessary. This step was a
bold one. One member of the cabinet, Randolph, made objections.
Washington went on and ratified the treaty. The British
government agreed to the modification demanded, and in its turn
ratified it.
{149}
There still remained the duty of carrying it into effect, which
required legislative measures and the intervention of Congress.
The contest was renewed in the House of Representatives. Several
times the opposition gained a majority. Washington stood firm, in
the name of the Constitution, which his opponents also appealed
to against him. Finally, at the end of six months, that peace
might not be disturbed, in the general conviction that the
President would be inflexible, the opposition being rather
wearied out than overcome, the measures necessary for carrying
the treaty into effect were adopted by a majority of three votes.
Throughout the country, in public meetings and in newspapers, the
fury of party exceeded all bounds. From all quarters, every day,
addresses full of censure, anonymous letters, invectives,
calumnies, threats, were poured out against Washington. Even his
integrity was scandalously assailed.
He remained unmoved. He replied to the addresses; "My sense of
the treaty has been manifested by its ratification. The
principles on which my sanction was given, have been made public.
I regret the diversity of opinion.
{150}
But whatever qualities, manifested in a long and arduous public
life, have acquired for me the confidence of my fellow-citizens,
let them be assured that they remain unchanged; and that they
will continue to be exerted on every occasion, in which the
honor, the happiness, and welfare of our common country are
immediately involved." [Footnote 87]
[Footnote 87: Washington's Writings,
Vol. XII. p. 212.]
On the attacks of the press, he said; "I did not believe until
lately, that it was within the bounds of probability, hardly
within those of possibility, that while I was using my utmost
exertions to establish a national character of our own,
independent, as far as our obligations and justice would permit,
of every nation of the earth; and wished, by steering a steady
course, to preserve this country from the horrors of a desolating
war, I should be accused of being the enemy of one nation, and
subject to the influence of another; and, to prove it, that every
act of my administration would be tortured, and the grossest and
most insidious misrepresentations of them be made, by giving one
side only of a subject, and that, too, in such exaggerated and
indecent terms as could scarcely be applied to a Nero, a
notorious defaulter, or even to a common pickpocket.
{151}
But enough of this. I have already gone further in the expression
of my feelings than I intended." [Footnote 88]
[Footnote 88: Washington's Writings,
Vol. XI. p. 139.]
Good men, the friends of order and justice, at length perceived
that they were leaving their noble champion exposed, without
defence, to unworthy attacks. In free countries, falsehood stalks
with a bold front; vain would be the attempt to force it to keep
concealed; but it is the duty of truth, also, to lift up its
head; on these terms alone is liberty a blessing. In their turn,
numerous and cordial congratulations, encouraging and grateful
addresses, were presented to Washington. And when the close of
his second presidency approached, in all parts of the Union, even
those where the opposition seemed to prevail, a multitude of
voices were raised, to entreat him to accept a third time the
highest power which the suffrages of his fellow-citizens could
confer.
{152}
But his resolution was fixed. He did not permit even a discussion
of the question. That memorable Farewell Address, in which, as he
was returning into the midst of the people whom he had governed,
he dispensed to them the last teachings of his long-gathered
wisdom, is still, after more than forty years, cherished by them
as an object of remembrance, and almost of tenderness of feeling.
"In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old
and affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the
strong and lasting impression I could wish; that they will
control the usual current of the passions, or prevent our
nation from running the course, which has hitherto marked the
destiny of nations. But, if I may even flatter myself, that
they may be productive of some partial benefit, some occasional
good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the fury of
party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign
intrigue, to guard against the impostures of pretended
patriotism; this hope will be a full recompense for the
solicitude for your welfare, by which they have been dictated."
[Footnote 89] ...
[Footnote 89: Washington's Writings,
Vol. XII. p. 233.]
{153}
"Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am
unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too
sensible of my defects not to think it probable that I may have
committed many errors. Whatever they may be, I fervently
beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate the evils to which
they may tend. I shall also carry with me the hope, that my
country will never cease to view them with indulgence; and
that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its
service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent
abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be
to the mansions of rest.
"Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and
actuated by that fervent love towards it, which is so natural
to a man, who views in it the native soil of himself and his
progenitors for several generations; I anticipate with pleasing
expectation that retreat, in which I promise myself to realize,
without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in the midst
of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under
a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart, and
the happy reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and
dangers." [Footnote 90]
[Footnote 90: Washington's Writings,
Vol. XII. pp. 234, 235.]
{154}
What an incomparable example of dignity and modesty! How perfect
a model of that respect for the public and for one's self, which
gives to power its moral grandeur!