CHAPTER III.

General Washington devotes his time to rural pursuits.... to

the duties of friendship.... and to institutions of public

utility.... Resolves of Congress and of the Legislature of

Virginia for erecting statues to his honour.... Recommends

improvement in inland navigation.... Declines accepting a

donation made to him by his native state.... The society of

the Cincinnati.... He is elected President.... The causes

which led to a change of the government of the United

States.... Circular letter of General Washington to the

governors of the several states.

{1783 to 1787}

[Sidenote: After retiring to private life, General Washington devotes

his time to rural pursuits, to the duties of friendship, and to

institutions of public utility.]

When an individual, long in possession of great power, and almost

unlimited influence, retires from office with alacrity, and resumes

the character of a private citizen with pleasure, the mind is

gratified in contemplating the example of virtuous moderation, and

dwells upon it with approving satisfaction. We look at man in his most

estimable character; and this view of him exalts our opinion of human

nature. Such was the example exhibited by General Washington to his

country and to the world. His deportment, and his language, equally

attest that he returned with these feelings to the employments of

private life. In a letter to Governor Clinton, written only three days

after his arrival at Mount Vernon, he says, "The scene is at length

closed. I feel myself eased of a load of public care, and hope to

spend the remainder of my days in cultivating the affections of good

men, and in the practice of the domestic virtues." "At length, my dear

marquis," said he to his noble and highly valued friend, Lafayette, "I

have become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac; and under

the shadow of my own vine, and my own fig tree, free from the bustle

of a camp, and the busy scenes of public life, I am solacing myself

with those tranquil enjoyments, of which the soldier who is ever in

pursuit of fame--the statesman whose watchful days and sleepless

nights are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare of his

own--perhaps the ruin of other countries, as if this globe was

insufficient for us all--and the courtier who is always watching the

countenance of his prince in the hope of catching a gracious

smile--can have very little conception. I have not only retired from

all public employments, but am retiring within myself, and shall be

able to view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of private life,

with heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be

pleased with all; and this, my dear friend, being the order of my

march, I will move gently down the stream of life, until I sleep with

my fathers."

But a mind accustomed to labour for a nation's welfare, does not

immediately divest itself of ancient habits. That custom of thinking

on public affairs, and that solicitude respecting them, which belong

to the patriot in office, follow him into his retreat. In a letter to

General Knox, written soon after his resignation, General Washington

thus expressed the feelings attendant upon this sudden transition from

public to private pursuits. "I am just beginning to experience the

ease and freedom from public cares, which, however desirable, takes

some time to realize; for strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless

true, that it was not until lately, I could get the better of my usual

custom of ruminating, as soon as I awoke in the morning, on the

business of the ensuing day; and of my surprise at finding, after

revolving many things in my mind, that I was no longer a public man,

or had any thing to do with public transactions. I feel now, however,

as I conceive a wearied traveller must do, who, after treading many a

painful step with a heavy burden on his shoulders, is eased of the

latter, having reached the haven to which all the former were

directed; and from his house-top is looking back, and tracing with an

eager eye, the meanders by which he escaped the quick-sands and mires

which lay in his way, and into which none but the all powerful Guide

and Dispenser of human events could have prevented his falling."

For several months after arriving at Mount Vernon, almost every day

brought him the addresses of an affectionate and grateful people. The

glow of expression in which the high sense universally entertained of

his services was conveyed, manifested the warmth of feeling which

animated the American bosom. This unexampled tribute of voluntary

applause, paid by a whole people, to an individual no longer in power,

made no impression on the unassuming modesty of his character and

deportment. The same firmness of mind, the same steady and well

tempered judgment, which had guided him through the most perilous

seasons of the war, still regulated his conduct; and the enthusiastic

applauses of an admiring nation served only to cherish sentiments of

gratitude, and to give greater activity to the desire still further to

contribute to the general prosperity.

[Sidenote: Resolves of Congress and of the legislature of Virginia for

erecting statues in honour of him.]

It was not by addresses alone that his country manifested its

attachment to him. Soon after peace was proclaimed, congress

unanimously passed a resolution for the erection of an equestrian

statue of their general,[19] at the place which should be established

for the residence of the government.

[Footnote 19: "Resolved that the statue be of bronze: the

general to be represented in a Roman dress, holding a

truncheon in his right hand, and his head encircled with a

laurel wreath. The statue to be supported by a marble

pedestal on which are to be represented, in basso relievo,

the following principal events of the war, in which General

Washington commanded in person: the evacuation of

Boston:--the capture of the Hessians at Trenton:--the battle

of Princeton:--the action of Monmouth:--and the surrender of

York.--On the upper part of the front of the pedestal to be

engraved as follows: the United States in congress

assembled, ordered this statue to be erected in the year of

our Lord 1783, in honour of George Washington, the

illustrious Commander-in-chief of the armies of the United

States of America, during the war which vindicated and

secured their liberty, sovereignty and independence."]

The legislature of Virginia too, at its first session after his

resignation, passed the following resolution.[20]

[Footnote 20: This resolution has been carried into

execution. The statue it ordained now stands in the capitol

of Virginia, in a spacious area in the centre of the

building. A bust of the Marquis de Lafayette, which was also

directed by the legislature, is placed in a niche of the

wall in the same part of the building.]

"Resolved, that the executive be requested to take measures for

procuring a statue of General Washington, to be of the finest marble

and best workmanship, with the following inscription on its pedestal:

"The general assembly of the commonwealth of Virginia have caused this

statue to be erected as a monument of affection and gratitude to

GEORGE WASHINGTON, who, uniting to the endowments of the HERO, the

virtues of the PATRIOT, and exerting both in establishing the

liberties of his country, has rendered his name dear to his fellow

citizens, and given the world an immortal example of true glory."

Although the toils of General Washington were no longer exhibited to

the public eye, his time continued to be usefully employed. The

judicious cultivation of the earth is justly placed among the most

valuable sources of national prosperity, and nothing could be more

wretched than the general state of agriculture in America. To its

melioration by examples which might be followed, and by the

introduction of systems adapted to the soil, the climate, and to the

situation of the people, the energies of his active and intelligent

mind were now in a great degree directed. No improvement of the

implements to be used on a farm, no valuable experiments in husbandry,

escaped his attention. His inquiries, which were equally minute and

comprehensive, extended beyond the limits of his own country; and he

entered into a correspondence on this interesting subject with those

foreigners who had been most distinguished for their additions to the

stock of agricultural science.

[Illustration: The Old Senate Chamber at Annapolis, Maryland, Where

Washington Resigned His Commission

_The fate of the Republic was in the hands of Washington when he

resigned his commission to Congress, then sitting at Annapolis,

December 23, 1783, and retired to private life. Had he so desired, it

is probable that he could have founded a monarchy, sustained by his

army. Instead, as he wrote to Lafayette, shortly after his return to

Mount Vernon: "I have not only retired from all public employments but

am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary

walk, and tread the paths of private life, with heartfelt

satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all;

and this, my dear friend, being the order of my march, I will move

gently down the stream of life, until I sleep with my fathers."_]

Mingled with this favourite pursuit, were the multiplied avocations

resulting from the high office he had lately filled. He was engaged in

an extensive correspondence with the friends most dear to his

heart--the foreign and American officers who had served under him

during the late war--and with almost every conspicuous political

personage of his own, and with many of other countries. Literary men

also were desirous of obtaining his approbation of their works, and

his attention was solicited to every production of American genius.

His countrymen who were about to travel, were anxious to receive from

the first citizen of this rising republic, some testimonial of their

worth; and all those strangers of distinction who visited this newly

created empire, were ambitious of being presented to its founder.

Among those who were drawn across the Atlantic by curiosity, and

perhaps by a desire to observe the progress of the popular governments

which were instituted in this new world, was Mrs. Macauley Graham. By

the principles contained in her History of the Stuarts, this lady had

acquired much reputation in republican America, and by all was

received with marked attention. For the sole purpose of paying her

respects to a person whose fame had spread over Europe, she paid a

visit to Mount Vernon; and, if her letters may be credited, the

exalted opinion she had formed of its proprietor, was "not diminished

by a personal acquaintance with him."

To these occupations, which were calculated to gratify an intelligent

mind, or which derived a value from the indulgence they afforded to

the feelings of the heart, others were unavoidably added, in the

composition of which, no palatable ingredient was intermixed. Of these

unwelcome intrusions upon his time, General Washington thus complained

to an intimate military friend. "It is not, my dear sir, the letters

of my friends which give me trouble, or add aught to my perplexity. I

receive them with pleasure, and pay as much attention to them as my

avocations will permit. It is references to old matters with which I

have nothing to do--applications which oftentimes can not be complied

with--inquiries, to satisfy which would employ the pen of a

historian--letters of compliment, as unmeaning perhaps as they are

troublesome, but which must be attended to; and the common-place

business--which employ my pen and my time often disagreeably. Indeed,

these, with company, deprive me of exercise; and, unless I can obtain

relief, must be productive of disagreeable consequences. Already I

begin to feel their effects. Heavy and painful oppressions of the

head, and other disagreeable sensations often trouble me. I am

determined therefore to employ some person who shall ease me of the

_drudgery_ of this business. At any rate, if the whole of it is

thereby suspended, I am determined to use exercise. My private affairs

also require infinitely more attention than I have given, or can give

them, under present circumstances. They can no longer be neglected

without involving my ruin."

It was some time after the date of this letter before he could

introduce into his family a young gentleman, whose education and

manners enabled him to fill the station of a private secretary and of

a friend.

This multiplicity of private avocations could not entirely withdraw

the mind of Washington from objects tending to promote and secure the

public happiness. His resolution never again to appear in the busy

scenes of political life, though believed by himself, and by his bosom

friends, to be unalterable, could not render him indifferent to those

measures on which the prosperity of his country essentially depended.

To a person looking beyond the present moment, it was only necessary

to glance over the map of the United States, to be impressed with the

importance of connecting the western with the eastern territory, by

facilitating the means of intercourse between them. To this subject,

the attention of General Washington had been directed in the early

part of his life. While the American states were yet British colonies,

he had obtained the passage of a bill for opening the Potomac so as to

render it navigable from tide water to Wills creek.[21] The river

James had also been comprehended in this plan; and he had triumphed so

far over the opposition produced by local interests and prejudices,

that the business was in a train which promised success, when the

revolutionary war diverted the attention of its patrons, and of all

America, from internal improvements to the still greater objects of

liberty and independence. As that war approached its termination,

subjects which for a time had yielded their pretensions to

consideration, reclaimed that place to which their real magnitude

entitled them; and internal navigation again attracted the attention

of the wise and thinking part of society. Accustomed to contemplate

America as his country, and to consider with solicitude the interests

of the whole, Washington now took a more enlarged view of the

advantages to be derived from opening both the eastern and the western

waters; and for this, as well as for other purposes, after peace had

been proclaimed, he traversed the western parts of New England and New

York. "I have lately," said he in a letter to the Marquis of

Chastellux, a nobleman in pursuit of literary as well as of military

fame, "made a tour through the lakes George and Champlain as far as

Crown Point;--then returning to Schenectady, I proceeded up the Mohawk

river to fort Schuyler, crossed over to Wood creek which empties into

the Oneida lake, and affords the water communication with Ontario. I

then traversed the country to the head of the eastern branch of the

Susquehanna, and viewed the lake Otswego, and the portage between that

lake and the Mohawk river at Cotnajohario. Prompted by these actual

observations, I could not help taking a more contemplative and

extensive view of the vast inland navigation of these United States,

and could not but be struck with the immense diffusion and importance

of it; and with the goodness of that Providence which has dealt his

favours to us with so profuse a hand. Would to God we may have wisdom

enough to improve them. I shall not rest contented until I have

explored the western country, and traversed those lines (or great part

of them) which have given bounds to a new empire."

[Footnote 21: About one hundred and fifty miles.]

Scarcely had he answered those spontaneous offerings of the heart,

which flowed in upon him from every part of a grateful nation, when

his views were once more seriously turned to this truly interesting

subject. Its magnitude was also impressed on others; and the value of

obtaining the aid which his influence and active interference would

afford to any exertions for giving this direction to the public mind,

and for securing the happy execution of the plan which might be

devised, was perceived by all those who attached to the great work its

real importance. A gentleman[22] who had taken an expanded view of it,

concluded a letter to General Washington, containing a detailed

statement of his ideas on the subject in these terms:

[Footnote 22: Mr. Jefferson.]

"But a most powerful objection always arises to propositions of this

kind. It is, that public undertakings are carelessly managed, and much

money spent to little purpose. To obviate this objection is the

purpose of my giving you the trouble of this discussion. You have

retired from public life. You have weighed this determination, and it

would be impertinence in me to touch it. But would the superintendence

of this work break in too much on the sweets of retirement and repose?

If they would, I stop here. Your future time and wishes are sacred in

my eye. If it would be only a dignified amusement to you, what a

monument of your retirement would it be! It is one which would follow

that of your public life, and bespeak it the work of the same great

hand. I am confident, that would you either alone, or jointly with any

persons you think proper, be willing to direct this business, it would

remove the only objection, the weight of which I apprehend."

[Sidenote: Recommends the opening and improving the inland navigation

of the great rivers in Virginia.]

In the autumn of 1784, General Washington made a tour as far west as

Pittsburgh; after returning from which, his first moments of leisure

were devoted to the task of engaging his countrymen in a work which

appeared to him to merit still more attention from its political, than

from its commercial influence on the union. In a long and interesting

letter to Mr. Harrison, then governor of Virginia, he detailed the

advantages which might be derived from opening the great rivers, the

Potomac and the James, as high as should be practicable. After stating

with his accustomed exactness the distances, and the difficulties to

be surmounted in bringing the trade of the west to different points on

the Atlantic, he expressed unequivocally the opinion, that the rivers

of Virginia afforded a more convenient, and a more direct course than

could be found elsewhere, for that rich and increasing commerce. This

was strongly urged as a motive for immediately commencing the work.

But the rivers of the Atlantic constituted only a part of the great

plan he contemplated. He suggested the appointment of commissioners of

integrity and abilities, exempt from the suspicion of prejudice, whose

duty it should be, after an accurate examination of the James and the

Potomac, to search out the nearest and best portages between those

waters and the streams capable of improvement, which run into the

Ohio. Those streams were to be accurately surveyed, the impediments to

their navigation ascertained, and their relative advantages examined.

The navigable waters west of the Ohio, towards the great lakes, were

also to be traced to their sources, and those which empty into the

lakes to be followed to their mouths. "These things being done, and an

accurate map of the whole presented to the public, he was persuaded

that reason would dictate what was right and proper." For the

execution of this latter part of his plan he had also much reliance on

congress; and in addition to the general advantages to be drawn from

the measure, he laboured, in his letters to the members of that body,

to establish the opinion, that the surveys he recommended would add to

the revenue, by enhancing the value of the lands offered for sale.

"Nature," he said, "had made such an ample display of her bounties in

those regions, that the more the country was explored, the more it

would rise in estimation."

The assent and co-operation of Maryland being indispensable to the

improvement of the Potomac, he was equally earnest in his endeavours

to impress a conviction of its superior advantages on those

individuals who possessed most influence in that state. In doing so,

he detailed the measures which would unquestionably be adopted by New

York and Pennsylvania, for acquiring the monopoly of the western

commerce, and the difficulty which would be found in diverting it from

the channel it had once taken. "I am not," he added, "for discouraging

the exertions of any state to draw the commerce of the western country

to its sea-ports. The more communications we open to it, the closer we

bind that rising world (for indeed it may be so called) to our

interests, and the greater strength shall we acquire by it. Those to

whom nature affords the best communication, will, if they are wise,

enjoy the greatest share of the trade. All I would be understood to

mean, therefore, is, that the gifts of Providence may not be

neglected."

But the light in which this subject would be viewed with most

interest, and which gave to it most importance, was its political

influence on the union. "I need not remark to you, sir," said he in

his letter to the governor of Virginia, "that the flanks and rear of

the United States are possessed by other powers,--and formidable ones

too: need I press the necessity of applying the cement of

interest to bind all parts of the union together by indissoluble

bonds,--especially of binding that part of it which lies immediately

west of us, to the middle states. For what ties, let me ask, should we

have upon those people, how entirely unconnected with them shall we

be, and what troubles may we not apprehend, if the Spaniards on their

right, and Great Britain on their left, instead of throwing

impediments in their way as they now do, should hold out lures for

their trade and alliance? when they get strength, which will be sooner

than most people conceive, what will be the consequence of their

having formed close commercial connexions with both, or either of

those powers? it needs not, in my opinion, the gift of prophecy to

foretell."

This idea was enlarged and pressed with much earnestness, in his

letters to several members of congress.

The letter to the governor was communicated to the assembly of

Virginia, and the internal improvements it recommended were zealously

supported by the wisest members of that body. While the subject

remained undecided, General Washington, accompanied by the Marquis de

Lafayette, who had crossed the Atlantic, and had devoted a part of his

time to the delights of an enthusiastic friendship, paid a visit to

the capital of the state. Never was reception more cordial, or more

demonstrative of respect and affection, than was given to these

beloved personages. But amidst the display of addresses and of

entertainments which were produced by the occasion, the great business

of internal improvements was not forgotten; and the ardour of the

moment was seized to conquer those objections to the plan, which yet

lingered in the bosoms of members who could perceive in it no future

advantages to compensate for the present expense.

An exact conformity between the acts of Virginia and of Maryland,

being indispensable to the improvement of the Potomac, the friends of

the measure deemed it adviseable to avail themselves of the same

influence with the latter state, which had been successfully employed

with the former; and a resolution was passed, soon after the return of

General Washington to Mount Vernon, requesting him[23] to attend the

legislature of Maryland, in order to agree on a bill which might

receive the sanction of both states. This agreement being happily

completed, the bills were enacted which form the first essay towards

connecting the navigation of the eastern with the western waters of

the United States.

[Footnote 23: General Gates was associated with him in the

mission.]

These acts were succeeded by one, which conveys the liberal wishes of

the legislature, with a delicacy scarcely less honourable to its

framers, than to him who was its object. The treasurer had been

instructed to subscribe, in behalf of the state, for a specified

number of shares in each company. Just at the close of the session,

when no refusal of their offer could be communicated to them, a bill

was suddenly brought in, which received the unanimous assent of both

houses, authorizing the treasurer to subscribe for the benefit of

General Washington, the same number of shares in each company as were

to be taken for the state. A preamble was prefixed to the enacting

clause of this bill[24] in which its greatest value consisted. With

simple elegance, it conveyed the sentiment, that in seizing this

occasion, to make a donation which would in some degree testify their

sense of the merits of their most favoured and most illustrious

citizen, the donors would themselves be the obliged.

[Footnote 24: It is in these words; "whereas it is the

desire of the representatives of this commonwealth to

embrace every suitable occasion of testifying their sense of

the unexampled merits of George Washington, esquire, towards

his country, and it is their wish in particular that those

great works for its improvement, which both as springing

from the liberty which he has been so instrumental in

establishing, and as encouraged by his patronage, will be

durable monuments of his glory, may be made monuments also

of the gratitude of his country. Be it enacted, &c." This

bill is understood to have been drawn by Mr. Madison.]

However delightful might be the sensations produced by this delicate

and flattering testimony of the affection of his fellow citizens, it

was not without its embarrassments. From his early resolution to

receive no pecuniary compensation for his services, he could not

permit himself to depart; and yet this mark of the gratitude and

attachment of his country, could not easily be rejected without

furnishing occasion for sentiments he was unwilling to excite. To the

friend[25] who conveyed to him the first intelligence of this bill,

his difficulties were thus expressed.

[Footnote 25: Mr. Madison.]

[Sidenote: He declines accepting a donation made to him by his native

state.]

"It is not easy for me to decide by which my mind was most affected

upon the receipt of your letter of the sixth instant--surprise or

gratitude. Both were greater than I had words to express. The

attention and good wishes which the assembly has evidenced by their

act for vesting in me one hundred and fifty shares in the navigation

of the rivers Potomac and James, is more than mere compliment,--there

is an unequivocal and substantial meaning annexed. But, believe me,

sir, no circumstance has happened since I left the walks of public

life which has so much embarrassed me. On the one hand, I consider

this act, as I have already observed, as a noble and unequivocal proof

of the good opinion, the affection, and disposition of my country to

serve me; and I should be hurt, if by declining the acceptance of it,

my refusal should be construed into disrespect, or the smallest slight

upon the generous intention of the legislature; or that an

ostentatious display of disinterestedness, or public virtue, was the

source of refusal.

"On the other hand, it is really my wish to have my mind and my

actions, which are the result of reflection, as free and independent

as the air, that I may be more at liberty (in things which my

opportunities and experience have brought me to the knowledge of) to

express my sentiments, and if necessary, to suggest what may occur to

me, under the fullest conviction that, although my judgment may be

arraigned, there will be no suspicion that sinister motives had the

smallest influence in the suggestion. Not content then with the bare

consciousness of my having in all this navigation business, acted upon

the clearest conviction of the political importance of the measure, I

would wish that every individual who may hear that it was a favourite

plan of mine, may know also, that I had no other motive for promoting

it, than the advantage of which I conceived it would be productive to

the union at large, and to this state in particular, by cementing the

eastern and western territory together, at the same time that it will

give vigour and increase to our commerce, and be a convenience to our

citizens."

At length he determined, in the same letter which should convey his

resolution not to retain the shares for his private emolument, to

signify his willingness to hold them in trust for such public

institution as the legislature should approve. The following letter

conveyed this resolution to the general assembly, through the governor

of the state.

(October, 1785.)

"Sir,

"Your excellency having been pleased to transmit me a copy of the act

appropriating to my benefit certain shares in the companies for

opening the navigation of James and Potomac rivers, I take the liberty

of returning to the general assembly through your hands, the profound

and grateful acknowledgments inspired by so signal a mark of their

beneficent intentions towards me. I beg you, sir, to assure them, that

I am filled on this occasion with every sentiment which can flow from

a heart warm with love for my country, sensible to every token of its

approbation and affection, and solicitous to testify in every instance

a respectful submission to its wishes.

"With these sentiments in my bosom, I need not dwell on the anxiety I

feel in being obliged, in this instance, to decline a favour which is

rendered no less flattering by the manner in which it is conveyed,

than it is affectionate in itself. In explaining this, I pass over a

comparison of my endeavours in the public service, with the many

honourable testimonies of approbation which have already so far

overrated, and overpaid them--reciting one consideration only which

supersedes the necessity of recurring to every other.

"When I was first called to the station with which I was honoured

during the late conflict for our liberties, to the diffidence which I

had so many reasons to feel in accepting it, I thought it my duty to

join a firm resolution to shut my hand against every pecuniary

recompense. To this resolution I have invariably adhered, and from it

(if I had the inclination) I do not consider myself at liberty now to

depart.

"Whilst I repeat therefore my fervent acknowledgments to the

legislature, for their very kind sentiments and intentions in my

favour, and at the same time beg them to be persuaded that a

remembrance of this singular proof of their goodness towards me, will

never cease to cherish returns of the warmest affection and gratitude,

I must pray that their act, so far as it has for its object my

personal emolument, may not have its effect; but if it should please

the general assembly to permit me to turn the destination of the fund

vested in me, from my private emolument, to objects of a public

nature, it will be my study, in selecting these, to prove the

sincerity of my gratitude for the honour conferred upon me, by

preferring such as may appear most subservient to the enlightened and

patriotic views of the legislature."

The wish suggested in this letter, immediately received the sanction

of the legislature; and at a subsequent time, the trust was executed

by conveying the shares respectively to the use of a seminary of

learning established in the vicinity of each river.

General Washington felt too strong an interest in the success of these

works, to refuse the presidency of the companies instituted for their

completion. In conducting the affairs of the Potomac company, he took

an active part: to that formed for opening the navigation of the

James, he could only give his counsel.

These were not the only institutions which occasionally drew the

farmer of Mount Vernon from his retreat, and continued him in the

public view.

The sentiments with which the officers of the American army

contemplated a final separation from each other, will be comprehended

by all who are conversant with the finest feelings of the human heart.

Companions in virtuous suffering, in danger, and in glory--attached to

each other by common exertions made in a severe struggle for the

attainment of a common object--they felt that to part for ever was a

calamity too afflicting to be supported. The means of perpetuating

those friendships which had been formed, and of renewing that

endearing social intercourse which had taken place in camp, were

universally desired. Perhaps, too, that _esprit de corps_ which,

identifying the individual with the community, transfers to the

aggregate of the society a portion of that self-love which is felt by

every private person, and which inspires in the members with a

repugnance to the dissolution of the political, not unlike in effect

to that which is excited at the dissolution of the natural body, was

not without its influence in suggesting some expedient which might

preserve the memory of the army, while it cheered the officers who

were on the point of separating, with the hope that the separation

would not be eternal: that at distant intervals, they might still

communicate with each other: that the bonds by which they were

connected would not be totally dissolved: and that, for many

beneficial purposes, the patriots of the American army would still

form one great society.

[Sidenote: Establishment of the society of the Cincinnati of which he

is elected president.]

This idea was suggested by General Knox, and was matured in a meeting

composed of the generals, and of deputies from the regiments, at which

Major General the Baron Steuben presided. An agreement was then

entered into, by which the officers were to constitute themselves into

one society of friends, to endure as long as they should endure, or

any of their eldest male posterity; and, in failure thereof, any

collateral branches who might be judged worthy of becoming its

supporters and members, were to be admitted into it. To mark their

veneration for that celebrated Roman between whose situation and their

own they found some similitude, they were to be denominated, "The

Society of the Cincinnati." Individuals of the respective states,

distinguished for their patriotism and abilities, might be admitted as

honorary members for life, provided their numbers should at no time

exceed a ratio of one to four.

The society was to be designated by a medal of gold representing the

American eagle bearing on its breast the devices of the order, which

was to be suspended by a ribbon of deep blue edged with white,

descriptive of the union of America and France. To the ministers who

had represented his Most Christian Majesty at Philadelphia, to the

admirals who had commanded in the American seas, to the Count de

Rochambeau, and the generals and colonels of the French troops who had

served in the United States, the insignia of the order were to be

presented, and they were to be invited to consider themselves as

members of the society; at the head of which the Commander-in-chief

was respectfully solicited to place his name. An incessant attention,

on the part of the members, to the preservation of the exalted rights

and liberties of human nature for which they had fought and bled, and

an unalterable determination to promote and cherish between the

respective states, union and national honour, were declared to be the

immutable principles of the society. Its objects were, to perpetuate

the remembrance of the American revolution, as well as cordial

affection and the spirit of brotherly kindness among the officers; and

to extend acts of beneficence to those officers and their families,

whose situation might require assistance. To give effect to the

charitable object of the institution, a common fund was to be created

by the deposite of one month's pay on the part of every officer

becoming a member; the product of which fund, after defraying certain

necessary charges, was to be sacredly appropriated to this humane

purpose.

The military gentlemen of each state were to constitute a distinct

society, deputies from which were to assemble triennially, in order to

form a general meeting for the regulation of general concerns.

Without encountering any open opposition, this institution was carried

into complete effect; and its honours were sought, especially by the

foreign officers, with great avidity. But soon after it was organized,

those jealousies which in its first moments had been concealed, burst

forth into open view. In October, 1783, a pamphlet was published by

Mr. Burk of South Carolina, for the purpose of rousing the

apprehensions of the public, and of directing its resentments against

the society. Perceiving or believing that he perceived, in the

Cincinnati, the foundation of an hereditary order, whose base, from

associating with the military the chiefs of the powerful families in

each state, would acquire a degree of solidity and strength admitting

of any superstructure, he portrayed, in the fervid and infectious

language of passion, the dangers to result from the fabric which would

be erected on it. The ministers of the United States too in Europe,

and the political theorists who cast their eyes towards the west for

support to favourite systems, having the privileged orders constantly

in view, were loud in their condemnations of an institution from which

a race of nobles was expected to spring. The alarm was spread

throughout every state, and a high degree of jealousy pervaded the

mass of the people. In Massachusetts, the subject was even taken up by

the legislature; and it was well understood that, in congress, the

society was viewed with secret disapprobation.

"It was impossible for General Washington to view with indifference

this state of the public feeling. Bound to the officers of his army by

the strictest ties of esteem and affection, conscious of their merits,

and assured of their attachment to his person, he was alive to every

thing which might affect their reputation, or their interests. However

innocent the institution might be in itself, or however laudable its

real objects, if the impression it made on the public mind was such as

to draw a line of distinction between the military men of America and

their fellow citizens, he was earnest in his wishes to adopt such

measures as would efface that impression. However ill founded the

public prejudices might be, he thought this a case in which they ought

to be respected; and, if it should be found impracticable to convince

the people that their fears were misplaced, he was disposed to yield

to them in a degree, and not to suffer that which was intended for the

best of purposes, to produce a bad one."

A general meeting was to be held in Philadelphia in May, 1784; and, in

the mean time, he had been appointed the temporary president.

To prepare the officers for those fundamental changes in the

principles of the society, which he contemplated as a necessary

sacrifice to the public apprehensions, his ideas were suggested to his

military correspondents; and to give weight to the measures which

might be recommended, his utmost influence was exerted to obtain a

full assemblage of deputies, which should be respectable for its

numbers, and for its wisdom.

Officers of high respectability entertained different opinions on

surrendering those parts of the institution which were deemed

objectionable. By some, the public clamour was attributed to a spirit

of persecution, which only attached them more closely to the order.

Many, it was said, were in quest of a cause of quarrel with their late

protectors; and the removal of one ground of accusation against them,

would only induce the substitution of some other. The source of the

uneasiness which had been manifested was to be found in the temper of

the people, not in the matters of which they complained; and if the

present cause of irritation was removed, their ill humour would be

openly and avowedly directed against the commutation.

General Washington was too much in the habit of considering subjects

of difficulty in various points of view, and of deciding on them with

coolness and deliberation, to permit his affections to influence his

judgment. The most exact inquiries, assiduously made into the true

state of the public mind, resulted in a conviction that opinions

unfriendly to the institution, in its actual form, were extensively

entertained; and that those opinions were founded, not in hostility to

the late army, but in real apprehensions for equal liberty.

A wise and necessary policy required, he thought, the removal of these

apprehensions; and, at the general meeting in May, the hereditary

principle, and the power of adopting honorary members, were

relinquished. The result demonstrated the propriety of this

alteration. Although a few who always perceive most danger where none

exists, and the visionaries then abounding in Europe, continued their

prophetic denunciations against the order, America dismissed her

fears; and, notwithstanding the refusal of one or two of the state

societies to adopt the measures recommended by the general meeting,

the members of the Cincinnati were received as brethren into the bosom

of their country.

[Sidenote: The causes which led to a change of the government of the

United States.]

While General Washington thus devoted a great part of his time to

rural pursuits, to the duties of friendship, and to institutions of

public utility, the political state of his country, becoming daily

more embarrassed, attracted more and more deeply the anxious

solicitude of every enlightened and virtuous patriot. From peace, from

independence, and from governments of their own choice, the United

States had confidently anticipated every blessing. The glorious

termination of their contest with one of the most powerful nations of

the earth; the steady and persevering courage with which that contest

had been maintained; and the unyielding firmness with which the

privations attending it had been supported, had surrounded the infant

republics with a great degree of splendour, and had bestowed upon them

a character which could be preserved only by a national and dignified

system of conduct. A very short time was sufficient to demonstrate,

that something not yet possessed was requisite, to insure the public

and private prosperity expected to flow from self government. After a

short struggle so to administer the existing system, as to make it

competent to the great objects for which it was instituted, the effort

became apparently desperate; and American affairs were impelled

rapidly to a crisis, on which the continuance of the United States, as

a nation, appeared to depend.

In tracing the causes which led to this interesting state of things,

it will be necessary to carry back our attention to the conclusion of

the war.

A government authorized to declare war, but relying on independent

states for the means of prosecuting it; capable of contracting debts,

and of pledging the public faith for their payment, but depending on

thirteen distinct sovereignties for the preservation of that faith,

could not be rescued from ignominy and contempt, but by finding those

sovereignties administered by men exempt from the passions incident to

human nature.

The debts of the union were computed, on the first of January, 1783,

at somewhat more than forty millions of dollars. "If," say congress,

in an address to the states, urging that the means of payment should

be placed in their hands, "other motives than that of justice could be

requisite on this occasion, no nation could ever feel stronger; for to

whom are the debts to be paid?

"_To an ally_, in the first place, who to the exertion of his arms in

support of our cause has added the succours of his treasure; who to

his important loans has added liberal donations, and whose loans

themselves carry the impression of his magnanimity and friendship.

"_To individuals in a foreign country_, in the next place, who were

the first to give so precious a token of their confidence in our

justice, and of their friendship for our cause, and who are members of

a republic which was second in espousing our rank among nations.

"Another class of creditors is, that _illustrious and patriotic band of

fellow citizens_, whose blood and whose bravery have defended the

liberties of their country, who have patiently borne, among other

distresses, the privation of their stipends, whilst the distresses of

their country disabled it from bestowing them: and who, even now, ask

for no more than such a portion of their dues, as will enable them to

retire from the field of victory and glory, into the bosom of peace

and private citizenship, and for such effectual security for the

residue of their claims, as their country is now unquestionably able

to provide.

"The remaining class of creditors is composed partly of such of our

fellow citizens as originally lent to the public the use of their

funds, or have since manifested most confidence in their country, by

receiving transfers from the lenders; and partly of those whose

property has been either advanced or assumed for the public service.

To discriminate the merits of these several descriptions of creditors,

would be a task equally unnecessary and invidious. If the voice of

humanity plead more loudly in favour of some than of others, the voice

of policy, no less than of justice, pleads in favour of all. A wise

nation will never permit those who relieve the wants of their country,

or who rely most on its faith, its firmness, and its resources, when

either of them is distrusted, to suffer by the event."

In a government constituted like that of the United States, it would

readily be expected that great contrariety of sentiment would prevail,

respecting the principles on which its affairs should be conducted. It

has been already stated that the continent was divided into two great

political parties, the one of which contemplated America as a nation,

and laboured incessantly to invest the federal head with powers

competent to the preservation of the union. The other attached itself

to the state government, viewed all the powers of congress with

jealousy, and assented reluctantly to measures which would enable the

head to act, in any respect, independently of the members. Men of

enlarged and liberal minds who, in the imbecility of a general

government, by which alone the capacities of the nation could be

efficaciously exerted, could discern the imbecility of the nation

itself; who, viewing the situation of the world, could perceive the

dangers to which these young republics were exposed, if not held

together by a cement capable of preserving a beneficial connexion; who

felt the full value of national honour, and the full obligation of

national faith; and who were persuaded of the insecurity of both, if

resting for their preservation on the concurrence of thirteen distinct

sovereigns; arranged themselves generally in the first party. The

officers of the army, whose local prejudices had been weakened by

associating with each other, and whose experience had furnished

lessons on the inefficacy of requisitions which were not soon to be

forgotten, threw their weight almost universally into the same scale.

The other party, if not more intelligent, was more numerous, and more

powerful. It was sustained by prejudices and feelings which grew

without effort, and gained strength from the intimate connexions

subsisting between a state and its citizens. It required a concurrence

of extrinsic circumstances to force on minds unwilling to receive the

demonstration, a conviction of the necessity of an effective national

government, and to give even a temporary ascendency to that party

which had long foreseen and deplored the crisis to which the affairs

of the United States were hastening.

Sensible that the character of the government would be decided, in a

considerable degree, by the measures which should immediately follow

the treaty of peace, gentlemen of the first political abilities and

integrity sought a place in the congress of 1783. Combining their

efforts for the establishment of principles on which the honour and

the interest of the nation were believed to depend, they exerted all

their talents to impress on the several states, the necessity of

conferring on the government of the union, powers which might be

competent to its preservation, and which would enable it to comply

with the engagements it had formed. With unwearied perseverance they

digested and obtained the assent of congress to a system, which,

though unequal to what their wishes would have prepared, or their

judgments have approved, was believed to be the best that was

attainable. The great object in view was, "to restore and support

public credit," to effect which it was necessary, "to obtain from the

states substantial funds for funding the whole debt of the United

States."

The committee[26] to whom this interesting subject was referred,

reported sundry resolutions, recommending it to the several states, to

vest in congress permanent and productive funds adequate to the

immediate payment of the interest on the national debt, and to the

gradual extinction of the principal. A change in the rule by which the

proportions of the different states were to be ascertained, was also

recommended. In lieu of that article of the confederation which

apportions on them the sums required for the public treasury,

according to the value of their located lands with the improvements

thereon, it was proposed to substitute another more capable of

execution, which should make the population of each state the measure

of its contribution.[27]

[Footnote 26: Mr. Fitzsimmons, and Mr. Rutledge.]

[Footnote 27: On a subsequent occasion, an attempt was made

to obtain a resolution of congress, recommending as an

additional amendment to the eighth article of the

confederation, that the taxes for the use of the continent

should be laid and levied separate from any other tax, and

should be paid directly into the national treasury; and that

the collectors respectively should be liable to an execution

to be issued by the treasurer, or his deputy, under the

direction of congress, for any arrears of taxes by him to be

collected, which should not be paid into the treasury in

conformity with the requisitions of congress.

Such was the prevalence of state policy, even in the

government of the union, or such the conviction of the

inutility of recommending such an amendment, that a vote of

congress could not be obtained for asking this salutary

regulation as a security for the revenue only for eight

years.]

To the application which congress had made during the war for power to

levy an impost of five per cent on imported and prize goods, one state

had never assented, and another had withdrawn the assent it had

previously given.

It was impossible to yield to some of the objections which had been

made to this measure, because they went to the certain destruction of

the system itself; but in points where the alterations demanded,

though mischievous, were not fatal to the plan, it was thought

adviseable to accommodate the recommendations of the government to the

prejudices which had been disclosed. It had been insisted that the

power of appointing persons to collect the duties, would enable

congress to introduce into a state, officers unknown and unaccountable

to the government thereof; and that a power to collect an indefinite

sum for an indefinite time, for the expenditure of which that body

could not be accountable to the states, would render it independent of

its constituents, and would be dangerous to liberty. To obviate these

objections, the proposition now made was so modified, that the grant

was to be limited to twenty-five years; was to be strictly

appropriated to the debt contracted on account of the war; and was to

be collected by persons to be appointed by the respective states.

After a debate, which the tedious mode of conducting business

protracted for several weeks, the report was adopted; and a committee,

consisting of Mr. Madison, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. Ellsworth, was

appointed to prepare an address, which should accompany the

recommendation to the several states.

After a full explanation of the principles on which the system had

been framed, this address proceeds:--"The plan thus communicated and

explained by congress, must now receive its fate from their

constituents. All the objects comprised in it are conceived to be of

great importance to the happiness of this confederated republic, are

necessary to render the fruits of the revolution a full reward for the

blood, the toils, the cares and the calamities which have purchased

it. But the object of which the necessity will be peculiarly felt, and

which it is peculiarly the duty of congress to inculcate, is the

provision recommended for the national debt. Although this debt is

greater than could have been wished, it is still less on the whole

than could have been expected; and when referred to the cause in which

it has been incurred, and compared with the burthens which wars of

ambition and of vain glory have entailed on other nations, ought to be

borne not only with cheerfulness but with pride. But the magnitude of

the debt makes no part of the question. It is sufficient that the debt

has been fairly contracted, and that justice and good faith demand

that it should be fully discharged. Congress had no option but between

different modes of discharging it. The same option is the only one

that can exist with the states. The mode which has, after long and

elaborate discussion, been preferred, is, we are persuaded, the least

objectionable of any that would have been equal to the purpose. Under

this persuasion, we call upon the justice and plighted faith of the

several states to give it its proper effect, to reflect on the

consequences of rejecting it, and to remember that congress will not

be answerable for them."

After expatiating on the merits of the several creditors, the report

concludes, "let it be remembered finally, that it ever has been the

pride and boast of America, that the rights for which she contended,

were the rights of human nature. By the blessing of the Author of

these rights, on the means exerted for their defence, they have

prevailed against all opposition, and formed the basis of thirteen

independent states. No instance has heretofore occurred, nor can any

instance be expected hereafter to occur, in which the unadulterated

forms of republican government can pretend to so fair an opportunity

of justifying themselves by their fruits. In this view, the citizens

of the United States are responsible for the greatest trust ever

confided to a political society. If justice, good faith, honour,

gratitude, and all the other good qualities which ennoble the

character of a nation, and fulfil the ends of government, be the

fruits of our establishments, the cause of liberty will acquire a

dignity and lustre which it has never yet enjoyed; and an example will

be set, which can not but have the most favourable influence on the

rights of mankind. If, on the other side, our governments should be

unfortunately blotted with the reverse of these cardinal and essential

virtues, the great cause which we have engaged to vindicate will be

dishonoured and betrayed; the last and fairest experiment in favour of

the rights of human nature will be turned against them, and their

patrons and friends exposed to be insulted and silenced by the

votaries of tyranny and usurpation."

For the complete success of the plan recommended by congress, no

person felt more anxious solicitude than General Washington. Of the

vital importance of UNION, no man could be more entirely persuaded;

and of the obligations of the government to its creditors, no man

could feel a stronger conviction. His conspicuous station had rendered

him peculiarly sensible to their claims; and he had unavoidably been

personally instrumental in the creation of a part of them. All the

feelings of his heart were deeply engaged in the payment of some of

the creditors, and that high sense of national honour, of national

justice, and of national faith, of which elevated minds endowed with

integrity can never be divested, impelled him to take a strong

interest in the security of all. Availing himself of the usage of

communicating on national subjects with the state governments, and of

the opportunity, which his approaching resignation of the command of

the army gave, impressively to convey his sentiments to them, he had

determined to employ all the influence which the circumstances of his

life had created, in a solemn recommendation of measures, on which he

believed the happiness and prosperity of his country to depend. On the

eighth of June, 1783, he addressed to the governors of the several

states respectively, the paternal and affectionate letter which

follows.

[Sidenote: Letters of General Washington to the governors of the

several states.]

"Sir,

"The great object for which I had the honour to hold an appointment in

the service of my country being accomplished, I am now preparing to

resign it into the hands of congress, and to return to that domestic

retirement which, it is well known, I left with the greatest

reluctance; a retirement for which I have never ceased to sigh through

a long and painful absence, and in which (remote from the noise and

trouble of the world) I meditate to pass the remainder of life in a

state of undisturbed repose. But before I carry this resolution into

effect, I think it a duty incumbent upon me, to make this my last

official communication; to congratulate you on the glorious events

which heaven has been pleased to produce in our favour; to offer my

sentiments respecting some important subjects which appear to me to be

intimately connected with the tranquillity of the United States: to

take my leave of your excellency as a public character: and to give my

final blessing to that country in whose service I have spent the prime

of my life, for whose sake I have consumed so many anxious days and

watchful nights, and whose happiness, being extremely dear to me, will

always constitute no inconsiderable part of my own.

"Impressed with the liveliest sensibility on this pleasing occasion, I

will claim the indulgence of dilating the more copiously on the

subjects of our mutual felicitation. When we consider the magnitude of

the prize we contended for, the doubtful nature of the contest, and

the favourable manner in which it has terminated, we shall find the

greatest possible reason for gratitude and rejoicing. This is a theme

that will afford infinite delight to every benevolent and liberal

mind, whether the event in contemplation be considered as the source

of present enjoyment, or the parent of future happiness: and we shall

have equal occasion to felicitate ourselves on the lot which

Providence has assigned us, whether we view it in a natural, a

political, or moral point of light.

"The citizens of America, placed in the most enviable condition, as

the sole lords and proprietors of a vast tract of continent,

comprehending all the various soils and climates of the world, and

abounding with all the necessaries and conveniencies of life, are now,

by the late satisfactory pacification, acknowledged to be possessed of

absolute freedom and independency. They are from this period, to be

considered as the actors on a most conspicuous theatre, which seems to

be peculiarly designated by Providence for the display of human

greatness and felicity. Here they are not only surrounded with every

thing which can contribute to the completion of private and domestic

enjoyment; but heaven has crowned all its other blessings, by giving a

fairer opportunity for political happiness, than any other nation has

ever been favoured with. Nothing can illustrate these observations

more forcibly, than a recollection of the happy conjuncture of times

and circumstances, under which our republic assumed its rank among the

nations. The foundation of our empire was not laid in the gloomy age

of ignorance and superstition, but at an epoch when the rights of

mankind were better understood, and more clearly defined, than at any

former period. The researches of the human mind after social happiness

have been carried to a great extent; the treasures of knowledge

acquired by the labours of philosophers, sages, and legislators,

through a long succession of years, are laid open for our use; and

their collected wisdom may be happily employed in the establishment of

our forms of government. The free cultivation of letters; the

unbounded extension of commerce; the progressive refinement of

manners; the growing liberality of sentiment; and above all, the pure

and benign light of revelation; have had a meliorating influence on

mankind, and increased the blessings of society. At this auspicious

period, the United States came into existence as a nation; and if

their citizens should not be completely free and happy, the fault will

be entirely their own.

"Such is our situation, and such are our prospects. But

notwithstanding the cup of blessing is thus reached out to us;

notwithstanding happiness is ours, if we have a disposition to seize

the occasion, and make it our own; yet, it appears to me, there is an

option still left to the United States of America; that it is in their

choice, and depends upon their conduct, whether they will be

respectable and prosperous, or contemptible and miserable as a nation.

This is the time of their political probation; this is the moment when

the eyes of the whole world are turned upon them; this is the moment

to establish or ruin their national character forever; this is the

favourable moment to give such a tone to our federal government, as

will enable it to answer the ends of its institution, or this may be

the ill-fated moment for relaxing the powers of the union,

annihilating the cement of the confederation, and exposing us to

become the sport of European politics, which may play one state

against another, to prevent their growing importance, and to serve

their own interested purposes. For according to the system of policy

the states shall adopt at this moment, they will stand or fall; and by

their confirmation or lapse, it is yet to be decided, whether the

revolution must ultimately be considered a blessing or a curse:--a

blessing or a curse not to the present age alone, for with our fate

will the destiny of unborn millions be involved.

"With this conviction of the importance of the present crisis, silence

in me would be a crime. I will therefore speak to your excellency the

language of freedom and of sincerity, without disguise. I am aware,

however, that those who differ from me in political sentiment, may

perhaps remark that I am stepping out of the proper line of my duty,

and may possibly ascribe to arrogance or ostentation, what I know is

alone the result of the purest intentions. But the rectitude of my own

heart, which disdains such unworthy motives; the part I have hitherto

acted in life; the determination I have formed of not taking any share

in public business hereafter; the ardent desire I feel, and shall

continue to manifest, of quietly enjoying, in private life, after all

the toils of war, the benefits of a wise and liberal government: will,

I flatter myself, sooner or later convince my countrymen, that I could

have no sinister views in delivering with so little reserve the

opinions contained in this address.

"There are four things which I humbly conceive are essential to the

well being, I may even venture to say, to the existence of the United

States as an independent power.

1st. An indissoluble union of the states under one federal head.

2d. A sacred regard to public justice.

3d. The adoption of a proper peace establishment, and,

4th. The prevalence of that pacific and friendly disposition, among

the people of the United States, which will induce them to forget

their local prejudices and politics, to make those mutual concessions

which are requisite to the general prosperity, and in some instances,

to sacrifice their individual advantages to the interest of the

community.

"These are the pillars on which the glorious fabric of our

independency and national character must be supported. Liberty is the

basis, and whoever would dare to sap the foundation, or overturn the

structure, under whatever specious pretext he may attempt it, will

merit the bitterest execration, and the severest punishment, which can

be inflicted by his injured country.

"On the three first articles, I will make a few observations, leaving

the last to the good sense and serious consideration of those

immediately concerned.

"Under the first head, although it may not be necessary or proper for

me, in this place, to enter into a particular disquisition of the

principles of the union, and to take up the great question which has

frequently been agitated, whether it be expedient and requisite for

the states to delegate a larger proportion of power to congress or

not; yet it will be a part of my duty, and that of every true patriot,

to assert without reserve, and to insist upon the following positions:

that unless the states will suffer congress to exercise those

prerogatives they are undoubtedly invested with by the constitution,

every thing must very rapidly tend to anarchy and confusion: that it

is indispensable to the happiness of the individual states, that there

should be lodged somewhere a supreme power to regulate and govern the

general concerns of the confederated republic, without which the union

can not be of long duration: that there must be a faithful and pointed

compliance, on the part of every state, with the late proposals and

demands of congress, or the most fatal consequences will ensue: that

whatever measures have a tendency to dissolve the union, or contribute

to violate or lessen the sovereign authority, ought to be considered

as hostile to the liberty and independence of America, and the authors

of them treated accordingly: and lastly, that unless we can be

enabled, by the concurrence of the states, to participate of the

fruits of the revolution, and enjoy the essential benefits of civil

society, under a form of government so free and uncorrupted, so

happily guarded against the danger of oppression as has been devised

and adopted by the articles of confederation, it will be a subject of

regret, that so much blood and treasure have been lavished for no

purpose; that so many sufferings have been encountered without a

compensation; and that so many sacrifices have been made in vain. Many

other considerations might here be adduced to prove, that without an

entire conformity to the spirit of the union, we can not exist as an

independent power. It will be sufficient for my purpose to mention one

or two, which seem to me of the greatest importance. It is only in our

united character that we are known as an empire, that our independence

is acknowledged, that our power can be regarded, or our credit

supported among foreign nations. The treaties of the European powers

with the United States of America, will have no validity on a

dissolution of the union. We shall be left nearly in a state of

nature, or we may find, by our own unhappy experience, that there is a

natural and necessary progression from the extreme of anarchy to the

extreme of tyranny; and that arbitrary power is most easily

established on the ruins of liberty abused to licentiousness.

"As to the second article, which respects the performance of public

justice, congress have in their late address to the United States,

almost exhausted the subject. They have explained their ideas so

fully, and have enforced the obligations the states are under, to

render complete justice to all the public creditors, with so much

dignity and energy, that in my opinion, no real friend to the honour

and independency of America, can hesitate a single moment respecting

the propriety of complying with the just and honourable measures

proposed. If their arguments do not produce conviction, I know of

nothing that will have greater influence; especially when we recollect

that the system referred to, being the result of the collected wisdom

of the continent, must be esteemed, if not perfect, certainly the

least objectionable of any that could be devised; and that if it

should not be carried into immediate execution, a national bankruptcy,

with all its deplorable consequences, will take place before any

different plan can possibly be proposed and adopted. So pressing are

the present circumstances, and such is the alternative now offered to

the states.

"The ability of the country to discharge the debts which have been

incurred in its defence is not to be doubted; an inclination I flatter

myself will not be wanting. The path of our duty is plain before

us--honesty will be found, on every experiment, to be the best and

only true policy. Let us then as a nation, be just; let us fulfil the

public contracts which congress had undoubtedly a right to make, for

the purpose of carrying on the war, with the same good faith we

suppose ourselves bound to perform our private engagements. In the

mean time, let an attention to the cheerful performance of their

proper business as individuals, and as members of society, be

earnestly inculcated on the citizens of America. Then will they

strengthen the hands of government, and be happy under its protection.

Every one will reap the fruit of his labours; every one will enjoy his

own acquisitions, without molestation, and without danger.

"In this state of absolute freedom and perfect security, who will

grudge to yield a very little of his property to support the common

interest of society, and insure the protection of government? Who does

not remember the frequent declarations, at the commencement of the

war, that we should be completely satisfied, if at the expense of one

half, we could defend the remainder of our possessions? Where is the

man to be found who wishes to remain indebted for the defence of his

own person and property, to the exertions, the bravery, and the blood

of others, without making one generous effort to repay the debt of

honour and of gratitude? In what part of the continent shall we find

any man or body of men, who would not blush to stand up and propose

measures purposely calculated to rob the soldier of his stipend, and

the public creditor of his due? And were it possible that such a

flagrant instance of injustice could ever happen, would it not excite

the general indignation, and tend to bring down upon the authors of

such measures, the aggravated vengeance of heaven? If, after all, a

spirit of disunion, or a temper of obstinacy and perverseness, should

manifest itself in any of the states; if such an ungracious

disposition should attempt to frustrate all the happy effects that

might be expected to flow from the union; if there should be a refusal

to comply with the requisitions for funds to discharge the annual

interest of the public debts; and if that refusal should revive again

all those jealousies, and produce all those evils, which are now

happily removed; congress, who have in all their transactions, shown a

great degree of magnanimity and justice, will stand justified in the

sight of God and man; and the state alone which puts itself in

opposition to the aggregate wisdom of the continent, and follows such

mistaken and pernicious counsels, will be responsible for all the

consequences.

"For my own part, conscious of having acted while a servant of the

public, in the manner I conceived best suited to promote the real

interests of my country; having, in consequence of my fixed belief, in

some measure pledged myself to the army, that their country would

finally do them complete and ample justice; and not wishing to conceal

any instance of my official conduct from the eyes of the world; I have

thought proper to transmit to your excellency the enclosed collection

of papers, relative to the half pay and commutation granted by

congress to the officers of the army. From these communications, my

decided sentiments will be clearly comprehended, together with the

conclusive reasons which induced me, at an early period, to recommend

the adoption of the measure, in the most earnest and serious manner.

As the proceedings of congress, the army, and myself, are open to all,

and contain, in my opinion, sufficient information to remove the

prejudices, and errors, which may have been entertained by any, I

think it unnecessary to say any thing more than just to observe, that

the resolutions of congress now alluded to, are undoubtedly as

absolutely binding upon the United States, as the most solemn acts of

confederation or legislation. As to the idea which I am informed, has

in some instances prevailed, that the half pay and commutation are to

be regarded merely in the odious light of a pension, it ought to be

exploded for ever. That provision should be viewed as it really was, a

reasonable compensation offered by congress, at a time when they had

nothing else to give to the officers of the army, for services then to

be performed. It was the only means to prevent a total dereliction of

the service.--It was a part of their hire.--I may be allowed to say it

was the price of their blood, and of your independence. It is

therefore more than a common debt; it is a debt of honour. It can

never be considered as a pension, or gratuity; nor be cancelled until

it is fairly discharged.

"With regard to a distinction between officers and soldiers, it is

sufficient that the uniform experience of every nation of the world,

combined with your own, proves the utility and propriety of the

discrimination. Rewards in proportion to the aids the public derives

from them, are unquestionably due to all its servants. In some lines,

the soldiers have perhaps generally had as ample a compensation for

their services, by the large bounties which have been paid to them, as

their officers will receive in the proposed commutation; in others, if

besides the donation of lands, the payment of arrearages, of clothing

and wages, (in which articles all the component parts of the army must

be put upon the same footing,) we take into the estimate the bounties

many of the soldiers have received, and the gratuity of one year's

full pay which is promised to all, possibly their situation (every

circumstance duly considered) will not be deemed less eligible than

that of the officers. Should a further reward, however, be judged

equitable, I will venture to assert, no one will enjoy greater

satisfaction than myself, on seeing an exemption from taxes for a

limited time, (which has been petitioned for in some instances,) or

any other adequate immunity or compensation, granted to the brave

defenders of their country's cause. But neither the adoption nor

rejection of this proposition will in any manner affect, much less

militate against, the act of congress, by which they have offered five

years full pay, in lieu of the half pay for life, which had been

before promised to the officers of the army.

"Before I conclude the subject of public justice, I can not omit to

mention the obligations this country is under to that meritorious

class of veteran non-commissioned officers and privates who have been

discharged for inability, in consequence of the resolution of congress

of the 23d April, 1782, on an annual pension for life. Their peculiar

sufferings, their singular merits, and claims to that provision, need

only be known, to interest all the feelings of humanity in their

behalf. Nothing but a punctual payment of their annual allowance can

rescue them from the most complicated misery, and nothing could be a

more melancholy and distressing sight, than to behold those who have

shed their blood or lost their limbs in the service of their country,

without a shelter, without a friend, and without the means of

obtaining any of the necessaries or comforts of life; compelled to beg

their daily bread from door to door. Surfer me to recommend those of

this description, belonging to your state, to the warmest patronage of

your excellency and your legislature.

"It is necessary to say but a few words on the third topic which was

proposed, and which regards particularly the defence of the republic,

as there can be little doubt but congress will recommend a proper

peace establishment for the United States, in which a due attention

will be paid to the importance of placing the militia of the union

upon a regular and respectable footing. If this should be the case, I

would beg leave to urge the great advantage of it in the strongest

terms. The militia of this country must be considered as the palladium

of our security, and the first effectual resort in case of hostility.

It is essential, therefore, that the same system should pervade the

whole; that the formation and discipline of the militia of the

continent should be absolutely uniform, and that the same species of

arms, accoutrements, and military apparatus should be introduced in

every part of the United States. No one who has not learned it from

experience, can conceive the difficulty, expense, and confusion, which

result from a contrary system, or the vague arrangements which have

hitherto prevailed.

"If in treating of political points, a greater latitude than usual has

been taken in the course of this address, the importance of the

crisis, and magnitude of the objects in discussion, must be my

apology. It is, however, neither my wish nor expectation, that the

preceding observations should claim any regard, except so far as they

shall appear to be dictated by a good intention, consonant to the

immediate rules of justice, calculated to produce a liberal system of

policy, and founded on whatever experience may have been acquired by a

long and close attention to public business. Here I might speak with

the more confidence, from my actual observations; and, if it would not

swell this letter (already too prolix) beyond the bounds I had

prescribed myself, I could demonstrate to every mind open to

conviction, that in less time, and with much less expense than has

been incurred, the war might have been brought to the same happy

conclusion, if the resources of the continent could have been properly

drawn forth; that the distresses and disappointments which have very

often occurred, have, in too many instances, resulted more from a want

of energy in the continental government, than a deficiency of means in

the particular states: that the inefficacy of measures, arising from

the want of an adequate authority in the supreme power, from a partial

compliance with the requisitions of congress in some of the states,

and from a failure of punctuality in others, while it tended to damp

the zeal of those which were more willing to exert themselves, served

also to accumulate the expenses of the war, and to frustrate the best

concerted plans; and that the discouragement occasioned by the

complicated difficulties and embarrassments in which our affairs were

by this means involved, would have long ago produced the dissolution

of any army less patient, less virtuous, and less persevering, than

that which I have had the honour to command. But while I mention these

things which are notorious facts, as the defects of our federal

constitution, particularly in the prosecution of a war, I beg it may

be understood, that as I have ever taken a pleasure in gratefully

acknowledging the assistance and support I have derived from every

class of citizens, so shall I always be happy to do justice to the

unparalleled exertions of the individual states, on many interesting

occasions.

"I have thus freely disclosed what I wished to make known before I

surrendered up my public trust to those who committed it to me. The

task is now accomplished. I now bid adieu to your excellency as the

chief magistrate of your state; at the same time I bid a last farewell

to the cares of office and all the employments of public life.

"It remains then to be my final and only request, that your excellency

will communicate these sentiments to your legislature at their next

meeting; and that they may be considered as the legacy of one who has

ardently wished, on all occasions, to be useful to his country; and

who, even in the shade of retirement, will not fail to implore the

divine benediction upon it.

"I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you, and the

state over which you preside, in his holy protection, that he would

incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of

subordination and obedience to government; to entertain a brotherly

affection and love for one another, for their fellow citizens of the

United States at large, and particularly for their brethren who have

served in the field, and finally, that he would most graciously be

pleased to dispose us all to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean

ourselves with that charity, humility, and pacific temper of mind,

which were the characteristics of the Divine Author of our blessed

religion; without an humble imitation of whose example in these things

we can never hope to be a happy nation."

The impression made by this solemn and affecting admonition could not

be surpassed. The circumstances under which it was given, added to the

veneration with which it was received; and, like the counsel of a

parent on whom the grave is about to close forever, it sunk deep into

the hearts of all. But, like the counsels of a parent withdrawn from

view, the advice was too soon forgotten, and the impression it had

made was too soon effaced.

The recommendations of congress did not receive that prompt

consideration which the public exigence demanded, nor did they meet

that universal assent which was necessary to give them effect.

Not immediately perceiving that the error lay in a system which was

unfit for use, the distinguished patriots of the revolution

contemplated with increasing anxiety, the anti-American temper which

displayed itself in almost every part of the union. The letters

addressed to the late Commander-in-chief, by many of those who had

borne a conspicuous part in the arduous struggle for independence,

manifest the disappointment and chagrin occasioned by this temper. The

venerable Trumbull, who had rendered great service to the cause of

united America; who, like Washington, had supported the burden of

office throughout a hazardous contest, and like Washington, had

determined to withdraw from the cares of a public station when that

contest should be terminated, in a letter communicating to his friend

and compatriot the resolution he had taken, thus disclosed the fears

which the dispositions manifested by many of his countrymen inspired.

"The fruits of our peace and independence do not at present wear so

promising an appearance as I had fondly painted to my mind. The

prejudices, the jealousies, and turbulence of the people, at times,

almost stagger my confidence in our political establishments; and

almost occasion me to think that they will show themselves unworthy of

the noble prize for which we have contended, and which, I had pleased

myself with the hope, we were so near enjoying. But again, I check

this rising impatience, and console myself under the present prospect

with the consideration, that the same beneficent and wise Providence

which has done so much for this country, will not eventually leave us

to ruin our own happiness, to become the sport of chance, or the scoff

of a once admiring world; but that great things are yet in store for

this people, which time, and the wisdom of the Great Director will

produce in its best season."

"It is indeed a pleasure," said General Washington in reply, "from the

walks of private life to view in retrospect the difficulties through

which we have waded, and the happy haven into which our ship has been

brought. Is it possible after this that it should founder? will not

the all wise and all powerful Director of human events preserve it? I

think he will. He may, however, for some wise purpose of his own,

suffer our indiscretions and folly to place our national character low

in the political scale;--and this, unless more wisdom and less

prejudice take the lead in our government, will most certainly

happen."

That the imbecility of the federal government, the impotence of its

requisitions, and the inattention of some of the states to its

recommendations, would, in the estimation of the world, abase the

American character, could scarcely be termed a prediction. That course

of national degradation had already commenced.

As the system recommended to the states on the 18th of April, 1783,

had been matured by the best wisdom in the federal councils, a

compliance with it was the last hope of the government; and congress

continued to urge its adoption on the several states. While its fate

remain undecided, requisitions for the intermediate supply of the

national demands were annually repeated, and were annually neglected.

Happily, a loan had been negotiated in Holland by Mr. Adams, after the

termination of the war, out of which the interest of the foreign debt

had been partly paid; but that fund was exhausted, and the United

States possessed no means of replacing it. Unable to pay the interest,

they would, in the course of the succeeding year, be liable for the

first instalment of the principal; and the humiliating circumstance

was to be encountered of a total failure to comply with the most

solemn engagements, unaccompanied with the prospect of being enabled

to give assurances, that, at any future time, their situation would be

more eligible. If the condition of the domestic creditors was not

absolutely desperate, the prospect of obtaining satisfaction for their

claims was so distant and uncertain, that their evidences of debt were

transferred at an eighth, and even at a tenth of their nominal value.

The distress consequent on this depreciation was great and afflicting.

"The requisitions of congress for eight years past," say the committee

in February, 1786, to whom the subject of the revenue had been

referred, "have been so irregular in their operation, so uncertain in

their collection, and so evidently unproductive, that a reliance on

them in future as a source from whence moneys are to be drawn to

discharge the engagements of the confederacy, definite as they are in

time and amount, would be not less dishonourable to the understandings

of those who entertain such confidence, than it would be dangerous to

the welfare and peace of the union." Under public embarrassments which

were daily increasing, it had become, it was said, "the duty of

congress to declare most explicitly that the crisis _had_ arrived,

when the people of the United States, by whose will, and for whose

benefit, the federal government was instituted, must decide whether

they will support their rank as a nation, by maintaining the public

faith at home and abroad, or whether, for want of a timely exertion in

establishing a general revenue, and thereby giving strength to the

confederacy, they will hazard not only the existence of the union, but

of those great and invaluable privileges for which they have so

arduously and so honourably contended."

The revenue system of the 18th of April, 1783, was again solemnly

recommended to the consideration of the several states, and their

unanimous and early accession to it was declared to be the only

measure which could enable congress to preserve the public faith, and

to avoid the fatal evils which will inevitably flow from "a violation

of those principles of justice which are the only solid basis of the

honour and prosperity of nations."

In framing this system, a revenue adequate to the funding of the whole

national debt had been contemplated, and no part of it was to go into

operation until the whole should be adopted. By suspending partial

relief to the pressing necessities of the government, it was believed

that complete relief would be the more certainly secured.

The enlightened and virtuous statesmen with whom that measure

originated, thought it impossible that their countrymen would be so

unmindful of the obligations of honour and of justice, or could so

mistake their real interests, as to withhold their assent from the

entire plan, if convinced that no partial compliance with it would be

received. In the progress of the business, however, there was reason

to believe that the impost might be conceded, but that the application

for internal taxes would encounter difficulties not to be surmounted.

In the impoverished state of the federal treasury, an incompetent

revenue was preferred to no revenue; and it was deemed more adviseable

to accept a partial compliance with the recommendations of congress,

than, by inflexibly adhering to the integrity of the system, to lose

the whole. The states therefore, were requested to enable congress,

"to carry into effect that part which related to impost so soon as it

should be acceded to." In the course of the year 1786, every state in

the union had acted upon the recommendation, and, with the exception

of New York, had granted the impost duty which had been required. New

York had passed an act upon the subject; but, influenced by its

jealousy of the federal government, had not vested in congress the

power of collection, but had reserved to itself the sole right of

levying the duties according to its own laws. Neither did the act

permit the collectors to be made accountable to congress. To the state

only were they amenable. In addition to these deviations from the plan

recommended, New York had emitted bills of credit, which were liable

to depreciation, and in them the duties were payable. As the failure

on the part of this single state, suspended the operation of the

grants made by all the others, the executive thereof was requested

again to convene the legislature, in order to lay the subject once

more before them. To a similar resolution Governor Clinton had already

replied, that "he had not power to convene the legislature before the

time fixed by law for their stated meeting, except on extraordinary

occasions, and as the present business proposed for their

consideration had already been repeatedly laid before them, and so

recently as at their last session had received their determination, it

could not come within that description." This second resolution was

not more successful than that which preceded it, and thus was finally

defeated the laborious and persevering effort made by the federal

government to obtain from the states the means of preserving, in whole

or in part, the faith of the nation. General Washington's letters of

that period abound with passages showing the solicitude with which he

watched the progress of this recommendation, and the chagrin with

which he viewed the obstacles to its adoption. In a letter of October,

1785, he said, "the war, as you have very justly observed, has

terminated most advantageously for America, and a fair field is

presented to our view; but I confess to you freely, my dear sir, that

I do not think we possess wisdom or justice enough to cultivate it

properly. Illiberality, jealousy, and local policy, mix too much in

our public councils, for the good government of the union. In a word,

the confederation appears to me to be little more than a shadow

without the substance; and congress a nugatory body, their

ordinances being little attended to. To _me_, it is a solecism in

politics:--indeed it is one of the most extraordinary things in

nature, that we should confederate as a nation, and yet be afraid to

give the rulers of that nation, who are the creatures of our own

making, appointed for a limited and short duration, and who are

amenable for every action, recallable at any moment, and subject to

all the evils which they may be instrumental in producing,--sufficient

powers to order and direct the affairs of the same. By such policy as

this, the wheels of government are clogged, and our brightest

prospects, and that high expectation which was entertained of us by

the wondering world, are turned into astonishment; and from the high

ground on which we stood, we are descending into the vale of confusion

and darkness.

"That we have it in our power to become one of the most respectable

nations upon earth, admits, in my humble opinion, of no doubt, if we

would but pursue a wise, just, and liberal policy towards one another,

and would keep good faith with the rest of the world:--that our

resources are ample and increasing, none can deny; but while they are

grudgingly applied, or not applied at all, we give a vital stab to

public faith, and will sink in the eyes of Europe, into contempt."