any correspondent of General Washington, but is stated in
the private letters to him, to have been taken up by some.]
[Footnote 37: In a subsequent part of the same letter, this
gentleman draws the outlines of a constitution such as he
would wish. It is essentially the same with that which was
recommended by the convention.]
The ultimate decision of the states on this interesting proposition
seems to have been in no inconsiderable degree influenced by the
commotions which about that time agitated all New England, and
particularly Massachusetts.
[Sidenote: Insurrection in Massachusetts.]
Those causes of discontent which existed, after the restoration of
peace, in every part of the union, were particularly operative in New
England. The great exertions which had been made by those states in
the course of the war, had accumulated a mass of debt, the taxes for
the payment of which were the more burdensome, because their fisheries
had become unproductive. The restlessness produced by the uneasy
situation of individuals, connected with lax notions concerning public
and private faith, and erroneous opinions which confound liberty with
an exemption from legal control, produced a state of things which
alarmed all reflecting men, and demonstrated to many the indispensable
necessity of clothing government with powers sufficiently ample for
the protection of the rights of the peaceable and quiet, from the
invasions of the licentious and turbulent part of the community.
This disorderly spirit was cherished by unlicensed conventions, which,
after voting their own constitutionality, and assuming the name of the
people, arrayed themselves against the legislature, and detailed at
great length the grievances by which they alleged themselves to be
oppressed. Its hostility was principally directed against the
compensation promised to the officers of the army, against taxes, and
against the administration of justice: and the circulation of a
depreciated currency was required, as a relief from the pressure of
public and private burdens which had become, it was alleged, too heavy
to be borne. Against lawyers and courts, the strongest resentments
were manifested; and to such a dangerous extent were these
dispositions indulged, that, in many instances, tumultuous assemblages
of people arrested the course of law, and restrained the judges from
proceeding in the execution of their duty. The ordinary recourse to
the power of the country was found an insufficient protection, and the
appeals made to reason were attended with no beneficial effect. The
forbearance of the government was attributed to timidity rather than
to moderation, and the spirit of insurrection appeared to be organized
into a regular system for the suppression of courts.
In the bosom of Washington, these tumults excited attention and alarm.
"For God's sake tell me," said he in a letter to Colonel Humphries,
"what is the cause of all these commotions? Do they proceed from
licentiousness, British influence disseminated by the tories, or real
grievances which admit of redress? if the latter, why was redress
delayed until the public mind had become so much agitated? if the
former, why are not the powers of government tried at once? It is as
well to be without, as not to exercise them. Commotions of this sort,
like snow-balls, gather strength as they roll, if there is no
opposition in the way to divide and crumble them."
"As to your question, my dear general," said Colonel Humphries in
reply, "respecting the cause and origin of these commotions, I hardly
find myself in condition to give a certain answer. If from all the
information I have been able to obtain, I might be authorized to
hazard an opinion, I should attribute them to all the three causes
which you have suggested. In Massachusetts particularly, I believe
there are a few real grievances; and also some wicked agents or
emissaries who have been busy in magnifying the positive evils, and
fomenting causeless jealousies and disturbances. But it rather appears
to me, that there is a licentious spirit prevailing among many of the
people; a levelling principle; a desire of change; and a wish to
annihilate all debts, public and private." "It is indeed a fact," said
General Knox, after returning from a visit to the eastern country,
"that high taxes are the ostensible cause of the commotion, but that
they are the real cause, is as far remote from truth, as light is from
darkness. The people who are the insurgents have never paid any, or
but very little taxes. But they see the weakness of government. They
feel at once their own poverty compared with the opulent, and their
own force; and they are determined to make use of the latter, in order
to remedy the former. Their creed is, that the property of the United
States has been protected from confiscation by the joint exertions of
all, and therefore ought to be common to all. And he that attempts
opposition to this creed is an enemy to equity and justice, and ought
to be swept from the face of the earth."
The force of this party throughout New England was computed by General
Knox at twelve or fifteen thousand men. "They were chiefly," he said,
"of the young and active part of the community, who were more easily
collected than kept together. Desperate and unprincipled, they would
probably commit overt acts of treason which would compel them, for
their own safety, to embody and submit to discipline. Thus would there
be a formidable rebellion against reason, the principle of all
government, and the very name of liberty. This dreadful situation," he
added, "has alarmed every man of principle and property in New
England. They start as from a dream, and ask--what has been the cause
of our delusion? What is to afford us security against the violence of
lawless men? Our government must be braced, changed, or altered, to
secure our lives and our property. We imagined that the mildness of
the government, and the virtue of the people were so correspondent,
that we were not as other nations, requiring brutal force to support
the laws. But we find that we are men, actual men, possessing all the
turbulent passions belonging to that animal; and that we must have a
government proper and adequate for him. Men of reflection and
principle are determined to endeavour to establish a government which
shall have the power to protect them in their lawful pursuits, and
which will be efficient in cases of internal commotions, or foreign
invasions. They mean that liberty shall be the basis, a liberty
resulting from the equal and firm administration of the laws."
Deeply affected by these commotions, General Washington continued his
anxious inquiries respecting the course they threatened to take. "I
feel, my dear General Knox," said he, in answer to the letter from
which the foregoing extracts are taken, "infinitely more than I can
express to you, for the disorders which have arisen in these states.
Good God! who besides a tory could have foreseen, or a Briton have
predicted them? I do assure you that even at this moment, when I
reflect upon the present aspect of our affairs, it seems to me like
the visions of a dream. My mind can scarcely realize it as a thing in
actual existence:--so strange, so wonderful does it appear to me. In
this, as in most other matters, we are too slow. When this spirit
first dawned, it might probably have been easily checked; but it is
scarcely within the reach of human ken, at this moment, to say when,
where, or how it will terminate. There are combustibles in every
state, to which a spark might set fire.
"In bewailing, which I have often done with the keenest sorrow, the
death of our much lamented friend General Greene,[38] I have
accompanied my regrets of late with a query, whether he would not have
preferred such an exit to the scenes which it is more than probable,
many of his compatriots may live to bemoan."
[Footnote 38: This valuable officer died in Georgia in the
year 1786.]
Ostensibly, on account of the danger which threatened the frontiers,
but, really, with a view to the situation of Massachusetts, congress
had agreed to augment the military establishment to a legionary corps
of two thousand and forty men, and had detached the secretary of war,
General Knox, to that state, with directions to concert measures with
its government for the safety of the arsenal at Springfield. So
inauspicious was the aspect of affairs, as to inspire serious fears
that the torch of civil discord, about to be lighted up in
Massachusetts, would communicate its flame to all New England, and
perhaps to the union. Colonel Lee, a member of congress, drew the
following picture of the condition of the eastern country at that
time. "General Knox has just returned, and his report, grounded on his
own knowledge, is replete with melancholy information. A majority of
the people of Massachusetts are in opposition to the government. Some
of the leaders avow the subversion of it to be their object, together
with the abolition of debts, the division of property, and a reunion
with Great Britain. In all the eastern states, same temper prevails
more or less, and will certainly break forth whenever the opportune
moment may arrive. The malcontents are in close connexion with
Vermont, and that district, it is believed, is in negotiation with the
government of Canada. In one word, my dear general, we are all in dire
apprehension that a beginning of anarchy with all its calamities is
made, and we have no means to stop the dreadful work. Knowing your
unbounded influence, and believing that your appearance among the
seditious might bring them back to peace and reconciliation,
individuals suggest the propriety of an invitation to you from
congress to pay us a visit. This is only a surmise, and I take the
liberty to mention it to you, that, should the conjuncture of affairs
induce congress to make this request, you may have some previous time
for reflection on it."
"The picture which you have exhibited," replied the general, "and the
accounts which are published of the commotions and temper of numerous
bodies in the eastern country, present a state of things equally to be
lamented and deprecated. They exhibit a melancholy verification of
what our transatlantic foes have predicted; and of another thing
perhaps which is still more to be regretted, and is yet more
unaccountable--that mankind when left to themselves are unfit for
their own government. I am mortified beyond expression when I view the
clouds which have spread over the brightest morn that ever dawned upon
any country. In a word, I am lost in amazement when I behold what
intrigue, the interested views of desperate characters, ignorance and
jealousy of the minor part, are capable of effecting as a scourge on
the major part of our fellow citizens of the union; for it is hardly
to be supposed that the great body of the people, though they will not
act, can be so short sighted or enveloped in darkness, as not to see
rays of a distant sun through all this mist of intoxication and folly.
"You talk, my good sir, of employing influence to appease the present
tumults in Massachusetts. I know not where that influence is to be
found; nor if attainable, that it would be a proper remedy for these
disorders. _Influence_ is not _government_. Let us have a
_government_, by which our lives, liberties, and properties will be
secured; or let us know the worst at once. Under these impressions, my
humble opinion is, that there is a call for decision. Know precisely
what the insurgents aim at. If they have _real_ grievances, redress
them if possible; or acknowledge the justice of them, and your
inability to do it in the present moment. If they have not, employ the
force of the government against them at once. If this is inadequate,
_all_ will be convinced that the superstructure is bad, or wants
support. To be more exposed in the eyes of the world, and more
contemptible than we already are, is hardly possible. To delay one or
the other of these expedients, is to exasperate on the one hand, or to
give confidence on the other, and will add to their numbers; for like
snow-balls, such bodies increase by every movement, unless there is
something in the way to obstruct and crumble them before their weight
is too great and irresistible.
"These are my sentiments. Precedents are dangerous things. Let the
reins of government then be braced, and held with a steady hand; and
every violation of the constitution be reprehended. If defective, let
it be amended, but not suffered to be trampled upon while it has an
existence."
In a letter written about the same period, Colonel Humphries, after
stating his apprehensions that the insurgents would seize the
continental magazine at Springfield, proceeded to add: "a general
failure to comply with the requisitions of congress for money, seems
to prognosticate that we are rapidly advancing to a crisis. The wheels
of the great political machine can scarcely continue to move much
longer, under their present embarrassment. Congress, I am told, are
seriously alarmed, and hardly know which way to turn, or what to
expect. Indeed, my dear general, nothing but a good Providence can
extricate us from our present difficulties, and prevent some terrible
conclusion.
"In case of civil discord I have already told you it was seriously my
opinion that you could not remain neuter; and that you would be
obliged in self defence, to take part on one side or the other, or
withdraw from the continent. Your friends are of the same opinion; and
I believe you are convinced that it is impossible to have more
disinterested or zealous friends, than those who have been about your
person."
"It is," said the general in reply, "with the deepest and most
heartfelt concern, I perceive by some late paragraphs extracted from
the Boston papers, that the insurgents of Massachusetts, far from
being satisfied with the redress offered by their general court, are
still acting in open violation of law and government, and have obliged
the chief magistrate, in a decided tone, to call upon the militia of
the state to support the constitution. What, gracious God, is man!
that there should be such inconsistency and perfidiousness in his
conduct. It is but the other day that we were shedding our blood to
obtain the constitutions under which we now live--constitutions of our
own choice and making--and now, we are unsheathing the sword to
overturn them. The thing is so unaccountable, that I hardly know how
to realize it; or to persuade myself that I am not under the illusion
of a dream.
"My mind, previous to the receipt of your letter of the first ultimo,
had often been agitated by a thought similar to the one you expressed
respecting an old friend of yours: but heaven forbid that a crisis
should come when he shall be driven to the necessity of making a
choice of either of the alternatives there mentioned."
Finding that the lenient measures which had been taken by the
legislature to reclaim the insurgents, only enlarged their demands;
and that they were proceeding systematically to organize a military
force for the subversion of the constitution; Governor Bowdoin
determined, with the advice of council, on a vigorous exertion of all
the powers he possessed, for the protection and defence of the
commonwealth. Upwards of four thousand militia were ordered into
service, and were placed under the command of the veteran General
Lincoln. "His military reputation," says Mr. Minot, "and mildness of
temper, rendered him doubly capacitated for so delicate and important
a trust." But the public treasury did not afford the means of keeping
this force in the field a single week; and, the legislature not being
in session, the government was incapable of putting the troops in
motion. This difficulty was removed by individual patriotism. From the
commencement of the commotions, the citizens of Boston had manifested,
unequivocally, their fidelity to the constitution. On this occasion, a
number of gentlemen, preceded by the governor, subscribed, in a few
hours, a sufficient sum to carry on the proposed expedition.
In the depth of winter, the troops from the eastern part of the state
assembled near Boston, and marched towards the scene of action. Those
from the western counties met in arms under General Shepard, and took
possession of the arsenal at Springfield. Before the arrival of
Lincoln, a party of the insurgents attempted to dislodge Shepard, but
were repulsed with some loss. Not being pursued by that officer, who
could not venture to weaken his post by detachments, they continued
embodied, but did not venture again to undertake offensive operations.
Urging his march with the utmost celerity, Lincoln soon came up; and,
pressing the insurgent army, endeavoured, by a succession of rapid
movements, in which the ardour of his troops triumphed over the
severity of the season, to disperse, or to bring it to action. Their
generals retreated from post to post with a rapidity which for some
time eluded his designs; and, rejecting every proposition to lay down
their arms, used all their address to produce a suspension of
hostilities until an accommodation might be negotiated with the
legislature. "Applications were also made," says General Lincoln, "by
committees and select men of the several towns in the counties of
Worcester and Hampshire, praying that the effusion of blood might be
avoided, while the real design of these applications was supposed to
be, to stay our operations until a new court should be elected. They
had no doubt, if they could keep up their influence until another
choice of the legislature and of the executive, that matters might be
moulded in general court to their wishes. To avoid this, was the duty
of government." In answer to these applications, Lincoln exhorted
those towns who sincerely wished to put an end to the rebellion
without the effusion of blood, "to recall their men now in arms, and
to aid in apprehending all abettors of those who should persist in
their treason, and all who should yield them any comfort or supplies."
The army of government continued to brave the rigours of the climate,
and to press the insurgents without intermission. At length, with the
loss of a few killed, and several prisoners, the rebels were
dispersed, their leaders driven out of the state, and this formidable
and wicked rebellion was quelled.
The same love of country which had supported the officers and soldiers
of the late army through a perilous war, still glowed in their bosoms;
and the patriot veterans of the revolution, uninfected by the wide
spreading contagion of the times, arranged themselves almost
universally under the banners of the constitution and of the laws.
This circumstance lessened the prejudices which had been excited
against them as creditors of the public, and diminished the odium
which, in the eastern states, especially, had been directed against
the order of the Cincinnati. But the most important effect of this
unprovoked rebellion was, a deep conviction of the necessity of
enlarging the powers of the general government; and the consequent
direction of the public mind towards the convention which was to
assemble at Philadelphia.
In producing this effect, a resolution of congress had also
considerable influence. New York had given her final _veto_ to the
impost system, and in doing so, had virtually decreed the dissolution
of the existing government. The confederation was apparently expiring
from mere debility. The last hope of its friends having been
destroyed, the vital necessity of some measure which might prevent the
separation of the integral parts of which the American empire was
composed, became apparent even to those who had been unwilling to
perceive it; and congress was restrained from giving its sanction to
the proposed convention, only by an apprehension that their taking an
interest in the measure would impede rather than promote it. From this
embarrassment, the members of that body were relieved by the
legislature of New York. A vote of that state, which passed in the
senate by a majority of only one voice, instructed its delegation to
move in congress, a resolution, recommending to the several states, to
appoint deputies to meet in convention, for the purpose of revising
and proposing amendments to the federal constitution. On the 21st of
February, 1787, the day succeeding the instructions given by New York,
the subject, which had been for some time under consideration, was
finally acted upon: and it was declared, "in the opinion of congress,
to be expedient that, on the second Monday in May next, a convention
of delegates, who shall have been appointed by the several states, be
held at Philadelphia, for the sole and express purpose of revising the
articles of confederation, and reporting to congress and the several
legislatures, such alterations and provisions therein, as shall, when
agreed to in congress, and confirmed by the states, render the federal
constitution adequate to the exigencies of government, and the
preservation of the union."
This recommendation removed all objections to the regularity of the
convention; and co-operated with the impressions made by the
licentious and turbulent spirit which had lately endangered the peace
and liberty of New England, to incline those states to favour the
measure. By giving the proposed meeting a constitutional sanction, and
by postponing it to a day subsequent to that on which the Cincinnati
were to assemble, it also removed one impediment, and diminished
another, to the attendance of General Washington as a member. He
persuaded himself that by repairing to Philadelphia previous to the
second Monday in May, in order to attend the general meeting of the
Cincinnati, he should efface any impressions unfavourable to the
attachment he felt to his military friends, which might otherwise be
excited in their bosoms by his appearing in a public character, after
declining the presidency of their society. The increasing probability
that the convention would be attended by a full representation of the
states, and would propose a scheme of government which, if accepted,
might conduce to the public happiness, and would not be unworthy of
his character, had also its influence on his mind. An opinion too
began to prevail, that the government must be invigorated by agreement
or by force, and that a part of the opposition to the convention
originated in a desire to establish a system of greater energy than
could spring from consent. The idea that his refusing his aid in the
present crisis might be attributed to a dereliction of republican
principles, furnished additional motives for yielding to the wishes of
his fellow citizens. On the 28th of March, he addressed a letter to
the governor of Virginia, in which, after stating the reasons which
had induced him to decline attending the convention, the influence of
which he still felt, he added--"However, as my friends, with a degree
of solicitude which is unusual, seem to wish for my attendance on this
occasion, I have come to a resolution to go if my health will permit,
provided from the lapse of time between your excellency's letter and
this reply, the executive may not (the reverse of which would be
highly pleasing to me) have turned their thoughts to some other
character."
After communicating this determination to the executive of Virginia,
he received a letter from the secretary of war, one of the small
number of his friends who had endeavoured to dissuade him from the
resolution he had ultimately taken, in which that officer avowed an
entire change of opinion on this subject. "It is," said he, "the
general wish that you should attend. It is conceived to be highly
important to the success of the propositions which may be made by the
convention.
"The mass of the people feel the inconvenience of the present
government, and ardently wish for such alterations as would remedy
them. These must be effected by reason and by agreement, or by force.
The convention appears to be the only mean by which to effect them
peaceably. If it should not be attended by a proper weight of wisdom
and character to carry into execution its propositions, we are to look
to events, and to force, for a remedy. Were you not then to attend the
convention, slander and malice might suggest that force would be the
most agreeable mode of reform to you. When civil commotion rages, no
purity of character, no services, however exalted, can afford a secure
shield from the shafts of calumny.
"On the other hand, the unbounded confidence the people have in your
tried patriotism and wisdom, would exceedingly facilitate the adoption
of any important alterations that might be proposed by a convention of
which you were a member; and (as I before hinted) the president."
[Sidenote: Convention at Philadelphia.]
At the time and place appointed, the representatives of twelve states
convened. In Rhode Island alone a spirit sufficiently hostile to every
species of reform was found, to prevent the election of deputies on an
occasion so generally deemed momentous. Having unanimously chosen
General Washington for their president, the convention proceeded, with
closed doors, to discuss the interesting and extensive subject
submitted to their consideration.
On the great principles which should constitute the basis of their
system, not much contrariety of opinion is understood to have
prevailed. But on the various and intricate modifications of those
principles, an equal degree of harmony was not to be expected. More
than once, there was reason to fear that the rich harvest of national
felicity, which had been anticipated from the ample stock of worth
collected in convention, would all be blasted by the rising of that
body without effecting the object for which it was formed. At length
the high importance attached to union triumphed over local interests;
and, on the 17th of September, that constitution which has been alike
the theme of panegyric and invective, was presented to the American
public.
The instrument with its accompanying resolutions was by the unanimous
order of the convention, transmitted to congress in a letter
subscribed by the president, in which it was said to be, "the result
of a spirit of amity, and of that mutual deference and concession,
which the peculiarity of their political situation rendered
indispensable.
[Sidenote: A form of government for the United States is submitted to
the respective states, which is ratified by eleven of them.]
"That it will meet the full and entire approbation of every state,"
continued the letter, "is not, perhaps, to be expected; but each will
doubtless consider, that had her interests been alone consulted, the
consequences might have been particularly disagreeable or injurious to
others. That it is liable to as few exceptions as could reasonably
have been expected, we hope and believe; that it may promote the
lasting welfare of that country so dear to us all, and secure her
freedom and happiness, is our most ardent wish."
Congress resolved unanimously, that the report with the letter
accompanying it be transmitted to the several legislatures, in order
to be submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in each state by
the people thereof.
Neither the intrinsic merits of the constitution nor the imposing
weight of character by which it was supported, gave assurance to its
friends that it would be ultimately adopted. A comparison of the views
and interests by which a powerful party was actuated, with particular
provisions in the constitution which were especially designed to
counteract those views and interests, prepared them to expect a mass
of zealous and active opposition, against which the powers of reason
would be in vain directed, because the real motives in which it
originated would not be avowed. There were also many individuals,
possessing great influence and respectable talents, who, from
judgment, or from particular causes, seemed desirous of retaining the
sovereignty of the states unimpaired, and of reducing the union to an
alliance between independent nations. To these descriptions of
persons, joined by those who supposed that an opposition of interests
existed between different parts of the continent, was added a numerous
class of honest men, many of whom possessed no inconsiderable share of
intelligence, who could identify themselves perfectly with the state
government, but who considered the government of the United States as
in some respects foreign. The representation of their particular state
not composing a majority of the national legislature, they could not
consider that body as safely representing the people, and were
disposed to measure out power to it with the same sparing hand with
which they would confer it on persons not chosen by themselves, not
accountable to them for its exercise, nor having any common interest
with them. That power might be abused, was, to persons of this
opinion, a conclusive argument against its being bestowed; and they
seemed firmly persuaded that the cradle of the constitution would be
the grave of republican liberty. The friends and the enemies of that
instrument were stimulated to exertion by motives equally powerful;
and, during the interval between its publication and adoption, every
faculty of the mind was strained to secure its reception or rejection.
The press teemed with the productions of temperate reason, of genius,
and of passion; and it was apparent that each party believed power,
sovereignty, liberty, peace, and security;--things most dear to the
human heart;--to be staked on the question depending before the
public. From that oblivion which is the common destiny of fugitive
pieces, treating on subjects which agitate only for the moment, was
rescued, by its peculiar merit, a series of essays which first
appeared in the papers of New York. To expose the real circumstances
of America, and the dangers which hung over the republic; to detect
the numerous misrepresentations of the constitution; to refute the
arguments of its opponents; and to confirm, and increase, its friends,
by a full and able development of its principles; three gentlemen,[39]
distinguished for their political experience, their talents, and their
love of union, gave to the public a series of numbers which, collected
in two volumes under the title of the FEDERALIST, will be read and
admired when the controversy in which that valuable treatise on
government originated, shall be no longer remembered.
[Footnote 39: Colonel Hamilton, Mr. Madison, and Mr. Jay.]
To decide the interesting question which agitated a continent, the
best talents of the several states were assembled in their respective
conventions. So balanced were parties in some of them, that, even
after the subject had been discussed for a considerable time, the fate
of the constitution could scarcely be conjectured; and so small, in
many instances, was the majority in its favour, as to afford strong
ground for the opinion that, had the influence of character been
removed, the intrinsic merits of the instrument would not have secured
its adoption. Indeed, it is scarcely to be doubted that, in some of
the adopting states, a majority of the people were in the opposition.
In all of them, the numerous amendments which were proposed,
demonstrate the reluctance with which the new government was accepted;
and that a dread of dismemberment, not an approbation of the
particular system under consideration, had induced an acquiescence in
it. The interesting nature of the question, the equality of the
parties, the animation produced inevitably by ardent debate, had a
necessary tendency to embitter the dispositions of the vanquished, and
to fix more deeply, in many bosoms, their prejudices against a plan of
government, in opposition to which all their passions were enlisted.
{1788}
At length, the conventions of eleven states[40] assented to and
ratified the constitution; and the preparatory measures were taken for
bringing it into operation.
[Footnote 40: North Carolina and Rhode Island did not at
first accept the constitution, and New York was apparently
dragged into it by a repugnance to being excluded from the
confederacy. By the convention of that state a circular
letter was addressed to the several states in the union
inviting them to unite in calling a general convention to
revise the constitution. Its friends seem to have been
persuaded that this measure, if successful, would
effectually destroy the edifice they had erected with so
much labour, before an experience of its advantages could
dissipate the prejudices which had been excited against it.
"You will have seen," said one of its most effective
advocates, "the circular letter from the convention of this
state. It has a most pernicious tendency. If an early
general convention can not be parried, it is seriously to be
feared that the system which has resisted so many direct
attacks, may be at length successfully undermined by its
enemies. It is now perhaps to be wished that Rhode Island
may not accede until this new crisis of danger be over; some
think it would be better if even New York had held out until
the operation of the government could have dissipated the
fears which artifice had created, and the attempts resulting
from those fears and artifices."]
From the moment the public was possessed of this new arrangement of
their political system, the attention of all was directed to General
Washington as the first President of the United States. He alone was
believed to fill so pre-eminent a station in the public opinion, that
he might be placed at the head of the nation without exciting envy;
and he alone possessed the confidence of the people in so unlimited a
degree that under his auspices, the friends of the government might
hope to see it introduced with a degree of firmness which would enable
it to resist the open assaults, and secret plots of its numerous
adversaries. By all who knew him, fears were entertained that his
preference for private life would prevail over the wishes of the
public; and, soon after the adoption of the constitution was
ascertained, his correspondents began to press him on a point which
was believed essential to the completion of the great work on which
the grandeur and happiness of America was supposed to depend. "We can
not," said Mr. Johnson, a gentleman of great political eminence in
Maryland, "do without you, and I, and thousands more can explain to
any body but yourself, why we can not do without you." "I have ever
thought," said Mr. Gouverneur Morris, a gentleman who had been among
the most valuable members of congress through great part of the war,
and who had performed a most splendid part in the general convention,
"and have ever said that you must be president; no other man can fill
that office. No other man can draw forth the abilities of our country
into the various departments of civil life. You alone can awe the
insolence of opposing factions, and the greater insolence of assuming
adherents. I say nothing of foreign powers, nor of their ministers.
With these last you will have some plague. As to your feelings on this
occasion, they are, I know, both deep and affecting; you embark
property most precious on a most tempestuous ocean: for, as you
possess the highest reputation, so you expose it to the perilous
chance of popular opinion. On the other hand, you will, I firmly
expect, enjoy the inexpressible felicity of contributing to the
happiness of all your countrymen. You will become the father of more
than three millions of children; and while your bosom glows with
parental tenderness, in theirs, or at least in a majority of them, you
will excite the duteous sentiments of filial affection. This, I repeat
it, is what I firmly expect; and my views are not directed by that
enthusiasm which your public character has impressed on the public
mind. Enthusiasm is generally short sighted and too often blind. I
form my conclusions from those talents and virtues which the world
_believes_, and which your friends _know_ you possess."
To those who attribute human action in every case to the motives which
most usually guide the human mind, it will appear scarcely possible
that the supreme magistracy could possess no charms for a man long
accustomed to command others; and that ambition had no share in
tempting the hero of the American revolution to tread once more the
paths of public life. Yet, if his communications to friends to whom he
unbosomed the inmost sentiments of his soul be inspected, it will be
difficult to resist the conviction that the struggle produced by the
occasion was unaffected, and that, in accepting the presidency of the
United States, no private passion was gratified; but a decided
preference for private life yielded to a sense of duty, and a deep
conviction of his obligations to his country.
As this is an important æra in the life of Washington, and the motives
by which he was actuated will assist in developing his real character,
the American reader, at least, will be gratified at seeing copious
extracts from his correspondence on this interesting occasion.
In a letter detailing those arrangements which were making for the
introduction of the new government, Colonel Lee proceeded thus to
speak of the presidency of the United States. "The solemnity of the
moment, and its application to yourself, have fixed my mind in
contemplations of a public and a personal nature, and I feel an
involuntary impulse which I can not resist, to communicate without
reserve to you some of the reflections which the hour has produced.
Solicitous for our common happiness as a people, and convinced as I
continue to be that our peace and prosperity depend on the proper
improvement of the present period, my anxiety is extreme that the new
government may have an auspicious beginning. To effect this, and to
perpetuate a nation formed under your auspices, it is certain that
again you will be called forth.
"The same principles of devotion to the good of mankind, which have
invariably governed your conduct, will no doubt continue to rule your
mind, however opposite their consequences may be to your repose and
happiness. It may be wrong, but I can not suppress, in my wishes for
national felicity, a due regard for your personal fame and content.
"If the same success should attend your efforts on this important
occasion which has distinguished you hitherto, then, to be sure, you
will have spent a life which Providence rarely if ever before gave to
the lot of one man. It is my anxious hope, it is my belief, that this
will be the case; but all things are uncertain, and perhaps nothing
more so than political events." He then proceeded to state his
apprehensions, that the government might sink under the active
hostility of its foes, and in particular, the fears which he
entertained from the circular letter of New York, around which the
minorities in the several states might be expected to rally.
To counteract its baneful influence with the legislature of Virginia,
he expressed his earnest wish, that Mr. Madison might be prevailed on
to take a seat in that assembly, and then added,
"It would certainly be unpleasant to you, and obnoxious to all who
feel for your just fame, to see you at the head of a trembling system.
It is a sacrifice on your part unjustifiable in any point of view. But
on the other hand no alternative seems to be presented.
"Without you, the government can have but little chance of success;
and the people, of that happiness which its prosperity must yield."
{1789}
[Sidenote: Letters from Gen. Washington respecting the chief
magistracy of the new government.]
In reply to this letter General Washington said, "Your observations on
the solemnity of the crisis, and its application to myself, bring
before me subjects of the most momentous and interesting nature. In
our endeavours to establish a new general government, the contest,
nationally considered, seems not to have been so much for glory, as
existence. It was for a long time doubtful whether we were to survive
as an independent republic, or decline from our federal dignity into
insignificant and wretched fragments of empire. The adoption of the
constitution so extensively, and with so liberal an acquiescence on
the part of the minorities in general, promised the former; but
lately, the circular letter of New York has manifested, in my
apprehension, an unfavourable, if not an insidious tendency to a
contrary policy. I still hope for the best; but before you mentioned
it, I could not help fearing it would serve as a standard to which the
disaffected might resort. It is now evidently the part of all honest
men, who are friends to the new constitution, to endeavour to give it
a chance to disclose its merits and defects, by carrying it fairly
into effect, in the first instance.
"The principal topic of your letter, is to me a point of great
delicacy indeed;--insomuch that I can scarcely, without some
impropriety, touch upon it. In the first place, the event to which you
allude may never happen, among other reasons, because, if the
partiality of my fellow citizens conceive it to be a mean by which the
sinews of the new government would be strengthened, it will of
consequence be obnoxious to those who are in opposition to it, many of
whom, unquestionably, will be placed among the electors.
"This consideration alone would supersede the expediency of announcing
any definitive and irrevocable resolution. You are among the small
number of those who know my invincible attachment to domestic life,
and that my sincerest wish is to continue in the enjoyment of it
solely, until my final hour. But the world would be neither so well
instructed, nor so candidly disposed, as to believe me to be
uninfluenced by sinister motives, in case any circumstance should
render a deviation from the line of conduct I had prescribed for
myself indispensable. Should the contingency you suggest take place,
and (for argument sake alone, let me say) should my unfeigned
reluctance to accept the office be overcome by a deference for the
reasons and opinions of my friends; might I not, after the
declarations I have made, (and heaven knows they were made in the
sincerity of my heart,) in the judgment of the impartial world, and of
posterity, be chargeable with levity and inconsistency, if not with
rashness and ambition? Nay, farther, would there not even be some
apparent foundation for the two former charges? Now, justice to
myself, and tranquillity of conscience require that I should act a
part, if not above imputation, at least capable of vindication. Nor
will you conceive me to be too solicitous for reputation. Though I
prize as I ought the good opinion of my fellow citizens, yet, if I
know myself, I would not seek or retain popularity at the expense of
one social duty, or moral virtue. While doing what my conscience
informed me was right, as it respected my God, my country, and myself,
I could despise all the party clamour and unjust censure which must be
expected from some, whose personal enmity might be occasioned by their
hostility to the government. I am conscious, that I fear alone to give
any real occasion for obloquy, and that I do not dread to meet with
unmerited reproach. And certain I am, whensoever I shall be convinced
the good of my country requires my reputation to be put in risque,
regard for my own fame will not come in competition with an object of
so much magnitude.
"If I declined the task, it would be upon quite another principle.
Notwithstanding my advanced season of life, my increasing fondness for
agricultural amusements, and my growing love of retirement, augment
and confirm my decided predilection for the character of a private
citizen, yet it will be no one of these motives, nor the hazard to
which my former reputation might be exposed, or the terror of
encountering new fatigues and troubles, that would deter me from an
acceptance;--but a belief that some other person, who had less
pretence and less inclination to be excused, could execute all the
duties full as satisfactorily as myself. To say more would be
indiscreet; as a disclosure of a refusal before hand might incur the
application of the fable, in which the fox is represented as
undervaluing the grapes he could not reach. You will perceive, my dear
sir, by what is here observed (and which you will be pleased to
consider in the light of a confidential communication), that my
inclinations will dispose and decide me to remain as I am, unless a
clear and insurmountable conviction should be impressed on my mind,
that some very disagreeable consequences must in all human probability
result from the indulgence of my wishes."
About the same time, Colonel Hamilton concluded a letter on
miscellaneous subjects with the following observations. "I take it for
granted, sir, you have concluded to comply with what will, no doubt,
be the general call of your country in relation to the new government.
You will permit me to say that it is indispensable you should lend
yourself to its first operations. It is to little purpose to have
introduced a system, if the weightiest influence is not given to its
firm establishment in the outset."
"On the delicate subject," said General Washington in reply, "with
which you conclude your letter, I can say nothing; because the event
alluded to may never happen; and because in case it should occur, it
would be a point of prudence to defer forming one's ultimate and
irrevocable decision, so long as new data might be afforded for one to
act with the greater wisdom and propriety. I would not wish to conceal
my prevailing sentiment from you. For you know me well enough, my good
sir, to be persuaded that I am not guilty of affectation, when I tell
you it is my great and sole desire to live and die in peace and
retirement on my own farm. Were it even indispensable a different line
of conduct should be adopted, while you and some others who are
acquainted with my heart would _acquit_, the world and posterity might
probably _accuse_ me of _inconsistency_ and _ambition_. Still I hope,
I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain (what I
consider the most enviable of all titles) the character of _an honest
man_."
This answer drew from Colonel Hamilton the following reply: "I should
be deeply pained, my dear sir, if your scruples in regard to a certain
station should be matured into a resolution to decline it; though I am
neither surprised at their existence, nor can I but agree in opinion
that the caution you observe in deferring the ultimate determination
is prudent. I have, however, reflected maturely on the subject, and
have come to a conclusion (in which I feel no hesitation) that every
public and personal consideration will demand from you an acquiescence
in what will _certainly_ be the unanimous wish of your country.
"The absolute retreat which you meditated at the close of the late war
was natural and proper. Had the government produced by the revolution
gone on in a _tolerable_ train, it would have been most adviseable to
have persisted in that retreat. But I am clearly of opinion that the
crisis which brought you again into public view left you no
alternative but to comply; and I am equally clear in the opinion that
you are by that act _pledged_ to take a part in the execution of the
government. I am not less convinced that the impression of the
necessity of your filling the station in question is so universal,
that you run no risk of any uncandid imputation by submitting to it.
But even if this were not the case, a regard to your own reputation,
as well as to the public good, calls upon you in the strongest manner
to run that risk.
"It can not be considered as a compliment to say, that on your
acceptance of the office of president, the success of the new
government in its commencement may materially depend. Your agency and
influence will be not less important in preserving it from the future
attacks of its enemies, than they have been in recommending it in the
first instance to the adoption of the people. Independent of all
considerations drawn from this source, the point of light in which you
stand at home and abroad, will make an infinite difference in the
respectability with which the government will begin its operations, in
the alternative of your being or not being at the head of it. I
forbear to mention considerations which might have a more personal
application. What I have said will suffice for the inferences I mean
to draw.
"First. In a matter so essential to the well being of society as the
prosperity of a newly instituted government, a citizen of so much
consequence as yourself to its success, has no option but to lend his
services if called for. Permit me to say, it would be inglorious, in
such a situation, not to hazard the glory, however great, which he
might have previously acquired.
"Secondly. Your signature to the proposed system, pledges your
judgment for its being such an one as upon the whole was worthy of the
public approbation. If it should miscarry, (as men commonly decide
from success or the want of it) the blame will in all probability be
laid on the system itself. And the framers of it will have to
encounter the disrepute of having brought about a revolution in
government, without substituting any thing that was worthy of the
effort; they pulled down one Utopia, it will be said, to build up
another. This view of the subject, if I mistake not, my dear sir, will
suggest to your mind greater hazard to that fame, which must be, and
ought to be dear to you, in refusing your future aid to the system,
than in affording it. I will only add, that in my estimate of the
matter, that aid is indispensable.
"I have taken the liberty to express these sentiments, and to lay
before you my view of the subject. I doubt not the considerations
mentioned have fully occurred to you, and I trust, they will finally
produce in your mind the same result which exists in mine. I flatter
myself the frankness with which I have delivered myself, will not be
displeasing to you. It has been prompted by motives which you would
not disapprove."
In answer to this letter General Washington opened himself without
reserve. "In acknowledging," said he, "the receipt of your candid and
kind letter by the last post, little more is incumbent on me than to
thank you sincerely for the frankness with which you communicated your
sentiments, and to assure you that the same manly tone of intercourse
will always be more than barely welcome,--indeed it will be highly
acceptable to me.
"I am particularly glad, in the present instance, that you have dealt
thus freely and like a friend. Although I could not help observing
from several publications and letters that my name had been sometimes
spoken of, and that it was possible the _contingency_ which is the
subject of your letter might happen, yet I thought it best to maintain
a guarded silence, and to lack the counsel of my best friends (which I
certainly hold in the highest estimation) rather than to hazard an
imputation unfriendly to the delicacy of my feelings. For, situated as
I am, I could hardly bring the question into the slightest discussion,
or ask an opinion even in the most confidential manner, without
betraying, in my judgment, some impropriety of conduct, or without
feeling an apprehension that a premature display of anxiety, might be
construed into a vain glorious desire of pushing myself into notice as
a candidate. Now; if I am not grossly deceived in myself, I should
unfeignedly rejoice, in case the electors, by giving their votes in
favour of some other person, would save me from the dreadful dilemma
of being forced to accept or refuse. If that may not be, I am in the
next place, earnestly desirous of searching out the truth, and of
knowing whether there does not exist a probability that the government
would be just as happily and effectually carried into execution
without my aid, as with it. I am _truly_ solicitous to obtain all the
previous information which the circumstances will afford, and to
determine (when the determination can with propriety be no longer
postponed) according to the principles of right reason, and the
dictates of a clear conscience; without too great a reference to the
unforeseen consequences which may affect my person or reputation.
Until that period, I may fairly hold myself open to conviction, though
I allow your sentiments to have weight in them; and I shall not pass
by your arguments without giving them as dispassionate a consideration
as I can possibly bestow upon them.
"In taking a survey of the subject, in whatever point of light I have
been able to place it, I will not suppress the acknowledgment, my dear
sir, that I have always felt a kind of gloom upon my mind, as often as
I have been taught to expect I might, and perhaps must ere long be
called to make a decision. You will, I am well assured, believe the
assertion (though I have little expectation it would gain credit from
those who are less acquainted with me) that if I should receive the
appointment, and should be prevailed upon to accept it; the acceptance
would be attended with more diffidence and reluctance, than ever I
experienced before in my life. It would be, however, with a fixed and
sole determination of lending whatever assistance might be in my power
to promote the public weal, in hopes that at a convenient and an early
period, my services might be dispensed with; and that I might be
permitted once more to retire--to pass an unclouded evening after the
stormy day of life, in the bosom of domestic tranquillity."
This correspondence was thus closed by Colonel Hamilton. "I feel a
conviction that you will finally see your acceptance to be
indispensable. It is no compliment to say that no other man can
sufficiently unite the public opinion, or can give the requisite
weight to the office, in the commencement of the government. These
considerations appear to me of themselves decisive. I am not sure that
your refusal would not throw every thing into confusion. I am sure
that it would have the worst effect imaginable.
"Indeed, as I hinted in a former letter, I think circumstances leave
no option."
Although this correspondence does not appear to have absolutely
decided General Washington on the part he should embrace, it could not
have been without its influence on his judgment, nor have failed to
dispose him to yield to the wish of his country. "I would willingly,"
said he to his estimable friend General Lincoln, who had also pressed
the subject on him, "pass over in silence that part of your letter, in
which you mention the persons who are candidates for the two first
offices in the executive, if I did not fear the omission might seem to
betray a want of confidence. Motives of delicacy have prevented me
hitherto from conversing or writing on this subject, whenever I could
avoid it with decency. I may, however, with great sincerity, and I
believe without offending against modesty or propriety, _say_ to
_you_, that I most heartily wish the choice to which you allude might
not fall upon me: and that if it should, I must reserve to myself the
right of making up my final decision, at the last moment, when it can
be brought into one view, and when the expediency or inexpediency of a
refusal can be more judiciously determined than at present. But be
assured, my dear sir, if from any inducement I shall be persuaded
ultimately to accept, it will not be (so far as I know my own heart)
from any of a private or personal nature. Every personal consideration
conspires, to rivet me (if I may use the expression) to retirement. At
my time of life, and under my circumstances, nothing in this world can
ever draw me from it, unless it be a _conviction_ that the partiality
of my countrymen had made my services absolutely necessary, joined to
a _fear_ that my refusal might induce a belief that I preferred the
conservation of my own reputation and private ease, to the good of my
country. After all, if I should conceive myself in a manner
constrained to accept, I call heaven to witness, that this very act
would be the greatest sacrifice of my personal feelings and wishes,
that ever I have been called upon to make. It would be to forego
repose and domestic enjoyment for trouble, perhaps for public obloquy:
for I should consider myself as entering upon an unexplored field,
enveloped on every side with clouds and darkness.
"From this embarrassing situation I had naturally supposed that my
declarations at the close of the war would have saved me; and that my
sincere intentions, then publicly made known, would have effectually
precluded me forever afterwards from being looked upon as a candidate
for any office. This hope, as a last anchor of worldly happiness in
old age, I had still carefully preserved; until the public papers and
private letters from my correspondents in almost every quarter, taught
me to apprehend that I might soon be obliged to answer the question,
whether I would go again into public life or not?"
"I can say little or nothing new," said he in a letter to the Marquis
de Lafayette, "in consequence of the repetition of your opinion on the
expediency there will be, for my accepting the office to which you
refer. Your sentiments indeed coincide much more nearly with those of
my ether friends, than with my own feelings. In truth, my difficulties
increase and magnify as I draw towards the period, when, according to
the common belief, it will be necessary for me to give a definitive
answer in one way or other. Should circumstances render it, in a
manner, inevitably necessary to be in the affirmative, be assured, my
dear sir, I shall assume the task with the most unfeigned reluctance,
and with a real diffidence, for which I shall probably receive no
credit from the world. If I know my own heart, nothing short of a
conviction of duty will induce me again to take an active part in
public affairs. And in that case, if I can form a plan for my own
conduct, my endeavours shall be unremittingly exerted (even at the
hazard of former fame or present popularity) to extricate my country
from the embarrassments in which it is entangled through want of
credit; and to establish a general system of policy, which, if
pursued, will ensure permanent felicity to the commonwealth. I think I
see a path, as clear and as direct as a ray of light, which leads to
the attainment of that object. Nothing but harmony, honesty, industry,
and frugality, are necessary to make us a great and happy people.
Happily, the present posture of affairs, and the prevailing
disposition of my countrymen, promise to co-operate in establishing
those four great and essential pillars of public felicity."
[Illustration: The Room in Which the First Constitutional Convention
Met in Philadelphia
_Delegates from twelve of the thirteen States (Rhode Island alone
being unrepresented) assembled at Philadelphia, where the opening
sessions of the first Constitutional Convention were held in this room
in Independence Hall, May 14, 1787. George Washington presided during
the four months taken to draft the Constitution of the United States.
When it was completed on September 17th, it is said that many of the
delegates seemed awe-struck and that Washington himself sat with his
head bowed in deep meditation. As the Convention adjourned, Franklin,
who was then over eighty-one years of age, arose and pointing to the
President's quaint armchair on the back of which was emblazoned a half
sun, brilliant with gilded rays, observed: "As I have been sitting
here all these weeks, I have often wondered whether yonder sun is
rising or setting, but now I know that it is a rising sun."_]
[Sidenote: He is unanimously elected president.]
After the elections had taken place, a general persuasion prevailed
that the public will, respecting the chief magistrate of the union,
had been too unequivocally manifested not to be certainly obeyed; and
several applications were made to General Washington for those offices
in the respective states, which would be in the gift of the president
of the United States.
As marking the frame of mind with which he came into the government,
the following extract is given from one of the many letters written to
persons whose pretensions he was disposed to favour. "Should it become
absolutely necessary for me to occupy the station in which your letter
presupposes me, I have determined to go into it, perfectly free from
all engagements of every nature whatsoever.--A conduct in conformity
to this resolution, would enable me, in balancing the various
pretensions of different candidates for appointments, to act with a
sole reference to justice and the public good. This is, in substance,
the answer that I have given to all applications (and they are not
few) which have already been made. Among the places sought after in
these applications, I must not conceal that the office to which you
particularly allude is comprehended. This fact I tell you merely as
matter of information. My general manner of thinking, as to the
propriety of holding myself totally disengaged, will apologize for my
not enlarging farther on the subject.
"Though I am sensible that the public suffrage which places a man in
office, should prevent him from being swayed, in the execution of it,
by his private inclinations, yet he may assuredly, without violating
his duty, be indulged in the continuance of his former attachments."
[Sidenote: Meeting of the first congress.]
The impotence of the late government, added to the dilatoriness
inseparable from its perplexed mode of proceeding on the public
business, and to its continued session, had produced among the members
of congress such an habitual disregard of punctuality in their
attendance on that body, that, although the new government was to
commence its operations on the 4th of March, 1789, a house of
representatives was not formed until the first, nor a senate until the
6th day of April.
At length, the votes for the president and vice president of the
United States were opened and counted in the senate. Neither the
animosity of parties, nor the preponderance of the enemies of the new
government in some of the states, could deprive General Washington of
a single vote. By the unanimous voice of an immense continent, he was
called to the chief magistracy of the nation. The second number of
votes was given to Mr. John Adams. George Washington and John Adams
were therefore declared to be duly elected president and vice
president of the United States, to serve for four years from the 4th
of March, 1789.[41]
[Footnote 41: The reluctance with which General Washington
assumed his new dignity, and that genuine modesty which was
a distinguished feature of his character, are further
illustrated by the following extract from a letter to
General Knox. "I feel for those members of the new congress,
who, hitherto, have given an unavailing attendance at the
theatre of action. For myself, the delay may be compared to
a reprieve; for in confidence, I tell _you_ (with the
_world_ it would obtain _little credit_,) that my movements
to the chair of government will be accompanied by feelings
not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of
his execution; so unwilling am I in the evening of life,
nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode
for an ocean of difficulties, without that competency of
political skill, abilities, and inclination, which are
necessary to manage the helm. I am sensible that I am
embarking the voice of the people, and a good name of my own
on this voyage; but what returns will be made for them
heaven alone can foretell.--Integrity and firmness are all I
can promise; these, be the voyage long or short, shall never
forsake me, although I may be deserted by all men; for of
the consolations which are to be derived from these, under
any circumstances, the world can not deprive me."]