WASHINGTON BEGINS HIS OFFICIAL LABORS--THE FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC
RELATIONS OF THE UNITED STATES--DANGEROUS ILLNESS OF THE
PRESIDENT--PUBLIC ANXIETY AND HIS OWN CALMNESS--SLOW
CONVALESCENCE--DEATH OF WASHINGTON'S MOTHER--PROCEEDINGS IN CONGRESS
IN REFERENCE TO REVENUE, THE JUDICIARY AND EXECUTIVE
DEPARTMENTS--DEBATES CONCERNING THE APPOINTING POWER--AMENDMENTS OF
THE CONSTITUTION--ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JUDICIARY--WASHINGTON'S
APPOINTMENT OF CABINET AND JUDICIAL OFFICERS--ADJOURNMENT OF
CONGRESS--THANKSGIVING-DAY APPOINTED.
With a most earnest desire to be a faithful public servant, Washington
commenced his labors as soon as possible after the inauguration. His
first care was to make himself acquainted with the exact condition of
his country; and for that purpose he personally inspected all of the
most important official documents issued since the establishment of the
Confederacy, and called, unofficially, upon the heads of the several
departments to report, in writing, the condition of things connected
with the operations of their respective bureaux. In this pursuit he
labored almost incessantly, examining with care the archives of the
departments, making notes of important foreign correspondence, and
collating his garnered facts so as to make them most convenient for use.
The foreign relations of the United States were, on the whole,
satisfactory. With the exception of England, the feeling of the European
powers toward the new republic was friendly. The resentments caused by
the long war with the mother-country were blunted, but by no means
deprived of their strength; and the fact that the British government
still held possession of western posts, in violation of treaty
stipulations, to which allusion has already been made, was a cause of
much irritation on the part of the Americans. And this was increased, as
we have observed, by the supposed malign influence of British officers
over the tribes of Indians between the lakes and the Ohio and
Mississippi rivers, whose military strength was computed at five
thousand warriors, one third of whom were, at the time in question,
standing in open hostility to the United States. In the far southwest,
the powerful Creeks, six thousand strong, were at war with Georgia,
while the entire regular force of the United States did not exceed six
hundred men.
We have already alluded to the relative position of the Spaniards in the
southwest, and their disposition to exclude the Americans from the
navigation of the southern Mississippi to its mouth. An attempt to open
that navigation by treaty had failed; and there was an almost
undefinable boundary-line between the Spanish possessions and those of
the United States, about which a dispute had arisen that threatened
unpleasant relations with Spain.
France, the old ally of the new republic, was still friendly; but its
government was then shaken by a terrible revolution just commenced, in
which Lafayette took a conspicuous part. Of this we shall speak
hereafter.
Up to the time in question, the representatives of France in America had
exhibited the most friendly disposition. Count de Moustier, the
successor of the Chevalier de Luzerne, was assiduous in his attentions;
and Washington had scarcely commenced the exercise of his executive
functions, before that embassador, who had been more than a year in the
country, sought a private interview with him, preparatory, as he said,
to diplomatic negotiations concerning the commerce between the two
nations. He was anxious to secure for his country superior advantages in
commercial arrangements, and seemed to feel that France, as an ally, was
entitled to more consideration than other nations. Washington
reciprocated his expressions of friendship, gave him assurance of the
most friendly feeling toward France on the part of the people and
government of the United States; but, with a wise caution, did not
commit himself to any future policy in regard to commercial or other
intercourse with the nations of Europe.
While zealously engaged in his public duties, Washington was prostrated
by violent disease, in the form of malignant anthrax or carbuncle boil
upon his thigh, and for several days his life was seriously jeoparded.
Fortunately for himself and the republic, there was a physician at hand,
in the person of Doctor Samuel Bard, by whose well-directed skill his
life was spared. While the malady was approaching its crisis, Doctor
Bard never left his patient, but watched the progress of the disease
with the greatest anxiety. On one occasion, when they were alone in the
room, Washington, looking earnestly in the doctor's face, said: "Do not
flatter me with vain hopes; I am not afraid to die, and therefore can
bear the worst." Bard replied with an expression of hope, but with an
acknowledgment of apprehension. To this the president calmly answered:
"Whether to-night or twenty years hence makes no difference--I know that
I am in the hands of a good Providence."
While Washington was so calm under his severe affliction--for his
sufferings were intense--the public mind was greatly agitated upon the
subject of his illness; for momentous interests were suspended upon the
result of the disease. Every hour, anxious inquiries were made at the
presidential mansion. People listened with the most intense concern to
every word that was passed from the lips of the physician to the public
ear; and there was a sense of great relief when his convalescence was
announced. But his recovery was very slow. On the twenty-eighth of July
he was enabled for the first to receive a few visits of compliment,
notwithstanding he had considered his health as restored three weeks
earlier. "But," he wrote to Mr. M'Henry, "a feebleness still hangs upon
me, and I am much incommoded by the incision which was made in a very
large and painful tumor on the protuberance of my thigh. This prevents
me from walking or sitting. However, the physician assures me it has had
a happy effect in removing my fever, and will tend very much to the
establishment of my general health." As late as the eighth of September
he wrote to Doctor Craik, saying:
"Though now freed from pain, the wound given by the incision is not
yet healed."
Before he had fairly recovered, the president heard of the death of his
mother, who expired at Fredericksburg, on the twenty-fifth of August, at
the age of little more than eighty-two years, forty-six of which she had
passed in widowhood. The event was touchingly alluded to in the pulpits
of New York; and at the first public _levees_ of the president, after
her death was known, members of the two houses of Congress and other
persons wore badges of mourning.
When Washington had fully recovered, he resumed his labors for the
public good with the greatest ardor. The Congress had been chiefly
employed, meanwhile, in framing laws necessary to the organization of
the government. The most important of these, in the senate, was an act
for the establishment of a judiciary, and in the house of
representatives an act providing a revenue by an imposition of
discriminating duties upon imports. The latter subject had received the
earliest attention of the house, for, in the condition in which the new
government found the national finances, it was an all-important one. Mr.
Madison brought it to the attention of Congress, only two days after the
inauguration, by a suggestion, in the first committee of the whole on
the state of the Union, to adopt a temporary system of imposts, by which
the exhausted treasury might be replenished. Upon the questions which
this proposition gave birth to, long and able debates ensued, in which
the actual state of the trade, commerce, and manufactures of the country
were quite fully developed. From the published reports of these debates
Washington collated a mass of facts which aided him much in his future
labors, and in drawing conclusions concerning public measures. An act
for the collection of revenue through the medium of imposts was finally
passed, and the principle was recognised of discriminating duties for
the protection of American manufactures. The plan then adopted became
the basis of our present revenue system.
Another important question that engaged Congress during its first
session was the establishment of executive departments, the heads of
which should be the counsellors and assistants of the president in the
management of public affairs. Hitherto these functions had been
performed by those officers who had been appointed, some of them several
years before, by Congress under the old Confederation. John Jay had been
secretary for foreign affairs (an equivalent to secretary of state)
since 1784; General Knox had been at the head of the war department
since the close of 1783, when he succeeded General Lincoln; and the
treasury department was still managed by a board, at that time
consisting of Samuel Osgood, Walter Livingston, and Arthur Lee.
Congress established three executive departments--treasury, war, and
foreign affairs (the latter afterward called department of state)--the
heads of which were to be styled secretaries, instead of ministers as in
Europe, and were to constitute, with the president of the United States,
an executive council. In the organization of these departments, the
important question arose, in what manner might the high officers who
should fill them be appointed or removed? Many believed that the
decision of this question would materially influence the character of
the new government; and the clause in the act to "establish an executive
department to be denominated the department of foreign affairs," which
declared the secretary thereof to be removable by the president, was
debated with great warmth. It was contended that such a prerogative
given to the president was in its character so monarchical that it
would, in the nature of things, convert the heads of departments into
mere tools and creatures of his will; that a dependence so servile on
one individual would deter men of high and honorable minds from engaging
in the public service; and that the most alarming dangers to liberty
might be perceived in such prerogative. It was feared, they said, that
those who advocated the bestowment of such power upon the president were
too much dazzled with the splendor of the virtues which adorned the then
incumbent of the office; and that they did not extend their views far
enough to perceive, that an ambitious man at the head of the government
might apply the prerogative to dangerous purposes, and remove the best
of men from office.
The idea that a man could ever be elected by the people of the United
States to the office of chief magistrate, who was so lost to a sense of
right, and so indifferent to public odium, as to remove a good man from
office, was treated by the opposite party as absurd; and after a
discussion which lasted several days, it was decided to give the
removing power to the president, the action of the senate being
necessary only in the matter of appointment.
Another important matter acted upon during the first session of Congress
was that of amending the constitution. It was brought to the attention
of the national legislature in the president's inaugural speech; for he
conceived that the amendments which had been proposed by the minorities
in the several state conventions called to consider the constitution,
deserved the careful consideration of those in authority, not only
because of the nature of the propositions, but because such a
consideration might be productive of good will toward the government,
even in the minds of its opponents.
Mr. Madison brought the subject before Congress, pursuant to pledges
which he found himself compelled to give in the Virginia convention in
order to secure the ratification of the constitution. These amendments
amounted in the aggregate to no less than one hundred and forty-seven,
besides separate bills of rights proposed by Virginia and New York. Some
of them, made in different states, were identical in spirit, and
sometimes in form; and yet, it is worthy of remark that not one of these
proposed amendments, judged by subsequent experience, was of a vital
character. How well this fact illustrates the profound wisdom embodied
in our constitution!
Sixteen amendments were finally agreed to by Congress and submitted to
the several state legislatures. Ten of these were subsequently ratified,
and now form a part of the federal constitution. This early action of
Congress in deference to the opinions of minorities in the several
states had a most happy effect. It reconciled many able men to the new
government, and gave it strength at an hour when it was most needed.
The senate, meanwhile, had adopted measures for the establishment of a
federal judiciary. A plan embodied in a bill drafted by Ellsworth, of
Connecticut, was, after several amendments, concurred in by both houses.
By its provisions, the judiciary as established consisted of a supreme
court, having one chief justice and five associate justices, who were to
hold two sessions annually at the seat of the federal government.
Circuit and district courts were also established, which had
jurisdiction over certain specified cases. Appeals from these lower
courts to the supreme court of the United States were allowed, as to
points of law, in all civil cases where the matter in dispute amounted
to two thousand dollars. A marshal was to be appointed for each
district, having the general power of a sheriff, who was to attend all
courts, and was authorized to serve all processes. A district attorney,
to act for the United States in all cases in which the federal
government might be interested, was also to be appointed for each
district. Such, in brief outline and in general terms, was the federal
judiciary organized at the commencement of the government, and which is
still in force, with slight modifications.
The government being completely organized by acts of Congress, and a
system of revenue for the support of the government being established,
Washington proceeded to the important duty of filling the several
offices which had been created. This was a most delicate and momentous
task, for upon a right choice, especially in the heads of the executive
departments, depended much of the success of his administration. He had
contemplated the subject with much deliberation, and when the time came
for him to act he was fully prepared.
At that time the post of secretary of the treasury was the most
important of all. Everything pertaining to the finances of the country
was in confusion, and needed a skillful hand in re-arranging and
systematizing the inharmonious and incoherent fiscal machinery, so as to
ascertain the actual resources of the treasury, and to adopt measures
for restoring the credit of the country upon a basis of perfect
solvency. "My endeavors," Washington wrote before he assumed the office
of chief magistrate, "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."
To Robert Morris, the able financier of the Revolution, Washington
turned with a feeling that he was the best man for the head of the
treasury department. Immediately after his inauguration, he inquired of
Morris: "What are we to do with this heavy debt?" "There is but one man
in the United States," replied Morris, "who can tell you--that is
Alexander Hamilton. I am glad," he added, "that you have given me this
opportunity to declare to you the extent of the obligations I am under
to him."
This hint determined Washington to offer the important position of
secretary of the treasury to Hamilton. At the beginning of his
administration he gave that gentleman assurances that he should call him
to his cabinet in that capacity; and he frequently consulted him in
reference to fiscal matters and cognate subjects during the summer. And
when, in September, the office was formally tendered to Hamilton, he
accepted it, although it was at the sacrifice of the emoluments of a
lucrative profession. Some of his friends remonstrated with him on that
account, because it would not be just to his growing family. "Of that I
am aware," the patriot replied; "but I am convinced it is the situation
in which I can do most good." He entered upon the duties of his office
almost immediately, with a full assurance that he should perform what he
had often expressed a belief that he could do--the restoration of the
public credit.
General Henry Knox, the efficient leader of the artillery during the
Revolution, the sincere friend of Washington, and a prudent,
industrious, faithful, and honest man, was retained in the office of
secretary of war.
To Edmund Randolph, Washington offered the responsible position of
attorney-general of the United States. They had differed materially in
their opinions concerning the federal constitution, and it will be
remembered that Randolph refused to sign it; but he had in a great
degree become reconciled to the measure; and at no time was the
friendship between himself and Washington interrupted by their diversity
of political sentiments. Washington knew Randolph's great worth and
eminent abilities, and urged him to accept the office. He complied, and
some months afterward entered upon its duties.
John Jay, one of the brightest minds of the remarkable century in which
he lived, and an acute lawyer, was chosen to fill the office of chief
justice of the United States. "I have a full confidence," wrote
Washington to Mr. Jay, "that the love which you bear to our country, and
a desire to promote the general happiness, will not suffer you to
hesitate a moment to bring into action the talents, knowledge, and
integrity, which are so necessary to be exercised at the head of that
department which must be considered the keystone of our political
fabric."
Mr. Jay accepted the office; and for his associates on the bench, the
president selected William Cushing, then chief justice of Massachusetts;
James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, a very conspicuous member of the general
convention of 1787; Robert H. Harrison, then chief justice of Maryland,
who during a large portion of the war for independence had been one of
Washington's most loved confidential secretaries; John Blair, one of the
judges of the court of appeals in Virginia; and John Rutledge, the bold,
outspoken patriot of South Carolina. Harrison declined, and James
Iredell, of North Carolina, was substituted.
The office of secretary of state remained to be filled. To that
important post the president invited Thomas Jefferson, whose long and
varied experience in public affairs at home and abroad thoroughly
qualified him for the duties of that office. He was then the minister
plenipotentiary of the United States at the French court, having
succeeded Doctor Franklin. He had obtained leave to return home for a
few months. He sailed from Havre to England late in September, and
embarked from Cowes for America. He landed at Norfolk on the
twenty-third of November; and on his way to Monticello, his beautiful
seat near Charlottesville in Virginia, he received a letter from
Washington, dated the thirteenth of October, in which he was invited to
a seat in the cabinet as secretary of state. "In the selection of
characters," the president said, "to fill the important offices of
government, I was naturally led to contemplate the talents and
disposition which I knew you to possess and entertain for the service of
your country; and without being able to consult your inclination, or to
derive any knowledge of your intentions from your letters either to
myself or to any of your friends, I was determined, as well by motives
of private regard as a conviction of public propriety, to nominate you
for the department of state, which, under its present organization,
involves many of the most interesting objects of the executive
authority."
Mr. Jefferson, who had become enamored with the leaders and the
principles of the French revolution then just inaugurated by the
destruction of the Bastile and other acts, preferred to remain in
Europe; but, yielding to the wishes of the president, he signified his
willingness to accept the office. He was fearful that he would not be
equal to the requirements of the station; but, he said, "my chief
comfort will be to work under your eye, my only shelter the authority of
your name, and the wisdom of measures to be dictated by you and
implicitly executed by me."
The office of secretary of the navy was not created until early in 1798,
when war with France was anticipated. A navy was then formed, and a
naval department established; and at the close of April, Benjamin
Stoddart, of Georgetown, in the District of Columbia, was appointed the
secretary, and became a cabinet officer. The postmaster-general did not
become an executive officer until 1829, the first year of President
Jackson's administration, when William T. Barry entered the cabinet as
the head of the post-office department. Since then a new department has
been established, called the department of the interior, the head of
which is a cabinet officer.
The Congress adjourned on the twenty-ninth of September, after a session
of more than six months, to meet again on the first Monday in January.
Their last act was to appoint a joint committee to wait on the president
and "request that he would recommend to the people of the United States
a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging
with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God,
especially by affording them an opportunity peacefully to establish a
constitution of government for their safety and happiness."
The president complied, and by proclamation he recommended that the
twenty-sixth of November "be devoted by the people of these states to
the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent
Author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may
thus all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for
his kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to
their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies, and the
favorable interpositions of his providence, in the course and conclusion
of the late war; for the great degree of tranquillity, union, and
plenty, which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational
manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of
government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national
one now recently instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with
which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing
useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors
which He has been pleased to confer upon us."