H. E. BARKER 
 
 Lincolnuma 
 
 1922 SOUTH HOBART BOULEVARD 
 Los ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 
 
 THE LIFE OF GEORGE WASHINGTON 
 David Ramsay, M.D. 
 
 Nearly all the biographers of Abrahaii 
 Lincoln tell the story of the borrowed and 
 "Life of Washington", and aoat of 
 say it was the book by Weens. 
 
 A note found on page 326 of Alonzo Roths- 
 child's "Honest Abe", would seen to settle 
 the question in favor of foamy'* work* 
 
 "But Soripps(5), Rayaond(1-.22), Brock- 
 etVA?)* and Holland(32), are apparently 
 accurate in stating that the work was Dr. 
 David Ramsay* "The Life of Washington". 
 It should be resttabered that Mr, Lincoln 
 himself, looking with uncoan&n care thru* 
 the advance sheets of Scripps 1 biography, 
 published in 1d6o f made no correction as 
 to the naas Ramsay there employed in con- 
 nection with the anecdote. Lincoln's refer- 
 enoe to Woens' Life, xaoreovor, in the speech 
 at Tronton, indicated that he had read that . 
 book during his early childhood - soae years 
 before he could as a "tall and long-amed" 
 youth have "smde a eleaa sweep" of Crawford's 
 fodder corn."
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 COMMANDER IN CHIEF 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
 
 THROUGHOUT THE WAR WHICH ESTABLISHED THEIR 
 
 INDEPENDENCE; 
 
 AND 
 
 FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 BY DA VI D RAMSAY, M. D. 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION. 
 
 MEW-YORK: 
 
 Printed by Hopkins <S* Seymovr, 
 
 AND SOLD, WHOLESALE AND RETAIL, BY GEO. F. HOPKINS, NO. 
 118, PEARL STREET : SOLD ALSO BY THE PRINCIPAL BOOKSEL- 
 LERS IN BOSTON, PROVIDENCE, NEWPORT, HARTFORD, AND 
 
 NEW-HAVEN; BY c AND A. CONRAD AND co. A.VD SAMUEL F. 
 
 BRADFORD, PHILADELPHIA ; WARNER AND HANNA, A .. D COLE 
 AND I. BONSAL, BALTIMORE ; -WILLIAM PRI TCH AR D, RIOHMO ND J 
 ROBERT GRAY, ALEXANDRIA; E. MORFORD AND JOHN HOFF, 
 CHARLES ION 
 
 SOLD LIKEWISE, WHOLESALE ONLY, 
 
 BY THE PROPRIETOR, E. S. THOMAS, BALTIMORE. 
 1807.
 
 
 District of Maryland, to tutt : 
 
 BE it remembered, that on the fifth day of September, in the thirty-second yeai 
 of the Independence of the United States of America, Ebenezer Smith Thomas, 
 of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, thr right whereof 
 IK claims as 1'ropnetor, in the words following : 
 
 " The Life of George Washington, Commandei in Chief of the Armies of the United States 
 " of America, throughout the vvai winch established their Independence, and first Presi- 
 " dent of the United States. By Uavio Ramsay, M. L). author of the History of the 
 " American Revolution." 
 
 In cohfoimity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, " An Act for the 
 " encouragement of learning, by secutii.g the copies of Maps, Chans, and Books, to the Au 
 " thors and Proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned." 
 
 PHILIP MOORE, Clerk of the District of Maryland.
 
 E 
 
 TO 
 
 THE YOUTH 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNITED STATES, 
 
 IN THE HOPE THAT, FROM THE 
 EXAMPLE 
 
 OF THEIR 
 
 COMMON FATHER, 
 
 THEY WILL LEARN TO DO AND SUFFER 
 WHATEVER 
 
 THEIR COUNTRY'S GOOD 
 
 MAY REQUIRE AT THEIR HANDS, 
 THE FOLLOWING LIFE OF 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 
 
 IS MOST AFFECTIONATELY 
 
 INSCRIBED, 
 
 BY THE 
 
 AUTHOR. 
 
 . 
 
 4 f
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Of George Washington's birth, family, and education. Of his 
 mission to the French commandant on the Ohio, in 1753. His 
 military operations as an officer of Virginia, from 1754 to 
 1758, and his subsequent employments to the commencement 
 of the American revolution, page J 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Retrospect of the origin of the American revolutionary war. Of 
 George Washington as member of Congress, in 1774 and 1775. 
 As Commander in Chief of the armies of the United Colonies 
 in 1775 and 1776, and his operations near Boston, in these 
 
 . years, p. 21 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1776. 
 
 Of the operations of General Washington in New- York and New- 
 Jersey. The battle on Long Island. The retreat from York 
 Island and through Jersey. The battles of Trenton and 
 Princeton, p. 35 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1777. 
 
 Of the operations of General Washington in New- Jersey and 
 Pennsylvania, in the campaign of 1777. The battles of Bran- 
 dywine and Germantown. Washington is advised by the 
 Rev. Jacob Duche, to give up the contest. The distresses of 
 the American army. Its winter quarters in Valley Forge. 
 Gen. Washington is assailed by the clamours of discontented 
 individuals and public bodies, and by the designs of a faction to 
 supersede him in his office as Commander in Chief, . p. 61 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1778. / 
 General Washington prepares for the campaign of 1778. Sui-
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 prises the British, and defeats them at Monraouth. Arrests 
 General Lee. Calms the irritation excited by the departure of 
 the French fleet from Rhode-Island to Boston. Dissuades from 
 an invasion of Canada, p. 85 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1779. 
 
 The distresses of the American army. Gen. Washington calms 
 the uneasiness in the Jersey line. Finds great difficulty in 
 supporting his troops and concentrating their force. Makes a 
 disposition of them with a view to the security of West-Point. 
 Directs an expedition against the Six Nations of Indians, and 
 for the reduction of Stony Point. Paules-Hook taken. A 
 French fleet, expected to the northward, arrives on the coast of 
 Georgia. Washington, unequal to offensive operations, re- 
 tires into winter quarters, . . p. 103 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1780. 
 
 Gen. Washington directs an expedition against Staten-Island. 
 Gives an opinion against risking an army for the defence of 
 Charleston, S. C. Finds great difficulty in supporting his ar- 
 my. Kniphausen invades Jersey, but is prevented from in- 
 juring the American stores. Marquis de la Fayette arrives, 
 and gives assurances that a French fleet and army might soon 
 he expected on the American coast. Energetic measures of 
 co-operation resolved upon, but so languidly executed, that 
 Washington predicts the necessity of a more efficient system 
 of national government. A French fleet and army arrives, 
 and a combined operation against New-York is resolved upon, 
 but the arrival of a superior British fleet deranges the whole 
 plan, p. 118 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1781. 
 
 The Pennsylvania line mutinies. The Jersey troops follow their 
 example, but are quelled by decisive measures. Gen. Wash- 
 ington commences a military journal, detailing the wants and 
 distresses of his army Is invited to the defence of his native 
 state, Virginia, but declines. Reprimands the manager of his 
 private esU'U 1 for furnishing the enemy with supplies, to pre- 
 vent the destruction of his property. Extinguishes the incipi-
 
 CONTENTS. \'li 
 
 ent flames of a civil war, respecting the independence of the 
 state of Vermont. Pluns a combined operation against the 
 British, and deputes Lieut. Col. John Laurens to solicit the co- 
 operation of the i rench. The combined forces ol both nations 
 rendezvous in the Chesapeak. and take lord Cornwaiiis and ins 
 army prisoners of war. Washington returns to the vicinity of 
 New-York, and urges the necessity of preparing for u new 
 campaign, p. 134 
 
 CHAP. ix. 
 
 1782 and 1783. 
 
 Prospects of peace. Languor of the states. Discontents of the 
 army. Gen. Washington prevents the adoption of rash mea- 
 sures. Some new levies in Pennsylvania mutiny, and are 
 quelled. Washington recommends measures for the preser- 
 vation of independence, peace, liberty, and happiness. Dis- 
 misses his army. Enters New-York. Takes leave of his of- 
 ficers. Settles his accounts Repairs to Annapolis. Re- 
 signs his commission. Retires to Alount-Vcrnon, and re* 
 sumes his agricultural pursuits, p. 159. 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 General Washington, on retiring from public life, devotes him- 
 self to agricultural pursuits. Favours inland navigation. De- 
 clines offered emoluments from it. Urges an alteration of the 
 fundamental rules of the society of the Cincinnati. Regrets 
 the defects of the Federal system, and recommends a revisal 
 of it. Is appointed a member of the continental convention 
 for that purpose, which, after hesitation, he accepts Is chosen 
 President thereof. Is solicited to accept the Presidency of 
 the United States. Writes sundry letters expressive of the 
 conflict in his mind, between duty and inclination. Answers 
 applicants for offices. His reluctance to enter on public life, 
 p. 206. 
 
 CHAP. XI. 
 
 Washington elected President. On his way to the seat of go- 
 vernment at New- York, receives the most flattering marks of 
 respect. Addresses Congress. The situation of the United 
 States in their foreign and domestic relations, at the inaugura- 
 tion of Washington. Fills up public offices solely with a \\e\\
 
 viii CONTENTS. 
 
 to the public good. Proposes a treaty to the Creek Indians, 
 which is at first rejected Col. Wiilet induces the heads of 
 the nation to come to New-York, to treat there. The North- 
 Western Indians re /use a treaty, but after defeating Generals 
 Harmar arid Sinclair, they are defeated by Gen. Wayne. 
 They then submit, and agree to treat. A new system is intro- 
 duced for meliorating their condition, p. 231. 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 General Washington attends to the foreign relations of the 
 United States. Negociates with Spain. Difficulties in the 
 way. The free navigation of the Missisippi is granted by a 
 treaty made with Major Pinckney. Negociations with Britain . 
 Difficulties in the way. War probable. Mr. Jay's mission. 
 His treaty with Great Britain. Opposition thereto. Is rati- 
 fied. Washington refuses papers to House of Representa- 
 tives. British posts in the United States evacuated. Negoci- 
 ations with France Genet's arrival. Assumes illegal pow- 
 ers, in violation of the neutrality of the United States. Is flat- 
 tered by the people, but opposed by the executive Is recall- 
 ed. General Pinckney sent as public minister to adjust dis- 
 putes with France. Is not received. Washington declines a 
 re-election, and addresses the people. His last address to the 
 national legislature. Recommends a navy, a military acade- 
 my, and other public institutions, p. 254. 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Washington rejoices at the prospect of retiring. Writes to the 
 Secretary of State, denying the authenticity of letters said to be 
 from him to J. P. Custis and Lund Washington, in 1776. 
 Pays respect to his successor, Mr. John Adams. Review of 
 Washington's administration. He retires to Mount- Vemon. 
 Resumes agricultural pursuits. Hears with regret the aggres- 
 sion of the French republic. Corresponds on the subject of 
 his taking the command of an army to oppose the French. Is 
 appointed Lieutenant-General. His commission is sent to him 
 by the Secretary of War. His letter to President Adams on 
 the receipt thereof. Directs the organization of the proposed 
 army. Three Envoys Extraordinary sent to France, who ad- 
 just all disputes wiih Bonaparte, after the overthrow of the 
 Directory. Gen. Washington dies. Is honoured by Con- 
 gress, and by the citizens. His character, .... p. 307.
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 CHAP. I. 
 
 Of George Washington's birth, family, and educa- 
 tion Of his mission to the French commandant 
 on the Ohin in 17-53 His military operations as 
 an officer of Virginia, from \ 754 to 1758, and his 
 subsequent employments to the commencement of the 
 American Revolution. 
 
 1 HE ancestors of GEORGE WASHINGTON were 
 among the first settlers of the oldest British colo- 
 ny in America. He was the third in descent from 
 John Washington, an English gentleman, who 
 about the middle of the 17th century emigrated 
 from the north of England, and settled in West- 
 moreland county, Virginia. In the place where 
 he had fixed himself, his great grandson, the sub- 
 ject of the following history, was born on the 22d 
 of February, 173 1 J. His immediate ancestor was 
 Augustine Washington, who died when his son 
 George was only ten years old. The education 
 of the young orphan, of course, devolved on his 
 mother, who added one to the many examples of 
 virtuous matrons, who, devoting themselves to the 
 
 B
 
 2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. care of their children, have trained them up to he 
 distinguished citizens. In one instance her fears, 
 
 1753 
 
 t combining with her affection, prevented a mea- 
 1758. surej which, if persevered in, would have given a 
 direction to the talents and views of her son, very 
 different from that which laid the foundation of 
 his fame. George Washington, when only fifteen 
 years old, solicited and obtained the place of a 
 midshipman in the British navy ; but his ardent 
 zeal to serve his country, then at war with France 
 and Spain, was, on the interference of his mother, 
 for the present suspended, and for ever diverted 
 from the sea service. She lived to see him ac- 
 quire higher honours than he ever could have ob- 
 tained as a naval officer; nor did she depart this 
 life till he was elevated to the first offices, both 
 civil and military, in the gift of his country. She 
 was, nevertheless, from the influence of long 
 established habits, so far from being partial to the 
 American revolution, that she often regretted the 
 side her son had taken in the controversy between 
 her king and her country. 
 
 In the minority of George Washington, the 
 means of education in America were scanty; his 
 was therefore very little extended beyond what 
 is common, except in mathematics. Knowledge 
 of this kind contributes more perhaps than any 
 other to strengthen the mind. In his case it was 
 doubly useful ; for, in the early part of his life, it 
 laid the foundation of his fortune, by qualifying 
 him for the office of a practical surveyor, at a 
 time when good land was of easy attainment; and 
 its intimate connexion with the military art, ena- 
 bled him at n later period to judge more correctly
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 of the proper moans of defending his country, CHAP 
 
 when he was called upon to preside over its ' 
 
 armies. 17 
 
 Of the first nineteen years of George Washing- 175S - 
 ton's life, little is known. His talents being more so- 
 lid than *howy, wete not sufficiently developed for 
 public notice, by the comparatively unimportant 
 events of that early period. His cotemporaries have 
 generally reported, that in iiis youth he was grave, 
 silent, and thoughtful ; diligent and methodical in 
 business, dignified in his appearance, and strictly 
 honourable in all his deportment; but they have 
 not been able to gratify the public curiosity with 
 any striking anecdotes. His patrimonial estate 
 was small, but that little was managed with pru- 
 dence and increased by industry. In the gayest 
 period of his life, he was a stranger to dissipation 
 and not. That he had established a solid repu- 
 tation, even in his juvenile years, may be fairly 
 presumed from the following circumstances. At 
 the age of nineteen he was appointed one of the 
 adjutants general of Virginia, with the rank of 
 major. When he was barely twenty-one, he was 
 employed by the government of his native colony, 
 in an enterprise which required the prudence of 
 age as well as the vigour of youth. 
 
 The French, as the first European discoverers 
 of the river Missisippi, clamfed all that immense- 
 region whose waters run into that river. In pur- 
 suance of this claim, in the year 1753, they took 
 possession of a tract of country supposed to be 
 within the chartered limits of Virginia, and were 
 proceeding to erect a chain of posts from the 
 lakes of Canada to the river Ohio, in subservien-
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C y f O their grand scheme of connecting Canada 
 with Louisiana, and limiting the English colo- 
 nies to the east of the Alleghany mountains. Mr. 
 Dinwiddie, then governor of Virginia, dispatch- 
 ed Washington with a letter to the French com- 
 mandant on the Ohio, remonstrating against the 
 prosecution of these designs, as hostile to the 
 rights of his Britannic majesty. The young en- 
 voy was also .instructed to penetrate the designs 
 of the French ; to conciliate the affection of the 
 native tribes; and to procure useful intelligence. 
 1753. In the discharge of this trust, he set out on 
 the 15th of November, from Will's Creek, then 
 an extreme frontier settlement, and pursued his 
 course through a vast extent of unexplored wilder- 
 ness, amidst rains and snows, and over rivers of 
 very difficult passage, and among tribes of In- 
 dians, several of whom, from previous attentions 
 of the French, were hostile to the English. When 
 his horses were incompetent, he proceeded on 
 foot with a gun in his hand and a pack on his 
 back. He observed every thing with the eye of 
 a soldier, and particularly designated the forks of 
 the Monoogahela and Alleghany rivers, (the spot 
 where Fort Daque.-ne was afterwards built, and 
 where Pittsburgh now stands) as an advantageous 
 position for a fortress. Here lie secured tlie af- 
 fections of some neighbouring Indians, and en- 
 gaged them to accompany him. With them he 
 ascended the Alleghany rier and French Creek, 
 to a fort on the river le Boeuf, one of its western 
 branches. He there found Mons. Le Gardeur 
 de St. Pierre, the commandant on the Ohio, and 
 delivered to him Dinwiddie's letter 5 and receiving
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 6 
 
 his answer, returned with it to Williamsburg- on CHAP. 
 
 the 78th day after he had received his appoint- - 
 
 merit. The patience and firmness displayed on to 
 this occasion by Washington, (added to his judi- lr58 - 
 cious treatment of the Indians) both merited and 
 obtained a large share of applause. A journal of 
 the whole was published, and inspired the public 
 with high ideas of the energies both of his body 
 and mind. 
 
 The French were too intent on their favourite 
 project of extending their empire in America, to 
 be diverted from it by the remonstrances of a co- 
 lonial governor. The answer brought by Wash- 
 ington was such as induced the assembly of Vir- 
 ginia to raise a regiment of 300 men, to defend 1754. 
 their frontiers and maintain the right claimed in 
 behalf of Great Britain over the disputed territory. 
 Of this Mr. Fry was appointed colonel, and George 
 Washington, lieutenant-colonel. The latter ad- 
 vanced with two companies of this regiment early 
 in April, as far as the Great Meadows, where he 
 was informed by some friendly Indians, that the 
 French were erecting fortifications in the fork be- 
 tween the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers ; 
 and also, that a detachment was on its march from 
 that place towards the Great Meadows. War 
 had not been yet formally declared between 
 France and England, but as neither was disposed 
 to recede from their claims to the lands on the 
 Ohio, it was deemed inevitable, and on the point 
 of commencing. Several circumstances were sup- 
 posed to indicate an hostile intention on the part 
 of the advancing French detachment. Washing- 
 ton, under the guidance of some friendly Indians,
 
 6 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. i n a dark ra i n y night surprised their encampment, 
 and, after firing once, rushed in and surrounded 
 to them. The commanding officer, Mr. Jumonville, 
 17581 was killed, one person escaped, and all the rest 
 immediately surrendered. Soon after this affair, 
 Col. Fry died, and the command of the regiment 
 devolved on Washington, who speedily collected 
 the whole at the Great Meadows. Two inde- 
 pendent companies of regulars, one from New- 
 York, and one from South-Carolina, shortly after 
 arrived at the same place. Col. Washington was 
 now at the head of nearly 400 men. A stockade, 
 afterwards called Fort Necessity, was erected at 
 the Great Meadows, in which a small force was 
 left, and the main body advanced with a view of 
 dislodging the French from Fort Duquesne, which 
 they had recently erected, at the confluence of 
 the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers. They 
 had not proceeded more than thirteen miles, when 
 they were informed by friendly Indians, " that 
 the French, as numerous as pigeons in the woods, 
 were advancing in an hostile manner towards the 
 English settlements, and also, that Fort Duquesne 
 had been recently and strongly reinforced." In 
 this critical situation, a council of war unanimous- 
 ly recommended a retreat to the Great Meadows, 
 which was effected without delay, and every ex- 
 ertion made to render Fort Necessity tenable. 
 Before the works intended for that purpose were 
 completed, Mons. de Villier, with a considerable 
 force, attacked the fort. The assailants were co- 
 vered by trees and high grass. The Americans 
 received them with great resolution, and fought 
 some within the stockade, and others in the sur-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 7 
 
 rounding ditch. Washington continued the whole CHAP. 
 
 day on the outside of the fort, and conducted the 
 
 defence with the greatest coolness and intrepidity. lr t * 3 
 The engagement lasted from ten in the morning 1758> 
 till night, when the French commander demand- . 
 ed a parley, and offered terms of capitulation. 
 His first and second proposals were rejected; and 
 Washington would accept of none short of the 
 following honourable ones, which were mutually 
 agreed upon in the course of the night. " The 
 fort to be surrendered on condition that the 
 garrison should march out with the honours of 
 war, and be permitted to retain their arms and 
 baggage, and to march unmolested into the in- 
 habited parts of Virginia." The legislature of 
 Virginia, impressed with a high sense of the 
 bravery and good conduct of their troops, though 
 compelled to surrender the fort, voted their thanks 
 to Col. Washington and the officers under his 
 command, and they also gave three hundred pis- 
 toles to be distributed among the soldiers engaged 
 in this action, but made no arrangements for re- 
 newing offensive operations in the remainder of 
 the year 17-54. When the season for action was 
 over, the regiment was reduced to independent 
 companies, and Washington resigned his com- 
 mand. 
 
 The controversy about the Ohio lands, which 
 began in Virginia, was taken up very seriously by 
 Great-Britain, and two British regiments were 
 sent to America to support the claims of his Bri- 
 tannic majesty. They arrived early in 1755, and 
 were commanded by Gen. Braddock. That offi- 
 cer, being informed of the talents of George Wash-
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ' H j AP - ington, invited him to serve the campaign as a vo- 
 lunteer aid de camp. The invitation was cheer- 
 to fully accepted, and Washington joined Gen. Brad- 
 
 1 y *R 
 
 dock near Alexandria, and proceeded with him to 
 1755 ' Will's Creek, afterwards called Fort Cumberland. 
 Here the army was detained till the 12th of June, 
 waiting for wagons, horses, and provisions. 
 Washington had early recommended the use of 
 pack horses, instead of waggons, for conveying 
 the baggage of the army. The propriety of this 
 advice soon became apparent, and a considerable 
 change was made in conformity to it. The army 
 had not advanced much more than ten miles from 
 Fort Cumberland, when Washington was seized 
 with a violent fever, but nevertheless continued 
 with the army, being conveyed in a covered wag- 
 gon, after he had refused to stay behind, though 
 so much exhausted as to be unable to ride on 
 horseback. He advised the general to leave his 
 heavy artillery and baggage behind, and to ad- 
 vance rapidly to Fort Duquesne, with a select 
 body of troops, a few necessary stores, and some 
 pieces of light artillery. Hopes were indulged 
 that by this expeditious movement Fort Duquesne 
 might be reached in its present weak state, with a 
 force sufficient to reduce it, before expected rein- 
 forcements should arrive. General Braddoek ap- 
 proved the scheme, and submitted it to the consi- 
 deration of a council held at the Little Meadows, 
 which recommended that the commander in chief 
 should advance as ranidly as possible with 1'JOO 
 select men, and that Col. Dun bar should remain 
 behind with the remainder of the troops and the 
 heavy baggage. This advanced corps coinmenc-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. < 
 
 ed its march with only 30 carriages, but did not CHAP. 
 proceed with the rapidity that was expected. ' 
 They frequently halted to level the road, and to ir53 
 build bridges over inconsiderable brooks. They 175& 
 consumed four days in passing over the first nine- 
 teen miles from the Little Meadows. At this 
 place, the physicians declared that Col. Washing- 
 ton's life would be endangered by advancing with 
 the army. He was therefore ordered by Gen. 
 Braddock to stay behind with a small guard till 
 Dunbar should arrive with the rear of the army. 
 As soon as his strength would permit, he joined 
 the advanced detachment, and immediately enter- 
 ed on the duties of his office. On the next day, 1755 
 July 9th, a dreadful scene took place. When 
 Braddock had crossed the Monongahela, and was 
 only a few miles from Fort Duquesne, and was 
 pressing forward without any apprehension of 
 danger, he was attacked in an open road, thick set 
 with grass. An invisible enemy, consisting of 
 French and Indians, commenced a heavy and well 
 directed fire on his uncovered troops. The van 
 fell back on the main body, and the whole was 
 thrown into disorder. Marksmen levelled their 
 pieces particularly at officers, and others on horse- 
 back. In a short time, Washington was the only 
 aid de camp left alive and not wounded. On him, 
 therefore, devolved the whole duty of carrying the 
 general's orders. He was of course obliged to be 
 constantly in motion, traversing the field of battle 
 on horseback in all directions. He had two horses 
 shot under him, and four bullets passed through 
 his coat, but he escaped unhurt, though every other 
 officer on horseback was either killed or wounded*.
 
 10 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. Providence preserved him for further and greater 
 
 services. Throughout the whole of the carnage 
 
 I* and confusion of this fatal day, Washington dis- 
 1758. played the greatest coolness and the most perfect 
 self possession. Braddock was undismayed amidst 
 a shower of hullets, and by his countenance and 
 example, encouraged his men to stajid their 
 ground; hut valour was useless, and discipline on- 
 ly offered surer marks to the destructive aim of un- 
 seen marksmen. Unacquainted with the Indian 
 mode of fighting, Braddock neither advanced upon 
 nor retreated from the assailants, but very injudi- 
 ciously endeavoured to form his broken troops on, 
 the ground where they were first attacked, and 
 where they were exposed uncovered to the inces- 
 sant galling fire of a sheltered enemy. He had 
 been cautioned of the danger to which he was ex- 
 posed, and was advised to advance the provincials 
 in front of his troops, to scour the woods and de- 
 tect ambuscades, but he disregarded the salutary 
 recommendation. The action lasted near three 
 hours, in the course of which the general had three 
 horses shot under him, and finally received a 
 wound, of which he died in a few days in the 
 camp of Dun bar, to which he had been brought 
 by Col. Washington and others. On the fall oi 
 Braddock, his troops gave way in all directions, 
 and could not be rallied till thev had crossed the 
 
 * / 
 
 Monongahela. The Indians, allured by plunder, 
 did not pursue with vigour. The vanquished regu- 
 lars soon fell back to Dun bar's camp, from which, 
 after destroying such of their stores as could be 
 spared, they retired to Philadelphia. The officers 
 in the British regiments displayed the greatest
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 11 
 
 bravery. Their whole number was 85, and 64 CHAP. 
 
 of them were killed or wounded. The common 
 
 soldiers were so disconcerted by the unusual mode 
 of attack, that they soon broke, and could not be 17 " 58 - 
 rallied. The three Virginia companies in the 
 engagement behaved very differently, and fought 
 like men till there were scarcely '30 men left alive 
 in the whole. This reverse of fortune rather add- 
 ed to, than took from, the reputation of Washing- 
 ton. His countrymen extolled his conduct, and 
 generally said and believed, that if he had been 
 commander, the disasters of the day would have 
 been avoided. 
 
 Intelligence of Braddock's defeat, and that Col. 
 Dunbar had withdrawn all the regular forces from 
 Virginia, arrived while the assembly of that colo- 
 ny was in session. Impressed with the necessity 
 of protecting their exposed frontier settlements, 
 they determined to raise a regiment of sixteen 
 companies. The command of this was given to 
 Washington. So great was the public confidence 
 in the soundness of his judgment, that he was au- 
 thorized to name the field officers. His commis- 
 sion also designated him as commander in chief 
 of all the forces raised, or to be raised, in Virginia. 
 
 In execution of the duties of his new office, 
 Washington, after giving the necessary orders for 
 the recruiting service, visited the frontiers. He 
 found many posts, but few soldiers. Of these the 
 best disposition was made. W'hile on his way to 
 Willianisburg to arrange a plan of operations with 
 the lieutenant-governor, he was overtaken by an 
 express below Fredericksbuig, with information 
 that the back settlements were broken up by par-
 
 175L 
 to 
 
 12 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, ties of French and Indians, who were murdering 
 and capturing men, women, and children, burn- 
 ing their houses, and destroying their crops, and 
 l758 - that the few troops stationed on the frontiers, un- 
 able to protect the country, had retreated to small 
 stockade forts. Washington altered his course 
 from Williamsburg to Winchester, and endeavour- 
 ed to collect a force for the defence of the country. 
 But this was impossible. The inhabitants, instead 
 of assembling in arms, and facing the invaders, 
 fled before them, and extended the general panic. 
 While the attention of individuals was engrossed 
 by their families and private concerns, the general 
 safety was neglected. The alarm became universal, 
 and the utmost confusion prevailed. Before any 
 adequate force was collected to repel the assail- 
 ants, they had safely crossed the Alleghany moun- 
 tains, after having done an immensity of mischief. 
 Irruptions of this kind were repeatedly made into 
 the frontier settlements of Virginia, in the years 
 17-56, 1?57, and 1758. These generally consisted 
 of a considerable number of French and Indians, 
 who were detached from Fort Duquesne. It was 
 their usual practice on their approaching the set- 
 tlements, to divide into small parties, and avoiding 
 the forts, to attack solitary families in the night, as 
 well as the day. The savages, accustomed to 
 live in the woods, found little difficulty in conceal- 
 ing themselves till their fatal blow was struck. 
 Sundry unimportant skirmishes took place, with 
 various results, but the number killed on both 
 sides was inconsiderable, when compared with 
 the mischief done, and the many who were put 
 to death, otherwise than in battle. The invaders 

 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. . 13 
 
 could seldom be brought to a regular engagement. CHAP. 
 
 Honourable war was not in their contemplation. '. 
 
 Plunder, devastation, and murder, were their ob- 
 jects. The assemblage of a respectable force to op- 1758 - 
 pose them, was their signal for retreating. Irrup- 
 tions of this kind were so frequent for three years 
 following Braddock's defeat, that in Pennsylvania, 
 the frontier settlers were driven back as far as Car- 
 lisle, and in Maryland, to Fredericktown, and in 
 Virginia, to the Blue Ridge. 
 
 The distresses of the inhabitants exceeded all 
 description. If they went into stockade forts, 
 they suffered from the want of provisions were 
 often surrounded, and sometimes cut off. By flee- 
 ing, they abandoned the conveniences of home, 
 and the means of support. If they continued on 
 their farms, they lay down every night under ap- 
 prehensions of being murdered before morning. 
 But this was not the worst. Captivity and tor- 
 ture were frequently their portion. To all these 
 evils, women, aged persons, and children, were 
 equally liable with men in arms ; for savages 
 make no distinction. Extermination is their ob- 
 ject. To Washington the inhabitants looked for 
 that protection he had not the means of giving. 
 In a letter to the governor, he observed, " the 
 supplicating tears of the women, and moving peti- 
 tions of the men, melt me with such deadly sor- 
 row, that I solemnly declare, if I know my own 
 mind, I could offer myself a willing sacrifice to 
 the butchering enemy, provided that would con- 
 tribute to the people's ease.'* Virginia presented 
 a frontier of three hundred and sixty miles, ex- 
 posed to these incursions. Hard was the lot of
 
 14 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. Washington, to whom was intrusted the defence 
 - of these extensive settlements without means 
 
 1753 
 
 to adequate to the purpose. The regiment voted 
 
 1758. -fry the assembly was never filled. Its actual 
 number was oftener below than above 700 men. 
 The militia afforded a very feeble aid, on which 
 little reliance could be placed. They were slow 
 in collecting, and when collected, soon began to 
 hanker after home ; and while in camp, could not 
 submit to that discipline, without which an army 
 is a mob. The militia laws were very defective. 
 Cowardice in time of action, and sleeping while 
 on duty, though crimes of the mo*>t destructive 
 nature, were very inadequately punished by the 
 civil code under which they took the field. De- 
 sertion and mutiny, for some considerable time, 
 subjected the offenders to nothing more than 
 slight penalties. Washington was incessant in 
 his representations to the governor and to the 
 assembly, that no reliance could be placed on the 
 militia, under existing regulations, and that the 
 inconsiderable number, enlisted for regular ser- 
 vice, together with the plans proposed for the se- 
 curity of the frontiers, were altogether inade- 
 quate. He not only pointed out the defect of the 
 systems which had been adopted, but submitted 
 to the consideration of those in power, such mea- 
 sures as he thought best, and particularly recom- 
 mended, in case offensive operations were not 
 adopted, that twenty-two forts, extending in aline 
 of three hundred and sixty miles, should be im- 
 mediately erected and garrisoned by two thousand 
 men, in constant pay and service; but on all oc- 
 casions gave a decided preference to the reduc-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. W 
 
 tion of Fort Duquesne, as the only radical remedy 
 for the evils to which the frontier settlements were 
 exposed. Propositions to this effect were made 
 and urged by him in 1756 and 1757, both to the 
 government of Virginia, and the commanders in 
 chief of the British forces in America; butashort- 
 sighted policy in the first, and a preference given 
 by the last to a vigorous prosecution of the war 
 in the northern colonies, prevented their accept- 
 ance. To his inexpressible joy, the project ob- 
 tained, in the year 17-58, the complete approba- 
 tion of Gen. Forbes, who was charged with the 
 defence of the middle and southern colonies. 
 This being resolved upon, the movements of the 
 army were directed to that point. Part of the 
 force destined for this expedition was at Phila- 
 delphia; part at Ray's Town; and part dispersed 
 on the frontiers of Virginia. To bring all toge- 
 ther, was a work of time and difficulty. Washing- 
 ton urged the necessity of an early campaign; 
 but such delays took place that he did not re- 
 ceive orders to assemble his regiment at Win- 
 chester, till the 24th of May; nor to proceed from 
 thence to Fort Cumberland, till the 24th of June; 
 nor to proceed to Ray's Town, till the 21st Sep- 
 tember. The main body did not commence their 
 march from Ray's Town, till the 2d of October, 
 and it was as late as the 25th of November when 
 they reached Fort Duquesne. These delays were 
 extremely mortifying to Washington, and threat- 
 ened to render the campaign abortive. He urged 
 the necessity of expedition, and most pointedly 
 remonstrated against one of the principal causes 
 of delay. This was a resolution adopted by his
 
 16 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, siiperiours, for opening a new road for the army, 
 ' in preference to that which was generally known 
 by the name of Gen. Braddock's. Being over- 
 1758. ruled, he quietly submitted. Instead of embarrass- 
 ing measures he thought injudicious, the whole 
 energies of himself and his regiment were exerted 
 to make the most of those which his commanding 
 officer preferred. The progress of the army was 
 so slow that it did not reach Loyal Hannah till 
 the 5th of November. Here it was determin- 
 ed in a council of war, " to be unadvisable to 
 proceed any further that campaign." If this re- 
 solution had been adhered to, the only alternative 
 would have been to winter an army of 8000 men 
 in a cold inhospitable wilderness, remote from all 
 friendly settlements, or to tread back their steps 
 and wait for a more favourable season. In either 
 case they would have suffered immensely. The 
 propriety of the remonstrances made by Wash- 
 ington against the many delays which had taken 
 place, now became obviously striking. The 
 hopes of restoring peace to the frontier settle- 
 ments by reducing Fort Duquesne, began to va- 
 nish. But contrary to all human appearances, 
 success was now offered to their grasp at the very 
 moment they had given up every hope of obtain- 
 ing it. 
 
 Some prisoners were taken, who gave such .in- 
 formation of the state of the garrison, as induced 
 a reversal of the late determination, and encourag- 
 ed the general to proceed. Washington was in 
 front superintending the opening of the road for 
 the accommodation of the troops. They advanced 
 with slow and cautious steps until they reached
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 1? 
 
 Fort Duquesne. To their great surprise they found CHAP. 
 the fort evacuated, and that the garrison had re- 
 
 1753 
 
 treated down the Ohio. The reasons for the t o 
 abandonment of so advantageous a position, must 1758< 
 be looked for elsewhere. The British had urged 
 the war with so much vigour and success against 
 the French to the northward of the Ohio, that no 
 reinforcements could be spared to Fort Duquesne. 
 The British fleet had captured a considerable 
 part of the reinforcements designed by France for 
 her colonies. The tide of fortune had begun to 
 turn against the French in favour of the English. 
 This weakened the influence of the former over 
 the Indians, and caused them to withdraw from 
 the support of the garrison. Under different cir- 
 cumstances, the success of the campaign would 
 have been doubtful, perhaps impracticable. The 
 benefits which resulted from the acquisition of 
 Fort Duquesne, proved the soundness of Washing- 
 ton's judgment in so warmly urging, for three 
 years, an expedition for its reduction. These 
 were not confined to Virginia, but extended to 
 Pennsylvania and Maryland. While the French 
 were in possession of that post, the Indians near 
 the Ohio were entirely at their beck. This was 
 their place of rendezvous, and from it they made 
 frequent and ruinous incursions into these three 
 colonies. They neither spared age nor sex, but 
 killed or captivated indiscriminately all who 
 came in their way. Fire and devastation the 
 scalping knife and tomahawk, marked their route. 
 A complete revolution in the disposition of the 
 Indians, resulted from the expulsion of the French, 
 Always prone to take part with the strongest, the 
 
 D
 
 18 THE LIFE Ol] 
 
 CHAP. I n di ans deserted their ancient friends, and paid 
 
 - court to those who, by recent conquest, were rtow 
 
 to in possession of the country. A treaty of peace 
 1758. was soon a f ter concluded with all the Indian tribes 
 between the lakes and the Ohio. Fort Duquesne 
 henceforward assumed the name of Fort Pitt, re- 
 ceived considerable repairs, and was garrisoned 
 by 200 men from Washington's regiment. It be- 
 came as useful in future to the English settlements, 
 as it had been injurious while in the occupation 
 of the French. 
 
 The campaign of 1758 ended the military career 
 of Col. Washington, as a provincial officer. The 
 great object on which his heart was set, the re- 
 duction of Fort Duquesne, being accomplished, he 
 resigned his commission. 
 
 During the three preceding years in which he 
 was charged with the defence of Virginia, none of 
 those great events occurred which enliven and 
 adorn the page of history ; yet the duties he per- 
 formed were extremely arduous. He established 
 exact discipline in his regiment, though unaccus- 
 tomed to restraint, and infused into them such a 
 spirit as made them, when in action, fight like 
 men, and die like soldiers. 
 
 The difficulties of defending such an extensive 
 frontier, with so inadequate a force, would have 
 chagrined almost any other man into a resignation 
 of the command, but only excited in him greater 
 importunity with the ruling powers, for the cor- 
 rection of errors. The plans he proposed, the 
 systems he recommended for conducting the war, 
 displayed an uncommon vigour of mind. He re- 
 tired from the army with the thanks of his regU
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 19 
 
 ment, and the esteem not only of his countrymen, CHAP. 
 
 " i. 
 butof the officers of the British army ; and what is ' 
 
 particularly remarkable, with the undiminished 
 confidence of the frontier settlers, to whom he was 1758 
 unable to extend that protection they expected 
 from his hands. They were thoroughly convinced 
 he had made the best possible use of his scanty 
 means for the security of so extensive a frontier; 
 and to the weight of his advice in recommending, 
 and spirited co-operation in executing, they 
 ascribed a large proportion of the merit of the 
 i ate successful expedition against Fort Duquesne; 
 an event from which they promised themselves an 
 exemption from the calamities under which they 
 had long laboured. As a reward of his gallant and 
 patriotic services, he shortly after obtained the 
 hand of Mrs. Custis, who, to a fine person and 
 large fortune, added every accomplishment which 
 contributes to the happiness of married life. Col. 
 Washington, by the death of his elder brother 
 Lawrence, had a few years before acquired an es- 
 tate situated on the Potowmack, called Mount 
 Vernon, in compliment to admiral Vernon, who, 
 about the year 1741, commanded the British fleet 
 in an expedition against Carthagena, in which ex- 
 pedition Mr. Lawrence Washington had been en- 
 gaged. 
 
 To this delightful spot the late commander of 
 the Virginia forces, released from the cares of a 
 military life, and in possession of every thing that 
 could make life agreeable, withdrew, and gave 
 himself up to domestic pursuits. These were con- 
 ducted with so much judgment, steadiness, and 
 industry, as greatly to enlarge and improve his
 
 20 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, estate. To them he exclusively devoted himself 
 
 for fifteen years, with the exception of serving in 
 
 1 to 3 the house of burgesses of the colony of Virginia, 
 1758. an( j as a judge of the court of the county in which 
 he resided. In these stations he acquitted him- 
 self with reputation, and acquired no inconsidera- 
 ble knowledge in the science of civil government. 
 During this period, the clashing claims of Great- 
 Britain and her colonies were frequently brought 
 before the Virginia legislature. In every in- 
 stance he took a decided part in the opposition 
 made to the principle of taxation claimed by the 
 parent state. 
 
 Had Great-Britain been wise, the history of 
 George Washington would have ended here, with 
 the addition that he died in the sixty-eighth year 
 of his age, having sustained through life the cha- 
 racter of a good man, an excellent farmer, a wise 
 member of the legislature, and an impartial dis- 
 tributer of justice among his neighbours. Very 
 different was his destiny. From being the com- 
 mander of the forces of his native colony, Virginia, 
 he was advanced to the command of the armies 
 of thirteen United Colonies, and successfully led 
 them through a revolutionary war of eight years du- 
 ration, which issued in their establishment as thir- 
 teen United States. The origin of these great 
 events must be looked for across the Atlantic. 
 
 \
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 21 
 
 CHAP. II. 
 
 Retrospect of the origin of the American revolution- CHAP. 
 ary war Of George Washington as member of 
 Congress, in 1774 and 177-5 As Commander in 
 Chief of the armies of the United Colonies in 
 1775 and 1776, and his operations near Boston, 
 in these years. 
 
 OOON after the peace of Paris, 1763, a new sys- 
 tem for governing the British colonies, was adopt- 
 ed. One abridgment of their accustomed liberties 
 followed another in such rapid succession, that in 
 the short space of twelve years they had nothing 
 left they could call their own. The British par- 
 liament, in which they were unrepresented, and 
 over which they had no control, not only claimed, 
 but exercised the power of taxing them at plea- 
 sure, and of binding them in all cases whatsover. 
 Claims so repugnant to the spirit of the British 
 constitution, and which made such invidious dis- 
 tinctions between the subjects of the same king, 
 residing on different sides of the Atlantic, excited 
 a serious alarm among the colonists. Detached 
 as they were from each other by local residence, 
 and unconnected in their several legislatures, a 
 sense of common danger pointed out to them the 
 wisdom and propriety of forming a new represent- 
 ative body, composed of delegates from each co- 
 lony, to take care of their common interests.
 
 2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. With very little previous concert, such a body 
 
 was formed and met in Philadelphia, in September, 
 
 to 1774, and entered into the serious consideration of 
 
 1776 - the grievances under which their constituents la- 
 boured. To this congress Virginia deputed seven 
 of her most respectable citizens : Peyton Ran- 
 dolph, Richard Henry Lee, George Washington, 
 Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, Benjamin Harri- 
 son, Edmund Pendleton ; men who would have 
 done honour to any age or country. The same 
 were appointed in like manner to attend a second 
 congress on the 10th of May, in the following year. 
 The historians of the American revolution will 
 detail with pleasure and pride, the proceedings of 
 Ihis illustrious assembly: the firmness and pre- 
 cision with which they stated their grievances, and 
 petitioned their sovereign to redress them ; the elo- 
 quence with which they addressed the people of 
 Great-Britain, the inhabitants of Canada, and 
 their own constituents; the judicious measures 
 they adopted for cementing union at home, and 
 procuring friends abroad. 1 'hey will also inform 
 the world of the unsuccessful termination of all 
 plans proposed for preserving the union of the em- 
 pire, and that Great-Britain, proceeding from one 
 oppression to another, threw the colonies out of 
 her protection, made war upon them, and carried 
 it on with a view to their subjugation. All these 
 matters, together with the commencement of hos- 
 tilities at Lexington, and the formation of an 
 American army by the colony of Massachusetts, 
 for defending themselves against a royal army in 
 Boston, must be here passed over. Our business 
 is only with George Washington. The fame he
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 23 
 
 had acquired as commander of the Virginia forces, CHAP. 
 
 together with his well known military talents, pro- 
 
 cured for him the distinguishing appellation of 
 the Soldier of America. Those who, before the 1776 
 commencement of hostilities, looked forward to 
 war as the probable consequence of the disputes 
 between Great-Britain and her colonies, anticipat- 
 ed his appointment to the supreme command of 
 the forces of his native country. 
 
 As long as he continued a member of Congress, 
 he was chairmain of every committee appointed 
 by that body to make arrangements for defence. 
 These duties in the Senate were soon superseded 
 by more active employment in the field. As soon 
 as the Congress of the United Colonies had deter- 
 mined on making a common cause with Massa- 
 chusetts, against which a British army had com- 
 menced hostilities, they appointed, by an unani- 
 mous vote, George Washington, commander in 
 chief of all the forces raised or to be raised for the 
 defence of the colonies. His election was accom- 
 panied with no competition, and followed by no 
 envy. The same general impulse on the public 
 mind, which led the colonies to agree in many 
 other particulars, pointed to him as the most pro- 
 per person for presiding over their armies. 
 
 To the president of Congress announcing thii> 
 appointment, General Washington replied in the 
 following words : 
 
 " Mr. PRESIDENT, 
 
 " Though I am truly sensible of the high honour 
 done me in this appointment, yet I feel great dis- 
 tress from a consciousness that my abilities and
 
 24 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, military experience may not be equal to the ex- 
 
 tensive and important trust. However, as the 
 
 to Congress desire it, I will enter upon the momen- 
 
 17761 tous duty, and exert every power I possess in their 
 
 service, and for support of the glorious cause. I 
 
 beg they will accept my most cordial thanks, for 
 
 this distinguished testimony of their approbation. 
 
 " But lest some unlucky event should happen 
 unfavourable to my reputation, I beg it may be re- 
 membered by every gentleman in the room, that 
 I this day declare with the utmost sincerity, I do 
 not think myself equal to the command I am 
 honoured with. 
 
 " As to pay, Sir, I beg leave to assure the Con- 
 gress that as no pecuniary consideration could 
 have tempted me to accept this arduous employ- 
 ment, at the expense of my domestic ease and 
 happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from 
 it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses ; 
 those I doubt not they will discharge, and that is 
 all I desire.'* 
 
 A special commission was made out for him, 
 and at the same time an unanimous resolution 
 was adopted by Congress, " that they would 
 maintain and assist him, and adhere to him with 
 their lives and fortunes, for the maintenance and 
 preservation of American Liberty." 
 
 He immediately entered on the duties of his 
 high station. After pa'ssing a few days in New- 
 York, and making some arrangements with Gen. 
 Schuyler, who commanded there, he proceeded to 
 Cambridge, which was the head-quarters of the 
 American army. On his way thither, he received 
 from private persons and public bodies, the most
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 25 
 
 flattering attention, and the strongest expressions CHAP. 
 
 of determination to support him. He received an 
 
 address from the Provincial Congress of New- 
 York, in which, after expressing their approbation 1776> 
 of his ejevation to command, they say " We 
 have the fullest assurances, that whenever this 
 important contest shall be decided by that fond- 
 est wish of each American soul, an accommoda- 
 tion with our mother country, you will cheerfully 
 resign the important deposit committed into your 
 hands, and re-assume the character of our wor- 
 thiest citizen." The General, after declaring his 
 gratitude for the respect shown him, added " Be 
 assured that every exertion of my worthy col- 
 leagues and myself, will be extended to the re- 
 establishment of peace and harmony between the 
 mother country and these colonies. As to the fatal, 
 but necessary operations of war, when we assum- 
 ed the soldier we did not lay aside the citizen, 
 and we shall most sincerely rejoice with you in 
 that happy hour, when the re-establishment of 
 American liberty, on the most firm and solid 
 foundations, shall enable us to return to our pri- 
 vate stations, in the bosom of a free, peaceful, and 
 happy country." 
 
 A committee from the Massachusetts Congress 
 received him at Springfield, about one hundred 
 miles from Boston, and conducted him to the ar- 
 my. He was soon after addressed by the Con- 
 gress of that colony in the most affectionate man- 
 ner. In his answer, he said " Gentlemen, your 
 kind congratulations on my appointment and ar- 
 rival, demand my warmest acknowledgments, and 
 will ever be retained in grateful remembrance. 
 
 E
 
 26 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. in exchanging the enjoyments of domestic life 
 .. for the duties of my present honourable, but ar- 
 
 1774 duous station, I only emulate the virtue and pub- 
 1776. lie spirit of the whole province of Massachusetts, 
 which, with a firmness and patriotism without ex- 
 ample, has sacrificed all the comforts of socia4 and 
 political life in support of the rights of mankind, 
 and the welfare of our common country. My 
 highest ambition is to be the happy instrument 
 of vindicating these rights, and to see this devoted 
 province again restored to peace, liberty, and 
 safety." When Gen. Washington arrived at 
 Cambridge, he was received with the joyful ac- 
 clamations of the American army. At the head 
 of his troops, he published a declaration previous- 
 ly drawn up by Congress, in the nature of a mani- 
 festo, setting forth the reasons for taking up arms. 
 In this, after enumerating various grievances of 
 the colonies, and vindicating them from a preme- 
 ditated design of establishing independent states, 
 it was added " In our own native land, in defence 
 of the freedom which is our birthright, and which 
 we ever enjoyed till the late violation of it ; for 
 the protection of our property, acquired solely 
 by the industry of our forefathers and ourselves, 
 against violence actually offered; we have taken, 
 up arms : We shall lay them down when hostilities 
 shall cease on the part of the aggressors, and all 
 danger of their being renewed shall be removed^ 
 and not before." 
 
 When Gen. Washington joined the American 
 army, he found the British intrenched on Bunk- 
 er's Hill, having also three floating batteries in 
 Mystic River, and a twenty gun ship below the
 
 CEORGE WASHINGTON. 27 
 
 ferry between Boston and Charlestown. They CHAP. 
 had also a battery on Copse's Hill, and were 
 
 strongly fortified on the Neck. The Americans 1774 
 were intrenched at Winter Hill, Prospect Hill, 1776. 
 and Roxbury, communicating with one another by 
 small posts over a distance of ten miles, nor 
 could they be contracted without exposing the 
 country to the incursions of the enemy. 
 
 The army put under the command of Washing- 
 ton amounted to 14,500 men. Several circum- 
 stances concurred to render this force very inade- 
 quate to active operations. Military stores were 
 deficient in camp, and the whole in the country 
 was inconsiderable. On the 4th of August, all 
 the stock of powder in the American camp, and in 
 the public magazines of the four .New-England 
 provinces, would have made very little more than 
 nine rounds a man. In this destitute condition 
 the army remained for a fortnight. To the want 
 of powder was added a very general want of bayo- 
 nets, of clothes, of working tools, and a total want 
 of engineers. Under all these embarrassments, 
 the General observed, that " he had the materials 
 of a good army ; that the men were able-bodied, 
 active, zealous in the cause, and of unquestiona- 
 ble courage." He immediately instituted such 
 arrangements as were calculated to increase their 
 capacity for service. The army was distributed 
 into brigades and divisions, and on his recom- 
 mendation, general staff officers were appointed. 
 Economy, union, and system, were introduced 
 into every department. As the troops came into 
 service under the authority of distinct colonial 
 governments, no uniformity existed among the re-
 
 28 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CI if P> giments. In Massachusetts the men had chosen 
 
 their officers, and (rank excepted) were in other 
 
 1774 respects, frequently their equals. To form one 
 1776. uniform mass of these discordant materials, and to 
 subject freemen animated with the spirit of liber- 
 ty, and collected for its defence, to the control 
 of military discipline, required patience, forbear- 
 ance, and a spirit of accommodation. This deli- 
 cate and arduous duty was undertaken by Gen. 
 Washington, and discharged with great address. 
 When he had made considerable progress in dis- 
 ciplining his army, the term for which enlistments 
 had taken place was on the point of expiring. 
 The troops from Connecticut and Rhode Island 
 were only engaged to the first of December, 177-5; 
 and no part of the army longer than to the first of 
 January, 1776. The commander in chief made 
 early and forcible representations to Congress on 
 this subject, and urged them to adopt efficient 
 measures for the formation of a new army. They 
 deputed three of their members, Mr. Lynch, Dr. 
 Franklin, and Mr. Harrison, to repair to camp, 
 and, in conjunction with him and the chief ma- 
 gistrates of the New-England colonies, to confer 
 on the most effectual mode of continuing, support- 
 ing, and regulating, a continental army. By them 
 it was resolved to list 23,722 men, as far as practi- 
 cable, from the troops before Boston, to serve till 
 the last day of December, 1776, unless sooner dis- 
 charged by Congress. In the execution of this 
 resolve, Washington called upon all officers and 
 soldiers to make their election for retiring or con- 
 tinuing. Several of the inferior officers retired. 
 Many of the men would not continue on any
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 29 
 
 verms. Several refused, unless they were indulg- C HAP. 
 ed with furloughs. Others, unless they were al- 
 
 lowed to choose their officers. So many impedi- 1774 
 11 to 
 
 ments obstructed the recruiting service, that it 1776-. 
 
 required great address to obviate them. Wash- 
 ington made forcible appeals in general orders, to 
 the pride and patriotism of both officers and men. 
 He promised every indulgence compatible with 
 safety, and every comfort that the state of the 
 country authorized. In general orders of the 
 20th of October, he observed " The times, and 
 the importance of the great cause we are engag- 
 ed in, allow no room for hesitation and delay. 
 When life, liberty, and property, are at stake ; 
 when our country is in danger of being a melan- 
 choly scene of bloodshed and desolation ; when 
 our towns are laid in ashes, innocent women and 
 children driven from their peaceful habitations, 
 exposed to the rigours of an inclement season, to 
 depend perhaps on the hand of charity for sup- 
 port ; when calamities like these are staring us in 
 the face, and a brutal savage enemy threatens us 
 and every thing we hold dear with destruction 
 from foreign troops, it little becomes the charac- 
 ter of a soldier to shrink from danger, and condi- 
 tion for new terms. It is the General's intention 
 to indulge both officers and soldiers who compose 
 the new army with furloughs for a reasonable 
 time ; but this must be done in such a manner as 
 not to injure the service, or weaken the army too 
 much at once." In the instructions given to the 
 recruiting'officers,the General enjoined upon them 
 " not to enlist any person suspected of being un- 
 friendly to the liberties of America, or any aban-
 
 30 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C ?i AP doned vagabond, to whom all causes and coun,- 
 
 tries are equal and alike indifferent." 
 
 Though great exertions had been made to pro- 
 1776. cure recruits, yet the regiments were not filled. 
 Several causes operated in producing this disincli- 
 nation to the service. The sufferings of the ar- 
 my had been great. Fuel was very scarce. 
 Clothes, and even provisions, had not been fur- 
 nished them in sufficient quantities. The small- 
 pox deterred many from entering ; but the prin- 
 cipal reason was a dislike to a military life. Much 
 also of that enthusiasm which brought numbers 
 to the field, on the commencement of hostilities, 
 had abated. The army of 1775 was wasting 
 away by the expiration of the terms* of service, 
 and recruits for the new, entered slowly. The 
 regiments which were entitled to their discharge 
 on the 1st of December, were with great difficul- 
 ty persuaded to stay ten days, when reinforce- 
 ments of militia were expected to supply their 
 place. From the eagerness of the old troops to 
 go home, and the slowness of the new to enter 
 the service, it was difficult to keep up the 
 blockade. On the last day of the year, when the 
 first were entirely disbanded, the last only 
 amounted to 9650 men, and many of these were 
 absent on furlough. At this time the royal army 
 in Boston was about 8000. To assist the recruit- 
 ing service, the General recommended to Con- 
 gress to try the effects of a bounty, but this was 
 not agreed to till late in January, 1776. In that 
 and the following month the army was consider- 
 ably increased. 
 
 The blockade of Boston was all this time kept
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 31 
 
 up, and the enemy confined to the city, but this CHAP. 
 was far short of what the American people ex- ' 
 pected. Common fame represented the troops 1774 
 under the command of Washington to be nearly ' 1775. 
 treble the royal army. This ample force was 
 supposed to be furnished with every thing neces- 
 sary for the most active operations. Their real 
 numbers and deficient equipments were, for obvi- 
 ous reasons, carefully concealed. The ardour and 
 impatience of the public had long since counted 
 on the expulsion of the British from Boston. 
 Washington was equally ardent, but better inform- 
 ed and more prudent. He well knew the advan- 
 tages that would result to the cause in which he 
 was engaged from some brilliant stroke, nor was 
 he insensible to insinuations by some that he was 
 devoid of energy, and by others that he wished to 
 prolong his own importance by continuing the 
 war. He bore these murmurs with patience ; 
 but nevertheless, had his eyes directed to Boston, 
 and wished for an opening to commence offensive 
 operations. The propriety of this measure was 
 submitted to the consideration 0f repeated coun- 
 cils of war, who uniformly declared against it. 
 A hope was nevertheless indulged that ice in the 
 course of the winter, would be favourable to an 
 assault. That this opportunity might not be lost, 
 measures were adopted for procuring large rein- 
 forcements of militia to serve till the first of 
 March, 1776. From 4 to 5000 men were accord- 
 ingly procured. Contrary to what is usual, the 
 waters about Boston continued open till the mid- 
 dle of February. Councils of war were hitherto 
 nearly unanimous against an assault. General
 
 2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. Washington was less opposed to it than some 
 
 ' others, but the want of ammunition for the artille- 
 
 1774 T y f together with the great probability of failure, 
 
 1776. induced him to decline the attempt. In lieu of it 
 
 he formed a bold resolution to takeanevvoosition 
 
 , * 
 
 that would either compel the British General to 
 come to an action, or to evacuate Boston. The 
 American army was now stronger than ever. 
 Recruiting for the two last months had been un- 
 usually successful. The regular army exceeded 
 14000 men, and the militia were about 6000. 
 AVashington, thus reinforced, determined to fortify 
 the heights of Dorchester, from which he could 
 annoy the ships in the harbour, and the army in 
 the town. To favour the execution of this plan, 
 the town and lines of the enemy were bombarded 
 on the 2d, 3d, and 4th of March. On the night of 
 the 4th, Gen. Thomas, with a considerable detach- 
 ment, took possession of the heights of Dorchester. 
 By great exertions this party in the course of the 
 night, nearly covered themselves from the shot of 
 the .enemy. The appearance of their works 
 caused no little surprise in the British camp. 
 These were every hour advancing so as to afford 
 additional security to the Americans posted be- 
 hind them. The Admiral informed Gen, Howe, 
 that if the Americans kept possession of these 
 heights, he would not be able to keep one of the 
 British ships in the harbour. The enemy were 
 now brought to the alternative which Washington 
 wished for. Thev must either risk an action 
 
 / 
 
 without their lines, or abandon the place. Gen. 
 Howe preferred the former, and ordered 3000 
 men on this service. These were embarked, and
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 33 
 
 fell down to the Castle with the intention of pro- CHAP. 
 ceeding up the river to the attack, but were dis- ' 
 persed by a tremendous storm. Before they 1774. 
 could be in readiness to proceed, the American 1776. 
 works were advanced to such a state of -security 
 as to discourage any attempt against them. 
 
 Washington expecting an immediate assault on 
 the new raised works at Dorchester, and judging 
 that the best troops of the enemy would be order- 
 ed on that service, had prepared to attack the 
 town of Boston at the same time 4000 men were 
 ready for embarkation at the mouth of Cambridge 
 river to proceed on this business, as soon as it was 
 known that the British were gone out in force to 
 their intended attack. It was now resolved bv the 
 
 tt 
 
 British to evacuate Boston as soon as possible. 
 In a few days after, a flag came out of Boston 
 with a paper signed by four select men, inform- 
 ing, " that they had applied to Gen. Robertson, 
 who, on an application to Gen. Howe, was author- 
 ized to assure them, that he had no intention of 
 burning the town, unless the troops under his com- 
 mand were molested during their embarkation, or 
 at their departure, by the armed force without." 
 When this paper was presented to Gen. Wash- 
 ington, he replied, " that as it was an unauthen- 
 ticated paper, and without an address, and not 
 obligatory on Gen. Howe, he could take no notice 
 of it ;" but at the same time " intimated his good 
 wishes for the security of the town." 
 
 Washington made arrangements for the securi- 
 ty of his army, but did not advance his works nor 
 embarrass the British army in their proposed 
 evacuation. He wished to save Boston, and to 
 
 r
 
 34 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. g a i n time for the fortification of New- York, to 
 ' which place he supposed the evacuating army 
 1774 W as destined. Under this impression, he detached 
 1776. a considerable part of his army to that place, and 
 with the remainder took possession of Boston, as 
 soon as the British troops had completed their em- 
 barkation. On entering the town, Washington 
 was received with marks of approbation more flat- 
 tering than the pomps of a triumph. 
 
 The inhabitants, released from the severities of 
 a garrison life, and from the various indignities to 
 which they were subjected, hailed him as their de- 
 liverer. Reciprocal congratulations between those 
 who rmd been confined within the British lines, 
 and those who were excluded from entering them, 
 were exchanged with an ardour which cannot be 
 described. Gen. Washington was honoured by 
 Congress with a vote of thanks. They also order- 
 ed a medal to be struck, with suitable devices to 
 perpetuate the remembrance of the great event. 
 The Massachusetts Council, and House of Repre- 
 sentatives complimented him in a joint address, in 
 which they expressed their good wishes in the fol- 
 lowing words " May you still go on approved by 
 heaven, revered by all good men, and dreaded by 
 those tyrants who claim their fellow men as their 
 property." His answer was modest and proper.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 35 
 
 CHAP. III. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1776. 
 
 Of the operations vf General Washington in New- 
 York and New-Jersey. The battle on Long Is- 
 land. The retreat from York Island and through 
 Jersey. The battles of Trenton and Princeton. 
 
 A HE evacuation of Boston varied the scene, CHAP. 
 but did not lessen the labours of Washington. 
 Henceforward he had a much more formidable 1776 
 enemy to contend with. The royal army in Bos- 
 ton was, on a small scale, calculated to awe the in- 
 habitants of Massachusetts into obedience, but the 
 campaign of 1770 was opened in New- York with 
 a force far exceeding any thing hitherto seen in 
 America. Including the navy and army, it amount- 
 ed to 55,000 men, and was calculated on the 
 idea of reducing the whole United Colonies. The 
 operations contemplated could be best carried on 
 from the nearly central province of New- York, 
 and the army could be supplied with provisions 
 from the adjacent islands, and easily defended by 
 the British navy. For these reasons, the evacua- 
 tion of Boston, and the concentration of the royal 
 forces at New- York, had been for some time re- 
 solved upon in England. 
 
 The reasons that induced the British to gain 
 possession of New- York, weighed with Washing-
 
 36 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C1 m P * on to P revent or delay it. He had therefore de- 
 
 tached largely from his army before Boston, and 
 
 sent Gen. Lee to take the command, and after 
 providing for the security of Boston, proceeded 
 soon after the evacuation thereof with the main 
 army to New- York, and made every preparation in 
 his power for its defence. Considerable time was 
 allowed for this purpose; for Gen. Howe, instead 
 of pushing directly for New-York, retired to Ha- 
 lifax with the forces withdrawn from Boston. He 
 there waited for the promised reinforcements from 
 England; but, impatient of delay, sailed without 
 them for New-York, and took possession of Staten 
 Island in the latter end of June. He was soon 
 followed by his brother, Admiral Howe, and their 
 whole force was assembled about the middle of Ju- 
 ly, and in apparent readiness for opening the cam- 
 paign. Before hostilities were commenced, the Bri- 
 tish General and Admiral, in their quality of civil 
 commissioners for effecting a re-union between 
 Great-Britain and the Colonies, made an attempt 
 at negotiation. To introduce this business, they 
 sent a flag ashore with a letter addressed to George 
 Washington, Esq. This he refused to receive, as 
 not being addressed to him with the title due to 
 his rnnk, and at the same time wrote to Congress, 
 " That he would not, on any occasion, sacrifice es- 
 sentials to punctilio, but in this instance, deemed 
 it a duty to his country to insist on that respect 
 which, in any olher than a public view, he would 
 willingly have waved." Some time after, Adjutant 
 General Patterson was sent by Gen. Ho we' with a 
 letter addressed to George Washington, &G.&C.&C. 
 On an interview, the Adjutant General, after ex-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 37 
 
 pressing his high esteem for the person and cha- 
 racter of the American General, and declaring 
 that it was not intended to derogate from the re- 
 spect due to his rank, expressed his hopes, that 
 the et ceteras would remove the impediments to 
 their correspondence. Gen. Washington replied, 
 " That a letter directed to any person in a public 
 character, should have some description of it, 
 otherwise it would appear a mere private letter ; 
 that it was true the etceteras implied every thing, 
 but they also implied any thing, and that he 
 should therefore decline the receiving any letter 
 directed to him as a private person, when it relat- 
 ed to his public station." A long conference en- 
 sued, in which the Adjutant General observed that 
 "the Commissioners were armed with great pow- 
 ers, and would be very happy in effecting an ac- 
 commodation." He received for ^answer, "that 
 from what appeared, their powers were only to 
 grant pardons ; that they who had committed no 
 faidt wanted no pardon." 
 
 On the arrival of Gen. Howe at Staten Island, 
 the American army did not exceed 10,000 men, 
 but by sundry reinforcements before the end of 
 August, they amounted to 27,000. Of these a 
 great part were militia, and one fourth of the 
 whole was sick. The diseases incident to new 
 troops prevailed extensively, and were aggravat- 
 ed by a great deficiency in tents. These troops 
 were so judiciously distributed on York Island, 
 Long Island, Governor's Island, Paulus Hook, 
 and on the Sound towards New Rochelle, East 
 and West Chester, that the enemy were very cau- 
 tious in determining when or whereto commence
 
 58 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, offensive operations. Every probable point of 
 ' debarkation was watched, and guarded with a 
 1776. force sufficient to embarrass, though very insuffi- 
 cient to prevent, a landing. From the arrival of 
 the British army at Staten Island, the Americans 
 were in daily expectation of being attacked. 
 General Washington \vas therefore strenuous in 
 preparing his troops for action. He tried every 
 expedient to kindle in their breasts the love of 
 their country, and an high toned indignation 
 against its invaders. In general orders he ad- 
 dressed them as follows. " The time is now near 
 at hand, whiclvmust probably determine whether 
 Americans are to be freemen or slaves ; whether 
 they are to have any property they can call their 
 own ; whether their houses and farms are to be 
 pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned 
 to a state of wretchedness, from which no human 
 efforts will deliver them. The fate of unborn 
 millions will now depend, under God, on the cou- 
 rage and conduct of this army. Our cruel and 
 unrelenting enemy, leaves us only the choice of 
 a brave resistance, or the most abject submission. 
 We have therefore to resolve to conquer or to die. 
 Our own, our country's honour, calls upon us for 
 a vigorous and manly exertion; and if We now 
 shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the 
 whole world. Let us then rely on the goodness 
 of our cause, and the aid of the Supreme Being, 
 in whose hands victory is, to animate and en- 
 courage us to great and noble actions. The eyes 
 of all our countrymen are now upon us, and we 
 shall have their blessings and praises, if happily 
 \ve are the instruments of saving them uom the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 39 
 
 tyranny meditated against them. Let us there- 
 fore animate and encourage each other, and show 
 the whole world that a freeman contending for 
 liberty on his own ground, is superior to any 
 slavish mercenary on earth." 
 
 When the whole reinforcements of the enemy 
 had arrived, Gen. Washington, in expectation of 
 an immediate attack, again addressed his army, 
 and called on them to remember that " liberty, 
 property, life, and honour, were all at stake; that 
 upon their courage and conduct, rested the hopes 
 of their bleeding and insulted country ; that their 
 wives, children, and parents, expected safety from 
 them only ; and that they had every reason to be- 
 lieve that Heaven would crown with success so 
 just a cause." He farther added " The enemy 
 will endeavour to intimidate by show and appear- 
 ance, but remember they have been repulsed on 
 various occasions by a few brave Americans. 
 Their cause is bad their men are conscious of it, 
 and if opposed with firmness and coolness on their 
 first onset, with our advantage of works, and 
 knowledge of the ground, the victory is most as- 
 suredly ours. Every good soldier will be silent 
 and attentive wait for orders and reserve his 
 fire until he is sure of doing execution : of this 
 the officers are to be particularly careful." 
 
 He then gave the most explicit orders that 
 any soldier who should attempt to conceal him- 
 self, or retreat without ortlers, should instantly be 
 
 v 
 
 shot down, as an example of the punishment of 
 cowardice, and desired every officer to be parti- 
 cularly attentive to the conduct of his men, and 
 report those who should distinguish themselves
 
 40 THE LIFE Of' 
 
 nL P ' ky brave and noble actions. These he solemnly 
 
 promised to notice and reward. 
 
 On the 22d of August, the greatest part of the 
 British troops landed on Long Island. Washing- 
 ton immediately made a farther effort to rou^e his 
 troons to deeds of valour. " The enemy, said he, 
 have landed, and the hour is fas' approaching on 
 which the honour and success of this armv, and 
 the safety of our bleeding country, depends. Re- 
 member, officers and soldiers, that you are freemen, 
 fighting for the blessings of Liberty ; that slavery 
 will be your portion and that of your posterity, if 
 you do not acquit yourselves like men. Remem- 
 ber how your courage has been despised and 
 traduced by your cruel invaders, though they 
 have found by dear experience at Boston, Charles- 
 town, and other places, what a feu brave men, 
 contending in their own land, and in the best of 
 causes, can do against hirelings and mercenaries. 
 Be cool, but determined. Do not lire at a distance, 
 but wait for, orders from your officers." He re- 
 peated his injunctions, " to shoot down any per- 
 son who should misbehave in action," and his 
 hope " that none so infamous would be found, 
 but that, on the contrary, each for himself re- 
 solving to conquer or die, and trusting to the 
 smiles of heaven on so just a cause, would behave 
 with bravery and resolution." His assurance of 
 rewards to those who should distinguish them- 
 selves, were repeated ; and he declared his confi- 
 dence, that if the army would but emulate and 
 imitate their biave countrymen in other parts of 
 America, they would, by a glorious victory, save 
 their country, and acquire to themselves immor- 
 tal honour."
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 41 
 
 On the 5th day after their landing, the British c {{^ p - 
 
 attacked the Americans on Long Island, command- r 
 
 ed by Gen. Sullivan. The variety of ground and 1776. 
 the different parties employed in different places, 
 both in the attack and defence, occasioned a succes- 
 sion of small engagements, pursuits, and slaugh- 
 ter^ which lasted for many hours. 
 
 The Americans were defeated in all directions. 
 The circumstances which eminently contributed 
 to this, were the superior discipline of the assail- 
 ants, and the want of early intelligence of their 
 movements. There was not a single corps of ca- 
 valry in the American army. The transmission 
 of intelligence was of course always slow, and 
 often impracticable. From the want of it, some of 
 their detachments, while retreating before one por- 
 tion of the enemy, were advancing towards an- 
 other, of whose movements they were ignorant. 
 
 In the height of the engagement Washington 
 passed over to Long Island, and with infinite re- 
 gret saw the slaughter of his best troops, but had 
 not the power to prevent it ; for had he drawn 
 his whole force to their support, he must have/ 
 risked every thing on a single engagement. He 
 adopted the wiser plan of evacuating the island, 
 with all the forces he could bring off. In superin- 
 tending this necessary, but difficult and dange- 
 rous movement, and the events of the preceding 
 day, Washington was indefatigable. For forty- 
 eight hours he never closed his eyes, and was al- 
 most constantly on horse-back. In less than thir- 
 teen hours, the field artillery, tents, baggage, and 
 about 9000 men, were conveyed from Long Isl- 
 and to the city of New- York, over East River* and 
 
 G
 
 42 . THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, without the knowledge of the British, though not 
 
 600 yards distant. The darkness of the night and 
 
 1776. a heavy fog in the morning, together with a fair 
 wind after midnight, favoured this retreat. It 
 was completed without interruption some time 
 after the dawning of the day. 
 
 The unsuccessful termination of the late action, 
 led to consequences more seriously alarming to 
 the Americans, than the loss of their men. Hi- 
 therto they had had such confidence in themselves, 
 as engaged in the cause of liberty and their coun- 
 try, that it outweighed all their apprehensions 
 from the exact discipline of the British troops ; 
 but now finding that many of them had been en- 
 circled in inextricable difficulties from the supe- 
 rior military skill of their adversaries, they went 
 to the opposite extreme, and began to think but 
 very indifferently of themselves and their leaders, 
 .when opposed to disciplined troops. As often as 
 ^they saw the enemy approaching, they suspect- 
 ed a military manoeuvre, from which they suppo- 
 sed nothing could save them but immediate flight, 
 Apprehensions of this kind might naturally be 
 expected from citizen soldiers, lately taken from 
 agricultural pursuits, who expected to lay aside 
 the military character at the end of the current 
 year. Washington, tremblingly alive to the state 
 of his army, wrote to Congess on the sixth day 
 after the defeat on Long Island, as follows: " Our 
 situation is truly distressing. The check our de- 
 tachment lately sustained has dispirited too great 
 a proportion of our troops, and filled their minds 
 with apprehension and despair. The militia, in- 
 stead of calling forth their utmost efforts to a brave
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 43 
 
 and manly opposition, in order to repair our loss- c ^ l>- 
 
 es, are dismayed, intractable, and impatient to 
 
 return. Great numbers of them have gone off; W 6 - 
 in some instances, almost by whole regiments, in 
 many by half ones, and by companies at a time. 
 This circumstance of itself, independent of others, 
 when fronted by a well appointed enemy, superi- 
 or in number to our whole collected force, would 
 be sufficiently disagreeable ; but when it is add- 
 ed, that their example has infected another part 
 of the army ; that their want of discipline and re- 
 fusal of almost every kind of restraint and govern- 
 ment, have rendered a like conduct but too com- 
 mon in the whole, and have produced an entire 
 disregard of that order and subordination which 
 is necessary for an army, our condition is still 
 more alarming ; and with the deepest concern I 
 am obliged to confess my want of confidence in 
 the generality of the troops. All these circum- 
 stances fully confirm the opinion I ever entertain- 
 ed, and which I more than once in my letters 
 took the liberty of mentioning to Congress, that 
 no dependence could be put in a militia, or other 
 troops than those enlisted and embodied for a - 
 longer period than our regulations have hitherto 
 prescribed. I am fully convinced that our liberties 
 must. of necessity be greatly hazarded, if not en- 
 tirely lost, if their defence be left to any but a 
 permanent army, 
 
 " Nor would the expense incident to the sup- 
 port of such a body of troops as would be compe- 
 tent to every exigency, far exceed that which is 
 incurred by calling in daily succours and new en- 
 listments, which, when effected, are not attended
 
 44 THE LJFE OF 
 
 CI m P with any good consequences. Men who have 
 
 * been free and subject to no control, cannot be re-, 
 
 1776 - duced to order in an instant; and the privileges 
 and exemptions they claim, and will have, influ- 
 ence the conduct of others in such a manner, that 
 the aid derived from them is nearly counterba- 
 lanced by the disorder, irregularity, and confu- 
 sion they occasion." 
 
 In fourteen days after this serious remonstrance, 
 
 Congress resolved to raise 88 battalions to serve 
 during the war. Under these circumstances, to 
 wear away the campaign with as little loss as 
 possible, so as to gain time to raise a permanent 
 army against the next year, was to the Americans 
 an object of the greatest importance. 
 
 Gen. Washington, after much deliberation, de- 
 termined on a war of posts. Recent events con- 
 firmed him in the policy of defending his country 
 by retreating, when he could no longer stand his 
 ground without risking his army. He well knew 
 that by adopting it he would subject himself to the 
 imputation of wanting energy and decision ; but 
 with him the love of country was paramount to 
 all other considerations. 
 
 In conformity to these principles, the evacua- 
 tion of New-York was about this time resolved 
 upon, whensoever it could no longer be maintain- 
 ed without risking the army. Arrangements 
 were accordingly made for a temporary defence, 
 and an ultimate retreat when necessity required. 
 The British, now in possession of Long Island, 
 could at pleasure pass over to York Island or the 
 main. Washington was apprehensive that they 
 would land above him, cut off his retreat, and force
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 45 
 
 him to a general action on York Island. He CHAP. 
 therefore moved his public stores to Dobbs* ferry, - 
 
 and stationed 12,000 men at the northern end of V76. 
 York Island. With the remainder he kept up 
 the semblance of defending New- York, though he 
 had determined to abandon it, rather than risk 
 his army for its preservation. 
 
 While Washington was making arrangements 
 to save his troops and stores by evacuating and re- 
 treating, the British commander was prosecuting 
 his favourite scheme of forcing the Americans to a 
 general action, or breaking the communication be- 
 tween their posts. With this view he landed about 
 4000 men at Kipp's Bay, three miles above New- 
 York, under cover of five men of war. Works had 
 been thrown up at this place, which were capable 
 of being defended for some time, and troops were 
 stationed in them for that purpose ; but they fled 
 with precipitation without waiting for the ap- 
 proach of the enemy. Two brigades were put in 
 motion to support them. Gen. Washington rode 
 to the scene of action, and to his great mortifica- 
 tion met the whole party retreating. While he 
 was exerting himself to rally them, on the appear- 
 ance of a small corps of the enemy, they again 
 broke, and ran off in disorder. Such dastardly 
 conduct raised a tempest in the usually tranquil 
 mind of Gen. Washington. Having embarked in 
 the American cause from the purest principles, 
 he viewed with infinite concern this shameful be- 
 haviour, as threatening ruin to his country. He 
 recollected the many declarations of Congress, of 
 the army, and of the inhabitants, preferring liber- 
 ty to life, and death to dishonour, and contrasted
 
 46 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C ?n P tnem with their present scandalous flight. His 
 ___ soul was harrowed up with apprehensions that his 
 1776 country would be conquered, her army disgraced, 
 and her liberties destroyed. He anticipated, in 
 imagination, that the Americans would appear to 
 posterity in the light of high sounding boasters, 
 who blustered when danger was at a distance, but 
 shrunk at the shadow of opposition. Extensive 
 confiscations, and numerous attainders, presented 
 themselves in full view to his agitated mind. He 
 saw in imagination new formed states, with the 
 means of defence in their hands, and the glorious 
 prospects of liberty before them, levelled to the 
 dust ; and such constitutions imposed on them, 
 as were likely to crush the vigour of the human 
 mind; while the unsuccessful issue of the present 
 struggle would, for ages to come, deter posterity 
 from the bold design of asserting their rights. 
 Impressed with these ideas, he hazarded his per- 
 son for some considerable time in rear of his own 
 men, and in front of the enemy, with his horse's 
 head towards the latter, as if in expectation that, 
 by an honourable death, he might escape the in- 
 famy he dreaded from the dastardly conduct of 
 troops on whom he could place no dependence. 
 His aids, and the confidential friends around his 
 person, by indirect violence, compelled him to re- 
 tire. In consequence of their address and impor- 
 tunity, a life was saved for public service, which, 
 otherwise, from a sense of honour and a gust of 
 passion, seemed to be devoted to almost certain 
 destruction. 
 
 The shameful events of this day, hastened the 
 evacuation of New- York. This was effected with
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 47 
 
 very little loss of men, but all the heavy artillery 
 and a large portion of the baggage, provisions, 
 military stores, and particularly the tents, were 177& - 
 unavoidably left behind. The loss of the last 
 mentioned article was severely felt in that season, 
 when cold weather was rapidly approaching. 
 
 The British having got possession of the city 
 of New York, advanced in front of it, and stretch- 
 ed their encampments across York Island ; while 
 their shipping defended their flanks. Washington 
 had made his strongest post at Kingsbridge, as 
 that preserved his communication with the coun- 
 try. In front of this, and near to the British, he 
 had a strong detachment posted in an intrenched 
 camp. This position of the two armies was par- 
 ticularly agreeable to him ; for he wished to ac- 
 custom his raw troops to face their enemies, 
 hoping that by frequent skirmishes they would 
 grow so familiar with the dangers incident to war, 
 as to fear them less. Opportunities of making 
 the experiment soon occurred. On the day after 
 the retreat from New- York, a skirmish took place 
 between an advanced detachment of the British 
 army and some American troops, commanded by 
 Col. Knowlton, of Connecticut, and Major Leitch, 
 of Virginia. Both these officers fell, bravely 
 fighting at the head of their troops. The Cap- 
 tains with their men kept the ground, and fairly 
 beat their adversaries from the field. This was 
 the first advantage the army under the command 
 of Washington had gained in the campaign. Its 
 influence on the army was great. To increase its 
 effects, the parole the next day was " Leitch," and 
 the General gave public thanks to the troops en-
 
 48 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C HAP. gaged therein. He contrasted their conduct with 
 
 . the late shameful flight of the troops from the 
 
 1776. works on Kipp's Bay, and observed " That the 
 result proved what might be done, where officers 
 and men exerted themselves ;" and again called 
 on all " so to act as not to disgrace the noble 
 cause in which they were engaged." 
 
 General Howe continued to prosecute his 
 scheme for cutting off Washington's communica- 
 tion with the eastern states, and enclosing him so 
 as to compel a general engagement. With this 
 view the royal army landed on Frog's Neck, in 
 West-Chester county, and soon after advanced to 
 New Rochelle, and made sundry successive move- 
 ments, all calculated to effect this purpose. A 
 few skirmishes took place, but a general action 
 was carefully avoided by Washington, except in 
 one case, in which he had such a manifest advan- 
 tage from his position on hills near the White 
 Plains, that Gen. Howe declined it. The project 
 of getting in the rear of the American army was 
 in like manner frustrated by frequent and judi- 
 cious changes of its position. Gen. Howe failing in 
 his first design, adopted a new plan of operations. 
 His efforts were henceforward directed to an inva- 
 sion of New Jersey. Washington, penetrating his 
 designs, crossed the North River. He wrote to 
 William Livingston, governor of New Jersey, ur- 
 ging him to put the militia of that State in the 
 best state of preparation to defend their country, 
 and also recommending the removal of slock 
 and provisions from the sea coast. About this 
 time Fort Washington was taken by storm, and 
 the garrison, consisting of more than 2000 men*
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 49 
 
 with their commander, Col. Magaw, surrender- CHAP. 
 ed prisoners of war. This was the only post held ' 
 by the Americans on York Island ; and was an irre. 
 exception to the general plan of evacuating and re- 
 treating. Hopes had been indulged that it might 
 be defended, and, in conjunction with Fort Lee, 
 on the opposite Jersey shore, made useful in em- 
 barrassing the passage of British vessels up and 
 down the North River. This post having fallen, 
 orders for the evacuation of Fort Lee were imme- 
 diately given ; but before the stores could be re- 
 moved, Lord Cornwallis crossed the North River 
 with 6000 men. Washington retreating before 
 him, took post along the Hackensack. His situa- 
 tion there was nearly similar to that which he had 
 abandoned ; for he was liable to be enclosed be- 
 tween the Hackensack and the Pasaic rivers. He 
 therefore, on the approach of the enemy, passed 
 over to Newark. He stood his ground there for 
 some days, as if determined on resistance ; but 
 being incapable of any effectual opposition, re- 
 treated to Brunswick, on the day Lord Cornwal- 
 lis entered Newark. At Brunswick Washington 
 kept his troops in motion, and even advanced a 
 small detachment, as if intending to engage the 
 enemy. Nor did he quit this position till their ad- 
 vanced guards were in sight. Lord Stirling was 
 left at Princeton with 1200 men, to watch the 
 British; and Washington proceeded with the resi- 
 due to Trenton. There he meant to make a stand. 
 Orders were previously given to collect and guard 
 all the boats for 70 miles on the Delaware. The 
 baggage and stores were also passed over. These 
 being secured, Washington detached 1200 men 
 
 Ji
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CI m" P ' * P r i ncetoll > to keep up the appearance of oppo- 
 
 sition, and soon followed with about 2000 militia 
 
 1/76. men W {j i iac [ recen tly joined him. Before he 
 reached Princeton, intelligence was received that 
 Lord Cornwallis, strongly reinforced, was advanc- 
 ing from Brunswick in different directions, with 
 the apparent design of getting in his rear. An 
 immediate retreat over the Delaware became 
 necessary. This was effected on the 8th of De- 
 cember. Washington secured all his boats on 
 the Pennsylvania side ; broke down the bridges 
 on roads leading to the opposite shores, and post- 
 ed his troops at the different fording places. So 
 keen was the pursuit, that as the rear guard of 
 the retreating army embarked, the van of the ene- 
 my came in sight. The British having driven the 
 American army out of Jersey, posted themselves 
 up and down the Delaware, and small parties pass- 
 ed and repassed from one to the other, without 
 any interruption. They made some attempts to 
 get boats, but failed. They also repaired some 
 of the bridges that had been recently destroyed, 
 and pushed forward a strong detachment to Bor- 
 denton. This was intended to increase their chan- 
 ces for crossing, and to embarrass Washington, 
 who could not tell from which of their several posi- 
 tions they would make the attempt. Gen. Putnam 
 was in the mean time sent on to superintend the 
 erection of lines of defence from the Schuylkill to 
 the Delaware, for the security of Philadelphia. 
 Small redoubts were hastily thrown up to guard the 
 fording places ; and Germantown was fixed upon 
 as a place of rendezvous, in case the British should 
 cross and drive the Americans from their extend-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 51 
 
 i 
 
 ed encampments on ihe Delaware. This retreat C {* AP - 
 through the Jerseys was attended with almost eve- ' 
 ry circumstance that could occasion embarrass- 177$ 
 ment or depression. Washington was pressed 
 with difficulties on all sides. In casting his eyes 
 around, he could not promise himself adequate 
 support from any quarter. His gloomy prospects 
 were not brightened by any expectations, on the 
 fulfilment of which he could depend. Distrust- 
 ing, but not despairing, he asked Col. Reed 
 " Should we retreat to the back parts of Pennsyl- 
 vania, will the Pennsylvanians support us ?" The 
 Colonel answered <c If the lower counties are sub- 
 dued and give up, the back counties will do the . " 
 same." Washington nobly replied " We must re- 
 tire to Augusta county, in Virginia. Numbers 
 will be obliged to repair to us for safety, and we 
 must try what we can do, in carrying on a pre- 
 datory war ; and if overpowered, we must cross 
 the Alleghany mountains." Gen. Washington 
 had no cavalry but a small corps of badly mount- 
 ed Connecticut militia, and was almost equally 
 destitute of artillery, while conducting this re- t 
 treat. It commenced in a few days after the re- 
 duction of Fort Washington, in which the flower 
 of the American army were made prisoners of 
 war. A great part of the retreating troops con- 
 sisted of those who had garrisoned Fort Lee. 
 These had been compelled to abandon their post 
 so suddenly, that they left behind them their tents, 
 blankets, and cooking utensils. In this situation 
 they retreated, badly armed, worse clad, and in 
 many instances barefooted, in the cold months of 
 November and December, through a desponding
 
 THE LIFE OF* 
 
 country, more disposed to seek safety by submis- 
 
 sion than resistance. Under all these disadvan- 
 
 1776. taires, they performed a march of about ninety 
 miles, and had the address to prolong it to a space 
 of nineteen days, that as much time as possible 
 might be gained for expected reinforcements to 
 arrive. As they retreated through the country, 
 scarcely one of the inhabitants joined them; while 
 numbers daily flocked to the British army, and 
 took the benefit of a royal proclamation issued at 
 this critical time, for pardoning all who, within 
 sixty days, would return to the condition of Bri- 
 tish subjects. 
 
 The small force which began this retreat was 
 daily lessening, by the expiration of the term of 
 sei vice for which they were engaged. This termi- 
 nated in November with many, and in December 
 with nearly two thirds of the residue. No persua- 
 sions were availing to induce their continuance. 
 They abandoned their General, when the advan- 
 cing enemy was nearly in sight. The Pennsylva- 
 nia militia was engaged to the first day of Janua- 
 ry, but they deserted in such numbers that it be- 
 came necessary to place guards at the ferries to 
 stop them. Two regiments had been ordered 
 from Ticonderoga to join Gen. Washington, but 
 their term of service expired on the first of De- 
 cember. They refused to re-enlist, and went off, 
 to a man. Gen. Lee, who commanded the east- 
 ern troops, was repeatedly ordered by Washing- 
 ton to cross the North River, and join the retreat- 
 ing army ; but these orders were not obeyed. 
 While at a distance both from his troops and the 
 enemy, he was surprised and taken prisoner by
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 53 
 
 the British. This begat suspicions, that, despair- 
 ing of the success of the Americans, he had cho- 
 sen to abandon their service. Though these ap- 
 prehensions were without foundation, they pro- 
 duced the same mischievous effects on the minds 
 of the people as if they were realities. About the 
 same time Congress thought it expedient to leave 
 Philadelphia and retire to Baltimore. 
 
 Under all these trying circumstances, Wash- 
 ington was undismayed. He did not despair of 
 the public safety. With unconquerable firmness 
 and the most perfect self-possession, he was always 
 the same, and constantly showed himself to his 
 army with a serene and undisturbed countenance. 
 Nothing was omitted by him that could embarrass 
 the enemy, or animate his army and country. He 
 forcibly pointed out to Congress the defective 
 constitution of their army, without cavalry, with- 
 out ' artillery and engineers ; and enlarged upon 
 the impolicy of short enlistments, and placing 
 confidence in militia suddenly called out and fre- 
 quently changed. He urged these matters with 
 great warmth; but to prevent offence, added "A 
 character to lose an estate to forfeit the inesti- 
 mable blessing of liberty at stake and a life devot- 
 ed, must be my excuse." He also hinted at the pro- 
 priety of enlarging his powers so as to enable him 
 to act in cases of urgency, without application to 
 Congress ; but apologized for this liberty by de- 
 claring, "that he felt no lust of power, and wished 
 with the greatest fervency for an opportunity of 
 turning the sworcLinto a ploughshare :" but add- 
 ed " his feelings as an officer and a man had 
 been such as to force him to say, that no person
 
 THE LIFE Ol- 
 
 CHAP. ever had a greater choice of difficulties to content! 
 
 with than himself." 
 
 In this very dangerous crisis, Washington 
 made every exertion to procure reinforcements to 
 supply the place of those who were daily leaving 
 him. He sent Generals Mifflin and Armstrong 
 to rouse tile citizens of Pennsylvania. Col. Reed 
 was dispatched to Governor Livingston, to urge 
 on him the necessity of calling out the Jersey mi- 
 litia. These exertions were in a great measure 
 unavailing, except in and near the city of Phila- 
 delphia. Fifteen hundred of the citizens of that 
 metropolis associated together, and marched to 
 the aid of Washington. Though most of these 
 were accustomed to the habits of a city life, they 
 slept in tents, barns, and sometimes in the open 
 air, during the cold months of December and Ja- 
 nuary. 
 
 On the capture of Gen. Lee, the command of 
 his army devolved on Gen. Sullivan, who, in obe- 
 dience to the orders formerly given, joined Gen. 
 Washington. About the same time an addition was 
 made to his force by the arrival of a part of the nor- 
 thern army. The Americans now amounted to 
 about 7000 men, though during the retreat through 
 the Jerseys, they were seldom equal to half that 
 number. The two armies were separated from 
 each other by the river Delaware. The British, 
 in the security of conquest, cantoned their troops 
 in Burlington, Bprdenton, Trenton, and other 
 towns of New-Jersey, in daily expectation of be- 
 ing enabled to cross into Pennsylvania by means 
 ot ice, which is generally formed about that time. 
 On receiving information of their numbers and
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 55 
 
 6 
 
 different cantonments, Washington observed 
 " Now is the time to clip their wings, when they 
 are so spread." Yielding to his native spirit of 
 enterprise which had hitherto been repressed, he 
 formed the bold design of re-crossing the Dela- 
 ware, and attacking the British posts on its east- 
 ern banks. 
 
 In the evening of Christmas day he made ar- 
 rangements for passing over in three divisions; 
 at M'Konkey's ferry, at Trenton, and at or near 
 Bordenton. The troops which were to have cross- 
 ed at the two last places exerted themselves to get 
 over, but failed from the quantity of ice which 
 obstructed their passage. The main body, about 
 2400 men, began to cross very early in the even- 
 ing ; but were so retarded by ice that it was near- 
 ly four o'clock in the morning before they were 
 in a condition to take up their line of march on 
 the Jersey side. They were formed in two divi- 
 sions. One was ordered to proceed on the lower 
 or river road ; the other on the upper or Pen- 
 nington road. These having nearly the same dis- 
 tance to march, were ordered immediately on 
 forcing the out guards, to push directly in- 
 to Trenton, that they might charge the enemy 
 before they had time to form. Though they 
 marched different roads, yet they arrived within 
 three minutes of each other. The out guards of 
 the Hessian troops at Trenton soon fell back; but 
 kept up a constant retreating fire. Their main 
 body being hard pressed by the Americans, who 
 had already got possession of half their artillery* 
 attempted to file off by a road leading towards 
 Princeton, but. were checked by a body of troops
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 III. 
 
 thrown in their way. Finding they were surround- 
 ed, they laid down their arms. The number 
 1776. w hich submitted was 23 officers and 886 men. 
 Between 30 and 40 of the Hessians were killed 
 and wounded. Col. Rahl was among the former, 
 and seven of his officers among the latter. Cap- 
 tain Washington, of the Virginia troops, and five 
 or six of the Americans, were wounded. Two 
 were killed, and two or three were frozen to death. 
 The detachment in Trenton consisted of the regi- 
 ments of Rahl, Losberg, and Kniphausen, amount- 
 ing in the whole to about 1500 men, and a troop 
 of British light horse. All these were killed or 
 captured, except about 600, who escaped by the 
 Toad leading to Bordenton. 
 
 The British had a strong battalion of light infan- 
 try at Princeton, and a force yet remaining near 
 the Delaware, superior to the American army. 
 Washington, therefore, in the evening of the same 
 day, thought it most prudent to cross into Penn- 
 sylvania with his prisoners. These being secur- 
 ed, he recrossed the Delaware, and took pos- 
 session of Trenton. The detachments which had 
 been distributed over New-Jersey previous to the 
 capture of the Hessians, immediately after that 
 event assembled at Princeton, and were joined by 
 the army from Brunswick under Lord Cornwallis. 
 From this position they came forward to Trenton 
 in great force, hoping, by a vigorous onset, to re- 
 pair the injury their cause had sustained by the 
 late defeat. 
 
 Truly delicate was the situation of the feeble 
 American army. To retreat was to hazard the ci- 
 ty of Philadelphia, and to destroy every ray of hope
 
 GJEORGE WASHINGTON. 57 
 
 whfch began to dawn from their late success. To 
 risk an action with a superiour force in front, and 
 a river in rear, was dangerous in the extreme. 1776 - 
 To get round the advanced party of the British, 
 and, by pushing forwards, to attack in their rear, 
 was deemed preferable to either. The British, 
 on their advance from Princeton, attacked a bo- 
 dy of Americans which were posted with four 
 field pieces a little to the northward of Trenton, 
 and compelled them to retreat. The pursuing 
 British being checked at the bridge over Sanpink 
 creek by some field pieces, lell back so far as to be 
 out of their reach. The Americans were drawn 
 up on the opposite side of the creek, and in that 
 position remained till night, cannonading the ene- 
 my and receiving their fire. In this critical hour, 
 two armies, on which the success or failure of the 
 American revolution materially depended, were 
 crowded into the small village of Trenton, and on- 
 ly separated by a creek, in many places fordable. 
 The British, believing they had all the advan- 
 tages they could wish for, and that they could use 
 them when they pleased, discontinued all farther 
 operations, and kept themselves in readiness to 
 make the attack next morning. But the next 
 morning presented a scene as brilliant on the one 
 side, as it was unexpected on the other. Soon af- 
 ter it became dark, Washington ordered all his 
 baggage to be silently removed, and having left 
 guards for the purpose of deception, marched 
 with his whole force by a circuitous route to 
 Princeton. This manosuvre was determined up- 
 on in a council of war, from a conviction that it 
 would avoid the appearance of a retreat, and at
 
 58 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C ?n ? ^ e same t ^ me ^6 hazard of an action in a bad 
 -- - position, and that it was the most likely way to 
 preserve the city of Philadelphia from falling into 
 the hands of the British. Washington also pre- 
 sumed, that, from an eagerness to efface the im- 
 pressions made by the late capture of the Hes- 
 sians at Trenton, the British commanders had push- 
 ed forward their principal force ; and that the re- 
 mainder in the rear at Princeton, was not more 
 than equal to his own. The event verified this 
 conjecture. The more effectually to disguise the 
 departure of the Americans from Trenton, fires 
 were lighted up in front of their camp. These 
 not only gave an appearance of going to rest, 
 but, as flame cannot be seen through, concealed 
 from the British what was transacting behind 
 them. In this relative position they were a pil- 
 lar of fire to the one army, and the pillar of a 
 cloud to the other. Providence favoured this 
 movement of the Americans. The weather had 
 been for some time so warm and moist that the 
 ground was soft, and the roads so deep as to be 
 scarcely passable ; but the wind suddenly chang- 
 ed to the northwest, and the ground in a short 
 time was frozen so hard that when the Americans 
 took up their line of march, they were no more 
 retarded than if they had been upon a solid pave- 
 ment. 
 
 Washington reached Princeton early in the morn- 
 ing, and would have completely surprised the Bri- 
 tish, had not a party which was on their way to 
 Trenton descried his troops when they were about 
 two miles distant, and sent back couriers to alarm 
 their unsuspecting fellow soldiers in their rear.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 59 
 
 These consisted of the 17th, the 40th, and 55th ^HAP. 
 regiments of British infantry, and some of the ' 
 royal artillery, with two field pieces, and three ^76 
 troops of light dragoons. The centre of the Ame- 
 ricans, consisting of the Philadelphia militia, 
 while on their line of march, was briskly charg- 
 ed by a party of the British, and gave way in 
 disorder. The moment was critical. Washing- 
 ton pushed forward, and placed himself between 
 his own men and the British, with his horse's 
 head fronting the latter. The Americans, encou- 
 raged by his example and exhortations, made a 
 stand, and returned the British fire. The Gene- 
 ral, though between both parties, was providen- 
 tially uninjured by either. A party of the British 
 fled into the college, and were there attacked with 
 field pieces, which were fired into it. The seat 
 of the muses became for some time the scene of 
 action. The party which had taken refuge in the 
 college, after receiving a few discharges from the 
 American field pieces, came out and surrendered 
 themselves prisoners of war. In the course of the 
 engagement sixty of the British were killed, and 
 a great number wounded, and about 300 of them 
 taken prisoners. The rest made their escape, 
 some by pushing on to Trenton; others by return- 
 ing to Brunswick. 
 
 While they were fighting in Princeton, the Bri- 
 tish in Trenton were under arms, and on the point 
 of making an assault on the evacuated camp of the 
 Americans. With so much address had the move- 
 ment to Princeton been conducted, that though 
 from the critical situation of the two armies eve- 
 ry ear may be supposed to have been open, and
 
 60 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, every watchfulness to have been employed, yet 
 ' Washington moved completely off the ground 
 1776. with his whole force, stores, baggage, and artil- 
 lery, unknown to and unsuspected by his adver- 
 raries. The British in Trenton were so entirely 
 deceived, that, when they heard the report of the 
 artillery at Princeton, though it was in the depth 
 of winter, they supposed it to be thunder. 
 
 The British, astonished at these bold movements 
 of an enemy supposed to be vanquished, instant- 
 ly fell back with their whole force, and abandon- 
 ed every post they held to the southward of New- 
 York, except Brunswick and Amboy.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 61 
 
 CHAP. IV. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1*77. 
 
 Of the operations of General Washington in New- 
 Jersey and. Pennsylvania, in the campaign of 
 1777- The battles of Brandywine and German- 
 town. Washington is advised by the Rev. Jacob 
 Dudley to give up the contest. The distresses of 
 /he American army. Its winter quarters in Val- 
 ley Forge. Gen. Washington is assailed by the 
 clamours of discontented individuals and public 
 bodies, and by the designs of a faction to supersede 
 him in his office as commander in chief. 
 
 1 HE victories at Trenton and Princeton pro- CHAP - 
 
 duced the most extensive effects, and had a decid- 
 
 ed influence on subsequent events. Philadelphia 
 was saved for that winter. Jersey was recovered. 
 The drooping spirits of the Americans were reviv- 
 ed. The gloomy apprehensions which had late- 
 ly prevailed, of their being engaged in a hopeless 
 cause, yielded to a confidence in their General 
 and their army, and in the ultimate success of 
 their struggles for liberty and independence. So 
 strong an impulse was given to the recruiting ser- 
 vice in every part of the United States, as gave 
 good ground to hope that the commander in chief 
 would be enabled to take the field in the spring
 
 62 THE LIKE- OF 
 
 C ?v^ P with a permanent regular army, on the new terms 
 
 of enlistment. 
 
 1777. After the campaign had been thus carried into 
 the month of January, Washington retired to 
 Morristown, that he might afford shelter to his 
 suffering army. His situation there was far from 
 being eligible. His force for some considerable 
 time was trifling, when compared with that of the 
 British ; but the enemy and his own countrymen 
 believed the contrary. Their deception was che- 
 rished and artfully continued by the parade of a 
 large army. Washington placed his officers in 
 positions of difficult access, and they kept up a 
 constant communication with each other. This 
 secured them from insult and surprise. While 
 they covered the country, they harassed the fo- 
 raging parties of the British, and confined them to 
 narrow limits. 
 
 The remainder of the winter season passed over 
 in a light war of skirmishes. These were gene- 
 rally in favour of the Americans ; but Washing- 
 ton's views were much more extensive. He hoped 
 that his country, encouraged by the late successes 
 at Trenton and Princeton, would have placed at 
 his disposal a large and efficient army, equal to 
 that of the enemy. To obtain it, he urged with 
 great earnestness the advantage of being enabled 
 to undertake decisive operations before reinforce- 
 ments to the British army should arrive. Con- 
 gress, at his instance, passed the requisite reso- 
 lutions ; but these could not be carried into effect 
 without the aid of the state legislatures. The de- 
 lays incident to this slow modo of vloing business, 
 added to the recollection of the suffering of the
 
 GEORGK WASHINGTON. (jj 
 
 troops in the last campaign, retarded the recruit- CHAP. 
 
 ing service. Washington with infinite reluctance L 
 
 was obliged to give up his favourite project of an irrr. 
 early active campaign. 
 
 In the advance of the spring, when recruits 
 were obtained, a difficulty arose in assembling 
 them from the different states in which they had 
 been enlisted. As the British had possession of 
 the ocean, they could at pleasure transfer the war 
 to any maritime portion of the union. Each state, 
 anxious for its particular safety, claimed protec- 
 tion from the common army of the whole. Had 
 they been indulged, the feeble remnant under 
 the immediate direction of the commander in 
 chief, would have been unequal to any great en- 
 terprise. To these partial calls he opposed all 
 his authority and influence, and his pointed repre- 
 sentations made an impression in favour of prima- 
 ry objects. These were to prevent the British 
 from getting possession of Philadelphia, or the 
 Highlands on the Hudson. Both were of so near- 
 ly equal importance to their interest, that it was 
 impossible to ascertain which should be prefer- 
 red by Sir William Howe. In this uncertainty, 
 Washington made such an arrangement of his 
 troops as would enable him to oppose either. The 
 northern troops were divided between Ticon- 
 deroga and Peekskill ; while those from Jersey 
 and the south were encamped at Middlebrook, 
 near the Rariton. The American force collected 
 at this strong and defencible encampment, was 
 nominally between nine and ten thousand men; 
 but the effective rank and file was about six thou- 
 sand. A majority of these were raw recruits;
 
 64 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. an d a considerable number of such us had been 
 enlisted in the middle states were foreigners or 
 
 o 
 
 1777- servants. To encourage the desertion of troops 
 so slightly attached to the American cause, Gen. 
 Howe offered a reward to every soldier who would 
 come over to his army, and an additional com- 
 pensation to such as would bring their arms with 
 them. To counteract these propositions, Wash- 
 ington recommended to Congress to give full par- 
 don to all Americans who would relinquish the 
 British service. 
 
 The campaign opened early in June on the 
 part of the British, who advanced towards Phila- 
 delphia as far as Somerset county, in New-Jersey; 
 but they soon fell back to New-Brunswick. After 
 this retreat, Sir William Howe endeavoured to 
 provoke Washington to an engagement, .and left 
 no manoeuvre untried that was calculated to in- 
 duce him to quit his position. At one time he 
 appeared as if he intended to push on, without re- 
 garding the army opposed to him. At another, 
 he accurately examined the situation of the Ame- 
 rican encampment ; hoping that some unguarded 
 part might be found on which an attack might 
 be made that would open the way to a general 
 engagement. All these hopes were frustrated. 
 Washington knew the full value of his situation. 
 
 C7 
 
 He had too much penetration to lose it from the 
 circumvention of military manoeuvres, and too 
 much temper to be provoked to a dereliction of it. 
 He was well apprised it was not the interest of 
 his country to commit its fortune to a single 
 action. 
 Sir William Howe suddenly relinquished his
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 65 
 
 position in front of the Americans, and retired 
 with his whole force to Amboy. The apparently 
 retreating British were pursued by a considerable W77. 
 detachment of the American army, and Washing- 
 ton advanced from Middlebrook to Quibbletown, 
 to be near at hand for the support of his advanc- 
 ed parties. Tbe British General immediately 
 marched his army back from Amboy, with great 
 expedition, hoping to bring on a general ac- 
 tion on equal ground ; but he was disappointed. 
 Washington fell back, and posted his army in 
 such an advantageous situation as compensated 
 for the inferiority of his numbers. Sir William 
 Howe was now fully convinced of the impossibi- 
 lity of compelling a general engagement on equal 
 terms, and also satisfied that it would be too ha- 
 zardous to attempt passing the Delaware while 
 the country was in arms, and the main American 
 army in full force in his rear. lie therefore re- 
 turned to Amboy, and thence passed over to Staten 
 Island, resolving to prosecute the objects of the 
 campaign by an embarkation of his whole force 
 at New- York. During the period of these move- 
 ments, the real designs of Gen. Howe were in- 
 volved in obscurity. Though the season for mili- 
 tary operations was advanced as far as the month 
 of July, yet his determinate object could not be 
 ascertained. Nothing on his part had hitherto 
 taken place, but alternately advancing and re- 
 treating. Washington's embarrassment on this 
 account was increased by intelligence which ar- 
 rived, that Burgoyne was advancing in great force 
 towards Nevv-York from Canada. Apprehending 
 that Sir William Howe would ultimately move up 
 
 K
 
 \6 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. *|f ie North River, and that his movements whicb 
 . looked southwardly were feints, the American 
 *777. chief detached a brigade to reinforce the northern 
 division of his army. Successive advices of the 
 advance of Burgoyne favoured the idea that a 
 junction of the two royal armies, near Albany, 
 was intended. Some movements were therefore 
 made by Washington towards PeekskiH, and on 
 the other side towards Trenton, while the main 
 army was encamped near the Clove, in readiness 
 to march either to the north or south, as the 
 movements of Sir William Howe might require. 
 
 After the British had left Sandy Hook, they 
 looked into the Delaware, and suddenly again 
 put out to sea, and were not heard of for near 
 three weeks, except that once or twice they had 
 been seen near the coast steering southwardly. 
 Charleston, in South'Carolina, was supposed to be 
 their object at one time ; at another, Philadelphia 
 by the way of Chesapeak ; at another, the High- 
 lands of New- York, to co-operate with Burgoyne. 
 
 The perplexing uncertainty concerning the 
 destination of the enemy which embarrassed the 
 movements of Washington, was not done away be- 
 fore the middle of August, when certain accounts 
 were received that the British had taken posses- 
 sion of the Chesapeak, and landed as near to Phi- 
 ladelphia as was practicable. While the object 
 of the campaign was doubtful, every disposition 
 was made to defend all the supposed probable 
 points of attack except Charleston. This being 
 at the distance of seven or eight hundred miles, 
 could not be assisted by an arm}- marching over 
 land, in time to oppose the enemy conveyed
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. . 67 
 
 Unther by water. While this idea prevailed, ar- CHAP. 
 
 rangements were made to employ the American 
 
 urmy either against the enemy advancing from *777. 
 Albany, or against the British posts in New-York, 
 with the hope of making reparation for the ex- 
 pected loss of Charleston. As soon as the arrival 
 of the British in theChesapeak was known, Wash- 
 ington ordered the different divisions of his ar- 
 my to unite in the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, 
 towards the head of Elk ; and the militia of Penn- 
 sylvania, Maryland, and the northern counties 
 of Virginia, to take the field. He had previously 
 written very pressing letters to the Governors of 
 the eastern states, and to the Generals in the 
 western parts of these states, to strengthen the 
 northern army opposed to Burgoyne ; and even 
 weakened himself by detaching some of his best 
 troops, particularly Morgan's riflemen, on that 
 important service. In the spirit of true patri- 
 otism, he diminished his own chances of acquir- 
 ing fame, that the common CUUM J might be most 
 effectually promoted by the best disposition of the 
 forces under his command, for simultaneous oppo- 
 sition to both Howe and Burgoyne. 
 
 Washington passed his army with every appear- 
 ance of confidence through the city of Philadel- 
 phia, with a view of making some impression on 
 the disaffected of that city, and afterwards pro- 
 ceeded towards the head of Elk. About the same 
 time he directed Gen. Small wood, with the militia 
 of Maryland and Delaware, and some continen- - 
 tal troops, to hang on the rear of the enemy. As 
 a substitute for Morgan's riflemen, Gen. Max- 
 well was furnished with a corps of light infantry,
 
 68 THE LM-E OF 
 
 c ^ p amounting to one thousand men, and directed to 
 
 annoy the British on their march through the 
 
 177 7- country. These troops were afterwards reinforc- 
 ed with Gen. Wayne's division. Though the mi- 
 litia did not turn out with that alacrity which 
 might have been expected from the energetic calls 
 of Washington, yet a respectable force was as- 
 sembled, which imposed on Sir William Howe a 
 necessity of proceeding with caution. The royal 
 army set out from the eastern heads of the Chcsa- 
 peak on the third of September, with a spirit 
 which promised to compensate for the various de- 
 lays which had hitherto wasted the campaign. 
 They advanced with great circumspection and 
 boldness till they were within two miles of the 
 American army, which was then posted in the 
 vicinity of New Port. Washington soon chang- 
 ed his ground, and took post on the high ground 
 near Chadd's Fort, on the Brandywine creek, 
 with an intention of disputing the passage. It 
 was the wish, but by no means the interest, of 
 the Americans, to try their strength in an en- 
 gagement. Their regular troops were not only 
 inferior in discipline, but in numbers, to the 
 royal army. The opinion of the inhabitants, though 
 founded on no circumstances more substantial 
 than their wishes, imposed a species of necessity 
 on the American General to keep his army in 
 front of the enemy, and to risk an action for the 
 security of Philadelphia. Instead of this, had hi 1 
 taken the ridge of high mountains on his right, 
 the British must have respected his numbers, and 
 probably would have followed him up the coun- 
 try. In this manner the campaign might have 

 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 69 
 
 been wasted away in a manner fatal to the inva- CHAP. 
 
 J iv. 
 ders j but the bulk of the American people were 
 
 so impatient of delays, and had such an overween- 1777> 
 ing conceit of the numbers and prowess of their 
 army, that they could not comprehend the wisdom, 
 and policy of manoeuvres to shun a general en- 
 gagement. 
 
 On this occasion necessity dictated that a sacra- 
 fice should be made on the altar of public opinion. 
 A general action was therefore hazarded. This 
 took place at Chadd's Fort, on the Brandywine, 
 a small stream which empties itself into Christiana 
 ereek, near its conflux with the river Delaware. 
 
 The royal army advanced at day break in two 
 columns, commanded by Lieutenant General 
 Kniphausen and Lord Cornwallis. They first 
 took the direct road to Chadd's Ford, and made a 
 show of passing it, in front of the main body of 
 the Americans. At the same time the other co- 
 lumn moved up on the west side of the Brandy- 
 wine to its fork, and crossed both its branches, 
 and then marched down on the east side thereof, 
 with the view of turning the right wing of their 
 adversaries. 
 
 This they effected, and compelled them to re- 
 treat with great loss. Gen. Kniphausen amused 
 the Americans with the appearance of crossing 
 the Ford, but did not attempt it until Lord Corn- 
 wallis, having crossed above and moved down on 
 the opposite side, had commenced his attack. 
 Kniphausen then crossed the Ford and attacked 
 the troops posted for its defence. .These, after a 
 severe conflict, were compelled to give way. The 
 retreat of the Americans soon became general,
 
 70 THE LIFE OF 
 
 c |^ p - and was continued to Chester. Their loss was 
 
 about nine hundred, and considerably exceeded 
 
 17?7> that of ihe British. The final issue of battles 
 often depends on small circumstances, which 
 human prudence cannot control. One of these 
 occurred here, and prevented Gen. Washing- 
 ton from executing a bold design, to effect 
 .which his troops were actually in motion. This 
 was to cross the Brandywine, and attack Kniphau- 
 sen, while Gen. Sullivan and Lord Stirling should 
 keep Earl Cornwall is in check. In the most cri- 
 tical moment Washington received intelligence 
 which he was obliged to credit, that the column 
 of Lord Cornwallis had been only making a feint, 
 and was returning to join Kniphausen. This pre- 
 vented the execution of a plan, which, if carried 
 into effect, would probably have given a different 
 turn to the events of the day. 
 
 Washington made every exertion to repair the 
 loss which had been sustained. The battle of 
 Brandywine was represented as not being deci- 
 sive. Congress and the people wished to hazard 
 a second engagement, for the security of Phila- 
 delphia. Howe sought for it, and Washington 
 did not decline it. Me therefore advanced as far 
 as the Warren tavern, on the Lancaster road, with 
 jm intention of meeting his adversary. Near that 
 place both armies were on the point of engaging 
 with their whole force; but were prevented by a 
 most violent storm of rain, which continued for a 
 whole day and night. When the rain ceased, tin 
 Americans found that their ammunition was en- 
 tirely ruined. 'I hey therefore withdrew to a place 
 of safely. Before a proper supply was procured.
 
 ftEORGE WASHINGTON. 71 
 
 the British marched from their position near the 
 White Horse tavern, down towards the Swedes 
 Ford. The Americans again took post in their 1777 ' 
 front, but the British, instead of urging an action, 
 began to march up towards Reading. To save 
 the stores which had been deposited in that place, 
 Washington took a new position, and left the 
 British in undisturbed possession of the roads 
 which lead to Philadelphia. His troops were 
 worn down with a succession of severe duties. 
 There were in his army above a thousand men 
 who were barefooted, and who had performed all 
 their late movements in that condition. 
 
 Though Washington had failed in his object of 
 saving Philadelphia, yet he retained the confi- 
 dence of Congress and the States. With an ar- 
 my inferior in numbers, discipline, and equip- 
 ments, he delayed the British army thirty days in 
 advancing sixty miles through an open country, 
 without fortifications, and the waters of which 
 were every where fordable. Though defeated in 
 one general action, he kept together his undisci- 
 plined and unprovided army, and in less than a 
 week offered battle to his successful adversary. 
 When this was prevented by a storm of rain 
 which ruined his ammunition, while many of his 
 soldiers were without bayonets, he extricated 
 them from the most imminent danger, and main- 
 tained a respectable standing. Instead of imme- 
 diately retiring into winter quarters, he approach- 
 ed the enemy and encamped on the Skippack 
 road. The British army took their stand in Phi- lrrr - 
 ladelphia and Germantown, shortly after the bat- 
 tle of Brandy wine. From these positions, espe-
 
 2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, cially the last, considerable detachments were sent 
 
 to Chester and the vicinity, to favour an attempt to 
 
 W77- open the navigation of the river Delaware, which 
 had been obstructed with great ingenuity and in- 
 dustry by the Americans. 
 
 About the same time the American army re- 
 ceived a reinforcement of two thousand five hun- 
 dred men, which increased its effective force to 
 eleven thousand. 
 
 General Washington conceived that the present 
 moment furnished a fair opportunity for enter- 
 prise. He therefore resolved to attack the Bri- 
 tish in Germantown. Their line of encampment 
 crossed that village at right angles j the left wing 
 extending on the west to the Schuylkill. That 
 wing was covered in front and Hank by the Ger- 
 man chasseurs. A battalion of light infantry, 
 and the queen's American rangers, were in front 
 of the right. The 40th regiment, with another 
 battalion of infantry, was posted at the head of 
 the village. The Americans moved from their 
 encampment on the Skippack road in the even- 
 ing of the 3d of October, with the intention of sur- 
 prising their adversaries early next morning, and 
 to attack both wings in front and rear at the same 
 time, so as to prevent the several parts from sup- 
 porting each other. The divisions of Greene and 
 Stevens, flanked by M'Dougal's brigade, were to 
 enter by the lime kiln road. The militia of Ma- 
 ryland and Jersey, under Generals Smallwood 
 and Furman, were to march by the old York road, 
 and to fall upon the rear of their right. 
 
 Lord Stirling, with Nashe's and Maxwell's bri- 
 gade, were to form a corps de reserve. The
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 73 
 
 Americans began their attack about sunrise, on CHAP. 
 the 40th regiment and a battalion of light infantry. ___L__ 
 These being obliged to retreat, were pursued into 1777. 
 the village. On their retreat, Lieut. Col. Mus- 
 grove, with six companies, took post in Mr. Chew's 
 strong stone house, which lay in front of the Ame- 
 ricans. From an adherence to the military max- 
 im of never leaving a fort possessed by an enemy 
 in the rear, it was resolved to attack the party in 
 the house. 
 
 In the mean time Gen. Greene got up with his 
 column, and attacked the right wing. Col. Ma- 
 thews routed a party of the British opposed to him, 
 killed several, and took 1 10 prisoners ; but, from 
 the darkness of the day, lost sight of the brigade 
 to which he belonged, and having separated from 
 it, was taken prisoner, with his whole regiment ; 
 and the prisoners which he had previously taken 
 were released. A number of the troops in Greene's 
 division were stopped by the halt of the party be- 
 fore Chew's house. Near one half of the Ameri- 
 can army remained for some time at that place in- 
 active. In the mean time Gen. Grey led on three 
 battalions of the third brigade, and attacked with 
 vigour. A sharp contest followed. Two British 
 regiments attacked at the same time on the oppo- 
 site side of the town. General Grant moved up the 
 49th regiment to the aid of those who were en- 
 gaged with Greene's column. 
 
 The morning was foggy. This, by concealing 
 the true situation of the parties, occasioned mis- 
 takes, and made so much caution necessary as to 
 give the British time to recover from the effects of 
 their first surprise. From these causes the early 
 
 L
 
 74 THE LIFE OF 
 
 promising appearances on the part of the assail- 
 ants were speedily reversed. The Americans left 
 777. the field hastily, and all efforts to rally them were 
 ineffectual. Washington was obliged to relinquish 
 the victory he had thought within his grasp, and 
 to turn his whole attention to the security of his 
 army. A retreat about 20 miles to Perkioming 
 was made, with the loss of only one piece of artil- 
 lery. In the engagement the loss of the Ameri- 
 cans, including the wounded and four hundred 
 prisoners, was about 1100. A considerable part 
 of this was occasioned by the 40th regiment, 
 which, from the doors and windows of Mr. Chew's 
 large stone house, kept up a constant fire on their 
 uncovered adversaries. 
 
 The plan of the battle of Germantown was ju- 
 dicious, and its commencement well conducted ; 
 bat to ensure its successful execution, a steady co- 
 operation of the several divisions of the assailants 
 was necessary. The numerous enclosures to be 
 passed, and the thickness of the fog, rendered 
 this impossible; especially by troops who were 
 imperfectly disciplined, and without the advan- 
 tages of experience. 
 
 Congress voted their unanimous thanks " to 
 General Washington for his wise and well concert- 
 ed attack, and to the officers and soldiers of the ar- 
 my, for their brave exertions on that occasion j" 
 and added "They were well satisfied that the 
 best designs and boldest efforts may sometimes 
 fail by unforeseen incidents." 
 
 In the latter part of the campaign of 1777, in 
 proportion as the loss of Philadelphia became 
 more probable, Washington took every precau-
 
 <5EORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 tion eventually to diminish its value to the enemy. 
 Orders were given for moving the military stores 
 and the vessels at the wharves of that city higher 
 up the Delaware. From the time that the British 
 got possession, every aid consistent with greater 
 objects was given to the forts constructed on the 
 Delaware for opposing the British in their attempts 
 to open the navigation of that river. Troops 
 were stationed on both sides of the Delaware to 
 prevent the inhabitants from going with their 
 provisions to the market of Philadelphia, and to 
 destroy small foraging parties sent out to obtain 
 supplies for the royal army. The.se arrangements 
 being made, Washington advanced towards Phi- 
 ladelphia. His objects were to enfeeble the roy- 
 al army in their operations against the forts on 
 the Delaware; to attack them if circumstances fa- 
 voured, and prevent their receiving supplies from 
 the country. The British shortly after evacu- 
 ated Germantown ; concentered their force at 
 Philadelphia, and directed their principal atten- 
 tion to the opening the navigation of the Dela- 
 ware. This employed them for more than six 
 weeks ; and after a great display of gallantry on 
 both sides, was finally accomplished. 
 
 In this discouraging state of public affairs, a 
 long letter was addressed by the reverend Jacob 
 Duche, late chaplain of Congress, and a clergy- 
 man of the lirst rank, for character, piety, and 
 eloquence, to Gen. Washington ; the purport of 
 which was, to persuade him that farther resistance 
 to Great-Britain was hopeless, and would only in- 
 crease the calamities of their common country ; 
 *and under this impression to urge him to make
 
 76 THE LIFE op 
 
 C iv^- the best terms he could with the British command* 
 -. er, and to give up the contest. Such a letter, at 
 
 wr- such a time, in unison with the known sentiments 
 of many desponding citizens, from a person whose 
 character and connexions placed him above all 
 suspicion of treachery, and whose attachment to 
 his native country, America, was unquestionable, 
 could not have failed to make an impression on 
 minds of a feeble texture ; but from Washington, 
 who never despaired of his country, the laboured 
 epistle of the honest, but timid divine, received no 
 farther notice than a verbal message to the writer 
 thereof, " That if the contents of his letter had 
 been known, it should have been returned un- 
 opened." 
 
 While Sir William Howe was succeeding in 
 every enterprise in Pennsylvania, intelligence ar- 
 rived that Gen. Burgoyne and his whole army 
 had surrendered prisoners of war to the Ameri- 
 cans. Washington soon after received a consi- 
 derable reinforcement, from the northern army, 
 which had accomplished this great event. With 
 this increased force he took a position at and near 
 Whitemarsh. The royal army having succeeded 
 in removing the obstructions in the river Dela- 
 Vffl. ware, were ready for new enterprises. Sir Wil- 
 liam Howe marched out of Philadelpia, witli al- 
 most his whole force, expecting to bring on a 
 general engagement. The next morning he ap- 
 peared on Chesnut hill, in front of, and about 
 three miles distant from the right wing of the 
 Americans. On the day following the British 
 changed their ground, and moved to the right. 
 Two days after they moved still farther to the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 77 
 
 right, and made every appearance of an intention 
 to attack the American encampment. Some 
 skirmishes took place, and a general action was l777 - 
 hourly expected ; but instead thereof, on the 
 morning of the next day, after various marche 
 and countermarches, the British filed off from 
 their right by two or three different routes, in full 
 march for Philadelphia. 
 
 While the two armies were manoeuvring, in 
 constant expectation of an immediate engagement, 
 Washington rode through every brigade of his ar- 
 my, and with a firm steady countenance gave or- 
 ders in person how to receive the enemy, and par- 
 ticularly urged on his troops to place their chief 
 dependence on the bayonet. His position, in a mi- 
 litary point of view, was admirable. He was so 
 sensible of the advantages of it, that the manoeuvres 
 of Sir William Howe for some days could not allure 
 him from it. In consequence of the reinforcement 
 lately received, he had not in any preceding pe- 
 riod of the campaign been in an equal condition 
 for a general engagement. Though he ardently 
 wished to be attacked, yet he would not relinquish 
 a position from which he hoped for reparation for 
 the adversities of the campaign. He could not 
 believe that Gen. Howe, with a victorious army, 
 and that lately reinforced with 4000 men from 
 New- York, should come out of Philadelphia only 
 to return thither again. He therefore presumed, 
 that to avoid the disgrace of such a movement, the 
 British commander would, from a sense of military 
 honour, be compelled to attack him, though under 
 great disadvantages. When he found him cautious 
 of engaging, and inclining to his left, a daring
 
 THE 'LIFE OP 
 
 design was formed, which would have been xe- 
 . cuted had the British either continued in their po- 
 1777 - sition, or moved a little farther to the left of the 
 American army. This was to have attempted in 
 the night to surprise Philadelphia. 
 
 Three days after the retreat of the British, * 
 Washington communicated in general orders, his 
 intention of retiring into winter quarters. He 
 expressed to his army high approbation of their 
 past conduct ; gave an encouraging statement of 
 the prospects of their country ; exhorted them to 
 bear the hardships inseparable from their situa- 
 tion, and endeavoured to convince their judgments 
 that these were necessary for the public good, and 
 unavoidable from the distressed situation of the 
 new formed states. 
 
 The same care to cut off all communication be- 
 tween the enemy and the country was continued, 
 ind the same means employed to secure that ob- 
 ject. Gen. Smallwood was detached to Wilming- 
 ton to guard the Delaware. Col. Morgan, who 
 had lately returned from the victorious northern 
 army, was placed on the lines on the west side of 
 the Schuylkill ; and Gen. Armstrong near the old 
 camp at the Whitemarsh, with a respectable force 
 under the command of each, to prevent the coun- 
 try people from carrying provisions to the market 
 in Philadelphia. 
 
 Valley Forge, about twenty-five miles distant 
 from Philadelphia, was fixed upon for the winter 
 quarters of the Americans. This position was pre- 
 ferred to distant and more comfortable villages, as 
 being calculated to give the most extensive secu- 
 rity to the country. The American army might
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 79 
 
 have been tracked by the blood of their feet in CHAP. 
 marching without shoes or stockings, over the ' 
 hard frozen ground between Whitemarsh and the 1777. 
 Valley Forge. Under these circumstances they 
 had to sit down in a wood in the latter end of De- 
 cember, and to build huts for their accommoda- 
 tion. To a want of cloathing was added a want 
 of provisions. For some days there was little less 
 than a famine in the camp. Washington was com- 
 pelled to make seizures for the support of his ar- 
 my. Congress had authorised him so to do ; but 
 he wished the civil authority to manage the deli- 
 cate business of impressment, and regretted the 
 measure as subversive of discipline, and calcu- 
 lated to raise in the soldiers a disposition to li- 
 centiousness and plunder. To suffer his army to 
 starve or disband, or to feed them by force, were 
 the only alternatives offered to his choice. Though 
 he exercised these extraordinary powers with 
 equal reluctance and discretion, his lenity was 
 virtually censured by Congress, " as proceeding 
 from a delicacy in exerting military authority on 
 the citizens, which, in their opinion, might prove 
 prejudicial to the general liberties of America ;' r 
 at the same time his rigour was condemned by 
 those from whom provisions were forcibly taken. 
 The sound judgment and upright principles of 
 the commander in chief gave a decided preference 
 to the mode of supplying his army by fair con- 
 tract, but the necessities thereof proceeding from 
 bad management in the commissary department 
 the depreciation of the Congress bills of credit 
 the selfishnesss of the farmers in preferring British 
 metallic to American paper money, together with
 
 30 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the eagerness of Congress to starve the British ar- 
 my in Philadelphia, compelled him to extort sup- 
 plies for his army at the point of the bayonet. In 
 obedience to Congress, he issued a proclamation, 
 " calling on the farmers within seventy miles of 
 head quarters to thresh out one half of their grain 
 1778. by the first of February, and the residue by the 
 first of March, under the penalty of having the 
 whole seized as straw." 
 
 Great were the difficulties Washington had to 
 
 O 
 
 contend with for feeding and cloathing his army, 
 but they were not the only ones which at this time 
 pressed on him. The states of Pennsylvania and 
 New- Jersey were importunate with him to cover 
 them from the incursions of the enemy. In both 
 
 V 
 
 there were many discontented individuals, who, 
 regretting their past losses and present danger 
 from the vicinity of a conquering army, were so 
 far misled by their feelings as to suppose it to be 
 the fault of Gen. Washington, that the inferior 
 destitute army under his immediate command had 
 not been as successful as the superior well sup- 
 ported northern army under Gen. Gates. The le- 
 gislature of Pennsylvania, probably sore from the 
 loss of their capital, on hearing that Washington 
 was about to retire into winter quarters, present- 
 ed a remonstrance to Congress on that subject, in 
 which their dissatisfaction with the General was 
 far from being concealed. A copy of this being 
 sent to him, he addressed Congress in terms very 
 different from his usual style. He stated, " that 
 though every thing in his power had been done 
 for supporting his army, yet their inactivity, 
 arising from their manifold wants, was charged to
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 81 
 
 his account; that the army seldom had provisions C S^ P- 
 
 for two days in advance ; that few of his men had 
 
 more than one shirt, many only a moiety of one, l777 - 
 and some none at all; that soap, vinegar, and 
 such like articles, though allowed by Congress, 
 had not been seen in camp for several weeks; 
 that by a field return 2898 of his army were unfit 
 for duty, because they were barefooted, and other- 
 wise naked ; that his whole effective force in camp 
 amounted to no more than 8200 men fit for duty; 
 that notwithstanding these complicated wants, 
 the remonstrance of the Pennsylvania legislature 
 reprobated the measure of his going into winter 
 quarters, as if its authors thought the soldiers were 
 made of stocks or stones, and as if they conceived 
 it easily practicable for an inferior army, circum- 
 stanced as his was, to confine a superior one, well 
 appointed and every way provided for a winter's 
 campaign, within the city of Philadelphia, and to 
 cover all the circumjacent country from their de- 
 predation." He assured the complainers, " that 
 it was much easier to draw up remonstrances in a 
 comfortable room by a good lire- side, than to oc- 
 cupy a cold bleak hill, and sleep under frost and , 
 snow, without clothes or blankets." 
 
 To the other vexations which crowded on Gen. 
 Washington at the close of the campaign of 1777> 
 was added one of a peculiar nature. Though he 
 was conscious he had never solicited, and that 
 it was neither from motives of interest nor of am- 
 bition he had accepted the command of the army, 
 and that he had with clean hands and a pure heart, 
 to the utmost of his power, steadily pursued what 
 his best judgment informed him was for the inter- 
 
 M
 
 82 THE LIFK OF 
 
 CHAP. es t o f hj s country; yet he received certain infor- 
 
 mation that a cabal, consisting of some members 
 
 1777. ofCoHgress, and a few General Officers of the ar- 
 my, was plotting to supersede him in his com- 
 mand. The scheme was to obtain the sanction of 
 some of the state legislatures to instruct their dele- 
 gates to move in Congress for an inquiry into the 
 causes of the failures of the campaigns of 1776 and 
 1777, with the hope that some intemperate resolu- 
 tions passed by them would either lead to the remo- 
 val of the General, or wound his military feelings 
 so as to induce his resignation. Anonymous pa- 
 pers containing high charges against him, and 
 urging Xhe necessity of putting some more ener- 
 getic oflicer at the head of the army, were sent to 
 Henry Laurens, President of Congress, Patrick 
 Henry, Governor of Virginia, and others. These 
 were forwarded to Gen. Washington. In his re- 
 ply to Mr. Laurens, he wrote as follows : " I can- 
 not sufficiently express the obligation I feel to- 
 wajds you for your friendship and politeness, up- 
 on an occasion in which I am so deeply interest- 
 ed. I was not unapprized that a malignant fac- 
 tion had been for some time forming to my preju- 
 dice, which, conscious as 1 am of having ever 
 done all in my power to answer the important 
 purposes of the trust reposed in me, could not 
 but give me some pain on a personal account ; 
 but my chief concern arises from an apprehension 
 of the dangerous consequences which intestine 
 dissentions may prove to the common cause." 
 
 "As I have no other view than to promote the 
 public good, and am unambitious of honours not 
 founded in the approbation of my country, I
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 83 
 
 would not desire in the least degree to suppress a CHAP. 
 free spirit of inquiry into any part of my conduct, ' 
 that even faction itself may deem reprehensible. 
 The anonymous paper handed you exhibits many 
 serious charges, and it is my wish that it may be 
 submitted to Congress. This I am the more in- 
 clined to, as the suppression or concealment may 
 possibly involve you in embarrassments hereafter, 
 since it is uncertain how many, or who may be 
 privy to the contents." 
 
 "My enemies take an ungenerous advantage of 
 me. They know the delicacy of my situation, 
 and that motives of policy deprive me of the de- 
 fenceT might otherwise make against their insidi- 
 ous attacks. They know I cannot combat insinua- 
 tions, however injurious, without disclosing secrets 
 it is of the utmost moment to conceal. But why 
 should I expect to be exempt from censure, the 
 unfailing lot of an elevated station? Merit and ta- 
 lents, which I cannot pretend to rival, have ever 
 been subject to it ; my heart tells me it has been 
 my unremitted aim to do the best which circum- 
 stances would permit ; yet I may have been very 
 often mistaken in my judgment of the means, and 
 may, in many instances, deserve the imputation 
 of error." 
 
 About the same time it was reported that Wash- 
 ington had determined to resign his command. 
 On this occasion he wrote to a gentleman in New- 
 England as follows : " I can assure you that no 
 person ever heard me drop an expression that had 
 a tendency to resignation. The same principles 
 that led me to embark in the opposition to the ar- 
 bitrary claims of Great-Britain, operate with ad-
 
 84 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, ditional force at this day: nor is it mv desire to 
 
 IV. r 
 
 withdraw my services while they are considered 
 
 O f importance in the present contest : but to re- 
 port a design of this kind is among the arts which 
 those who are endeavouring to effect a change, are 
 practising to bring it to pass. I have said, and I 
 still do say, that there is not an officer in the Uni- 
 ted States that would return to the sweets of do- 
 mestic life with more heart-felt joy than I should. 
 But I would have this declaration accompanied by 
 these sentiments, that while the public are satis- 
 fied with njy endeavours, I mean not to shrink 
 from the cause ; but the moment her voice, not 
 that of faction, calls upon me to resign, I shall do 
 it with as much pleasure as ever the weary travel- 
 ler retired to rest." 
 
 These machinations did not abate the ardour 
 of Washington in the common cause. His patri- 
 otism was too solid to be shaken either by envy or 
 ingratitude. Nor was the smallest effect produ- 
 ced in diminishing his well earned reputation. 
 Zeal the most active, and services the most be- 
 neficial, and at the same time disinterested, had 
 rivetted him in the affections of his country and 
 army. Even the victorious troops under General 
 Gates, though comparisons highly flattering to 
 their vanity had been made between them and 
 the army in Pennsylvania, clung to Washington 
 as their political saviour. The resentment of the 
 people was generally excited against those who 
 were supposed to be engaged in or friendly to the 
 scheme of appointing a new commander in chief 
 over the American army.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 85 
 
 CHAP. V. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1778. 
 
 General Washington prepares for the campaign of 
 1778. Surprises the British, and defeats tliem at 
 Monmouth. Arrests General Lee. Calms the irri- 
 tation excited by the departure of the French Jleet 
 from Rhode Island to Boston. Dissuades from an 
 invasion of Canada. 
 
 \V r ASHlNGTON devoted the short respite from CHAP. 
 
 field duty which followed the encampment of the 
 
 army at Valley Forge, to prepare for an early and 177B - 
 active campaign in the year 1778. He laboured to 
 impress on Congress the necessity of having in 
 the field a regular army, at least equal to that of 
 the enemy. He transmitted to the individual states 
 a return of the troops they had severally furnish- 
 ed for the continental army. While this exhibited 
 to each its deficiency, it gave the 'General an op- 
 portunity to urge on them respectively the neces- 
 sity of completing their quotas. 
 
 Congress deputed a committee of their body to 
 reside in camp, and, in concert with Gen. Wash- 
 ington, to investigate the state of the army, and 
 to report such reforms as might be deemed expe- 
 dient. This committee, known by the name of
 
 86 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. the committee of arrangement," repaired to 
 
 Valley Forge, in January, 1778. Washington 
 
 1778. i a id before them a statement, in which a compre- 
 hensive view of the army was taken, and in which 
 he minutely pointed out what he deemed necessa- 
 ry for the correction of existing abuses, and for 
 the advancement of the service. He recommend- 
 ed "as essentially necessary, that in addition to 
 present compensation, provision should be made 
 by half pay, and a pensionary establishment for 
 the future support of the oflicers, so as to render 
 their commissions valuable." He pointed out " the 
 insufficiency of their pay (especially in its present 
 state of depreciation) for their decent subsistence ; 
 the sacrifices they had already made, and the un- 
 reasonableness of expecting that they would con- 
 tinue patiently to bear such an over proportion of 
 the common calamities growing out of the neces- 
 sary war, in which all were equally interested; 
 the many resignations that had already taken 
 place, and the probability that more would follow, 
 to the great injury of the service ; the impossibili- 
 ty of keeping up a strict discipline among officers 
 whose commissions, in a pecuniary view, were so 
 far from being worth holding, that they were the 
 means of impoverishing them." These, and other 
 weighty considerations, were accompanied with 
 a declaration by Gen. Washington, "that he nei- 
 ther could nor would receive the smallest benefit 
 from the proposed establishment, and that he had 
 no other inducement in urging it, but a full con- 
 viction of its utility and propriety." 
 
 Jn the same statement the commander in chief 
 explained to the committee of Congress the defects
 
 GEORGE, WASHINGTON. 87 
 
 
 
 in the quarter-masters, and other departments con- CHA P- 
 
 nected with the support and comfort of the army ; 
 
 and also urged the necessity of each state com- i~78. 
 pleting its quota by draughts from the militia. 
 The statement concludes with these impressive 
 words " Upon the whole, gentlemen, I doubt not 
 you are fully impressed with the defects of our 
 present military system, and with the necessity of 
 speedy and decisive measures to place it on a sa- 
 tisfactory footing. The disagreeable picture I 
 have given you of the wants and sufferings of the 
 army, and the discontents reigning among the 
 officers, is a just representation of evils equally 
 melancholy and important ; and unless effectual 
 remedies be applied without loss of time, the most 
 alarming and ruinous consequences are to be ap- 
 prehended." The committee were fully impressed 
 with the correctness of the observations made by 
 the commander in chief, and grounded their re- 
 port upon them. A general concurrence of sen- 
 timent took place. Congress passed resolutions, 
 but with sundry limitations, in favour of half pay 
 to their officers for seven years after the war j and 
 gave their sanction to the other measures suggest- 
 ed by Washington, and recommended by their 
 committee. But, from the delays incidental to 
 large bodies, either deliberating upon or execu- 
 ting public business, much time necessarily elap- 
 sed before the army received the benefits of the 
 proposed reforms ; and in the mean time their 
 distresses approached to such a height as threaten- 
 ed their immediate dissolution. Respect for their 
 commander attached both officers and soldiers so 
 strongly to his person, as enabled him to keep
 
 88 THE LIFE .Of 
 
 C HAP. them together under privations almost too much 
 
 for human nature to bear. Their effective force 
 
 1778 - throughout the winter was little more than 5000 
 men, though their numbers on paper exceeded 
 17000. It was well for them that the British made 
 no attempt to disturb them while in this destitute 
 condition. In that case the Americans could not 
 have kept their camp for want of provisions ; nor 
 could thev have retreated from it without the cer- 
 
 
 
 tain loss of some thousands who were barefooted 
 and otherwise almost naked. Neither could they 
 have risked an action with any probable hope of 
 success, or without hazarding the most serious 
 consequences. 
 
 The historians of the American revolution will 
 detail the particulars of a treaty entered into about 
 this time between France and the United States, 
 and also that thereupon the government of Great- 
 Britain offered terms to the Americans equal to 
 all they had asked anterior to their declaration of 
 Independence. The first certain intelligence of 
 these offers was received by Gen. Washington in 
 a letter from Major General Tryon, the British 
 Governor of New- York, enclosing the conciliatory 
 proposals, and recommending "that they should 
 be circulated by Gen. Washington among the 
 officers and privates of his army." Instead of com- 
 plying with this extraordinary request, he for- 
 warded the whole to Congress. The offers of Great- 
 Britain, which, if made in due time, would have 
 prevented the dismemberment of the empire, were 
 promptly rejected. The day after their rejection 
 a resolution formerly recommended by Washing- 
 ton was adopted by Congress, in which they urg-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 89 
 
 ed upon the different states " to pardon, under cer- CHAP. 
 
 tain limitations, such of their misguided citizens 
 
 as had levied war against the United States." Co- 
 pies of this were struck off in English and German, 
 and Gen. Washington was directed to take mea- 
 sures for circulating them among the American 
 levies in the British army. He immediately en- 
 closed them in a letter to Try on, in which he ac- 
 knowledged the receipt of his late letter covering 
 the British conciliatory bills, and requesting their 
 circulation in the American army ; and in the 
 way of retort requested the instrumentality of 
 Tryon in making the resolves of Congress known 
 to the Americans in the British army, on whom 
 they were intended to operate. 
 
 About this time Sir William Howe resigned the 
 command of the British army, and returned to 
 Great-Britain. His successor, Sir Henry Clin- 
 ton, had scarcely entered on the duties of his of- 
 fice, when he received orders to evacuate Phila- 
 delphia. This was deemed expedient from an ap- 
 prehension that it would be a dangerous position 
 in case a French fleet, as was expected, should 
 arrive in the Delaware to co-operate with the 
 Americans. 
 
 The design of evacuating Philadelphia was soon 
 discovered by Washington ; but the object or 
 course of the enemy could not be precisely as- 
 certained. Their preparations equally denoted 
 an expedition to the south ; an embarkation of 
 their whole army for New- York j or a march to 
 that city through New-Jersey. In the two first 
 cases Washington had not the means of annoy- 
 ance; but as the probability of the last daily in- 
 
 N
 
 90 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, creased, he directed his chief attention to that 
 
 r point. Gen. Maxwell, with the Jersey brigade, 
 
 1778. W as ordered over the Delaware to take post about 
 Mount Holly, and to co-operate with Gen. Dick- 
 inson at the head of the Jersey militia, in ob- 
 structing the progress of the royal army till time 
 should be gained for Washington to overtake 
 them. The British crossed the Delaware to Glou- 
 cester Point, on the 18th of June, 1778: the 
 - Americans in four days after, at Corryel's ferry. 
 The General officers of the latter, on being asked 
 what line of conduct they deemed most advisable, 
 had previously, and with one consent, agreed to 
 attempt nothing till the evacuation of Philadel- 
 phia was completed ; but after the Delaware was 
 crossed, there was a diversity of sentiment re- 
 specting the measures proper to be pursued. Gen. 
 Lee, who, having been -exchanged, joined the 
 army, was of opinion that the United States, in 
 consequence of their late foreign connexions, were 
 secure of their independence, unless their army 
 was defeated ; and that under such circumstances 
 it would be criminal to hazard an action, unless 
 they had some decided advantage. Though the 
 numbers in both armies were nearly equal, and 
 about 10,000 effective men in each, he attributed 
 so much to the superiority of British discipline, 
 as made him apprehensive of the issue of an en- 
 gagement on equal ground. These sentiments 
 were sanctioned by the voice of a great majority 
 of the general officers. Washington was never- 
 theless strongly inclined to risk an action. Though 
 cautious, he was enterprising, and could not rea- 
 dilv believe that the chances of war were so much
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 91 
 
 against him as to threaten consequences of the CHAP. 
 
 alarming magnitude which had been announced. 
 
 There was a general concurrence in a proposal for 1778. 
 strengthening the corps on the left flank of the 
 enemy with 1500 men, to improve any partial ad- 
 vantages that might offer, and that the main bo- 
 dy should preserve a relative position for acting 
 as circumstances might require. 
 
 When Sir Henry Clinton had advanced to Al- 
 len-town, he determined, instead of keeping the 
 direct course towards Staten-Island, to draw to- 
 wards the sea coast, and to push on towards San- 
 dy Hook. Washington, on receiving intelligence 
 that Sir Henry was proceeding in that direction 
 towards Monmouth court-house, dispatched 1000 
 men under Gen. Wayne, and sent the Marquis de 
 la Fayette to take command of the whole, with or- 
 ders to seize the first fair opportunity of attacking 
 the enemy's rear. The command of this advanced 
 corps was offered to Gen. Lee, but he declined it. 
 The whole army followed at a proper distance for 
 supporting the advanced corps, and reached Cran- 
 berry the next morning. Sir Henry Clinton, sen- 
 sible of the approach of the Americans, placed 
 his grenadiers, light-infantry, and chasseurs, in 
 his rear, and his baggage in his front. Washing- 
 ton increased his advanced corps with two bri- 
 gades, and sent Gen. Lee, who now wished for the 
 command, to take charge of the whole, and fol- 
 lowed with the main army to give it support. On 
 the next morning orders were sent to Lee to move 
 on and attack, unless there should be powerful 
 reasons to the contrary. When Washington had 
 marched about five miles to support the advanced
 
 92 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. C orps, he found the whole of it retreating by Lee's 
 
 orders, and without having made any opposition 
 
 1778. o f consequence. Washington rode up to Lee and 
 proposed certain questions. Lee answered with 
 warmth, and unsuitable language. The command- 
 er in chief ordered Col. Stewart's, and Lieut. Col. 
 Ramsay's battalions, to form on a piece of ground 
 which he judged suitable for giving a check t^the 
 advancing enemy. Lee was then asked if he would 
 command on that ground, to which he consent- 
 ed, and was ordered to take proper measures for 
 checking the enemy; to which he replied, "your 
 orders shall be obeyed, and I will not be the first 
 to leave the field." "Washington then rode to the 
 main army, which was formed with the utmost 
 expedition. A warm cannonade immediately 
 commenced between the British and American 
 artillery, and a heavy firing between the advanc- 
 ed troops of the British army and the two bat- 
 talions which Washington had halted. These 
 stood their ground till they were intermixed with 
 a part of the British army. Gen. Lee continued 
 till the last on the field of battle, and brought off 
 the rear of the retreating troops. 
 
 The check the British received gave time to 
 make a disposition of the left wing and second 
 line of the American army, in the wood and on 
 the eminence to which Lee was retreating. On 
 this some cannon were placed by lord Stirling,, 
 who commanded the left wing, which, with the 
 co-operation of some parties of infantry, effectu- 
 ally stopped the advance of the British in that 
 quarter. Gen. Greene took a very advantageous 
 position on the right of lord Stirling. The Bri-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 93 
 
 tish attempted to turn the left flank of the Araeri- CHAP. 
 cans, but were repulsed. They also made a move- ' 
 ment to the right, with as little success ; for Greene, 1778. 
 with artillery, disappointed their design. Wayne 
 advanced with a body of troops, and kept up so 
 severe and well directed a fire, that the British 
 were soon compelled to give way. They retired, 
 and *took the position which Lee had before oc- 
 cupied. Washington resolved to attack them, 
 and ordered Gen. Poor to move round upon their 
 right, and Gen. Woodford to their left; but they 
 could not get within reach before it was dark. 
 These remained on the ground which they had 
 been directed to occupy, during the night, with 
 an intention of attacking early next morning ; 
 and the main body lay on their arms in the field 
 to be ready for supporting them. Gen. Wash- 
 ington, after a day of great activity and much per- 
 sonal danger, reposed among his troops on his 
 cloak under a tree, in hopes of renewing the ac- 
 tion the next day. But these hopes were frustrat- 
 ed. The British marched away in the night in 
 such silence, that Gen. Poor, though he lay very 
 near them, knew nothing of their departure. 
 They left behind them four officers and about for- 
 ty privates, all so badly wounded that they could 
 not be removed. Their other wounded were car- 
 ried off. The British pursued their march without 
 farther interruption, and soon reached the neigh- 
 bourhood of Sandy Hook, without the loss of either 
 their covering party or baggage. The American 
 General declined all farther pursuit of the royal 
 army, and soon after drew off his troops to the 
 borders of the North river. The loss of the Ame-
 
 )4 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. r i c ans in killed and wounded was about 250. The 
 ' loss of the royal army, inclusive of prisoners, was 
 1778. about 350. 
 
 On the ninth day after this action, Congress 
 unanimously resolved, " that their thanks be giv- 
 en to Gen. Washington for the activity with which 
 he marched from the camp at Valley Forge in 
 pursuit of the enemy; for his distinguished exer- 
 tions in forming the line of battle; and for his 
 great good conduct in leading on the attack, and 
 gaining the important victory of Monmouth, over 
 the British grand army, under the command of 
 Gen. Sir Henry Clinton, in their march from Phi- 
 ladelphia to New- York." It is probable that 
 Washington intended to take no further notice of 
 Lee's conduct in the day of action, but the latter 
 could not brook the expressions used bV the for- 
 mer at their first meeting, and wrote him two pas- 
 sionate letters. This occasioned his being arrest- 
 ed, and brought to trial. The charges exhibited 
 against him were, 
 
 1st. For disobedience of orders in not attacking 
 the enemy on the *28th of June, agreeable to re- 
 peated instructions. 
 
 2dly. For misbehaviour before the enemy on the 
 same day, by making an unnecessary, disorder- 
 ly, and shameful retreat. 
 
 %/ * 
 
 3dly. For disrespect to the commander in chief 
 in two letters. 
 
 After a tedious hearing before a court martial, 
 of which lord Stirling was president, Lee was 
 found guilty, and sentenced to be suspended from 
 any command in the armies of the United States 
 for the term of one year ; but the second charge
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 9 
 
 was softened by the court, which only found him CHAP. 
 guilty of misbehaviour before the enemy, by mak- 
 ing an unnecessary, and, in some few instances, V7S. 
 a disorderly retreat. 
 
 Soon after the battle of Monmouth the Ameri- 
 can army took post at the White Plains, and re- 
 mained there, and in the vicinity, till autumn was 
 far advanced, and then retired to Middlebrook 
 in New-Jersey. During this period, nothing of 
 more importance occurred than skirmishes, in 
 which Gen. Washington was not particularly en- 
 gaged. He was nevertheless fully employed. His 
 mild conciliatory manners, and the most perfect 
 subjection of his passions to reason, together 
 with the soundness of his judgment, enabled him 
 to serve his country with equal effect, though 
 with less splendour than is usually attached to mi- 
 litary exploits. 
 
 The French fleet, the expectation of which had 
 induced the evacuation of Philadelphia, arrived 
 too late for attacking the British in the Delaware. 
 It was also deemed unadvisable to attempt New- 
 York ; but the British posts on Rhode-Island were 
 judged proper objects of a conjunct expedition 
 with the sea and land forces of France and Ameri- 
 ca. This being resolved upon, Gen. Sullivan was 
 appointed to conduct the operations of the Ame- 
 ricans. When the preparations for commencing 
 the attack were nearly completed, a British fleet 
 appeared in sight. D'Estaing, who commanded 
 the French fleet, put out to sea to engage them j 
 but a storm came on which crippled both fleets to 
 such an extent, as induced the one to go to New- 
 York, and the other to Boston, for the purpose of
 
 96 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, being repaired. While the fleets were out of 
 .. sight, Sullivan had commenced the siege, and flat- 
 us, tered himself that a few days co-operation of the 
 returned French ships could not fail of crowning 
 him with success. The determination of D'Es- 
 taing to retire to Boston instead of co-operating 
 in the siege, excited the greatest alarm in Sulli- 
 van's army, Bv this dereliction of the original 
 plan, the harbours of Rhode-Island were left free 
 and open for reinforcements to the British, which 
 might be easily poured in from their head-quar- 
 ters in New- York. Instead of anticipated con- 
 quests, Sullivan had reason to fear for the safety 
 of his army. Irritated at the departure of D'Es- 
 taing, he expressed in general orders to his army, 
 " his hope that the event would prove America 
 able to procure that, by her own arms, which her 
 allies refused to assist in obtaining." These ex- 
 pressions were considered as imputing to D'Es- 
 taing and the French nation a disinclination to 
 promote the interests of the United States. When 
 entreaties failed of persuading D'Estaing to return 
 to the sie?e, a paper was drawn up and signed by 
 the principal officers of the Americans, and sent 
 to him, in which they protested against his taking 
 the fleet to Boston, " as derogatory to the honour 
 of France ; contrary to the intentions of his most 
 Christian Majesty, and the interest of his nation ; 
 destructive to the' welfare of the United States, and 
 highly injurious to the alliance between the two 
 nations." So much discontent prevailed, that se- 
 rious apprehensions were entertained that the 
 means of repairing the French fleet would not be 
 readily obtained.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 9, 
 
 Washington foresaw the evils likely to result CHAP. 
 
 jfrom the general and mutual irritation which pre- 
 
 vailed, and exerted all his influence to calm the 1778 - 
 minds of both parties. He had a powerful co- 
 adjutor in the Marquis de la Fayette, who was 
 as deservedly dear to the Americans as to the 
 French. His first duties were due to his king and 
 country ; but he loved America, and was so de- 
 voted to the commander in chief of its armies, as 
 to enter into his views, and second his softening 
 conciliatory measures, with truly filial affection. 
 
 Washington also wrote to Gen. Heath, who 
 commanded at Boston, and to Sullivan and 
 Greene, who commanded at Rhode-Island. In 
 his letter to Gen. Heath, he stated his fears " that 
 the departure of the French fleet from Rhode- 
 Island, at so critical a moment, would not only 
 weaken the confidence of the people in their new- 
 allies, but produce such prejudice and resentment 
 as might prevent their giving the fleet, in its pre- 
 sent distress, such zealous and effectual assistance 
 as was demanded by the exigence of affairs, and 
 the true interests of America;" and added, " that 
 it would be sound policy to combat these effects, 
 and to give the best construction of what had hap- 
 pened ; and at the same time to make strenuous 
 exertions for putting the French fleet as soon as 
 possible, in a condition^ to defend itself, and be 
 useful." He also observed as follows ".The de- 
 parture of the fleet from Rhode-Island, is not yet 
 publicly announced here; but when it is, I intend 
 to ascribe it to necessity produced by the damage 
 received in the late storm. This it appears to me 
 is the idea which ought to be generally propa,- 
 
 o
 
 THE LIFE OP 
 
 H^ P - gated. As I doubt not the force of these reasons 
 ^_ will strike you equally with myself, I would re- 
 1778. commend to you to use your utmost influence to 
 palliate and soften matters, and to induce those 
 whose business it is to provide succours of every 
 kind for the fleet, to employ their utmost zeal and 
 activity in doing it. It is our duty to make the 
 best of our misfortunes, and not suffer passion to 
 interfere with our interest and the public good." 
 In a letter to Gen. Sullivan, he observed " The 
 disagreement between the army under your com- 
 mand and the fleet, has given me very singular 
 uneasiness. The continent at large is concerned 
 in our cordiality, and it should be kept up by all 
 possible means consistent with our honour and po- 
 licy. First impressions arc generally longest re- 
 tained, and will serve to fix in a great degree our 
 national character with the French. In our con- 
 duct towards them, we should remember, that 
 they are a people old in war, very strict in milita- 
 ry etiquette, and apt to take fire when others seem 
 scarcely warmed. Permit me to recommend in 
 the most particular manner, the cultivation of 
 harmony and good agreement, and your endea- 
 vours to destroy that ill-humour which may have 
 found its way among the officers. It is of the ut- 
 most importance too that the soldiers and the 
 people should know nothing of this misunder- 
 standing; or if it has reached them, that means 
 
 ^ 
 
 may be used to stop its progress, and prevent its 
 effects.'* 
 
 In a letter to Gen. Greene, he observed " I 
 have not now time to take notice of the several 
 arguments- which were made use of, for and against
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 the Count's quitting the harbour of Newport, and CHAP. 
 
 sail ing for Boston. Right or wrong, it will pro- 
 
 bably disappoint our sanguine expectations of 1778. 
 success, and, which I deem a still worse conse- 
 quence, I fear it will sow the seeds of dissention 
 and distrust between us and our new allies, unless 
 the most prudent measures be taken to suppress 
 the feuds and jealousies that have already arisen. 
 I depend much on your temper and influence to 
 conciliate that animosity which subsists between 
 
 / 
 
 the American and French officers in our service. 
 I beg you will take every measure to keep the 
 protest entered into by the General Officers from 
 being made public. Congress, sensible of the ill 
 consequences that will flow from our differences 
 being known to the world, have passed a resolve 
 to that purpose. Upon the whole, my dear sir, 
 you can conceive my meaning better than I can 
 express it ; and I therefore fully depend on your 
 exerting yourself to heal all private animosities 
 between our principal officers and the French, 
 and to prevent all illiberal expressions and reflec- 
 tions that may fall from the army at large." 
 
 Washington also improved the first opportu- 
 nity of recommencing his correspondence with 
 count D'Estaing, in a letter to him, which, with- 
 out noticing the disagreements that had taken 
 place, was well calculated to sooth every angry 
 sensation which might have rankled in his mind. 
 In the course of a short correspondence, the irri- 
 tation which threatened serious mischiefs entirely 
 gave way to returning good humour and cordi- 
 ality. 
 
 In another cas^ about the same time the correct
 
 100 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, judgment of Washington proved serviceable to his 
 
 country. In the last months of the year 1778, when 
 
 the most active part of the campaign was over, 
 Congress decided on a magnificent plan for the 
 conquest of Canada. This was to be attempted in 
 1779 by land and water, on the side of the United 
 States, and by a fleet and army from France. The 
 plan was proposed, considered, and agreed to, be- 
 fore Washington was informed of it. He was tfien 
 desired to write to Dr. Franklin, the American 
 minister at Paris, to interest him in securing the 
 proposed co-operation of France. In reply to the 
 communications of Congress, he observed " The 
 earnest desire I have strictly to comply in every 
 instance with the views and instructions of Con- 
 gress, cannot but make me feel the greatest unea- 
 siness when I find myself in circumstances of hesi- 
 tation or doubt, with respect to their directions; 
 but the perfect confidence I have in the justice 
 and candour of that honourable body, emboldens 
 me to communicate without reserve the difficulties 
 which occur in the execution of their present or- 
 der ; and the indulgence I have experienced on 
 every former occasion induces me to imagine that 
 the liberty I now take will not meet with disap- 
 probation. 
 
 " I have attentively taken up the report of the 
 committee respecting the proposed expedition in- 
 to Canada. I have considered it in several lights, 
 and sincerely regret that I should feel myself un- 
 der any embarrassment in carrying it into exeeu- 
 1 ion. Still I remain of opinion, from a general re- 
 view of things, and the state of our resources, 
 that no extensive system of co-operation with the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 101 
 
 French for the complete emancipation of Canada, 
 can be positively decided on for the ensuincr year. 
 
 / O / 
 
 To propose a plan of perfect co-operation with a 
 foreign power, without a moral certainty in our 
 supplies ; and to have that plan actually ratified 
 with the court of Versailles, might be attended, in 
 case of failure in the conditions on our part, with 
 very fatal effects. 
 
 " If I should seem unwilling to transmit the 
 plan as prepared by Congress, with my observa- 
 tions, it is because I find myself under a necessity 
 {in order to give our minister sufficient ground to 
 found an application on,) to propose something 
 more than a vague and indecisive plan, which, 
 even in the event of a total evacuation of the states 
 by the enemy, may be rendered impracticable in 
 the execution by a variety of insurmountable ob- 
 stacles; or if I retain my present sentiments, and 
 act consistently, I must point out the difficulties, 
 as they appear to me, which must embarrass his 
 negociations, and may disappoint the views of 
 Congress. 
 
 " But proceeding on the idea of the enemy's 
 leaving these states before the active part of the 
 ensuing campaign, I should fear to hazard a mis- 
 take as to the precise aim and extent of the views of 
 Congress. The conduct I am to observe in wri- 
 ting to our minister at the court of France, does 
 not appear sufficiently delineated. Were I to un- 
 dertake it, I should be much afraid of erring 
 through misconception. In this dilemma, I would 
 esteem it a particular favour to be excused from 
 writing at all on the subject, especially a it is the 
 part of candour in mo to acknowledge that I do
 
 102 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. no t S ee my way clear enough to point out such'af 
 ^ ' , plan for co-operation, as I conceive to be consist* 
 1778. ent with the ideas of Congress, and as will be suf- 
 ficiently explanatory with respect to time and cir- 
 cumstances to give efficacy to the measure. 
 
 " But if Congress still think it necessary forme 
 to proceed in the business, I must request their 
 more definitive and explicit instructions, and that 
 they will permit me previous to transmitting the 
 intended dispatches, to submit them to their de- 
 termination. 
 
 " I could wish to lay before Congress more mi- 
 nutely the state of the army, the condition of our 
 supplies, and the requisites necessary for carry- 
 ing into execution an undertaking that may in- 
 volve the most serious events. If Congress think 
 this can be done more satisfactorily in a personal 
 conference, I hope to have the army in such a si- 
 tuation before I can receive their answer as to af- 
 ford me an opportunity of giving my attendance." 
 The personal interview requested in this letter 
 was agreed to by Congress, and a committee ap- 
 pointed by them to confer with him. The result 
 was that the proposed expedition against Canada 
 was given up by those who, after repeated delibe- 
 ration, had resolved upon it.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 103 
 
 CHAP. VI. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1779. 
 
 The distresses of the American army. Gen. Wash- 
 ington calms the uneasiness in the Jersey line. 
 Finds great difficulty in supporting his troops and 
 concentrating their force. Makes a disposition of 
 them With a view to the security of West Point. 
 Directs an expedition against the Six Nations of 
 fndiant t and for the reduction of Stony Point. 
 Panics Hook taken. A French fleet, expected to 
 the northwardy arrives on the coast of Georgia. 
 Washington, unequal to offensive operations, re- 
 tires into winter quarters. 
 
 1 HE years 177& and 1780, passed away in the 
 
 northern states without any of those great milita- 
 
 ry exploits which enliven the pages of history; 1779 - 
 but they were years of anxiety and distress, which 
 called for all the passive valour, the sound practi- 
 cal judgment, and the conciliatory address, for 
 which Gen. Washington was so eminently distin- 
 guished. The states, yielding to the pleasing de- 
 lusion that their alliance with France placed their 
 independence beyond the reach of accident, and 
 that Great-Britain, despairing of success, would 
 speedily abandon the contest, relaxed in their pre-
 
 104 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C vf P parations for a vigorous prosecution of the war, 
 
 To these ungrounded hopes Washington opposed 
 
 1779 - the whole weight of his influence. In his corres- 
 pondence with Congress, the* Governors of parti- 
 cular states, and other influential individuals, he 
 pointed out the fallacy of the prevailing opinion 
 that peace was near at hand ; and the necessity for 
 raising, equipping, and supporting, a force suffi- 
 cient for active operations. He particularly urg- 
 ed that the annual arrangements for the army 
 should be made so early that the recruits for the 
 year should assemble at head-quarters on the first 
 of January ; but such was the torpor of the pub- 
 lic mind that, notwithstanding these representa- 
 tions, it was as late as the 23d of January, 1779, 
 when Congress passed resolutions authorizing the 
 commander in chief to re-enlist the army ; and as 
 late as the 9th ofahe following March, that the 
 requisitions were made on the several states for 
 their quotas. The military establishment for 1780 
 was later j for it was not agreed upon till the 9th 
 of February ; nor were the men required before 
 the first of April. Thus, when armies ought to 
 have been in the field, nothing more was done 
 than a grant of the requisite authority for raising 
 them. 
 
 The depreciation of the current paper money 
 had advanced so rapidly as to render the daily pay 
 of an officer unequal to his support. This pro- 
 duced serious discontents in the army. An order 
 was given in May. 1779, for the Jersey brigade 
 to march by regiments to join the western army. 
 In answer to this order a letter was received from 
 Gen. Maxwell, stating that the officers of the first
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 10^ 
 
 regiment had delivered to their Colonel a re- CHAP. 
 
 monstrance, addressed to the legislature of New- __ 
 
 Jersey, in which they declared, that unless their 1779. 
 former complaints on the deficiency of pay ob- 
 tained immediate attention, they were to be con- 
 sidered at the end of three days as having resign- 
 ed their commission ; and on that contingency 
 they requested the legislature to appoint other of- 
 ficers in their stead. General Washington, who 
 was strongly attached to the army, and knew their 
 virtue, their sufferings, and also the justice of their 
 complaints, immediately comprehended the ruin- 
 ous consequences likely to result from the mea- 
 sure they had adopted. After serious delibera- 
 tion, he wrote a letter to Gen. Maxwell, to be 
 laid before the officers. In the double capacity 
 of their friend and their commander, he made a 
 forcible address both to their pfide and their pa- 
 triotism. " There is nothing," he observed, 
 " which has happened in the course of the war, 
 that has given me so much pain as the remon- 
 strance you mention from the officers of the first 
 Jersey regiment. I cannot but consider it a hasty 
 and imprudent step, which, on more cool con- 
 sideration, they will themselves condemn. I am 
 very sensible of the inconveniences under which 
 the officers of the army labour, and I hope they do 
 me the justice to believe, that my endeavours to 
 procure them relief are incessant. There is more 
 difficulty, however, in satisfying their wishes, 
 than perhaps they are aware of. Our resources 
 have been hitherto very limited. The situation, of 
 our money is no small embarrassment, for which, 
 though there are remedies, they cannot be the
 
 106 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, work of a moment. Government is not insensible 
 
 of the merits and sacrifices of the officers, norun- 
 
 1779. willing to make a compensation; but it is a truth 
 of which a very little observation must convince 
 us, that it is very much straitened in the means. 
 Great allowances ought to be made on this ac- 
 count, for any delay and seeming backwardness 
 which may appear. Some of the states, indeed, 
 have done as generously as was in their power ; 
 and if others have been less expeditious, it ought 
 to be ascribed to some peculiar cause, which a 
 little time, aided by example, will remove. The 
 patience and perseverance of the army have been, 
 under every disadvantage, such as do them the 
 highest honour at home and abroad, and have in- 
 spired me with an unlimited confidence in their 
 virtue, which has consoled me amidst every per- 
 plexity and reverse of fortune, to which our af- 
 fairs, in a struggle of this nature, were necessarily 
 exposed. Now that we have made so great a 
 progress to the attainment of the end we have- 
 in view, so that we cannot fail, without a most 
 shameful desertion of our own interests, any thing 
 like a change of conduct would imply a very un- 
 happy change of principles, and a forgetful ness 
 as well of what we owe to ourselves as to our 
 country. Did I suppose it possible this should 
 be the case, even in a single regiment of the ar- 
 my, 1 should be mortified and chagrined beyond 
 expression. I should feel it as a wound given to 
 my own honour, which I consider as embarked 
 with that ot the army. But this I believe to be 
 impossible. Any corps that was about to set an 
 example of the kind, would weigh well the con-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 10? 
 
 sequences; and no officer of common discern- 
 ment and sensibility would hazard them. If they 
 should stand alone in it, independent of other 
 consequences, what would be their feelings on 
 reflecting that they had held themselves out to 
 the world in a point of light inferior to the rest of 
 the army ? Or, if their example should be fol- 
 lowed, and become general, how could they con- 
 sole themselves for having been the foremost in 
 bringing ruin and disgrace upon their country ? 
 They would remember that the army would share 
 u, double portion of the general infamy and dis- 
 tress ; and that the character of an American of- 
 ficer would become as despicable as it is now 
 glorious. 
 
 " I confess the appearances in the present in- 
 stance are disagreeable ; but I am convinced they 
 seem to mean more than they really do. The 
 Jersey officers have not been outdone by any 
 others, in the qualities cither of citizens or sol- 
 diers ; and I am confident no part of them would 
 seriously intend any thing that would be a stain 
 on their former reputation. The gentlemen can- 
 not be in earnest ; they have only reasoned wrong 
 about the means of attaining a good end, and, on 
 consideration, I hope and flatter myself they will 
 renounce what must appear improper. At the 
 opening of a campaign, when under marching or- 
 ders for an important service, their own honour, 
 duty to the public, and to themselves, and a re- 
 gard to military propriety, will not suffer them to 
 persist in a measure which would be a violation 
 of them all. It will even wound their delicacy 
 coolly to reflect, that they have hazarded a step
 
 108 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, which nas an air of dictating terms to their coun- 
 . try, by taking advantage of the necessity of the 
 1779. moment. 
 
 *' The declaration they have made to the state, 
 at so critical a time, that ' unless they obtain relief 
 in the short period of three days, they must be 
 considered out of the service,' has very much that 
 aspect ; and the seeming relaxation of continuing 
 until the state can have a reasonable time to pro- 
 vide other officers, will be thought only a super- 
 ficial veil. 1 am now to request that you will con- 
 vey my sentiments to the gentlemen concerned, 
 and endeavour to make them sensible of their er- 
 ror. The service for which the regiment was in-, 
 tended, will not admit of delay. It must at all 
 events march on Monday morning, in the first 
 place to this camp, and further directions will be 
 given when it arrives. I am sure I shall not be 
 mistaken in expecting a prompt and cheerful 
 obedience." 
 
 The officers did not explicitly recede from their 
 claims, but were brought round so far as to con- 
 tinue in service. In an address to Gen. Washing- 
 ton, they declared " their unhappiness that any 
 step of theirs should give him pain ; but alleged 
 in justification of themselves, " that repeated me- 
 morials had been presented to their legislature, 
 which had been neglected ;" and added " We 
 have lost all confidence in that body. Reason 
 and experience forbid that we should have any. 
 Few of us have private fortunes ; many have 
 families who already are suffering every tiling 
 that can be received from an ungrateful country. 
 Are we then to suffer all the inconveniences, fa-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 109 
 
 tigues, and dangers, of a military life, while our CHAP. 
 wives and our children are perishing for want of ' 
 common necessaries at home ; and that without 
 the most distant prospect of reward, for our pay 
 is now only nominal? We are sensible that your 
 excellency cannot wish or desire this from us." 
 
 " We are sorry that you should imagine we 
 meant to disobey orders. It was, and still is, our 
 determination to march with our regiment, and 
 to do the duty of officers, until the legislature 
 should have a reasonable time to appoint others ; 
 but no longer. 
 
 " We beg leave to assure your Excellency, that 
 we have the highest sense of your ability and vir- 
 tues ; that executing your orders has ever given 
 us pleasure ; that we love the service, and we love 
 our country ; but when that country is so lost to 
 virtue and to justice as to forget to support its 
 servants, it then becomes their duty to retire from 
 its service." 
 
 The ground adopted by the officers for their 
 justification, was such as interdicted a resort to 
 stern measures ; at the same time a compliance 
 with their demands was impossible. In this em- 
 barrassing situation, Washington took no other 
 notice of their letter than to declare to the offi- 
 cers, through Gen. Maxwell, ' that while they 
 continued to do their duty, he should only regret 
 the part they had taken." The legislature of New- 
 Jersey, roused by these events, made some partial 
 provision for their troops. The officers with- 
 drew their remonstrance, and continued to do 
 their duty. 
 
 The consequences likely to result from the mea-
 
 110 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. sur es adopted by the Jersey officers being parried 
 
 ., by the good sense and prudence of Gen. Washing- 
 
 l ^79. ton, he improved the event when communicated 
 to Congress, by urging on them the absolute ne- 
 cessity of some general and adequate provision for 
 the officers of their army ; and observed, " that 
 the distresses in some corps are so great, that .of- 
 ficers have solicited even to be supplied with the 
 clothing destined for the common soldiery, coarse 
 and unsuitable as it was. I had not power to 
 comply with the request." 
 
 " The patience of men animated by a sense of 
 duty and honour, will support them to a certain 
 point, beyond which it will not go. I doubt not 
 Congress will be sensible of the danger of an ex- 
 treme in this respect, and will pardon my anxiety 
 to obviate it." 
 
 The members of Congress were of different 
 opinions respecting their military arrangements. 
 While some were in unison with the General for 
 a permanent national army, well equipped and 
 amply supported, others were apprehensive of 
 danger to their future liberties from such esta- 
 blishments, and gave a preference to enlistments 
 for short periods, not exceeding a year. These 
 also were partial to state systems, and occasional 
 calls of the militia, instead of a numerous regular 
 force, at the disposal of Congress or the command- 
 er in chief. From the various aspect of public af- 
 fairs, and the frequent change of members compos- 
 ing the national legislature, sometimes one par- 
 ty predominated, and sometimes another. On the 
 whole, the support received by Washington was 
 far short of what economy, as well as sound policy, 
 required.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. Ill 
 
 The American army in these years was not 
 only deficient in clothing, but in food. The sea- . 
 sons both in 1779 and 1780, were unfavourable 
 to the crops. The labours of the farmers had of- 
 ten been interrupted by calls for militia duty. 
 The current paper money was so depreciated as 
 to be deemed no equivalent for the productions of 
 the soil. So great were the necessities of the Ame- 
 rican army, that Gen. Washington was obliged to 
 call on the magistrates of the adjacent counties for 
 specified quantities of provisions, to be supplied 
 in a given number of days. At other times he 
 was compelled to send out detachments of his^ 
 troops to take provisions at the point of the bay- 
 onet from the citizens. This expedient at length 
 failed, for the country in the vicinity of the army 
 afforded no further supplies. These impressments 
 were not only injurious to the morals and disci- 
 pline of the army, but tended to alienate the af- 
 fections of the people. Much of the support which 
 the American General had previously experienc- 
 ed from the inhabitants, proceeded from the differ- 
 ence of treatment they received from their own 
 army, compared with what they suffered from the 
 British. The General, whom the inhabitants hi- 
 therto regarded as their protector, had now no al- 
 ternative but to disband his troops, or to support 
 them by force. The army looked to him for pro- 
 visions; the inhabitants for protection of their 
 property. To supply the one and not offend the 
 other, seemed little less than an impossibility. To 
 preserve order and subordination in an army of 
 free republicans, even when well fed, paid, and 
 clothed, would have been a work of difficulty;
 
 112 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, but to retain them in service and restrain them 
 ' with discipline, when destitute not only of the 
 !779. comforts, but often of the necessaries of life, re- 
 quired address and abilities of such magnitude as 
 are rarely found in human nature. In this choice 
 of difficulties, Gen. Washington not only kept his 
 army together, but conducted with so much dis- 
 cretion as to command the approbation both of the 
 army and of the citizens. 
 
 Nothing of decisive importance could be at- 
 tempted with an army so badly provided, and so 
 deficient in numbers. It did not exceed 13,000 
 men, while the British, strongly fortified in New- 
 York and Rhode- Island, amounted to 16 or 17,000. 
 These were supported by a powerful fleet, which, 
 by commanding the coasts and the rivers, fur- 
 nished easy means tor concentrating their force 
 in any given point before the Americans could 
 march to the same. This disparity was particu- 
 larly striking in the movements of the two armies 
 in the vicinity of the Hudson. Divisions of both 
 were frequently posted on each side of that noble 
 river. While the British could cross directly over 
 and unite their forces in any enterprise, the Ame- 
 ricans could not safely effect a correspondent 
 junction, unless they took a considerable circuit 
 to avoid the British shipping 
 
 To preserve West-Poinr and its dependencies, 
 was a primary object with Washington. To se- 
 eure these he was obliged to refuse the pressing 
 applications from the neighbouring states for 
 large detachments from the continental army for 
 their local defence. Early in the year, Sir Henry 
 Clinton made some movements up the North ri-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 113 
 
 ver, which indicated an intention of attacking the CI *AP. 
 
 posts in the Highlands ; but in proportion as these -. 
 
 were threatened, Washington concentrated his 1779. 
 force for their defence. This was done so effec- 
 tually, that no serious direct attempt was made 
 upon them. Clinton, hoping to allure the Ame- 
 ricans from these fortresses, sent detachments to 
 burn and lay waste the towns on the coast of Con- 
 necticut. This was done extensively. Norwalk, 
 Fairfield, and New-London, were destroyed. 
 Washington, adhering to the principle of sacri- 
 ficing small objects to secure great ones, gave no 
 more aid to the suffering inhabitants than was 
 compatible with the security of West-Point. 
 
 Though the force under his immediate com- 
 mand throughout the campaign of 1779, was un- 
 equal to any great undertaking, yet his active 
 mind sought for and embraced such opportunities 
 for offensive operations, as might be attempted 
 without hazarding too much. 
 
 The principal expedition of this kind, was di- 
 rected against the Six Nations of Indians, who in- 
 habited the fertile country between the western 
 settlements of New- York and Pennsylvania, and 
 the lakes of Canada. . These, from their vicinity 
 and intercourse with the white people, had at- 
 tained a degree of civilization exceeding what 
 was usual among savages. To them, many refu- 
 gee tories had fled, and directed them to the set- 
 tlements, which they laid waste, and at the same 
 time massacred the inhabitants. In the early pe- 
 riod of Washington's life, while commander of the 
 Virginia troops, he had ample experience of the 
 futility of forts for defence against Indians, and 
 
 Q
 
 114 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. o f t| ie superior advantage of carrying offensive 
 ' operations into their towns and settlements. An 
 1779. invasion of the country of the Six Nations being 
 resolved upon, the commander in chief bestowed 
 much thought on the best mode of conducting it. 
 The instructions he gave to Gen. Sullivan, who 
 was appointed to this service, were very particular, 
 and much more severe than was usual, but not 
 more so than retaliation justified, or policy re- 
 commended. Sullivan, with a considerable force, 
 penetrated into the country of the Indians in three 
 directions, laid waste their crops, and burnt their 
 towns. His success was decisive, and in a great 
 measure secured the future peace of the frontier 
 settlements. The late residence of the savages 
 was rendered so far uninhabitable, that they were 
 reduced to the necessity of seeking an asylum in 
 the more remote western country. 
 
 While the British were laying waste Connecti- 
 cut, Washington, after reconnoitring the ground 
 in person, planned an expedition against Stony 
 Point, a commanding hill projecting far into the 
 Hudsonj on the top of which a fort had been 
 erected, which was garrisoned with about 600 
 men. Ore of the motives for assaulting this work, 
 was the hope that, if successful, it might induce 
 the detachment which had invaded Connecticut, 
 to desist from their devastations, and to return to 
 the defence of their own outposts. The enter- 
 prise was assigned to Gen. Wayne, who complete- 
 ly succeeded in reducing the fort and capturing 
 
 its garrison. 
 
 Sir Henry Clinton, on receiving intelligence of 
 Wayne's success, relinquished his views on Con-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 115 
 
 necticut, and made a forced march to Dobb's fer- C HAP. 
 ry, twenty-six miles above New- York. ' 
 
 The reduction of Stony Point was speedily 1779. 
 followed by the surprise of the British garrison at 
 Paules Hook. This was first conceived and plan- 
 ned by Major Henry Lee. On being submitted 
 to Gen. Washington, he favoured the enterprise, 
 but withheld his full assent, till he was satisfied of 
 the practicability of a retreat, of which serious 
 doubts were entertained. Lee, with 300 men, 
 entered the fort about three o'clock in the 
 morning, and with very inconsiderable loss, took 
 159 prisoners, and brought them olf in safety 
 from the vicinity of large bodies of the enemy. 
 
 The reasons already mentioned, for avoiding all 
 hazardous offensive operations, were strongly en- 
 forced by a well founded expectation that a French 
 fleet would appear on the coast, in the course of 
 the year 1779. Policy required that the Ameri- 
 can army should be reserved for a co-operation 
 with their allies. The fleet, as expected, did ar- 
 rive, but in the vicinity of Georgia. The French 
 troops, in conjunction with the southern army 
 commanded by Gen. Lincoln, made an unsuc- 
 cessful attempt on the British post in Savannah. 
 This town had been reduced in December, 1778, 
 by Col. Campbell, who had proceeded so far as to 
 re-establish British authority in the state of Geor- 
 gia. Soon after the defeat of the combined 
 forces before Savannah, and the departure of the 
 French fleet from the coast, Sir Henry Clinton 
 proceeded with the principal part of his army to . 
 Charleston, and confined his views in New- York 
 to defensive operations.
 
 116 THE LIFE OP 
 
 CHAP. The campaign of 1779 terminated in the north- 
 ' em states as has been related, without any great 
 1779. events on either side. Washington defeated all 
 the projects of the British for getting possession 
 of the Highlands. The Indians were scourged, 
 and a few brilliant strokes kept the public mind 
 from despondence. The Americans went into 
 winter quarters when the month of December was 
 far advanced. These were chosen for the conve- 
 nience of wood, water, and provisions, and with 
 an eye to the protection of the country. To this 
 end, the army was thrown into two grand divi- 
 sions. The northern was put under the command 
 of Gen. Heath, and stationed with a view to the 
 security of West-Point, its dependencies, and the 
 adjacent country. The other retired to Morris- 
 town in New-Jersey. In this situation, which 
 was well calculated to secure the country to the 
 southward of New- York, Washington, with the 
 principal division of his army, took their station 
 for the winter. The season following their re- 
 tirement, was uncommonly severe. The British 
 in New-York and Staten-Island no longer enjoy- 
 ed the security which their insular situation usual- 
 ly afforded. The former suffered from the want 
 of fuel, and other supplies from the country. To 
 add to their difficulties, Washington so disposed 
 his troops as to give the greatest possible obstruc- 
 tion to the communication between the British 
 garrison, and such of the inhabitants without their 
 lines as were disposed to supply their wants. This 
 brought on a partisan war, in which individuals 
 were killed, but without any national effect. 
 Had Washington been supported as he desired,
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. H 
 
 the weakness of the British army, in consequence CHAP. 
 of their large detachments to the southward, in ' 
 conjunction with the severity of the winter, would 1779. 
 have given him an opportunity for indulging his 
 native spirit of enterprise. But he durst not at- 
 tempt any thing on a grand scale, for his army 
 was not only inferior in number to that opposed 
 to him, but so destitute of cloathing as to be un- 
 equal to a winter campaign.
 
 118 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. VII. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 17&Q. 
 
 Gen. Washington directs an expedition against Sta- 
 ten Island. Gives an opinion against risking an 
 army for the defence of Charleston, S. C. Finds 
 great difficulty in supporting his army. Kniphau- 
 sen invades Jersey , but is prevented from injuring 
 the American stores. Marquis de la Fayette ar- 
 rives, and gives assurances that a French fleet 
 and army might soon be expected on the American 
 coast. Energetic measures of co-operation resolv- 
 ed upon, but so languidly executed, that Washing- 
 ton predicts the necessity of a more efficient system 
 of national government. A French fleet and ar- 
 my arrives, and a combined operation against New- 
 York is resolved upon, but the arrival of a superi- 
 or British fleet, deranges the whole plan. 
 
 CH\P. 1 HE military establishment for the year 1780, 
 was nominally 35,000; but these were not voted 
 
 1780 till the 9th of February, and were not required 
 to be in camp before the first of April following. 
 Notwithstanding these embarrassments, the active 
 mind of Washington looked round for an oppor- 
 tunity of deriving some advantage from the pre- 
 sent exposed situation of his adversary. From 
 recent intelligence, he supposed that an attack on
 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 about 1 ,200 British, posted on Staten Island, might 
 be advantageously made, especially in its present . 
 state of union with the continent, by an unbroken 
 body of solid ice. The prospect of success de- 
 pended on the chance of a Surprise ; and if this 
 failed, of reducing the enemy, though retired 
 within their fortifications, before reinforcements 
 could arrive from New-York. The vigilance of 
 the commanding officer prevented the first ; the 
 latter could not be depended on ; for, contrary to 
 the first received intelligence, the communication 
 between the island and the city, though difficult, 
 was practicable. The works were too strong for 
 an assault, and relief too near to admit the de- 
 lays of a siege. Lord Stirling, with 2,500 men, 
 entered the island on the night of the 14th of Ja- 
 nuary. An alarm was instantly and generally 
 communicated to the posts, and a boat dispatch- 
 ed to New- York to communicate intelligence, and 
 to solicit aid. The Americans, after some slight 
 skirmishes, seeing no prospect of success, and ap- 
 prehensive that a reinforcement from New- York 
 might endanger their safety, very soon commenc- 
 ed their retreat. This was effected without any 
 considerable loss ; but from the intenseness of the 
 cold, and deficiency of warm cloathing, several 
 were frost bitten. 
 
 Soon after this event, the siege of Charleston 
 commenced, and was so vigorously carried on by 
 Sir Henry Clinton, as to effect the surrender of 
 that place on the 12th of May, 1780. Gen. 
 Washington, at the distance of more than eight 
 hundred miles, could have no personal agency in 
 defending that most important southern mart.
 
 120 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. What was in his power was done, for he weak- 
 
 __ ened himself by detaching from the army under 
 
 irso. his own immediate command, the troops of North- 
 Carolina, the new levies of Virginia, and the rem- 
 nants of the southern cavalry. Though he had 
 never been in Charleston, and was without any 
 personal knowledge of its harbour, yet he gave 
 an opinion respecting it, which evinced the sound- 
 ness of his practical judgment. In every other 
 case, the defence of towns had been abandoned, 
 so far as to risk no armies for that purpose ; but 
 in South-Carolina, Gen. Lincoln, for reasons that 
 were satisfactory to his superiors, adopted a dif- 
 ferent line of conduct. Four continental frigates 
 were ordered to the defence of Charleston, and 
 stationed within its bar ; and a considerable state 
 marine force co-operated with them. This new 
 mode of defence was the more readily adopted, 
 on the generally received idea, that this marine 
 force could be so disposed of within the bar, as to 
 make effectual opposition to the British ships at- 
 tempting to cross it. In the course of the siege 
 this was found to be impracticable, and all ideas 
 of disputing the passage of the bar were given up. 
 This state of things being communicated by Lieut. 
 Col. John Laurens to Gen. Washington, the Ge- 
 neral replied " The impracticability of defend- 
 ing the bar, I fear, amounts to the loss of the 
 town and garrison. At this distance, it is impos- 
 sible to judge for you. I have the greatest con- 
 fidence in Gen. Lincoln's prudence; but it really 
 appears to me, that the propriety of attempting 
 to defend the town, depended on the probability 
 of defending the bar, and that when this ceased.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 121 
 
 the attempt ought to have been relinquished. In CHAP. 
 
 this, however, I suspend a definitive judgment; 
 
 and wish you to consider what I say as confiden- i?80. 
 tial." The event corresponded with the Gene- 
 ral's predictions. The British vessels, after cross- 
 ing the bar without opposition, passed the forts 
 and took such a station in Cooper river, as, 
 in conjunction with the land forces, made the 
 evacuation of the town by the Americans impos- 
 sible, and finally produced the surrender of their 
 whole southern army. 
 
 When intelligence of this catastrophe reached 
 the northern states, the American army was in the 
 greatest distress. This had been often represent- 
 ed to Congress, and was particularly stated to 
 Gen. Schuyler in a letter from Gen. Washington, 
 in the following words : " Since the date of my 
 last, we have had the virtue and patience of the 
 army put to the severest trial. Sometimes it has 
 been five or six days together without bread ; at 
 other times as many days without meat ; and once 
 or twice two or three days without either. I hard- 
 ly thought it possible, at one period, that we 
 should be able to keep it together, nor could it 
 have been done, but for the exertions of the ma- 
 gistrates in the several counties of this state, on 
 whom I was obliged to call ; expose our situation 
 to them; and, in plain terms, declare that we 
 were reduced to the alternative of disbanding or 
 catering for ourselves, unless the inhabitants 
 would afford us their aid. I allotted to each 
 county a certain proportion of flour or grain, and 
 a certain number of cattle, to be delivered on cer- 
 tain days; and, for the honour of the magistrates, 
 
 R
 
 192 THE LIFE OF 
 
 c MAP. anc i the good disposition of the people, I must add, 
 , that my requisitions were punctually complied 
 
 t78o. w ith, and in many counties exceeded. Nothing 
 but this great exertion could have saved the army 
 from dissolution or starving, as we were bereft of 
 every hope from the commissaries. At cue time 
 the soldiers eat every kind of horse food but hay. 
 Buckwheat, common wheat, rye, and Indian 
 corn, composed the meal which made their bread. 
 As an army, they bore it with most heroic pa- 
 tience; but sufferings like these, accompanied by 
 the want of clothes, blankets, &c. will produce 
 frequent desertion in all armies ; and so it hap- 
 pened with us, though it did not excite a single 
 mutiny." 
 
 The paper money with which the troops were 
 paid, was in a state of depreciation daily increas- 
 ing. The distresses from this source, though felt 
 in 1778, and still more so in 1779, did not arrive 
 to the highest pitch till the year 1780. Under 
 the pressure of sufferings from this cause, the offi- 
 cers of the Jersey line addressed a memorial to 
 their state legislature, setting forth " that four 
 months pay of a private, would not procure for 
 his family a single bushel of wheat; that the pay 
 of a colonel would not purchase oats for his horse ; 
 that a common labourer or express rider, received 
 four times as much as an American officer." 
 . They urged that " unless a speedy and ample re- 
 medy was provided, the total dissolution of their 
 line was inevitable." In addition to the insuffi- 
 ciency of their pay and support, other causes of 
 discontent prevailed. The original idea of a con- 
 tinental army to be raised, paid, subsisted, and
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 regulated, upon an equal and uniform principle, 
 had been in a great measure exchanged for state 
 establishments. This mischievous measure part- 
 ly originated from necessity ; for state credit was 
 not quite so much depreciated as continental. 
 Congress not possessing the means of supporting 
 their army, devolved the business on the compo- 
 nent parts of the confederacy. Some states, from 
 their internal ability and local advantages, fur- 
 nished their troops not only with cloatiiing, but 
 with many conveniences. Others supplied them 
 with some necessaries, but on a more contracted 
 scale. A few, from their particular situation, 
 could do little, or nothing at all. The officers 
 and men in the routine of duty mixed daily, and 
 compared circumstances. Those who fared worse 
 than others, were dissatisfied with a service which 
 made such injurious distinctions. From causes of 
 this kind, superadded to a complication of wants 
 and sufferings, a disposition to mutiny began to 
 show itself in the American army. Very few of 
 the officers were rich. To make an appearance 
 suitable to their station, required an expenditure 
 of the little all which most of them possessed. The 
 supplies from the public were so inadequate as to 
 compel frequent resignations. The officers of 
 whole lines announced their determination to quit 
 the service. The personal influence of Gen. 
 Washington was exerted with the officers in pre- 
 venting their adoption of such ruinous measures, 
 and with the states to remove the causes which 
 led to them. 
 
 Soon after the surrender of the whole southern 
 army, and at the moment the northern was in the
 
 124 THE LIFE 
 
 reat;est distress for the necessaries of life, Gen. 
 - Kniphausen passed from New- York into New- 
 irso. Jersey with 5,000 men. These were soon rein- 
 forced with a detachment of the victorious troops 
 returned with Sir Henry Clinton from South-Ca- 
 rolina. It is difficult to tell what was the precise 
 object of this expedition. Perhaps the royal com- 
 manders hoped to get possession of Morristown, 
 and destroy the American stores. Perhaps they 
 flattered themselves that the inhabitants, dispirit- 
 ed by the recent fall of Charleston, would submit 
 without resistance; and that the soldiers would 
 desert to the royal standard. Sundry movements 
 took place on both sides, and also smart skir- 
 mishes, but without any decisive effect. At one 
 time Washington conjectured that the destruction 
 of his stores was the object of the enemy ; at an- 
 other, that the whole was a feint to draw off his 
 attention, while they pushed up the North river 
 from New- York, to attack West Point. The 
 American army was stationed with a view to both 
 objects. The security of the stores was attended 
 to, and such a position taken, as would compel 
 the British to fight under great disadvantages, if 
 they risked a general action to get at them. The 
 American General Howe, who commanded at the 
 Highlands, was ordered to concentrate his force 
 for the security of West Point; and Washington, 
 with the principal division of his army, took such 
 a middle position, as enabled him either to fail 
 back to defend his stores, or to advance for the 
 defence of West Point, as circumstances might 
 require. The first months of the year were spent 
 in these desultory operations. The disasters to
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 the south produced no disposition in the north to 
 give up the contest; but the tardiness of Con- 
 gress and of the states ; the weakness of govern- 
 ment, and the depreciation of the money, depriv- 
 ed Washington of all means of attempting any 
 thing beyond defensive operations. 
 
 In this state of languor Marquis de la Fayette 
 arrived from France, with assurances that a 
 French fleet and army might soon be expected 
 on the coast. This roused the Americans from 
 that lethargy into which they seemed to be sink- 
 ing. Requisitions on the states for men and 
 money, were urged with uncommon earnestness. 
 Washington, in his extensive correspondence 
 throughout the United States, endeavoured to 
 stimulate the public mind to such exertions as 
 the approaching crisis required. In addition to 
 arguments formerly used, he endeavoured on this 
 occasion, by a temperate view of European poli- 
 tics, to convince his countrymen of the real dan- 
 ger of their independence, if they neglected to 
 improve the advantages they might obtain by a 
 great and manly effort, in conjunction with the 
 succours expected from France. The resolutions 
 of Congress for this purpose were slowly executed. 
 The quotas assigned to the several states were by 
 their respective legislatures apportioned on the 
 several counties and towns. These divisions 
 were again subdivided into classes, and each class 
 was called upon to furnish a man. This predom- 
 inance of state systems over those which were 
 national, was foreseen and lamented by the com- 
 mander in chief. In a letter to a member of the 
 national legislature he observed, " that unless
 
 126 THE LIFE OF 
 
 vn P Congress speaks in a more decisive tone ; unless 
 
 - they are vested with powers by the several states 
 
 3780. competent to the great purposes of the war, or 
 assume them as matter of right, and they and the 
 states respectively act with more energy than 
 hitherto, they have done ; our cause is lost. We 
 can no longer drudge on in the old way. By ill- 
 timing the adoption of measures ; by delays in 
 the execution of them, or by unwarrantable 
 jealousies, we incur enormous expenses, and de- 
 rive no benefit. One state will comply with a 
 requisition from Congress ; another neglects to do 
 it ; a third executes it by halves ; and all differ 
 in the manner, the matter, or so much in point of 
 time, that we are always working up hill ; and 
 while such a system as the present one, or rather 
 want of one, prevails, we ever shall be unable to 
 apply our strength or resources to any advan- 
 tage." 
 
 " This, my dear sir, is plain language to a 
 member of Congress j but it is the language of 
 truth and friendship. It is the result of long 
 thinking, close application, and strict observation. 
 I see one head gradually changing into thirteen; 
 I see one army branching into thirteen ; and, in- 
 stead of looking up to Congress as the supreme 
 controlling power of the United States, consider- 
 ing themselves as dependent on their respective 
 states. In a word, I see the power of Congress 
 declining too fast for the consequence and re- 
 spect which are due to them as the great represen- 
 tative body of America, and am fearful of the con- 
 sequences." 
 
 From the embarrassments which cramped the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 127 
 
 operations of Washington, a partial temporary CHAP. 
 
 relief was obtained from private sources. When .. 
 
 Congress could neither command money nor 1 ^ 80 
 credit for the subsistence of their army, the citi- 
 zens of Philadelphia formed an association to pro- 
 cure a supply of necessary articles for their suf- 
 fering soldiers. The sum of 300,000 dollars was 
 subscribed in a few days, and converted into a 
 bank, tiie principal design of which was to pur- 
 chase provisions for the troops in the most prompt 
 and efficacious manner. The advantages of this 
 institution were great, and particularly enhanced 
 by the critical time in which it was instituted. 
 
 The Ladies of Philadelphia, about the same 
 time, subscribed large donations for the immedi- 
 ate relief of the sutler ing soldiers. These supplies, 
 though liberal, were far short of a sufficiency for 
 the army. So late as the 20th of June, Gen. 
 Washington informed Congress that he still la- 
 boured under the painful and humiliating embar- 
 rassment of having no shirts to deliver to the 
 troops, many of whom were absolutely destitute 
 of that necessary article ; nor were they much 
 better supplied with summer overalls. " For the 
 troops to be without cloathing at any time, he 
 added, is highly injurious to the service, and dis- 
 tressing to our feelings ; but the want will be 
 more peculiarly mortifying when they come to 
 act with those of our allies. If it be possible, I 
 have no doubt immediate measures will be taken 
 to relieve their distress." 
 
 " It is also most sincerely to be wished that there 
 could be some supplies of cloathing furnished to 
 the officers. There are a great many whose con-
 
 128 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C yn P dition is miserable. This is, in some instances, the 
 . case with whole lines. It would be well for their 
 1780. ovvn sakes, and for the public good, if they could 
 be furnished. They will not be able, when our 
 friends come to co-operate with us, to go on a 
 common routine of duty ; and if they should, they 
 must from their appearance be held in low estima- 
 tion." 
 
 The complicated arrangements for raising and 
 supporting the American army, which was voted 
 for the campaign, were so tardily executed that 
 when the summer was far advanced, Washington 
 was uninformed of the force on which he might 
 , rely ; and of course could not fix on any certain 
 plan of operations for the combined armies. In 
 a letter to Congress he expressed his embarrass- 
 ment in the following words " The season is 
 come when we have every reason to expect the 
 arrival of the fleet ; and yet for want of this 
 point of primary consequence, it is impossible for 
 me to form a system of co-operation. 1 have no 
 basis to act upon, and of course were this gene- 
 rous succour of our ally now to arrive, I should 
 find myself in the most awkward, embarrassing, 
 and painful situation. The General and the Admi- 
 ral, as soon as they approach our coast, will re- 
 quire of me a plan of the measures to be pursued, 
 and there ought of right to be one prepared ; but 
 circumstanced as I am, I cannot even give them 
 conjectures. From these considerations I yester- 
 day suggested to the committee the indispensable 
 necessity of their writing again to the states, 
 urging them to give immediate and precise infor- 
 mation of the measures they have taken, and of
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 125 
 
 liie result. The interest of the states the honour CHAP. 
 and reputation of our councils the justice and gra- 
 titude due to our allies all require that I should 
 without delay be enabled to ascertain and inform 
 them what we can or cannot undertake. There is 
 a point which ought now to be determined, on the 
 success of which all our future operations may de- 
 pend; on which, for want of knowing our pros- 
 pects, lean make no decision. For fear of in- 
 volving the fleet and army of our allies in cir- 
 cumstances which would expose them, if not se- 
 conded by us, to material inconvenience and ha- 
 zard, I shall be compelled to suspend it, and the 
 delay may be fatal to our hopes." 
 
 In this state of uncertainty, Washington medi- 
 
 J * O 
 
 tated by night and day on the various contingen- 
 cies which were probable. He revolved the pos- 
 sible situations in which the contending armies 
 might be placed, and endeavoured to prepare for 
 every plan of combined operations which future 
 contingent events might render adviseable. 
 
 On the 10th of July the expected French fleet 
 and army appeared on the coast of Rhode-Island. 
 The former consisted of seven sail of the line, 
 five frigates, and five smaller vessels. The latter 
 of 6,000 men. The Chevalier Terney and Count 
 Rochambeau, who commanded the fleet and army, 
 immediately transmitted to Gen. Washington an 
 account of their arrival, of their strength, their 
 expectations, and orders. At that time not more 
 than one thousand men had joined the American 
 army. A commander of no more than common 
 firmness, would have resigned his commission in 
 disgust, for not being supported by his countrv. 
 
 S
 
 ,130 THE LIFE OF 
 
 / 
 CHAP. Very different was the line of conduct adopted by 
 
 Washington. Trusting that the promised support 
 
 1780 would be forwarded with all possible dispatch, he 
 sent on to the French commanders by the Mar- 
 quis de la Fayette, definite proposals for com- 
 mencing the siege of New- York. Of this he gave 
 information to Congress in a letter, in the follow- 
 ing words : " Pressed on all sides by a choice of 
 difficulties, in a moment which required decision, 
 I have adopted that line of conduct which com- 
 ported with the dignity and faith of Congress, the 
 reputation of these states, and the honour of our 
 arms. I have sent on definitive proposals of co- 
 operation to the French General and Admiral. 
 Neither the period of the season, nor a regard to 
 decency, would permit delay. The die is cast ; 
 and it remains with the states either to fulfil their 
 engagements, preserve their credit, arid support 
 their independence, or to involve us in disgrace 
 and defeat. Notwithstanding the failures pointed 
 out by the committee, I shall proceed on the sup- 
 position that they will ultimately consult their 
 own interest and honour, and not suffer us to fail 
 for the want of means, which it is evidently in 
 their power to afford. What has been done, and 
 is doing by some of the states, confirms the opi- 
 nion I have entertained, of sufficient resources in 
 the country. Of the disposition of the people to 
 submit to any arrangement for bringing them 
 forth, I see no reasonable ground to doubt. If 
 we fail for want of proper exertions in any of the 
 governments, I trust the responsibility will fall 
 where it ought, and that I shall stand justified to 
 Congress, my country, and the world."
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 131 
 
 The fifth of the next month, August,Vas named CHAP. 
 
 as the day when the French troops should embark, 
 
 and the American army assemble in Morrisania, 1780 
 for the purpose of commencing their combined 
 operations. Very soon -after the arrival of the 
 French fleet, Admiral Greaves reinforced the Bri- 
 tish naval force in the harbour of New-York,, with 
 six ships of the line. Hitherto the French had 
 a naval superiority. Without it, all prospect of 
 success in the proposed attack on New-York was 
 visionary; but this being suddenly and unexpect- 
 edly reversed, the plan for combined operations 
 became eventual. The British Admiral having 
 now the superiority, proceeded to Rhode-Island 
 to attack the French in that quarter. He soon 
 discovered that the French were perfectly secure 
 from any attack by sea. Sir Henry Clinton, who 
 had returned in the preceding month with his 
 victorious troops from Charleston, embarked 
 about 8,000 of his best men, and proceeded as far 
 as Huntingdon Bay, on Long-Island, with the ap- 
 parent design of concurring with the British fleet 
 in attacking the French force at Rhode-Island. 
 When this movement took place, Washington set 
 his army in motion, and proceeded to Peekskill. 
 Had Sir Henry Clinton prosecuted what appeared 
 to be his design, Washington intended to have at- 
 tacked New- York in his absence. Preparations 
 were made for this purpose, but Sir Henry Clin- 
 ton instantly turned about from Huntingdon Bay 
 towards New- York. 
 
 In the mean time, the French fleet and army 
 being blocked up at Rhode-Island, were incapa- 
 citated from co-operating with the Americans .
 
 132 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. Hopes were nevertheless indulged, that by the 
 
 arrival of another fleet of his Most Christian Ma- 
 
 jesty, then in the West-Indies, under the com- 
 mand of Count de Guichen, the superiority would 
 be so much in favour of the allies, as to enable 
 them to prosecute their original intention of at- 
 tacking New- York. When the expectations of 
 the Americans were raised to the highest pitch, 
 and when they were in great forwardness of pre- 
 paration to act in concert with their allies, intel- 
 ligence arrived that Count de Guichen had sailed 
 for France. This disappointment was extremely 
 mortifying. 
 
 Washington still adhered to his purpose of at- 
 tacking New- York at some future more favour- 
 able period. On this subject he corresponded 
 with the French commanders, and had a personal 
 interview with them on the twenty-first of Septem- 
 ber, at Hartford. The arrival of Admiral Rod- 
 ney on the American coast, a short time after, 
 with eleven ships of the line, disconcerted for that 
 season, all the plans of the allies. Washington 
 felt with infinite regret, a succession of abortive 
 projects throughout the campaign of 1780. In 
 that year, and not before, he had indulged the 
 hope of happily terminating the war. In a letter 
 to a friend, he wrote as follows : " We are now 
 drawing to a close an inactive campaign, the be- 
 ginning of which appeared pregnant with events 
 of a very favourable complexion. I hoped, but I 
 hoped in vain, that a prospect was opening which 
 would enable me to fix a period to my military 
 pursuits, and restore me to domestic life. The 
 favourable disposition of Spain ; the promised
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 succour from France ; the combined force in the 
 West-Indies ; the declaration of Russia, (acceded 
 to by other powers of Europe, humiliating the 
 naval pride and power of Great- Britain ;) the su- 
 periority of France and Spain by sea, in Europe ; 
 the Irish claims, and English disturbances, form- 
 ed in the aggregate an opinion in my breast, 
 (which is not very susceptible of peaceful dreams,) 
 that the hour of deliverance was not far distant: 
 for that, however unwilling Great-Britain might 
 be to yield the point, it would not be in her power 
 to continue the contest. But, alas ! these pros- 
 pects, flattering as they were, have proved delu- 
 sory; and I see nothing before us but accumula- 
 ting distress. We have been half of our time 
 without provisions, and are likely to continue so. 
 We have no magazines, nor money to form them. 
 We have lived upon expedients until we can live 
 no longer. In a word, the history of the war is a 
 history of false hopes and temporary devices, in- 
 stead of system and economy. It is in vain, how- 
 ever, to look back; nor is it our business to do so. 
 Our case is not desperate, if virtue exists in the 
 people, and there is wisdom among our rulers. 
 Bat, to suppose that this great revolution can be 
 accomplished by a temporary army ; that this ar- 
 my will be subsisted by state supplies; and that 
 taxation alone is adequate to our wants, is, in my 
 opinion, absurd."
 
 134 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. VIII. 
 
 CAMPAIGN OF 1781. 
 
 The Pennsylvania line mutinies. The Jersey troops 
 follow their example, but are quelled by decisive 
 measures. Gen. Washington commences a milita- 
 ry journal, dctqiling the zvants and distresses of 
 his army. Is invited to the defence of his native 
 state, Virginia, but declines. Reprimands the ma- 
 nager of his private estate for furnishing the ene- 
 my with supplies, to prevent the destruction of his 
 property. Extinguishes the incipient flames of a 
 civil war, respecting tlie independence of the state 
 of Vermont. Plans a combined operation against 
 the British, and deputes Lieut. Col. John Laurens 
 to solicit the co-operation of the French. The 
 combined forces of both nations rendezvous in the 
 Chesapeak, and take lord Cormcallis and his ar- 
 my prisoners of war. Washington returns to the 
 vicinity of New-York, and urges the necessity of 
 preparing for a new campaign. 
 
 CHAP. 1 HE year 1780 ended in the northern states 
 _ with' disappointment, and the year 1781 com- 
 irsi. menced with mutiny. In the night of the first of 
 January about 1,300 of the Pennsylvania line pa- 
 raded under arms in their encampment, near Mor- 
 ristown, avowing a determination to march to the 
 seat of Congress, and obtain a redress of their
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 13; 
 
 grievances, without which they would serve no CHAP. 
 
 longer. The exertions of Gen. Wayne and the L 
 
 other officers to quell the mutiny, were in vain. tfsi. 
 The whole body marched off with six field-pieces 
 towards Princeton. They stated their demands 
 in writing; which were, a discharge to all who had 
 served three years, an immediate payment of all 
 that was due .to them, and that future pay should 
 be made in real money to all who remained in the 
 service. Their officers, a committee of Congress, 
 and a deputation from the executive council of 
 Pennsylvania, endeavoured to effect an accommo- 
 dation; but the mutineers resolutely refused all 
 terms, of which a redress of their grievances was 
 not the foundation. 
 
 To their demands as founded injustice, the ci- 
 vil authority of Pennsylvania substantially yield- 
 ed. Intelligence of this mutiny was communi- 
 cated to Gen. Washington at New- Windsor, be- 
 fore any accommodation had taken place. Though 
 he had been long accustomed to decide in ha- \ 
 zardous and difficult situations, yet it was no ea- 
 sy matter in this delicate crisis, to determine on 
 the most proper course to be pursued. His per- 
 sonal influence had several times extinguished 
 rising mutinies. The first scheme that presented 
 itself was, to repair to the camp rff the mutineers, 
 and try to recall them to a sense of their duty; but 
 on mature reflection this was declined. He well 
 knew that their claims were founded in justice, 
 but he could not reconcile himself to wound the 
 discipline of his army, by yielding to their de- 
 mands while they were in open revolt with arms 
 in their hands. He viewed the subject in all its
 
 136 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, relations, and was well apprised that the princi' 
 ' pal grounds of discontent were not peculiar to the 
 1781. Pennsylvania line, but common to all his troops, 
 If force was requisite, he had none to spare 
 without hazarding West-Point. If concessions 
 were unavoidable, they had better be made by 
 any person than the commander in chief. After 
 that due deliberation which he always gave to 
 matters of importance, he determined against a 
 personal interference, and to leave the whole to 
 the civil authorities, which had already taken it 
 up; but at the same time prepared for those mea- 
 sures which would become necessary, if no ac- 
 commodation took place. This resolution was 
 communicated to Gen. Wayne, with a caution to 
 regard the situation of the other lines of the army 
 in any concessions which might be made, and with 
 a recommendation to draw the mutineers over the 
 Delaware, with a view to increase the difficulty of 
 communicating with the enemy in New- York. 
 
 The dangerous policy of yielding even to the 
 just demands of soldiers with arms in their hands, 
 soon became apparent. The success of the Penn- 
 sylvania line induced a part of that of New-Jer- 
 sey to hope for similar advantages, from similar 
 conduct. A part of the Jersey brigade rose in 
 arms, and makirtgthe same claims whic'h had been 
 yielded to the Pennsylvanians, marched to Chat- 
 ham. Washington, who was far from being pleas- 
 ed with the issue of the mutiny in the Pennsylva- 
 nia line, determined by strong measures to stop 
 the progress of a spirit which was hostile to all his 
 hopes. Gen. Howe, with a detachment of the 
 eastern troops, was im mediately ordered to march
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. IS? 
 
 against the mutineers, and instructed to make no 
 terms with them while they were in a state of 
 resistance; and on their surrender to seize a few 1781 ' 
 of the most active leaders, and to execute them 
 immediately in the presence of their associates. 
 These orders were obeyed : two of the ringlead- 
 ers were shot, and the survivers returned to their 
 duty. 
 
 Though Washington adopted these decisive 
 measures, yet no man was more sensible of the 
 merits and sufferings of his army, and none more 
 active and zealous in procuring them justice. He 
 improved the late events, by writing circular let- 
 ters to the states, urging them to prevent all fu- 
 ture causes of dicontent by fulfilling their engage- 
 ments with their respective lines. Some good ef- 
 fects were produced, but only temporary, and far 
 short of the well founded claims of the army. 
 Their wants with respect to provisions were only 
 partially supplied, and by expedients, from one 
 short time to another. The most usual was or-. 
 dering an officer to seize on provisions wherever 
 found. This differed from robbing only in its 
 being done by authority for the public service, 
 and in the officer being always directed to give 
 the proprietor a certificate of the quantity and 
 quality of what was taken from him. At first, 
 some reliance was placed on these certificates, as 
 vouchers to support a future demand on the Unit- 
 ed States ; but they soon became so common as to 
 be of little value. Recourse was so frequently 
 had to coercion, both legislative and military, that 
 the people not only lost confidence in public cre- 
 dit, but became impatient under all exertions of 
 
 T
 
 138 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, authority for forcing their property from them.. 
 
 About this time Gen. AVashington was obliged to 
 
 apply 9,000 dollars sent by the state of Massachu- 
 setts, for the payment of her troops, to the use of 
 the quarter-master's department, to enable him to 
 transport provisions from the adjacent states. Be- 
 fore he consented to adopt this expedient, he had 
 consumed every cfance of provision which had 
 been kept as a reserve in the garrison of West- 
 Point, and had strained impress by military force 
 to so great an extent, that there was reason to ap- 
 prehend the inhabitants, irritated by such frequent 
 calls, would proceed to dangerous insurrections. 
 Fort Schuyler, West-Point, and the posts up the 
 North river, were on the point of being abandon- 
 ed by their starving garrisons. At this period 
 there was little or no circulating medium, either 
 in the form of paper or specie, and in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the American army, there was a real 
 want of necessary provisions. The deficiency of 
 the former occasioned many inconveniences, but 
 the insufliciency of the latter fcad well nigh dis- 
 solved the army, and laid the country in every di- 
 rection open to British excursions. 
 
 On the first of May, 17&1, Gen. Washington 
 commenced a military journal. The following 
 statement is extracted from it. " I begin at this 
 epoch a concise journal of military transactions, 
 &c. I lament not having attempted it from the 
 commencement of the war, in aid of my memory; 
 and wish the multiplicity of matter which conti- 
 nually surrounds me, and the embarrassed state 
 of our affairs, which is momentarily calling the at- 
 tention to perplexities of one kind or another.
 
 CEORCE WASHINGTON. 139 
 
 may not defeat altogether, or so interrupt my pre- CHAP. 
 
 sent intention and plan, as to render it of little 
 
 avail." 1781. 
 
 " To have the clearer understanding of the en- 
 tries which may follow, it would be proper to re- 
 cite in detail, our wants and our prospects; but 
 this alone would be a work of much time and 
 great magnitude. Jt may suffice to give the sum 
 of them, which I shall do in few words : viz. 
 
 " Instead of having magazines filled with pro- 
 visions, we have a scanty pittance scattered here 
 and there in the distant states." 
 
 " Instead of having our arsenals well supplied 
 with military stores, they are poorly provided, 
 and the workmen all leaving them. Instead of 
 having the various articles of field equipage in 
 readiness, the Quarter-master-general is but 
 now applying to the several states to x provide 
 these things for their troops respectively. In- 
 stead of having a regular system of transportation 
 established upon credit, or funds in the Quarter- 
 master's hands to defray the contingent expenses 
 thereof, we have neither the one nor the other ; 
 and all that business, or a great part of it, being 
 done by impressment, we are daily and hourly 
 oppressing the people, souring their tempers, and 
 alienating their affections. Instead of having the 
 regiments completed agreeable to the requisitions 
 of Congress, scarce any state in the union has at 
 this hour one eighth part of its quota in the field, 
 and there is little prospect of ever getting more 
 than half. In a word, instead of having any thing in 
 readiness to take the field, we have nothing : and, 
 instead of having the prospect of a glorious offen-
 
 140 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. s i v e campaign before us, we have a bewildered 
 
 and gloomy prospect of a defensive one ; unless 
 
 irsi. we should receive a powerful aid of ships, troops, 
 and money, from our generous allies, and these at 
 present are too contingent to build upon." 
 
 While the Americans were suffering the com- 
 plicated calamities which introduced the year 
 1781, their adversaries were carrying on the most 
 extensive plan of operations against them which 
 had ever been attempted. It had often been ob- 
 jected to the British commanders, that they had 
 not conducted the war in the manner most likely 
 to effeM the subjugation of the revolted provinces. 
 Military critics found fault with them for keeping 
 a large army idle at New-York, which, they said, 
 if properly applied, would have been sufficient to 
 raake successful impressions at one and the same 
 time, on several of the states. The British seem 
 to have calculated the campaign of 1781, with a 
 view to make an experiment of the comparative 
 merit of this mode of conducting military opera- 
 tions. The war raged, in that year not only in 
 the vicinity of the British head-quarters at New- 
 York, but in Georgia, South-Carolina, North-Ca- 
 rolina, and in Virginia. 
 
 In this extensive warfare, Washington could 
 have no immediate agency in the southern depart- 
 ment. His advice in corresponding with the offi- 
 cers commanding in Virginia, the Carolinas, and 
 Georgia, was freely and beneficially given ; and 
 as large detachments sent to their aid as could be 
 spared consistently with the security of West- 
 Point. In conducting the war, his invariable max- 
 im was, to suffer the devastation of property, ra-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 141 
 
 ther than hazard great and essential objects for CHAP. 
 
 its preservation. While the war raged in Virgi- 1 
 
 nia, the Governor thereof, its representatives in 1781. 
 Congress, and other influential citizens, urged his 
 return to the defence of his native state. But, 
 considering America as his country, and the ge- 
 neral safety as his object, he deemed it of more 
 importance to remain on the Hudson: there he 
 was not only securing the most important post in 
 the United States, but concerting a grand plan of 
 combined operations, which, as shall soon be re- 
 lated, not only delivered Virginia, but all the 
 states, from the calamities of the war. 
 
 In Washington's disregard of property when in 
 competition with national objects, he was in no 
 respect partial to his own. While the British 
 were in the Potowmac, they sent a flag on shore 
 to Mount Vernon, (his private estate,) requiring a 
 supply of fresh provisions. Refusals of such de- 
 mands were often followed by burning the houses 
 and other property near the river. To prevent 
 this catastrophe, the person intrusted with the 
 management of the estate, went on board with tin 
 flag, and carrying a supply of provisions, request- 
 ed that the buildings and improvements might be 
 spared. For this he received a severe reprimand 
 in a letter to him, in which the General observed 
 " That it would have been a less painful cir- 
 cumstance to me to have heard, that, in conse- 
 quence of your non-compliance with the request 
 of the British, they had burnt my house, and laid 
 my plantation in ruins. You ought to have con- 
 sidered yourself as my representative, and should 
 have reflected on the bad example of communi-
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 eating with the enemy, and making a voluntary 
 offer of refreshment to them, with a view to pre- 
 V ent a conflagration." 
 
 To the other difficulties with which Washing- 
 ton had to contend in the preceding years of the 
 war, a new one was about this time added. 
 While the whole force at his disposal was unequal 
 to the defence of the country against the com- 
 mon enemy, a civil war was on the point of break- 
 ing out among his fellow citizens. The claims of 
 the inhabitants of Vermont to be a separate inde- 
 pendent state, and of the state of New- York, to 
 their country, as within its chartered limits, to- 
 gether with open offers from the Royal Comman- 
 ders to establish and defend them as a British pro- 
 vince, produced a serious crisis, which called for 
 the interference of the American chief. This was 
 the more necessary, as the governments of New- 
 York and of Vermont were both resolved on ex- 
 ercising a jurisdiction over the same people and 
 the same territory. Congress, wishing to compro- 
 mise the controversy on middle ground, resolved, 
 in August, 1781, to accede to the independence 
 of Vermont on certain conditions, and within cer- 
 tain specified limits, which they supposed would 
 satisfy both parties. Contrary to their expecta- 
 tions, this mediatorial act of the national legisla- 
 ture was rejected by Vermont, and yet was so 
 disagreeable to the legislature of New- York as to 
 draw from them a spirited protest against it. 
 Vermont complained that Congress interfered in 
 their internal police; New- York viewed the re- 
 solve as a virtual dismemberment of their state, 
 which was a constituent part of the confederacy.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. US 
 
 Washington, anxious for the peace of the union, 
 sent a message to Chittenden, Governor of Ver- 
 mont, desiring to know " what were the real de- 
 signs, views, and intentions, of the people of Ver- 
 mont ; whether they would be satisfied with the 
 independence proposed by Congress, or had it se- 
 riouslv in contemplation to join with the enemy, 
 and become a British province." The Governor 
 returned an unequivocal answer " that there 
 were no people on the continent more attached to 
 the cause of America than the people of Vermont; 
 but they were fully determined not to be put un- 
 der the government of New- York ; that they would 
 oppose this by force of arms, and would join with 
 the British in Canada rather than to submit to that 
 government." While both states were dissatisfied 
 with Congress, and their animosities, from increas- 
 ing violence and irritation, became daily more 
 alarming, Washington, aware of the extremes to 
 which all parties were tending, returned an an- 
 swer to Gov. Chittenden, in which were these ex- 
 pressions. " It is not my business, neither do I 
 think it necessary now to discuss the origin of the 
 right of a number of inhabitants to that tract of 
 country formerly distinguished by the name of the 
 New-Hampshire grants, and now known by that 
 ef Vermont. I will take it for granted that their 
 right was good, because Congress by their resolve 
 of the 7th August, imply it, and by that of the 
 21st are willing fully to confirm it, provided the 
 new state is confined to certain described bounds. 
 It appears therefore to me, that the dispute of 
 boundary is the only one that exists; and that be- 
 ing removed, all other difficulties would be re-
 
 144 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, moved also, and the matter terminated to the 
 
 satisfaction of all parties. You have nothing to do 
 
 1781. but withdraw your jurisdiction to the confines of 
 your old limits, and obtain an acknowledgment of 
 independence and sovereignty, under the resolve 
 of the 21st of August, for so much territory as 
 does not interfere with the ancient established 
 bounds of New- York, New Hampshire, and Mas- 
 sachusetts. In 'my private opinion, while it be- 
 hooves the delegates to do ample justice to a body 
 of people sufficiently respectable by their numbers, 
 and entitled by other claims to be admitted into 
 that confederation, it becomes them also to attend 
 to the interests of their constituents, and see that 
 under the appearance of justice to one, they do 
 not materially injure the rights of others. I am 
 apt to think this is the prevailing opinion of Con- 
 gress." 
 
 The impartiality, moderation, and good sense, 
 of this letter, together* with a full conviction of the 
 disinterested patriotism of the writer, brought 
 round a revolution in the minds of the legislature 
 of Vermont ; and they accepted the propositions 
 of Congress, though they had rejected them four 
 months before. A truce among the contending 
 parties followed, and the storm blew over. Thus 
 the personal influence of one man, derived from 
 his pre-eminent virtues and meritorious services, 
 extinguished the sparks of civil discord at the 
 time they were kindling into flame *. 
 
 * For more particulars, see Williams's History of Vermont ; a 
 work which, for its superior merit, deserves a place in every Li- 
 brary. If the Author had been an European, this would proba- 
 bly have been the case soon after his enlightened philosophical
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 Though in conducting the American war, Gen. 
 Washington often acted on the Fabian system, by 
 evacuating, retreating, and avoiding decisive en- 
 gagements ; yet this was much more the result of 
 necessity than of choice. His uniform opinion 
 was in favour of energetic offensive operations, as 
 the most effectual means of bringing the war to a 
 termination. On this principle he planned at- 
 tacks in almost every year on some or other of the 
 British armies or strong posts in the United States. 
 He endeavoured, from year to year, to stimulate 
 the public mind to some great operation ; but 
 was never properly supported. In the years 1778, 
 1779, and 1780, the projected combined opera- 
 tions with the French, as has been related, entire- 
 ly miscarried. The idea of ending the war by 
 some decisive military exploit, continually occu- 
 pied his active mind. To ensure success, a naval 
 superiority on the coast, and a loan of money, were 
 indispensably necessary. The last was particu- 
 larly so in the year 1781 ; for the resources of the 
 United States were then so reduced, as to be une- 
 qual to the support of their army, or even to the 
 transportation of it to any distant scene of action. 
 To obtain these necessary aids, it was determined 
 to send an envoy extraordinary to the court of 
 Versailles. Lieut. Col. John Laurens was select- 
 ed for this purpose. He was in every respect 
 qualified for the important mission. In addition 
 'to the most engagmg personal address, his con- 
 nexion with the commander in chief, as one of his 
 
 History had crossed the Atlantic, and made its appearance in th 
 United States.
 
 146 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. a jd Sj gave him an opportunity of being intimate- 
 
 L_ ly acquainted with the military capacities and 
 
 1781. weaknesses of his country. These were also par- 
 ticularly detailed in the form of a letter to him 
 from Gen. Washington. This was written when 
 the Pennsylvania line was in open revolt. Among 
 other interesting matters it stated " That the 
 efforts already made by the United States ex- 
 ceeded the natural ability of the country ; and 
 that any revenue they were capable of making 
 would leave a large surplus to be supplied by 
 credit ; that experience had proved the impossi- 
 bility of supporting a paper system without funds, 
 and that domestic loans could not be eifected, 
 because there were few men of monied capital in 
 the United States ; that from necessity recourse 
 had been had to military impressments for sup- 
 porting the army, which, if continued longer, or 
 urged farther, would probably disgust the peo- 
 ple, and bring round a revolution of public senti- 
 ment." 
 
 " That the relief procured by these violent 
 means was so inadequate, that the patience of the 
 army was exhausted, and their discontents had 
 broke out in serious and alarming mutinies ; that 
 the relief necessary was not within the power of 
 the United States ; and that from a view of all 
 circumstances, a loan of money was absolutely 
 necessary for reviving public credit, and giving 
 vigour to future operations." It was farther stated 
 " that next to a loan of money, a French naval 
 superiority in the American seas was of so much 
 consequence, that without it nothing decisive 
 could be undertaken against the British, who-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 147 
 
 were in the greatest force on and near the c ****- 
 coasts." 
 
 The future capacities of the United States to ^BI. 
 repay any loan that might be made, were parti- 
 cularly stated; and that " there was still a fund 
 of resource and inclination in the country equal 
 to great exertions, provided a liberal supply of 
 money would furnish the means of stopping the 
 progress of disgust which resulted from the un- 
 popular mode of supplying the army by requisi- 
 tion and impressment." 
 
 Such interesting statements, sanctioned by the 
 American chief, and enforced by the address of 
 Col. Laurens, directly from the scene of action, 
 and the influence of Dr. Franklin, who, for the 
 five preceding years, had been minister plenipo- 
 tentiary from the United States to the court of 
 Versailles, produced the desired effect. His 
 Most Christian Majesty gave his American allies 
 a subsidy of six millions of livres, and became 
 their security for ten millions more, borrowed for 
 their use in :the United Netherlands. A naval 
 co-operation was promised, and a conjunct expe- 
 dition against their common foes projected. 
 
 The American war was now so far involved in 
 the consequences of naval operations, that a su- 
 perior French fleet seemed to be the hinge on 
 which it was likely soon to take a favourable turn. 
 The British army being parcelled in the different 
 sea-ports of the United States, any division of it, 
 blocked up by a French fleet, could not long resist 
 the superior combined force which might be 
 brought to operate against it. The Marquis de 
 Castries, who directed the marine of France witb
 
 148 THE LIFE Of 
 
 CHAP. Qr rea t precisibri, calculated the naval force which 
 -. the British could concealer on the coast of the 
 
 irsi. United States, and disposed his own in such a 
 manner as ensured him a superiority. In con- 
 formity to these principles, and in subserviency to 
 the design of the campaign, M. de Grasse sailed 
 in March, 1781, from Brest, with twenty-live sail 
 of the line, several thousand land forces, and a 
 large convoy amounting to more than two hun- 
 dred ships. A small part of this force was des- 
 tined for the East-Indies ; but M. de Grasse 
 With the greater part sailed for Martinique. 
 
 The British fleet then in the West-Indies had 
 been previously weakened by the departure of a 
 squadron for the protection of the ships which 
 were employed in carrying to England the booty 
 which had been taken at St. Eustatius. The Bri- 
 tish Admirals Hood and Drake were detached to 
 intercept the outward bound French fleet, com- 
 manded by .M. de Grasse; but a junction be- 
 tween his force and eight ships of the line, and 
 one of 50 guns, which were previously at Marti- 
 nique and St. Domingo, was nevertheless effected. 
 By this combination of fresh ships from Europe, 
 with the French fleet previously in the West- 
 Indies, they had a decided superiority. M. He 
 Grasse having finished his business in the West- 
 Indies, sailed in the beginning of August with a 
 prodigious convoy. After seeing this out of dan- 
 ger, he directed his course for the Chesapeak, 
 and arrived there on the thirtieth of the same 
 month. Five days before his arrival in the Che- 
 j^ipeak, the French fleet in ^node-Island sailed 
 for the same place. These fleets, notwithstanding
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 14! 
 
 / 
 
 IJheir original distance from the scene of action, CHAP. 
 
 and from each other, coincided in their opera- 
 
 tions in an extraordinary manner, far beyond the 1781. 
 reach of military calculation. They all tended to 
 one object, and at one and the same time ; and 
 that object was neither known nor suspected by 
 the British, till the proper season for counterac- 
 tion was elapsed. 
 
 This coincidence of favourable circumstances 
 extended to the marches of the American ancf 
 French land forces. The plan of operations had 
 been so well digested, and was so faithfully exe- 
 cuted by the different commanders, that Gen> 
 Washington and Count Rochambeau had passed 
 the British head-quarters in New- York, and were 
 considerably advanced in their way to Yorktovvn, 
 before Count de Grasse had reached the Ameri- 
 can 'coast. This was effected in the following 
 manner : Mons. de Barras, appointed to the com- 
 mand of the French squadron at New-Port, ar- 
 rived at Boston with dispatches for Count de 
 Rochambeau. An interview soon after took place 
 at Weathersfield, between Generals Washington, 
 Knox, and du Portail, on the part of the Ameri- 
 cans, and Count de Rochambeau and the Chevalier 
 Chastelleux, on the part of the French. At this in- 
 terview an eventual plan of the whole campaign 
 was fixed. This was to lay siege to New- York, in 
 concert with a French fleet, which was to arrive on 
 the coast in the month of August. It was agreed 
 that the French troops should march towards the 
 North river. Letters were addressed by Gen. Wash- 
 ington to the executive officers of New Hampshire, 
 Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New-Jersey, re-
 
 1-50 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ( l u i rm them to fill up their battalions, and to 
 have their quotas of 6,200 militia, in readiness with- 
 i >n a W eek of the time they might be called for. 
 Conformably to these outlines of the campaign, 
 the French troops marched from Rhode-Island in 
 June, and early in the following month joined the 
 American army. At the same time Washington 
 marched his army from their winter encampment 
 near Peekskill to the vicinity of Kingsbridge. 
 Gen. Lincoln fell down the North river with a 
 detachment in boats, and took possession of the 
 ground where Fort Independence formerly stood. 
 An attack was made upon him, but was soon dis- 
 continued. The British about this time retired 
 with almost the whole of their force to York Isl- 
 and. Washington hoped to be able to commence 
 operations against New- York about the middle, 
 or at farthest the latter end of July. Flat bot- 
 tomed boats sufficient to transport 5,000 men 
 were built near Albany, and brought down the 
 North river to the neighbourhood of the American 
 army before New- York. Ovens were erected op- 
 posite to Staten Island for the use of the French 
 troops. Every movement introductory to the com- 
 mencement of the siege was made. To the great 
 mortification of Washington, he found himself on 
 the 2d of August, to be only a few hundreds 
 stronger than he was on the day his army first 
 moved from their winter quarters. To have fixed 
 on a plan of operations with a foreign officer at 
 the head of a respectable force ; to have brought 
 that force from a considerable distance in confi- 
 dent expectation of reinforcements sufficiently 
 large to commence effective operations against the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 151 
 
 common enemy ; and at the same time to have c "fj p ' 
 
 engagements in behalf of the states violated in di- 
 
 rect opposition to their own interest, and in a 1781. 
 manner derogatory to his personal honour, was 
 enough to have excited storms and tempests in 
 any mind less calm than that of Gen. Washington. 
 He bore this hard trial with his usual magnanimi- 
 ty, and contented himself with repeating his re- 
 quisitions to the states ; and at the same time urg- 
 ed them by every tie to enable him to fulfil en- 
 gagements entered into on their account with the 
 commander of the French troops. 
 
 That tardiness which at other times had brought 
 the Americans near the brink of ruin, was now 
 the accidental cause of real service. Had they 
 sent forward their recruits for the regular army, 
 and their quotas of militia, as was expected > the 
 siege of New- York would have commenced in the 
 latter end of July, or early in August. While the 
 season was wasting away in expectation of these 
 reinforcements, lord Cornwallis, as has been men- 
 tioned, fixed himself near the Capes of Virginia. 
 His situation there; the arrival of a reinforcement 
 of 3,000 Germans from Europe to New- York; the 
 superior strength of their garrison; the failure of 
 the states in filling up their battalions and embo 
 dying their militia; and especially recent intelli- 
 gence from Count de Grasse, that his destination 
 was fixed to the Chesapeak, concurred about the 
 middle of August to make a total change of the 
 plan of the campaign. 
 
 The appearance of an intention to attack New- 
 York was, nevertheless, kept up. While this de- 
 ception was played off, the allied army crossed
 
 152 THE LIFE OF 
 
 vin P tne North river, and passed on by the way of Phi- 
 
 ladelphia through the intermediate country to 
 
 1781. Yorktown. An attempt to reduce the British 
 force in Virginia promised success with more ex- 
 pedition, and to secure an object of nearly equal 
 importance as the reduction of New- York. 
 
 While the attack of New- York was in serious 
 contemplation, a letter from Gen. Washington, 
 detailing the particulars of the intended opera- 
 tions of the campaign, being intercepted, fell into 
 the hands of Sir Henry Clinton. After the plan 
 was changed, the royal commander was so much 
 under the impression of the intelligence contained 
 in the intercepted letter, that he believed every 
 movement towards Virginia to be a feint calcu- 
 Jated to draw off his attention from the defence of 
 NewrYork. Under the influence of this opinion, 
 he bent his whole force to strengthen that post ; 
 and suffered the American and French armies to 
 pass him without molestation. When the best 
 opportunity of striking at them was elapsed, then 
 for the first time he was brought to believe, that 
 the allies had fixed en Virginia for the theatre of 
 their combined operations. As truth may be 
 made to answer the purposes of deception, so no 
 feint of attacking New- York could have been 
 more successful than the real intention. 
 
 In the latter end of August, the American ar- 
 my began their march to Virginia from the neigh- 
 bourhood of New- York. Washington had ad- 
 vanced as far as Chester, before he received the 
 news of the arrival of the fleet commanded by 
 M. de Grasse. ' The French troops marched at 
 the same time, and for the same place. Gen-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 153 
 
 Washington and Count Rochambeau with Gene- c * m 
 
 rals Chastelleux, du Portail, and Knox, pro- 
 
 ceeded to visit Count de Grasse on board his 1781 
 ship, the Ville de Paris, and agreed on a plan of 
 operations. 
 
 The Count afterwards wrote to Washington, 
 that in case a British fleet appeared, " he conceiv- 
 ed that he ought to go out and meet them at sea, 
 instead of risking an engagement in a confined 
 situation." This alarmed the General. He sent 
 the Marquis de la Fayette with a letter to dis- 
 suade him from the dangerous measure. This 
 letter, and the persuasions of the Marquis, had 
 the desired effect. 
 
 The combined forces proceeded on their way 
 to Yorktown, partly by land, and partly down 
 the Chesapeak. The whole together, with a body 
 of Virginia militia, under the command of Gen. 
 Nelson, rendezvoused at Williamsburg, on the 
 25th of September, and in five days after moved 
 down to the investiture of Yorktown. The French 
 fleet at the same time moved to the mouth of 
 York river, and took a position which was calcu- 
 lated to prevent lord Cornwall is either from re- 
 treating, or receiving succour by water. Previ- 
 ously to the march from Williamsburg to York- 
 town, Washington gave out in. general orders as 
 follows : " If the enemy should be tempted to 
 meet the army on its march, the General particu- 
 larly enjoins the troops to place their principal 
 reliance on the bayonet, that they may prove the 
 vanity of the boast, which the British make of 
 their particular prowess, in deciding battles with 
 that weapon." 
 
 X
 
 164 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. The works erected for the security of York- 
 
 town on the right, were redoubts and batteries, 
 
 irsi. with aline of stockade in the rear. A marshy ra- 
 vine lay in front of the right, over which was 
 placed a large redoubt. The morass extended 
 along the centre, which was defended by a line 
 of stockade, and by batteries. On the left of 
 the centre was a hornwork with a ditch, a row 
 of fraize, and an abbatis. Two redoubts were 
 advanced before the left. The combined forces 
 advanced, and took possession of the ground from 
 which the British had retired. About this time 
 the legion cavalry and mounted infantry passed 
 over the river to Gloucester. Gen. de Choisy 
 invested the British post on that side so fully, as 
 to cut off all communication between it and the 
 country. In the mean time, the royal army was 
 straining every nerve to strengthen their works, 
 and their artillery was constantly employed in 
 impeding the operations of the combined army. 
 On the ninth and tenth of October, the Americans 
 and French opened their batteries. They kept 
 up a brisk and well directed fire from heavy can- 
 non, from mortars, and howitzers. The shells of 
 the besiegers reached the ships in the harbour ; 
 the Charon of 44 guns, and a transport ship, were 
 burned. The besiegers commenced their second 
 parallel two hundred yards from the works of the 
 besieged. Two redoubts which were advanced 
 on the left of the British, greatly impeded the 
 progress of the combined armies. It was there- 
 fore proposed to carry them by storm. To excite 
 a spirit of emulation, the reduction of the one 
 was committed to the French, of the other to the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 155 
 
 Americans. The assailants marched to the as- CHAP. 
 
 sault with unloaded arms ; having passed the L_ 
 
 abbatis and palisades, they attacked on all sides, 1781. 
 and carried the redoubt in a few minutes, with 
 the loss of eight men killed, and twenty-eight 
 wounded. 
 
 The French were equally successful on their 
 part. They carried the redoubt assigned to them 
 with rapidity, but lost a considerable number of 
 men. These two redoubts were included in the 
 second parallel, and facilitated the subsequent 
 operations of the besiegers. 
 
 By this time the batteries of the besiegers were 
 covered with nearly a hundred pieces of heavy 
 ordnance, and the works of the besieged were so 
 damaged that they could scarcely show a single 
 gun. Lord Cornwallis had now no hope left, 
 but from offering terms of capitulation, or at- 
 tempting an escape. He determined on the lat- 
 ter. This, though less practicable than when 
 first proposed, was not altogether hopeless. Boats ,' 
 were prepared to receive the troops in the night, 
 and to transport them to Gloucester point. Af- 
 ter one whole embarkation had crossed, a violent 
 storm of wind and rain dispersed the boats, and 
 frustrated the whole scheme. The royal army, 
 thus weakened by division, was exposed to in- 
 creased danger. Orders were sent to those who 
 had passed, to recross the river to Yorktown. 
 With the failure of this scheme, the last hope of 
 the British army expired. Longer resistance 
 could answer no good purpose, and might occa- 
 sion the loss of many valuable lives. Lord Corn- 
 wallis therefore wrote a letter to Gen. Washing-
 
 156 THE LIFE <XF 
 
 CHAP, ton, requesting a cessation of arms for twenty- 
 
 four hours ; and that commissioners might be ap- 
 
 pointed to digest terms of capitulation. This 
 was agreed to, and in consequence thereof, the 
 posts of York and Gloucester were surrendered 
 on certain stipulations j the principal of which 
 were as follows : " The troops to be prisoners 
 of war to Congress, and the naval force to France : 
 - The officers to retain their side arms and pri- 
 vate property of every kind, but every thing ob- 
 viously belonging to the inhabitants of the Unit- 
 ed States, to be subject to be reclaimed : The 
 soldiers to be kept in Virginia, Maryland, and 
 Pennsylvania, and to be supplied with the same 
 rations as are allowed to soldiers in the service of 
 Congress : A proportion of the officers to march 
 into the country with the prisoners, the rest to be 
 allowed to proceed on parole to Europe, to New- 
 York, or to any other American maritime post in 
 possession of the British." The honour of marching 
 out with colours flying, which had been refused 
 to Gen. Lincoln on his giving up Charleston, was 
 now refused to Earl Cornwallis; and Gen. Lin- 
 coln was appointed to receive the submission of 
 the royal army at Yorktown, precisely in the 
 same way his own had been conducted about 
 eighteen months before. 
 
 The regular troops of America and France, 
 employed in this siege, consisted of about 5,500 
 of the former, and 7,000 of the latter, and they 
 were assisted by about 4,000 militia. On the 
 part of the combined army, about three hundred 
 were killed or wounded. On the part of the Bri- 
 tish about five hutodred, and seventy were taken
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. Io7 
 
 in the redoubts, which were carried by assault on CHAP. 
 
 \7 7 T T* 
 
 the 14th of October. The troops of every kind 
 
 that surrendered prisoners of war, exceeded 7,000 1780. 
 men; but so great was the number of sick and 
 wounded, that there were only 3,800 capable of 
 bearing arms. 
 
 Congress honoured Gen. Washington, Count 
 de Rochambeau, Count de Grasse, and the officers 
 of the dilferent corps, and the men under them, 
 with thanks for their services in the reduction of 
 lord Cornwallis. The whole project was conceiv- 
 ed with profound wisdom, and the incidents of 
 it had been combined with singular propriety. It 
 is not therefore wonderful, that from the remark- 
 able coincidence in all its parts, it was crowned 
 with unvaried success. 
 
 General Washington, on the day after the sur- 
 render, ordered " that those who were under 
 arrest, should be pardoned and set at liberty." 
 His orders closed as follows " Divine service shall 
 be performed to-morrow in the different brigades 
 and divisions, ^he commander in chief recom- 
 mends that all the troops that are not upon duty, 
 do assist at it with a serious deportment, and that 
 sensibility of heart which the recollection of the 
 surprising and particular interposition of provi- 
 dence in our favour claims." The interesting 
 event of captivating a second royal army, pro- 
 duced strong emotions, which broke out in all the 
 variety of ways in which the most rapturous joy 
 usually displays itself. 
 
 After the capture of lord Cornwallis, Washing- 
 ton, with the greatest part of his army, returned 
 to the vicinity of New- York. In the preceding
 
 158 THE LIFE OF 
 
 iii P s ' x y ears ne ^d been accustomed to look for- 
 ward and to provide for all possible events. In 
 1781 - the habit of struggling with difficulties, his cou- 
 rage at all times grew with the dangers which 
 surrounded him. In the most disastrous situa- 
 tions he was far removed from despair. On the 
 other hand, those fortunate events which induced 
 many to believe that the revolution was accom- 
 plished, never operated on him so far as to relax 
 his exertions or precautions. Though complete 
 success had been obtained by the allied arms in 
 . Virginia, and great advantages had been gained 
 in 1781 in the Carolinas, yet Washington urged 
 the necessity of being prepared for another cam- 
 paign. In a letter to Gen. Greene he observed, 
 " I shall endeavour to stimulate Congress to the 
 best improvement of our late success, by taking 
 the most vigorous and effectual measures to be 
 ready for an early and decisive campaign the 
 next year. My greatest fear is that, viewing this 
 stroke in a point of light which may too much 
 magnify its importance, they may think our work 
 too nearly closed, and fall into a state of languor 
 and relaxation. To prevent this error, I shall 
 employ every means in my power ; and if unhap- 
 pily we sink into this fatal mistake, no part of the 
 blame shall be mine."
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 159 
 
 CHAP. IX. 
 
 1782 and 1783. 
 
 Prospects of peace. Languor of the states. Dis- 
 contents of the army. Gen. Washington prevents 
 the adoption of rash measures. Some new levies 
 in Pennsylvania mutiny, and are quelled. Wash- 
 ington recommends measures for the preservation 
 of independence, peace, liberty, and happiness. 
 Dismisses his army. Enters New-York. Takes 
 leave of his officers. Settles his accounts. Re- 
 pairs to Annapolis. Resigns his commission. 
 Retires to Mount Vernon, and resumes his agri- 
 cultural pursuits. 
 
 1 HE military establishment for 1782, was passed CHAP. 
 with unusual celerity shortly after the surrender IX> 
 of lord Cornwallis ; but no exertions of America 1782 
 
 alone could do more than confine the British to , *L 
 
 1785. 
 
 the sea coast. To dislodge them from their 
 strong holds in New- York and Charleston, occu- 
 pied the unceasing attention of Washington. 
 While he was concerting plans for farther com- 
 bined operations with the French, and at the 
 same time endeavouring by circular letters to 
 rouse his countrymen to spirited measures, intel- 
 ligence arrived that sundry motions for disconti- 
 nuing the American war had been debated in the 
 British Parliament, and nearly carried. Fearing
 
 160 THE LIFE OP 
 
 C ?x" P - that this would relax the exertions of the states, 
 he added in his circular letters to their respective 
 
 1782 Governors " I have perused these debates with 
 & 
 1783. great attention and care, with a view, if possible, 
 
 to penetrate their real design ; and upon the 
 most mature deliberation I can bestow, I am 
 obliged to declare it as my candid opinion, that 
 the measure in all its views, so far as it respects 
 America, is merely delusory, having no serious 
 intention to admit our independence upon its 
 true principles ; but is calculated to produce a 
 change of ministers to quiet the minds of their 
 own people, and reconcile them to a continuance 
 of the war; while it is meant to amuse this coun- 
 try with a false idea of peace, to draw us from our 
 connexion with France, and to lull us into a state 
 of security and inactivity; which taking place, 
 the ministry will be left to prosecute the war in 
 other parts of the world with greater vigour and 
 effect. Your excellency will permit me on this 
 occasion to observe, that even if the nation and 
 parliament are really in earnest to obtain peace 
 with America, it will undoubtedly be wisdom in 
 us to meet them with great caution and circum- 
 spection, and by all means to keep our arms firm in 
 our hands; and instead of relaxing one iota in our 
 exertions, rather to spring forward with redoubled 
 vigour, that we may take the advantage of every 
 favourable opportunity, until our wishes are fully 
 obtained. No nation yet suffered in treaty by 
 preparing, (even in the moment of negociation,) 
 most vigorously for the field." 
 
 Early in May, Sir Guy Carleton, who had suc^ 
 ceeded Sir Henry Clinton as commander in chief
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. K>1 
 
 of the British forces in America, arrived in New- C HAP. 
 York, and announced in successive communica- - 
 tions, the increasing probability of a speedy 1782 
 peace, and his disapprobation of farther hostili- 1733. 
 ties, which, he observed, " could only tend to 
 multiply the miseries of individuals, without a 
 possible advantage to either nation." The cau- 
 tious temper of Washington gradually yielded to 
 increasing evidence that the British were serious- 
 ly inclined to terminate the war; but in propor- 
 tion as this opinion prevailed, the exertions of 
 the states relaxed. Not more than 80,000 dollars 
 had been received from all of them, when the 
 month of August was far advanced. ' Every ex- 
 penditure yielded to the subsistence of the army. 
 A sufficiency of money could scarcely be obtain- 
 ed for that indispensably necessary purpose. To 
 pay the troops was impossible. 
 
 Washington, whose sagacity anticipated events, 
 foresaw with concern the probable consequences 
 likely to result from the tardiness of the states to 
 comply with the requisitions of Congress. Tliese 
 had been ample. Eight millions of dollars had 
 been called for, to be paid in four equal quarter- 
 ly instalments, for the service of the year 1782. 
 In a confidential letter to the Secretary of War, 
 Washington observed " I cannot help fearing 
 the result of reducing the army, where I see such 
 a number of men, goaded b}' a thousand stings of 
 reflection on the past, and of anticipation on the 
 future, about to be turned into the world, soured 
 by penury, and what they call the ingratitude of 
 the public ; involved in debts without one farthing 
 of money to carry them home, alter having spent 
 fhe flower of their days, and many of t^iem their 
 
 X
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 P atr i monies > in establishing the freedom and in- 
 dependence of their country, and having suffered 
 1782 every thing which human nature is capable of 
 #83. enduring on this side of death. I repeat it, when 
 I reflect on these irritable circumstances, I cannot 
 avoid apprehending that a train of evils will fol- 
 low, of a very serious and distressing nature." 
 
 " I wish not to heighten the shades of the pic- 
 ture so far as the real life would justify me in do- 
 ing, or I would give anecdotes of patriotism and 
 distress, which have scarcely ever been paralleled, 
 never surpassed, in the history of mankind. But 
 you may rely upon it ; the patience and long suffer- 
 ance of this army are almost exhausted, and there 
 never was so great a spirit of discontent as at this 
 > instant. While in the field, it may be kept from 
 breaking out into acts of outrage ; but when we re- 
 tire into winter quarters, (unless the storm be pre- 
 viously dissipated,) I cannot be at ease respecting 
 the consequences. It is high time for a peace." 
 
 These apprehensions were well founded. To 
 watch the discontents of his troops, the American 
 chief continued in camp after they had retired in- 
 to winter quarters, though there was no prospect of 
 any military operation which might require his 
 presence. Soon after their retirement, the officers 
 presented a petition to Congress respecting their 
 pay, and deputed a committee of their body to so- 
 licit their interests while under consideration*. 
 
 Nothing had been decided on the claims of the 
 army,when intelligence, (in March, 178^,) arrived, 
 that preliminary and eventual articles of peace 
 between the United States and Great- Britain had 
 been signed on the 30th of the preceding Novem- 
 * Sec the Appendix for fliis Petition.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 16 
 
 ber, in which the independence of the United CHAP. 
 States was amply recognized. In the general joy ' 
 excited by this event, the army partook ; but one 1782 
 unpleasant idea mingled itself with their exulta- 1733. 
 tions. They suspected that as justice had not 
 been done to them while their services were in- 
 dispensable, they would be less likely to obtain it 
 when they ceased to be necessary. Their fears 
 on this account were increased by a letter which 
 about the same time was received from their com- 
 mittee in Philadelphia, announcing that the ob- 
 jects which they had solicited from Congress had 
 not yet been obtained. Smarting as they were 
 under past sufferings, and present wants, their ex- 
 asperation became violent and almost universal. 
 While they were brooding over their gloomy 
 prospects, and provoked at the apparent neglect 
 with which they had been treated, an anonymous 
 paper was circulated, proposing a meeting of 
 the General and Field Officers on the next day. 
 The avowed object of this meeting was to consider 
 the late letter from their committee with Congress, 
 and what measures should be adopted to obtain 
 that redress of grievances which they seemed to 
 have solicited in vain. On the same day the fol- 
 lowing address was privately circulated : 
 
 " TO THE OFFICERS OF THE ARMY. 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " A FELLOW-SOLDIER, whose interest and affections bind him 
 strongly to you ; whose past sufferings have been as great, and 
 whose future fortune may be as desperate as yours would beg 
 leave to address you. Age has its claims, and rank is not with- 
 out its pretensions to advise ; but though unsupported by both, he 
 flatters himself that the plain language of sincerity and experi- 
 ence, will neither be unheard nor unregarded. Like many of 
 you, lie loved private life, and left it vrith regret. He left it, de?
 
 164 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, termined to retire from the field with the necessity that called 
 IX ' him to it, and not till then ; not till the enemies of his country, the 
 slaves of power, and the hirelings of injustice, were compelled 
 &~ to abandon their schemes, and acknowledge America as terrible 
 1783. in arms as she had been humble in remonstrance. With this 
 object in view, he has long shared in your toils, and mingled in 
 your dangers ; : he has felt the cold hand of poverty without a 
 murmur, and has seen the insolence of wealth withotit a sigh. But, 
 too much under the direction of his wishes, and sometimes weak 
 enough to mistake desire for opinion, he has, till lately, very late- 
 /i/, believed in the justice of his country. He hoped, that as the 
 clouds of adversity scattered, and as the sun-shine of peace and 
 better fortune broke in upon us, the coldness and severity of go- 
 vernment would relax, and that, more than justice, that gratitude 
 would blaze forth upon those hands which had upheld her in the 
 darkest stages of her passage, from impending servitude to ac- 
 knowledged independence. But faith has its limits, as well as tem- 
 per : and there are points beyond which neither can be stretched; 
 without sinking into cowardice, or plunging into credulity. This, 
 my friends, I conceive to be your situation. Hurried to the very 
 verge of both, another step would ruin you forever. To be tame 
 and unprovoked when injuries press hard upon you, is more than 
 weakness ; but to look up for kinder usage, without one manly ef- 
 fort of your own, would fix your character, and show the world 
 how richly you deserve those chains you broke. To guard against 
 this evil, let us take a review of the ground upon which we now 
 stand, and from thence carry our thoughts forward for a moment, 
 into the unexplored field of expedient. 
 
 " After a pursuit of seven long years, the object for which we 
 set out is at length brought within our reach ! Yes, my friends, 
 that suffering courage of yours, was active once it has conduct- 
 ed the United States of America through a doubtful and a bloody 
 . war 1 It has placed her in the chair of independency, and/jfacr re- 
 turns again to bless- whom ? A country willing to redress your 
 wrongs, cherish your worth, and reward your services ; a country 
 courting your return to private life, with tears of gratitude, and 
 smiles of admiration ; longing to divide with you that indepen- 
 dency which your gallantry has given, and those riches which 
 your wounds have preserved ? Is this the case ? or is it rather, a 
 country that tramples upon your rights, disdains your cries, and 
 insults your distresses ? Have you not, more than once, suggest- 
 ed your wishes, and made known your wants to Congress ? Wants 
 and wishes which gratitude and policy should have anticipated,.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 16 
 
 rather than evaded. And have you not lately, in the meek Ian- CHAP 
 guage of entreating mcmoiial, begged from their justice, what 
 you would no longer expect from their favour? How have you 
 been answered ? Let the letter which you are called to consider '^ ~ 
 to-morrow, make reply. 17^5 
 
 u If this, then, be your treatment, while the swords you wear 
 are necessary for the defence of America, what have you to ex- 
 pect from peace, when your voice shall sink, and your strength 
 dissipate by division ? 
 
 ** \\hen these very swords, the instruments and companions of 
 your glory, shall be taken from your sides, und no renuuning mark 
 of military distinction left, but your wants, infirmities, and scars ! 
 can you then consent to be the only sufferers by this revolution, 
 and retiring from the field, grow old in poverty, wretchedness, 
 and contempt I Can you consent to wade through the vile mire of 
 dependency, and owe the miserable remnant of that life to charity, 
 which has hitherto been spent in honour? if you can, go and 
 carry with you the jest of tories, and the scorn of whigs the ri- 
 dicule, and what is worse, the fiity of the world 1 Go, starve, and 
 be forgotten ! But if your spirit should revolt at this ; if you have 
 sense enough to discover, and spirit enough to oppose tyranny, 
 under whatever garb it may assume ; whether it be the plain coat 
 of republicanism, or the splendid robe of royalty : if you have yet 
 learned to discriminate between a people and a cause, between 
 men and principles awake ! attend to your situation, and re- 
 dress yourselves. If the present moment be lost, every future effort 
 is in vain ; and your threats then will be as empty as your entrea- 
 ties now. I would advise you, therefore, to come to some final 
 opinion, upon what you can bear, and what you will suffer. If your 
 determination be in any proportion to your wrongs, carry your 
 appeal from the justice to \hcfears of government change the 
 milk and water style of your last memorial ; assume a bolder tonfc 
 decent, but lively spirited and determined ; and suspect the 
 man who would advise to more moderation and longer forbear- 
 ance. Let two or three men, who can feel as well as write, be 
 appointed to draw up your last remonstrance ; for 1 would no- 
 longer give it the sueing, soft, unsuccessful epithet of memorial. 
 Let it be represented, (in language that will neither dishonour you 
 by its rudeness, nor betray you by its fears,) what has been pro- 
 mised by Congress, and what has been performed ; how long and 
 how patiently you have suffered ; how little you have asked, and 
 how much of that little has been denied. Tell them that though
 
 166 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, you vtere the first, and would -wish to be the last, to encounter 
 danger ; though despair itself can never drive you into dishonour, 
 . it may drive you from the field ; that the wound often irritated, 
 & and never healed, may at length become incurable ; and that the 
 1783. slightest mark of indignity from Congress now, must operute like 
 the grave, and part you for ever ; that in any political event, the 
 army has its alternative. If jieace, that nothing shall separate 
 you from your arms but death : if war, that courting the auspices 
 and inviting the directions of your illustrious leader, you will re- 
 tire to some unsettled country, smile in your turn, and " mock 
 when their fear cometh on." But let it represent also, that should 
 they comply with the request of your late memorial, it would 
 make you more happy, and them more respectable : that while 
 the war should continue, you would follow their standard into the 
 field and when it came to an end, you would withdraw into the 
 shade of private life, and give the world another subject of wonder 
 and applause an army -victorious over its enemies -victorious 
 over itself. [ANONYMOUS/] 
 
 This artful address found in almost every bo- 
 som such congenial sentiments, as prepared the 
 way for its favourable reception. It operated like 
 a torch on combustible materials. The passions of 
 the army quickly caught the flame it was well cal- 
 culated to excite. Every appearance threatened 
 that the proposed convention of the officers would 
 produce an explosion which might tarnish the re- 
 putation of the army, disturb the peace of the 
 country, and, under certain circumstances, most 
 probably terminate in the subversion of the recent 
 liberties of the new formed states. 
 
 Accustomed, as Washington had been, to emer- 
 gencies of great delicacy and difficulty, yet none 
 had occurred, which called more pressingly than 
 the present, for the utmost exertion of all his 
 >owers. He knew well that it was much easier 
 to avoid intemperate measures than to recede
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 167 
 
 from them after they had been adopted. He c ^ p ' 
 
 therefore considered it as a matter of the last im- 
 
 portance, to prevent the meeting of the officers 1782 
 on the succeeding day, as proposed in the anony- 178& 
 mous summons. ' The sensibilities of the army 
 were too high to admit of this being forbidden by 
 authority, as a violation of discipline; but the eijd 
 was answered in another way, and without irri- 
 tation. The commander in chief, in general or- 
 ders, noticed the anonymous summons, as a disor- 
 derly proceeding, not to be countenanced ; and 
 the more effectually to divert the officers from 
 paying any attention to it, he requested them to 
 meet for the same nominal purpose, but on a day 
 four days subsequent to the one proposed by th* 
 anonymous addresser. The intervening period 
 was improved in prepa&jng the officers for the 
 adoption of moderate measures. Gen. Washing- 
 ton sent for one officer after another, and enlarg- 
 ed in private on the fatal consequences, and par- 
 ticularly the loss of character, which would result 
 from the adoption of intemperate resolutions. 
 His whole personal influence was excited to calm 
 the prevailing agitation. When the officers as- 
 sembled, their venerable chief preparing to ad- 
 dress them, found his eye-sight to fail him, on 
 which he observed, " My eyes have grown dim 
 in my country's service, but I never doubted of 
 its justice " and then proceeded as follows : 
 
 " Gentlemen, 
 
 " By an anonymous summons, an attempt has 
 been made to convene you together. How in- 
 consistent with the rules of propriety, how unmi-
 
 168 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, litary, and how subversive of all order and disci- 
 .. pline, let the good sense of the army decide. 
 
 1782 " In the moment of this summons, another 
 
 1783 anonymous production was sent into circulation, 
 addressed more to the feelings and passions than 
 to the reason and judgment of the army. The 
 author of the piece is entitled to much credit for 
 the goodness of his pen ; and I could wish he had 
 as much credit for the rectitude of his heart ; for, 
 as men see through different optics, and are in- 
 duced, by the reflecting faculties of the mind, to 
 use different means to attain the same end, the au- 
 thor of the address shoul.d have had more charity 
 than to mark for suspicion, the man who should re- 
 commend moderation and longer forbearance ; or, 
 in other words, who should not think as he thinks, 
 and act as he advises. But he had another plan 
 in view, in which candour and liberality of senti- 
 ment, regard to justice, and love of country, have 
 no part: and he was right to insinuate the dark- 
 est suspicion to effect the blackest design. That 
 the address is drawn with great art, and is design- 
 ed to answer the most insidious purposes ; that it 
 is calculated to impress the mind with an idea of 
 premeditated injustice in the sovereign power of 
 the United States, and rouse all those resentments 
 which must unavoidably flow from such a belief; 
 that the secret mover of this scheme, whoever he 
 may be, intended to take advantage of the pas- 
 sions, while they were warmed by the recollection 
 of past distresses, without giving time for cool, 
 deliberate thinking, and that composure of mind 
 which is so necessary to give dignity and stability 
 to measures, is rendered too obvious, by the mode
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. l 
 
 of conducting the business, to need other proof c ^ p 
 than a reference to the proceeding. Thus much, 
 gentlemen, I have thought it incumbent on me to ^82 
 observe to you, to show upon what principles I 1783. 
 opposed the irregular and hasty meeting which 
 was proposed to have been held on Tuesday last, 
 and not because I wanted a disposition to give 
 you every opportunity, consistent with your own 
 honour and the dignity of the army, to make 
 known your grievances. If my conduct hereto- 
 fore has not evinced to you, that I have been a 
 faithful friend to the army, my declaration of it at 
 this time would be equally unavailing and im- 
 proper. But as I was among the first who em- 
 barked in the cause of our common country ; as I 
 have never left your side one moment, but when 
 called from you on public duty; as I have been 
 the constant companion and witness of your dis- 
 tresses, and not among the last to feel and ac- 
 knowledge your merits ; as I have ever consider- 
 ed my own military reputation as inseparably 
 connected with that of the army ; as my heart has 
 ever expanded with joy when I have heard its 
 praises, and my indignation has arisen when the 
 mouth of detraction has been opened against it, 
 it can scarcely be supposed, at this late stage of 
 the war, that I am indifferent to its interests. 
 But how are they to be promoted ? The way is 
 plain, says the anonymous addresser. If war con- 
 tinues, remove into the unsettled country; there es- 
 tablish yourselves, and leave an ungrateful coun- 
 try to defend itself. But who are they to defend ? 
 Our wives, our children, our larrns, and other 
 property, which we leave behind us ? Or, in Uiis 
 
 Z
 
 170 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C ?if P state f h ost| l e separation, are we to take the two 
 
 first, (the latter cannot be removed,) to perish in a 
 
 17 & wilderness, with hunger, cold, and nakedness? If 
 1783. peace takes place, never sheath your swords, 
 says he, untjl you have obtained full and ample 
 justice. This dreadfal alternative of either de- 
 serting our country in the extremest hour of her 
 distress, or turning our arms against it, which is 
 the apparent object, unless Congress can be com- 
 pelled into instant compliance, has something so 
 shocking in it, that humanity revolts at the idea. 
 My God ! what can this writer have in view, by 
 recommending such measures ? Can he be a friend 
 to the army ? Can he be a friend to this country? 
 .Rather is he not an insidious foe ? some emissary, 
 perhaps, from New-York, plotting the ruin of 
 both, by sowing the seeds of discord and separa- 
 tion between the civil and military powers of the 
 continent ? And what a compliment does he pay- 
 to our understandings, when he recommends 
 measures, in either alternative, impracticable in 
 their nature? But here, gentlemen, I will drop- 
 the curtain, because it would be as imprudent in 
 me to assign my reasons for this opinion, as it 
 would be insulting to your conception to suppose 
 you stood in need of them. A moment's reflection 
 will convince every dispassionate mind of the 
 physical impossibility of carrying either proposal 
 into execution. There might, gentlemen, be an 
 impropriety in my taking notice in this address., 
 to you, of an anonymous production ; but the 
 manner in which that performance has been in- 
 troduced to the army, the effect it was intended to 
 have, together with some other circumstances*
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 1 
 
 will amply justify my observations on the tendon- C1 * 
 cy of that writing. With respect to the advice 
 given by the author, to suspect the man who ^ 2 
 shall recommend moderate measures and longer 1783. 
 forbearance, I spnrn it, as every man who regards 
 that liberty and reveres that justice for which we 
 contend, undoubtedly must ; for, if men are to be 
 precluded from offering their sentiments on a mat- 
 ter which may involve the most serious and 
 alarming consequences that can invite the consi- 
 deration of mankind, reason is of no use to us. 
 The freedom of speech may be taken away, and 
 dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to tire 
 slaughter. I cannot in justice to my own belief, 
 and what I have great reason to conceive is the 
 intention of Congress, conclude this address, with- 
 out giving it as my decided opinion, that that 
 honourable body entertain exalted sentiments of 
 the services of the army, and from a full convic- 
 tion of its merits and sufferings will do it complete 
 justice: that their endeavours to discover and es- 
 tablish funds for this purpose, has been unwearied, 
 and will not cease till they have succeeded, I have 
 not a doubt. But like all other large bodies, 
 where there is a variety of different interests to 
 reconcile, their determinations are slow. Why 
 then should we distrust them? and in consequence 
 of that distrust, adopt measures which may cast a 
 shade over that glory which has been so justly 
 acquired, and tarnish the reputation of an army 
 which is celebrated through all Europe for its 
 fortitude and patriotism ? And, for what is this 
 done ? To bring the object we seek nearer ? No ; 
 wiost certainly, in my opinion, it will cast it at a
 
 172 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CI ix P greater distance. For myself, and I take no 
 
 . rit in giving the assurance, being induced to it 
 
 182 from principles of gratitude, veracity, and justice 5 
 1783. a grateful sense of the confidence you have ever 
 placed in me a recollection of the cheerful assist- 
 ance, and prompt obedience I have experienced 
 from you, under every vicissitude of fortune, and 
 the sincere affection I feel for an army I have so 
 long had the honour to command, will oblige me 
 to declare in this public and solemn manner, that 
 in the attainment of complete justice for all your 
 toils and dangers, and in the gratification of every 
 wish, so far as may be done consistently with the 
 great duty I owe my country, and those powers 
 we are bound to respect, you may freely com- 
 mand my services to the utmost extent of my abi- 
 lities. While I give you these assurances, and 
 pledge myself in the most unequivocal manner to 
 exert whatever ability I am possessed of in your 
 favour, let me entreat you, gentlemen, on your 
 part, not to take any measure, which, viewed in 
 the calm light of reason, will lessen the dignity 
 and sully the glory you have hitherto maintained. 
 Let me request you to rely on the plighted 
 faith of your country, and place a full confidence 
 in the purity of the intentions of Congress, that, 
 previous to your dissolution as an army, they will 
 cause all your accounts to be fairly liquidated, as 
 directed in the resolutions which were published 
 to you two days ago ; and that they will adopt the 
 most effectual measures in their power to render 
 ample justice to you, for your faithful and merito- 
 rious services. And let me conjure you in the 
 name of our common country, as you value your
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 173 
 
 own sacred honour, as you respect the rights of 
 humanity, and as you regard the military and 
 national character of America, to express your ut- 1 ^ 2 
 most horror and detestation of the man who 1783. 
 wishes, under any specious pretences, to overturn 
 the liberties of our country, and who wickedly 
 attempts to open the flood-gates of civil discord, 
 and deluge our rising empire in blood. 
 
 " By thus determining and thus acting, you 
 will pursue the plain and direct road to the at- 
 tainment of your wishes ; you will defeat the in- 
 sidious designs of our enemies, who are compelled 
 to resort from open force to secret artifice. You 
 will give one more distinguished proof of unex- 
 ampled patriotism and patient virtue, rising supe- 
 rior to the pressure of the most complicated suf- 
 ferings ; and you will, by the dignity of your con- 
 duct, afford occasion for posterity to say, when 
 speaking of the glorious example you have exhi- 
 bited to mankind " Had this day been wanting, 
 the world had never seen the last stage of perfec- 
 tion to which human nature is capable of attain- 
 ing." 
 
 The address being ended, Washington with- 
 drew. No person was hardy enough to oppose 
 the advice he had given*. The impression made 
 
 * " It was happy for the army and country, that when his Ex- 
 cellency had finished and withdrawn, no one rose and observed 
 ' That General Washington was about to quit the military line 
 laden with honour, and that he had a considerable estate to sup- 
 port him with dignity, but that their case was very different/ 
 Had such ideas been thrown out, and properly enlarged upon, 
 the meeting would probably have concluded very differently.'* 
 Gordon's History^ vol. 4. page 357.
 
 174 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, by his address was irresistible. The happy mo- 
 ' ment was seized. While the minds of the officers, 
 1782 softened by the eloquence of their beloved com- 
 1783. mander, were in a yielding state, a resolution was 
 offered and adopted, in which they assured him 
 * c that they reciprocated his affectionate expres- 
 sions with the greatest sincerity of which the 
 heart was capable." Before they dispersed, they 
 unanimously adopted several other resolutions, in 
 which they declared <c That no circumstance of 
 distress or danger should induce a conduct that 
 might tend to sully the reputation and glory they 
 had acquired at the price of their blood and eight 
 years faithful service That they continued to 
 have an unshaken confidence in the justice of 
 Congress and their country That they viewed 
 with abhorrence, and rejected with disdain, the 
 infamous proposition contained in a late anony- 
 mous address to the officers of the army." 
 
 The storm which had been long gathering, was 
 suddenly dissipated. The army acquired addi- 
 tional reputation, and the commander in chief 
 gave a new proof of the goodness of his heart, and 
 the soundness of his judgment. Perhaps in no in- 
 stance did the United States receive from heaven 
 a more signal deliverance through the hands of 
 Washington, than in the happy termination of this 
 serious transaction. If ambition had possessed a 
 single corner of his heart, the opportunity was too 
 favourable, the temptation too splendid, to have 
 been resisted. But his soul was superior to such 
 views, and his love of country so ardent, and at 
 the same time so pure, that the charms, of power, 
 though recommended by the imposing appearance
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 175 
 
 of procuring justice for his unrewarded army, CHAP. 
 made no impression on his unshaken mind. He ' 
 viewed the character of a patriot as superior to 1782 
 that of a sovereign. To be elevated to supreme irs.r, 
 power, was less in his esteem than to be a good 
 man. 
 
 Instead of turning the discontents of an unpaid 
 army to his own aggrandizement, he improved 
 the late events to stimulate Congress to. do them 
 justice. His letter to their President on this oc- 
 casion was as follows : 
 
 " SIR, , 
 
 " The result of the proceedings of the grand 
 convention of the officers, which I have the honour 
 of enclosing to your excellency for the inspection, 
 of Congress, will, I flatter myself, be considered 
 as the last glorious proof of patriotism which 
 could have been given, by men who aspired to the 
 distinction of a patriot army ; and will not only 
 confirm their claim to the justice, but will increase 
 their title to the gratitude of their country. Hav- 
 ing seen the proceedings on the part of the army 
 terminate with perfect unanimity, and in a man- 
 ner entirely consonant to my wishes ; being im- 
 pressed with the liveliest sentiments of affection 
 for those who have so long, so patiently, and so 
 cheerfully suffered and fought under my immedi- 
 ate direction ; having from motives of justice, 
 duty, and gratitude, spontaneously offered myself 
 as an advocate for their rights ; and, having been 
 requested to write to your excellency, earnestly 
 entreating the most speedy decision of Congress 
 upon the subjects of the late address from the
 
 [76 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CI ii? P< arm y to ^ lat honourable body ; it now only re- 
 
 mains for me to perform the task I have assumed, 
 
 1782 and to intercede in their behalf, as I now do, that 
 irt3. the sovereign power will be pleased to verify the 
 predictions I have pronounced of, and the confi- 
 dence the army have reposed in, the justice of their 
 country. And here I humbly conceive it is alto- 
 gether unnecessary, (while I am pleading the cause 
 of an army which have done and suffered more 
 than any other army ever did in the defence of 
 the rights and liberties of human nature,) to expati- 
 ate on their claims to the most ample compensa- 
 tion for their meritorious services, because they 
 are known perfectly to the whole world, and be- 
 cause, (although the topics are inexhaustible,) 
 enough has already been said on the subject. To 
 prove these assertions, to evince that my senti- 
 ments have ever been uniform, and to show what 
 my ideas of the rewards in question have always 
 been, I appeal to the archives of Congress, and 
 call on those sacred deposites to witness for me. 
 And in order that my observations and arguments 
 in favour of a future adequate provision for the 
 officers of the army may be brought to remem- 
 brance again, and considered in a single point of 
 view, without giving Congress the trouble of 
 having recourse to their files, 1 will beg leave to 
 transmit herewith an extract from a representa- 
 tion made by me to a committee of Congress, so 
 long ago as the 29th of January, 1?7S, and also 
 the transcript of a letter to the President of Con- 
 gress, dated near Pasaic Falls, October llth, 
 1780. 
 
 " That in the critical and perilous moment
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 177 
 
 the last mentioned communication was C HAP. 
 made, there was the utmost danger a dissolution . 
 
 of the army would have taken place, unless mea- i?82 
 sures similar to those recommended had been 1783, 
 adopted, will not admit a doubt. That the adop- 
 tion of the resolution granting half pay for life 
 has been attended with all the happy consequen- 
 ces I had foretold, so far as respected the good of 
 the service, let the astonishing contrast between 
 the state of the army at this instant, and at the 
 former period, determine. And that the esta- 
 blishment of funds, and security of the payment 
 of all the just demands of the army, will be the 
 most certain means of preserving the national 
 faith, and future tranquillity of this extensive con- 
 tinent, is my decided opinion. 
 
 ** By the preceding remarks it will readily be 
 imagined, that instead of retracting and repre- 
 hending, (from farther experience and reflection,) 
 the mode of compensation so strenuously urged 
 in the enclosures, I am more and more confirmed 
 in the sentiment ; and if in the wrong, suffer me to 
 please myself with the grateful delusion. 
 
 " For if, besides the simple payment of their wa- 
 ges, a farther compensation is not due to the suffer- 
 ings and sacrifices of the officers, then have I been 
 mistaken indeed. If the whole army have not me- 
 rited whatever a grateful people can bestow, then 
 have I been beguiled by prejudice, and built opi- 
 nion on the basis of error. If this country should 
 not in the event perform every thing which has 
 been requested in the late memorial to Congress, 
 then will my belief become vain, and the hope 
 that has btjen excited, void of foundation. And
 
 78 i THE LIFE Oi-' 
 
 CHAP, if, (as has beeri- suggested for the purpose of in- 
 ' flaming their passions,) the officers of the army are 
 1782 to be the only sufferers by this revolution; " if re- 
 1783. tiring from the field they are to grow old in po- 
 verty, wretchedness, and contempt if they are to 
 wade through the vile mire of dependency, and 
 owe the miserable remnant of that life to charity, 
 which has hitherto been spent in honour " then 
 shall I have learned what ingratitude is; then 
 shall I have realized a tale which will embitter 
 every moment of my future life. 
 
 "But I am under no such apprehensions: a 
 country rescued by their arms from impending 
 ruin, will never leave unpaid the debt of gratitude. 
 " Should any intemperate or improper warmth 
 have mingled itself amongst the foregoing obser- 
 vations, I must entreat your Excellency and Con- 
 gress, it may be attributed to the effusion of an 
 honest zeal in the best of causes, and that my pe- 
 culiar situation may be my apology: and I hope 
 I need not on this momentous occasion make any 
 new " protestations of personal disinterestedness, 
 having ever renounced for myself the idea of pe- 
 cuniary reward. The consciousness of having at- 
 tempted faithfully to discharge my duty, and the 
 .approbation of my country, will be a sufficient re- 
 compense for my services. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, &c. &c. 
 
 Geo: WASHINGTON. 
 " If is Excellency the President in Congress. " 
 
 This energetic letter, connected with recent 
 events, induced Congress to decide on the claims 
 of the army. These were liquidated, and the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 179 
 
 amount acknowledged to be due from the United CHAP. 
 States. 
 
 Soon after these events, intelligence of a gene- 1782 
 ral peace was received. The reduction of the ar- 1733 
 my was therefore resolved upon, but the mode of 
 effecting it required deliberation. To avoid the 
 inconveniences of dismissing a great number of" 
 soldiers in a body, furloughs were freely granted 
 on the application of individuals, and after their 
 dispersion, they were not enjoined to return. By 
 this arrangement a critical moment was got over. 
 A great part of an unpaid army was dispersed 
 over the states without tumult or disorder. 
 
 While the veterans serving under the immediate 
 eye of their beloved commander in chief, manifest- 
 ed the utmost good temper and conduct, a mutinous 
 disposition broke out among some new levies 
 stationed at Lancaster, in Pennsylvania. About 
 80 of this description marched in a body to Phila- 
 delphia, where they were joined by some other 
 troops, so as to amount in the whole to 300, 
 They marched with fixed bayonets to the state 
 house, in which Congress and the state execu- 
 tive council held their sessions. They placed 
 guards at every door, and threatened the presi- 
 dent and council of the state with letting loose 
 an enraged soldiery upon them, unless they 
 granted their demands in twenty minutes. As 
 soon as this outrage was known to Washington, 
 he detached Gen. Howe with a competent force 
 to suppress the mutiny. This was effected with- 
 out bloodshed before his arrival. The mutineers 
 were too inconsiderable to commit extensive mis- 
 chief; but their disgraceful conduct excited the
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 HAP, greatest indignation in the breast of the comman- 
 der in chief, which was expressed in a letter to the 
 
 1782 president of Congress in the following words. 
 
 1783. " While I suffer the most poignant distress in ob- 
 serving that a handful of men, contemptible in 
 numbers, and equally so in point of service, (if 
 the veteran troops from the southward have not 
 been seduced by their "example,) and who are 
 not worthy to be called soldiers, should disgrace 
 themselves and their country as the Pennsylvania 
 mutineers have done, by insulting the sovereign 
 authority of the United States, and that of their 
 own, I feel an inexpressible satisfaction that even 
 this behaviour cannot stain the name of (he 
 American soldiery. It cannot be imputable'to, 
 or reflect dishonour on, the army at large; but on 
 the contrary, it will, by the striking contrast it exhi- 
 bits, hold up to public view the other troops in 
 the most advantageous point of light. Upon 
 taking all the circumstances into consideration, I 
 cannot sufficiently express my surprise and in- 
 dignation at the arrogance, the folly, and the 
 wickedness, of the mutineers ; nor can I sufficient- 
 ly admire the fidelity, the bravery, and patriotism, 
 which must for ever signalize the unsullied cha- 
 racter of the other corps of our army. For when 
 we consider that these Pennsylvania levies who 
 have now mutinied are recruits and soldiers of a 
 day, who hayp not borne the heat and burden of 
 the war, and who can have in reality very few 
 hardships to complain of; and when we at the 
 same time recollect that those soldiers who have 
 lately been furloughed from this army, are the ve- 
 terans who have patiently endured hunger, nak-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 181 
 
 edness, and cold ; who have suffered and bled CHAp 
 without a murmur, and who, with perfect good - 
 order, have retired to their homes without a set- 1782 
 tlement of their accounts or a farthing of money 1783. 
 in their pockets ; we shall be as much astonished 
 at the virtues of the latter, as we are struck with 
 detestation at the proceedings of the former." 
 
 While arrangements were making for the final 
 dismission of the army, Gen. Washington was 
 looking forward with anxiety to the future desti- 
 nies of the United States. Much of his attention 
 was devoted to a serious consideration of such es- 
 tablishments as the independence of his country 
 required. On these subjects, he freely communi- 
 cated with Congress, and recommended that great 
 diligence should be used in forming a well regu- 
 lated and disciplined militia during peace, as the 
 best means for securing the future tranquillity 
 and respectability of the nation. He also ad- 
 dressed the following circular letter to the Gover- 
 nors of each of the States : 
 
 " HEAD-QUARTERS, Newburgh, June 18, 1783. 
 
 " SIR, 
 
 " The object for which I had the honour to hold 
 an appointment in the service of my country, be- 
 ing accomplished, I am now preparing to resign 
 it into the hands of Congress, and 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, in which, (remote from the 
 noise and trouble of the world,) I meditate to pass 
 the remainder of life, in a state of undisturbed re
 
 !8<J THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, pose : but, before I carry this resolution into ef- 
 .' feet, I think it a duty incumbent on me to make 
 1782 this my last official communication, to congratu- 
 1783. late you on the glorious events which heaven has 
 been pleased to produce in our favour ; to oiFer 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 consti- 
 tute 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 subject of our 
 mutual felicitation. When we consider the mag- 
 nitude of the prize we contended for, the doubt- 
 ful nature of the contest, and the favourable man- 
 ner in which it has terminated ; we shall find the 
 greatest possible reason for gratitude and rejoic- 
 ing. This is a theme that will afford infinite de- 
 light to every benevolent and liberal mind, whe- 
 ther the event in contemplation be considered as 
 a source of present enjoyment, or the parent of 
 future happiness ; and we shall have equal occa- 
 sion to felicitate ourselves on the lot which Provi- 
 dence has assigned us, whether we view it in a na- 
 tural, a political, or moral point of light. 
 
 " The citizens of America, placed in the most en- 
 viable condition, as the sole lords and proprietors 
 of a vast tract of continent, comprehending all the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 183 
 
 various soils and climates of the world, and CHAP. 
 
 abounding wih all the necessaries and conveni- ^ 
 
 ences of life, are now, by the late satisfactory pa- 1782 
 cification, acknowledged to be possessed of abso- 
 lute freedom and independency : they are from 
 this period to be considered as the actors on a 
 most conspicuous theatre, which seems to be pe- 
 culiarly designed by Providence for the display of 
 human greatness and felicity. Here they are not 
 only surrounded with every thing that can con- 
 tribute to the completion of private and domestic 
 enjoyment ; but heaven has crowned all its other 
 blessings, by giving a surer opportunity for poli- 
 tical 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 circumstan- 
 ces, under which our republic assumed its rank 
 among the nations. The foundation of our em- 
 pire was not laid in a gloomy age of ignorance 
 and superstition, but at an epocha when the rights 
 of mankind were better understood and more 
 clearly defined, than at any former period. Re- 
 searches of the human mind after social happiness 
 have been carried to a great extent ; the treasures 
 of knowledge acquired by the labours of philoso- 
 phers, sages, and legislators, through a long suc- 
 cession of years, are laid open for us, and their 
 collected wisdom may be happily applied in the 
 establishment of our forms of government; The 
 free cultivation of letters, the unbounded exte^n- 
 sion of commerce, the progressive refinement of 
 manners, the growing liberality of sentiment^ 
 and, above all, the pure and benign light of re-
 
 184 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CI /x^ P relation, have had a meliorating influence on 
 
 mankind, and increased the blessings of society. 
 
 1782 At this auspicious period, the United States came 
 1781. 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 pros- 
 pects. But notwithstanding the cup of blessing is 
 thus reached out to us ; iiotwithstsnding happiness 
 is ours, if we have a disposition to seize the oc- 
 casion, and make it our own j yet it appears to me 
 there is an option still left to the United States of 
 America, whether they will be respectable and 
 prosperous, or contemptible and miserable as a 
 nation. This is the time of their political proba- 
 tion-: this is the moment when the eyes of the 
 whole world are turned upon them : this is the 
 time to establish or ruin their national character 
 for ever : this is the favourable moment to give 
 such a tone to the federal government, as will 
 enable it to answer the ends of its institution ; or, 
 this may be the illfated 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 as a blessing or a 
 curse; a blessing or a curse, not to the present 
 age alone, for with our fate will the destiny of un- 
 born millions be involved.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 185 
 
 " With tliis conviction of the importance of the CHAP. 
 
 present crisis, silence in me would be a crime; . 
 
 I will therefore speak to your excellency the Ian- 1782 
 guage of freedom and sincerity, without disguise. 1733. 
 I am aware, however, those who differ from me 
 ih political sentiments may, pe/haps, remark, I 
 am stepping out of the proper line of my duty j 
 and they may possibly ascribe to arrogance or 
 ostentation, what I know is alone the result of the 
 purest intention. But the rectitude of my own 
 heart, which disdains such unworthy motives; 
 the part I have hitherto acted in life; the deter- 
 mination I have formed of not taking any share 
 in public business hereafter ; the ardent desire I 
 feel, and shall continue to manifest, of quietly en- 
 joying 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 coun- 
 trymen, that I could have no sinister views in de- 
 livering with so little reserve the opinions contain- 
 ed in this address. 
 
 " There are four things which I humbly con- 
 ceive 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. 
 
 " 2dly. A sacred regard to public justice. 
 
 " 3dly. The adoption of a proper peace estab- 
 lishment. And, 
 
 " 4thly. The prevalence of that pacific and 
 friendly disposition among the people of the 
 United States, which will induce them td forget 
 their local prejudices and policies^ to make those 
 
 2 B
 
 186 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, mutual concessions which are requisite to the 
 ' general prosperity; and, in some instances, to 
 !782 sacrifice their individual advantages to the interest 
 ires, 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 ob- 
 servations ; leaving the last to the good sense and 
 serious consideration of those immediately con- 
 cerned. 
 
 " 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 been frequently 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 rny duty, and that of every 
 true patriot, to assert, without reserve, and to in- 
 sist 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 indis- 
 pensable to the happiness of the individual states, 
 that there should be lodged, somewhere, a su- 
 preme power to regulate and govern the general 
 concerns of the confederated republic, without 
 which the union cannot be of long duration :
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 18 
 
 That there must be a faithful and pointed com- C J^ P 
 
 pliance on the part of every state with the late 
 
 proposals and demands of Congress, or the most 1782 
 fatal consequences will ensue : That whatever ires. 
 measures have a tendency to dissolve tlie un- 
 ion, or contribute to violate or lessen the sove- 
 reign authority, ought to be considered as hostile 
 to the liberty and independency of America, and 
 the authors of them treated accordingly. And, 
 lastly, that unless we can be enabled by the con- 
 currence 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 
 cannot exist as an independent power. It will 
 be sufficient for my purpose to mention but one 
 or tyvo, which seem to me of tbe greatest impor- 
 tance. It is only in our united character, as an 
 empire, that our independence is acknowledged, 
 that our power can be regarded, or our credit sup- 
 ported among foreign nations. The treaties of the 
 European powers with the United States of Ame- 
 rica, will have no validity on a dissolution of the 
 union. We shall be left nearly in a state of na- 
 ture j or we may find, by our own' unhappy expe-
 
 IBS' THE LIFE OF 
 
 c ^ p - rience, that there is a natural and necessary pro- 
 
 _ gression from the extreme of anarchy to the ex- 
 
 1? 82 treme of tyranny ; and that arbitrary power is 
 1783- 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 ex- 
 hausted 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 hesi- 
 tate 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 reflect that 
 the system referred to, being the result of the col- 
 lected wisdom of the continent, must be esteem- 
 ed, 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 na- 
 tional bankruptcy, with all its deplorable conse- 
 quences, will t&ke place before any different plan 
 can possibly be proposed or adopted ; so pressing 
 are the present circumstances, and such is the al- 
 ternative 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; and inclination, I flatter my- 
 self, will not be wanting. The path of our du- 
 ty is plain before usj honesty will be found, on
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 189 
 
 livery experiment, to be the best and only tFue 
 policy. Let us then, as a nation, be just ; let us 
 fulfil the public contracts which Congress had un- 
 doubtedly a right to make for the purpose of car- 
 rying 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 busi- 
 ness, as individuals, and as members of society, 
 be earnestly inculcated on the citizens of Ameri- 
 ca; then will they strengthen the bands of go- 
 vernment, and be happy under ks protection. 
 Every one will reap the fruit of his labours: every 
 one will enjoy his own acquisitions, without mo- 
 lestation 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 interests of 
 society, and ensure 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 posses- 
 sions ? Where is the man to be found, who wish- 
 es to remain in debt, for the defence of his own per- 
 son and property, to the exertions, the bravery, 
 and the blood of others, without making one gene 
 rous effort to pay the debt of honour and of grati- 
 tude ? In what part of the continent shall we iind 
 any man, or body of men, who would not blush 
 to stand up and propose measures purposely cal- 
 culated to rob the soldier of his stipend, and the 
 public creditor of his due ? And were it possible 
 that aiich a flagrant instance of injustice could
 
 190 THE LIFE OF 
 
 iz VP cvei na PP en > WOU M it not excite the general 111- 
 dignation, and tend to bring down upon the au- 
 thors of such measures the aggravated vengeance 
 
 irss. of heaven ? If, after all, a spirit of disunion, or a 
 temper of obstinacy and perverseness should ma- 
 nifest itself in any of the states; if such an ungra- 
 cious 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 requisitions for funds to discharge 
 the annual interest of the public debts; and if that 
 refusal should revive all those jealousies, and pro- 
 duce all those evils, which are now happily re- 
 moved, Congress, who have in all their transac- 
 tions shown a great degree of magnanimity and 
 justice, will stand justified in the sight of God 
 and man ! and that state alone, which puts itself 
 in opposition to the aggregate wisdom of the con- 
 tinent, and follows such mistaken and pernicious 
 councils, will be responsible for all the conse- 
 quences. 
 
 " For my ovvn part, conscious of having acted 
 while a servant of the public, in the manner I 
 conceived best suited to promote the real inter- 
 ests of my country; having in consequence o 
 my fixed belief) in some measure pledged myself 
 to the army, that their country would finally do 
 them complete and ample justice; and not wish- 
 ing to conceal any instance of my official con- 
 duct from the eyes of the world, I have thought 
 proper to transmit to your excellency the enclos- 
 ed collection of papers, relative to the half-pay 
 and commutation granted by Congress, to the of- 
 ficers of the army. From these communications
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 191 
 
 ray decided sentiment will be clearly compre- CHAP. 
 bended, together with the conclusive reasons ' 
 which induced me, at an early period, to recom- 1782 
 mend the adoption of this measure in the most 1733. 
 earnest and serious manner. As the proceedings 
 of Congress, the army, and myself, are open to 
 all, and contain, in my opinion, sufficient inform- 
 ation to remove the prejudices and errors which 
 may have been entertained by any, I think it un- 
 necessary to say any thing more than just to ob- 
 serve, that the resolutions of Congress, now al- 
 luded to, are as undoubtedly and absolutely bind- 
 ing upon the United States, as the most solemn 
 acts of confederation or legislation. 
 
 " As to the idea which, 1 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 officers of the army, for services then 
 to be performed. It was the only means to pre- 
 vent 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 indepen- 
 dency. 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 cancelled until it : is 
 fairly discharged. 
 
 " With regard to the distinction between offi- 
 cers and soldiers, it is sufficient that the uniform 
 experience of every nation of the world combined 
 with our own, proves the utility and propriety of
 
 192 THE LIFE OF 
 
 discrimination. Rewards in proportion to 
 _ the aid the public draws from them, are unques- 
 1782 tionably due to all its servants. In some lines, 
 1783. the soldiers have perhaps, generally, had as am- 
 ple compensation for their services, by the large 
 bounties which have been paid them, as their of- 
 ficers will receive in the proposed commutation ; 
 in others, if, besides the donation -of land, the 
 payment of arrearages of cloathing and wages, (in 
 which articles all the component parts of the ar- 
 my must be put upon the same footing,) we take 
 into the estimate the bounties many of the sol- 
 diers have received, and the gratuity of one year's 
 full pay, which is promised to all, possibly their 
 situation, (every circumstance being duly consi- 
 dered,) will not be deemed less eligible than that 
 of the officers. Should a farther reward, how- 
 ever, be judged equitable, I will venture to assert* 
 no man will enjoy greater satisfaction than myself, 
 in 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 or 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 on public jus- 
 tice, I cannot omit to mention the obligations this 
 country is under to that meritorious class of ve- 
 terans, the non-commissioned officers and pri- 
 vates, who have been discharged for inability, in
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 193 
 
 Consequence of the resolution of Congress, of the c ^ p> 
 
 23d of April, 1782, on an annual pension for 
 
 life. Their peculiar sufferings, their singular me- 17 ^ 2 
 rits and claims to that provision, need only to be 1783.. 
 known, to interest 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 comforts or necessaries of 
 life, compelled to beg their bread daily from door 
 to door. Suffer me to recommend those of this 
 description, belonging to your state, to the warm- 
 est patronage of your excellency and your legis- 
 lature. 
 
 " It is necessary to say but a few words on the 
 third topic which was proposed, and which re- 
 gards particularly the defence of the republic 
 as there can be little doubt but Congress will re- 
 commend 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 foot- 
 ing. If this should be the case, I should beg 
 leave to urge the great advantage of it in the 
 strongest terms. 
 
 " The militia of this country must be consider- 
 ed as the palladium of our security, and the first 
 effectual resort in case of hostility. It is essen- 
 tial, therefore, that the same system should per- 
 vade the whole; that the formation and discipline
 
 194 THE LIFE OF 
 
 H? P - of the militia of the continent should be absolute- 
 
 ly uniform ; and that the same species of arms, 
 
 1782 accoutrements, and military apparatus, should be 
 1783. 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 the address; the importance of the. crisis, and 
 the 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 immutable rules of justice ; cal- 
 culated 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 more confi- 
 dence, from my actual observations ; and if it 
 would not swell this letter, (already too prolix,) be- 
 yond 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 re- 
 sources of the continent could have been proper- 
 ly called forth; that the distresses and disappoint- 
 ments which have very often occurred, have, in 
 too many instances, resulted more from a want of 
 energy in the continental government, than a de- 
 ficiency of means in the particular states ; thai
 
 tJEORGE WASHINGTON. 19- 
 
 the inefticacy of the measures, arising from the CI *AP. 
 
 ' *. 
 
 want of an adequate authority in the supreme , 
 power, from a partial compliance with the requi- -W8J5 
 sitions of Congress, in some of the states, and 1783, 
 from a failure of punctuality in others, while they 
 tended to damp the zeal of those who were more 
 willing to 'exert themselves, served also to accumu- 
 late the expenses of the war, and to frustrate the 
 best concerted plans ; and that the discourage- 
 ment occasioned by the complicated difficulties 
 and embarrassments, in which our affairs were by 
 this means involved, would have long ago produc- 
 ed 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 those things which are notorious facts, 
 as the defects of our federal constitution, particu- 
 larly 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 citi- 
 zens ; 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 re- 
 quest, that your excellency will communicate 
 these sentiments to your legislature, at their next
 
 196 THE LIFE OF 
 
 fx^ P 1Tieetm g > an ^ that they may be considered as the 
 
 - legacy of one who has ardently wished, on all 
 
 i~82 occasions, to be useful to his country, and who, 
 
 1783. 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 in- 
 cline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spi- 
 rit 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 the mind, which were the characteris- 
 tics 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. 
 
 " I have the honour to be, 
 " with much esteem and respect, 
 " Sir, 
 
 " your excellency's most obedient, 
 " and most humble servant, 
 
 " Geo: WASHINGTON." 
 
 The second of November was fixed for dis- 
 charging that part of the army which was en- 
 gaged to serve during the war. On that day, 
 Gen. Washington issued his farewell orders to 
 the armies of the United States in the most en-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 1 
 
 dearing language. After giving them his advice CI P 
 
 IX. 
 
 respecting their future conduct, and imploring 
 
 the choicest of heaven's blessings in their favour, 1782 
 
 he bade them an affectionate farewell*. 1783. 
 
 On the 2.5th of the same month, the British 
 evacuated New- York, and Gen. Washington made 
 his public entry into it, where he was received 
 with every mark of respect and attention. 
 
 The hour now approached in which it became 
 necessary for the American chief to take leave of 
 his officers who had been endeared to him by a 
 long series of common sufferings and dangers. 
 This was done in a solemn manner. The officers, 
 having previously assembled for the purpose, 
 Gen. Washington joined them, and calling fora 
 glass of wine, thus addressed them: " With an 
 heart full of love and gratitude, I now take leave 
 of you. I most devoutly wish that your latter 
 days may be as prosperous and happy as your 
 former ones have been glorious and honourable." 
 Having drank he added " I cannot come to 
 each of you, to take my leave, but shall be obliged 
 to you, if each of you will come and take me by 
 the hand." Gen. Knox being next, turned to 
 him. Incapable of utterance, Washington grasp- 
 ed his hand and embraced him. The oificers 
 came up successively, and he took an affectionate 
 leave of each of them. Not a word was articula- 
 ted on either side. A majestic silence prevailed. 
 The tear of sensibility glistened in every eye. 
 The tenderness of the scene exceeded all descrip- 
 tion. When the last of the officers had taken his 
 
 * For this Address, see Appendix.
 
 198 . THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, leave, Washington left the room and passed 
 
 . through the corps of light infantry, to the place 
 
 1782 of embarkation. The officers followed in a solemn 
 
 1783. mute procession, with dejected countenances. 
 
 On his entering the barge to cross the North river, 
 
 he turned towards the companions of his glory, 
 
 and by waving his hat, bid them a silent adieu. 
 
 Some of them answered this last signal of respect 
 
 and affection with tears; and all of them hung 
 
 upon the barge which conveyed him from their 
 
 sight, till they could no longer distinguish in it 
 
 the person of their beloved commander in chief. 
 
 The army being disbanded, Washington pro- 
 ceeded to Annapolis, then the seat of Congress, to 
 resign his commission. On his way thither, he, 
 of his own accord, delivered to the comptroller of 
 accounts in Philadelphia, an account of the ex- 
 penditure of all the public money he had ever 
 received. This was in his own hand writing, and 
 every entry was made in a very particular man- 
 ner. Vouchers were produced for every item 
 except for secret intelligence and service, which 
 amounted to no more than 1,982/ 10.? sterling. 
 The whole which in the course of eight years of 
 war, had passed through his hands, amounted 
 only to 14,479/ 18s 9</ sterling. Nothing was 
 charged or retained for personal services; and ac- 
 tual disbursements had been managed with such 
 economy and fidelity, that they were all covered 
 by the above moderate sum. 
 
 After accounting for all his expenditures of pub- 
 lic money, (secret service money for obvious rea- 
 sons excepted,) with all the exactness which esta- 
 blished forms required from the inferior officers
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 199 
 
 of his army, he hastened to resign into the hands c ^ p * 
 of the fathers of his country, the powers with 
 
 which they had invested him. This was done in tf82 
 
 / & 
 
 a public audience. Congress received him as irss. 
 
 the founder and guardian of the republic. While 
 he appeared before them, they silently retraced 
 the scenes of danger and distress through which 
 they had passed together. They recalled to mind 
 the blessings of freedom and peace purchased by 
 his arm. They gazed with wonder on their fel- 
 low-citizen who appeared more great and worthy 
 of esteem in resigning his power, than he had 
 done in gloriously using it. Every heart was big 
 with emotion. Tears of admiration and grati- 
 tude burst from every eye. The general sympa- 
 thy was felt by the resigning hero, and wet his 
 cheek with a manly tear. After a decent pause, 
 he 'addressed Thomas Mifflin, the President of 
 Congress, in the following words : 
 
 " Mr. PRESIDENT, 
 
 " The great events on which my resignation 
 depended, having at length taken place, I have 
 now the honour of offering my sincere congratula- 
 tions to Congress, and of presenting myself be- 
 fore them to surrender into their hands the trust 
 committed to me, and to claim the indulgence of 
 retiring from the service of my country. 
 
 " Happy in the confirmation of our indepen- 
 dence and sovereignty, and pleased with the op- 
 portunity afforded the United States of becoming 
 a respectable nation, I resign with satisfaction the 
 appointment I accepted with diffidence ; A diffi- 
 dence in my abilities to accomplish so arduous a
 
 200 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, task, which, however, was superseded by a con- 
 
 fidence in the rectitude of our cause, the support 
 
 1782 of the supreme power of the union, and the pa- 
 1783. tronage of Heaven. 
 
 " The successful termination of the war has ve- 
 rified the most sanguine expectations; and my 
 gratitude for the interposition of Providence, and 
 the assistance I have received from my country- 
 men, increases with every review of the momen- 
 tous contest. 
 
 " AVhile I repeat my obligations to the army 
 in general, I should do injustice to my own feel- 
 ings, not to acknowledge in this place, the peculiar 
 services and distinguished merits of the persons 
 who have been attached to my person during the 
 war. It was impossible the choice of confidential 
 officers to compose my family should have been 
 more fortunate. Permit me, Sir, to recommend 
 in particular, those who have continued in the 
 service to the present moment, as worthy of the 
 f favourable notice and patronage of Congress. 
 
 " I consider it as an indispensable duty to 
 close this last solemn act of my official life, by 
 commending the interests of our dearest country 
 to the protection of Almighty God, and those 
 who have the superintendence of them to his holy 
 keeping. 
 
 " Having now finished the work assigned me, 
 I retire from the great theatre of action ; and, bid- 
 ding an affectionate farewell to this august body, 
 under whose orders I have long acted, I here offer 
 my commission, and take my leave of all the em- 
 ployments of public life*." 
 
 * The commission now returned to Congress, had been re-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 201 
 
 This address being ended, Gen. Washington CHAP. 
 advanced and delivered his commission into the -- 
 hands of the President of Congress, who replied ^82 
 as follows: 1783. 
 
 oeived from them shortly after the commencement of hostilities. 
 It was accompanied with an unanimous resolution of the dele- 
 gates of the United Colonies " That they would maintain, as- 
 sist, and adhere to George Washington, with their lives and 
 fortunes, in the cause of American liberty." The commission, 
 drawn by a special committee, was in the following words : 
 
 " The delegates of the United Colonies of New-Hampshire, 
 Massachusetts' Bay, Rhode-Island, Connecticut, New- York, New- 
 Jersey, Pennsylvania, the Counties of New-Castle, Kent, and 
 Sussex, on Delaware ; Maryland, Virginia, North-Carolina, and 
 South-Carolina, 
 
 " To George Washington^ Esq. 
 
 u We, reposing special trust and confidence in your patriotism, 
 valour, conduct, and fidelity, do by these presents constitute and 
 appoint you to be General, and Commander in Chief of the army 
 of the United Colonies, and of all the forces now raised or to be 
 raised by them, and of all others who shall voluntarily offer their 
 service and join the said army, for the defence of American li- 
 berty, and for repelling every hostile invasion thereof; and you 
 are hereby vested with full power and authority, to act as you 
 shall think for the good and welfare of the service. 
 
 " And we do hereby strictly charge and require all officers 
 and soldiers under your command, to be obedient to your orders, 
 and diligent in the exercise of their several duties. 
 
 " And we do also enjoin and require you to be careful in exer- 
 cising the great trust reposed in you, by causing strict discipline 
 and order to be observed in the army, and that the soldiers be 
 duly exercised and provided with all convenient necessaries. 
 
 " And you are to regulate your conduct in every respect by the 
 rules and discipline of war, (as herewith given you,) and punctu- 
 ally to observe and follow such orders and directions from time 
 
 2 D
 
 U2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. " The United States in Congress assembled, re- 
 
 ' ceive with emotions too affecting for utterance, 
 
 1^82 the solemn resignation of the authorities under 
 
 1783. \vhich you have led their troops with success, 
 
 through a perilous and doubtful war. 
 
 to time, as you shall receive from this, or a future Congress of 
 these United Colonies, or committee of Congress. 
 
 " This commission to continue in force, until revoked by this, 
 or a future Congress. 
 
 (Signed) PEYTON RANDOLPH, President. 
 
 (Attest) CHARLES THOMSON, Secretary. 
 
 "June 17th, 1775." 
 
 At the time this commission was accepted, the United Colo- 
 nies had no assurance of foreign assistance, and were without es- 
 tablished government, arms, magazines, forts, money, trade, na- 
 vy, disciplined troops, or experienced officers. 
 
 At the same time they were denounced by their sovereign as 
 in a state of rebellion, Washington, by accepting the command 
 of their armies, not only subjected one of the largest estates in 
 America to confiscation, but his life to execution. The diffidence 
 he avowed on the occasion, was not the common cant of success- 
 ful candidates for promotion, nor did it arise from apprehensions 
 of personal danger; but was the offspring of excessive modesty. 
 Though willing to risk every thing on the contest, he really dis- 
 trusted his ability to contend in regular war, with the experienced 
 Generals of Britain. The doubts and fears which for some time 
 kept him in suspense, at length yielded to a conviction of duty, 
 and the earnest invitation of friends, who appreciated his talents 
 more correctly than he did himself. On the event of his declin- 
 ing the high commission, (as was for some time expected,) it was 
 privately resolved to confer it on Gen, Ward, of Massachusetts. 
 What would have been the issue of the military opposition of 
 America conducted by that much esteemed officer, no one can 
 tell ; but without invidious comparison, it may be safely affirmed, 
 that it could no*, have been more successful than under the auspi- 
 ces of Washington.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 2 
 
 " Called upon by your country to defend its Cl * v 
 invaded rights, you accepted the sacred charge 
 before it had formed alliances, and whilst it was 1782 
 without friends or a government to support you. ir&i. 
 
 " You have conducted the great military con- 
 test with wisdom and fortitude, invariably re- 
 garding the rights of the civil power through all 
 disasters and changes. You have by the love and 
 confidence of your fellow-citizens, enabled them 
 to display their martial genius, and transmit their 
 fame to posterity: you have persevered till these 
 United States, aided by a magnanimous king and 
 nation, have been enabled under a just Provi- 
 dence, to close the war in safety, freedom, and in- 
 dependence; on which happy event we sincerely 
 join you in congratulations. 
 
 " Having defended the standard of liberty in 
 this new world; having taught a lesson useful to 
 those who inflict, and to those who feel oppres- 
 sion, you retire from the great theatre of action 
 with the blessings of your fellow-citizens ; but 
 the glory of your virtues will not terminate with 
 your military command, it will continue to ani- 
 mate remotest ages. We feel with you our obli- 
 gations to the army in general, and will particu- 
 larly charge ourselves with the interest of those 
 confidential officers who have attended your per- 
 son to this affecting moment. 
 
 " We join you in commending the interests of 
 our dearest country to the protection of Almighty 
 God, beseeching him to dispose the hearts and 
 minds of its citizens to improve the opportunity 
 afforded them of becoming a happy and respecta- 
 ble nation; and for you, we address to Him our
 
 204 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CI ix P earnest Players, that a life so beloved, may be 
 
 fostered with all his care ; that your days may be 
 
 1782 happy as they have been illustrious, and that he 
 irts. will finally give you that reward which this world 
 cannot give." 
 
 The military services of Gen. Washington, which 
 ended with this interesting day, were as great as 
 ever were rendered by any man to any nation. 
 They were at the same time disinterested. How 
 dear would not a mercenary man have sold such 
 toils, such dangers, and above all, such successes? 
 What schemes of grandeur and of power would 
 not an ambitious man have built upon the affec- 
 tions of the people and. of the army ? The grati- 
 tude of America was so lively, that any thing ask- 
 ed by her resigning chief, would have been readi- 
 ly granted. He asked nothing for himself, his fa- 
 mily, or relations ; but indirectly solicited favours 
 for the confidential officers who were attached to 
 his person. These were young gentlemen with- 
 out fortune, who had served him in the capacity 
 of Aids de Camp. To have omitted the op- 
 portunity which then offered, of recommending 
 them to their country's notice, would have argued 
 a degree of insensibility in the breast of their 
 friend. The only privilege distinguishing him 
 from other private citizens, which the retiring 
 Washington did or would receive from his grate- 
 ful country, was a right of sending and receiving 
 letters free of postage. 
 
 The American chief, having by his own volun- 
 tary act, become one of the people, hastened with 
 ineffable delight to his seat at Mount Vernon, on 
 the banks of the Potowmac. There, in a short
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 205 
 
 time, the most successful General in the world, 
 became the most diligent farmer in Virginia. 
 
 To pass suddenly from the toils of the first com- 
 mission in the United States to the care of a farm 1783. 
 to exchange the instruments of war, for the 
 implements of husbandry, and to become at once 
 the patron and example of ingenious agriculture, 
 would to most men have been a difficult task. 
 But to the elevated mind of Washington, it was 
 natural and delightful. From his example, let 
 the commanders of armies learn, that the fame 
 which is acquired by the sword, without guilt or 
 ambition, may be preserved without power or 
 splendour in private life.
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. X. 
 
 General Washington, on retiring from public life, 
 devotes himself to agricultural pursuits. Favours 
 inland navigation. Declines offered emoluments 
 from it. Urges an alteration of the fundamental 
 rules of the society of the Cincinnati. Regrets the 
 defects of the Federal system, and recommends a 
 revisal of it. Is appointed a member of the conti- 
 nental convention for that purpose, which, after 
 hesitation, he accepts. Is chosen President there- 
 of. Is solicited to accept the Presidency of the 
 ~ United States. Writes sundry letters expressive 
 of the conflict in his mind, between duty and incli- 
 nation. Answers applicants for offices. His re- 
 luctance to enter on public life. 
 
 ,ILAP. J. H sensa tj ons o f Washington on retiring from 
 
 public business are thus expressed : " I feel as a 
 
 ^o 3 wearied traveller must do, who, after treading 
 1789. many a paitiful 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 trac- 
 ing with an eager eye, the meanders by which 
 he escaped the quicksands and mires which lay in 
 his way, and into which none but the All Power- 
 ful Guide and Dispenser of human events, could 
 have prevented his falling.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 20? 
 
 < I have become a private citizen on the banks CI ^ AP - 
 
 of the Potowmac, and, under the shadow of my 
 
 own vine and my own fig-tree, free from the bus- 1783 
 tie of a camp, and the busy scenes of public life, 1789. 
 I am solacing myself \vith those tranquil enjoy- 
 ments 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 in- 
 sufficient 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 soli- 
 tary walk, and tread the paths of private life with 
 heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am de- 
 termined 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." 
 
 Agriculture, which had always been the favour- 
 ite employment of Washington, was now resumed 
 with .increasing delight. The energies of his ac- 
 tive mind were devoted to this first and most use- 
 ful art. No improvements in the construction of 
 farming utensils, no valuable experiments in hus- 
 bandry, escaped his attention. He saw with re- 
 gret, the miserable system of cultivation which 
 prevailed too generally in his native country, and 
 wished to introruice a better. AVith this view, he 
 engaged in a correspondence with some of the 
 distinguished agriculturists in Great-Britain, par-
 
 8 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C ix* P ticularly the celebrated Arthur Young. He 
 traced the different states of agriculture in the two 
 1 ^3 countries, in a great degree to the following obvi- 
 1789. ous principles. In Great-Britain, land was dear, 
 and labour cheap. In America the reverse took 
 place to such a degree, that manuring land was 
 comparatively neglected, on the mistaken, short- 
 sighted idea, that it was cheaper to clear and cul- 
 tivate new fields, than to improve and repair such 
 as were old. To this radical error, which led to 
 idleness and a vagabond dispersed population, he 
 opposed the whole weight of his influence. His 
 example and recommendations tended to revolu- 
 tionize the agriculture of his country, as his va- 
 lour had revolutionized its government. 
 
 The extension of inland navigation occupied 
 much of Washington's attention, at this period of 
 exemption from public cares. Soon after peace 
 was proclaimed, he made a tour as far west as 
 Pittsburgh, and also traversed the western parts of 
 New-England and New- York, and examined for 
 himself the difficulties of bringing the trade of 
 the west to different points on the Atlantic. Pos- 
 sessed of an accurate knowledge of the subject, 
 he corresponded with the governors of different 
 states, and other influential characters. To them 
 he suggested the propriety of making by public 
 authority, an appointment of commissioners of in- 
 tegrity and ability, whose duty it should be, after 
 accurate examination, to ascertain the nearest 
 and best portages between such of the eastern 
 and western rivers as headed near to each other,, 
 though they ran in opposite directions ; and also 
 to trace the rivers west of the Ohio, to their
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 20! 
 
 sources and mouths, as they respectively emptied CHAP. 
 either info the Ohio, or the lakes of Canada, and ' 
 to make an accurate map of the whole, with ob- !783 
 servations on the impediments to be overcome, irsg. 
 and the advantages to be acquired on the comple- 
 tion of the work. 
 
 The views of Washington in advocating the 
 Extension of inland navigation were grand, and 
 magnificent. He considered it as an effectual 
 mean of cementing the union of the states. In 
 his letter to the Governor of Virginia he observed 
 " I need not remark to you, sir, that the flanks 
 and rear of the United States are possessed by 
 other powers, and formidable ones too ; nor 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 uncon- 
 nected 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 do now, 
 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 connex- 
 ions with both or either of those powers ? It 
 needs not, in my opinion, the gift of prophecy to 
 foretell." After stating the same thing to a mem- 
 ber of Congress, he proceeds, " It may be asked, 
 how we are to prevent thus ? Happily for us the 
 way is plain. Our immediate interests, as well as 
 
 2 K
 
 10 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, remote political advantages, point to it; whilst a 
 . combination of circumstances render the present 
 
 1783 time more favourable than any other to accom- 
 1789. plish it. Extend the inland navigation of the 
 eastern waters ; communicate them as near as 
 possible with those which run westward ; open 
 these to the Ohio ; open also such as extend from 
 the Ohio towards lake Erie ; and we shall not 
 only draw the produce of the western settlers, but 
 the peltry and fur trade of the lakes also, to our 
 ports j thus adding an immense increase to our ex- 
 ports, and binding those people to us by a chain 
 which never can be broken." 
 
 The Virginia legislature acted on the recom- 
 mendation of Gen. Washington, to the extent of 
 his wishes ; and in consequence thereof, works of 
 the greatest utility have been nearly accomplished. 
 They went one step farther, and by a legislative 
 act vested in him, at the expense of the state, one 
 hundred and fifty shares in the navigation of the 
 rivers Potowmac and James. The act for this pur- 
 pose was introduced with the following preamble : 
 " Whereas it is the desire of the representatives 
 of this commonwealth, to embrace every suitable 
 occasion of testifying their sense of the unexam- 
 pled merits of George Washington, Esq. 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 encourag- 
 ed by his patronage, will be durable monuments 
 of his glory, may be made monuments also of the 
 gratitude of his country. Be it enacted," Kc. 
 To the friend who conveyed to Washington
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 21 
 
 tire first intelligence of this bill, he replied " It C1 ^ AF 
 
 is not easy for me to decide, by which my mind 
 
 was most affected upon the receipt of your letter vss 
 of the sixth instant, surprise or gratitude. Both 1789, 
 were greater than I had words to express. The 
 attention and good wishes which the assembly 
 have evidenced by their act for v-esting in me one 
 hundred and lifty shares in the navigation of the 
 rivers Potowmac and James, is more than mere 
 compliment. There is an unequivocal and substan- 
 tial 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 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 ac- 
 ceptance 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 to express my senti- 
 ments, and if necessary to suggest what may oc- 
 cur to me under the fullest conviction, that al- 
 though 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, acU^ upon the clear- 
 est conviction of the political importance of the
 
 12 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, measure, I would wish that every individual 
 - who may hear that it was a favourite plan of 
 
 irss mine, may know also that I had no other motive 
 1789. 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 cement- 
 ing the eastern and western territory together; 
 at the same time, that it will give vigour to and 
 increase our commerce, and be a convenience to 
 our citizens. 
 
 " How would this matter be viewed then by 
 the eye of the world, and what opinion would be 
 
 formed, when it comes to be related that G * 
 
 W n exerted himself to effect this work, and 
 
 that G W n has received twenty thou- 
 sand Dollars, and five thousand pounds sterling 
 of the public money as an interest therein ? 
 Would not this, (if I am entitled to any merit for 
 the part I have performed, and without it there is 
 . no foundation for the act,) deprive me of the prin- 
 cipal thing which is laudable in my conduct? 
 Would it not in some respects be considered in 
 the same light as a pension ? And would not tly- 
 apprehensions of this induce me to offer my sen- 
 timents in future with the more reluctance? In a 
 word, under whatever pretence, and however cus- 
 tomary these gratuities may be in other countries, 
 should 1 not thenceforward be considered as a de- 
 pendent? One moment's thought of which would 
 give me more pain, than I should receive pleasure 
 from the product of all the tolls, was every far- 
 thing of them vested in me." 
 
 To the Governor of the state, <*n receiving from 
 him an official copy of the aforesaid act, Wash- 
 ington replied as follows:
 
 GEOBGE WASHINGTON. 213 
 
 " Your excellency having been pleased to trans- CHAP. 
 mit me a copy of the act appropriating to my be- ' 
 nefit certain shares in the companies for opening 1783 
 the navigation of James and Potowmac rivers; I 1739. 
 take the liberty of returning to the general assem- 
 bly, through your hands, the profound and grate- 
 ful 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 to my country, sen- 
 sibJe to every token of its approbation and atfec- 
 tion, 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 over-rated and overpaid them ; re- 
 citing one consideration only, which supersedes 
 the necessity of recurring to every other. 
 
 " When I was first called to the fetation 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.
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. \\rhii s t i repeat, therefore, my fervent ae- 
 
 _ knowledgments to the legislature for their very 
 
 ^783 kind sentiments and intentions in my favour, and 
 
 to 
 
 1789. 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 assem- 
 bly 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 le- 
 gislature." 
 
 The wishes suggested in this letter were sanc- 
 tioned by the legislature ; and, at a subsequent 
 time, the trust was executed by conveying the 
 shares to the use of a seminary of learning in the 
 vicinity of each river. 
 
 Near the close of the revolutionary war, the of- 
 ficers of the American army, with a view of per- 
 petuating their friendships, formed themselves in- 
 to a society, to be named after the famous Roman 
 patriot, Cincinnatus. At the head of their society, 
 Gen. Washington was placed. By the rules of 
 their institution, the honours of the society were 
 to be hereditary in their respective families, and 
 distinguished individuals might be admitted as ho- 
 norary members for life. These circumstances, 
 together with the union of the officers of the ar-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 my, gave an alarm to the community ; several in- 
 dividuals of which supposed that the hereditary 
 part of the institution would be a germ of nobili- 1783 
 ty. It was the usual policy of Washington to re- irsa; 
 spect the opinions of the people, in matters in- 
 different, or of small magnitude, though he might 
 think them mistaken. Having ascertained to his 
 own satisfaction, that a degree of jealousy per- 
 vaded the mass of the people, respecting the pro- 
 bable tendency of this perpetual hereditary socie- 
 ty, he successfully exerted his influence to new 
 model its rules, by relinquishing the hereditary 
 principle and the power of adopting honorary 
 members. The result proved the wisdom of the 
 measure ; for all jealousies of the society hencefor- 
 ward were done away, and the members thereof 
 were received as brethren, by the most suspicious 
 of their fellow-citizens. 
 
 When Washington, at the close of the revolu- 
 tionary war, became a private citizen, his country 
 confidently anticipated every possible blessing 
 from peace, independence, and self-government. 
 But experience soon proved the inefficacy of ex- 
 isting systems for promoting national happiness, or 
 preserving national dignity. Congress had nei- 
 ther the power nor the means of doing justice to 
 public creditors, nor of enforcing the respect of 
 foreign nations. Gold and silver vanished com- 
 merce languished property was depreciated 
 and credit expired. The lovers of liberty and in- 
 dependence began to be less sanguine in their 
 hopes from the American revolution, and to fear 
 that they had built a visionary fabric of govern- 
 ment on the fallacious ideas of public virtue. For
 
 216 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP: the first five or six years immediately following 
 
 peace, the splendour which surrounded the in- 
 
 1783 -fant states from their successful struggle in the 
 1789. cause of independence and self-government, was 
 daily darkening. This state of things could not 
 be indifferent fo Washington. He was among 
 the first to discover the cause, and to point out 
 the remedy. The inefficient support he received 
 while commander in chief, proved the ineflicacy 
 of the articles^ of confederation, for raising and 
 supporting a requisite military force. The expe- 
 rience of the first years of peace, proved their to- 
 tal inadequacy for the purpose of national govern- 
 ment. From want of vigour in the federal head, 
 the United States were fast dwindling into sepa- 
 rate sovereignties, unconnected by any bond of 
 union, equal to public exigency. The private let- 
 ters of Washington at this time, show his anxiety 
 for his country's welfare, and his wisdom in point- 
 ing out a remedy for its degradation. In one of 
 them he observes u 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 produc- 
 ing, sufficient powers to order and direct the af- 
 fairs of the same. By such policy the wheels of
 
 WASHINGTON., 21 
 
 government are clogged, and our brightest pros- CHAP. 
 
 pects, and that high expectation which was enter- 
 
 tained of us by the wondering world, are turned 1783 
 into astonishment ; and from the high ground on 1789. 
 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, ad- 
 mits, 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." 
 
 In another " It is one of the evils of demo- 
 cratic governments, that the people, not always 
 seeing, and frequently misled, must often feel be- 
 fore they are set right. But evils of this nature 
 seldom fail to work their own cure. It is to be 
 lamented, nevertheless, that the remedies are so 
 slow, and that those who wish to apply them sea- 
 sonably, are not attended to before they su.ffer in 
 person, in interest, and in reputation. I am not 
 without hopes that matters will soon take a fa- 
 vourable turn in the federal constitution. The 
 discerning part of the community have long since 
 seen the necessity of giving adequate powers to 
 Congress for national purposes, and those of a 
 different description must yield to it ere long." 
 
 In a letter to Mr. Jay, Gen. Washington ob- 
 served : " Your sentiments that our affairs are 
 drawing rapidly to a crisis, accord with my own, 
 
 2 F
 
 18 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. ^Vhat the event will be, is also beyond the reach 
 ' of my foresight. We have errors to correct ; we 
 ires have probably had too good an opinion of human 
 1789 nature in forming our confederation. Experience 
 has taught us that men will not adopt and carry 
 into execution, measures the best calculated for 
 their own good, without the intervention of coer- 
 cive power. I do not conceive we can subsist 
 long as a nation, without lodging somewhere a 
 power which will pervade the whole union in as 
 energetic a manner, as the authority of the state 
 governments extends over the several states. To 
 be fearful of investing Congress,, constituted as 
 that body \s f with ample authorities for national 
 purposes, appears to me the very climax of popu- 
 lar absurdity and madness. Could Congress ex- 
 ert them for the detriment of the people, without 
 injuring themselves in an equal or greater pro- 
 portion ? Are not their interests inseparably conr- 
 nected with those of their constituents ? By the 
 rotation of appointment, must they not mingle 
 frequently with the mass of citizens ? Is it not 
 rather to be apprehended, if they were possessed 
 of the powers before described, that the individual 
 members would be induced to use them on many 
 occasions, very timidly and inefficaciously, for fear 
 of losing their popularity and future election ? We 
 must take human nature as we find it perfection 
 falls not to the share of mortals. Many are o 
 opinion, that Congress have too frequently made 
 use of the suppliant humble tone of requisition, 
 in applications to the states, when they had a right 
 to assert the^r imperial dignity, and command 
 obedience. Be that as it may, requisitions are a
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 21 < 
 
 perfect nullity, where thirteen sovereign, inde- C HAP. 
 pendent, disunited states, are in the habit of dis- ' 
 cussing, and refusing or complying with them at 1783 
 their option. Requisitions are actually little bet- 1789. 
 ter than a jest and a bye-word throughout the 
 land. If you tell the legislatures they have violat- 
 ed the treaty of peace, and invaded the preroga- 
 tives of the confederacy, they will laugh in your 
 face. What then is to be done ? Things cannot 
 go on in the same train for ever. It is much to 
 be feared, as you observe, that the better kind of , 
 
 people, being disgusted with these circumstances, 
 will have their minds prepared for any revolution 
 whatever. We are apt to run from one extreme 
 into another. To anticipate and prevent disas- 
 trous contingencies, would be the part of wisdom 
 and patriotism. 
 
 " What astonishing changes are a few years ca- 
 pable of producing ! I am told that even respect- 
 able characters speak of a monarchical form of go- 
 vernment, without horror. From thinking, pro- 
 ceeds speaking; thence to acting is often but a 
 -single step. But how irrevocable and tremen- 
 dous! What a triumph for our enemies to verify 
 their predictions ! What a triumph for the advo- 
 cates of despotism to find that we are incapable 
 of governing ourselves, and that systems founded 
 on the basis of equal liberty, are merely ideal and 
 fallacious ! Would to God that wise measures 
 may be taken in time, to avert the consequences 
 we have but too much reason to apprehend." 
 ** Retired as I am from the world, I frankly ac- 
 knowledge, I cannot feel myself an unconcerned 
 spectator. Yet having happily assisted in bring-
 
 CHAP. 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 i n g tne s hjp i nto portj an d having been fairly dis- 
 charged, it is not my business to embark again 
 1783 on a sea of troubles. 
 
 to 
 
 J789. ' Nor could it be expected that my sentiments 
 and opinions would have much weight on the 
 minds of my countrymen. They have been neg- 
 lected, though given as a last legacy, in the most 
 solemn manner. I had then, perhaps, some claims 
 to public attentions. I consider myself as having 
 none at present." 
 
 Illumination, on the subject of enlarging the 
 powers of Congress, was gradual. Washington, 
 in his extensive correspondence and intercourse 
 with the leading characters of the different states, 
 urged the necessity of a radical reform in the ex- 
 isting system of government. The business was 
 at length seriously taken up, and a proposition 
 was made by Virginia, for electing deputies to a 
 general convention, for the sole purpose of revis- 
 ing the Federal system of government. 
 
 While this proposition was under considera- 
 tion, an event took place, which pointed out the 
 propriety of its adoption. The pressure of evils 
 in a great degree resulting from the imbecility of 
 government, aided by erroneous opinions, which 
 confound liberty with licentiousness, produced 
 commotions in Massachusetts, which amounted to 
 treason and rebellion. On this occasion, Wash- 
 ington expressed himself in a letter as follows: 
 " 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 
 Trans-atlantic foes have predicted, and of another
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 22 
 
 thing perhaps, which is still more to be regretted, CHAP 
 and is yet more unaccountable, that mankind . 
 when left to themselves, are unfit for their own 1783 
 government. *I am mortified beyond expression, 1739. 
 when I view the clouds which have spread over 
 the brightest morn that ever dawned upon my 
 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 dark- 
 ness, as not to see rays of a distant sun through 
 all this mist of intoxication and folly. 
 
 " You talk, my good sir, of employing influ- 
 ence to appease the present tumults in Massachu- 
 setts. I know not where that influence is to be 
 found, nor, if attainable, that it would be a proper 
 remedy lor 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 in- 
 surgents aim at. If they have real grievances, re- 
 dress 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 
 government against them at once. If this is in- 
 adequate, all will be convinced that the super- 
 structure is bad, or wants support, To be more 
 exposed in the eyes of the world, and more con-
 
 222 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, temptible, is hardly possible. To delay one or 
 
 the other of these expedients, is to exasperate on 
 
 1^83 the one hand, or to give confidence on the other, 
 1789. 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 reprehend- 
 ed. If defective, let it be amended, but not suf- 
 fered to be trampled upon while it has an exist- 
 ence." 
 
 Virginia placed the name of Washington at the 
 head of her delegates for the proposed convention. 
 Letters poured in upon him from all sides, urging 
 his acceptance of the appointment. In answer to 
 one from Mr. Madison, who had been the princi- 
 pal advocate of the measure in the Virginia legis- 
 lature, Gen. Washington replied " Although I 
 have bid a public adieu to the public walks of 
 life, and had resolved never more to tread that 
 theatre, yet, if upon any occasion so interesting to 
 the well-being of our confederacy, it had been the 
 wish of the Assembly that I should be an associ- 
 ate in the business of revising the Federal system, 
 I should, from a sense of the obligation I am un- 
 der for repeated proofs of confidence in me, more 
 than from any opinion I cculd entertain of my 
 usefulness, have obeyed its call; but it is now out 
 of my power to do this with any degree of consist- 
 ency. The cause I will mention.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 22' 
 
 " I presume you heard, sir, that I was first ap- CHAP. 
 
 pointed, and have since been re-chosen, President 
 
 of the Society of the Cincinnati; and you may ^83 
 have understood also, that the triennial general irsa 
 meeting of this body is to be held in Philadelphia 
 the first Monday in May next. Some particular 
 reasons, combining with the peculiar situation of 
 my private concerns, the necessity of paying at- 
 tention to them, a wish for retirement, and relax- 
 ation from public cares, and rheumatic pains, 
 which I begin ta feel very sensibly, induced me, 
 on the 31st ultimo, to address a circular letter to 
 each state society, informing them of my inten- 
 tion not to be at the next meeting, and of my de- 
 sire not to be re-chosen President. The Vice- 
 president is also informed of this,, that the busi- 
 ness of the society may not be impeded by my 
 absence. Under these circumstances it will rea- 
 dily be perceived, that I could not appear at the 
 same time and place, on any other occasion, with- 
 out giving offence to a very respectable and de- 
 serving part of the community the late officers of 
 the American army." 
 
 The meeting of the convention was postponed 
 to a day subsequent to that of the meeting of the 
 Cincinnati. This removed one of the difficulties 
 in the way of Washington's acceptance of a seat 
 in the convention, and, joined with the import- 
 ance of the call, and his- own eager desire to ad- 
 vance the public interest, finally induced his com- 
 pliance with the wishes of his friends. 
 
 The convention met in Philadelphia, in May, 
 and unanimously chose George Washington their 
 President. On the 17th of September, 1787, they
 
 224 THE LIFE OF* 
 
 CHAP, closed their labours, and submitted the result to 
 
 Congress, with their opinion " that it should be 
 
 1783 submitted to a convention of delegates chosen in 
 1789. each state by the people thereof, under the re- 
 commendation of its legislature, for their assent 
 and ratification." 
 
 By this new form of government, ample powers 
 were given to Congress without the intervention 
 of the states, for every purpose that national dig- 
 nity, interest, or happiness, required. 
 
 The ablest pens and most eloquent tongues 
 were employed for, and against, its acceptance* 
 In this animated contest, Washington took no part. 
 Having with his sword vindicated the right of his 
 country to self government, and having with his 
 advice aided in digesting an efficient form of go- 
 vernment, which he most thoroughly approved, it 
 would seem as though he wished the people to 
 decide for themselves, whether to accept or re- 
 ject it. 
 
 The constitution being accepted by eleven 
 states, and preparatory measures being taken for 
 bringing it into operation, all eyes were turned 
 to Washington, as being the fittest man for the of- 
 fice of President of the United States. His cor- 
 respondents began to press his acceptance of the 
 high office, as essential to the well-being of his 
 country. 
 
 To those who think that Washington was like 
 other men, it will scarcely appear possible, that 
 supreme magistracy possessed no charms suffi- 
 cient to tempt him from his beloved retirement, 
 when he was healthy and strong, and only fifty- 
 seven years old; but if an opinion can be formed
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 225 
 
 of his real sentiments, from the teuour of his bfe CHAP. 
 
 and confidential communications to his most inti- 
 
 mate friends, a conviction will be produced, that 1783 
 his acceptance of the Presidency of the United 1789. 
 States was the result of a victory obtained by a 
 sense of duty over his inclinations, and was a real 
 sacrifice of the latter to the former. 
 
 In a letter to Col. Henry Lee, Washington ob- 
 serves" 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, nor the ter- 
 ror of encountering new fatigues and troubles, that 
 would deter me from an acceptance, but a be- 
 lief 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 un- 
 dervaluing the grapes he could not reach. You, 
 will perceive, my dear sir, by what is here ob- 
 served, (and which you will be pleased to consi- 
 der in the light of a confidential communication,) 
 that my inclinations will dispose and decide me 
 to remain asl am, unless a clear and insurmount- 
 able conviction should be impressed on my mind, 
 that some very disagreeable consequences must 
 in all human probability result from the indul- 
 gence of my wishes." 
 
 In a letter to Col. Hamilton, Washington ob- 
 2 G
 
 26 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, serves " If I am not grossly deceived in myself, 
 I should unfeignedly rejoice, in case the electors, 
 1783 by giving their votes to some other person, would 
 1769. 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 search- 
 ing out the truth, and of knowing whether there 
 does not exist a probability that the government 
 would just as happily and effectually be carried 
 into execution, without my aid, as with it. I am 
 truely solicitous to obtain all the previous infor- 
 mation which the circumstances will afford, and to 
 determine, (when the determination can no long- 
 er be postponed,) according to the principles of 
 right reason, and the dictates of a clear con- 
 science, without too great a reference to the un- 
 foreseen consequences which may affect my per- 
 son or reputation. Until that period, I may fairly 
 hold myself open to conviction, though I allow 
 your sentiments to have weight in them j and I 
 shall not pass by your arguments, without giving 
 them as dispassionate a consideration as 1 can pos- 
 sibly 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 be called upon ere long 
 to make the .decision. You will, I am well assur- 
 ed, believe the assertion, (though I have little ex- 
 pectation 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
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 22' 
 
 accept it, the acceptance would be attended with CHAP. 
 more difficulty and reluctance, than I ever expe- ' 
 rienced before. It would be, however, with a fix- irss 
 ed and sole determination of lending whatever as- .1789. 
 sistance might be in my power to promote the 
 public weal, in hopes that at a convenient and 
 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 tran- 
 quillity." 
 
 In a letter to Gen. Lincoln, Washington ob- 
 serves " I may, however, with great sincerity, 
 and I believe without offending against modesty 
 and 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,! must reserve 
 to myself the right of making up my final deci- 
 sion, at the last moment when it can be brought 
 into one view, and when the expediency or inex- 
 pediency of a refusal can be more judiciously de- 
 termined, than at present. But be assured, my 
 dear sir, if, from any inducement, I shall be persua- 
 ded 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 expres- 
 sion,) to retirement. At my time of life, and un- 
 der 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 pre- 
 ferred the conservation of my own reputation and
 
 ! C J8 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, private ease, to the good of my country. After 
 ' all, if I should conceive myself in a manner con- 
 !783 strained to accept, I call heaven to witness, that 
 1789* 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, per- 
 haps for public obloquy; for I should consider my- 
 self as entering upon an unexplored field, enve- 
 loped on every side with clouds and darkness. 
 
 " From this embarrassing situation, I had na- 
 turally supposed, that my declarations at the close 
 of the war would have saved me, and that my sin- 
 cere intentions, then publicly made known, would 
 have effectually precluded me for ever 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 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." 
 
 In a letter to the Marquis de laFayette, Wash- 
 ington observes " Your sentiments indeed co- 
 incide much more nearly with those of my other 
 friends, than with my own feelings. In truth, my 
 difficulties increase and magnify as I draw towards 
 the period, when, according to the common be- 
 lief, it will be necessary for me to give a defini- 
 tive answer in one way or other. Should cir- 
 cumstances render it in a manner inevitably ne- 
 cessary to be in the affirmative, be assured, my 
 dear sir, I shall assume the task with the most un-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 229 
 
 feigned reluctance, and with a real diffidence, for CHAP. 
 
 which I shall probably receive no credit from the 
 
 world. If I know my own heart, nothing short l 783 
 of a conviction of duty, will induce me again to 1789. 
 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 em- 
 barrassments in which it is entangled through 
 want of credit, and to establish a general system 
 of policy, which, if pursued, will ensure perma- 
 nent 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. No- 
 thing but harmony, honesty, industry, and frugal- 
 ity, are necessary to make us a great and a 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." 
 
 Before the election of a President came on, so 
 universal was the expectation that Washington 
 would be elected, that numerous applications 
 were made to him, in anticipation for offices in 
 the government, which would be in his gift. To 
 one of such applicants he wrote as follows : 
 " Should it become absolutely necessary for me 
 to occupy the station in which your letter pre- 
 supposes me, I have determined to go into it per- 
 fectly free from all engagements of every nature 
 whatsoever. A conduct in conformity to this re- 
 solution, would enable me in balancing the va-
 
 230 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. r ious pretensions of different candidates for ap- 
 
 ' pointments, to act with a sole reference to jus- 
 
 1783 tice, and the public good. This is in substance, 
 
 1789. the answer that I have given to all applications, 
 
 (and they are not few,) which have already been 
 
 made."
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 93.1 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 Washington elected President. On his -way to the 
 seat of government at New-York, receives the 
 most flattering marks of respect. Addresses Con- 
 gress. The situation of the United States in their 
 foreign and domestic relations, at the inauguration 
 of Washington. Fills up public offices solely with a 
 view to the public good. Proposes a treaty to the 
 Creek Indians, which is at first rejected. Col. Willet 
 induces the heads of the nation to come to New- 
 York, to treat there. The North-Western In- 
 dians refuse a treaty, but after defeating Generals 
 Harmar and Sinclair, they are defeated by Gen. 
 Wayne. They then submit, and agree to treat. A 
 new system is introducedfor meliorating their con- 
 dition. 
 
 IT was intended that the new government should 
 have commenced its operations on the 4th of 
 March, 1789; but from accidental causes, the elec- x ^ 9 
 tion of Gen. Washington to the Presidency was 1794. 
 not officially announced to hjm at Mount Ver- 
 non, till the 14th of next April. This was done 
 by Charles Thomson, Secretary of the late Con- 
 gress, who presented to him the certificate signed 
 by the President of the Senate of the United 
 States, stating that George Washington was unani-
 
 232 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, niously elected President. This unexpected de- 
 ' lay was regretted by the public, but not by the 
 
 *789 newly elected President. In a letter to Gen. 
 
 1794. Knox, he observed <f As to 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 govern- 
 ment 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, with- 
 out 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 voy- 
 age long or short, shall never forsake me, although 
 I may be deserted by all men ; for of the consola- 
 tions which are to be derived from these, under 
 any circumstances, the world cannot deprive me." 
 On the second day after receiving notice of his 
 appointment, Washington set out for New -York. 
 On his way thither, the road was crowded with 
 numbers anxious to see the man of the people. 
 Escorts of militia, and of gentlemen of the first 
 character and station, attended him from state to 
 state, and he was every where received with the 
 highest honours which a grateful and admiring 
 people could confer. Addresses of congratulation 
 were presented to him by the inhabitants of al- 
 most every place of consequence through which
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 233 
 
 he passed, to all of which he returned such mo- c ?^ p - 
 i . . Wi- 
 dest, unassuming answers, as were in every re- 
 
 spect suitable to his situation. So great were the 1789 
 
 to 
 
 honours with which he was loaded, that they could 1794. 
 scarcely have failed to produce haughtiness in the 
 mind of any ordinary man ; but nothing of the 
 kind was ever discovered in this extraordinary 
 personage. On all occasions he behaved to all 
 men with the affability of one citizen to another. 
 He was truly great in deserving the plaudits of his 
 country, but much greater in not being elated 
 by them. 
 
 Of the numerous addresses which were present- 
 ed on this occasion, one subscribed by Dennis 
 Ramsay, the mayor of Alexandria, in the name of 
 the people of that city, who were the neighbours 
 of Mr. Washington, was particularly and univer- 
 sally admired. It was in the following words : 
 
 " To George Washington^ Esq. President of the United States, &c, 
 
 " Again your country commands your care. 
 Obedient to its washes, unmindful of your ease, 
 we see you again relinquishing the bliss of retire- 
 ment, and this too, at a period of life when nature 
 itself seems to authorize a preference ot repose. 
 
 " Not to extol yotar glory as a soldier; not to 
 pour forth our gratitude for past services ; not to 
 acknowledge the* justice of the unexampled ho- 
 nour which has been conferred upon you by the 
 spontaneous and unanimous suffrage of three mil- 
 lions of freemen, in your election to the supreme 
 magistracy, nor to admire the patriotism which 
 directs your conduct, do your neighbours and 
 friends now address you. Themes less splendid, 
 
 1 2 FT
 
 234 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, b u t more endearing, impress our minds. The 
 . first and best of citizens must leave us; our aged 
 
 1789 must lose their ornament; our youth their model; 
 1794. our agriculture its improver; our commerce its 
 friend; our infant academy its protector; our poor 
 their benefactor; and the interior navigation of 
 the Potowmac, (an event, replete with the most 
 extensive utility, already by your unremitted ex- 
 ertions brought into partial use,) its institutor and 
 promoter. 
 
 " Farewell. Go, and make a grateful people 
 happy a people who will be doubly grateful 
 when they contemplate this recent sacrifice for 
 their interest. 
 
 " To that Being who maketh and unmaketh at 
 his will, we commend you ; and after the accom- 
 plishment of the arduous business to which you 
 are called, may he restore to us again the best of 
 men, and the most beloved fellow-citizen." 
 
 To this Mr. Washington returned the follow- 
 ing answer : 
 
 ' Gentlemen, 
 
 " Although I ought not to conceal, yet I can- 
 . not describe the painful emotions which I felt, in 
 being called upon to determine whether I would 
 accept or refuse the Presidency of the United 
 States. The unanimity in the choice; the opinion 
 of my friends communicated from different parts 
 of Europe as well as from America ; the apparent 
 wish of those who were not entirely satisfied with 
 the constitution in its present form, and an ardent 
 desire on my own part to be instrumental in 
 connecting the good will of my countrymen to-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 23 
 
 wards each other, have induced an acceptance. CH r A ? 
 Those who know me hest, (and you, my fellow- ____ 
 citizens, are, from your situation, in that number,) 1789 
 know better than any others, my love of retire- 1794. 
 ment is so great, that no earthly consideration, 
 short of a conviction of duty, could have prevailed 
 upon me to depart from my resolution " never 
 more to take any share in transactions of a pub- 
 lic nature;" for at my age, and in my circumstan- 
 ces, what prospects or advantages could I pro- 
 pose to myself from embarking again on the tem- 
 pestuous and uncertain ocean of public life? 
 
 " I do not feel myself under the necessity of 
 making public declarations in order to convince 
 you, gentlemen, of my attachment to yourselves, 
 and regard for your interests. The whole tenour 
 of my life has been open to your inspection, and 
 my past actions, rather than my present declara- 
 tions, must be the pledge of my future conduct. 
 
 " In the mean time, I thank you most sincerely 
 for the expressions of kindness contained in your 
 valedictory address. It is true, just after having 
 bade adieu to my domestic connexions, this ten- 
 der proof of your iriendship is but too well calcu- 
 lated still further to awaken my sensibility, and 
 increase my regret at parting from the enjoy- 
 ment of private life. 
 
 " All that now remains for me, is to commit 
 myself and you to the protection of that benefi- 
 cent Being, who on a former occasion hath hap- 
 pily brought us together, after a long and distress- 
 ing separation. Perhaps the same gracious Pro- 
 vidence will again indulge me. Unutterable sen- -< 
 sations must then be left to more expressive si-
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. Jence, while from an aching heart I bid all my 
 affectionate friends and kind neighbours farewell.' 
 
 1789 Gray's bridge over the Schuylkill, which Mr. 
 1794 Washington had to pass, was highly decorated 
 with laurels and evergreens. At each end of it 
 were erected magnificent arches, composed of lau- 
 rels, emblematical of the ancient Roman triumphal 
 arches, and on each side of the bridge was a laurel 
 shrubbery. As Mr. Washington passed the bridge, 
 a youth ornamented with sprigs of laurel, assist- 
 ed by machinery, let drop above his head, though 
 u n perceived by him, a civic crown of laurel. Up- 
 wards of 20,000 citizens lined the fences, fields, 
 and avenues, betueen the Schuylkill and Philadel- 
 phia. Through these he was conducted to the 
 city by a numerous and respectable body of the 
 citizens, where he partook of an elegant en- 
 , tertainment provided for him. The pleasures of 
 the day were succeeded by a handsome display of 
 fireworks in the evening. 
 
 When Mr. Washington crossed the Delaware, 
 and landed on the Jersey shore, he was saluted 
 with three cheers by the inhabitants of the vicini- 
 ty. When he came to the brow of the hill on his 
 way to Trenton, a triumphal arch was erected on 
 the bridge by the direction of the ladies of the 
 place. The crown of the arch was highly orna- 
 mented with laurels and flowers, and on it was 
 displayed in large figures, " December 26th, 
 1776." On the sweep of the arch beneath, was 
 this inscription " The Defender of the Mothers 
 will also protect their Daughters." On the north 
 side were ranged a number of female children 
 dressed in white, with garlands of flowers on their
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. N ^ 
 
 heads, and baskets of flowers on their arms ; in CHAP. 
 
 V T 
 
 the second row stood the youmg women, and be- _ 
 
 hind them the married ladies of the vicinity. The 1789 
 instant he passed the arch, the children began to 1794 
 sing the following ode. 
 
 " Welcome mighty chief ! once more 
 " Welcome to this grateful shore. 
 , " Now no mercenary foe 
 
 " Aims again the fatal blow, 
 
 " Aims at thee the fatal blow. 
 
 " Virgins fair, and matrons grave, 
 
 " These thy conquering arm did save ! 
 
 " Build for thee triumphal bowers : 
 
 " Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers ; 
 
 " Strew your hero's way with flowers." 
 
 As they sung the last lines, they strewed their 
 tlowers on the road before their beloved deliverer. 
 His situation on this occasion, contrasted with 
 what he had in December, 1776, felt on the same 
 spot, when the affairs of America were at the low- 
 est ebb of depression, filled him with sensations 
 that cannot be described. He was rowed across 
 the bay from Elizabethtown to New- York, in an. 
 elegant barge, by thirteen pilots. All the vessels 
 in the harbour hoisted their flags. Stairs were 
 erected and decorated for his reception. On his 
 landing, universal joy diffused itself through every 
 order of the people, and he was received and con- 
 gratulated by the Governor of the state, and offi- 
 cers of the corporation. He was conducted from 
 the lauding place to the house which had been 
 fitted up lor his reception, and was followed by V 
 an elegant procession of militia in their imforms,
 
 238 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and by a great number of citizens. In tbe even- 
 ing the houses of the inhabitants were brilliantly 
 illuminated. 
 
 1794. A day was fixed soon after his arrival, for his 
 taking the oath of office, which was in the follow- 
 ing words. " 1 do solemnly swear, that I will 
 faithfully execute the office of President of the 
 United States ; and will to the best of my ability 
 preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of 
 the United States." On this occasion he was 
 wholly clothed in American manufactures. In 
 the morning of the day appointed for this purpose, 
 the clergy of different denominations assembled 
 their congregations in their respective places of 
 worship, and offered up public prayers for the 
 President and people of the United States. About 
 noon a procession, followed by a multitude of citi- 
 zens, moved from the President's house to Fede- 
 ral-Hall. When they came within a short dis- 
 tance from the Hall, the troops formed a line on 
 both sides of the way, through which Mr. Wash- 
 ington, accompanied by the Vice-President, Mr. 
 John Adams, passed into the Senate chamber. Im- 
 mediately after, accompanied by both houses, he 
 went into the gallery fronting Broad-street, and 
 before them and an immense concourse of citi- 
 zens, took the oath prescribed by the constitution, 
 which was administered by K. K. Livingston, the 
 Chancellor of the state of New-York. An awful 
 silence prevailed among the spectators during this 
 part of the ceremony. It was a minute ot the 
 most sublime political joy. Tlie Chancellor then 
 proclaimed turn President ot the United States. 
 This was answered by the discharge ot 13 guns j
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 239 
 
 and by the effusions of shouts from near 10,000 
 grateful and affectionate hearts. The President 
 bowed most respectfully to the people, and the air ^9 
 resounded again with their acclamations. He 1794. 
 then retired to the Senate Chamber, where he 
 made the following speech to both houses. 
 
 w Fellow citizens of the Senate 
 and of the 
 
 House of Representatives, 
 
 " Among the vicissitudes incident to life, no 
 event could bave filled me with greater anxieties 
 than that of which the notification was transmitted 
 by your order, and received on the 14th day of 
 the present month. On the one hand, I was 
 summoned by my country, whose voice I can 
 never hear but with veneration and love, from a 
 retreat which I had chosen with the fondest pre- 
 dilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an im- 
 mutable decision, as the asylum of my declin- 
 ing years : a retreat which was rendered every 
 day more necessary as well as more dear to me, 
 by the addition of habit to inclination, and of 
 frequent interruptions in my health to the gradual 
 waste committed on it by time. On the other 
 hand, the magnitude and difficulty of the trust to 
 which the voice of my country called me, being 
 sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most ex- 
 perienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny 
 into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm 
 with despondence one who, inheriting inferior en- 
 dowments from nature, and unpractised in the 
 duties of civil administration, ought to be pecu- 
 liarly conscious of his own deficiencies. In this 
 conflict of emotions, all I dare aver is, that it has
 
 240 THE LIFE 01 
 
 CH , AP - been my faithful study to collect my duty from a 
 
 just appreciation of every circumstance by which 
 
 J 789 it might be effected. All I dare hope is, that, if 
 1794. in accepting this task, I have been too much 
 swayed by a grateful remembrance of former in- 
 stances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this 
 transcendent proof of the confidence of my fellow- 
 citizens ; and have thence too little consulted my 
 incapacity, as well as disinclination for the weighty 
 and untried cares befoie me; my ERROR will 
 be palliated by the motives which mjsledme, and 
 its consequences be judged by my country with 
 some share of the partiality in which they origi- 
 nated. 
 
 " Such being the impressions under which I 
 have, in obedience to the public summons, re- 
 paired to the present station ; it will be peculiarly 
 improper to omit, in this first official act, my 
 fervent supplications to that Almighty Being who 
 rules over the universe; who presides in the 
 councils of nations ; and whose providential aids 
 can supply every human defect, that his benedic- 
 tion may consecrate to the liberties and happiness 
 of the people of the United States, a government 
 instituted by themselves for these essential pur- 
 poses; and may enable every instrument employed 
 in its administration, to execute with success, the 
 functions allotted to his charge. In tendering 
 this homage to the great Author of every public 
 and private good, I assure myself that it expresses 
 your sentiments not less than my own; nor those 
 of my fellow-citizens at large, less than either. 
 No people can be bound to acknowledge and 
 adore the invisible hand which conducts the
 
 GORGE WASHINGTON. 24 
 
 affairs of men, more than the people of the United CHAP. 
 States. Every step by which they have advanced 
 to the character of an independent nation seems tfag 
 to have been distinguished by some token of pro- 1794. 
 vidential agency; and in the important revolution 
 just accomplished in the system of their united 
 government, the tranquil deliberations and volun- 
 tary consent of so many distinct communities, 
 from which the event has resulted, cannot be 
 compared with the means by which most govern- 
 ments have been established, without some return 
 of pious gratitude along with an humble anticipa- 
 tion of the future blessings which the past seem 
 to presage. These reflections, arising out of the 
 present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly 
 on my mind to be suppressed. You will join with 
 me, I trust, in thinking that there are none, under 
 the influence of which the proceedings of a new 
 and free government can more auspiciously com- 
 mence. 
 
 " By the article establishing the executive 
 department, it is made the duty of the president 
 * to recommend to your consideration, such mea- 
 sures as he shall judge necessary and expedient/ 
 The circumstances under which I now meet you 
 will acquit me from entering into that subject, 
 farther than to refer to the great constitutional 
 charter under which you are assembled, and 
 which, in defining your powers, designates the 
 objects to which your attention is to be given. 
 It will be more consistent with those circum- 
 stances., and far more congenial with the feelings 
 which actuate me, to substitute in place of a re- 
 commendation of particular measures, the tribute
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CI xi P tnat i s ^ ue to tne ta ^ ents > the rectitude, and the 
 " patriotism, which adorn the characters selected to 
 
 devise and adopt them. In these honourable quali- 
 1794. fications, I behold the surest pledges that, as on. 
 one side, no local prejudices or attachments, no 
 separate views nor party animosities, will misdi- 
 rect the comprehensive and equal eye which ought 
 to watch over this great assemblage of communi- 
 ties and interests : so, on another, that the foun- 
 , dations of our national policy will be laid in the 
 pure and immutable principles of private morali- 
 ty i and the pre-eminence of free government be 
 exemplified by all the attributes which can win 
 the affections of its citizens, and command the 
 respect of the world. I dwell on this prospect 
 with every satisfaction which an ardent love for 
 my country can inspire; since there is no truth 
 more thoroughly established than that there exists, 
 in the economy and course of nature, an indis- 
 soluble union between virtue and happiness ; be- 
 tween duty and advantage ; between the genuine 
 maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, 
 and the .solid rewards of public prosperity and 
 felicity : since we ought to be no less persuaded 
 that the propitious smiles of heaven can never be 
 expected on a nation that disregards the eternal 
 rules of order and right, which heaven itself has 
 ordained : and since the preservation of the sacred 
 fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican 
 model of government, are justly considered as 
 DEEPLY, perhaps as FINALLY, staked on the ex- 
 periment intrusted to the hands of the American 
 people. 
 
 " Besi&es the ordinary objects submitted to
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. -243 
 
 your care, it will remain with your judgment to CHAP. 
 decide, how far an exercise of the occasional ' 
 power delegated by the fifth article of the consti- i' 89 
 tuition is rendered expedient, at the present June- 1794. 
 ture, by the nature of objections which have been 
 urged against the system, or by the degree of 
 inquietude which has given birth to them. Instead 
 of undertaking particular recommendations on this 
 subject, in which I could be guided by no lights 
 derived from official opportunities, I shall again 
 give way to my entire confidence in your discern- 
 ment and pursuit of the public good : for 1 assure 
 myself, that whilst you carefully avoid every al- 
 teration which might endanger the benefits of a 
 united and effective government, or which ought 
 to await the future lessons of experience ; a reve- 
 rence for the characteristic rights of freemen, and 
 a regard for the public harmony, will sufficiently 
 influence your deliberations on the question how 
 far the former can be more impregnably fortified, 
 or the latter be safely and advantageously pro- 
 moted. 
 
 " To the preceding observations I have one to 
 add, which will be most properly addressed to the 
 house of representatives. It concerns myself, and 
 will therefore be as brief as possible. When I 
 was first honoured with a call into the service of 
 my country, then on the eve of an arduous 
 struggle for its liberties, the light in which I con- 
 templated my duty required that I should re- 
 nounce every pecuniary compensation. From this 
 resolution I have in no instance departed. And 
 being still under the impressions which produced 
 it, I must decline, as inapplicable to myself, any
 
 244 THE LIFE OF 
 
 snare i" tne personal emoluments which may be 
 indispensably included in a permanent provision 
 1789 for the executive department ; and must accord- 
 1794. ingly pray that the pecuniary estimates for the 
 station in which I am placed, may, during my 
 continuance in it, be limited to such actual ex- 
 penditures as the public good may be thought to 
 require. 
 
 " Having thus imparted to you my sentiments, 
 as they have been awakened by the occasion 
 which brings us together, I shall take my present 
 leave; but not without resorting once more to the 
 benign Parent of the human race, in humble sup- 
 plication, that since he has been pleased to favour 
 the American people with opportunities for delibe- 
 rating in perfect tranquillity, and dispositions for 
 deciding with unparralleled unanimity on a form 
 of government for the security of their union, 
 and the advancement of their happiness ; so his 
 divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the 
 enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and 
 the wise measures on which the success of this 
 government must depend," 
 
 In their answer to this speech, the senate say . 
 " The unanimous suffrage of the elective body in 
 your favour, is peculiarly expressive of the grati- 
 tude, confidence, and affection of the citizens of 
 America, and is the highest testimonial at once 
 of your merit, and their esteem. We are sensible, 
 sir, that nothing but the voice of your fellow- 
 citizens could have called you from a retreat, 
 chosen with the fondest predilection, endeared by 
 habit, and consecrated to the repose of declining 
 years. We rejoice 3 and with us all America, that;
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 245 
 
 in obedience to the call of our common country, CHAP. 
 you have returned once more to public life. In ' 
 you all parties confide; in you all interests unite; 1789 
 and we have no doubt that your past services, im. 
 great as they have been, will be equalled by your 
 future exertions ; and that your prudence and 
 sagacity as a statesman, will tend to avert the 
 dangers to which we were exposed, to give sta- 
 bility to the present government, and dignity and 
 splendour to that country, which your skill and 
 valour as a soldier, so eminently contributed to 
 raise to independence and to empire." 
 
 The affection for the person and character of 
 the President with which the answer of the house 
 of representatives glowed, promised that between 
 this branch of the legislature also and the execu- 
 tive, the most harmonious co-operation in the 
 public service might be expected. 
 
 " The representatives of the people of the 
 United States," says this address, " present their 
 congratulations on the event by which your fellow- 
 citizens have attested the pre-eminence of your 
 merit. You have long held the first place in their 
 esteem. You have often received tokens of their 
 affection. You now possess the only proof that 
 remained of their gratitude for your services, of 
 their reverence for your wisdom, and of their 
 confidence in your virtues. You enjoy the highest, 
 because the truest honour, of being the first 
 magistrate, by the unanimous choice of the freest 
 people on the face of the earth. 
 
 " We well know the anxieties with which vou 
 
 */ 
 
 must have obeyed the summons from the repose 
 reserved for your declining years, into public
 
 246 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C xt P ' scenes of which you had taken your leave for ever, 
 
 But obedience was due to the occasion. It is 
 
 !789 already applauded by the universal joy which 
 1794. welcomes you to your station. And we cannot 
 doubt that it will be rewarded with all the satis- 
 faction with which an ardent love for your fellow- 
 citizens must review successful efforts to promote 
 their happiness. 
 
 " This anticipation is not justified merely by 
 the past experience of your signal services. It is 
 particularly suggested by the pious impressions 
 under which you commence your administration ; 
 and the enlightened maxims by which you mean 
 to conduct it. We feel with you the strongest 
 obligations to adore the invisible hand which has 
 led the American people through so many diffi- 
 culties ; to cherish a conscious responsibility for 
 the destiny of republican liberty; and to seek the 
 only sure means of preserving and recommending 
 the precious deposit in a system of legislation 
 founded on the principles of an honest policy, and 
 directed by the spirit of a diffusive patriotism. 
 
 " In forming the pecuniary provisions for the 
 executive department, we shall not lose sight of 
 a wish resulting from motives which give it a 
 peculiar claim to our regard. Your resolution, 
 in a moment critical to the liberties of your coun- 
 try, to renounce all personal emolument, was 
 among the many presages of your patriotic ser- 
 vices, which have been amply fulfilled; and your 
 scrupulous adherence now to the law then imposed 
 on yourself, cannot fail to demonstrate the purity* 
 whilst it increases the lustre of a character which 
 lias so many titles to admiration.
 
 GEORE WASHINGTON. <M 
 
 " Such are the sentiments with which we have CHAP 
 
 VT 
 
 thought fit to address you. They flow from our 
 
 own hearts, and we verily believe that among the 1739 
 millions we represent, there is not a virtuous l ^ 4t - 
 citizen whose heart will disown them. 
 
 " All that remains is, that we join in your fer- 
 vent supplications for the blessing of Heaven on 
 our country j and that we add ouc own for the 
 choicest of these blessings on the most beloved o 
 her citizens." 
 
 The President and Congress then attended on 
 divine service. 
 
 In tlie evening a very ingenious and splendid 
 show of fireworks was exhibited. Betwixt the 
 fort and the Bowling-Green stood conspicuous, a 
 superb and brilliant transparent painting, in the 
 centre of which was the portrait of the President, 
 represented under the emblem of fortitude ; oft 
 bis right hand was Justice, representing the Senate 
 of the United States, and on his left Wisdom, re- 
 presenting the House of Representatives. 
 
 When Washington commenced his administra- 
 tion, the condition of the United States was so 
 embarrassed as to excite' many fears for the suc- 
 cess of the new government. The treasury was 
 empty. Large debts were due both by the old 
 Congress and individuals to foreigners, and also 
 from the United States to its own citizens, and 
 from citizens to citizens. Every effort made by 
 the former government to pay, or even to fund its 
 debts, had failed, from the imbecility of the federal 
 system. Great discontents prevailed in the Uni- 
 ted States, for the party opposed to the new con- 
 stitution was strong and numerous. Several of
 
 248 , THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, these were elected to seats in the new Congress , 
 ' Some were clamorous for a new convention, and 
 1789 the most moderate for amendments of what had 
 ir94. been ratified. Two states, North-Carolina and 
 Rhode-Island, by refusing an acceptance of the 
 constitution, were without the pale of its opera- 
 tions. 
 
 Animosities prevailed to a great degree between 
 the United States and Great-Britain. Each charg- 
 ed the other with a breach of their late treaty. 
 In support of these charges, one party urged the 
 severities practised towards the loyalists, and that 
 some of the states had interposed legal impedi- 
 ments to the recovery of debts due to British sub- 
 jects. The other recriminated by alleging, that 
 the British, on their departure from the United 
 States, had carried off with them several thousands 
 of negroes belonging to the Americans ; and conti- 
 nued to possess sundry posts within the acknow- 
 ledged limits of the United States; and that from 
 these posts they encouraged and instigated the 
 neighbouring Indians to make war on their north- 
 western frontier settlements. Spain, from the cir- 
 cumstance of their owning the land on each side 
 of the mouth of the Missisippi, claimed the exclu- 
 sive navigation of that river; while the western in- 
 habitants of the United States looked to their coun- 
 try for a vindication of their common right, to the 
 use of this highway of nature. The boundaries of 
 the United States towards the territories of Spain 
 in the south, and towards those of Britain in the 
 north-east, were both unsettled and in dispute. 
 The whole regular effective force of the United 
 States, was less than six hundred men. Their
 
 .GEORGE WASHINGTON. 240 
 
 trade was restricted much more than when they C HAP. 
 
 XI 
 
 formed a part of the British empire. They had . 
 
 neither money to purchase, nor a naval force to 1789 
 compel the friendship of the Barbary powers ; and 1794. 
 were therefore exposed to capture whenever they 
 ventured to trade in the Mediterranean, the coasts 
 of which offered the best markets for some of their 
 valuable commodities. 
 
 The military strength of the northern Indians 
 who inhabited the country between the Lakes* . 
 
 the Missisippi, and the Ohio, was computed at 
 5,000 men, and of these 1,500 were at open war 
 with the United States. The Creeks, in the south- 
 west, who could bring 6,000 fighting men into the 
 field, were at war with Georgia. 
 
 These were but a part of the embarrassments 
 under which the United States laboured when Gen. 
 Washington was called to the helm. The redress 
 of most of them required legislative interference, 
 as well as executive aid. To point out the parti- 
 cular agency of the President in removing these 
 embarrassments, and generally meliorating the 
 condition of the United States, is peculiarly the 
 province of the biographer of Washington. 
 
 Congress having organized the great depart- 
 ments of government it became the duty of the 
 President to designate proper persons to fill them. 
 In discharging this delicate and difficult trust* 
 Washington kept himself free from every engage- 
 ment, and uniformly declined giving decisive an- 
 swers to applicants, having previously resolved to 
 nominate persons to offices with a sole view to the 
 public good, and to bring forward those who, up- 
 on every consideration, and from the bft informa- 
 
 2 K
 
 oO THE LIFE OF 
 
 C xt ? t ' on ne cou ^ obtain, were in his judgment most 
 
 likely to answer the great end. 
 
 1789 Under these impressions he placed Col. Hamil- 
 1794. ton at the head of the Treasury Department. 
 
 At the head of the Department of Foreign Af- 
 fairs, he placed Mr. Jefferson. 
 
 General Knox was continued in the Depart- 
 ment of War, which he had filled under the old 
 Congress. 
 
 The office of Attorney General was assigned to 
 Mr. Edmund Randolph. 
 
 These composed the cabinet council of the first 
 President. 
 
 The judicial department was filled as follows: 
 
 John Jay, of New-York, Chief Justice. 
 
 John Rutledge, of South Carolina, 
 
 James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, 
 
 William dishing, of Massachusetts, 
 
 Robert Harrison, of Maryland, and 
 
 JohYi Blair, of Virginia, Associate Judges. 
 
 The officers who had been appointed by the 
 individual states to manage the revenue, which, 
 under the old system, was paid into the state 
 treasury, were re-appointed to corresponding of- 
 fices under the new constitution, by which the 
 revenue had been transferred from the local to 
 the general treasury of the union. 
 
 It was among the first cares of Washington to 
 make peace with the Indians. Gen. Lincoln, Mr. 
 Griffin, and Col. Humphreys, very soon after the 
 inauguration of the President, were deputed by 
 him to treat with the Creek Indians. These met 
 with M'Gillvray, and other chiefs of the nation, 
 with about 2,000 men, at the Rock Landing, on the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 251 
 
 > 
 
 frontiers of Georgia. The negociations were soon CHAP. 
 broken off by M'Gillvray, whose personal inter- ' 
 ests and connexion with Spain were supposed to iraa 
 have been the real cause of their abrupt and un- 1794 
 successful termination. The next year brought 
 round an accomplishment of the President's wish- 
 es, which had failed in the first attempt. Policy 
 and interest concurred in recommending every 
 prudent measure for detaching the Creek Indians 
 from all connexion with the Spaniards, and ce- 
 menting their friendship with the United States. 
 Negociations carried on with them in the vicinity 
 of the Spanish settlements, promised less than ne- 
 gociations conducted at the seat of government. 
 To induce a disposition favourable to this change 
 of place, the President sent Col. Willet, a gal- 
 lant and intelligent officer of the late army, into 
 the Creek country, apparently on private busi- 
 ness, but with a letter of introduction to M'Gill- 
 vray, and with instructions to take occasional op- 
 portunities to point out the distresses which a war 
 with the United States would bring on the Creek 
 nation, and the indiscretion of their breaking off 
 the negotiation at the Rock Landing; and to ex- 
 hort him to repair with the. chiefs of his nation to 
 New- York, in order to effect a solid and lasting 
 peace. Willet performed these duties with so 
 much dexterity, that M'Gillvray, with the chiefs 
 of his nation, were induced to come to New- York, 
 where fresh negociations commenced, which, on 
 the ?th of August, 1790, terminated in the esta- 
 blishment of peace. 
 
 The pacific 'overtures made by Washington to 
 the Indians of the Wabash and the Miamis, failed
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 xf P f success. Long experience had taught the Pre- 
 sident, that on the failure of negociations with 
 Indians, policy, economy, and even humanity, re- 
 1794. quired the employment of a sufficient force to 
 carry offensive war into their country, and lay 
 waste their settlements. The accomplishment of 
 this was no easy matter. The Indian nations 
 were numerous, accustomed to war, and not 
 without discipline. They were said to be furnish- 
 ed with arms and ammunition from the British 
 posts held within the United States, in violation of 
 the treaty of peace. Generals Harmar and Sin- 
 clair were successively defeated by the Indians ; 
 and four or five years elapsed before they were 
 subdued. This was accomplished by Gen. 
 Wayne, in 1794. Soon after that event, a peace 
 was concluded, under his auspices, between 
 1 hose Indians and the United States. In the pro- 
 gress of this last Indian war, repeated overtures 
 of peace were made to the North-western In- 
 dians, but rejected. About the same period a 
 new system was commenced for turning them off 
 from hunting to the employments of civilized life, 
 by furnishing them with implements and instruc- 
 tions for agriculture and manufactures. 
 
 In this manner, during the Presidency of 
 George Washington, peace was restored to the 
 frontier settlements both in the north and south- 
 west, which has continued ever since, and it is 
 likely to do so, while, at the same time, the pros- 
 pect of meliorating the condition of the savages 
 is daily brightening; for the system first began 
 by Washington with the view of civilizing these 
 fierce sous of nature, have been ever since steadi-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 253 
 
 ly pursued by all his successors. Indian wars are CHAP. 
 
 now only known from the records or recollection . ' 
 
 of past events ; and it is probable that the day 1789 
 
 is not far distant when the United States will 1794. 
 receive a considerable accession of citizens from 
 the civilized red men of the forest.
 
 254 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. XII. 
 
 Gen. Washington attends to the foreign relations of 
 the United States. Negociates with Spain. Dif- 
 ficulties in the way. The free navigation of the 
 Missisippi is granted by a treaty made with Ma- 
 jor Pinckney. Negociations with Britain. Dif- 
 ficulties in the way. War probable. Mr. Jay's 
 mission. His treaty with Great-Britain. Oppo- 
 sition thereto. Is ratified. Washington refuses 
 papers to House of Representatives. British 
 posts in United States evacuated. Negociations 
 with France. Genet's arrival. Assumes illegal 
 powers, in violation of the neutrality of the Uni- 
 ted States. Is flattered by the people, but opposed 
 by the executive. Is recalled. Gen. Pinckney 
 sent as public minister ^to adjust disputes with 
 France. Is not received. Washington declines a 
 re-election, and addresses the people. His last 
 address to the national legislature. Recommends 
 a navy, a military acadeny, and other public in- 
 stitutions. 
 
 CHAP. INVENTS which had taken place before the inau- 
 
 XII 
 
 guration of Washington, embarrassed his negoci- 
 
 ir94 tions for the adjustment of the political relations 
 1796. between the United States and Spain. 
 
 In the year 1779> Mr. Jay had been appointed 
 by the old Congress to make a treaty with his
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 255 
 
 Catholic Majesty; but his best endeavours for CHAP. 
 more than two years were ineffectual. In a fit of ' 
 despondence, while the revolutionary war was ^94 
 pressing, he had been authorized to agree " to re- 1796. 
 linquish, and in future forbear to use the naviga- 
 tion of the river Missisippi, from the point where 
 it leaves the United States, down to the ocean." 
 After the war was ended, a majority of Congress 
 had agreed to barter away for twenty-five years, 
 their claim to this navigation. A long and intri- 
 cate negociation between Mr. Gardoqui, the Mi- 
 nister of his Catholic Majesty, and the Secretary 
 of Foreign Affairs, had taken place at New-York, 
 in the interval between the establishment of peace 
 and of the new constitution of the United States; 
 but was rendered abortive from the inflexible ad- 
 herence of Mr. Gardoqui to the exclusion of the 
 citizens of the United States from navigating the 
 Missisippi below their southern boundary. This 
 unyielding disposition of Spain, the inability of 
 the United States to assert their claims to the na- 
 vigation of this river, and especially the facility 
 which the old Congress had shown to recede from 
 it for a term of years, Jiad soured the minds of the 
 western settlers. Their impatience transported 
 them so far beyond the bounds of policy, that 
 they sometimes dropped hints of separating from 
 the Atlantic States, and attaching themselves to 
 the Spaniards. In this critical state of things, the 
 President found abundant exercise for all his 
 prudence. The western inhabitants were, in fact, 
 thwarting his views in their favour, and encour 
 raging Spain to persist in refusing that free navi- 
 gation, which was so ardently desired both by the
 
 256 THE LIFE OP 
 
 CHAP. President and the people. The adherence of 
 
 Spain to the exclusive use of the lower Missisip- 
 
 1794 pi, and the impolitic discontents of the western 
 1796. inhabitants, were not the only embarrassments of 
 Washington, in negociating with the court of 
 Madrid. 
 
 In 1793, four Frenchmen left Philadelphia, em- 
 powered by Mr. Genet, the Minister of the 
 French Republic, to prepare an expedition in 
 Kentucky against New-Orleans. Spain, then at 
 war with France, was at peace with the United 
 States. Washington was officially bound to in- 
 terpose his authority to prevent the raising of an 
 armed force from among his fellow-citizens to 
 commit hostilities on a peaceable neighbouring 
 power. Orders were accordingly given to the 
 civil authority in Kentucky, to use all legal means 
 to prevent this expedition ; but the execution of 
 these orders was so languid, that it became ne- 
 cessary to call in the aid of the regular army. 
 Gen. Wayne was ordered to establish a military 
 post at Fort Massac on the Ohio, for the purpose 
 of forcibly stopping any body of armed men, who* 
 in opposition to remonstrances, should persist in 
 going down that river. 
 
 Many of the high- spirited Kentuckiaiis were so 
 exasperated against the Spaniards, as to be very 
 willing to second the views of the French Minis- 
 ter, and under his auspices to attack New-Orleans. 
 The navigation of the Missisippi was so necessa- 
 ry for conveying to proper markets the surplus- 
 age of their luxuriant soil, that to gain this privi- 
 lege, others were willing to receive it from the 
 hands of the Spaniards at the price ol renouncing
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 25? 
 
 all political connexion with the United States. 
 While these opposite modes of seeking a remedy 
 for the same evil were pursuing by persons of 1794 
 different temperaments, a remonstrance from the 1796. 
 inhabitants of Kentucky was presented to Wash- 
 ington and Congress. This demanded the use of 
 the Missisippi as a natural right, and at the same 
 time charged the government with being under 
 the imluence of a local policy, which had prevent- 
 ed oil serious efforts for the acquisition of a right 
 which was essential to the prosperity of the west- 
 ern people. It spoke the language of an injured 
 people, irritated by the mal-administration of their 
 public servants; and hinted the probability of a 
 dismemberment of the union, if their natural 
 rights were not vindicated by government. To 
 appease these discontents; to restrain the French 
 from making war on the Spaniards with a force 
 raised and embodied in the United States; and at 
 the same time, by fair negotiation, to obtain the 
 free use of the Missisippi from the court of Ma- 
 drid, was the task assigned to Washington. Diffi- 
 cult and delicate as it was, the whole was accom- 
 plished. Anterior to the receipt of the Kentucky 
 remonstrance, the President, well knowing the 
 discontents of the interior people, and that the 
 publication of them would obstruct his views, had 
 directed the Secretary of State to give assurances 
 to the Governor of Kentucky, that every exertion. 
 was making to obtain for the western people the 
 free navigation they so much desired. The strong 
 arm of government was successfully exerted to 
 frustrate the expedition projected by the French 
 Minister against New-Orleans; and, while these 
 
 9 I,
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 xn matters were pending, Major Thomas Pinckney 
 
 was appointed Envoy Extraordinary to the court 
 
 1794 of Madrid ; and in the year 1795, he concluded a 
 1796. treaty with his Catholic Majesty, in which the 
 claims of the United Stares on the subject of 
 boundary, and the navigation of the Missisippi, 
 were fully conceded. By these events, the dis- 
 contents of the western people were done away. 
 Tranquillity was re'stored between the Atlantic 
 and western states ; and all points in controversy 
 between the United States and Spain were satis- 
 factorily adjusted. The most important of these, 
 the free navigation of the Missisippi, had been the 
 subject of discussion in the hands of different ne- 
 gociators, for almost the whole of the immedi- 
 ately preceding fifteen years. 
 
 Great were the diflTiculties Washington had to 
 encounter in amicably settling all matters with 
 Spain ; but much greater stood in the way of a 
 peaceable adjustment of various grounds of con- 
 troversy between the United States and Great- 
 Britain. 
 
 Each of these two nations charged the other 
 with a breach of the treaty of peace, in 1783, and 
 each supported the charge against the other, with 
 more solid arguments than either alleged in their 
 own defence. 
 
 The peace terminated the calamities of the war, 
 but was far from terminating the resentments 
 which were excited by it. Many in the United 
 Stales believed that Great-Britain was their natu- 
 ral enemy, and that her views of subjecting the 
 United States to her emp re, were only for the 
 present suspended. Soon alter the peace, Mr.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 25 
 
 John Adams had been deputed by the dd Con- CHAP. 
 
 gres to nes^ociate a treaty between the United < 
 
 States and Great-Britain; but the latter declined 1794 
 to meet this advance of the former. While he 1796. 
 urged on the court of Great- Britain, the necessity 
 they were under by the late treaty to evacuate 
 their posts on the south side of the lakes of Cana- 
 da, they retorted that some of the states had, in 
 vioJation of the same treaty, passed laws interpos- 
 ing legal impediments to the recovery of debts 
 due to British subjects. 
 
 Washington's love of justice was not weakened 
 by partiality to his country. In a letter to a 
 member of Congress, he observed " It was im- 
 politic and unfortunate, if not* unjust, in those 
 states to pass laws, which, by fair construction, 
 might be considered as infractions of the treaty of 
 peace. It is good policy at all times, to place 
 one's adversary in the wrong. Had we observed 
 good faith, and the western posts had been with- 
 held from us by Great-Britain, we might have ap- 
 pealed to God and man for justice." 
 
 <f What a misfortune is it," said he, in anotluer 
 letter, " that the British should have so well 
 grounded a pretext for their palpable infractions ; 
 and what a disgraceful part, out of the choice of 
 difficulties before us, are we to act !" 
 
 In the first years of Washington's presidency, 
 he took informal measures to sound the British 
 cabinet, and to ascertain its views respecting the 
 United States. To Mr. Gouverneur Morris, who 
 had been carried by private business to Europe, 
 this negotiation was intrusted. He conducted it 
 with ability ; but found no disposition in the court
 
 260 THE LIFE Ot 
 
 C xn P ' f Great-Britain to accede to the wishes of the 
 
 United States. In about two years more, when 
 
 1 ?'94 the stability and energy of the government as ad- 
 1796. ministered by Washington became a matter of 
 public notoriety, the British, of their own motion, 
 sent Mr. Hammond their first minister to the 
 United States. This advance induced the Presi- 
 dent to nominate Mr. Thomas Pinckney as Mi- 
 nister Plenipotentiary to the court of Great- Bri- 
 tain. 
 
 About this time war commenced between 
 France and Great- Britain. The correct, sound 
 judgment of Washington instantly decided that a 
 perfect neutrality was the right, the duty, and the 
 interest of the United States, and of this he gave 
 public notice by a proclamation, in April, 1793. 
 Subsequent, events have proved the wisdom of this 
 measure, though it was then reprobated by many. 
 The war between the late enemies and friends of 
 the United States, revived revolutionary feelings 
 in the breasts of the citizens, and enlisted the 
 strongest passions of human nature against the 
 one, and in favour of the other. A wish for the 
 success of France was almost universal; and many 
 were willing to hazard the peace of their country, 
 by taking an active part in the war in her favour. 
 The proclamation was at variance with the feel- 
 ings and the passions of a large portion of the ci- 
 tizens. To compel the observance of neutrality 
 under these circumstances, was no easy matter. 
 Hitherto Washington had the people with him; 
 but in this case a large proportion was on the 
 other side. His resolution was nevertheless un- 
 shaken ; and at the risk of popularity he persisted
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 261 
 
 in promoting the real good of his fellow-citizens, ^ HA i>- 
 
 in opposition to their own mistaken wishes and 
 
 views. 1794 
 
 The tide of popular opinion ran as strongly 1795; 
 against Britain as in favour of France. The for- 
 mer was accused of instigating the Indians to acts 
 of hostility against the United States; of impressing 
 their sailors; of illegally capturing their ships; and 
 of stirring up the Algerines against them. The 
 whole of this hostility was referred to a jealousy 
 of the growing importance of the United States. 
 Motions were made in Congress for sequestering 
 debts due to British subjects; for entering into 
 commercial hostility with Great-Britain, and even 
 for interdicting all intercourse with her, till she 
 pursued other measures with respect to the Uni- 
 ted States. Every appearance portended imme- 
 diate war between the two countries. The pas- 
 sionate admirers of France wished for it; while 
 others, more attached to British systems, dreaded 
 a war with Great-Britain, as being likely to throw 
 the United States into the arms of France. In 
 this state of things, when war seemed inevitable, 
 the President composed the troubled scene by no- 
 minating John Jay, in April, 1794, Envoy Extra- 
 ordinary to the court of London. By this mea- 
 sure a truce was obtained, and that finally ended 
 in an adjustment of the points in controversy be- 
 tween the two countries. The exercise of this 
 constitutional right of the President to negociate, 
 virtually suspended all hostile legislative mea- 
 sures ; for these could not with delicacy or propri- 
 ety be urged, while the executive was in the act 
 of treating for an amicable adjustment of differ- 
 ences.
 
 262 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C xn P ^ treaty between the United States and Great- 
 
 Britain was the result of this mission. This was 
 
 1794 pronounced by Mr. Jay, " to be the best that was 
 1796. attainable, and which he believed it for the inte- 
 rest of the United States to accept." While the 
 treaty was before the Senate for consideration, 
 a member, contrary to the rules of that body, 
 furnished an editor of a newspaper with a copy 
 of it. This being published, operated like a 
 spark of fire applied to combustible materials. 
 The angry passions which for some short time 
 had been smothered, broke out afresh. Some 
 went so far as to pronounce the treaty a surren- 
 der of their power to their late enemy, Great- 
 Britain, and a dereliction of their tried friend and 
 ally, France. The more moderate said, that too 
 much was given, and too little received. Meet- 
 ings of the people were held at Boston, New- 
 York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Charleston, and 
 several other places, in which the treaty was pro- 
 nounced to be unworthy of acceptance, and peti- 
 tions were agreed upon and forwarded to the 
 President, urging him to refuse his signature to 
 the obnoxious instrument. 
 
 These agitations furnished matter for serious 
 reflection to the President, but they did not aflect 
 his conduct, though they induced a reiterated 
 examination of the subject. In a private letter to 
 a friend, after reciting the importance of the crisis, 
 he added " There is but one straight course, 
 and that is to seek truth and to pursue it steadi- 
 ly." It is probable that he had early made up 
 his mind to ratify the treaty as better than none, 
 and infinitely better than war; but regretted that
 
 CEOEGE WASHINGTON. 263L- 
 
 it was so generally disliked; and considered by CHAP. 
 many as made with a design to oppress the ' 
 
 French Republic. Under the weight of his high 1794 
 responsibility, he consoled himself, " that in time 1795. 
 when passion shall have yielded to reason, the 
 current may possibly turn." Peace with all the 
 world was his policy, where it could be preserved 
 with honour. War he considered as an evil of 
 such magnitude, as never to be entered upon 
 without the most imperious necessity. The mis- 
 sion of Mr. Jay was his last effort for the preserv- 
 ation of peace with Great-Britain. The rejection 
 of the treaty which resulted from this mission, he 
 considered as the harbinger of war; for negocia- 
 tion having failed to redress grievances, no alter- 
 native but war was left. By this prudent conduct, 
 the rising states were preserved in peace, but the 
 bickerings of the citizens among themselves, and 
 their animosities against Great-Britain, still conti- 
 nued. The popularity of the President for the 
 present was diminished ; but on this he had count- 
 ed. In a letter to Gen. Knox, he observes 
 " Next to* a conscientious discharge of my public 
 duties, to carry along with me the approbation of 
 my constituents, would be the highest gratifica- 
 tion of which my mind is susceptible. But the 
 latter being secondary, I cannot make the former 
 yield to it, unless some criterion more infallible 
 than partial, (if they are not party,) meetings, can 
 be discovered as the touchstone of public senti- 
 ment. If any person on earth could, or the Great 
 Power above would erect the standard of infallibi- 
 lity in political opinions, no being that inhabits 
 this terrestrial globe, would resert to it with more
 
 264 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C xu P ' ea erness tnan myself, so long as T remain a ser- 
 
 vant of the public. But as I have hitherto found 
 
 1794 no better guide than upright intentions, and close 
 1796. investigation, I shall adhere to them while I keep 
 the watch." 
 
 After the treaty was duly ratified, an attempt 
 was made to render it a dead letter, by refusing 
 the appropriations of money necessary to carry it 
 into effect. Preparatory to this, a motion was 
 made for the adoption of a resolution to request 
 the President to lay before the House of Repre- 
 sentatives a copy of his instructions to Mr. Jay, 
 together with the correspondence and other do- 
 cuments relative to the treaty with Great- Britain. 
 This involved a new question, where the treaty 
 making power was constitutionally lodged? The 
 debate was animated and vehement. Appeals 
 were made both to reason and passion. After a 
 discussion of more than twenty days, the motion 
 was carried in the affirmative by a majority of 
 25 votes. When the resolution was presented to 
 the President, he replied " That he would take 
 time to consider it." His situation was. peculiar- 
 ly delicate; the passions of the people were 
 strongly excited against the treaty ; the popularity 
 of the demand being solely for information; the 
 large majority by which the vote was carried ; the 
 suspicions that would probably attach in case of 
 refusal, that circumstances had occurred in the 
 course of the neeociation which the President was 
 
 *j 
 
 afraid to publish, added to other weighty consi- 
 derations, would have induced minds of an or- 
 dinary texture, to yield to the request. With 
 Washington, popularity was only a secondary ob-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 2& 
 
 ject. To follow the path of duty and the public CHAP. 
 
 good was a primary one. He had sworn to " pre- L 
 
 serve, protect, and defend the constitution." In 1794 
 his opinion the treaty-making power was exclu- 1796. 
 sively given by the people in convention to the 
 executive, and that the public good required that 
 it should be so exercised. Under the influence 
 of these solemn obligations, he returned the fol- 
 lowing answer to the resolution which had been 
 presented to him. 
 
 " Gentlemen of the House of Representatives^ 
 
 " With the utmost attention I have considered 
 your resolution of the 24th inst. requesting me to 
 lay before your house a copy of the instructions 
 to the minister of the United States, who negoci- 
 ated the treaty with the king of Great-Britain, to- 
 gether with the correspondence and other docu- 
 ments relative to that treaty, excepting such of 
 the said papers as any existing negociation may 
 render improper to be disclosed. 
 
 " In deliberating upon this subject, it was im- 
 possible for me to lose sight of the principle which 
 some have avowed in its discussion, or to avoid 
 extending my views to the consequences which 
 must flow from the admission of that principle. 
 
 " I trust that no part of my conduct has ever 
 indicated a disposition to withhold any infojma- 
 tion which the constitution has enjoined it upon 
 the President as a duty tc give, or whi^h could 
 be required of him by either house of Congress 
 as a right ; and with truth I affirm, that it has 
 been, as it will continue to be, while I have the 
 honour to preside in the government, my con - 
 
 2M
 
 6 THE LIFE OF 
 
 xn P stant endeavour to harmonize with the other bran- 
 
 ches thereof, so far as the trust delegated to me 
 
 1794 by th e people of the United States, and my sense 
 
 1796. of the obligation it imposes, " to preserve, protect, 
 
 and defend the constitution," will permit. 
 
 " The nature of foreign negotiations requires 
 caution, and their success must often depend on 
 secrecy ; and even when brought to a conclusion, 
 a full disclosure of all the measures, demands,, or 
 eventual concessions, which mayliave been pro- 
 posed or contemplated, would be extremely im- 
 politic ; for this might have a pernicious influence 
 on future negociations, or produce immediate in- 
 conveniences, perhaps danger and mischief, to 
 other persons. The necessity of such caution and 
 secrecy was one cogent reason for vesting tlie 
 power of making treaties in the President, with 
 the advice and consent of the Senate, the princi- 
 ple on which that body was formed con fining it to 
 a small number of members* 
 
 * To admit then a right in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives to demand, and to have as a matter of 
 course, all the papers respecting a negociation 
 with a foreign power, would be to establish a 
 dangerous precedent. 
 
 " It does not occur that the inspection of the 
 papers asked for, can be relative to any purpose 
 under the cognizance of the House of Represen- 
 tatives, except that of an impeachment, which the 
 resolution has not expressed. I repeat that I have 
 no disposition to withhold any information which 
 the duty of my station will permit, or the public 
 good shall require, to be disclosed; and in fact 
 all the papers affecting the negociation with Great-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 26? 
 
 Britain were laid before the Senate when the CHAP. 
 treaty itself \vas communicated for their consider- _ 
 ation ^nd advice. 1794 
 
 " The course which the debate has taken on 17%. 
 the resolution of the house, leads to some obser- 
 vations on the mode of making treaties under the 
 constitution of the United States. 
 
 " Having been a member of the general con- 
 vention, and knowing the principles on which the 
 constitution was formed, I have ever -entertained 
 but one opinion upon this subject; and from the 
 first establishment of the .government to this mo- 
 ment, my conduct has exemplified that opinion 
 That the power of making treaties is exclusively 
 vested in the President, by and with the advice 
 and consent of the Senate, provided two-thirds of 
 the Senators present concur ; and that every trea- 
 ty so made and promulgated, thenceforward be- 
 comes the law of the land. It is thus that the 
 treaty-making power has been understood by fo- 
 reign nations; and in all the treaties made with 
 them we have declared, and they have believed, 
 that when ratified by the President with the ad- 
 vice and consent of the Senate, they become obli- 
 gatory. In this construction of the constitution, 
 every Mouse of Representatives has heretofore ac- 
 quiesced, and, until the present time, not a doubt 
 or suspicion has appeared to my knowledge that 
 this construction was not the true one. Nay, they 
 have more than acquiesced ; for until now, with- 
 out controverting the obligation of such treaties, 
 they have made all the requisite provisions for 
 carrying them into effect. 
 
 " There is also reason to believe that this con-
 
 268 
 
 xn ? struction agrees with the opinions entertained by 
 the state conventions, when they were deliberat- 
 1794 ing on the constitution, especially by those who 
 1796. objected to it ; because there was not required in 
 commercial treaties the consent of two-thirds of 
 the whole number of the members of the Senate, 
 instead of two-thirds of the Senators present ; and 
 because in treaties respecting territorial and cer- 
 tain other rights and claims, the concurrence of 
 three-fourths of the whole number of the members 
 of both houses respectively was not made necessary. 
 " It is a fact declared by the general convention, 
 and universally understood, that the constitution 
 < of the United States was the result of a spirit of 
 amity and mutual concession ; and it is well 
 known that under this influence, the smaller states 
 were admitted to an equal representation in the 
 Senate with the larger states, and that this branch 
 of the government was invested with great pow- 
 ers; for on the equal participation of those pow- 
 ers, the sovereignty and political safety of the 
 smaller states were deemed essentially to de- 
 pend. 
 
 " If other proofs than these, and the plain letter 
 of the constitution itself, be necessary to ascertain 
 the point tinder consideration, they may be found 
 in the journals of the general convention, which I 
 have deposited in tjie office of the department of 
 state. In these journals it will appear that a pro- 
 position was made 'that no treatj^ should be bind- 
 ing on the United States which was not ratified 
 by a law 3' and that the proposition was explicit- 
 ly rejected. 
 
 " As therefore it is perfectly clear to my under-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 269 
 
 standing, that the assent of the House of Repre- CHAP 
 sentatives is not necessary to the validity of a 
 
 / / 
 
 treaty ; as the treaty with Great-Britain exhibits 1^4 
 in itself all the objects requiring legislative provi- 17-96. 
 sion, and on these the papers called for can throw 
 no light ; and as it is essential to the due admini- 
 stration of the government, that the boundaries 
 fixed by the constitution between the different 
 departments should be preserved a just regard 
 to the constitution and to the duty of my office, 
 under all the circumstances of this case, forbid a 
 compliance with your request." 
 
 Though the call for papers was unsuccessful, 
 the favourers of the resolution for that purpose 
 opposed the appropriations necessary to carry 
 the treaty into effect ; but, from the firmness of the 
 President, the ground was altered. The treaty was 
 ratified, and proclaimed to the public as constitu- 
 tionally obligatory on the citizens. To refuse 
 appropriations for carrying it into effect, would 
 not only incur the high responsibility of breaking 
 the public faith, but make a schism in the govern- 
 ment between the executive and legislative de- 
 partments. After long and vehement debates, in 
 which argument and passion were both resorted 
 to, with the view of exposing the merits and de- 
 merits of the treaty, the resolution for bringing in 
 the laws necessary to carry it into effect, was car- 
 ried by a majority of three. Though in this dis- 
 cussion Washington had no direct agency, yet 
 the final result in favour of the treaty was the 
 consequence of the measures he had previously 
 adopted. For having ratified the treaty and pub- 
 it to the world as the law of the land, and
 
 70 THE LIFE OF - 
 
 CHAP, having in his answer to the request of the House 
 
 of Representatives, proved that he had a constitu- 
 
 1794 tional right so to do, the laws necessary for giving 
 1796. effect to the treaty, could not be withheld with- 
 out hazarding the most serious consequences. 
 
 The treaty which was thus carried into opera- 
 tion, produced more good and less evil than was 
 apprehended. It compromised ancient differen- 
 ces, produced amicable dispositions, and a friend- 
 ly intercourse. It brought round a peaceable 
 surrender of the British posts, and compensation 
 for American vessels illegally captured. Though 
 it gave up some favourite principles, and some of 
 its articles relative to commerce were deemed un- 
 equal, yet from Britain, as a great naval power 
 holding valuable colonies and foreign possessions, 
 nothing better, either with or without the treaty, 
 could have been obtained. 
 
 After the lapse of ten years has cooled the 
 minds both of the friends and enemies of the 
 treaty, most men will acknowledge that the mea- 
 sures adopted by Washington with respect to it 
 were founded in wisdom ; proceeded from the 
 purest patriotism ; were carried through with un- 
 common firmness; and finally eventuated in ad- 
 vancing the interests of his country. 
 
 Thorny and difficult as was the line of policy 
 proper to be pursued by Washington with respect 
 to Britain, it was much more so in regard to 
 France. The revolution in France, and the es- 
 tablishment of the constitution of the United States, 
 were nearly cotemporary events. Till about the 
 year 179 ; 3, perfect harmony subsisted between the 
 two countries; but from the commencement of the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 2? 
 
 war between France and England, the greatest CHA1> - 
 address was requisite to prevent the United States ' 
 from being involved in war with one or the other, 1794 
 and sometimes with both. Good will to France, ir96. 
 and hatred to Britain, which had prevailed more or 
 less from the peace of 17S3, revived with a great 
 increase of force on the breaking out of war be- 
 tween the two countries. These dispositions were 
 gseatly increased by the arrival of Mr. Genet, the 
 first Minister Plenipotentiary from the republic 
 of France to the United States. He landed April 
 8th, 1793, at Charleston, S. C. the contiguity of 
 which to the West-Indies, fitted it to be a conve- 
 nient resort for privateers. By the Governor of 
 the state, Wm. Moultrie, and the citizens, he 
 was received with ardour approaching to enthusi- 
 asm. During his stay, which was for several 
 days, he received unequivocal proofs of the warm- 
 est attachment to his person, his country, and its 
 cause. Encouraged by these evidences of the 
 good wishes of the people for the success of the 
 French revolution, he undertook to authorize the 
 fitting and arming of vessels in- that port, enlist- 
 ing men, and giving commissions to vessels to 
 cruise and commit hostilities on nations with 
 whom the United States were at peace. The 
 captures made by these cruisers were to be tried, 
 condemned, and sold, under the authority of Ge- 
 net, who had not yet been recognized as a public 
 Minister by the government. 
 
 Similar marks of enthusiastic attachment were 
 lavished on Genet as he passed through the coun- 
 try between Charleston and Philadelphia. At 
 Gray's ferry, over the Schuylkill, he was met by
 
 272 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C v^ P " crowds who flocked to do honour to the first am- 
 
 X. 11* 
 
 bassador of a republican allied nation. On the 
 
 1794 day after his arrival in Philadelphia, he received 
 1796. addresses from societies and the inhabitants, who 
 expressed their gratitude for the aids furnished 
 by the French nation to the United States in 
 their late struggle for liberty and independence, 
 and unbounded exultation at the success of the 
 French arms. Genet's answers to these addresses 
 were well calculated to preserve the idea of a 
 complete fraternity between the two nations, and 
 that their interests were the same. 
 
 After Genet had been thus accredited by the 
 citizens of Philadelphia, he was presented to the 
 President, and received with expressions of a sin- 
 cere and cordial regard for his nation. In the 
 conversations which took place on the occasion, 
 Mr. Genet gave the most explicit assurances that 
 France did not wish to engage the United States 
 in the war between his country and Great-Bri- 
 tain. 
 
 While Mr. Genet was receiving these flattering 
 marks of attention from the people, the British 
 minister preferred a long catalogue of complaints 
 against his proceedings at Charleston. This was 
 founded on the acts already mentioned, which 
 were calculated to make the United States instru- 
 ments of hostility in the hands of France, against 
 those with whom she was at war. These were 
 farther aggravated by actual hostilities in the 
 territories of the United States. The ship Grange, 
 u British vessel, was captured by the French fri- 
 gate 1'Ambuscade, within the Capes of the Dela- 
 ware, while on her way from Philadelphia to the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 27 
 
 ocean. Of this ship, and of other illegal prizes CHAP. 
 which were in the power of the American govern- ' 
 ment, the British minister demanded restitution. 1794 
 
 The cabinet council of Washington was una- 17^ 
 nimous that every independent nation was exclu- 
 sively sovereign in its own territories, and that 
 the proceedings complained of were unwarranted 
 usurpations of sovereignty, and violations of neu- 
 trality ; and therefore must in future be prevented. 
 It was also agreed that the efficacy of the laws 
 should be tried against those citizens of the Uni- 
 ted States who had joined in the offences com- 
 plained of. The restitution of the Grange was 
 also agreed to; but on the propriety of enforcing 
 the restitution of prizes made on the high seas, 
 there was a diversity of sentiment, the Secretaries 
 of the Treasury and of War being for it, and the 
 Secretary of State and the Attorney General 
 against it. The principles on which a concur- 
 rence of sentiment had taken place being consi- 
 dered as settled, the Secretary of State was desired 
 to communicate them to the Ministers of France 
 and of Britain; and circular letters were written 
 to the Governors of the several slates, requiring 
 them to co-operate with force, if necessary, to ex- 
 ecute the rules which had been agreed upon. 
 
 Mr. Genet was highly dissatisfied with these 
 determinations, and considered them as subver- 
 sive of the treaty between the United States and 
 France. His representations induced a re-consi- 
 deration of the subject; but on the most dispas- 
 sionate review of it, no reason appeared for an al- 
 teration of any part of the system. The minister 
 of France was further informed, that in the opi-- 
 
 2 X
 
 274 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C xn P n ' on ^ ^ ie P res ident, ^ ie vessels which had been 
 _ illegally equipped, should depart from the ports of 
 1794 the United States. 
 
 1796. Mr. Genet, adhering to his own construction 
 of the treaty between France and the United 
 States, would not acquiesce in those decisions of 
 the government. Intoxicated with the flattering 
 attentions he had received, and ignorant of the 
 firmness of the executive, he seems to have ex- 
 pected that the popularity of his nation and its 
 cause, would enable him to undermine the execu- 
 tive, or render it subservient to his views. 
 
 About this time, two citizens of the United 
 States who had been engaged in Charleston by 
 Mr. Genet, to cruise in the service of France, 
 were arrested by the-civil authority, in pursuance 
 of the determination formed by government to 
 prosecute persons who had offended against the 
 laws. Mr. Genet demanded their release as 
 French citizens, in the most extraordinary terms. 
 This was refused ; but on trial they were acquitted 
 by the verdict of a jury. 
 
 The Minister of the French republic was en- 
 couraged to this line of opposition, by a belief 
 that the sentiments of the people were in his fa- 
 vour. So extravagant was their enthusiastic de- 
 votedness to France ; so acrimonious were their 
 expressions against all the powers at war with 
 the new republic, that a person less sanguine than 
 Mr. Genet might have cherished the hope of be- 
 ing able to succeed so far with the people, as, with 
 their support, ultimately to triumph over the op- 
 position he experienced. At civic festivals, the 
 ensigns of France were displayed in union with
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 2? 
 
 -those of America; at these the cap of liberty CHAP. 
 
 passed from head to head, and toasts were given 1_ 
 
 expressive of the fraternity of the two nations. 1794 
 The proclamation of neutrality was treated as a 1796. 
 royal edict, which demonstrated the disposition of 
 the government to break its connexions with 
 France, and dissolve the friendship which united 
 the people of the two republics. The scenes of 
 the revolutionary war were brought into view; 
 the effects of British hostility against the United 
 States, and of French aids both in men and mo- 
 ney in their favour, were painted in glowing 
 colours. The enmity of Britain to the United 
 States was represented as continuing undiminish- 
 ed ; and in proof of it their detention of the west- 
 ern posts, and their exciting from these stations 
 the neighbouring Indians to make war on the 
 frontier settlers, were urged with great vehemence, 
 and contrasted with the amicable dispositions pro- 
 fessed by the French republic. It was indignant- 
 ly asked, should a friend and an enemy be treated 
 with equal favour ? By declamations of this kind 
 daily issuing from the press, the public mind was 
 so inflamed against the executive, that Genet, 
 calculating on the partialities of the people, open- 
 ly insulted the government; and, adhering to his 
 own construction of the treaty, that he had a right 
 to do as he had done, threatened to appeal to the 
 sovereign people against their President. 
 
 To preserve neutrality in such a crisis, was no 
 easy matter. Washington, adhering to the prin- 
 ciples avowed in his late proclamation, and em- 
 bodied in the declaration of independence, " that 
 the United States would hold all mankind enemies
 
 276 THE LIFE Of 
 
 CHAP. j n war an( j friends in peace," exerted all his au- 
 _ thority and influence to keep the balance even 
 
 i"94 between the belligerents*. 
 
 1796. It was at length resolved by Washington to 
 instruct Mr. Morris, the Minister of the United 
 States at Paris, to request the recall of Mr. Genet ; 
 and that Mr. Morris should be furnished with all 
 the necessary documents to evince the propriety of 
 the request. What was asked was granted ; and 
 Mr. Genet's conduct was disapproved by his go- 
 vernment. Mr. Fauchet was appointed his suc- 
 cessor, who was succeeded by Mr. Adet. The 
 latter brought with him the colours of France, 
 which he was directed to present to the United 
 States. To answer the animated speech of Mr. 
 Adet on his presenting the colours, required ad- 
 dress The occasion required something affection- 
 ate and complimentary to the French nation ; and 
 yet the guarded policy of Washington forbade the 
 utterance of any sentiments which might be im- 
 proper in the chief magistrate of a neutral coun- 
 try, when addressinglhe representative of one of 
 the belligerent powers. Impressed with this dou- 
 ble view, the President made the following reply : 
 " Born, sir, in a land of liberty ; having early 
 learned its value ; having engaged in a perilous 
 conflict to defend it; having, in a word, devoted 
 
 * If Washington and Horace had been cotemporaries, the 
 world would have supposed that the latter had the former in his 
 eye, when he penned his famous ode 
 
 " Justum Sctenacem propusiti virum 
 " Non civiutn ardor pruva jubentium, 
 " Non vultus instup.tis tyranni 
 " Mente quatit solidu ."
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 277 
 
 the best years of my life to secure its permanent CHAP. 
 
 establishment in my own country ; my anxious !_ 
 
 recollections; my sympathetic feelings; and my 1794 
 best wishes, are irresistibly attracted, whensoever, 17%. 
 in any country, I see an oppressed nation unfurl 
 the banners of freedom. But above all, the events 
 of the French revolution have produced the deepest 
 solicitude, as well as the highest admiration. To 
 call your nation brave, were to pronounce but 
 common praise. Wonderful people! ages to 
 come will read with astonishment the history of 
 your brilliant exploits. I rejoice that the period 
 of your toils and of your immense sacrifices is ap- 
 proaching. I rejoice that the interesting revolu- 
 tionary movements of so many years have issued 
 in the formation of a constitution designed to 
 give permanency to the great object for which 
 you have contended. I rejoice that liberty, 
 which you have so long embraced with enthusi- 
 asm ; liberty, of which you have been the invinci- 
 ble defenders, now finds an asylum in the bosom 
 of a regularly organized government; a govern- 
 ment, which, being formed to secure the happi- 
 ness of the French people, corresponds with the 
 ardent wishes of my heart, while it gratifies the 
 pride of every citizen of the United States by its 
 resemblance to their own. On these glorious 
 events, accept, sir, my sincere congratulations. 
 
 " In delivering to you these sentiments, I ex- 
 press not my own feelings only, but those of my 
 fellow-citizens, in relation to the commencement, 
 the progress, and the issue, of the French revolu- 
 tion ; and they will certainly join with me in 
 purest wishes to the Supreme Being, that the ci-
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tizens of our sister Republic, our magnanimous 
 allies, may soon enjoy in peace that liberty which 
 they have purchased at so great a price, and all 
 L796. the happiness that liberty can bestow. 
 
 " I receive, sir, with lively sensibility, the sym- 
 bol of the triumphs and of the infranchisements of 
 your nation, the Colours of France, which } r ou 
 have now presented to the United States. The 
 transaction will be announced to Congress, and 
 the colours will be deposited with the archives of 
 the United States, which are at once the evidence 
 and the memorials of their freedom and indepen- 
 dence. May these be perpetual ! and may the 
 friendship of the two republics be commensurate 
 with their existence ! " 
 
 The successors of Genet continued to tread in 
 his steps, but with less violence. They made fre- 
 quent complaints of particular cases of hardship 
 which grew out of the war, and out of the rules 
 which had been established by the executive with 
 regard to ships of war, cruisers, and their prizes. 
 They complained particularly that in the treaty 
 with Great-Britain, the principle of " free ships 
 making free goods," was given up ; and urged the 
 injustice, while French cruisers were restrained 
 by treaty from taking English goods out of Ame- 
 rican bottoms, that English cruisers should be li- 
 berated from the same restraint. In vain did the 
 executive show a willingness to release France 
 from the pressure of a situation in which she had 
 voluntarily placed herself. Private explanations 
 were made, that neither the late treaty made with 
 Britain, nor the arrangements growing out of it, 
 furnished any real cause of complaint to France.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 279 
 
 With the same conciliatory view, Washington ap- C * IAP - 
 
 pointed Gen. Pinckney Minister Plenipotentiary 
 
 to the French republic, " to maintain that good 1794> 
 understanding, which, from the commencement 1796. 
 of the alliance, had subsisted between the two na- 
 tions, and to efface unfavourable impressions, ba- 
 nish suspicion, and restore that cordiality which 
 was at once the evidence and pledge of a friendly 
 union." The Directory having inspected his let- 
 ter of credence, announced their haughty deter- 
 mination, " not to receive another Minister from 
 the United States, until after a redress of grievan- 
 ces demanded of the American government, which 
 the French republic had a right to expect from 
 it." This was followed by a written mandate to 
 Gen. Pinckney, to quit the territories of the re- 
 public. To complete the system of hostility, 
 American vessels, wherever found, were captured 
 by French cruisers. 
 
 From this mission Washington expected an ad- 
 justment of all points in dispute between France 
 and the United States. In his opinion, the failure 
 of it was owing to a belief that the American 
 people were in unison with France, and in oppo- 
 sition to their own government ; and that high- 
 toned measures on the part of France, would in- 
 duce a change of rulers in the United States. Be- 
 fore the result of the mission was known, Wash- 
 ington had at his own request ceased to be Presi^ 
 dent. Having made peace with the Indians, and 
 adjusted all matters in dispute with both Spain 
 and Britain, and hoping that an accommodation 
 would soon take place with France, after eight 
 years service in the higlf office of President^ at the
 
 280 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, commencement of which period he found the 
 ' United States in a miserable state of depression, 
 1794 and at its conclusion, left them advancing with 
 17%. gigantic steps in agriculture, commerce, wealth, 
 credit, and reputation, and being in the sixty- 
 sixth year of his age ; he announced his inten- 
 tion of declining a re-election, in full time for the 
 people to make up their mind in the choice of his 
 successor. This was done in an address to the 
 people of the United States in the following 
 words : 
 
 " Friends and Fellow-citizens, 
 
 " The period for a new election of a citizen to 
 administer the executive government of the Uni- 
 ted States being not far distant, and the time ac- 
 tually arrived when your thoughts must be em- 
 ployed in designating the person who is to be 
 clothed with that important trust, it appears to 
 me proper, especially as it may conduce to a 
 more distinct expression of the public voice, that 
 I should now apprize you of the resolution I 
 have formed, to decline being considered among 
 the number of those out of whom the choice is to 
 De made. 
 
 " I beg you at the same time to do me thejus- 
 tice to be assured, that this resolution has not 
 been taken, without a strict regard to all the con- 
 siderations appertaining to the relation which 
 binds a dutiful citizen to his country ; and that 
 in withdrawing the tender of service, which si- 
 lence in my situation might imply. I am influenced 
 by no diminution of zeal for your future interest; 
 no deficiency of grateful respect for your past
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 281 
 
 kindness ; but am supported by a full conviction, CHAP. 
 that the step is compatible with both. .. 
 
 " The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto ^94 
 in, the office to which your suffrages have twice 1795. 
 called me, have been an uniform sacrifice of incli- 
 nation to the opinion of duty, and to a deference for 
 what appeared to be your desire. I constantly 
 hoped that it would have been much earlier in my 
 power, consistently with motives which I was 
 not at liberty to disregard, to return to that re- 
 tirement from which 1 had been reluctantly drawn. 
 The strength of my inclination to do this, pre- 
 vious to the last election, had even led to the pre- 
 paration of an address to declare it to you; but 
 mature reflection on the then perplexed and criti- 
 cal posture of our affairs with foreign nations, 
 and the unanimous advice of persons entitled to 
 my confidence, impelled me to abandon the idea. 
 
 " I rejoice that the state of your concerns, ex- 
 ternal as well as internal, no longer renders the 
 pursuit of inclination incompatible with the senti- 
 ment of duty or propriety; and am persuaded 
 whatever partiality may be retained for my servi- 
 ces, that in the present circumstances of our coun- 
 try, you will not disapprove of my determination 
 to retire. 
 
 " The impressions with which I first under- 
 took the arduous trust, were explained on the 
 proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust 
 I will only say, that I have, with good inten- 
 tions, contributed towards the organization and 
 administration of the government, the best exer- 
 tions of which a very fallible judgment was capa- 
 ble. Not unconscious, in the out-set, of the in- 
 
 2 O
 
 282 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C xn P feriority of my qualifications, experience in my 
 
 own eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, 
 
 17 f 94 has strengthened the motives to diffidence of my- 
 1796. self; and every day the increasing weight of 
 years admonishes me more and more, that the 
 shade of retirement is as necessary to me as it will 
 be welcome. Satisfied that if any circumstances 
 have given peculiar value to my services, 'they 
 were temporary, I have the consolation to believe, 
 that while choice and prudence invite me to quit 
 the political scene, patriotism does not forbid it. 
 
 " In looking forward to the moment which is 
 to terminate the careejj of my political life, my 
 Peelings do not permit me to suspend the deep 
 acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude which I 
 owe to my beloved country, for the many honours 
 it has conferred upon me ; still more for the stead- 
 fast confidence with which it has supported me; 
 and for the opportunities I have thence enjoyed 
 of manifesting my inviolable attachment, by ser- 
 vices faithful and persevering, though in useful- 
 ness unequal to my zeal. If benefits have result- 
 ed to our country from these services, let it al- 
 ways be remembered to your praise, and as an in- 
 structive example in our annals, that under cir- 
 cumstances in which the passions, agitated in eve- 
 ry direction, were liable to mislead amidst ap- 
 pearances sometimes dubious vicissitudes of for- 
 tune often discouraging in situations in which 
 not unfrequently want of success has countenan- 
 ced the spirit of criticism the constancy of your 
 support was the essential prop of the efforts and 
 a guarantee of the plans by which they were ef-, 
 fected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 28J 
 
 shall carry it with me to my grave, as a strong in- c ^ p - 
 
 citemeut to unceasing wishes, that heaven may 
 
 continue to you the choicest tokens of its benefi- 1794 
 cence that your union and brotherly affection 1796. 
 may be perpetual that the free constitution, 
 which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly 
 maintained that its administration in every de- 
 partment ma}' be stamped with wisdom and virtue 
 that, in fine, the happiness of the people of these 
 states, under the auspices of liberty, may be made 
 complete, by so careful a preservation and so pru- 
 dent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them 
 the glory of recommending it to the applause, the 
 affection, and the adoption, of every nation which 
 is yet a stranger to it. 
 
 " Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a soli- 
 citude, for your welfare, which cannot end but 
 with my life, and the apprehension of danger na- 
 tural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion 
 like tli present, to ofier to your solemn contem- 
 plation, and to recommend to your frequent re- 
 view, some sentiments, which are the result of 
 much reflection, of no inconsiderable observa- 
 tion, and which appear to me all-important to the 
 permanency of your felicity as a people. These 
 will be offered to you with the more freedom, as 
 you can only see in them the disinterested warn- 
 ings of a parting friend, who can possibly have 
 no personal motive to bias his counsel. Nor can 
 I forget, as an encouragement to it, your indul- 
 gent reception of my sentiments on a former and 
 not dissimilar occasion. 
 
 " Interwoven as is the love of liberty with eve- 
 ry ligament of your hearts, no recommendation
 
 284 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the at- 
 
 , tachment. 
 
 1794 The unity of government, which constitutes 
 1796. you one people, is also now dear to you. It is 
 justly so ; for it is a main pillar in the edifice of 
 your real independence ; the support of your 
 tranquillity at home ; your peace abroad ; of your 
 safety, of your prosperity ; of that very liberty 
 which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to 
 foresee, that from different causes and from differ- 
 ent quarters, much pains will be taken, many arti- 
 fices employed, to weaken in your minds the 
 conviction of this truth ; as this is the point in 
 your political fortress against which the batteries 
 of internal and external enemies will be most 
 constantly and actively, (though often covertly and 
 insidiously,) directed, it is of infinite moment, that 
 you should properly estimate the immense value 
 of your national union, to your collective and in- 
 dividual happiness; that you should cherish a cor- 
 dial, habitual, and immoveable attachment to it ; 
 accustoming yourselves to think and speak of it 
 as of the palladium of your political safety and 
 prosperity; watching for its preservation with 
 jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may 
 suggest even a suspicion that it can in any event 
 be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon 
 the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any 
 portion of our country from the rest, or. to enfee- 
 ble the sacred ties which now link together the 
 various parts. 
 
 *' For this you have every inducement of sym- 
 pathy and interest. Citizens by birth or choice 
 of a common country, that country has a right to
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 285 
 
 concentrate your affections. The name of AME- UHAP. 
 RICAN, which belongs to you in your national ca^ ' 
 pacity, must always exalt the just pride of patriot- 1^94 
 ism, more than any appellation derived from local 179^. 
 discriminations. With slight shades of difference, 
 you have the same religion, manners, habits, and 
 political principles. You have in a common 
 cause fought and triumphed together ; the inde- 
 pendence and liberty you possess, are the work of 
 joint councils, and joint efforts of common dan- 
 gers, sufferings, and successes. 
 
 " But these considerations, however powerfully 
 they address themselves to your sensibility, are 
 greatly outweighed by those which apply more 
 immediately to your interest. Here every por- 
 tion of our country, finds the most commanding 
 motives for carefully guarding and preserving the 
 union of the whole. 
 
 " The north, in an unrestrained intercourse with 
 the south, protected by the equal laws of a com- 
 mon government, finds in the productions of the 
 latter, great additional resources of maritime and 
 commercial enterprise, and precious materials of 
 manufacturing industry. The south in the same 
 intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the north, 
 sees its agriculture grow and its commerce ex- 
 pand. Turning partly into its own channels the 
 seamen of the north, it finds its particular naviga- 
 tion invigorated and while it contributes, in dif- 
 ferent ways, to nourish and increase the general 
 mass of the national navigation, it looks forward 
 to the protection of a maritime strength, to which 
 itself is unequally adapted. The east, in like in- 
 tercourse with the west, already finds, and in the
 
 286 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C xn P progressive improvement of interior communica- 
 
 tions, by land and water, will more and more find 
 
 1794 a valuable vent for the commodities which it 
 1796. brings from abroad, or manufactures at home. 
 The ivest derives from the east supplies requisite 
 to its growth and comfort and what is perhaps 
 of still greater consequence, it must of necessity 
 owe the secure enjoyment of indispensable outlets 
 for its own productions, to the weight, influence, and 
 the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side 
 of the union, directed by an indissoluble commu- 
 nity of interest as one nation. Any other tenure 
 by which the west can hold this essential advan- 
 tage, whether derived from its own separate 
 strength, or from an apostate and unnatural con- 
 nexion with any foreign power, must be intrinsi- 
 cally precarious. 
 
 " While then every part of our country thus feels 
 an immediate and particular interest in union, all 
 the parts combined cannot fail to find in the 
 united mass of means and efforts, greater strength, 
 greater resource, proportionably greater security 
 from external danger, a less frequent interruption 
 of their peace' by foreign nations; and, what is 
 of inestimable value, they must derive from union 
 an exemption from those broils and wars between 
 themselves which so frequently afflict neighbour- 
 ing countries, not tied together by the same go- 
 vernment ; which their own rivalships alone would 
 be sufficient to produce; but which apposite fo- 
 reign alliances, attachments, and intrigues, would 
 stimulate and embitter. Hence likewise they will 
 avoid the necessity of those overgrown military 
 establishments, which* under any form of govern-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 28' 
 
 menl, are inauspicious to liberty, and which are CHAP. 
 
 to be regarded as particularly hostile to republi- 
 
 can liberty. In this sense it is, that your union ^94, 
 ought to be considered as a main prop of your 1796. 
 liberty, and that the love of the one ought to en- 
 dear to you the preservation of the other. 
 
 " These considerations speak a persuasive lan- 
 guage to every reflecting and virtuous mind, and 
 exhibit the continuance of the union as a primary 
 object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt wheth- 
 er a common government can embrace so large a 
 sphere ? Let experience solve it. To listen to- 
 mere speculation in such a" case were criminal. 
 We are authorized to hope that a proper organi- 
 zation of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of 
 governments for the respective subdivisions, will 
 afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well 
 worth a fair and full experiment. With such pow- 
 erful and obvious motives to union, affecting all 
 parts of our country, while experience shall not 
 have demonstrated its impracticability, there will 
 always be reason to distrust the patriotism of 
 those who, in any quarter, may endeavour to 
 weaken its bands. 
 
 " In contemplating the causes which may dis- 
 turb our union, it occurs as matter of serious 
 concern, that any ground should have been fur- 
 nished for characterizing parties by geographical 
 discriminations northern and southern Atlantic 
 and ztfesfern : whence designing men may endea- 
 vour to excite a belief that there is a real difference 
 of local interests and views. One of the expedi- 
 ents of party to acquire influence, within particu- 
 lar districts, is to misrepresent the opinions and
 
 288 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, aims of other districts. You cannot shield your- 
 
 XII 
 
 ' selves too much against the jealousies and heart- 
 
 O U 
 
 i79t burnings which spring from these misrepresenta- 
 jyg tions : they tend to render alien to each other, 
 those who ought to be bound together by frater- 
 nal affection. The inhabitants of our western 
 country have lately had a useful lesson on this 
 head. They have seen, in the negociation by the 
 executive, and in the unanimous ratification by 
 the senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the 
 universal satisfaction at that event throughout 
 the United Slates, a decisive proof how unfounded 
 were the suspicions propagated among them of a 
 policy in the general government, and in the At- 
 lantic states, unfriendly to their interests in re- 
 gard to the Missisippi. They have been witnesses 
 to the formation of two treaties, that with Great- 
 Britain and that with Spain, which secure to them 
 every thing they could desire, in respect to our 
 foreign relations, towards confirming their pros- 
 perity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for 
 the preservation of these advantages on the union 
 by which they were procured ? Will they not 
 henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there 
 are, who would sever them from their brethren, 
 and connect them with aliens? 
 
 " To the efficacy and permanency of your union, 
 a government for the whole is indispensable. No 
 alliances, however strict, between the parts can be 
 an adequate substitute ; they must inevitably ex- 
 perience the infractions and interruptions which 
 all alliances in all times have experienced. Sen- 
 sible of this momentous truth, you have improv- 
 ed upon your first essay, by the adoption of a
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, 289 
 
 constitution of government, better calculated than CHAP. 
 your former, for an intimate union, and for the ' 
 efficacious management of your common concerns. WM 
 This government, the offspring of our own choice, 1796. 
 uninfluenced and unawed; adopted upon full in- 
 vestigation and mature deliberation; completely 
 free in its principles; in the distribution of its pow- 
 ers uniting security with energy, and containing 
 within itself a provision for its own amendments, 
 has a just claim to your confidence and your sup- 
 port. Respect for its authority, compliance with 
 its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties 
 enjoined by the fundamental maxims of true li- 
 berty. The basis of our political systems is the 
 right of the people to make and to alter their con- 
 stitutions of government. But the constitution 
 which at any time exists, until changed by an ex- 
 plicit and authentic act of the whole people, is 
 sacredly obligatory upon all. The very idea of 
 the power and the right of the people to establish 
 a government, pre-supposes the duty of every in- 
 dividual to obey the established government. 
 
 " All obstructions to the execution of the laws, 
 all combinations and associations, under whatever 
 plausible character, with the real design to direct, 
 control, counteract, or awe the regular delibera- 
 tions and action of the constituted authorities, are 
 destructive of this fundamental principle, and of 
 fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction ; 
 to give it an artificial and extraordinary force ; to 
 put in the place of the delegated will of the na- 
 tion, the will of a party, often a small, but artful 
 and enterprising minority of the community ; and 
 according to the alternate triumphs of different
 
 290 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, parties, to make the public administration the 
 
 ___1 mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous pro- 
 
 1794, ject.s of faction, rather than the organ of consist- 
 
 1796. ent and wholesome plans, digested by common 
 
 councils, and modified by mutual interests. 
 
 " However combinations or associations of the 
 above description may now and then answer po- 
 pular ends, they are likely, in the course of time 
 and things, to become potent engines, by which 
 cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men, will 
 be enabled to subvert the power of the people, 
 and to usurp for themselves the reins of govern- 
 ment; Destroying afterwards the very engines 
 which have lifted them to unjust dominion. 
 
 " Towards the preservation of your govern- 
 ment, and the permanency of your present happy 
 state, it is requisite not only that you steadily dis- 
 countenance irregular oppositions to its acknow- 
 ledged authority, but also that you resist with care 
 the spirit of innovation upon its principles, how- 
 ever specious the pretexts. One method of as- 
 sault may be to effect in the forms of the consti- 
 tution alterations which will impair the energy of 
 the system, and thus to undermine what cannot 
 be directly overthrown. In all the changes to 
 which you may be invited, remember that time 
 and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true 
 character of governments, as of other human in- 
 stitutions that experience is the surest standard, 
 by which to test the real tendency of the existing 
 constitution of a country that facility in changes 
 upon the 1 credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, 
 exposes to perpetual change from the endless va- 
 riety of hypothesis and opinion ; and remember,
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 291 
 
 especially, that for the efficient management of CHAP. 
 
 . . . .xn. 
 your common interests, m a country so extensive 
 
 as ours, a government of as much vigour as is con- 1794 
 sistent with the perfect security of liberty, is in- 1795, . 
 dispensable. Liberty itself will find in such a go- 
 vernment, with powers properly distributed and 
 adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little 
 else than a name, where the government is too 
 feeble to withstand the enterprises of faction, to 
 confine each member of the society within the li- 
 mits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all 
 in the secure and tranquil enjoyment of the rights 
 of person and property. 
 
 " I have already intimated to you the danger 
 of parties in the state, with particular references 
 to the founding of them on geographical discrimi- 
 nations. Let me now take a more comprehen- 
 sive view, and warn you in the most solemn man- 
 ner against the baneful effects^ of the spirit of 
 party, generally. 
 
 " This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable from 
 our nature, having its root in the strongest pas- 
 sions of the human mind. It exists under differ- 
 ent shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, 
 controlled, or repressed; but in those of the po- 
 pular form, it is seen in its greatest rankness, and 
 is truly their worst enemy. 
 
 " The alternate domination of one faction ove&' 
 another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natu- 
 ral to party dissention, which in different ages 
 and countries has perpetrated the most horrid 
 enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But 
 this leads at length to a more formal and perma- 
 nent despotism. The disorders and miseries
 
 292 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, which result, gradually incline the minds of men 
 ' to seek security and repose in the absolute power 
 1794 of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of 
 1796. some prevailing faction, more able or more fortu- 
 nate than his competitors, turns this disposition 
 to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins 
 of public liberty. 
 
 " Without looking forward to an extremity of 
 this kind, (which nevertheless ought not to be en- 
 tirely out of sight,) the common and continual 
 mischiefs of the spirit of party, are sufficient to 
 make it the interest and duty of a wise people 
 to discourage and restrain it. 
 
 " It serves always to distract the public coun- 
 cils, and enfeeble the public administration. It 
 agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies 
 and false alarms ; kindles the animosity of one 
 part against another; foments occasional riot and 
 insurrection. It opens the door to foreign in- 
 fluence and corruption, which find a facilitated 
 access to the government itself, through the chan- 
 nels of party passions. Thus the policy and the 
 will of one country, are subjected to the policy 
 and will of another. 
 
 " There is an opinion that parties in free coun- 
 tries are useful checks upon the administration of 
 the government, and serve to keep alive the spirit 
 of liberty. This, within certain limits, is probably 
 true ; and in governments of a monarchical cast, 
 patriotism may look with indulgence, if not with 
 favour, upon the spirit of party. But in those of 
 the popular character, in governments purely 
 elective, it is a spirit not to be encouraged. From 
 their natural tendency, it is certain there will al-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 293 
 
 
 
 ways be enough of that spirit for every salutary C y^ p< 
 purpose. And there being constant danger of ex- ' 
 cess, the effort ought to be, by force of public i?94 
 opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to ir96. 
 be quenched, it demands a uniform vigilance to 
 prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, instead of 
 warming, it should consume. 
 
 " It is important, likewise, that the habits of 
 thinking, in a free country, should inspire cau- 
 tion in those intrusted with its administration, to 
 confine themselves within their respective consti- 
 tutional spheres, avoiding in the exercise of the 
 powers of one department to encroach upon an- 
 other. The spirit of encroachment tends to con- 
 solidate the powers of all the departments in one, 
 and thus to create, whatever the form of govern- 
 ment, a real despotism. A just estimate of that 
 love of power, and proneness to abuse it, which 
 predominate in the human heart, is sufficient to 
 satisfy us of the truth of this position. The ne- 
 cessity of reciprocal checks in the exercise of 
 political power, by dividing and distributing it 
 into different depositories, and constituting each 
 the guardian of the public weal against invasions 
 of the others, has been evinced by experiments 
 ancient and modern; some of them in our country 
 and under our own eyes. To preserve them must 
 be as necessary as to institute them. If, in the 
 opinion of the people, the distribution or modifi- 
 cation of the constitutional powers, be in any par- 
 ticular wrong, let it be corrected by an amend- 
 ment in the way which the constitution designates. 
 But let there be no change by usurpation; for 
 though this, in one instance, may be the instru-
 
 294 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, nient of good, it is the customary weapon by 
 ' which free governments are destroyed. The pre- 
 1794 cedent must always greatly overbalance in per- 
 1796. manent evil, any partial or transient benefit 
 which the use can at any time yield. 
 
 " Of all the dispositions and habits which lead 
 to political prosperity, religion and morality are 
 indispensable supports. In vain would that man 
 claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labour 
 to subvert these great pillars of human happiness 
 these firmest props of the duties of men and ci- 
 tizens. The mere politician, equally with the pi- 
 ous man, ought to respect and to cherish them. 
 A volume could not trace all their connexions 
 with private and public felicity. Let it simply 
 be asked, where is the security for property, for 
 reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obli- 
 gation desert the oaths, which are the instruments 
 of investigation in courts of justice ? And let us 
 with caution indulge the supposition, that morali- 
 ty can be maintained without religion. What- 
 ever may be conceded to the influence of refined 
 education on minds of peculiar structure, reason 
 and experience both forbid us to expect that na- 
 tional morality can prevail in exclusion of reli- 
 gious principles. 
 
 " It is substantially true, that virtue or morali- 
 ty is a necessary spring of popular government. 
 The rule indeed extends with more or less force 
 to every species of free government. Who that 
 is'a'sinccre friend to it can look with indifference 
 upon attempts to shake the foundation of the fa- 
 bric ? 
 
 " Promote, then, as an object of primary im-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 295 
 
 portance, institutions for the general diffusion of CHAP. 
 
 knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a f! 
 
 government gives force to public opinion, it is w* 
 essential that public opinion should be enlight- 17%. 
 ened. 
 
 " As a very important source of strength and 
 security, cherish public credit. One method of 
 preserving it is to use it as sparingly as possible, 
 avoiding occasions of expense bv cultivating 
 peace; but remembering also, that timely dis- 
 bursements to prepare for danger, frequently pre- 
 vent much greater disbursements to repel it; 
 avoiding likewise the accumulation of debt, not 
 only by shunning occasions of expense, but by 
 vigorous exertions in time of peace, to discharge 
 the debts which unavoidable wars may have occa- 
 sioned, not ungenerously throwing upon posteri- 
 ty the burden which we ourselves ought to bear. 
 The execution of these maxims belongs to your 
 representatives ; but it is necessary that public 
 opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to them 
 the performance of their duty, it is essential that 
 you should practically bear in mind, that towards 
 the payment of debts there must be revenue ; that 
 to have revenue there must be taxes; that no tax- 
 es can be devised which are not more or less in- 
 convenient and unpleasant; that the intrinsic 
 embarrassment inseparable from the selection of 
 the proper objects, (which is always a choice of 
 difficulties,) ought to be a decisive motive for a 
 candid construction of the conduct of the govern- 
 ment in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence 
 in the measures lor obtaining revenue which the 
 public exigencies may at any time dictate.
 
 296 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. Observe good faith and justice towards all 
 
 nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all: 
 
 1794 religion and morality enjoin this conduct ; and can 
 1796. it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it ? 
 It will be worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no 
 distant period, a great nation, to give to mankind 
 the magnanimous and too novel example of a peo- 
 ple always guided by an exalted justice and bene- 
 volence. Who can doubt that in the course of 
 time and things the fruits of such a plan would rich- 
 ly repay any temporary advantages which might 
 be lost by a steady adherence to it ? Can it be, 
 that Providence has not connected the permanent 
 felicity of a nation with its virtue? The experi- 
 ment, at least, is recommended by every senti- 
 ment which ennobles human nature. Alas ! is it 
 rendered impossible by its vices ? 
 
 " In the execution of such a plan, nothing is 
 more essential than that permanent inveterate 
 antipathies against particular nations, and passion- 
 ate attachments for others, should be excluded ; 
 and that in place of them, just and amicable feel- 
 ings towards all should be cultivated. The na- 
 tion which indulges towards another an habitual 
 hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree 
 a slave. It is a slave to its animosity or to its af- 
 fection, either of which is sufficient to lead it astray 
 from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one 
 nation against another, disposes each more readi- 
 ly to offer insult and injury, to lay hold of slight 
 causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and in- 
 tractable, when accidental or trifling occasions of 
 dispute occur. 
 " Hence frequent collisions, obstinate, enve-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 297 
 
 nomed, and bloody contests. The nation, prompt- CHAP. 
 
 ed by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to __ 
 
 war the government, contrary to the 'best calcu- !~ 94 
 lations of policy. The government sometimes IN* 
 participates in the national propensity, and adopts 
 through passion, what reason would reject; at 
 other times, it makes the animosity of the nation 
 subservient to projects of hostility instigated by 
 pride, ambition, and other sinister and pernicious 
 motives. The peace often, sometimes perhaps the 
 liberty of nations, has been the victim. 
 
 " So, likewise, a passionate attachment of one 
 nation for another, produces a variety of evils. 
 Sympathy for the favourite nation, facilitating the 
 illusion of an imaginary common interest in cases 
 where no real common interest exists, and in- 
 fusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays 
 the former into a participation in the quarrels and 
 wars of the latter, without adequate inducements 
 or justification. It leads also to concessions to 
 the favourite nation, of privileges denied to others, 
 which are apt doubly to injure the nation making 
 the concessions, by unnecessarily parting with 
 what ought to have been retained j and by exciting 
 jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in 
 the parties from whom equal privileges are with- 
 held ; and it gives to ambitious, corrupted, or de- 
 luded citizens, (who devote themselves to the fa- 
 vourite nation,) facility to betray, or sacrifice the 
 interests of their own country, without odium, 
 sometimes even with popularity ; gilding with the 
 appearances of a virtuous sense of obligation a 
 commendable deference lor public opinion, or a 
 laudable zeal for public good, the base or foolish
 
 298 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatua- 
 
 X II. . 
 
 _____ tion. 
 
 1794 As avenues to foreign influence in innumera- 
 1796. ble ways, such attachments are particularly alarm- 
 ing to the truly enlightened and independent pa- 
 triot. How many opportunities do they afl'ord to 
 tamper with domestic factions, to practise the 
 arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, to 
 influence or awe the public councils ! Such an 
 attachment of a small or weak, towards a great 
 and powerful nation, dooms the former to be the 
 satellite of the latter. Against the insidious wiles 
 of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me, 
 fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people 
 ought to be constantly awake ; since history and 
 experience prove that foreign influence is one of 
 the most baneful foes of republican government. 
 But that jealousy, to be useful, must be impartial ; 
 else it becomes the instrument of the very influ- 
 ence to be avoided, instead of a defence against it. 
 Excessive partiality for one foreign nation, and 
 excessive dislike 'of another, cause those whom 
 they actuate to see danger only on one side, and 
 serve to veil and even second the arts of influence 
 on the other. Heal patriots, who may resist the 
 intrigues of the favourite, are liable to become 
 suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes 
 usurp the applause and confidence of the people, 
 to surrender their interests. 
 
 " The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to 
 foreign nations, is, in extending our commercial 
 relations, to have with them as little political con- 
 nexion as possible. So far as we have already 
 formed engagements, let them be fulfilled with 
 perfect good faith. Here let us stop.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 299, 
 
 " Europe has a set of primary interests, which CHAP. 
 
 to us have none, or a very remote, relation. Hence 
 
 she must be engaged in frequent controversies, 1794 
 the causes of which are essentially foreign to our 17%, 
 concerns. Hence, therefore, it must be unwise in 
 us to implicate ourselves by artificial ties, in the 
 ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordi- 
 nary combinations and collisions of her friendships 
 or enmities. 
 
 " Our detached and distant situation, invites 
 and enables us to pursue a different course. If 
 we remain one people, under an efficient govern- 
 ment, the period is not far off, when we may defy 
 material injury from external annoyance; when 
 \ve may take such an attitude as will cause the 
 neutrality we may at any time resolve upon, to 
 be scrupulously respected ; when belligerent na- 
 tions, under the impossibility of making acquisi- 
 tions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving 
 us provocation ; when we may choose peace or 
 war, as our interest, guided by justice, shall coun- 
 sel. 
 
 " Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a 
 situation ? Why quit our own to stand upon fo- 
 reign ground ? Why, by interweaving our desti- 
 ny with that of any part of Europe, entangle our 
 peace and prosperity in the toils of European am- 
 bition, rivalship, interest, humour, or caprice ? 
 
 " It is our true policy to^teer clear of perma- 
 nent alliances with any portion of the foreign 
 world ; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty 
 to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of 
 patronizing infidelity to existing engagements. I 
 hold the maxim no less applicable to public than to
 
 300 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C HA. private affairs, that honesty is always the best po- 
 
 \icy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements 
 
 irw be observed in their genuine sense. But in my 
 1796. opinion, it is unnecessary, and would be unwise, 
 to extend them. 
 
 " Taking care always to keep ourselves, by 
 suitable establishments, on a respectable defensive 
 posture, we may safely trust to temporary allian- 
 ces for extraordinary emergencies. 
 
 " Harmony, and a liberal intercourse with all na- 
 tions, are recommended by policy, humanity, and 
 interest. But even our commercial policy should 
 hold an equal and impartial hand ; neither seek- 
 ing nor granting exclusive favours or preferences; 
 consulting the natural course of things; diffusing 
 and diversifying by gentle means, the streams of 
 commerce, but forcing nothing; establishing, 
 with powers so disposed, in order to give trade a 
 stable course, to define the rights of our mer- 
 chants, and to enable the government to support 
 them, conventional rules of intercourse, the best 
 that present circumstances and mutual opinion 
 will permit, but temporary, and liable to be from 
 lime to timt 1 abandoned or varied, as experience 
 and circun, stances shall dictate ; constantly keep- 
 ing in view, that it is folly in one nation to look 
 for disinterested favours from another ; that it 
 must pay with a portion of its independence for 
 whatever it may aqcept under that character ; 
 that by such acceptance, it may place itself in 
 the condition of having given equivalents for no- 
 minal favours, and yet of being reproached with 
 i i (gratitude for not giving more. There can be 
 o greater error than to expect or calculate upon
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 30i 
 
 real favours from nation to nation. It is an illpr CHAP. 
 
 VTT 
 
 sion which experience must cure, which a just _ 
 pride ought to discard. 1794, 
 
 " In offering to you, my countrymen, these 1795. 
 counsels of an old and affectionate friend, I dare 
 not hope they will make the strong and lasting 
 impression I could wish that they will control 
 the usual current of the passions, or prevent our 
 nation from running the course which has hither- 
 to marked the destiny of nations. But if I may 
 even flatter myself, that they may be productive 
 of some partial benefit, some occasional good ; 
 that they may now and then recur to moderate 
 the fury of party spirit; to warn against the mis- 
 chiefs of foreign intrigue; to guard against the 
 impostures of pretended patriotism ;. this hope 
 will be a full recompense for the solicitude for 
 your welfare, by which they have been dictated. 
 
 " How far, in the discharge of my official duties, 
 I have been guided by the principles which have 
 been delineated, the public records and other evi- 
 dences of my conduct must witness to you and to 
 the world. To myself, the assurance of my own 
 conscience is, that I have at least believed myself 
 to be guided by them. 
 
 " In relation to the still subsisting war in Eu- 
 rope, my proclamation of the 22d of April, 1793, 
 is the index to my plan. Sanctioned by your ap- 
 proving voice, and by that of your representatives 
 in both houses of Congress, the spirit of that mea- 
 sure has continually governed me; uninfluenced 
 by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. 
 
 " After deliberate examination, with the aid of 
 the best lights I could obtain, 1 was well satisfied
 
 302 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C xn P ^ iat our countr y> "rider all the circumstances of 
 
 the case, had a right to take, and was bound in 
 
 1794 duty and interest to take, a neutral position. 
 ir96. Having taken it, I determined, as far as should de- 
 pend upon me, to maintain it with moderation, 
 perseverance, and firmness. 
 
 " The considerations which respect the right to 
 hold this conduct, it is not necessary on this oc- 
 casion to detail. 1 will only observe, that accord- 
 ing to my understanding of the matter, that right, 
 so far from being denied by any of the belliger- 
 ent powers, has been virtually admitted by all. 
 
 " The duty of holding a neutral conduct may 
 be inferred, without any thing more, from the 
 obligation which justice and humanity impose 
 on every nation, in cases in which it is free to act, 
 to maintain inviolate the relations of peace and 
 amity towards other nations. 
 
 " The inducements of interest for observing 
 that conduct will best be referred to your own re- 
 flections and experience. With me, a predomi- 
 nant motive has been to endeavour to gain time 
 to our country to settle and mature its yet recent 
 institutions, and to progress, without interruption, 
 to that degree of strength and consistency, which 
 is necessary to give it, humanly speaking, the 
 command of its own fortunes. 
 
 " Though in reviewing the incidents of my ad- 
 ministration, I am unconscious of intentional er- 
 ror ; I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects 
 not to think it probable that I may have commit- 
 ted many errors. Whatever they may be, I fer- 
 vently beseech the Almighty to avert or mitigate 
 the evils to which they may tend. I shall also
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 30; 
 
 carry with me the hope that my country will CHAP. 
 
 never cease to view them with indulgence ; and 1_ 
 
 that after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its V94, 
 service, with an upright zeal, the faults of incompe- 1796. 
 tent abilities will be consigned to oblivion, as my- 
 self must soon be to the mansions of rest. 
 
 " Relying on its kindness in this as in other 
 things, and actuated by that fervent love towards 
 it, which is so natural to a man who views in it 
 the native soil of himself and his progenitors for 
 several generations ; 1 anticipate with pleasing 
 expectation that retreat, in which I promise my- 
 self to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoy- 
 ment of partaking, in the midst of my fellow-citi- 
 zens, the benign influence of good laws under a 
 free government the ever favourite object of my 
 heart, and the happy reward, as I trust, of our 
 mutual cares, labours, and dangers. 
 
 " UNITED STATES, Sept. 17, 1796." 
 
 This valedictory address of the father of his 
 country, was received in every part of the union 
 with the most unbounded veneration, and record- 
 ed with the most pointed respect. Shortly after, 
 the President, for the last time, met the national 
 legislature in the senate chamber. His address 
 on the occasion was highly dignified. He con- 
 gratulated Congress on the internal situation of 
 the United States ; on the progress which had been 
 made for preserving peace with the Indians, and 
 meliorating their condition ; and, after stating the 
 measures which had been adopted in execution 
 of the treaties with Britain, Spain, and Algiers, 
 and the negociations which were pending with Tu- 
 nis and Tripoli, he observed : " To an active ex-
 
 304 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, temal commerce, the protection of a naval force is 
 . indispensable. Thisis manifest with regard to wars 
 
 1794 in which a state is itself a party. But besides this, 
 1796. it is in our own experience, that the most sincere 
 neutrality is not a sufficient guard against the de- 
 predations of nations at war. To secure respect 
 to a neutral flag requires a naval force, organized 
 and ready to vindicate it from insult or aggression. 
 This may even prevent the necessity of going to 
 war, by discouraging belligerent powers from com- 
 mitting such violations of the rights of the neutral 
 party, as may first or last leave no other option. 
 From the best information I have been able to 
 obtain, it would seem as if our trade to the Medi- 
 terranean, without a protecting force, will always 
 be insecure, and our citizens exposed to the ca- 
 lamities from which numbers of them have but 
 just been relieved. 
 
 " These considerations invite the United States 
 to look to the means, and to set about the gra- 
 dual creation of a navy. The increasing pro- 
 gress of their navigation, promises them at no 
 distant period, the requisite supply of seamen, 
 and their means in other respects, favour the un- 
 dertaking. It is an encouragement likewise, that 
 their particular situation will give weight and in- 
 fluence to a mdtierate naval force in their hands. 
 Will it not then be adviseable to begin without 
 delay, to provide and lay up the materials for the 
 building and equipping of ships of war, and to 
 proceed in the work by degrees, in proportion as 
 our resources shall render it practicable, without 
 inconvenience; so that a future war of Europe may 
 not find our commerce in the same unprotected 
 state in which it was found by the present ?"
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 305 
 
 He then recommended the establishment of CHAP. 
 
 national works for manufacturing implements of 1^ 
 
 defence; of an institution for the improvement of ^94 
 agriculture ; and pointed out the advantages of a 1795. 
 military academy; of a national university; and 
 the necessity of augmenting the salaries of the 
 officers of the United States. 
 
 In respect to the disputes with France, he ob- , 
 served " While in our external relations some 
 serious inconveniences and embarrassments have 
 been overcome, and others lessened, it is with 
 much pain and deep regret I mention, that cir- 
 cumstances of a very unwelcome nature have late- 
 ly occurred. Our trade has suffered, and is suf- 
 fering, extensive injuries in the West-Indies, from 
 the cruisers and agents of the French republic ; 
 and communications have been received from its 
 Minister here, which indicate the danger of a fur- 
 ther disturbance of our commerce by its authori- 
 ty; and which are in other respects far from 
 agreeable. 
 
 " It has been my constant, sincere, and earnest 
 wish, in conformity with that of our nation, to 
 maintain cordial harmony, and a perfectly friend- 
 ly understanding with that republic. This wish 
 remains unabated, and I shall persevere in the en- 
 deavour to fulfil it, to the utmost extent of what 
 shall be consistent with a just and indispensable 
 regard to the rights and honour of our country; 
 nor will I easily cease to cherish the expectation, 
 that a spirit of justice, candour, and friendship, 
 on the part of the republic, will eventually ensure 
 success. 
 
 " In pursuing this course, however, I cannot 
 2 R
 
 306 THE LIFE OF 
 
 f r g e t what is due to the character of our govern- 
 menl and nation, or to a full and entire conft- 
 
 1794 dence in the good sense, patriotism, self-respect, 
 
 1796. and fortitude of my countrymen." 
 
 This address was concluded in the following 
 pathetic terms : 
 
 " The situation in which I now stand for the 
 last time, in the midst of the representatives of 
 the people of the United States, naturally re- 
 calls the period when the administration of the 
 present form of government commenced ; and I 
 cannot omit the occasion to congratulate you 
 and my country on the success of the experiment, 
 nor to repeat my fervent supplications to the 
 Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and sovereign 
 arbiter of nations, that his providential care may 
 still be extended to the United States ; that the 
 virtue and happiness of the people may be pre- 
 served ; and that the government which they have 
 instituted for the protection of their liberties may 
 be perpetual."
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 307 
 
 CHAP. XIII. 
 
 Washington rejoices at the prospect of retiring. 
 Writes to the Secretary of State, denying the au- 
 thenticity of letters said to be from him to J. P. 
 Oust is and Lund Washington, in 1776. Pays 
 respect to Ins successor, Mr. John Adams. Re- 
 view of Washington's administration. He retires 
 to Mount Vernon. Resumes agricultural pur- 
 suits. Hears with regret the aggression of the 
 French republic. Corresponds on the subject of 
 his taking the command of an army to oppose the 
 French . Is appointed Lieutenant-General. His 
 commission is sent to him by the Secretary of War. 
 His letter to President Adams on the receipt 
 thereof. Directs the organization of the proposed 
 army. Three Envoys Extraordinary sent to 
 France, ivho adjust all disputes with Bonaparte, 
 after the overthrow of the Directory. Gen. Wash- 
 ington dies. Is honoured by Congress, and by the 
 citizens. His character. 
 
 1 HE pleasing emotions which are excited in or- CHAP. 
 
 dinary men on their acquisition of power, were XIIL 
 
 inferior to those which Washington felt on the 1796 
 
 resignation of it. To his tried friemJ, Gen. Knox, ^ 
 on the day preceding the termination of his of- 
 fice, he observed in a letter" To the weary tra-
 
 308 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, veller who sees a resting place, and is bending 
 
 his body thereon, I now compare myself. Al- 
 
 1796 though the prospect of retirement is most grate- 
 1799. ful to my soul, and I have not a wish to mix 
 again in the great world, or to partake in its poli- 
 tics, yet I am not without regret at parting with 
 (perhaps never more to meet) the few intimates 
 whom I love. Among these be assured you are 
 one." 
 
 The numerous calumnies of which Washington 
 was the subject, drew from him no public ani- 
 madversions, except in one case. A volume of 
 letters, said to be from Gen. Washington to John 
 Parke Custis and Lund Washington, were pub- 
 lished by the British, in the year 1776, and were 
 given to the public as being found in a small port- 
 manteau, left in the care of his servant, who it 
 was said by the editors, had been taken prisoner 
 in Fort Lee. These letters were intended to pro- 
 duce in the public mind, impressions unfavoura- 
 ble to the integrity of Washington's motives, and 
 to represent his inclinations as at variance with 
 his profession and duty. When the first edition 
 of these spurious letters was forgotten, they were 
 republished during Washington's civil administra- 
 tion, by some of his fellow-citizens who differed 
 from him in politics. On the morning of the last 
 day of his Presidency, he addressed a letter to the 
 Secretary of State, in which, after enumerating all 
 the facts and dates connected with the forgery, 
 and declaring that he had hitherto deemed it un- 
 necessary to take any formal notice of the impo- 
 sition, he concluded as follows : " But as I can- 
 not know how soon a more serious event may
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 309 
 
 succeed to that which will this day take place, CHAP. 
 
 jKII 
 
 I have thought it a duty that I owed to myself, L_ 
 
 to my country, and to truth, now to detail the 1^6 
 circumstances above recited, and to add my so- 1799. 
 lemn declaration, that the letters herein describ- 
 ed, are a base forgery j and that I never saw 
 or heard of them until they appeared in, print. 
 The present letter I commit to your care, and de- 
 sire it may be deposited in the office of the de- 
 partment of state, as a testimony of the truth to 
 the present generation and to posterity." 
 
 The moment now approached which was to 
 terminate the official character of Washington, 
 and in which that of his successor, John Adams, 
 was to commence. The old and new President 
 "walked in together to the House of Representa- 
 tives, where the oath of office was administered 
 to the latter. On this occasion Mr. Adams con- 
 cluded an impressive speech with a handsome 
 compliment to his predecessor, by observing, that 
 though he was about to retire, " his name may 
 still be a rampart, and the knowledge that he 
 lives a bulwark against all open or secret enemies 
 of his country." 
 
 The immense concourse of citizens who were 
 present, gazed with love and affection on the re- 
 tiring Washington, while cheerfulness overspread 
 his countenance and joy filled his heart, on see- 
 ing another invested with the high authorities he 
 so long exercised, and the way opened for his re- 
 turning to the long wished-for happiness of do- 
 mestic private life. After paying his most re- 
 spectful compliments to the new President, he set 
 out for Mount- Vernon, the scene of enjoyment
 
 310 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, which he preferred to all others. His wishes to 
 
 /* 
 
 , travel privately were in vain ; for wherever he 
 
 1^96 passed, the gentlemen of the country took every 
 
 1799. occasion of testifying their respect for him. In 
 
 his retirement he continued to receive the most 
 
 flattering addresses from legislative bodies, and 
 
 various classes of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 During the eight years administration of 
 Washington, the United States enjoyed prosperity 
 and happiness at home ; and, by the energy of 
 the government, regained among foreigners that 
 importance and reputation, which, by its weak- 
 ness, they had lost. The debts contracted in the 
 revolutionary war, which, from the imbecility of 
 the old government, had depreciated to an insig- 
 nificant sum, were funded ; and such ample reve- 
 nues provided for the payment of the interest and 
 the gradual extinction of the principal, that their 
 real and nominal value were in a little time near- 
 ly the same. The government was so firmly es- 
 tablished as to be cheerfully and universally 
 obeyed. The only exception was an insurrection 
 in the western counties of Pennsylvania, which 
 was quelled without bloodshed. Agriculture and 
 commerce were extended far beyond what had 
 ever before taken place. The Indians on the 
 frontiers had been first compelled by force to 
 respect the United States, and to continue in 
 peace; and afterwards a humane system was com- 
 menced for teaching them -to exchange the toma- 
 hawk and hatchet for the plough, the hoe, the 
 shuttle, and the spinning-wheel. The free navi- 
 gation of the Missisippi had been acquired with 
 the consent of Spain, and all differences compro-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 311 
 
 mised with that power. The military posts CHAP. 
 which had been long held by Britain within the 
 
 United States, were peaceably given up. The 1796 
 Mediterranean was opened to American vessels 1799. 
 in consequence of treaties made with the Barbary 
 powers. Indeed, differences with all powers, 
 either contiguous to or connected with the United 
 States, had been amicably adjusted, with the ex- 
 ception of France. To accomplish this very de- 
 sirable object, Washington made repeated advan- 
 ces ; but it could not be obtained without surren- 
 dering the independence of the nation, and its 
 right of self-government. 
 
 Washington, on returning to Mount- Vernon, 
 resumed agricultural pursuits. These, with the 
 society of men and books, gave to every hour in- 
 nocent and interesting employment, and promis- 
 ed a serene evening of his life. Though he wish- 
 ed to withdraw not only from public office, but 
 from all anxiety respecting public affairs, yet he 
 felt too much for his country to be indifferent to 
 its interests. He heard with regret the repeated 
 insults offered by the French Directory to the 
 United States, in the person of their ministers, 
 and the injury done to their commerce by illegal 
 captures of their vessels. These indignities and 
 injuries, after a long endurance and a rejection 
 of all advances for an accommodation, at length 
 roused the government, in the hands of Mr. 
 Adams, to adopt vigorous measures. To be in 
 readiness to repel a threatened invasion, Congress 
 authorized the formation of a regular army. As 
 soon as the adoption of this measure was pro- 
 bable, the eyes of all were once more turned
 
 312 THE LIFE OF 
 
 on ^ as hington as the most suitable person to 
 be at its head. Letters from his friends poured 
 in upon him, urging that he should accept the 
 1799. command. To one from President Adams, in 
 which it was observed " We must have your 
 name if you will in any case permit us to use it; 
 there will be more efficacy in it, than in many 
 an army" Washington replied as follows " At 
 the epoch of my retirement, an invasion of these 
 states by any European power, or even the pro- 
 bability of such an event in my days, was so far 
 from being contemplated by me, that I had no 
 conception either that, or any other occurrence, 
 would arrive in so short a period, which could 
 turn mv eyes from the shades of Mount- Vernon. 
 But this seems to be the age of wonders ; and it is 
 reserved for intoxicated and lawless France, (for 
 purposes far beyond the reach of human ken,) to 
 slaughter her own citizens, and to disturb the re- 
 pose of all the world besides. From a view of the 
 past j from the prospect of the present ; and of 
 that which seems to be expected, it is not easy 
 for me to decide satisfactorily on the part it might 
 best become me to act. In case of actual inva- 
 sion by a formidable force, I certainly should not 
 intrench myself under the cover of age and re- 
 tirement, if my services should be required by my 
 country to assist in repelling it. And if there 
 be good cause to expect such an event, which 
 certainly must be better known to the govern- 
 ment than to private citizens, delay in preparing 
 for it may be dangerous, improper, and not to be 
 justified by prudence. The uncertainty, however, 
 of the latter, in my mind, creates my embarrass-
 
 CEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 ment; for I cannot bring it to believe, regardless 
 as the French are of treaties and of the laws of 
 nations, and capable as I conceive them to be of 1796 
 any species of despotism and injustice, that they 
 will attempt to invade this country, after such a 
 uniform and unequivocal expression of the deter- 
 mination of the people in all parts to oppose them 
 with their lives and fortunes. That they have 
 been led to believe by their agents and partisans 
 among us, that we are a divided people ; that the 
 latter are opposed to their own government ; and 
 that the show of a small force would occasion a 
 revolt, I have no doubt ; and how far these men, 
 (grown desperate,) will further attempt to deceive, 
 and may succeed in keeping up the deception, is 
 problematical. Without that, the folly of the Di- 
 rectory in such an attempt would, I conceive, be 
 more conspicuous, if possible, than their wicked- 
 ness. 
 
 " Having with candour made this disclosure of 
 the state of my mind, it remains only for me to 
 add, that to those who know me best it is best 
 known, that should imperious circumstances in- 
 duce me to exchange once more the smooth paths 
 of retirement for the thorny ways of public life, at 
 a period too when repose is more congenial to na- 
 ture, that it would be productive of sensations 
 which can be more easily conceived than expres- 
 sed." 
 
 To the Secretary of War, writing on the same 
 subject, Washington replied " It cannot be ne- 
 cessary for me to premise to you, or to others who 
 know my sentiments, that to quit the tranquillity 
 of retirement, and enter the boundless field of re-
 
 314 TflE LIFE OF 
 
 C xin P ' s P olls ikilit)', would be productive of sensations 
 
 which a better pen than I possess would find it 
 
 1796 difficult to describe. Nevertheless, the principle 
 1799 by which my conduct has been actuated through 
 life, would not suffer me, in any great emergency, 
 to withhold any services I could render when re- 
 quired by my country ; especially in a case where 
 its dearest rights are assailed by lawless ambition 
 and intoxicated power, in contempt of every prin- 
 ciple of justice, and in violation of solemn com- 
 pact, and of laws which govern all civilized na- 
 tions ; and this too with the obvious intent to sow 
 thick the seeds of disunion, forthe purpose of sub- 
 jugating our government, and destroying our in- 
 dependence and happiness. 
 
 " Under circumstances like these, accompanied 
 by an actual invasion of our territory, it would be 
 difficult for me at any time to remain an idle 
 spectator, under the plea of age or retirement. 
 With sorrow, it is true, I should quit the shades 
 of my peaceful abode, and the ease and happiness 
 I now enjoy, to encounter anew the turmoils of 
 war, to which possibly my strength and powers 
 might be found incompetent. These, however, 
 should not be stumbling blocks in my own way." 
 
 President Adams nominated Washington with 
 the rank of Lieutenant-General, to the chief com- 
 mand of all the armies raised and to be raised in 
 the United States. His commission was sent to him 
 by Mr. M' Henry, the Secretary of War, who was 
 directed to repair to Mount Vernon, and to con- 
 fer on the arrangements of the new army with its 
 commander in clrief. To the letter which Presi- 
 dent Adams sent with the commission by the.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON^ 315 
 
 Secretary of War, Washington, in two days, repli- C JJ P- 
 ed as follows : ' 
 
 " I had the honour, on the evening of the llth 1796 
 instant, to receive from the hand of tbe Secretary 1799, 
 of War, your favour of the 7th, announcing that 
 you had, with the advice and consent of the Senate, 
 appointed me * Lieutenant-General and Com- 
 mander in Chief of all the armies raised, or to be 
 raised, for the service of the United States.' 
 
 " I cannot express how greatly affected I am at 
 this new proof of public confidence, and the high- 
 ly flattering manner in which you have been 
 pleased to make the communication. At the same 
 time I must not conceal from yen my earnest 
 wish, that the choice had fallen upon a man less 
 declined in years, and better qualified to encoun- 
 ter the usual vicissitudes of war. 
 
 " You know, sir, what calculation I had made 
 relative to the probable course of events, on my 
 retiring from office, and the determination I had 
 consoled myself with, of closing the remnant of 
 my days in my present peaceful abode. You will 
 therefore be at no loss to conceive and appreci- 
 ate the sensations I must have experienced, to 
 bring my mind to any conclusion that would 
 pledge me, at so late a period of life, to leave 
 scenes I sincerely love, to enter upon the bound- 
 less field of public action, incessant trouble, and 
 high responsibility. 
 
 " It was not possible for me to remain igno- 
 rant of, or indifferent to, recent transactions. 
 The conduct of the Directory of France, towards 
 our country ; their insidious hostility to its go- 
 ^ernment ; their various practices to withdraw
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 xm P ' the affections of the people from it ; the evident 
 tendency of their acts, and those of their agents, 
 1796 to countenance and invigorate opposition ; their 
 1799. disregard of solemn treaties and the laws of na- 
 lions; their war upon our defenceless commerce ; 
 their treatment of our ministers of peace; and 
 their demands, amounting to tribute, could not 
 fail to excite in me corresponding sentiments with 
 those my countrymen have so generally expres- 
 sed in their affectionate addresses to you. Believe 
 me, sir, no one can more cordially approve of the 
 wise and prudent measures of your administra- 
 tion. They ought to inspire universal confi- 
 dence, and will, no doubt, combined with the 
 state of things, call from Congress such laws and 
 means as will enable you to meet the full force 
 and extent of the crisis. 
 
 " Satisfied, therefore, that you have sincerely 
 wished and endeavoured to avert war, and ex- 
 hausted, to the last drop, the cup of reconciliation, 
 we can with pure hearts appeal to Heaven for the 
 justice of our cause; and may confidently trust 
 the final result to that kind Providence who has 
 heretofore, and so often, signally favoured the 
 people of these United States. 
 
 " Thinking in this manner, and feeling how 
 incumbent it is upon every person of every de- 
 * scription, to contribute at all times to his country's 
 welfare, and especially in a moment like the 
 present, when every thing we hold dear and sa- 
 cred is so seriously threatened ; I have finally de- 
 termined to accept the commission of Commander 
 in Chief of the armies of the United States; with 
 the reserve only; that I shall not be called into the
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 317 
 
 field until the army is in a situation to require my CHAP. 
 
 presence, or it becomes indispensable by the ur- 
 
 gency of rircumstances. 1796 
 
 " In making this reservation, I beg it to be un- 1799. 
 derstood, that I do not mean to withhold any as- 
 sistance to arrange and organize the army, which 
 you may think I can afford. I take the liberty 
 also to mention, that I must decline having my 
 acceptance considered as drawing after it any 
 immediate charge upon the public; or that I can 
 receive any emoluments annexed to the appoint^ 
 ment, before entering into a situation to incur ex- 
 pense." 
 
 The time of Washington after the receipt of this 
 appointment, was divided between agricultural 
 pursuits and the cares and attentions which were 
 imposed by his new office. The organization of 
 the army was, in a great measure, left to him. 
 Much of his time was employed in making a pro- 
 per selection of officers, and arranging the whole 
 army in the best possible manner to meet the in- 
 vaders at the water's edge ; for he contemplated a 
 system of continued attack, and frequently ob- 
 served, " that the enemy must never be permitted 
 to gain foothold on the shores of the United 
 States." Yet he always thought that an actual in- 
 vasion of the country was very improbable. lie 
 believed that the hostile measures of France took 
 their rise from an expectation that these measures 
 would produce a revolution of power in the 
 United States, favourable to the views of the 
 French republic; and that when the spirit of the 
 Americans was roused, the French would give up 
 the contest. Events soon proved that these opi-
 
 318 THE LIFE OF 
 
 3?m P ' n ' ons were we ^ founded ; for no sooner had the 
 United States armed, than they were treated with 
 1795 respect, and an indirect communication was made 
 1799. that France would accommodate all matters in 
 dispute on reasonable terms. Mr. Adams em- 
 braced these overtures, and made a second ap- 
 pointment of three envoys extraordinary to the 
 French republic. These, on repairing to France, 
 found the Directory overthrown, and the govern- 
 ment in the hands of Bonaparte, who had taken no 
 part in the disputes which had brought the two 
 countries to the verge of war. "With himnegocia- 
 tions were commenced, and soon terminated in a 
 pacific settlement of all differences. The joy to 
 which this event gave birth was great ; but in it 
 General Washington did not partake, for before 
 accounts arrived of this amicable adjustment, he 
 ceased to be numbered with the living. 
 
 On the 13th of December, 1799, his neck and 
 hair were sprinkled with a light rain, while he was 
 out of doors attending to some improvements on 
 his estate. In the following night he was seized 
 with an inflammatory affection of the windpipe, at- 
 tended with pain, and a difficult deglutition, which 
 was soon succeeded by fever, and a laborious re- 
 spiration. He was bled in the night, but would not 
 permit his family physician to be sent for before 
 day. About 1 1 o'clock A. M. Dr. Craik arrived, 
 and rightly judging that the case was serious, re- 
 commended that two consulting physicians should 
 be sent for. The united powers of all three were 
 in vain ; in about twenty four hours from the 
 time he was in his usual health, he expired without 
 a struggle, and in the perfect use of his reason. 

 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 311 
 
 In every stage of his disorder be bel ieved that CHAP. 
 he should die, and he was so much under this im- ' 
 pression, that he submitted to the prescriptions 1796 
 of his physicians more from a sense of duty than 1799. 
 expectation of relief. After he had given them a 
 trial, he expressed a wish that he might be per- 
 mitted to die without farther interruption. To- 
 wards the close of his illness, he undressed him- 
 self and went to bed, to die there. To his friend 
 and physician, Dr. Craik, he said, " I am dying, 
 and have been dying for a long time, but I am not 
 afraid to die." The equanimity which attended 
 him through life, did not forsake him in death. 
 He was the same in that moment as in all the 
 past, magnanimous and firm ; confiding in the 
 mercy and resigned to the will of Heaven. He 
 submitted to the inevitable stroke with the digni- 
 ty of a man, the calmness of a philosopher, the 
 resignation and confidence of a Christian. 
 
 On the 18th, his body, attended by military ho- 
 nours and the offices of religion, was deposited in 
 the family vault on his estate. 
 
 When intelligence reached Congress of the 
 death of Washington, they instantly adjourned 
 until the next day, when John Marshall, then a 
 member of the House of Representatives, and 
 since Chief Justice of the United States, and bi- 
 ographer of Washington, addressed the speaker in 
 the following words : 
 
 " The melancholy event which was yesterday 
 announced with doubt, has been rendered but too 
 certain. Our Washington is no more. The hero, 
 the patriot, and the sage of America ; the man 
 on whom in times of danger every eye was turned,
 
 320 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, and all hopes were placed, lives now only in his 
 
 own great actions, and in the hearts of an affec- 
 
 1796 tionate and afflicted people. 
 1799. " If, sir, it had even not been usual openly to 
 testify respect for the memory of those whom 
 Heaven has selected as its instruments for dis- 
 pensing good to man, yet such has been the un- 
 common worth, and such the extraordinary inci- 
 dents which have marked the life of him whose 
 loss we all deplore, that the whole American na- 
 tion, impelled by the same feelings, would call 
 with one voice for a public manifestation of that 
 sorrow, which is so deep and so universal. 
 
 " More than any other individual, and as much 
 as to one individual was possible, has he contri- 
 buted to found this our wide spreading empire, 
 and to give to the western world, independence 
 and freedom. 
 
 " Having effected the great object for which he 
 was placed at the head of otir armies, we have 
 seen hirn convert the sword into the ploughshare, 
 and sink the soldier into the citizen. 
 
 " When the debility of our federal system had 
 become manifest, and the bonds which connected 
 this vast continent were dissolving, we have seen 
 him the chief of those patriots who formed for us 
 a constitution, which, by preserving the union, 
 will, I trust, substantiate and perpetuate those 
 blessings which our revolution had promised to 
 bestow. 
 
 " In obedience to the general voice of life 
 country, calling him to preside over a great peo- 
 ple, we have seen him once more quit the retire- 
 ment he loved, and in a season more stormy and
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 321 
 
 tempestuous than war itself, with calm and wise CHAP. 
 
 V"TTT 
 
 determination pursue the true interests of the na- . 1_ 
 
 tion, and contribute more than any other could 1796 
 contribute, to the establishment of that system of 1799. 
 policy which will, I trust, yet preserve our peace, 
 our honour, and our independence. 
 
 " Having been twice unanimously chosen the 
 chief magistrate of a free people, we have seen 
 him, at a time when his re-election with universal 
 suffrage could not be doubted, afford to the 
 world a rare instance of moderation, by with- 
 drawing from his station to the peaceful walks of 
 private life. 
 
 " However the public confidence may change, 
 and the public affections fluctuate with respect to 
 others, with respect to him they have, in war and 
 in peace, in public and in private life, been as 
 steady as his own firm mind, and as constant as 
 his own exalted virtues. 
 
 " Let us then, Mr. Speaker, pay the last tri- 
 bute of respect and affection to our departed friend. 
 Let the grand council of the nation display those 
 sentiments which the nation feels. For this pur- 
 pose I hold in my hand some resolutions which , 
 I take the liberty of offering to the house. 
 
 " Resolved, That this House will wait on the 
 President, in condolence of this mournful event. 
 
 " Resolved, That the Speaker's chair be shroud- 
 ed with black, and that the members and officers 
 of the house wear black during the session. 
 
 " Resolved, That a committee, in conjunction 
 with one from the Senate, be appointed to consi- 
 der on the most suitable manner of paying ho- 
 nour to the memory of the man, first in war, first 
 
 2 T
 
 322 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. i n 'peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow*- 
 
 XIII. . . i 
 
 citizens. 
 
 1796 The Senate of the United States, on this melan- 
 1799. choly occasion, addressed to the President a letter 
 in -these words : 
 
 " The Senate of the United States respectfully 
 take leave, sir, to express to you their deep re- 
 gret for the loss their country sustains in the death 
 of Gen. George Washington. 
 
 " This event, so distressing to all our fellow- 
 citizens, must be peculiarly heavy to you, who 
 have long been associated with him in deeds of 
 patriotism. Permit us, sir, to mingle our tears 
 with yours. On this occasion it is manly to weep. 
 To lose such a man, at such a crisis, is no common 
 calamity to the world. Our country mourns a 
 father. The Almighty Disposer of human events, 
 has taken from us our greatest benefactor and or- 
 nament. It becomes us to submit with reverence 
 to him c wbo maketh darkness his pavillion.' 
 
 " With patriotic pride we review the life of our 
 Washington, and compare him with those of 
 other countries who have been pre-eminent in 
 fame. Ancient and modern times are diminished 
 before him. Greatness and guilt have too often, 
 been allied ; but his fame is whiter than it is 
 brilliant. The destroyers of nations stood abash- 
 ed a4 the -majesty of his virtues. It reproved the 
 intemperance of their ambition, and darkened the 
 splendour of victory. The scene is closed, and 
 we are no longer anxious lest misfortune should 
 sully his glory; he has travelled on to the end of 
 Ins journey, and carried with him an increasing 
 weight of honour ; he has deposited it safely where
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 323 
 
 misfortune cannot tarnish it where malice cannot CHAP. 
 blast it. Favoured of Heaven, he departed with- _^1_ 
 out exhibiting the weakness of humanity. Mag- 1796 
 nanimous in death, the darkness of the grave could 1799. 
 not obscure his brightness. 
 
 " Such was the man whom we deplore. Thanks 
 to God, his glory is consummated. Washington 
 yet lives on earth in his spotless example his 
 spirit is in Heaven. 
 
 " Let his countrymen consecrate the memory 
 of the heroic general, the patriotic statesman, and 
 the virtuous sage. Let them teach their children 
 never to forget, that the fruits of his labours and 
 his example are their inheritance." 
 
 To this address, the President returned the fol- 
 lowing answer : 
 
 " I receive with the most respectful and affec- 
 tionate sentiments, in this impressive address, the 
 obliging expressions of your regret for the loss 
 our country has sustained in the death of her most 
 esteemed, beloved, and admired citizen. 
 
 " In the multitude of my thoughts and recol- 
 lections on this melancholy event, you will per- 
 mit me to say, that I have seen him in the days of 
 adversity, in some of the scenes of his deepest 
 distress, and most trying perplexities. 1 have al- 
 so attended him in his highest elevation, and most 
 prosperous felicity, with uniform admiration of 
 his wisdom, moderation, and constancy. 
 
 " Among all our original associates in that 
 memorable league of this continent, in 1774, 
 which first expressed the sovereign will of a free 
 nation in America, he was the only one remain- 
 ing in the general government. Although with
 
 5*24 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C xin P a const i tllt i n more enfeebled than his, at an age 
 
 when he thought it necessary to prepare for re- 
 
 1796 tirement, I feel myself alone bereaved of my last 
 
 1799. brother, yet I derive a strong consolation from 
 
 the unanimous disposition which appears in all 
 
 ages and classes, to 'mingle their sorrows with 
 
 mine, on this common calamity to the world. 
 
 " The life of our Washington cannot suffer by 
 a comparison with those of other countries, who 
 have been most celebrated and exalted by fame. 
 The attributes and decorations of royalty, could 
 only have served to eclipse the majesty of those 
 virtues which made him, from being a modest 
 citizen, a more resplendent luminary. Misfor- 
 tune, had he lived, could hereafter have sullied 
 hit; glory only with those superficial minds who, 
 believing that character and actions are marked 
 by success alone, rarely deserve to enjoy it. 
 Malice could never blast his honour, and envy 
 made him a singular exception to her universal 
 rule. For himself, he had lived long enough to 
 life and to glory; for his fellow-citizens, if their 
 prayers couM have been answered, he would 
 Jiave been immortal ; for me, his departure is at 
 a most unfortunate moment. Trusting, however, 
 in the wise and righteous dominion of Providence 
 over the passions of men and the results of their 
 actions, as well as over their lives, nothing re- 
 mains for me but humble resignation. 
 
 " His example is now complete ; and it will 
 teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, 
 and men, not only- in the present age, but in fu- 
 ture generations, as long as our history shall be 
 read. If a Trajan found a Pliny, a Marcus Au-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 325 
 
 relius can never want biographers, eulogists, or CHAP. 
 
 i XIII. 
 
 historians. 
 
 The committee of both houses appointed to de- 1796 
 vise the mode by which the nation should ex- 1799. 
 press its grief, reported the following resolutions, 
 which were unanimously adopted. 
 
 " Resolved, by the Senate and House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the United States of America, in Con- 
 gress assembled^ That a marble monument be erect* 
 ed by the United States at the capitol of the city 
 of Washington, and that the family of General 
 Washington be requested to permit his body to be 
 deposited under it, and that the monument be so 
 designed as to commemorate the great events of 
 his military and political life. 
 
 " And be it further resolved,, that there be a fune- 
 ral procession from Congress-Hall, to the German 
 Lutheran church, in memory of Gen. George 
 Washington, on Thursday the 26th instant, and 
 that an oration be prepared at the request of Con- 
 gress, to be delivered before both houses that day ; 
 and that the President of the Senate, and Speaker 
 of the House of Representatives, be desired to re- 
 quest one of the members of Congress to prepare 
 and deliver the same. 
 
 " And be it further resolved, that it be recommend- 
 ed to the people of the United States, to wear 
 crape on their left arm, as mourning, for thirty 
 days. 
 
 "And be it further resolved, that the President of 
 the United States be requested to direct a co'py 
 of these resolutions to be transmitted to Mrs. 
 Washington, assuring her of the profound re- 
 spect Congress will ever bear for her person and
 
 326 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, character, of their condolence on the late affecting 
 
 dispensation of Providence ; and entreating her 
 
 1796 assent to the interment of'the remains of Gen. 
 1799. Washington in the manner expressed in the first 
 resolution. 
 
 " And be it further resolved, that the President 
 of the United States be requested to issue his 
 proclamation, notifying to the people throughout 
 the United States, the recommendation contained 
 in the third resolution." 
 
 To the letter of President Adams, which trans- 
 mitted to Mrs. Washington the resolution of 
 Congress that she should be requested to permit 
 the remains of Gen. Washington to be deposited 
 under a marble monument, to be erected in the 
 -city of Washington, she replied very much in the 
 style and manner of her departed husband, and 
 in the following words " Taught by the great 
 example which I have so long had before me, 
 never to oppose my private wishes to the public 
 will, I must consent to the request made by Con- 
 gress, which you have had the goodness to trans- 
 mit to me ; and in doing this, I need not, I can- 
 not say, what a sacrifice of individual feeling I 
 make to a sense of public duty." 
 
 The honours paid to Washington at the seat of* 
 government, were but a small part of the whole. 
 Throughout the United States, the citizens gene- 
 rally expressed, in a variety of ways, both their 
 grief and their gratitude. Their heart-felt dis- 
 tress resembled the agony of a large and affec- 
 tionate family, when a bereaved wife and orphan 
 . children mingle their tears for the loss of a hus- 
 band and father.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 327 
 
 The people, from the impulse of their own c ?' 
 
 minds, before they knew of similar intentions of _ 
 
 their fellow-citizens; or of the resolutions of Con- J ?96 
 gress for a general mourning, assembled and pass- 1799. 
 ed resolutions, expressive of their high sense of 
 the great worth of the deceased, and their grateful 
 recollection of his important services. Orations 
 were delivered, sermons preached, and elegies 
 written, on the melancholy occasion. The best ta- 
 lents of the nation were employed, both in prose 
 and verse, in writing and speaking, to express the 
 national grief, and to celebrate the deeds of the 
 departed father of his country. In addition to 
 the public honours which, in the preceding pages, 
 have been mentioned as conferred on Washington 
 in his life time, there were others of a private na- 
 ture which flowed from the hearts of the people, 
 and which neither wealth nor power could com- 
 mand. An infinity of children were called by 
 his name. This was often done by people in 
 the humble walks of life, who had never seen nor 
 expected to see him ; and who could have no ex- 
 pectations of favour from him. Villages, towns, ci- 
 ties, districts, counties, seminaries of learning, and 
 other public institutions, were called Washington, 
 in such numbers, and in such a variety of places, - 
 that the name no longer answered the end of dis- 
 tinction, unless some local or appropriating cir- 
 cumstances were added to the common appella- 
 tion. Adventurous mariners, who discovered 
 islands or countries in unexplored regions, avail- 
 ing themselves of the privilege of discoverers, 
 planted the name of the American Chief in the 
 remotest corners of the globe.
 
 328 . THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP. The person of George Washington was uncom- 
 
 monly tall. Mountain air, abundant exercise in 
 
 *796 the cpen country, the wholesome toils of the 
 1799. chase, and the delightful scenes of rural life, ex- 
 panded his limbs to an unusual, but graceful and 
 well-proportioned size. His exterior suggested 
 to every beholder the idea of strength, united 
 with manly gracefulness. His form was noble, 
 and his port majestic. No man could approach 
 him but with respect. His frame was robust, his 
 constitution vigorous, and he was capable of en- 
 during great fatigue. His passions were natural- 
 ly strong ; with them was his first contest, and 
 over them his first victory. Before he undertook 
 to command others, he had thoroughly learned to 
 command himself. The powers of his mind were 
 more solid than brilliant. Judgment was his 
 forte. To vivacity, wit, and the sallies of a lively 
 1 imagination, he made no pretensions. His fa- 
 
 culties resembled those of Aristotle, Bacon, Locke* 
 and Newton; but were very Unlike those of Vol- 
 taire. Possessed of a large proportion of com- 
 mon sense, directed by a sound practical judg- 
 ment, he was better fitted for the exalted stations 
 to which he was called, than many others, who, 
 to a greater brilliancy of parts, frequently add 
 the eccentricities of genius. 
 
 Truth and utility were his objects. He steadily 
 pursued, and generally attained them. With this 
 view he thought much, and closely examined eve- 
 ry subject on which he was to decide, in all its 
 relations. Neither passion, party spirit, pride, 
 prejudice, ambition, nor interest, influenced his 
 deliberations. In making up his mind on great
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 329 
 
 occasions, many of which occurred in which the CHAP. 
 
 fate of the army or nation seemed involved, he L 
 
 sought for information from all quarters, revolved 1796 
 the subject by night aad by day*, and examined it 1799. 
 in every point of view. Guided by these lights, 
 and influenced by an honest and good heart, he 
 was imperceptibly led to decisions which were 
 wise and judicious. Perhaps no man ever lived 
 who was so often called upon to form a judgment 
 in cases of real difficulty, and who so often form- 
 ed a right one. Engaged in the busy scenes of 
 life, he knew human nature, and the most proper 
 methods of accomplishing proposed objects. Of 
 a thousand propositions he knew to distinguish 
 the best, and to select among a thousand the in- 
 dividual most fitted for his purpose. 
 
 As a military man, he possessed personal cou- 
 rage, and a firmness which neither danger nor 
 difficulties could shake. His perseverance over- 
 came every obstacle ; his moderation conciliated 
 all opposition ; his genius supplied every re- 
 source. He knew how to conquer by delay, and 
 deserved true praise by despising unmerited cen- 
 sure. Inferior to his adversary in the numbers, 
 the equipment, and discipline of his troops, no 
 great advantage was ever obtained over him, and 
 
 * In a letter to Gen. Knox, written after the termination of 
 the revolutionary war, Washington observed " 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 ta do 
 with public transactions." 
 
 2 U
 
 330 THE LIFE OF 
 
 C xin P " no opportunity to strike an important blow was 
 
 ever neglected. In the most ardent moments of 
 
 1796 the contest, his prudent firmness proved the salva- 
 
 to . . . 
 
 1799. tion ot his country. 
 
 The whole range of history does not present a 
 character on which we can dwell with such entire 
 unmixed admiration. His qualities were so hap- 
 pily blended, and so nicely harmonized, that the 
 result was a great and perfect whole. 
 
 The integrity of Washington was incorruptible. 
 His principles were free from the contamination 
 of selfish and unvvorthy passions. His real and 
 avowed motives were the same. His ends were 
 always upright, and his means pure. He was a 
 statesman without guile, and his professions, both 
 to his fellow-citizens and to foreign nations, were 
 always sincere. No circumstances ever induced 
 
 
 
 him to use duplicity. He was an example of the 
 distinction which exists between wisdom and cun- 
 ning; and his manly, open conduct, was an illus- 
 tration of the soundness of the maxim " that ho- 
 nesty is the best policy." 
 
 The learning of Washington was of a particu- 
 lar kind. He overstepped the tedious forms of 
 the schools, and by the force of a correct taste 
 and sound judgment, seized on the great ends of 
 learning, without the assistance of those means 
 which have been contrived to prepare less active 
 minds for public business. By a careful study of 
 the English language ; by reading good models 
 of fine writing, and above all, by the aid of a vi- 
 gorous mind, he made himself master of a pure, 
 elegant, and classical style. His composition was 
 all nerve j full of correct and manly ideas, which
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 331 
 
 were expressed in precise and forcible language. CHAP. 
 
 His answers to the innumerable addresses which 1__ 
 
 on all public occasions poured in upon him, were 179G 
 promptly made, handsomely expressed, and al- 1799. 
 ways contained something appropriate. His let- 
 ters to Congress ; his addresses to that body ou 
 the acceptance and resignation of his commission; 
 his general orders as Commander in Chief; his 
 speeches and messages as President ; and above 
 all, his two farewell addresses tothe people of the 
 United Stales, will remain lasting monuments of 
 the goodness of his heart, of the wisdom of his 
 head, and of the eloquence of his pen. 
 
 The powers of his mind were in some respects 
 peculiar. He was a great, practical, self-taught 
 genius ; with a head to devise, and a hand to exe- 
 cute, projects of the first magnitude and greatest 
 utility. 
 
 There are few men of any kind, and still few- 
 er of those the world calls great, who have not 
 some of their virtues eclipsed by corresponding 
 vices. But this was not the case with Gen. Wash- 
 ington. He had religion without austerity, dig- 
 nity without pride, modesty without diffidence, 
 courage without rashness, politeness without af- 
 fectation, affability without familiarity. His pri- 
 vate character, as well as his public one, will 
 bear the strictest scrutiny. He was punctual in 
 all his engagements ; upright and honest in his 
 dealings ; temperate in his enjoyments ; liberal 
 and hospitable to an eminent degree; a lover 
 of order; systematical and methodical in all his 
 arrangements. He was the friend of morality 
 and religion ; stradily attended on public wor-
 
 332 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAP, ship j encouraged and strengthened the hands of 
 
 the clergy. In all his public acts, he made the 
 
 1796 most respectful mention of Providence ; and, in a 
 1799. word, carried the spirit of piety with him both in 
 his private life and public administration. 
 
 Washington had to form soldiers of freemen, 
 many of whom had extravagant ideas of their per- 
 sonal rights. He had often to mediate between a 
 starving army, and a high-spirited yeomanry. 
 So great were the necessities of the soldiers under 
 his immediate command, that he was obliged to 
 send out detachments to seize on the property of 
 the farmers at the point of the bayonet. The 
 language of the soldier was " Give me clothing, 
 give me food, or I cannot fight, I oannot live." 
 The language of the farmer was " Protect my 
 property." In this choice of difficulties, Gen. 
 Washington not only kept his army together, but 
 conducted with so much prudence as to command 
 the approbation both of the army and of the 
 citizens. He was also dependent for much of 
 his support on the concurrence of thirteen dis- 
 tinct, unconnected legislatures. Animosities pre- 
 vailed between his southern and northern troops, 
 and there were strong jealousies between the 
 states from which they respectively came. To 
 harmonize these clashing interests, to make uni- 
 form arrangements from such discordant sources 
 and materials, required no common share of ad- 
 dress. Yet so great was the effect of the modest 
 unassuming manners of Gen. Washington, that 
 he retained the affection of all his troops, and of 
 all the states. 
 
 He also possessed equanimity in an eminent
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 333 
 
 degree. One even tenour marked the greatness CHAP. 
 of his mind, in all the variety of scenes through _ L_ 
 
 which he passed. In the most trying situations 
 he never despaired, nor was he ever depressed. 1799. 
 He was the same when retreating through Jersey 
 from before a victorious enemy with the remains 
 of his broken army, as when marching in triumph 
 into Yorktown, over its demolished fortifications. 
 The honours and applause he received from his 
 grateful countrymen, would have made almost 
 any other man giddy ; but on him they had no 
 mischievous effect. He exacted none of those 
 attentions ; but when forced upon him, he receiv- 
 ed them as favours, with the politeness of a well- 
 bred man. He was great in deserving them, but 
 much greater in not being elated with them. 
 
 The patriotism of Washington was of the most 
 ardent kind, and without alloy. He was very 
 different from those noisy patriots, who, with love 
 of country in their mouths, and hell in their 
 hearts, lay their schemes for aggrandizing them- 
 selves at every hazard; but he was one of those 
 who love their country in sincerity, and who hold 
 themselves bound to consecrate all their talents 
 to its service. Numerous were the difficulties 
 with which he had to contend Great were the 
 dangers he had to encounter Various were the 
 toils and services in which he had to share ; but 
 to all difficulties and dangers he rose superior. 
 To all toils and services he cheerfully submitted 
 for his country's good. 
 
 In principle, Washington was a federal-repub- 
 lican, and a republican-federalist. Liberty and 
 law, the rights of man, and the control of govern-
 
 334 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ment, were equally dear to him ; and in his opi- 
 nion, equally necessary to political happiness. He 
 1796 was devoted to that system of equal political rights 
 1799. on which the constitution of his country was found- 
 ed ; but thought that real liberty could only be 
 maintained by preserving the authority of the laws, 
 and giving tone and energy to government. He 
 conceived there was an immense difference be- 
 tween a balanced republic and a tumultuous de- 
 mocracy, or a faction calling themselves the peo- 
 ple ; and a still greater between a patriot and a 
 demagogue. He highly respected the deliberate 
 sentiments of the people, but their sudden ebulli- 
 tions made no impression on his well balanced 
 mind. Trusting for support to the sober second 
 thoughts of the nation, he had the magnanimity 
 to pursue its real interests, in opposition to pre- 
 vailing prejudices. He placed a proper value on 
 popular favour, but could never stoop to gain it 
 by a sacrifice of duty, by artifice, or flattery. In 
 critical times he committed his well earned popu- 
 larity to hazard, and steadily pursued the line of 
 conduct which was dictated by a sense of duty, 
 against an opposing popular torrent. 
 
 While war raged in Europe, the hostile nations 
 would scarce endure a neutral. America was in 
 great danger of being drawn by force or intrigue 
 into the vortex. Strong parties in the United 
 States rendered the danger more imminent ; and 
 it required a temperate, but inflexible govern- 
 ment, to prevent the evil. In this trying state of 
 things, Washington was not to be moved from the 
 true interests of his country. His object was 
 America, and her interest was to remain in peace.
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 335 
 
 .Faction at home, and intrigue and menace from CHAP - 
 abroad, endeavoured to shake him, but in vain ; 
 
 he remained firm and immoveable in the storm 1796 
 that surrounded him. Foreign intrigue was de- 1799. 
 feated, and foreign insolence was repressed by his 
 address and vigour; while domestic faction, dash- 
 ing against him, broke itself to pieces. He met 
 the injustice both of Britain and France by ne- 
 gociation, rather than by war, but maintained to- 
 wards both, that firm attitude which was proper 
 for the magistrate of a free state. He command- 
 ed their respect, and preserved the tranquillity of 
 his country. In his public character, he knew no 
 nation but as friends in peace, as enemies in war. 
 Towards one he forgot ancient animosities, when 
 the recollection of them opposed the interests of 
 his country. Towards another, he renounced a 
 fantastic gratitude, when it was claimed only to 
 involve his nation in war. 
 
 With Washington it was an invariable maxim 
 of policy, to secure his country against the injus- 
 tice of foreign nations, by being in a condition to 
 command their respect, and punish their aggres- 
 sions. The defence of our commerce, the fortifi- 
 cation of the ports, and the organization of a mi- 
 litary force, were objects to which he paid parti- 
 cular attention. To the gradual formation of an 
 American army, he was friendly; and also to mi- 
 litary institutions, which are calculated to qualify 
 the youth of the country for its defence. War he 
 deprecated as a great evil, inferior only to the 
 loss of honour and character ; but thought it was 
 most easily avoided by being ready for it, while, 
 by the practice of universal justice, none could
 
 336 THE LIFE OF 
 
 c J?A p . have any real ground of complaint. In foreign 
 
 transactions, his usuat policy was to cultivate 
 
 1796 peace with all the world ; to observe treaties with 
 1799. pure and absolute faith ; to check every deviation 
 from the line of impartiality ; to explain what 
 was misapprehended, and to correct what was in- 
 jurious; and then to insist upon justice being done 
 to the nation over which he presided. In contro- 
 versies with foreign nations, it was his favourite 
 maxim so to conduct towards them, " as to put 
 them in the wrong." 
 
 In his transactions with the Indian tribes, 
 Washington was guided by justice, humanity, 
 and benevolence. His authority and influence 
 were exerted to restrain the licentious white con- 
 tiguous settlers, from injuring their red neigh- 
 bours. To supply their wants, and prevent im- 
 positions, he strongly urged the erection of trad- 
 ing houses in their settlements, from which they 
 were furnished by government with goods at first 
 cost. The unprincipled were restrained from 
 preying on their ignorance, by excluding all but 
 licensed persons, with good characters, from trad- 
 ing with them. All this was done to pave the 
 way for their civilization. 
 
 When Washington commenced his civil admi- 
 nistration, the United States were without any 
 efficient government. After they had adopted 
 one of their choice, and placed him at its head, 
 he determined that it should be respected. By 
 his firmness order soon took place. There 
 was one exception. The western counties of 
 Pennsylvania rose in arms to resist the law for 
 raising a revenue, by an excise on domestic dis-
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 337 
 
 tilled ardent spirits. On this occasion, the fixed CHAP - 
 
 resolution of Washington was, that whatever ex- L. 
 
 pense it might cost, whatever inconvenience it 1796 
 might occasion, the people must be taught obe- 1799. 
 dience, and the authority of the laws re-establish- 
 ed. To secure this object, peculiarly important 
 in the infancy of the new government, he ordered 
 out, and put himself at the head, of an ample 
 force, calculated to render resistance desperate, 
 and thereby to save the lives of his fellow-citizens. 
 
 In consequence of such decided measures, the 
 insurgents dispersed, and peace and order were 
 restored without bloodshed. The necessity of 
 subordination was impressed on the citizens, and 
 the firmness of Washington's personal character 
 was communicated to the government. 
 
 Having accomplished every object for which he 
 re-entered public life, he gave for the second time, 
 the rare example of voluntarily descending from 
 the first station in the Universe the head of a 
 free people, placed there by their unanimous suf- 
 frage. To the pride of reigning his soul was su- 
 perior. To its labours he submitted only for his 
 country. 
 
 Rulers of the world ! Learn from Washington 
 wherein true glory consists Restrain your am- 
 bition Consider your power as an obligation to 
 dogood Let the world have peace, and prepare 
 for yourselves, the enjoyment of that ecstatic plea- 
 sure which will result from devoting all your 
 energies to the advancement of human happi- 
 ness. 
 
 Citizens of the United States ! While with 
 grateful hearts you recollect the virtues of your 
 
 2 x
 
 338 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Washington, carry your thoughts one step farther. 
 On a review of his life, and of all the circumstan- 
 1796 ces o f the times in which he lived, you must be 
 1799. convinced, that a kind Providence in its benefi- 
 cence raised him. and endowed him with extra- 
 ordinary virtues, to be to you an instrument of 
 great good. None but such a man could have 
 carried you successfully through the revolutiona- 
 ry times which tried men's souls, and ended in 
 the establishment of your independence. None 
 but such a man could have braced up your go- 
 vernment after it had become so contemptible, 
 from the imbecility of the federal system. None 
 but such a man could have saved your country 
 from being plunged into war, either with the 
 greatest naval power in Europe, or with that 
 which is moit formidable by land, inconsequence 
 of your animosity against the one, and your par- 
 tiality in favour of the other. 
 
 Youths of the United States! Learn from 
 Washington what may be clone by an industrious 
 improvement of your talents, and the cultivation of 
 your moral powers. Without any extraordinary 
 adv antages from birth, fortune, patronage, or even 
 of education, he, by virtue and industry, attained 
 the highest seat in the temple of fame. You can- 
 not all be commanders of armies, or chief magis- 
 trates ; but you may all resemble him in the vir- 
 tues of private and domestic life, in which he ex- 
 celled, and in which he most del ighteiL Equally 
 industrious with his plough as his sword, he es- 
 teemed idleness and iuutility as the greatest dis- 
 grace of man, whose powers attain perfection only 
 by constant and vigorous action. Washington, in
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 339 
 
 private life, was as amiable as virtuous ; and as C J^\ P- 
 
 great as he appeared sublime, on the public thea- 
 
 tre of the world. He lived in the discharge of all 1 796 
 the civil, social, and domestic offices of life. He 1799. 
 was temperate in his desires, and faithful to his du- 
 ties. For more than forty years of happy wedded 
 love, his high example strengthened the tone of 
 public manners. He had more real enjoyment in 
 the bosom of his family, than in the pride of mili- 
 tary command, or in the pomp of sovereign power. 
 On the whole, his life affords the brightest mo- 
 del for imitation, not only to warriors and states- 
 men, but to private citizens ; for his character was 
 a constellation of all the talents and virtues which 
 dignify or adorn human nature. 
 
 " He was a man, take him for all in all, 
 We ne'er shall look upon his like again." 
 
 Shaksfieare.
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 (N. I.) 
 
 ^Referred to in page 16$3 
 
 TO THE UNITED STATES, IN CONGRESS ASSEMBLED. 
 
 The Address and Petition of the Officers of the Army oftfo 
 United States, 
 
 HUMBLY SHOWETH 
 
 A HAT we, the Officers of the Army of the United States, 
 in behalf of ourselves and our brethren the Soldiers, beg 
 leave, with all proper deference and respect, freely to state 
 to Congress, the supreme power of the United States, the 
 great distress under which we labour. 
 
 At this period of the war, it is with peculiar pain we find 
 ourselves constrained to address your august body, on mat- 
 ters of a pecuniary nature. We have struggled with our dif- 
 ficulties year after year, under the hopes that each would be 
 the last ; but we have been disappointed. We find our embar- 
 rassments thicken so fast, and have become so complex, that 
 many of us are unable to go further. In this exigence we 
 apply to Congress for relief, as our head and sovereign.
 
 342 APPENDIX. 
 
 To prove that our hardships are exceedingly dispropor- 
 tionate to those of any other citizens of America, let a re- 
 currence be had to the paymaster's accounts, for four years 
 past. If to this it should be objected, that the respective 
 states have made settlements, and given securities for the 
 pay due for part of that time, let the present value of those 
 nominal obligations be ascertained by the monied men, and 
 they will be found to be worth little indeed ; and yet, trifling 
 as they are, many have been under the sad necessity of 
 parting with them, to prevent their families from actually 
 starving. 
 
 We complain that shadows have been offered to us, whik- 
 the substance has been- gleaned by others. Our situation 
 compels us to search for the cause of our extreme poverty. 
 The citizens murmur at the greatness of their taxes, and are 
 astonished that no part reaches the army. The numerous de- 
 mands which are between the first collectors and the soldiers, 
 swallow up the whole. Our distresses are now brought to 
 a point. We have borne all that men can bear our pro- 
 perty is expended our private resources are at an end and 
 our friends are wearied out and disgusted with our inces- 
 sant applications. We therefore most seriously and earnest- 
 ly beg, that a supply of money may be forwarded to the ar- 
 my, as soon as possible. The uneasiness of the soldiers, 
 for want of pay, is great and dangerous ; any further expe- 
 riment on their patience, may have fatal effects. The pro- 
 mised subsistence or ration of provisions, consisted of cer- 
 tain articles specified in kind and quality. This ration, 
 without regard, that we can conceive, to the health of the 
 troops, has been frequently altered, as necessity or conveni- 
 encv suggested generally losing by the change some part 
 of its substance. On an average, not more than seven or 
 eight tenths have been issued ; the retained parts were, for 
 a short time, paid for j but the business became trouble-?
 
 APPENDIX. 34^ 
 
 some to those who were to execute it. For this, or some 
 other reason, all regard to the dues, as they respected the 
 soldiers, has been discontinued, (now and then a trifling gra- 
 tuity exceptedV) As these dues respected the officers, they 
 were compensated during one year and part of another, by 
 an extra ration. As to the retained rations, the account for 
 several years re mains unsettled ; there is a large balance due 
 upon it, and a considerable sum for that of forage. 
 
 The clothing was another part of the soldier's hire. The 
 arrearages on that score, for the year 1777, were paid off in 
 continental money, when the dollar was worth about four- 
 pence ; the arrearages for the following years, are unliquida- 
 ted, and we apprehend, scarcely thought of, but by the ar- 
 my. Whenever there has been a real want of means, and 
 defect in system, or neglect in execution, in the departments 
 of the army, we have invariably been the sufferers, by hun- 
 ger and nakedness, and by languishing in an hospital. We 
 beg leave to urge an immediate adjustment of all dues; that 
 as great a part as possible be paid, and the remainder put 
 on such a footing as will restore cheerfulness to the army, 
 receive confidence in the justice and generosity of its con- 
 stituents, and contribute to the very desirable effect of re- 
 establishing public credit. We are grieved to find, that our 
 brethren, who retired from service on half pay, under the 
 resolution of Congress, 1780, are not only destitute of any 
 effectual provision, but are become the objects of obloquy. 
 Their condition has a very discouraging aspect on us, who 
 must sooner or later retire, and from every consideration of 
 justice, gratitude, and policy, demands attention and redress. 
 We regard the act of Congress, respecting half pay, as an 
 honourable and just recompense for several years hard ser- 
 vice, in which the health and fortunes of the officers have 
 been worn down and exhausted. We see with chagrin, the 
 odious point of view, in which the citizens of too many of
 
 3.44 APPENDIX. 
 
 the states endeavour to place the men entitled to it. We 
 hope, for the honour of human nature, that there are none 
 
 so hardened in the sin of ingratitude, as to deny the justice 
 
 i 
 
 of the reward. We have reason to believe, that the objec- 
 tion generally is against the mode only. To prevent there- 
 fore, any altercations and distinctions, which may tend to in- 
 jure that harmony which we ardently desire may reign 
 throughout the community, we are willing to commute the 
 half pay pledged, for full pay, for a certain number of years, 
 or for a sum in gross, as shall be agreed to by the committee, 
 sent with this address. And in this we pray, that the dis- 
 abled officers and soldiers, with the widows and orphans of 
 those who have expended, or may expend, their lives in the 
 service of their country, may be fully comprehended. We 
 also beg, that some mode may be pointed out for the eventu- 
 al payment of those soldiers, who are the subjects of the 
 resolution of Congress of the 15th May, 1778. To the re- 
 presentation now made, the army have not a doubt that 
 Congress will pay all that attention, which the serious na- 
 ture of it requires. It would be criminal in the officers to 
 conceal the general dissatisfaction which prevails, and is 
 gaining ground in the army, from the pressure of evils and 
 injuries, which, in the course of seven long years, have made 
 their condition, in many instances, wretched. They there- 
 fore entreat that Congress, to convince the army and the 
 world, that the independence of America shall not be placed 
 on the ruin of any particular class of her citizens, will point 
 out a mode of immediate redress. 
 
 H. KNOX, Major-general, 
 
 JOHN PATTERSON, Brigadier -Gen. 
 
 T ^ . On the part of the 
 
 J. GR EATON, Colonel, 
 
 Massachusetts line. 
 JOHN CRANE, Colonel, 
 
 H. MAXWELL, Lieutenant-Colonel,
 
 APPENDIX. 345 
 
 J. HUNTINGTON, Brigadier-G< neral, -\ 
 
 H. SWIFT, Colonel, l on the part of the Con. 
 
 SAMUEL B. WEBB, Colonel, ?" ntcticut line. 
 
 E. HUNTINGTON, Lieutenant-Col. J 
 
 P. CORTLANDT, Colonel, on the part of the Mtv-York line. 
 
 JOHN N. CUMMINGS, Lieutenant-Colonel, 1 "! he f rt ftt * 
 
 } New-Jersey line. 
 
 WILLIAM SCOTT, Major, I on the ^rtofthe M W -Han,p- 
 } shire hne. 
 
 W. EUSTIS, Ho,hital-Surgeon t I " the fiart of th 
 
 j hospital. 
 
 MOSES HAZEN, Brigadier-General. 
 Cantonments, Hudson's River, Dec. 1782. 
 
 [Referred to in page 197.] 
 
 FAREWELL ADDRESS OF GENERAL WASHINGTON, TO 
 THE ARMIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Rocky-Hill^ near Princeton, November 2, 1783. 
 
 A HE United States in Congress assembled, after giving 
 the most honourable testimony to the merits of the federal 
 armies, and presenting them with the thanks of their country, 
 for their long, eminent, and faithful service, having thought 
 proper, by their proclamation, bearing date the 18th of Oc- 
 tober last, to discharge such part of the troops as were en- 
 gaged for the war, and to permit the officers on furlough to 
 retire from service, from and after to-morrow ; which pro- 
 clamation having been communicated in the public papers, 
 for the information and government of all concerned, it 
 
 2 Y
 
 346 APPENDIX. 
 
 only remains for the Commander in Chief to address him- 
 self once more, and that for the last time, to the armies of 
 the United States, (however widely dispersed individuals 
 who compose them may be,) and to bid them an affection- 
 ate a long farewell. 
 
 But before the Commander in Chief takes his final leave 
 of those he holds most dear, he wishes to indulge himself a 
 few moments in calling to mind a slight view of the past : 
 he will then take the liberty of exploring, with his military 
 friends, their future prospects ; of advising the general line 
 of conduct, which, in his opinion, onght to be pursued ; and 
 he will conclude the address, by expressing the obligations 
 he feels himself under for the spirited and able assistance he 
 has experienced from them, in the performance of an arduous 
 office. 
 
 A contemplation of the complete attainment, (at a period 
 earlier than could have been expected,) of the object for 
 which we contended, against so formidable a power, can~ 
 not but inspire us with astonishment and gratitude. The 
 disadvantageous circumstances on our part, under which the 
 war was undertaken, can never be forgotten. The signal 
 interpositions of Providence, in our feeble condition, were 
 such as could scarcely escape the attention of the most un- 
 observing ; while the unparalleled perseverance of the ar- 
 mies of the United States, through almost every possible 
 suffering and discouragement, for the space of eight long 
 years, was little short of a standing miracle. 
 
 It is not the meaning, nor within the compass of this ad- 
 dress, to detail the hardships peculiarly incident to our ser- 
 vice, or to describe the distresses which, in several instances. 
 have resulted from the extremes of hunger and nakedness, 
 combined with the rigours of nn inclement season: nor is it 
 necessary to dwell on the dark side of our past affairs. 
 
 Ever}' American officer and soldier must now console
 
 APPENDIX. 347 
 
 himself for any unpleasant circumstance which may have 
 occurred; by a recollection of the uncommon scenes in 
 which he has been called to act no inglorious part, and the 
 astonishing events of which he has been a witness events 
 which have seldom, if ever before, taken place on the stage 
 of human action ; nor can they probably ever happen again. 
 For who has before seen a disciplined army formed at once 
 from such raw materials ? Who that was not a witness could 
 imagine that the most violent local prejudices would cease 
 so soon, and that men who came from the different parts of 
 the continent, strongly disposed by the habits of education 
 to despise and quarrel with each other, would instantly be- 
 come but one patriotic band of brothers ? Or who that was 
 not on the spot, can trace the steps by which such a won- 
 derful revolution has been effected, and such a glorious pe- 
 riod put to all our warlike toils ? 
 
 It is universally acknowledged, that the enlarged prospects 
 of happiness, opened by the confirmation of our independ- 
 ence and sovereignty, almost exceed the power of descrip- 
 tion : and shall not the brave men who have contributed so 
 essentially to these inestimable acquisitions, retiring victo- 
 rious from the field of war to the field of agriculture, parti- 
 cipate in all the blessings which have been obtained ? In 
 such a republic, who will exclude them from the rights of 
 citizens, and the fruits of their labours ? In such a country, 
 so happily circumstanced, the pursuits of commerce, and 
 the cultivation of the soil, will unfold to industry the certain 
 road to competence. To those hardy soldiers who are ac- 
 tuated by the spirit of adventure, the fisheries will afford 
 ample and profitable employment ; and the extensive and 
 fertile regions of the west, will yield a most happy asylum 
 to those who, fond of domestic enjoyment, are seeking per- 
 sonal independence. Nor is it possible to conceive that 
 any one of the United States will prefer a national bank-
 
 348 APPENDIX. 
 
 ruptcy, and the dissolution of the union, to a compliance 
 with the requisitions , of Congress, and the payment of its 
 just debts ; so that the officers and soldiers may expect 
 considerable assistance, in recommencing their civil occu- 
 pations, from the sums due to them from the public, which 
 must and will most inevitably be paid. 
 
 In order to effect this desirable purpose, and remove the 
 prejudices which may have taken possession of the minds of 
 any of the good people of the states, it is earnestly recom- 
 mended to all the troops, that, with strong attachment to the 
 union, they should carry with them into civil society the 
 most conciliating dispositions, and that they should prove 
 themselves not less virtuous and useful as citizens, than they 
 have been victorious as soldiers. What though there 
 should be some envious individuals, who are unwilling to 
 pay the debt the public has contracted, or to yield the tri- 
 bute due to merit; yet, let such unworthy treatment produce 
 no invective, or any instance of intemperate conduct. Let 
 it be remembered, that the unbiassed voice of the free citi- 
 zens of the United States, has promised the just reward, and 
 given the merited applause. Let it be known and remem- 
 bered, that the reputation of the federal armies is establish- 
 ed beyond the reach of malevolence ; and let a consciousness 
 of their achievements and fame, still excite the men who 
 composed them to honourable actions, under the persuasion 
 that the private virtues of economy, prudence, and industry, 
 will not be less amiable in civil life, than the more splendid 
 qualities of valour, perseverance, and enterprise, were in the 
 field. Every one may rest assured, that much, very much 
 of the future happiness of the officers and men, will depend 
 upon the wise and manly conduct which shall be adopted by 
 them, when they are mingled with the great body of the 
 community. And, although the General has so frequently 
 given it as his opinion, in the most public and explicit man-
 
 APPENDIX. 349 
 
 ner, that unless the principles of the federal government 
 were properly supported, and the powers of the union in- 
 creased, the honour, dignity, and justice of the nation, would 
 be lost for ever ; yet he cannot help repeating, on this occa- 
 sion, so interesting a sentiment, and leaving it as his last 
 injunction to every officer and every soldier, who may view 
 the subject in the same serious point of light, to add his best 
 endeavours to those of his worthy fellow-citizens, towards 
 effecting these great and valuable purposes, on which our 
 very existence as a nation so materially depends. 
 
 The Commander in Chief conceives little is now wanting 
 to enable the soldier to change the military character into 
 that of the citizen, but that steady, decent tenour of beha- 
 viour, which has generally distinguished not only the army 
 under his immediate command, but the different detach- 
 ments and armies, through the course of the war. From 
 their good sense and prudence he anticipates the happiest 
 consequences ; and while he congratulates them on the glo- 
 rious occasion which renders their services in the field no 
 longer necessary, he wishes to express the strong obliga- 
 tions he feels himself under, for the assistance he has re- 
 ceived from every class, and in every instance. He pre- 
 gents his thanks in the most serious and affectionate man- 
 ner, to the general officers, as well for their counsels on ma- 
 ny interesting occasions, as for their ardour in promoting 
 the success of the plans he had adopted to the command- 
 ants of regiments, and corps, and to the other officers, for 
 their zeal and attention in carrying his orders promptly into 
 execution to the staff, for their alacrity and exactness in 
 performing the duties of their several departments ; and to 
 the non-commissioned officers and private soldiers, for their 
 extraordinary patience and suffering, as well as their invinci- 
 ble fortitude in action. To the various branches of the ar- 
 my, the General takes this last and solemn opportunity of
 
 350 APPENDIX. 
 
 professing his inviolable attachment and friendship. He 
 wishes more than bare professions were in his power, that 
 he was really able to be useful to them all in future life. He 
 flatters himself, however, they will do him the justice to be- 
 lieve, that whatever could with propriety be attempted by 
 him, has been done. 
 
 And being now to conclude these his last public orders, to 
 take his ultimate leave in a short time of the military cha- 
 racter, and to bid a final adieu to the armies he has so long 
 had the honour to command, he can only again offer in their 
 behalf, his recommendations to their grateful country, and 
 his prayers to the God of armies. May ample justice be 
 done them here, and may the choicest of heaven's favours, 
 both here and hereafter, attend those who, under the divine 
 auspices, have secured innumerable blessings for others. 
 With these wishes, and this benediction, the Commander in 
 Chief is about to retire from service. The curtain of sepa- 
 ration will soon be drawn, and the military scene to him will 
 be closed for ever.
 
 APPENDIX. 351 
 
 CN. III.) 
 
 GEN. WASHINGTON'S WILL. 
 
 VIRGINIA, Fairfax, ss. 
 
 I, George Deneale, Clerk of Fairfax County Court, do certify, 
 That the subsequent copy of the last Will and Testament of 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON, deceased, late President of the Uni- 
 ted States of America, ivith the Schedule annexed, *s a true 
 copy from the original, recorded in my office. 
 
 In testimony -whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 
 23d day of January, 1800. 
 
 GEO. DENEALE, C. F. . 
 
 MY THE NAME OF GOD, Amen. 
 
 I , GEORGE WASHINGTON, of Mount-Vernon, a 
 citizen of the United States, and lately president of the same, 
 Do make, ordain, and declare this Instrument, which is 
 written with my own hand, and every page thereof subscrib- 
 ed with my name*, to be my LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT, 
 revoking all others. 
 
 Imprimus. All my debts, of which there are but few, 
 and none of magnitude, are to be punctually and speedily 
 paid ; and the legacies herein after bequeathed, are to be 
 discharged as soon as circumstances will permit, and in the 
 manner directed. 
 
 * In the original manuscript, GEORGE WASHINGTON'S nante is 
 written at the bottom of every page.
 
 352 APPENDIX. 
 
 Item. To my dearly beloved wife, Martha Washington, 1 
 give and bequeath the use, profit, and benefit of my whole 
 estate, real and personal, for the term of her natural life, 
 except such parts thereof as are specially disposed of here- 
 after. My improved lot in the town of Alexandria, situated 
 on Pitt and Cameron streets, I give to her and her heirs for 
 ever ; as I also do my household and kitchen furniture of 
 every sort and kind, with the liquors and groceries which 
 may be on hand at the time of my decease, to be used and 
 disposed of as she may think proper. 
 
 Item. Upon the decease of my wife, it is my will and 
 desire, that all the slaves which I hold in my own right, 
 shall receive their freedom. To emancipate them during 
 her life, would, though earnestly wished by me, be attended 
 with such insuperable difficulties, on account of their inter- 
 mixture by marriages with the dower negroes, as to excite 
 the most painful sensations, if not disagreeable consequences 
 to the latter, while both descriptions are in the occupancy of 
 the same proprietor ; it not being in my power, under the 
 tenure by which the dower negroes are held, to manumit 
 them. And whereas, among those who will receive free- 
 dom according to this devise, there may be some who, from 
 old age or bodily infirmities, and others who, on account of 
 their infancy, will be unable to support themselves, it is my 
 will and desire, that all who come under the first and second 
 description, shall be comfortably clothed and fed by my 
 heirs while they live : and that such of the latter descrip- 
 tion as have no parents living, or, if living, are unable or un- 
 willing to provide for them, shall be bound by the court un- 
 til they shall arrive at the age of 25 years ; and in cases 
 where no record can be produced, whereby their ages can 
 be ascertained, the judgment of the court, upon its own view 
 of the subject, shall be adequate and final. The negroes 
 thus bound, are, (by their masters or mistresses,) to be
 
 APPENDIX. 353 
 
 taught to read and write, and be brought up to some useful 
 occupation, agreeably to the laws of the commonwealth of 
 Virginia, providing for the support of orphan and other poor 
 children. And I do hereby expressly forbid the sale or 
 transportation out of the said commonwealth, of any slave I 
 may die possessed of, under any pretence whatsoever. And 
 I do moreover most pointedly and most solemnly enjoin it 
 upon my executors hereafter named, or the survivors of them, 
 to see that this clause respecting slaves, and every part there- 
 of, be religiously fulfilled at the epoch at which it is directed 
 to take place, without evasion, neglect, or delay, after the 
 crops which may then be on the ground are harvested, 
 particularly as it respects the aged and infirm ; seeing that a 
 regular and permanent fund be established for their support 
 as long as they are subjects requiring it, not trusting to the 
 uncertain provision made by individuals. And, to my mu- 
 latto man, William, (calling himself William Lee,*) I give im- 
 mediate freedom, or if he should prefer it, (on account of 
 the accidents which have befallen him, and which have ren- 
 dered him incapable of walking, or of any active employ- 
 ment,) to remain in the situation he now is, it shall be op- 
 tional in him to do so ; in either case, however, I allow him 
 an annuity of 30 dollars during his natural life, which shall 
 be independent of the victuals and clothes he has been ac- 
 customed to receive, if he chooses the latter alternative ; but 
 in full with his freedom, if he prefers the first ; and this I 
 give him as a testimony of my sense of his attachment to 
 me, and for his faithful services during the revolutionary 
 war. 
 
 lt em . To the trustees, (governors, or by whatsoever 
 other name they may be designated,) of the academy in the 
 town of Alexandria, I give and bequeath, in trust, 4OOO 
 dollars, or in other words, 20 of the shares which I hold in 
 the bank of Alexandria, towards the support of a free school, 
 
 2 Z
 
 354 APPENDIX. 
 
 established at, and annexed to, the said academy, for the 
 purpose of educating orphan children, or the children of such 
 other poor and indigent persons, as are unable to accom- 
 plish it with their own means, and who, in the judgment of 
 the trustees of the said seminar} 7 , are best entitled to the 
 benefit of thus donation. The aforesaid 20 shares I give 
 and bequeath in perpetuity, the dividends only of which are 
 to be drawn for, and applied by the said trustees, for the 
 time being, for the uses above mentioned ; the stock to re- 
 main entire and untouched, unless indications of failure of 
 the said bank should be so apparent, or a discontinuance 
 thereof, should render a removal of this fund necessary. In 
 either of these cases, the amount of the stock here devised 
 is to be vested in some other bank, or public institution, 
 whereby the interest may with regularity and certainty be 
 drawn and applied as above. And, to prevent misconcep- 
 tion, my meaning is, and is hereby declared to be, that these 
 20 shares are in lieu of, and not in addition to, the 10001. 
 given by a missive letter some years ago, in consequence 
 whereof an annuity of 501. has since been paid towards the 
 support of this institution. 
 
 Item. Whereas by a law of the commonwealth of Virgi- 
 nia, enacted in the year 1785, the legislature thereof was 
 pleased, (as an evidence of its approbation of the services I 
 had rendered the public during the revolution, and parti}", I 
 believe, in consideration of my having suggested the vast 
 advantages which the community would derive from the ex- 
 tension of its inland navigation, under legislative patronage,) 
 to present me with 100 shares of 100 dollars each, in the 
 incorporated company established for the purpose of ex- 
 tending the navigation of James river, from the tide-water 
 to the mountains ; and also with 50 shares of 1001. sterling 
 each, in the corporation of anothtr company, likewise esta- 
 blished for the similar purpose of opening the navigation of
 
 APPENDIX. 31)5 
 
 the river Potorvmac, from the tide-water to Fort Cumber- 
 land ; the acceptance of which, although the offer was high- 
 ly honourable and grateful to my feelings, was refused, as 
 inconsistent with a principle which I had adopted, and had 
 never departed from namely, not to receive pecuniary com- 
 pensation for any services I could render my country in its 
 arduous struggle with Great-Britain for its rights, and be- 
 cause I had evaded similar propositions from oiher states 
 in the union ; adding to this refusal, however, an intima- 
 tion, that, if it should be the pleasure of the legislature to 
 permit me to appropriate the said shares to public uses, I 
 would receive them on those terms with due sensibility j and 
 this it having consented to, in flattering terms, as will appear 
 by a subsequent law, and sundry resolutions, in the most am- 
 ple and honourable manner I proceed, after this recital, for 
 the more correct understanding of the case, to declare, That 
 as it has always been a source of serious regret with me, to 
 see the youth of these United States sent to foreign countries 
 for the purposes of education, often before their minds were 
 formed, or they had imbibed any adequate ideas of the hap- 
 piness of their own ; contracting, too frequently, not only ha- 
 bits of dissipation and extravagance, but principles unfriendly 
 to republican government, and to the true and genuine liberties 
 of mankind, which, thereafter, are rarely overcome. For 
 these reasons, it has been my ardent wish to see a plan de- 
 v ised, on a liberal scale, which would have a tendency to 
 spread systematic ideas through all parts of this rising em- 
 pire, thereby to do away local attachments and state prejudi- 
 ces, as far as the nature of things would, or indeed ought to 
 admit, from our national councils. Looking anxiously for- 
 ward to the accomplishment of so desirable an object as this 
 is, (in my estimation,) my mind has not been able to con- 
 template any plan more likely to effect the measure, than 
 the establishment of a university in a central part of the UnU
 
 356 APPENDIX. 
 
 ted States, to which the youths of fortune and talents from 
 all parts thereof, might be sent for the completion of their 
 education in all the branches of polite literature, in the arts 
 and sciences, in acquiring knowledge in the principles of po- 
 litics and good government ; and, as a matter of infinite im- 
 portance in my judgment, by associating with each other, 
 and forming friendships in juvenile years, be enabled to free 
 themselves, in a proper degree, from those local prejudices 
 and habitual jealousies which have just been mentioned, and 
 which, when carried to excess, are never-failing sources of 
 disquietude to the public mind, and pregnant of mischievous 
 consequences to this country. Under these impressions, so 
 fully dilated, 
 
 Item. I give and bequeath, in perpetuity, the 50 shares 
 which I hold in the Potowmac company, Cunderthe aforesaid 
 acts of the legislature of Virginia,) towards the endowment 
 of a university, to be established within the limits of the 
 district of Columbia, under the auspices of the general go- 
 vernment, if that government should incline to extend a 
 fostering hand towards it ; and until such seminary is esta- 
 blished, and the funds arising on these shares shall be re- 
 quired for its support, my further will and desire is, that the 
 profit accruing therefrom, shall, whenever the dividends are 
 made, be laid out in purchasing stock in the bank of Colum- 
 bia, or some other bank, at the discretion of my executors, 
 or by the treasurer of the United States for the time being, 
 under the direction of Congress, provided that honourable 
 body should patronize the measure ; and the dividends pro- 
 ceeding from the purchase of such stock are to be vested in 
 more stock, and so on, until a sum adequate to the accom- 
 plishment of the object is obtained, of which I have not the 
 smallest doubt before many years pass away, even if no aid 
 or encouragement is given by legislative authority, or from 
 any other source.
 
 APPENDIX. 357 
 
 Item. The hundred shares which I hold in the James 
 river company, I have given, and now confirm, in perpetu- 
 ity, to and for the use and benefit of Liberty Hall Academy, 
 in the county of Rockbridge, in the commonwealth of Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
 Item. I release, exonerate, and discharge, the estate of 
 my deceased brother, Samuel Washington, from the payment 
 of the money which is due to me for the land I sold to Phi- 
 lip Pendleton, (lying in the county 'of Berekley,) who assign- 
 ed the same to him, the said Samuel, who, by agreement, 
 was to 'pay me therefor : and whereas by some contract, 
 (the purport of which was never communicated to me,) be- 
 tween the said Samuel and his son Thornton Washington, the 
 latter became possessed of the aforesaid land, without any 
 conveyance having passed from me, either to the said Pen- 
 dleton, the said Samuel, or the said Thornton, and without 
 any consideration having been made, by which neglect, 
 neither the legal nor equitable title has been alienated ; it 
 rests therefore with me, to declare my intentions concerning 
 the premises : and these are, to give and bequeath the said 
 land to whomsoever the said Thornton Washington, (who is 
 also dead,) devised the same, or to his heirs for ever, if he 
 died intestate, exonerating the estate of the said Thornton, 
 equally with that of the said Samuel, from payment of the 
 purchase money, which, with interest, agreeably to the ori- 
 ginal contract with the said Pendleton, would amount to 
 more than 10001. And whereas, two other sons of my 
 aid deceased brother Samuel, namely, George Steptoe Wash~ 
 ing ton, and Lawrence Augustine Washington, were, by the 
 decease of those to whose care they were committed, 
 brought under my protection, and, in consequence, have oc- 
 casioned advances on my part for their education at college 
 and other schools, and for their board, clothing, and other 
 incidental expenses, to the amount of near 5000 dollars, 
 
 \
 
 358 APPENDIX. 
 
 over and above the sums furnished by their estate ; which 
 sum it may be inconvenient for them or their father's estate 
 to refund I do, for these reasons, acquit them and the 
 said estate from the payment thereof; my intention being, 
 that all accounts between them and me, and their fatherV 
 estate and me, shall stand balanced. 
 
 Item. The balance due to me from the estate of Bar- 
 tholomew Dandridge, deceased, (my wife's brother,) and 
 which amounted, on the first day of October, 1795, to 4251. 
 (as will appear by an account rendered by his deceased son, 
 John Dandridge, who was the acting executor of his father's 
 will,) I release and acquit from the payment thereof. And 
 the negroes, (then 33 in number,) formerly belonging to the 
 said estate, who were taken in execution, sold, and purchased 
 in on my account, in the year , and ever since have re- 
 mained in the possession and to the use of Mary, widow of 
 the said Barth. Dandridge, with their increase, it is my will 
 and desire, shall continue and be in her possession, without 
 paying hire, or making compensation for the same, for the 
 time past or to come, during her natural life ; at the expira- 
 tion of which, I direct, that all of them who are 40 years old 
 and upwards, shall receive their freedom ; all under that 
 age and above 16, shall serve seven years, and no longer ; 
 and all under 16 years, shall serve until they are 25 years 
 of age, and then be free. And to avoid disputes respecting 
 the ages of any of these negroes, they are to be taken into 
 the court of the county in which they reside, and the judg- 
 ment thereof, in this relation, shall be final, and record 
 thereof made, which may be adduced as evidence at any 
 time thereafter, if disputes should arise concerning the 
 same. And I further direct, that the heirs of the said 
 Barth. Dandridge, shall equally share the benefits arising 
 from the services of the said negroes, according to the teno> 
 of this devise, upon the decease of their mother.
 
 APPENDIX. 369 
 
 Item. If Charles Carter , who intermarried with my 
 niece Betty Lewis, is not sufficiently secured in the title to 
 the lots he had of me in the town of Fredericksburg, it is 
 my will and desire, that my executors shall make such con- 
 veyances of them as the law requires to render it perfect. 
 
 Item. To my nephew, William Augustine Washington, and 
 his heirs, (if he should conceive them to be objects worth 
 prosecuting,) a lot in the town of Manchester, (opposite to 
 Richmond,) No. 265, drawn on my sole account, and also 
 the tenth of 1 or 200 acre lots, and two or three half-acre 
 lots, in the city and vicinity of Richmond, drawn in part- 
 nership with nine others, all in the lottery of the deceased 
 William Bird, are given ; as is also a lot which I purchased 
 of John Hood, conveyed by William Willie and Samuel 
 Gordon, trustees of the said John Hood, numbered 139, in 
 the town of Edinburgh, in the county of Prince George, 
 state of Virginia. 
 
 Item. To my nephew, Bushrod Washington, I give and 
 bequeath all the papers in my possession which relate to my 
 civil and military administration of the affairs of this coun- 
 try ; I leave to him also such of my private papers as are 
 worth preserving j and, at the decease of my wife, and before, 
 if she is not inclined to retain them, I give and bequeath my 
 library of books and pamphlets of every kind. 
 
 Item. Having sold lands which I .possessed in the state 
 of Pennsylvania, and part of a tract held in equal right 
 with George Clinton, late governor of New- York ; my 
 share of land and interest in the Great Dismal Swamp, and 
 a tract of land which I owned in the county of Gloucester 
 withholding the legal titles thereto, until the consideration 
 money should be paid and having moreover leased, and 
 conditionally sold, (as will appear by the tenor of the said 
 leases,) all my lands upon the Great Kenhawa, and a tract 
 upon Difficult Run, in the county of Louclon, it is my will
 
 360 APPENDIX. 
 
 and direction, lhat whensoever the contracts are fully and 
 respectively complied with, according to the spirit, true in- 
 tent, and meaning thereof, on the part of the purchasers, their 
 heirs or assigns, that then, and in that case, conveyances 
 are to be made, agreeable to the terms of the said contracts, 
 and the money arising therefrom, when paid, to be vested 
 in bank stock ; the dividends whereof, as of that also which 
 is already vested therein, is to inure to my said wife during 
 her life ; but the stock itself is to remain and be subject to 
 the general distribution hereafter directed. 
 
 Item. To the Earl of Buchan, I re-commit " the box 
 made of the oak that sheltered the brave Sir William Wallace 
 after the battle of Falkirk," presented to me by his lordship 
 in terms too flattering for me to repeat, with a request " to 
 pass it, on the event of my decease, to the raan in my coun- 
 try who should appear to merit it best, upon the same condi- 
 tions that have induced him to send it to me." Whether 
 easy or not, to select THE MAN who might comport with his 
 lordship's opinion in this respect, is not for me to say ; but 
 conceiving that no disposition of this valuable curiosity can 
 be more eligible than the re-commitment of it to his own 
 cabinet, agreeably to the original design of the Goldsmith's 
 company of Edinburgh, who presented it to him, and, at his 
 request, consented that it should be transferred to me I do 
 give and bequeath the same to his lordship ; and, in case of 
 his decease, to his heir, with my grateful thanks for the dis- 
 tinguished honour of presenting it to me, and more espe- 
 cially for the favourable sentiments with which he accom- 
 panied it. 
 
 Item. To my brother, Cliarles Washington, I give and be- 
 queath the gold-headed cane left me by Dr. Franklin, in his 
 will. I add nothing to it, because of the ample provision I 
 have made for his issue. To the acquaintances and friends 
 of my juvenile years, Lawrence Washington and Robert Wash- 

 
 APPENDIX. 361 
 
 ington, of Chotanct, I give my other two gold-headed canes, 
 having my arms engraved on them ; and to each, (as they 
 will be useful where they live,) I leave one of the spy-glass- 
 es, which constituted part of my equipage during the late 
 war. To my compatriot in arms, and old and intimate 
 friend, Dr. Craik, I give my bureau, or, as the cabinet-mak- 
 ers call it, tambour-secretary, and the circular chair, an ap- 
 pendage of my study. To Dr. David Stewart, I give my 
 large shaving and dressing table, and my telescope. To the 
 reverend, now Bryan Lord Fairfax, I give a Bible, in three 
 large folio volumes, with notes, presented to me by the Rt. 
 Rev. Thomas Wilson, bishop of Sodor and Man. To Gen. 
 De la Fayette, I give a pair of finely wrought steel pistols, 
 taken from the enemy in the revolutionary war. To my 
 sisters-in-law, Hannah Washington and Mildred Washington 
 to my friends, Eleanor Stuart, Hannah Washington, of Fair- 
 field, and Elizabeth Washington, of Hayfield, I give each a 
 mourning ring of the value of 100 dollars. These bequests 
 are not made for the intrinsic value of them, but as memen- 
 tos of my esteem and regard. To Tobias Lear, I give the 
 use of the farm which he now holds, in virtue of a lease 
 from me to him and his deceased wife, (for and during their 
 natural lives,) free from rent during his life ; at the expira- 
 tion of which, it is to be disposed of as is hereinafter di- 
 rected. To Sally B. Haynie, (a distant relation of mine,) I 
 give and bequeath 3OO dollars. To Sarah Green, daughter 
 of the deceased Thomas Bishop, and to Ann Walter, daugh- 
 ter of John Alton, also deceased, I give each 100 dollars, in 
 consideration of the attachment of their fathers to me, each 
 of whom having lived nearly 4O years in my family. To 
 each of my nephews, W lliam Augustine Washington, George 
 Lewis, George Steptoe Washington, Bushrod Washington, and 
 Samuel Washington, I give one of the swords, or cutteaux, 
 ef which I may die possessed ; and they are to choose in the 
 
 3 A
 
 362 APPENDIX. 
 
 order they are named* These swords are accompanied 
 with an injunction, not to unsheath them for the purpose of 
 shedding blood, except it be for self-defence, or in defence 
 of their country and its rights ; and, in the latter case, to keep 
 them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands, 
 to the relinquishment thereof. 
 
 And now, having gone through these specific devises, 
 with explanations for the more correct understanding of the 
 meaning and design of them, I proceed to the distribution 
 of the more important parts of my estate, in manner follow- 
 ing: 
 
 First. To my nephew, Bushrod Wadungton, and his 
 heirs, (partly in consideration of an intimation to his deceas- 
 ed father, while we were bachelors, and he had kindly under- 
 taken to superintend my estate during my military services 
 in the former war between Great-Britain and France, that if 
 I should fall therein, Mount- Vernon, then less extensive in 
 domain than at present, should become his property,) I give 
 and bequeath all that part thereof which is comprehended 
 within the following limits, viz. Beginning at the ford of 
 Dogue Run, near my mill, and extending along the road, 
 and bounded thereby, as it now goes, and ever has gone, 
 since my recollection of it, to the ford of Little Hunting 
 creek, at the Gum Spring, until it comes to a knowl oppo- 
 site to an old road which formerly passed through the lower 
 field of Muddy-hole farm, at which, on the north side of 
 the said road, are three red or Spanish oaks, marked as a 
 corner, and a stone placed thence by a line of trees to be 
 marked rectangular, to the back line or outer boundary of the 
 tract between Thomas Mason and myself thence with that 
 line easterly, (now double ditching, with a post and rail fence 
 thereon,) to the run of Little Hunting creek thence with 
 that run, which is the boundary between the lands of the late 
 H. Peake and me, to the tide-water of the said creek thence 
 by that water to Potowmac river thence with the river to
 
 APPENDIX., 363 
 
 the mouth of Dogue creek, and thence with the said Dogue 
 creek to the place of beginning at the aforesaid ford : con- 
 taining upwards of 4000 acres, be the same more or less, to- 
 together with the mansion house and all other buildings and 
 improvements thereon. 
 
 Second. In consideration of the consanguinity between 
 them and my wife, being as nearly related to her as to my- 
 self, as on account of the affection I had for, and the obliga- 
 tion I was under to, their father, when living, who from his 
 youth, had attached himself to my person, and followed my 
 fortunes through the vicissitudes of the late revolution, af- 
 terwards devoting his time to the superintendance of my pri- 
 vate concerns for many years, whilst my public employments 
 rendered it impracticable for me to do it myself, thereby 
 affording me essential services, and always performing them 
 in a manner the most filial and respectful For these rea- 
 sons, I say, I give and bequeath to George Fayette Washing- 
 ton, and Lawrence Augustine Washington, and their heirs, 
 my estate east of Little Hunting Creek, lying on the river 
 Potowmac, including the farm of 360 acres, leased to To- 
 bias Lear, as noticed before, and containing in the whole, 
 by deed, two thousand and twenty-seven acres, be it more 
 or less ; which said estate it is my will and desire should 
 be equitably and advantageously divided between them, ac- 
 cording to quantity, quality, and other circumstances, when 
 the youngest shall have arrived at the age of 21 years, by 
 three judicious and disinterested men; one to be chosen by 
 each of the brothers, and the third by these two. In the 
 mean time, if the termination of my wife's interest therein 
 should have ceased, the profits arising therefrom are to be 
 -applied for their joint uses and benefit. 
 
 Third. And whereas, it has always been my intention, 
 since my expectation of having issue has ceased, to consi- 
 der the grand-children of my wife, in the same light as I
 
 364 APPENDIX. 
 
 do my own relations, and to act a friendly part by them, 
 more especially by the two whom we have raised from their 
 earliest infancy namely, Eleanor Park Curtis, and George 
 Washington Park Custis; and whereas, the former of these 
 hath lately intermarried with Larvrence Lewis, a son of my 
 deceased sister, Betty Leivis, by which union the induce- 
 ment to provide for them both has been increased ; where- 
 fore I give and bequeath to the said Lawrence Lewis, and 
 Eleanor Park Lewis his wife, and their heirs, the residue 
 of my Mount-Vernon estate, not already devised to my ne- 
 phew, Buahrod Washington, comprehended within the fol- 
 lowing description, viz. Ail the land north of the road lead- 
 ing from the ford of Dogue run to the Gum Spring, as de- 
 Scribed in the devise of the other part of the tract to Bush- 
 rod Washington, until it comes to the stone, and three red or 
 Spanish oaks on the knowl ; thence with the rectangular 
 line to the back line, (between Mr. Mason and me ;) thence 
 with that line westerly along the new double ditch to Dogue 
 run, by the tumbling dam of my mill ; thence with the said 
 run to the ford afore-mentioned : to which I add all the 
 land I possess west of the said Dogue run and Dogue 
 creek, bounded easterly and southerly thereby ; together 
 with the mill, distillery, and all other houses and improve- 
 ments on the premises ; making together about 20OO acres, 
 be it more or less. 
 
 Fourth. Actuated by the principle already mentioned, I 
 give and bequeath to George Washington Park Custi.v, the 
 grandson of my wife, and my ward, and to his heirs, the 
 tract I hold on Four Mile Run, in the vicinity of Alexan- 
 dria, containing 1,200 acres, more or less, and my entire 
 square, No. 21, in the city of Washington. 
 
 Fifth. All the nst .and residue of my estate, real and 
 personal, not disposed oi in manner aforesaid, in whatsoever 
 consisting, wheresoever lying, and wheresoever found, (a
 
 APPENDIX. 365 
 
 schedule of which, as far as is recollected, with a reasonable 
 estimate of its value, is hereunto annexed,) I desire may be 
 sold by my executors, at such times, in such manner, and 
 on such credits, (if an equal, valid, and satisfactory distribu- 
 tion of the specific property cannot be made without,) as in 
 their judgment shall be most conducive to the interest of 
 the parties concerned, and the monies arising therefrom to 
 be divided into 23 equal parts, and applied as follows, viz. 
 To William Augustine Washington, Elizabeth Spots-wood, 
 Jane Thornton, and the heirs of Ann Ashton, son and daugh- 
 ters of my deceased brother Augustine Washington, I give 
 and bequeath four parts, that is, one part to each of them : 
 To Fielding Lewis, George Lewis, Robert Lewis, Howell 
 Lewis, and Betty Carter, sons and daughter o^ my deceased 
 sister Betty Lewis, 1 give and bequeath five other parts, one 
 to each of them : To George Steptoe Washington, Lawrence A. 
 Washington, Harriet Parks, and the heirs of Thornton 
 Washington, sons and daughter of my deceased brother 
 Samuel Washington, I give and bequeath the other four 
 parts, one part to each of them : To Corbin Washington, and 
 the heirs of Jane Washington, son and daughter of my de- 
 ceased brother John A. Washington, I give and bequeath 
 two parts, one' part to each of them : To Samuel Washington, 
 Frances Ball, and Mildred Hammond, son and daughters of 
 my brother Charles Washington, I give and bequeath three 
 parts, one part to each of them ; and to Geo. F. Washington, 
 Charles Aug. Washington, and Maria Washington, sons and 
 daughter of my deceased nephew Geo. A. Washington, I 
 give one other part, that is, to each a third of that part : To 
 Eliz. Park Law, Martha Park Peter, and Eleanor Park Leivis, 
 I give and bequeath three other parts, that is, a part to 
 each of them : and to my nephews, Bushrod Washington and 
 Law. Lerwis, and to my ward, the grandson of my wife, I 
 give and bequeath one other part, that is, a third thereof to
 
 366 APPENDIX. 
 
 each of them* And if it should so happen, that any of the 
 persons whose names are here enumerated, (unknown to me,) 
 should now be dead, or should die before me, that in either 
 of these cases, the heirs of such deceased persons shall, not- 
 withstanding, derive all the benefits of the bequest, in the 
 same manner as if he or she was actually living at the time. 
 And by way of advice, I recommend to my executors not to 
 be precipitate in disposing of the landed property, (therein 
 directed to be sold,) if from temporary causes the sale there- 
 of should be dull ; experience having fully evinced, that the 
 price of land, especially above the falls of the rivers and on 
 the western waters, has been progressively rising, and can- 
 not be long checked in its increasing value. And I particu- 
 larly recommend it to such of the legatees, (under this clause 
 of my will,) as can make it convenient, to take each a share 
 of my stock in the Potowmac company, in preference to the 
 amount of what it might sell for being thorougly convinced 
 myself, that no uses to which the money can be applied, will 
 be so productive as the tolls arising from this navigation 
 when : ,n full operation, (and this from the nature of things, it 
 must be ere long,) and more especially if that of the Shenan- 
 doah is added thereto. 
 
 The family vault at Mount-Vernon requiring repairs, and 
 being improperly situated besides, I desire that a new one 
 of brick, and upon a larger scale, may be built at the foot of 
 what is commonly called the Vineyard enclosure, on the 
 ground which is marked out in which my remains, with 
 those of my deceased relations, (now in the old vault,) and 
 such others of my family as may choose to be entombed 
 there, may be deposited. And it is my express desire, 
 that my corpse may be interred in a private manner, without 
 parade or funeral oration. 
 
 Lastly. I constitute and appoint my dearly beloved wife, 
 Martha Washington^ my nephews William Augustine Wash-
 
 APPENDIX. 367 
 
 ington, Bushrod Washington, George Steptoe Washington, 
 Samuel Washington, and Lawrence Lewis, and my ward 
 George Washington Park Custis, (when he shall have arrived 
 at the age of 20 years,) executrix and executors of this my 
 WILL AND TESTAMENT in the construction of which, it will 
 readily be perceived, that no professional character has 
 been consulted, or has had any agency in the draught ; and, 
 that although it has occupied many of my leisure hours to 
 digest, and to throw it into its present form, it may, notwith- 
 standing, appear crude and incorrect but having endea- 
 voured to be plain and explicit in all the devises, even at the 
 expense of prolixity, perhaps of tautology, I hope and trust, 
 that no disputes will arise concerning them ; but if, contra- 
 ry to expectation, the case should be otherwise from the 
 want of legal expression, or the usual technical terms, or 
 because too much or too little has been said on any of the 
 devises to be consonant with law, my will and direction ex- 
 pressly is, that all disputes, (if unhappily any should arise,} 
 shall be decided by three impartial and intelligent men, 
 known for their probity and good understanding two to 
 be chosen by the disputants, each having the choice of one, 
 and the third by those two which three men thus chosen 
 shall, unfettered by law or legal constructions, declare the 
 sense of the testator's intentions ; and such decision is, to 
 all intents and purposes, to be as binding on the parties as 
 if it had been given in the supreme court of the United 
 States. 
 
 In ivitness of all and each of the things herein contained, I have 
 set my hand and seal, this ninth day of July, in the year 
 one thousand seven hundred and ninety*, and of 'the inde- 
 pendence of the United States the twenty-fourth. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 * It appears the testator omitted the word nine .
 
 368 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 SCHEDULE 
 
 Of property comprehended in the foregoing WILI,, directed to be 
 sold, and some of it conditionally it sold tvith descriptive and e.r~ 
 planatory notes thereto. 
 
 IN VIRGINIA. 
 
 Loudon co. Difficult Run, 
 Loudon and Faquier, 
 
 Ashby's Bent, 
 
 Chattin's Run, 
 Berkley, S. fork of Bouliskin, 
 
 Head of Evan's m. 
 
 In Wormley's line, 
 
 Acres. Price. Dollars. 
 
 300 6,666<z 
 
 2,481 lOd. 24,810 |, 
 
 885 
 1,600 
 
 453 
 
 183 
 
 8 7,080 ) 
 
 2,236 20 
 571 20 
 
 Frederick, bought from Mercer, 
 Hampshire, on Potowmac river, 
 
 above B. 240 15 
 
 Gloucester, on North-river, 400 about 
 
 Nansemond, near Suffolk one-third 
 
 of 1,119 acres, 373 8 
 
 Great Dismal Swamp, my dividend 
 
 thereof, about 
 
 Ohio river, Round Bottom, 587 
 
 Little Kenhawa, 2,314 
 
 Sixteen miles lower down, 2,448 
 
 Opposite Big Bent, 4,395 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 9,744 10 
 
 44,720e 
 11,420</ 
 
 3,600<r 
 3,600/ 
 
 2,984^ 
 20,000/V 
 
 97,440;
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 369 
 
 GREAT KENHAWA. 
 
 Acres. Price. 
 
 Dottars, 
 
 Near the north-west, 
 East side above, 
 Mouth of Cole river, 
 Opposite thereto, 2,950 
 Burning Spring, 125 
 
 10,180 
 7,276 
 2,000 
 
 3,075 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 Charles County, 600 6d. 
 
 Montgomery ditto, 519 12 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 Great Meadows, 234 6 
 
 NEW-YORK. 
 Mohawk river, about 1000 6 
 
 NORTH-WEST TERRITORY. 
 On Little Miami, 339 
 
 Ditto, 977 
 
 Ditto, 1,235 
 
 200,000/S 
 3,600/ 
 
 6,0000 
 
 Rough Creek, 
 Ditto adjoining, 
 
 3,251 
 
 KENTUCKY. 
 
 300O 
 2OOO 
 
 16,251/ 
 
 5000 2 
 LOTS, viz. 
 CITY OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 Two near the capitol, square 634, cost 963 dollars, 
 and with buildings, 
 
 N*. 5, 12, 13, and 14, the three last water lots on 
 the Eastern Branch, in square 667, containing 
 together 34,438 square feet, at 12 cents, 
 
 3 B 
 
 10,000? 
 
 15,OOOr 
 
 4,132^
 
 Three per cent. 2,94-6 J 
 
 ,500 
 
 4000,' 
 
 370 APPENDIX.^ 
 
 ALEXANDRIA. Dollars, 
 
 Corner of Pitt and Prince-streets, half an acre laid 
 out into buildings, three or four of which are let 
 on ground rent at three dollars per foot, 
 
 WINCHESTER. 
 
 A lot in the town, of half an acre, and another in 
 the commons, of about six acres, supposed 
 
 BATH OR WARM SPRINGS. 
 Two well situated, and had buildings to the amount 
 of 1501. 
 
 STOCK. 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 Six per cent. 3,746 
 
 Ditto deferred, 1,873 T t 
 
 r -? 
 
 800. 
 
 POTOWMAC COMPANY. 
 
 Twenty-four shares, cost each 1001. sterling, 
 
 JAMES RIVER COMPANY. 
 
 Five shares, each cost 100 dollars, 
 
 BANK OF COLUMBIA. 
 One hundred and seventy shares, cost S4O each, 
 
 BANK OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 Besides twenty shares to the free school 5. 
 
 STOCK LIVING, WZ. 
 
 One covering horse, five carriage horses, four riding 
 ditto, six brood mares, 20 working horses and 
 mares, 2 covering jacks, and 3 young ones ; 10 
 she asses, 42 working mules, 15 younger ones, 
 329 head of horned cattle, 640 head of sheep, and 
 a large stock of hogs, the precise number un- 
 
 6,246ii- 
 10,666* 
 
 500z/ 
 
 6,8OOz 
 100
 
 APPENDIX. 371 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 known. |OMy manager has estimated this live 
 stock at 7,0001. but I shall set it down, in order 
 to make a round sum, at 15,653 
 
 Aggregate amount, 530,000 
 
 NOTES. 
 
 a. This tract for the size of it, is valuable, more for its 
 situation than the quality of its soil, though that is good for 
 farming ; with a considerable proportion of grounc; that 
 might very easily be improved into meadow. It lies on the 
 great road from the city of Washington, Alexandria, and 
 George-Town, to I.ersburgh and Winchester, at Difficult 
 Bridge, nineteen miles from Alexandria, leso irom the city 
 and George-Town, and not more than three from Maulda- 
 ville, at the greai falls of Potowmac. There is a valuable 
 seat on the premises, and the whole is conditionally sold for 
 the sum annexed in the schedule. 
 
 b. What the selling prices of lands in the vicinity of these 
 two tracts are, I know not ; but compared with those above 
 the ridge, and others below it, the value annexed will appear 
 moderate ; a less one would not obtain them from me. 
 
 Ci The surrounding land not superior in soil, situation, or 
 properties of any sort, sells currently at from twenty to thirty 
 dollars an acre. The lowest price is affixed to these. 
 
 d. The observations made in the last note, apply equally 
 to this tract, being in the vicinity of them, and of similar 
 quality, although it lies in another county. 
 
 e. This tract, though small, is extremely 'valuable. It lies 
 on Potowmac river, about twelve miles above the town of 
 Bath, (or Warm Springs,) and is in the shape of a horse-
 
 372 APPENDIX. 
 
 shoe, the river running almost around it. Two hundred 
 acres of it are rich low grounds, with a great abundance of 
 the largest and finest walnut trees, which, with the produce 
 of the soil, might, (by means of the improved navigation of 
 the Potowmac,) be brought to a shipping port with more 
 ease, and at a smaller expense, than that which is transport- 
 ed thirty miles only by land. 
 
 f. This tract is of second rate Gloucester low grounds. It 
 has no improvements thereon, but lies on navigable water, 
 abounding in fish and oysters. It was received in payment 
 of a debt, (carrying interest,) and valued in the year 1789, by 
 an impartial gentleman, at 8001. 
 
 N. B. It has lately been sold, and there is due thereon, a 
 balance equal to what is annexed in the schedule. 
 
 g. These 373 acres are the third part of undivided pur- 
 chases made by the deceased Fielding Lewis, Thos. Wal- 
 ker, and myself, on full conviction that they would become 
 valuable. The land lies on the road from Suffolk to Nor- 
 folk, touches, (if I am not mistaken,) some part of the navi- 
 gable water of Nansemond river. The rich Dismal Swamp 
 is capable of great improvement ; and, from its situation, 
 must become extremely valuable. 
 
 h. This is an undivided interest which I held in the great 
 Dismal Swamp Company, containing about 4OCO acres, with 
 my part of the plantation and stock thereon, belonging to the 
 company in the said swamp. 
 
 /. These several tracts of land are of the first quality on 
 the Ohio river, in the parts where they are situated, being 
 almost, if not altogether, river bottoms. The smallest of 
 these tracts is actually sold at ten dollars an acre, but the 
 consideration therefor not received. The rest are equally 
 valuable, and will sell as high, especially that which lies just 
 below the Little Kenhawa ; and is opposite to a thick settle-
 
 APPENDIX. '-: 373 
 
 ment on the west side of the river. The four tracts have 
 an aggregate breadth upon the river of sixteen miles, and are 
 bounded there by that distance. 
 
 k. These tracts are situated upon the great Kenhawa 
 river, and the first four are bounded thereby for more than 
 4O miles. It is acknowledged by all who have seen them, 
 (and of the tract containing 10,99O acres, which I have 
 been on myself, I can assert,) that there is no richer or 
 more valuable land in all that region. They are condition- 
 ally sold for the sum mentioned in die schedule, that is, 
 200,000 dollars, and if the terms of that sale are not com- 
 plied with, they will command considerable more. The 
 tract, of which the 125 acres is a moiety, was taken up by 
 General Andrew Lewis and myself, for, and on account of 
 a bitumenous spring which it contains, of so inflammable a 
 nature as to burn as freely as spirits, and is nearly as diffi- 
 cult to extinguish. 
 
 L I am but litde acquainted with this land, although I 
 have once been on it. It was received, (many years since,) 
 in discharge of a debt due to me from Daniel Jenifer 
 Adams, at the value annexed thereto, and must be worth 
 more. It is very level lies near the river Potowmac. 
 
 m. This tract lies about 30 miles above the city of 
 Washington, not far from Kitoctan. It is good farming 
 land, and by those who are well acquainted with it, I am 
 informed that it would sell at twelve or fifteen dollars per 
 acre. 
 
 n. This land is valuable on account of its local situation 
 and other properties. It affords an exceeding good stand 
 on Braddock's road from Fort Cumberland to Pittsburgh ; 
 and, besides a fertile soil, possesses a large- quantity of 
 natural meadow, fit for the scythe. It is distinguished by 
 the appellation of the Great Meadows, where the first action 
 with the French, in the year 1754, was fought.
 
 
 374 APPENDIX. 
 
 o. This is the moiety of about 2000 acres which remains 
 unsold, of 6,071 acres on the "Mohawk river, (Montgomery 
 county,) in a patent granted to Daniel Coxe, in the town- 
 ship of Coxborough and Carolina, as will appear by deed, 
 from Marinus Willet and wife, to George Clinton, (late 
 governor of New-York,) and myself. The latter sales have 
 been at six dollars an acre, and what remains unsold will 
 fetch that or more. 
 
 p. The quality of these lands and their situation, may be 
 known by the surveyor's certificates, which are filed along 
 with the patents. They lie in the vicinity of Cincinnati ; 
 one tract near the mouth of the Little Miami ; another 
 seven, and the third ten miles up the same. I have been 
 informed that they will readily command more than they 
 are estimated at. 
 
 <j. For the description of those tracts in detail, see Gen. 
 Spotswood's letters, filed with the other papers relating to 
 them. Besides the general good quality of the land, there 
 is a valuable bank of iron ore thereon, which, when the set- 
 tlement becomes more populous, (and settlers are moving 
 that way very fast,) will be found very valuable, as the 
 Rough creek, A branch of Green river, affords ample water 
 for furnaces and forges. 
 
 LOTS, viz. 
 CITY OF WASHINGTON. 
 
 r. The two lots near the capiiol, in square 634, cost me 
 963 dollars only ; but in this price I was favoured, on con- 
 ditiqp that I should build two brick houses three stories 
 high each : without this reduction the selling prices of these 
 lots would have cost me about 1,350 dollars. These lots, 
 with the buildings on them when completed, will stand me 
 in 15,000 dollars at least.
 
 APPENDIX. 375 
 
 s. Lots N'. 5, 12, 13 and 14, on the Eastern branch, 
 are advantageouly situated on the water ; and although 
 many lots much less convenient have sold n great deal higher, 
 I will rate these at 12 cents the square foot only. 
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 t. For this lot, though unimproved, I have refused 3,500 
 dollars. It has since been laid off into proper sized lots for 
 building on, three or four of which are let on ground rent 
 for ever, at three dollars a foot on the street ; and this price 
 is asked for both fronts on Pitt and Prince-streets. 
 
 WINCHESTER. 
 
 M. As neither the lot in the town or common have any 
 improvements on them, it is not easy to fix a price ; but as 
 both are we'l situated, it is presumed the price annexed to 
 them in the schedule is a reasonable valuation. 
 
 BATH. 
 
 v. The lots in Bath, (two adjoining,) cost me to the best 
 of my recollection between 50 and 60 pounds, 20 years ago ; 
 and the buildings thereon 1501. more. Whether property 
 there has increased or decreased in its value, and in what 
 condition the houses are, I am ignorant but suppose they 
 are not valued too high. 
 
 STOCK. 
 
 w. These are the sums which are actually funded, and 
 though no more in the aggregate than 7,566 dollars, stand 
 me in at least ten thousand pounds, Virginia money : being 
 the amount of bonded and other debts due to me, and dis- 
 charged during the war, when money had depreciated in 
 that rate JCJ* and was so settled by public authority. 
 
 x. The value annexed to these shares is what they actu- 
 ally cost me, and is the price affixed by law ; and although
 
 376 APPENDIX. 
 
 the present selling price is under par, my advice to the lega- 
 tees, (for whose benefit they are intended, especially those 
 who can afford to lie out of the money,) is, that each should 
 take and hold one there being a moral certainty of a great 
 and increasing profit arising from them in the course of a 
 few years. 
 
 y. It is supposed that the shares in the James River Com- 
 pany must also be productive : but of this I can give no de- 
 cided opinion, for want of more accurate information. 
 
 z. These are the nominal prices of the shares in the banks 
 of Alexandria and Columbia ; the selling prices vary ac- 
 cording to circumstances j but as the stock usually divides 
 from eight to tea per cent, per annum, they must be worth 
 the former, at least, so long as the banks are conceived to be 
 secure, although circumstances may sometimes make them 
 below it. 
 
 The value of the live stock depends more upon the quality 
 than quantity of the different species of it ; and this again 
 upon the demand and judgment, or fancy of purchasers. 
 
 GEORGE WASHINGTON. 
 
 MOUNT-VERNON, July 9, 1799. 
 
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