The Life of George Washington, Vol. 4 (of 5)

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

Scarcely had he answered those spontaneous offerings of the heart,
which flowed in upon him from every part of a grateful nation, when
his views were once more seriously turned to this truly interesting
subject. Its magnitude was also impressed on others; and the value of
obtaining the aid which his influence and active interference would
afford to any exertions for giving this direction to the public mind,
and for securing the happy execution of the plan which might be
devised, was perceived by all those who attached to the great work its
real importance. A gentleman[22] who had taken an expanded view of it,
concluded a letter to General Washington, containing a detailed
statement of his ideas on the subject in these terms:

[Footnote 22: Mr. Jefferson.]

"But a most powerful objection always arises to propositions of this
kind. It is, that public undertakings are carelessly managed, and much
money spent to little purpose. To obviate this objection is the
purpose of my giving you the trouble of this discussion. You have
retired from public life. You have weighed this determination, and it
would be impertinence in me to touch it. But would the superintendence
of this work break in too much on the sweets of retirement and repose?
If they would, I stop here. Your future time and wishes are sacred in
my eye. If it would be only a dignified amusement to you, what a
monument of your retirement would it be! It is one which would follow
that of your public life, and bespeak it the work of the same great
hand. I am confident, that would you either alone, or jointly with any
persons you think proper, be willing to direct this business, it would
remove the only objection, the weight of which I apprehend."

[Sidenote: Recommends the opening and improving the inland navigation
of the great rivers in Virginia.]

In the autumn of 1784, General Washington made a tour as far west as
Pittsburgh; after returning from which, his first moments of leisure
were devoted to the task of engaging his countrymen in a work which
appeared to him to merit still more attention from its political, than
from its commercial influence on the union. In a long and interesting
letter to Mr. Harrison, then governor of Virginia, he detailed the
advantages which might be derived from opening the great rivers, the
Potomac and the James, as high as should be practicable. After stating
with his accustomed exactness the distances, and the difficulties to
be surmounted in bringing the trade of the west to different points on
the Atlantic, he expressed unequivocally the opinion, that the rivers
of Virginia afforded a more convenient, and a more direct course than
could be found elsewhere, for that rich and increasing commerce. This
was strongly urged as a motive for immediately commencing the work.
But the rivers of the Atlantic constituted only a part of the great
plan he contemplated. He suggested the appointment of commissioners of
integrity and abilities, exempt from the suspicion of prejudice, whose
duty it should be, after an accurate examination of the James and the
Potomac, to search out the nearest and best portages between those
waters and the streams capable of improvement, which run into the
Ohio. Those streams were to be accurately surveyed, the impediments to
their navigation ascertained, and their relative advantages examined.
The navigable waters west of the Ohio, towards the great lakes, were
also to be traced to their sources, and those which empty into the
lakes to be followed to their mouths. "These things being done, and an
accurate map of the whole presented to the public, he was persuaded
that reason would dictate what was right and proper." For the
execution of this latter part of his plan he had also much reliance on
congress; and in addition to the general advantages to be drawn from
the measure, he laboured, in his letters to the members of that body,
to establish the opinion, that the surveys he recommended would add to
the revenue, by enhancing the value of the lands offered for sale.
"Nature," he said, "had made such an ample display of her bounties in
those regions, that the more the country was explored, the more it
would rise in estimation."

The assent and co-operation of Maryland being indispensable to the
improvement of the Potomac, he was equally earnest in his endeavours
to impress a conviction of its superior advantages on those
individuals who possessed most influence in that state. In doing so,
he detailed the measures which would unquestionably be adopted by New
York and Pennsylvania, for acquiring the monopoly of the western
commerce, and the difficulty which would be found in diverting it from
the channel it had once taken. "I am not," he added, "for discouraging
the exertions of any state to draw the commerce of the western country
to its sea-ports. The more communications we open to it, the closer we
bind that rising world (for indeed it may be so called) to our
interests, and the greater strength shall we acquire by it. Those to
whom nature affords the best communication, will, if they are wise,
enjoy the greatest share of the trade. All I would be understood to
mean, therefore, is, that the gifts of Providence may not be
neglected."

But the light in which this subject would be viewed with most
interest, and which gave to it most importance, was its political
influence on the union. "I need not remark to you, sir," said he in
his letter to the governor of Virginia, "that the flanks and rear of
the United States are possessed by other powers,--and formidable ones
too: need I press the necessity of applying the cement of
interest to bind all parts of the union together by indissoluble
bonds,--especially of binding that part of it which lies immediately
west of us, to the middle states. For what ties, let me ask, should we
have upon those people, how entirely unconnected with them shall we
be, and what troubles may we not apprehend, if the Spaniards on their
right, and Great Britain on their left, instead of throwing
impediments in their way as they now do, should hold out lures for
their trade and alliance? when they get strength, which will be sooner
than most people conceive, what will be the consequence of their
having formed close commercial connexions with both, or either of
those powers? it needs not, in my opinion, the gift of prophecy to
foretell."

This idea was enlarged and pressed with much earnestness, in his
letters to several members of congress.

The letter to the governor was communicated to the assembly of
Virginia, and the internal improvements it recommended were zealously
supported by the wisest members of that body. While the subject
remained undecided, General Washington, accompanied by the Marquis de
Lafayette, who had crossed the Atlantic, and had devoted a part of his
time to the delights of an enthusiastic friendship, paid a visit to
the capital of the state. Never was reception more cordial, or more
demonstrative of respect and affection, than was given to these
beloved personages. But amidst the display of addresses and of
entertainments which were produced by the occasion, the great business
of internal improvements was not forgotten; and the ardour of the
moment was seized to conquer those objections to the plan, which yet
lingered in the bosoms of members who could perceive in it no future
advantages to compensate for the present expense.

An exact conformity between the acts of Virginia and of Maryland,
being indispensable to the improvement of the Potomac, the friends of
the measure deemed it adviseable to avail themselves of the same
influence with the latter state, which had been successfully employed
with the former; and a resolution was passed, soon after the return of
General Washington to Mount Vernon, requesting him[23] to attend the
legislature of Maryland, in order to agree on a bill which might
receive the sanction of both states. This agreement being happily
completed, the bills were enacted which form the first essay towards
connecting the navigation of the eastern with the western waters of
the United States.

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

These acts were succeeded by one, which conveys the liberal wishes of
the legislature, with a delicacy scarcely less honourable to its
framers, than to him who was its object. The treasurer had been
instructed to subscribe, in behalf of the state, for a specified
number of shares in each company. Just at the close of the session,
when no refusal of their offer could be communicated to them, a bill
was suddenly brought in, which received the unanimous assent of both
houses, authorizing the treasurer to subscribe for the benefit of
General Washington, the same number of shares in each company as were
to be taken for the state. A preamble was prefixed to the enacting
clause of this bill[24] in which its greatest value consisted. With
simple elegance, it conveyed the sentiment, that in seizing this
occasion, to make a donation which would in some degree testify their
sense of the merits of their most favoured and most illustrious
citizen, the donors would themselves be the obliged.

[Footnote 24: It is in these words; "whereas it is the
desire of the representatives of this commonwealth to
embrace every suitable occasion of testifying their sense of
the unexampled merits of George Washington, esquire, towards
his country, and it is their wish in particular that those
great works for its improvement, which both as springing
from the liberty which he has been so instrumental in
establishing, and as encouraged by his patronage, will be
durable monuments of his glory, may be made monuments also
of the gratitude of his country. Be it enacted, &c." This
bill is understood to have been drawn by Mr. Madison.]

However delightful might be the sensations produced by this delicate
and flattering testimony of the affection of his fellow citizens, it
was not without its embarrassments. From his early resolution to
receive no pecuniary compensation for his services, he could not
permit himself to depart; and yet this mark of the gratitude and
attachment of his country, could not easily be rejected without
furnishing occasion for sentiments he was unwilling to excite. To the
friend[25] who conveyed to him the first intelligence of this bill,
his difficulties were thus expressed.

[Footnote 25: Mr. Madison.]

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

"It is not easy for me to decide by which my mind was most affected
upon the receipt of your letter of the sixth instant--surprise or
gratitude. Both were greater than I had words to express. The
attention and good wishes which the assembly has evidenced by their
act for vesting in me one hundred and fifty shares in the navigation
of the rivers Potomac and James, is more than mere compliment,--there
is an unequivocal and substantial meaning annexed. But, believe me,
sir, no circumstance has happened since I left the walks of public
life which has so much embarrassed me. On the one hand, I consider
this act, as I have already observed, as a noble and unequivocal proof
of the good opinion, the affection, and disposition of my country to
serve me; and I should be hurt, if by declining the acceptance of it,
my refusal should be construed into disrespect, or the smallest slight
upon the generous intention of the legislature; or that an
ostentatious display of disinterestedness, or public virtue, was the
source of refusal.

"On the other hand, it is really my wish to have my mind and my
actions, which are the result of reflection, as free and independent
as the air, that I may be more at liberty (in things which my
opportunities and experience have brought me to the knowledge of) to
express my sentiments, and if necessary, to suggest what may occur to
me, under the fullest conviction that, although my judgment may be
arraigned, there will be no suspicion that sinister motives had the
smallest influence in the suggestion. Not content then with the bare
consciousness of my having in all this navigation business, acted upon
the clearest conviction of the political importance of the measure, I
would wish that every individual who may hear that it was a favourite
plan of mine, may know also, that I had no other motive for promoting
it, than the advantage of which I conceived it would be productive to
the union at large, and to this state in particular, by cementing the
eastern and western territory together, at the same time that it will
give vigour and increase to our commerce, and be a convenience to our
citizens."

At length he determined, in the same letter which should convey his
resolution not to retain the shares for his private emolument, to
signify his willingness to hold them in trust for such public
institution as the legislature should approve. The following letter
conveyed this resolution to the general assembly, through the governor
of the state.

(October, 1785.)

"Sir,

"Your excellency having been pleased to transmit me a copy of the act
appropriating to my benefit certain shares in the companies for
opening the navigation of James and Potomac rivers, I take the liberty
of returning to the general assembly through your hands, the profound
and grateful acknowledgments inspired by so signal a mark of their
beneficent intentions towards me. I beg you, sir, to assure them, that
I am filled on this occasion with every sentiment which can flow from
a heart warm with love for my country, sensible to every token of its
approbation and affection, and solicitous to testify in every instance
a respectful submission to its wishes.

"With these sentiments in my bosom, I need not dwell on the anxiety I
feel in being obliged, in this instance, to decline a favour which is
rendered no less flattering by the manner in which it is conveyed,
than it is affectionate in itself. In explaining this, I pass over a
comparison of my endeavours in the public service, with the many
honourable testimonies of approbation which have already so far
overrated, and overpaid them--reciting one consideration only which
supersedes the necessity of recurring to every other.

"When I was first called to the station with which I was honoured
during the late conflict for our liberties, to the diffidence which I
had so many reasons to feel in accepting it, I thought it my duty to
join a firm resolution to shut my hand against every pecuniary
recompense. To this resolution I have invariably adhered, and from it
(if I had the inclination) I do not consider myself at liberty now to
depart.

"Whilst I repeat therefore my fervent acknowledgments to the
legislature, for their very kind sentiments and intentions in my
favour, and at the same time beg them to be persuaded that a
remembrance of this singular proof of their goodness towards me, will
never cease to cherish returns of the warmest affection and gratitude,
I must pray that their act, so far as it has for its object my
personal emolument, may not have its effect; but if it should please
the general assembly to permit me to turn the destination of the fund
vested in me, from my private emolument, to objects of a public
nature, it will be my study, in selecting these, to prove the
sincerity of my gratitude for the honour conferred upon me, by
preferring such as may appear most subservient to the enlightened and
patriotic views of the legislature."

The wish suggested in this letter, immediately received the sanction
of the legislature; and at a subsequent time, the trust was executed
by conveying the shares respectively to the use of a seminary of
learning established in the vicinity of each river.

General Washington felt too strong an interest in the success of these
works, to refuse the presidency of the companies instituted for their
completion. In conducting the affairs of the Potomac company, he took
an active part: to that formed for opening the navigation of the
James, he could only give his counsel.

These were not the only institutions which occasionally drew the
farmer of Mount Vernon from his retreat, and continued him in the
public view.

The sentiments with which the officers of the American army
contemplated a final separation from each other, will be comprehended
by all who are conversant with the finest feelings of the human heart.
Companions in virtuous suffering, in danger, and in glory--attached to
each other by common exertions made in a severe struggle for the
attainment of a common object--they felt that to part for ever was a
calamity too afflicting to be supported. The means of perpetuating
those friendships which had been formed, and of renewing that
endearing social intercourse which had taken place in camp, were
universally desired. Perhaps, too, that _esprit de corps_ which,
identifying the individual with the community, transfers to the
aggregate of the society a portion of that self-love which is felt by
every private person, and which inspires in the members with a
repugnance to the dissolution of the political, not unlike in effect
to that which is excited at the dissolution of the natural body, was
not without its influence in suggesting some expedient which might
preserve the memory of the army, while it cheered the officers who
were on the point of separating, with the hope that the separation
would not be eternal: that at distant intervals, they might still
communicate with each other: that the bonds by which they were
connected would not be totally dissolved: and that, for many
beneficial purposes, the patriots of the American army would still
form one great society.

[Sidenote: Establishment of the society of the Cincinnati of which he
is elected president.]

This idea was suggested by General Knox, and was matured in a meeting
composed of the generals, and of deputies from the regiments, at which
Major General the Baron Steuben presided. An agreement was then
entered into, by which the officers were to constitute themselves into
one society of friends, to endure as long as they should endure, or
any of their eldest male posterity; and, in failure thereof, any
collateral branches who might be judged worthy of becoming its
supporters and members, were to be admitted into it. To mark their
veneration for that celebrated Roman between whose situation and their
own they found some similitude, they were to be denominated, "The
Society of the Cincinnati." Individuals of the respective states,
distinguished for their patriotism and abilities, might be admitted as
honorary members for life, provided their numbers should at no time
exceed a ratio of one to four.

The society was to be designated by a medal of gold representing the
American eagle bearing on its breast the devices of the order, which
was to be suspended by a ribbon of deep blue edged with white,
descriptive of the union of America and France. To the ministers who
had represented his Most Christian Majesty at Philadelphia, to the
admirals who had commanded in the American seas, to the Count de
Rochambeau, and the generals and colonels of the French troops who had
served in the United States, the insignia of the order were to be
presented, and they were to be invited to consider themselves as
members of the society; at the head of which the Commander-in-chief
was respectfully solicited to place his name. An incessant attention,
on the part of the members, to the preservation of the exalted rights
and liberties of human nature for which they had fought and bled, and
an unalterable determination to promote and cherish between the
respective states, union and national honour, were declared to be the
immutable principles of the society. Its objects were, to perpetuate
the remembrance of the American revolution, as well as cordial
affection and the spirit of brotherly kindness among the officers; and
to extend acts of beneficence to those officers and their families,
whose situation might require assistance. To give effect to the
charitable object of the institution, a common fund was to be created
by the deposite of one month's pay on the part of every officer
becoming a member; the product of which fund, after defraying certain
necessary charges, was to be sacredly appropriated to this humane
purpose.

The military gentlemen of each state were to constitute a distinct
society, deputies from which were to assemble triennially, in order to
form a general meeting for the regulation of general concerns.

Without encountering any open opposition, this institution was carried
into complete effect; and its honours were sought, especially by the
foreign officers, with great avidity. But soon after it was organized,
those jealousies which in its first moments had been concealed, burst
forth into open view. In October, 1783, a pamphlet was published by
Mr. Burk of South Carolina, for the purpose of rousing the
apprehensions of the public, and of directing its resentments against
the society. Perceiving or believing that he perceived, in the
Cincinnati, the foundation of an hereditary order, whose base, from
associating with the military the chiefs of the powerful families in
each state, would acquire a degree of solidity and strength admitting
of any superstructure, he portrayed, in the fervid and infectious
language of passion, the dangers to result from the fabric which would
be erected on it. The ministers of the United States too in Europe,
and the political theorists who cast their eyes towards the west for
support to favourite systems, having the privileged orders constantly
in view, were loud in their condemnations of an institution from which
a race of nobles was expected to spring. The alarm was spread
throughout every state, and a high degree of jealousy pervaded the
mass of the people. In Massachusetts, the subject was even taken up by
the legislature; and it was well understood that, in congress, the
society was viewed with secret disapprobation.

"It was impossible for General Washington to view with indifference
this state of the public feeling. Bound to the officers of his army by
the strictest ties of esteem and affection, conscious of their merits,
and assured of their attachment to his person, he was alive to every
thing which might affect their reputation, or their interests. However
innocent the institution might be in itself, or however laudable its
real objects, if the impression it made on the public mind was such as
to draw a line of distinction between the military men of America and
their fellow citizens, he was earnest in his wishes to adopt such
measures as would efface that impression. However ill founded the
public prejudices might be, he thought this a case in which they ought
to be respected; and, if it should be found impracticable to convince
the people that their fears were misplaced, he was disposed to yield
to them in a degree, and not to suffer that which was intended for the
best of purposes, to produce a bad one."

A general meeting was to be held in Philadelphia in May, 1784; and, in
the mean time, he had been appointed the temporary president.

To prepare the officers for those fundamental changes in the
principles of the society, which he contemplated as a necessary
sacrifice to the public apprehensions, his ideas were suggested to his
military correspondents; and to give weight to the measures which
might be recommended, his utmost influence was exerted to obtain a
full assemblage of deputies, which should be respectable for its
numbers, and for its wisdom.

Officers of high respectability entertained different opinions on
surrendering those parts of the institution which were deemed
objectionable. By some, the public clamour was attributed to a spirit
of persecution, which only attached them more closely to the order.
Many, it was said, were in quest of a cause of quarrel with their late
protectors; and the removal of one ground of accusation against them,
would only induce the substitution of some other. The source of the
uneasiness which had been manifested was to be found in the temper of
the people, not in the matters of which they complained; and if the
present cause of irritation was removed, their ill humour would be
openly and avowedly directed against the commutation.

General Washington was too much in the habit of considering subjects
of difficulty in various points of view, and of deciding on them with
coolness and deliberation, to permit his affections to influence his
judgment. The most exact inquiries, assiduously made into the true
state of the public mind, resulted in a conviction that opinions
unfriendly to the institution, in its actual form, were extensively
entertained; and that those opinions were founded, not in hostility to
the late army, but in real apprehensions for equal liberty.

A wise and necessary policy required, he thought, the removal of these
apprehensions; and, at the general meeting in May, the hereditary
principle, and the power of adopting honorary members, were
relinquished. The result demonstrated the propriety of this
alteration. Although a few who always perceive most danger where none
exists, and the visionaries then abounding in Europe, continued their
prophetic denunciations against the order, America dismissed her
fears; and, notwithstanding the refusal of one or two of the state
societies to adopt the measures recommended by the general meeting,
the members of the Cincinnati were received as brethren into the bosom
of their country.

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