The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5 (of 5)
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To the speaker and members of the house of representatives who waited
on him in pursuance of the resolution which has been mentioned, he
expressed the same deep-felt and affectionate respect "for the most
illustrious and beloved personage America had ever produced."
The senate, on this melancholy occasion, addressed to the President
the following letter:
"The senate of the United States respectfully take leave, sir, to
express to you their deep regret for the loss their country sustains
in the death of General 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 ornament. It becomes us to submit with
reverence, to HIM who 'maketh darkness his pavilion.'
"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 names 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 abashed at 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 traveled
on to the end of his journey, and carried with him an increasing
weight of honour: he has deposited it safely where misfortune can not
tarnish it; where malice can not blast it. Favoured of heaven, he
departed without exhibiting the weakness of humanity; magnanimous in
death, the darkness of the grave could 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 following answer: "I
receive, with the most respectful and affectionate 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 recollections on this melancholy
event, you will permit 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. I have also 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 remaining in the general
government. Although with a constitution more enfeebled than his, at
an age when he thought it necessary to prepare for retirement, I feel
myself alone, bereaved of my last 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 can not 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. Misfortune, had he
lived, could hereafter have sullied his glory only with those
superficial minds who, believing that characters 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 could have been
answered, he would have 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 councils and actions, as well as over their lives, nothing
remains 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
future generations, as long as our history shall be read. If a Trajan
found a Pliny, a Marcus Aurelius can never want biographers,
eulogists, or historians."
The joint committee which had been appointed to devise the mode by
which the nation should express its feelings on this melancholy
occasion, reported the following resolutions:
"That a marble monument be erected by the United States at 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.
"That there be a funeral procession from congress hall to the German
Lutheran church, in memory of General Washington, on Thursday, the
26th instant, and that an oration be prepared at the request of
congress, to be delivered before both houses on that day; and that the
president of the senate, and speaker of the house of representatives,
be desired to request one of the members of congress to prepare and
deliver the same.
"That it be recommended to the people of the United States to wear
crape on the left arm as a mourning for thirty days.
"That the President of the United States be requested to direct a copy
of these resolutions to be transmitted to Mrs. Washington, assuring
her of the profound respect congress will ever bear to her person and
character, of their condolence on the late affecting dispensation of
Providence, and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains
of General Washington in the manner expressed in the first resolution.
"That the President be requested to issue his proclamation, notifying
to the people throughout the United States the recommendation
contained in the third resolution."
These resolutions passed both houses unanimously, and those which
would admit of immediate execution were carried into effect. The whole
nation appeared in mourning. The funeral procession was grand and
solemn, and the eloquent oration, which was delivered on the occasion
by General Lee, was heard with profound attention and with deep
interest.
Throughout the United States, similar marks of affliction were
exhibited. In every part of the continent funeral orations were
delivered, and the best talents of the nation were devoted to an
expression of the nation's grief.
To the letter of the President which transmitted to Mrs. Washington
the resolutions of congress, and of which his secretary was the
bearer, that lady answered, "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 congress which you have
had the goodness to transmit 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 monument, however, has not been erected. That the great events of
the political as well as military life of General Washington should be
commemorated, could not be pleasing to those who had condemned, and
who continued to condemn, the whole course of his administration. This
resolution, although it passed unanimously, had many enemies. That
party which had long constituted the opposition, and which, though the
minority for the moment, nearly divided the house of representatives,
declared its preference for the equestrian statue which had been voted
by congress at the close of the war. The division between a statue and
a monument was so nearly equal, that the session passed away without
an appropriation for either. The public feelings soon subsided, and
those who possessed the ascendancy over the public sentiment employed
their influence to draw odium on the men who favoured a monument; to
represent that measure as a part of a general system to waste the
public money; and to impress the idea that the only proper monument to
the memory of a meritorious citizen, was that which the people would
erect in their affections.
[Illustration: Resting-Place of George and Martha Washington at Mount
Vernon
_Dying December 14, 1799, the body of Washington Was placed, with
simple but impressive ceremonies, in the old family vault, from which
it was removed in 1831 to a tomb of plain brick construction, near a
wooded ravine a short distance from the house. Behind an iron grating
may be seen the two sarcophagi which contain the mortal remains of
George Washington and his wife, Martha._]
General Washington was rather above the common size, his frame was
robust, and his constitution vigorous--capable of enduring great
fatigue, and requiring a considerable degree of exercise for the
preservation of his health. His exterior created in the beholder the
idea of strength, united with manly gracefulness.
[Sidenote: And character.]
His manners were rather reserved than free, though they partook
nothing of that dryness, and sternness, which accompany reserve when
carried to an extreme; and on all proper occasions, he could relax
sufficiently to show how highly he was gratified by the charms of
conversation, and the pleasures of society. His person and whole
deportment exhibited an unaffected and indescribable dignity,
unmingled with haughtiness, of which all who approached him were
sensible; and the attachment of those who possessed his friendship,
and enjoyed his intimacy, was ardent, but always respectful.
His temper was humane, benevolent, and conciliatory; but there was a
quickness in his sensibility to any thing apparently offensive, which
experience had taught him to watch, and to correct.
In the management of his private affairs he exhibited an exact yet
liberal economy. His funds were not prodigally wasted on capricious
and ill examined schemes, nor refused to beneficial though costly
improvements. They remained therefore competent to that expensive
establishment which his reputation, added to a hospitable temper, had
in some measure imposed upon him; and to those donations which real
distress has a right to claim from opulence.
He made no pretensions to that vivacity which fascinates, or to that
wit which dazzles, and frequently imposes on the understanding-More
solid than brilliant, judgment, rather than genius, constituted the
most prominent feature of his character.
Without making ostentatious professions of religion, he was a sincere
believer in the Christian faith, and a truly devout man.
As a military man, he was brave, enterprising, and cautious. That
malignity which was sought to strip him of all the higher qualities of
a General, has conceded to him personal courage, and a firmness of
resolution which neither dangers nor difficulties could shake. But
candour will allow him other great and valuable endowments. If his
military course does not abound with splendid achievements, it
exhibits a series of judicious measures adapted to circumstances,
which probably saved his country.
Placed, without having studied the theory, or been taught in the
school of experience the practice of war, at the head of an
undisciplined, ill organized multitude, which was impatient of the
restraints, and unacquainted with the ordinary duties of a camp,
without the aid of officers possessing those lights which the
Commander-in-chief was yet to acquire, it would have been a miracle
indeed had his conduct been absolutely faultless. But, possessing an
energetic and distinguishing mind, on which the lessons of experience
were never lost, his errors, if he committed any, were quickly
repaired; and those measures which the state of things rendered most
adviseable, were seldom, if ever, neglected. Inferior to his adversary
in the numbers, in the equipment, and in the discipline of his troops,
it is evidence of real merit that no great and decisive advantages
were ever obtained over him, and that the opportunity to strike an
important blow never passed away unused. He has been termed the
American Fabius; but those who compare his actions with his means,
will perceive at least as much of Marcellus as of Fabius, in his
character. He could not have been more enterprising, without
endangering the cause he defended, nor have put more to hazard,
without incurring justly the imputation of rashness. Not relying upon
those chances which sometimes give a favourable issue to attempts
apparently desperate, his conduct was regulated by calculations made
upon the capacities of his army, and the real situation of his
country. When called a second time to command the armies of the United
States, a change of circumstances had taken place, and he meditated a
corresponding change of conduct. In modelling the army of 1798, he
sought for men distinguished for their boldness of execution, not less
than for their prudence in counsel, and contemplated a system of
continued attack. "The enemy," said the General in his private
letters, "must never be permitted to gain foothold on our shores."
In his civil administration, as in his military career, ample and
repeated proofs were exhibited of that practical good sense, of that
sound judgment, which is perhaps the most rare, and is certainly the
most valuable quality of the human mind. Devoting himself to the
duties of his station, and pursuing no object distinct from the public
good, he was accustomed to contemplate at a distance those critical
situations in which the United States might probably be placed; and to
digest, before the occasion required action, the line of conduct which
it would be proper to observe. Taught to distrust first impressions,
he sought to acquire all the information which was attainable, and to
hear, without prejudice, all the reasons which could be urged for or
against a particular measure. His own judgment was suspended until it
became necessary to determine; and his decisions, thus maturely made,
were seldom if ever to be shaken. His conduct therefore was
systematic, and the great objects of his administration were steadily
pursued.
Respecting, as the first magistrate in a free government must ever do,
the real and deliberate sentiments of the people, their gusts of
passion passed over, without ruffling the smooth surface of his mind.
Trusting to the reflecting good sense of the nation for approbation
and support, he had the magnanimity to pursue its real interests, in
opposition to its temporary prejudices; and, though far from being
regardless of popular favour, he could never stoop to retain, by
deserving to lose it. In more instances than one, we find him
committing his whole popularity to hazard, and pursuing steadily, in
opposition to a torrent which would have overwhelmed a man of ordinary
firmness, that course which had been dictated by a sense of duty.
In speculation, he was a real republican, devoted to the constitution
of his country, and to that system of equal political rights on which
it is founded. But between a balanced republic and a democracy, the
difference is like that between order and chaos. Real liberty, he
thought, was to be preserved, only by preserving the authority of the
laws, and maintaining the energy of government. Scarcely did society
present two characters which, in his opinion, less resembled each
other, than a patriot and a demagogue.
No man has ever appeared upon the theatre of public action, whose
integrity was more incorruptible, or whose principles were more
perfectly free from the contamination of those selfish and unworthy
passions, which find their nourishment in the conflicts of party.
Having no views which required concealment, his real and avowed
motives were the same; and his whole correspondence does not furnish a
single case, from which even an enemy would infer that he was capable,
under any circumstances, of stooping to the employment of duplicity.
No truth can be uttered with more confidence than that his ends were
always upright, and his means always pure. He exhibits the rare
example of a politician to whom wiles were absolutely unknown, and
whose professions to foreign governments, and to his own countrymen,
were always sincere. In him was fully exemplified the real
distinction, which forever exists, between wisdom and cunning, and the
importance as well as truth of the maxim that "honesty is the best
policy."
If Washington possessed ambition, that passion was, in his bosom, so
regulated by principles, or controlled by circumstances, that it was
neither vicious, nor turbulent. Intrigue was never employed as the
means of its gratification, nor was personal aggrandizement its
object. The various high and important stations to which he was called
by the public voice, were unsought by himself; and, in consenting to
fill them, he seems rather to have yielded to a general conviction
that the interests of his country would be thereby promoted, than to
an avidity for power.
Neither the extraordinary partiality of the American people, the
extravagant praises which were bestowed upon him, nor the inveterate
opposition and malignant calumnies which he encountered, had any
visible influence upon his conduct. The cause is to be looked for in
the texture of his mind.
In him, that innate and unassuming modesty which adulation would have
offended, which the voluntary plaudits of millions could not betray
into indiscretion, and which never obtruded upon others his claims to
superior consideration, was happily blended with a high and correct
sense of personal dignity, and with a just consciousness of that
respect which is due to station. Without exertion, he could maintain
the happy medium between that arrogance which wounds, and that
facility which allows the office to be degraded in the person who
fills it.
It is impossible to contemplate the great events which have occurred
in the United States under the auspices of Washington, without
ascribing them, in some measure, to him. If we ask the causes of the
prosperous issue of a war, against the successful termination of which
there were so many probabilities? of the good which was produced, and
the ill which was avoided, during an administration fated to contend
with the strongest prejudices, that a combination of circumstances,
and of passions, could produce? of the constant favour of the great
mass of his fellow citizens, and of the confidence which, to the last
moment of his life, they reposed in him? the answer, so far as these
causes may be found in his character, will furnish a lesson well
meriting the attention of those who are candidates for political fame.
Endowed by nature with a sound judgment, and an accurate
discriminating mind, he feared not that laborious attention which made
him perfectly master of those subjects, in all their relations, on
which he was to decide: and this essential quality was guided by an
unvarying sense of moral right, which would tolerate the employment,
only, of those means that would bear the most rigid examination; by a
fairness of intention which neither sought nor required disguise: and
by a purity of virtue which was not only untainted, but unsuspected.
NOTES.
NOTE--No. I. _See Page 9._
_The following are copies of these interesting questions, and of the
letter which enclosed them._
Philadelphia, 18th April, 1793.
SIR,--The posture of affairs in Europe, particularly between France
and Great Britain, place the United States in a delicate situation,
and require much consideration of the measures which will be proper
for them to observe in the war between those powers. With a view to
forming a general plan of conduct for the executive, I have stated and
enclosed sundry questions to be considered preparatory to a meeting at
my house to-morrow, where I shall expect to see you at 9 o'clock, and
to receive the result of your reflections thereon.
_Ques._ I. Shall a proclamation issue for the purpose of preventing
interferences of the citizens of the United States in the war between
France and Great Britain, &c.? shall it contain a declaration of
neutrality or not? what shall it contain?
_Ques._ II. Shall a minister from the republic of France be received?
_Ques._ III. If received, shall it be absolutely or with
qualifications; and if with qualifications, of what kind?
_Ques._ IV. Are the United States obliged by good faith to consider
the treaties heretofore made with France as applying to the present
situation of the parties? may they either renounce them or hold them
suspended until the government of France shall be _established_?
_Ques._ V. If they have the right, is it expedient to do either? and
which?
_Ques._ VI. If they have an option, would it be a breach of neutrality
to consider the treaties still in operation?
_Ques._ VII. If the treaties are to be considered as now in operation,
is the guarantee in the treaty of alliance applicable to a defensive
war only, or to war, either offensive or defensive?
_Ques._ VIII. Does the war in which France is engaged appear to be
offensive or defensive on her part? or of a mixed and equivocal
character?
_Ques._ IX. If of a mixed and equivocal character, does the guarantee
in any event apply to such a war?
_Ques._ X. What is the effect of a guarantee, such as that to be found
in the treaty of alliance between the United States and France?
_Ques._ XI. Does any article in either of the treaties prevent ships
of war, other than privateers, of the powers opposed to France, from
coming into the ports of the United States to act as convoys to their
own merchantmen? or does it lay any other restraints upon them more
than would apply to the ships of war of France?
_Ques._ XII. Should the future regent of France send a minister to the
United States, ought he to be received?
_Ques._ XIII. Is it necessary or adviseable to call together the two
houses of congress with a view to the present posture of European
affairs? if it is, what should be the particular objects of such a
call?
* * * * *
NOTE--No. II. _See Page 15._
The official letter announcing to the convention the appointment of
Mr. Genet, contained a communication of a very delicate nature, which
was immediately made public. That the French government had not
mingled with its desire to separate America from Britain, a
willingness to see the United States acquire a degree of strength
which might render them truly independent, and formidable to their
neighbours, though well known to congress, had been concealed from the
people at large. It seems, therefore, to have been apprehended by the
leaders of the revolution in France, that some remnant of that
affection which had been so lavishly expressed for their fallen
monarch while exercising sovereign power, might still be cherished in
the American bosom, and might obstruct the endeavours they were about
to make to produce a more intimate connexion between the two nations.
It might be supposed that such sentiments, if they existed, would be
effectually destroyed by a disclosure of the motives which had
influenced the conduct of those by whom the aids so highly valued had
been granted. The letter alluded to contains this passage: "From the
instructions that were given by the former ministry to the agents in
that country (America) which the executive council caused to be laid
before them, they have seen with indignation, that at the very time
when the good people of America expressed to us their friendship and
gratitude in the most affectionate manner, Vergennes and Montmorin
thought, _that it was not suitable to France to give to America all
the consistence of which it was capable, because it would acquire a
strength which it might probably abuse_. They, therefore, enjoined on
their agents a passive conduct in regard to that nation, and to speak
of nothing but the personal views of the king for its prosperity. The
operations of war were directed by the same Machiavellian maxims. The
same duplicity was employed in the negotiations of peace; in which,
when signed, the people for whom we had taken up arms were altogether
neglected." The official letter brought by Mr. Genet, to the executive
of the United States, conveyed in less explicit terms the same idea;
and to prove the correctness of these allegations, he communicated
copies of official documents expressing in plain terms the solicitude
of France and Spain to exclude the United States from the Mississippi;
their jealousies of the growing power and ambition of this country;
and the wish of France, expressed while the question was pending, that
the constitution might not be adopted, as it "suits France that the
United States should remain in their present state, because if they
should acquire the consistence of which they are susceptible, they
would soon acquire a force or a power which they would be very ready
to abuse." The minister of the king, however, was directed not to avow
the inclination of his sovereign on this point.