"At length, my dear marquis, I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, and under the shadow of my own vine and my own fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp, and the busy scenes of public life. I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments, 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 insufficient for us all, and the courtier, who is always watching the countenance of his prince, in hopes of catching a gracious smile, can have very little conception. I have not only retired from all public employments, but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of private life, with a heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined 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."

A little later he wrote to Madam Lafayette, saying:—

"Freed from the clangor of arms and the bustle of a camp, from the cares of public employment and the responsibility of office, I am now enjoying domestic ease under the shadow of my own vine and my own fig-tree; and in a small villa, with the implements of husbandry and lambkins around me, I expect to glide gently down the stream of life, till I am entombed in the mansion of my fathers.

"Come, then, let me entreat you, and call my cottage your home; for your own doors do not open to you with more readiness than mine would. You will see the plain manner in which we live, and meet with rustic civility; and you shall taste the simplicity of rural life. It will diversify the scene, and may give you a higher relish for the gayeties of the court, when you return to Versailles. In these wishes and most respectful compliments, Mrs. Washington joins me."

Notwithstanding Washington's retirement was so perfect as to amount to positive isolation for a month or more, on account of the effects of an intensely severe winter, which closed almost every avenue to Mount Vernon, and suspended even neighborly intercourse, he found it extremely difficult to divest himself of the habits of the camp. "Strange as it may seem," he wrote to General Knox on the twentieth of February, "it is nevertheless true, that it was not till lately I could get the better of my usual custom of ruminating, as soon as I waked 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, nor had anything to do with public transactions.

"I feel now, however, as I conceive a wearied traveller must do, who, after treading many a painful step with a heavy burthen 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 tracing 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-powerful Guide and Dispenser of human events could have prevented his falling."

Surely, if ever a man had cause for serenity of mind while taking a retrospect of his public and private life, it was George Washington. From his youth he had walked in the path of truth and rectitude, and throughout his long public career of about thirty years, at the time of his retirement from the army, not a stain of dishonor—not even the suspicion of a stain—had ever been seen upon his character. His moral escutcheon was bright, his conscience was unqualifiedly approving, his country loved him above all her sons. With a sincere desire to spend the remainder of his days as a simple farmer upon the Potomac, without the ambition of being famous, or the expectation of being again called into public life, he resumed his old domestic habits, and prepared for the enjoyment of the evening of his days undisturbed by the turmoils of society around him.

"My manner of living is plain," he wrote to a friend, "and I do not mean to be put out by it. A glass of wine and a bit of mutton are always ready, and such as will be content to partake of them, are always welcome. Those who expect more will be disappointed."

But Washington's modest dream of quietude and simplicity of life in his home at Mount Vernon was not realized.

FOOTNOTES:

[6] Life of Washington, iv. 440.



CHAPTER IV.

WASHINGTON'S PRIVATE AFFAIRS—IMPROVEMENTS COMMENCED—REMUNERATION FOR SERVICES DECLINED—VISITORS FLOCK TO MOUNT VERNON—TOUR TO THE OHIO—INDIAN SACHEM AND HIS PROPHECY—WASHINGTON'S INTEREST IN INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS—HIS LETTER TO GOVERNOR HARRISON—ACTION OF THE VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE—FORMATION OF COMPANIES—WASHINGTON DECLINES RECEIVING A DONATION OF STOCK FOR HIS OWN BENEFIT—DISPOSITION OF IT—DISTINGUISHED VISITORS AT MOUNT VERNON—WASHINGTON'S CORRESPONDENCE BURDENSOME—MR. LEAR—ARTISTS AND LITERARY MEN—PINE AND HOUDON AT MOUNT VERNON—AGRICULTURAL PURSUITS AND IMPROVEMENTS—WASHINGTON'S DOMESTIC LIFE AFTER THE WAR.

Washington took a careful survey of all his affairs, on retiring from the public service, and perceived that much was to be done to retrieve losses, and to make his estate an agreeable home, and suitable to his position in life. The mansion, two stories in height, with only four rooms on a floor, was too small to accommodate the visitors who he well knew, might be expected at Mount Vernon, and he had already determined to commence its enlargement with the opening of the spring, as well as the adornment of the grounds around it, and the improvement of his farms. To do this required a large outlay of time and money; and, notwithstanding Washington had an ample fortune for a private gentleman of moderate tastes, he perceived the necessity of practising economy. His private affairs had become somewhat deranged, and his fortune diminished during the war; and he knew that the current expenses of his household must thereafter be materially increased.

At this juncture, when economy appeared so necessary, his consistency as a servant of the public without pecuniary reward, was tested. The temptation came in the specious form of a proposed testimonial of public gratitude for his services, and was so delicately presented to his mind, as almost to leave a doubt of its real purpose. It originated with the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania, who, a few days before Washington resigned his commission at Annapolis, remarked as follows in their instructions to the delegates in Congress from that state:—

"Though his excellency, General Washington, proposes in a short time to retire, yet his illustrious actions and virtues render his character so splendid and venerable, that, it is highly probable, the admiration and esteem of the world may make his life in a very considerable degree public, as numbers will be desirous of seeing the great and good man, who has so eminently contributed to the happiness of a nation. His very services to his country, may, therefore, subject him to expenses, unless he permits her gratitude to interpose.

"We are perfectly acquainted with the disinterestedness and generosity of his soul. He thinks himself amply rewarded for all his labors and cares, by the love and prosperity of his fellow-citizens. It is true, no rewards they can bestow can be equal to his merits. But they ought not to suffer those merits to be burdensome to him. We are convinced that the people of Pennsylvania would regret such a consequence.

"We are aware of the delicacy with which this subject must be treated. But relying upon the good sense of Congress, we wish it may engage their early attention."

President Mifflin forwarded a copy of these instructions to Washington, because it was thought advisable not to lay them before Congress without his knowledge and approbation. True to the consistency of his character, Washington promptly declined the intended favor. "I can not but feel," he said, in reply to Mifflin, "the greatest obligations to the supreme executive council of Pennsylvania. But as my sentiments on the subject of their instructions have been long and well known to the public, I need not repeat them to your excellency on the present occasion." All proceedings on the subject were accordingly stopped.

With the opening of the spring of 1784, numerous visitors began to make their way to Mount Vernon. Many of them were officers, and some of them poor soldiers of the war just closed, who went to pay the homage of their affections to the general under whom they had so long served with delight. Others were persons of distinction, from the various states and from abroad; and others went there out of mere curiosity, to see the great man of the nation in his retirement. Every one received the attentions of a generous hospitality from the master; and in these offices he was nobly seconded by Mrs. Washington, whose cheerful good sense and excellent management, made her home a delightful spot for all who entered it.

Of all the visitors who came to Mount Vernon during that first year of Washington's retirement, none was more cordially welcomed than Lafayette, who landed in New York early in August, and reached Mount Vernon on the seventeenth of the same month. He remained there twelve days, during which time the mansion was crowded with guests who came to meet the great friend of America; and when he departed for Baltimore, quite a large cavalcade of gentlemen accompanied him far on his way.

In September, Washington made quite an extensive tour westward, over the Alleghany mountains, to visit his lands on the Ohio and Great Kanawha rivers. He was accompanied by Doctor Craik, his old companion-in-arms in the French and Indian war, and who had accompanied him to the same region in 1770. They travelled in true soldier style—tent, pack-horses, and a few supplies, relying for their food chiefly upon their guns and fishing-tackle.

Owing to accounts of discontents and irritation among the Indian tribes, Washington did not think it prudent to descend the Ohio, and they proceeded no farther West than the Monongahela, which river they ascended, and then went southward through the wilderness, until they reached the Shenandoah valley, near Staunton. They returned to Mount Vernon on the fourth of October, having travelled on horseback, in the course of forty-four days, six hundred and eighty miles.

It was during their first tour, according to the late Mr. Custis, that Washington was visited by a venerable Indian sachem, who regarded him with the utmost reverence, as a God-protected hero. He would neither eat, drink, nor smoke with Washington; and finally, when a fire was kindled, he arose and addressed him through Nicholson, an interpreter, in the following terms:—

"I am a chief, and the ruler over many tribes; my influence extends to the waters of the great lakes, and to the far, blue mountains. I have travelled a long and weary path, that I might see the young warrior of the great battle. It was on the day, when the white man's blood, mixed with the streams of our forest, that I first beheld this chief; I called to my young men, and said, mark yon tall and daring warrior, he is not of the red-coat tribe—he hath an Indian's wisdom, and his warriors fight as we do—himself is alone exposed. Quick, let your aim be certain, and he dies. Our rifles were levelled, rifles which, but for him, knew not how to miss. It was all in vain, for a power mightier far than we, shielded him from harm. He can not die in battle. I am old, and soon shall be gathered to the great council-fire of my fathers, in the land of shades; but ere I go, there is a something, bids me speak, in the voice of prophecy. Listen! The Great Spirit protects that man, and guides his destinies—he will become the chief of nations, and a people yet unborn, will hail him as the founder of a mighty empire!"

This prophetic speech made a deep impression upon the companions of Washington; and always afterward, on the field of battle, Doctor Craik remembered it, and was fully persuaded that his friend would come out of the storm of conflict unharmed. And so he did. It is a singular fact, that Washington never received the slightest wound in battle.

Washington took an active interest in all that concerned the development of the internal resources of the country; and one of the objects of his tour westward in 1784, was the observation of the courses, and the character of the streams flowing into the Ohio; the distance of their navigable parts to those of the rivers east of the mountains, and the distance of the portage between them. He had conceived the idea that a communication, by canals, might be formed between the Potomac and James rivers, and the waters of the Ohio, and thence to the great chain of northern lakes. This idea had assumed the tangible shape of a well-matured scheme of internal improvement, and he had attempted to form a company for the purpose, when the kindling of the War for Independence put a stop to every enterprise of that kind.

Washington now desired to awaken new interest in the matter, and in a long and able letter to Benjamin Harrison, then governor of Virginia, written in October, 1784, he set forth the advantages to be expected by such a system of inland navigation. This letter was "one of the ablest, most sagacious, and most important productions of his pen," says Mr. Sparks, "presenting first a clear statement of the question, and showing the practicability of facilitating the intercourse of trade between the East and the West, by improving and extending the water communications."[7]

Washington then proceeded, by a train of admirable arguments and illustrations, to explain the commercial and political value of such a measure, in giving strength to the union of the states, and promoting the prosperity of the country, by multiplying the resources of trade.

"I need not remark to you, sir," he said, "that the flanks and rear of the United States are possessed by other powers, and formidable ones too; nor how necessary it is to apply the cement of interest to bind all parts of the Union together by indissoluble bonds, especially that part of it which lies immediately west of us, with 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 stumbling-blocks in their way, as they now do, should hold out lures for their trade and alliance? What, when they get strength, which will be sooner than most people conceive (from the emigration of foreigners, who will have no particular predilection toward us, as well as from the removal of our own citizens), will be the consequence of their having formed close connections with both or either of those powers, in a commercial way? It needs not, in my opinion, the gift of prophecy to foretell.

"The western states (I speak now from my own observation) stand, as it were, upon a pivot. The touch of a feather would turn them any way. They have looked down the Mississippi, until the Spaniards, very impolitically, I think for themselves, threw difficulties in their way; and they looked that way for no other reason, than because they could glide gently down the stream, without considering, perhaps, the difficulties of the voyage back again, and the time necessary to perform it in; and because they have no other means of coming to us but by long land transportations and unimproved roads. These causes have hitherto checked the industry of the present settlers; for, except the demand for provisions, occasioned by the increase of population, and a little flour, which the necessities of the Spaniards compel them to buy, they have no incitements to labor. But smooth the road, and make easy the way for them, and then see what an influx of articles will be poured upon us; how amazingly our exports will be increased by them, and how amply we shall be compensated for any trouble and expense we may encounter to effect it.

"A combination of circumstances makes the present conjuncture more favorable for Virginia, than for any other state in the Union, to fix these matters. The jealous and untoward disposition of the Spaniards on the one hand, and the private views of some individuals, coinciding with the general policy of the court of Great Britain on the other, to retain as long as possible the posts of Detroit, Niagara, and Oswego (which, though done under the letter of the treaty, is certainly an infraction of the spirit of it, and injurious to the Union), may be improved to the greatest advantage by this state, if she would open the avenues to the trade of that country, and embrace the present moment to establish it. It only wants a beginning. The western inhabitants would do their part toward its execution. Weak as they are, they would meet us at least halfway, rather than to be driven into the arms of foreigners, or to be made dependent upon them; which would eventually either bring on a separation of them from us, or a war between the United States and one or the other of those powers, most probably with the Spaniards."

Washington's letter had a powerful effect upon the public mind. Governor Harrison laid it before the Virginia legislature, and that body received it with the greatest favor. Thus encouraged in his scheme, Washington hastened to Richmond to give his personal attention to the matter; and on the morning after his arrival (November sixteenth) he was waited upon by a committee of the assembly, with Patrick Henry at their head, who, in the name of the body whom they represented, testified their reverence for his character and affection for his person.

The Virginia assembly proceeded to appoint a commission to make the requisite surveys, and Washington returned to Mount Vernon, accompanied by Lafayette, whom he had met in Richmond. The marquis remained there a few days, and then departed for the seaboard, never to visit the United States again, until he became an old man, and the republic he had assisted in founding, had grown fifty years older.

Washington's scheme for internal improvements occupied much of his attention, and he corresponded largely upon the subject. His plan, at first, contemplated more especially the interests of Virginia and Maryland, but it expanded in his mind so as to embrace the whole Union. In a letter written on the fourteenth of December, to Richard Henry Lee, then recently elected president of Congress, he urged the necessity of action by that body, and suggested that the western waters should be explored, the navigation of them fully ascertained, accurately laid down, and a perfect map made of the country; that in the sale of public lands, the United States should make a reservation of all mines, minerals, and salt-springs, for special sale; and that a medium price should be adopted for the western lands, sufficient to prevent a monopoly, but not to discourage actual settlers. He wished to discountenance the land-jobbers and "roaming speculators," who were disquieting the Indians, and to encourage the useful citizen. He perceived the necessity of doing something to regulate the matter, for, he said, "the spirit of emigration is great. The people have got impatient, and, though you can not stop the road, it is yet in your power to mark the way. It is easier to prevent than to remedy an evil."

Late in December, Washington was invited to Annapolis by the Virginia assembly, to assist in arranging matters with the assembly of Maryland, respecting his scheme for uniting the Potomac and James rivers, with those of the West. He attended the conference, and chiefly through his exertions two companies were formed for the purpose, under the auspices of the respective governments, and he was appointed president of both. They were called respectively, the Potomac Company, and the James River Company. Thus it will be seen, that during the first year after the close of the Revolution, Washington set in motion that vast scheme of internal improvements, which has had a powerful and salutary influence upon the destinies of our country.

Again Washington's consistency was put to the test. Grateful for his past services, and conscious of the advantages to the Virginia commonwealth, of the great scheme of improvement which he had now set in motion, they, by unanimous vote, offered to present to him fifty shares in the Potomac Company, valued at ten thousand dollars, and one hundred shares in the James River Company, valued at twenty-five thousand dollars. Aware of his resolution not to receive any pecuniary gift from the public, the legislature, in the preamble to the resolution, said:—

"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 toward 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."

This mark of his countrymen's appreciation, was, of course, gratifying to Washington, but again, true to his convictions and his vows, he declined to receive the donation for his own benefit; but, as a matter of expediency, he offered to accept the shares, provided the legislature would allow him to appropriate them to the use of some object of a public nature. The assembly cheerfully acceded to his proposition. As the encouragement of education was a subject in which he felt deeply interested, he made over the shares of the James River Company to an institution in Rockbridge county, called Liberty Hall Academy, and those of the Potomac Company he bequeathed in perpetuity for the endowment of a university in the District of Columbia, under the auspices of the general government. Liberty Hall afterward became the flourishing Washington College, but the national university has never been established.

Other examples of Washington's interest in educational institutions, are on record. He cheerfully accepted the chancellorship of William and Mary college at Williamsburg; during many years he gave two hundred and fifty dollars annually for the instruction of poor children in Alexandria; and by his will he left four thousand dollars, the net income of which was to be used for the same object. "Other examples," says Sparks, after enumerating these and other benevolent acts of the great and good man, "might be cited; and from his cautious habit of concealing from the world his deeds of charity, it may be presumed many others are unknown, in which his heart and his hand were open to the relief of indigent merit."

We have observed that Washington's dreams of repose at Mount Vernon were not realized. Visitors from the old and the new world constantly increased, and among them came that champion of liberty, Catharine Macaulay Graham, whose pen had done noble service in the cause of human rights. She came with her husband, and professed to have crossed the Atlantic for the sole purpose of testifying, in person, her respect and admiration for the character and deeds of Washington. "A visit from a lady so celebrated in the literary world," he wrote to Knox, "can not but be very flattering to me."

His correspondence increased so rapidly, that it soon began to be burdensome. To Richard Henry Lee he wrote in February, 1785, when transmitting to him a mass of papers which he had received from the pious Countess of Huntington, explaining her scheme for Christianizing the American Indians: "Many mistakingly think that I am retired to ease, and to that kind of tranquillity which would grow tiresome for want of employment; but at no period of my life, not in the eight years I served the public, have I been obliged to write so much myself, as I have done since my retirement. Was this confined to friendly communication, and to my own business, it would be equally pleasing and trifling; but I have a thousand references to old matters, with which I ought not to be troubled, but which, nevertheless, must receive some answer."

In a letter to General Knox he amplified this topic a little, saying: "It is not the letters from my friends which give me trouble, or add aught to my perplexity. It is reference to old matters with which I have nothing to do; applications which oftentimes can not be complied with; inquiries which would require the pen of a historian to satisfy; letters of compliment, as unmeaning, perhaps, as they are troublesome, but which must be attended to; and the common-place business, which employs my pen and my time, often disagreeably. Indeed, these, with company, deprive me of exercise, and unless I can obtain relief, must be productive of disagreeable consequences."

For more than two years after the war, Washington kept neither clerk nor secretary. At length the labor became insupportable, and through the kind offices of General Lincoln, he procured the services of Tobias Lear, a talented young gentleman of New Hampshire, who had recently left Harvard college with honor. Mr. Lear took a social position at Mount Vernon, as one of the family at table and among the guests, and became greatly beloved by Washington. He remained there several years, accompanied the general to New York when he went there to take the chair of chief magistrate of the nation, and continued in his family until after the seat of government was removed to Philadelphia. He was again a resident at Mount Vernon, after the death of his wife, and was present when the master of the mansion died. Mr. Lear relieved Washington of much of the drudgery of the pen, and also took charge of the instruction of his adopted children, Master and Miss Custis.

Washington was also annoyed by the applications of artists and literary men, the former for him to give them sittings for his portrait, and the latter for materials for either his biography, or a general history of the Revolution. He positively refused compliance with the latter request, but occasionally indulged the former. At the solicitation of Francis Hopkinson, he sat to Robert Edge Pine, a diminutive Englishman and excellent artist. Pine was a warm republican, and came to America to collect portraits of distinguished persons for the purpose of painting a series of pictures illustrative of the War for Independence.

Soon after Pine left Mount Vernon, Houdon, the eminent French portrait-sculptor was there, at the request of the legislature of Virginia, who had ordered a statue of Washington to be executed for the statehouse at Richmond. For such a purpose, and under such auspices, Washington was willing to submit to the manipulations of art, even those so unpleasant as the moulding of the face in plaster, and he wrote to Houdon, on his arrival in New York: "It will give me pleasure, sir, to welcome you to the seat of my retirement; and whatever I have, or can procure, that is necessary to your purpose, or convenient and agreeable to your wishes, you must freely command, as inclination to oblige you will be among the last things in which I shall be found deficient, either on your arrival or during your stay."

Houdon made a plaster-mould from Washington's face, modelled a complete head and bust in clay, made a cast from that, took the latter to France, and from it executed the statue now in the capitol at Richmond. He made careful measurements of Washington's figure, and in Paris, Gouverneur Morris stood for it.

During nearly all of the year 1785, Washington was engaged much of the time in the ornamentation of the grounds around the mansion he had greatly enlarged, and in the improvement of his farms. The relief from the pen afforded him by Mr. Lear, gave him time for pursuits of this nature, which he so much loved, and his diary abounds with brief records of his planting of trees and sowing of seeds. His Mount Vernon estate was divided into five farms, and several hundred acres of woodland. The mansion-house farm was his great care and delight, yet he managed the other four with skill and prudence. On them he had over fifty draught-horses, a dozen mules, more than three hundred head of black cattle, three hundred and sixty sheep, and a large number of swine that ran wild in the woods.

He was fond of improvements of every kind. The king of Spain hearing that he was anxious to procure the best breed of asses in Europe, for the propagation of mules on his estate, sent him a magnificent jack and two jennies. With this jack, and another sent to him by Lafayette, at about the same time, he raised some noble mules from his coach-mares. In a few years the Mount Vernon estate became stocked with a very superior breed, some of them rising to the height of sixteen hands.

From Arthur Young, an English agriculturist, Washington received many precious seeds, improved implements, and good advice in the laying out and management of farms. His early life habits were resumed—his early rising, his frugal breakfast, his ride over his estate, and his exact method in everything. He loved amusements still, but of a more quiet kind than those of his younger days. The pleasures of the chase were relinquished. His kennel was broken up, and his hounds, some of them a present from Lafayette, were given away.

Washington was a most cheerful, companionable man at home, yet always dignified. "General Washington is, I believe," said Mr. Lear, after two years residence in his family, "almost the only man of an exalted character, who does not lose some part of his respectability by an intimate acquaintance. I have never found a single thing that could lessen my respect for him. A complete knowledge of his honesty, uprightness, and candor in all his private transactions, has sometimes led me to think him more than a man."

In his family he was peculiarly kind and affectionate. Between himself and Mrs. Washington the most perfect harmony existed. In all his intercourse with his wife, he was most considerate. Mrs. Lewis (Nelly Custis) said she had often seen Mrs. Washington, when she had something to communicate, or a request to make, at a moment when the general's mind was entirely abstracted from the present, seize him by the button to command his attention, when he would look down upon her with a most benignant smile, and, become at once attentive to her wishes, which were never slighted.

Thus, in the management of his estate, the entertainment of his guests, correspondence with his friends at home and abroad, and the contemplation of years of peaceful life that lay before him, Washington's hours glided away for a season. Meanwhile the political horizon of his country began to darken, and omens of a fearful storm appeared. The people looked to their ancient pilot for help, and at the hour when he was dreaming most sweetly of domestic quiet, they called him to take the helm, for the ship of state was in danger. He was soon at the post of responsibility, upon the turbulent sea of political life.

FOOTNOTES:

[7] Life of Washington, page 379.



Chapter V.

JEALOUSIES OF THE STATES—WEAKNESS OF CONGRESS—VIEWS OF WASHINGTON AND HIS COMPATRIOTS—WASHINGTON'S LETTER TO JAMES WARREN ON THE CONFEDERATION—CONFERENCE AT MOUNT VERNON—WASHINGTON SUGGESTS A NATIONAL COMMERCIAL CONVENTION—HAMILTON'S VIEWS OF THE CONFEDERATION—THE CONTINENTALIST—HAMILTON RECOMMENDS A GENERAL CONVENTION OF STATES TO AMEND THE CONFEDERATION—SECONDED BY THE NEW YORK LEGISLATURE—LETTER OF JAY TO WASHINGTON—WASHINGTON'S REPLY—AN IMPENDING CRISIS—WASHINGTON'S SECOND LETTER TO JAY—WASHINGTON'S INFLUENCE IN HIS RETIREMENT—CONVENTION AT ANNAPOLIS A FAILURE—ANOTHER RECOMMENDED—WASHINGTON APPOINTED A DELEGATE FROM VIRGINIA—HE HESITATES—CONGRESS RECOMMENDS A CONVENTION—WASHINGTON ACCEPTS THE APPOINTMENT AND PROCEEDS TO PHILADELPHIA.

We have had occasion, from time to time, to notice the jealousies of individual states toward the continental Congress during the war, and the consequent weakness of that body, as an executive of the will of the people, at times when strength and energetic action were most needed.

It was with great difficulty that the states were brought to agree to the Articles of Confederation, and nothing but the pressure of a common danger, which required unity of action, could have induced them to surrender even so much of their individual sovereignty as those articles required. When, therefore, the common danger had passed, and the people felt security in the pursuits of peace, sectional and provincial pride began to operate powerfully in dissolving the union of the states. The Congress, doubtful of their power, and but little relied upon by the great mass of the people as an instrument for the promotion of national prosperity, were incompetent to execute treaties, to regulate commerce, or to provide for the payment of debts contracted for the confederation, amounting in the aggregate, foreign and domestic, to a little more than forty millions of dollars. And that body itself was often distracted by party dissentions, and rendered powerless to exercise even its acknowledged authority, through disagreement.

To Washington and other sagacious minds, the Articles of Confederation had been regarded as essentially defective as a system of government, long before the war had ceased. They perceived the necessity for a greater centralization of power in the general government; and that necessity became painfully apparent when peace came, and the people of the several states found themselves in the condition of independent sovereignty. The system of credit for the extinction of the national debt, and to provide for the national expenditures, devised by the Congress, was tardily accepted by most of the states, and utterly neglected by others. Local interests and prejudices were consulted instead of the national welfare; treaty stipulations were disregarded, and the confederation became, in many respects, a dead letter.

"The confederation appears to me," Washington wrote to James Warren, in October, 1785, "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, and may be recalled at any moment, and are subject to all the evils which they may be instrumental in producing) sufficient powers to order and direct the affairs of the same. By such policy as this the wheels of government are clogged, and our brightest prospects, and that high expectation which was entertained of us by the wondering world, are turned into astonishment; and, from the high ground on 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, admits, in my humble opinion, of no doubt, if we would but pursue a wise, just, and liberal policy toward one another, and 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 shall sink, in the eyes of Europe, into contempt.

"It has long been a speculative question among philosophers and wise men, whether foreign commerce is of real advantage to any country; that is, whether the luxury, effeminacy, and corruptions, which are introduced along with it, are counterbalanced by the convenience and wealth which it brings. But the decision of this question is of very little importance to us. We have abundant reason to be convinced, that the spirit of trade which pervades these states, is not to be restrained. It behooves us, then, to establish just principles; and this can not, any more than other matters of national concerns, be done by thirteen heads differently constructed and organized. The necessity, therefore, of a controlling power is obvious; and why it should be withheld is beyond my comprehension."

A little earlier than this, Washington had been engaged in grave discussions at Mount Vernon, with commissioners who had been appointed by the assemblies of Virginia and Maryland, to form a compact in relation to the navigation of the Potomac and Pocomoke rivers, and a part of Chesapeake bay. During the conference he suggested the idea of a conjunction of the several states in arrangements of a commercial nature, over which the Congress, under the Articles of Confederation, had no control. In this suggestion lay the kernel of future most important action, which finally led to the great result of a convention of the states, the abandonment of the old confederation, and the adoption of the Federal Constitution.

But earlier far than this, one of the most extraordinary young men of the last century—indeed, of any century—had, with wonderful sagacity, perceived the evils that would naturally be developed by a weak central government, and had pleaded eloquently with the people to give the Congress more power. That young man was Alexander Hamilton, who, as early as 1781, put forth his views on the subject in a series of papers, under the title of The Continentalist. He was then only twenty-four years of age, yet no man in the country appeared to have clearer views of what constituted true national policy, than he. Indeed, he spoke with the wisdom of a statesman of threescore years; and with Washington and others he deeply lamented the mischievous effects of the practical influence of the doctrine of state rights in its ultra phases. "An extreme jealousy of power," he said, "is the attendant of all popular revolutions, and has seldom been without its evils. It is to this source we are to trace many of the fatal mistakes which have so deeply endangered the common cause; particularly that defect—a want of power in Congress."

The Continentalist was published in the New York Packet, printed at Fishkill, in Duchess county, and the series were devoted chiefly to a discussion of the defects of the confederation. They excited great local and general interest; and finally Hamilton succeeded in having the subject of a general convention brought before the New York legislature, in 1782, while in session at Poughkeepsie. The idea Was a popular one with them, and on Sunday, the twenty-first of July, 1782, that body passed a series of resolutions, in the last of which it was remarked, "that it is essential to the common welfare, that there should be as soon as possible, a conference of the whole on the subject, and that it would be advisable for this purpose to propose to Congress to recommend, and to each state to adopt, the measure of assembling a GENERAL CONVENTION OF THE STATES, specially authorized to revise and amend the CONFEDERATION, reserving the right to the respective legislatures to ratify their determination."

This recommendation was pondered in other states, but the public authorities were not ready to adopt it. At length the suggestion of Washington, concerning a general commercial convention, was acted upon by the Virginia legislature. That action drew a letter from John Jay to Washington, in March, 1786, in which he said:—

"Experience has pointed out errors in our national government which call for correction, and which threaten to blast the fruit we expected from our tree of liberty. The correction proposed by Virginia may do some good, and would, perhaps, do more if it comprehended more objects. An opinion begins to prevail that a general convention for revising the Articles of Confederation would be expedient. Whether the people are yet ripe for such a measure, or whether the system proposed to be attained by it is only to be expected from calamity and commotion, is difficult to ascertain. I think we are in a delicate situation, and a variety of considerations and circumstances give me uneasiness."

To this Washington responded in May, saying: "I coincide perfectly in sentiment with you, my dear sir, that there are errors in our national government which call for correction; loudly, I would add; but I shall find myself happily mistaken, if the remedies are at hand. We are certainly in a delicate situation; but my fear is, that the people are not yet sufficiently misled to retract from error. To be plain, I think there is more wickedness than ignorance mixed in our councils. Under this impression I scarcely know what opinion to entertain of a general convention. That it is necessary to revise and amend the Articles of Confederation, I entertain no doubt; but what may be the consequences of such an attempt, is doubtful. Yet something must be done, or the fabric must fall, for it certainly is tottering."

It was the general impression, at that time, that an alarming crisis in public affairs was at hand, and during the whole summer of 1786, Washington was in constant correspondence with leading minds in different parts of the country. To Jay he again wrote in August, saying:—

"I do not conceive we can long exist as a nation, without having lodged 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 with powers, constituted as that body is, appears to me the very climax of popular absurdity and madness. Could Congress exert them for the detriment of the public, without injuring themselves in an equal or greater proportion? Are not their interests inseparably connected 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 of opinion, that Congress have too frequently made use of the suppliant, humble tone of requisition in application to the states, when they had a right to assert their imperial dignity and command obedience. Be that as it may, requisitions are a perfect nullity when thirteen sovereign, independent, disunited states, are in the habit of discussing and refusing compliance with them at their option. Requisitions are actually little better than a jest and a by-word throughout the land. If you tell the legislatures they have violated the treaty of peace, and invaded the prerogatives of the confederacy, they will laugh in your face. What then is to be done? They can not 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 the circumstances, will have their minds prepared for any revolution whatever.... I am told that even respectable characters speak of a monarchical form of government without horror. From thinking proceeds speaking; thence to acting is often but a single step. But how irrevocable and tremendous! What a triumph to our enemies to verify their predictions!... 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," he continued, "I frankly acknowledge I can not feel myself an unconcerned spectator. Yet, having happily assisted in bringing the ship into port, and having been fairly discharged, it is not my business to embark again on a sea of troubles. Nor could it be expected that my sentiments and opinions could have much weight on the minds of my countrymen. They have been neglected, though given as a last legacy in the most solemn manner," he said, referring to his circular to the governors of the states in the summer of 1783; "I had then, perhaps, some claim to public attention, I consider myself as having none at present."

His sentiments and opinions did have great weight, and in his retirement at Mount Vernon, Washington exercised a most powerful influence. To the patriotic and thoughtful, his words were oracular, and the ear of the nation leaned in earnest silence toward Mount Vernon at that crisis, to catch the faintest whisper from the lips of the retired soldier, who was about to emerge as a sagacious statesman.

In September, 1786, commissioners met at Annapolis, at the suggestion of the legislature of Virginia, "to take into consideration the trade of the United States," and "to report to the several states such an act relative to this great object, as, when unanimously ratified by them," would enable "the United States in Congress assembled," effectually to provide for such a uniform system in their commercial relations as might be necessary to their common interest and their social harmony.

Only five states (Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and New York) were represented in the convention. The deputies assembled on the eleventh, and appointed John Dickenson, of Pennsylvania, chairman. A committee was appointed to prepare a draft of a report to be made to the legislatures of the several states there represented. That committee reported on the fourteenth, when, as a majority of the states were not represented in the convention, it was thought advisable to postpone further action. They adjourned, after recommending to the several states the appointment of deputies to meet in convention for a similar purpose, in May following. They also prepared a letter to Congress, to accompany a copy of the report to the several states represented, in which the defects of the Articles of Confederation were set forth.

When the Virginia assembly met, they resolved to appoint seven delegates to represent that state in the proposed convention, and placed Washington's name at the head of the list of deputies selected. The appointment was made by the unanimous voice of the assembly, and the fact was first communicated to him by Mr. Madison. Washington was embarrassed. He heartily approved of the measure, and was willing to leave the retirement of private life for a season, to serve his country in a dark and critical hour; but he could not do so at that time, without being obnoxious to the charge of inconsistency, and of disrespect to a class of his fellow-citizens, who, above all others, he most loved.

"I presume you have heard, sir," he said to Madison, "that I was first appointed, and have since been re-chosen, president of the society of the Cincinnati; and you may have understood, also, that the triennial general 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 attention to them, a wish for retirement and relaxation from public cares, and rheumatic pains which I begin to feel very sensibly, induced me to address a circular letter to each state society, informing them of my intention not to be at the next meeting, and of my desire not to be re-chosen president."

Under these circumstances, and as the convention was to assemble at the same place and at about the same time, he felt that he ought to decline serving, for he could not appear there without giving offence to the members of the society. They might, with reason, have grounds for suspecting his sincerity, or even of his having deserted the officers who had so nobly supported him during the war for independence. He, therefore, in reply to the governor's official notification of his appointment, expressed a wish that some other gentleman should be substituted for himself.

Washington did not absolutely refuse to serve, and Governor Randolph suggested that perhaps before the time for the assembling of the convention the objections in his mind might be removed. His name was therefore continued at the head of the Virginia convention.

Time moved on, and the subject of the convention of the states occupied a large place in the public mind. Washington received many letters. Some of these from his warm, personal friends expressed doubts of the propriety of his attending the convention, and others advised against it. Some thought that, as it did not originate with the supreme legislature, acting under the articles of confederation which that convention was called to revise, it would be illegal; and those who were very tender of Washington's character, and had doubts concerning the results of such convention, advised against his going, as his brilliant reputation might suffer, should the whole affair prove abortive; while others, having heard insinuations that the opposers of the convention were monarchists, advised his going, to show that he favored it, and to give the weight of his name to a really republican movement in which the best interests of his country were involved.

Circumstances did finally occur which removed all objections from Washington's mind. The Congress legalized the convention by a resolution which declared it expedient, and fixing the day for its meeting. That day was the second Monday in May, and was chosen in reference to the general meeting of the society of the Cincinnati, which was to take place a week earlier, that, thereby, Washington might be allowed to meet with his brothers of the fraternity if he chose. Another circumstance was the insinuation just alluded to, that the opponents of the convention were monarchists, who were willing to have the difficulties and dangers of the country increase, under the weak control of the confederation, until republicanism should become hateful to the people; and a third circumstance was a dangerous insurrection in Massachusetts which had grown out of efforts to enforce federal laws. Washington was unwilling to be classed among the opponents of the convention, or to remain inactive, while violence was assuming to defy all law, and when an era of anarchy in his country seemed about to dawn. Added to these considerations, and the sanction of the convention by law, his friends, whose minds had been changed in the course of a few months, now urged him, by every consideration of patriotism, to come forth from his retirement, for the salvation of the country depended in a great measure upon his exertions. Washington no longer hesitated, and prepared to go to the convention at the head of the Virginia deputies.

He resolved not to go uninformed upon the great subject that would engage the attention of that body, and he commenced a course of preparation. "His knowledge of the institutions of his country and of its political forms," says Sparks, "both in their general character and minute affiliated relations, gained by inquiry and long experience, was probably as complete as that of any other man. But he was not satisfied with this alone. He read the history and examined the principles of the ancient and modern confederacies. There is a paper in his handwriting which contains an abstract of each, and in which are noted, in a methodical order, their chief characteristics, the kinds of authority they possessed, their modes of operation, and their defects. The confederacies analyzed in this paper are the Lycian, Amphictyonic, Achaen, Helvetic, Belgic, and Germanic. He also read the standard works on general politics and the science of government, abridging parts of them, according to his usual practice, that he might impress the essential points more deeply on his mind." He resolved to do all in his power, in that convention, to affect a radical cure of the political maladies with which his country was afflicted.

Washington set out from Mount Vernon on the ninth of May, in his carriage, for Philadelphia, to attend the convention. He arrived at Chester on the thirteenth, and was there met by General Mifflin (who was then the speaker of the Pennsylvania assembly), Generals Knox and Varnum, Colonels Humphreys and Meigs, and Majors Jackson and Nicholas, by whom he was escorted toward Philadelphia. At Gray's ferry, on the Schuylkill, a company of light-horse under Colonel Miles met and escorted him into the city, when the bells were rung in honor of his arrival. On the pressing invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Morris, he took lodgings with them; and as soon as the dust of travel could be removed, he called upon Doctor Franklin, who was at that time president of the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The following day was the time appointed for the assembling of the convention.



CHAPTER VI.

THE CONVENTION OF STATES—WASHINGTON CHOSEN PRESIDENT OF THE CONVENTION—RANDOLPH'S SPEECH AND RESOLUTIONS—NUMBER AND NAMES OF DELEGATES—NOTICE OF SOME OF THEM—FRANKLIN IN THE CONVENTION OF 1754—THE LEADING SPEAKERS IN THE CONVENTION—POSITION OF THE MEMBERS IN REGARD TO PRECEDENTS—SYNOPSIS OF RANDOLPH'S PLAN—PINCKNEY'S SKETCH—NATIONAL AND STATE-RIGHTS MEN—PATTERSON'S PLAN—VIRGINIA AND NEW JERSEY PLANS—HAMILTON DISSENTS FROM BOTH—HIS CHARACTER, SPEECH, AND SCHEME—ALL PLANS AND AMENDMENTS REFERRED TO A COMMITTEE FOR REVISION—A CONSTITUTION REPORTED AND ADOPTED—CRITICAL PERIODS IN THE CONVENTION—SUBJECTS FOR DIFFERENCES—WASHINGTON'S APPREHENSIONS AND VIEWS—PATRIOTISM OF HAMILTON—THE CONSTITUTION SIGNED—REMARKS BY WASHINGTON AND FRANKLIN—CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.

On Monday, the fourteenth day of May, 1787, those delegates to the convention called to revise the Articles of Confederation who were then in Philadelphia, assembled in the large room in the statehouse, since known as Independence hall; but it was not until Friday, the twenty-fifth, that seven states, the number required by Congress to form a quorum, were represented, and the convention was organized. On that day, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, and North and South Carolina, were represented by an aggregate number of twenty-seven delegates; and on the nomination of Robert Morris, in behalf of the state of Pennsylvania, Washington was, by unanimous vote, elected president of the convention. William Jackson was chosen secretary; and on Monday, the twenty-eighth, Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, at the request of his colleagues, opened the business of the convention by an elaborate speech, in which he showed the defects of the Articles of Confederation, illustrated their utter inadequacy to secure the peace and safety of the republic, and the absolute necessity of a more energetic government. When he closed his remarks, he offered for the consideration of the convention fifteen resolutions; not as a system of organic law, but as leading principles whereon to form a new government.

Very soon after the commencement of the session, eleven states were represented. New Hampshire sent delegates at the close of June, but the Rhode Island assembly refused to elect any. Some of the most influential men of that little commonwealth united in a letter to the convention, in which they expressed warm sympathy with the movement.

Sixty-one delegates had been appointed at the beginning of July, but only about fifty served in the convention.[8] These were among the most illustrious citizens of the republic, most of whom had been distinguished for worth of character, talents, and patriotism, during the late struggle for the independence of the colonies. Eighteen of them were at that time members of the continental Congress.

It is not proposed to consider in detail, nor even in a synoptical manner, the proceedings of that convention, which occupied several hours each day for four months. We will merely glance at the men and measures, contemplate the result, and leave the reader to seek, in special sources, for information concerning the important and interesting subject of the formation of our federal constitution.[9]



Next to Washington, the venerable Doctor Franklin, then a little over eighty-one years of age, was the most conspicuous member. Thirty-three years before, he had submitted to a convention of colonial delegates, held at Albany, a plan for a confederation, similar to our federal constitution, but it was not adopted. It satisfied neither the board of trade to whom it was submitted, nor the colonial assemblies who discussed it. "The assemblies did not adopt it," he said, "as they all thought there was too much prerogative in it, and in England it was judged to have too much of the democratic."

Dickinson, Johnson, and Rutledge, had been members of the stamp-act Congress in 1765. The first and last had been compatriots with Washington in the Congress of 1774, and Sherman, Livingston, Read, and Wythe, had shared the same honors. The two latter, with Franklin, Sherman, Gerry, Morris, Clymer, and Wilson, had signed the Declaration of Independence. Washington, Mifflin, Hamilton, and Cotesworth Pinckney, represented the continental army; and the younger members, who became prominent after the Declaration of Independence, were Hamilton, Madison, and Edmund Randolph. The latter was then governor of Virginia, having succeeded Patrick Henry.

The leading speakers in the long and warm debates elicited by the resolutions of Governor Randolph and others, were King, Gerry, and Gorham, of Massachusetts; Hamilton and Lansing, of New York; Ellsworth, Johnson, and Sherman, of Connecticut; Paterson, of New Jersey, who presented a scheme counter to that of Randolph; Franklin, Wilson, and Morris, of Pennsylvania; Dickinson, of Delaware; Martin, of Maryland; Randolph, Madison, and Mason, of Virginia; Williamson, of North Carolina; and the Pinckneys, of South Carolina. Such were the men with whom Washington was associated in the contrivance and construction of a new system of government.

"At that time," says Curtis, "the world had witnessed no such spectacle as that of the deputies of a nation, chosen by the free action of great communities, and assembled for the purpose of thoroughly reforming its constitution, by the exercise and with the authority of the national will. All that had been done, both in ancient and in modern times, in forming, moulding, or modifying constitutions of government, bore little resemblance to the present undertaking of the states of America. Neither among the Greeks nor the Romans was there a precedent, and scarcely an analogy."

The great political maxim established by the Revolution was the original residence of all human sovereignty in the people; and the statesmen in the federal convention had scarcely any precedent, in theory or practice, by which they might be governed in parcelling out so much of that sovereignty as the people of the several states should be willing to dismiss from their local political institutions, in making a strong and harmonious federal republic, that should be at the same time harmless toward reserved state-rights.

Randolph's resolutions proposed: First, To correct and enlarge the Articles of Confederation, so as to accomplish the original objects of common defence, security of liberty, and general welfare. Secondly, To make the right of suffrage in the national legislature proportioned to the quotas of contribution, or to the number of free inhabitants, as might seem best in different cases. Thirdly, To make the national legislature consist of two branches; the members of the first to be elected by the people of the several states at certain intervals for a specified term. They were to be of a prescribed age, entitled to liberal emolument for their public services, and to be ineligible to any office, state or federal, except such as pertained to the functions of that first branch, during their service; also to be ineligible to re-election until after a certain space of time succeeding their term of service. Fourthly, To have the members of the second branch elected by those of the first from among those who should be nominated by the state legislatures; to hold their offices "for a term sufficient to insure their independency;" to be liberally paid for their services, and to be subject to restrictions similar to those of the first. Fifthly, To have each branch invested with power to originate acts; to give the national legislature the right to legislate in all cases where the state governments might be incompetent, or in which the harmony of the confederation might be interrupted by the exercise of individual legislation; to negative all laws passed by the individual states that might contravene the articles of union; and to call forth the whole Union against any member of the confederation that should fail to fulfil its stipulated duty. Sixthly, To institute a national executive, to be chosen periodically, liberally remunerated, and to be ineligible to a second official term. Seventhly, To constitute the executive and a convenient number of the national judiciary a council of revision, who should have authority to examine every act of the national legislature before it should operate, and of every individual legislature before a negative thereon should be final, the dissent of said council amounting to a rejection unless such act be again passed, or that of such particular legislature should be again negatived by a specified number of members of each branch. Eighthly, To establish a national judiciary, the members of which should hold office during good behavior; and to define their duties, powers, privileges, and emoluments. Ninthly, To provide for the admission of new states into the Union. Tenthly, To guaranty a republican form of government to each state and territory. Eleventhly, To provide for a continuation of a Congress with its delegated powers, until a new constitution should be established. Twelfthly, To make provision for the amendment of the article of union whenever it should seem necessary, the assent thereto of the national legislature to be required. Thirteenthly, To require the legislative, executive, and judiciary powers within the several states to be bound by oath to support the Union. Fourteenthly, To submit the amendments made by the convention, after the approbation of the same by Congress, "to an assembly or assemblies of representatives, recommended by the several legislatures, to be expressly chosen by the people, to consider and decide thereon."

Upon general principles, the scheme of Randolph, called the "Virginia plan," was highly approved; but there were many zealous and pure-minded patriots in that convention, who regarded the preservation of state sovereignty, in all its integrity, as essential to the stability of the republic. Holding the "Virginia plan" to be an infringement upon the prerogatives of such sovereignty, they opposed it with vehemence. This plan and a sketch submitted by Charles Pinckney, which appears to have furnished the outline of the constitution as finally adopted, was referred to a committee.

The question arose at the beginning, and frequently recurred, "What limit has the convention in revising the Articles of Confederation? and has it power to prepare an entirely new system of government?" It was properly argued, that as a favorably-received resolution in Mr. Randolph's plan proposed to submit the matter finally to popular conventions in the several states, that question need not to be considered.

The debates were carried on warmly, day after day, in committee of the whole house, and the convention soon became divided into national and state-rights men, the representatives of six of the states being in favor of the broad national view, and five for the state-rights view.

Randolph's resolutions were taken up consecutively and debated for a fortnight, when, after many modifications, they were reported back to the house. Paterson, of New Jersey, then immediately brought forward a counter scheme, which was called the "New Jersey plan," and embodied the peculiar views of the state-rights party. It proposed to preserve the continental Congress as the federal legislature, with additional power to levy duties on foreign importations; to impose stamp and postage taxes; to collect, without hinderance, requisitions not promptly met by the states; and to regulate commerce with foreign nations. It proposed a plural federal executive and a federal judiciary, and made acts of Congress and foreign treaties supreme laws.

Paterson's plan and Randolph's modified resolutions were referred to a new committee, and the whole question concerning a national government was again considered. Again debates ran high. In the course of these, Hamilton, who had come into the convention with more courage and fixed plan than any other member, avowed his dissent from both the schemes before the committee. He was listened to with the most profound respect; and gray-haired men, as they looked upon his delicate form and youthful features, were filled with wonder at the display of his great genius for political construction, his extensive knowledge of the means by which true conservative liberty might be secured, and his thorough comprehension of the wants and resources of his country. He had come into the convention fully prepared to propound a solution of the great questions which he knew would perplex the members; and at the close of an elaborate and in many respects most extraordinary speech, he offered a written sketch of a system, not, he said, for discussion in the committee, nor with the idea that the public mind was yet prepared for it, but as explanatory of his own views and introductory to some amendments he intended to propose. He then departed for New York, leaving his two colleagues, who took the state-rights view of the matter, to represent his state in the convention. They too soon left, and never returned.

Day after day and week after week the debates continued, sometimes with great courtesy, and sometimes with considerable acrimony, until the tenth of September, when all plans and amendments which had been adopted by the convention were placed in the hands of a committee for revision and arrangement. Hamilton, who had returned to the convention at the middle of August, was placed upon that committee, having for his associates Messrs. Madison, King, Johnson, and Gouverneur Morris. To the latter was intrusted the task of giving the finish to the style and arrangement of the instrument. It was then reported to the convention, taken up clause by clause, discussed, somewhat amended, and ordered to be engrossed. On the fifteenth it was agreed to as amended, by all the states present, and on the seventeenth a fair copy was brought in to receive the signatures of the members.

Many times, during that long session of almost four months, there were serious apprehensions of failure, the views of members differed so essentially upon important points. One of the most exciting of these questions which elicited zealous debates, was a proposition for the general government to assume the debts of the respective states. The debts of the several commonwealths were vastly unequal, and the proposition was therefore distasteful to several. For example, those of Massachusetts and South Carolina amounted to more than ten and a half millions of dollars, while those of all the other states did not exceed, in the aggregate, fifteen millions.

But the most serious subject for difference was that of representation in the senatorial branch of the national legislature, the smaller states claiming, and the larger ones opposing, the exercise of the rule of equality. For a long time an equal division of votes on that point had been reiterated, and most of the members began to feel assured that no compromise could be effected. But the matter was finally adjusted by mutual concessions, and a plan for the construction of the senate upon the basis of an equal number of representatives from each of the states, large and small, was adopted.

Frequently during the session of the convention, Washington had serious apprehensions concerning the result. He perceived with much anxiety a disposition to withhold power from the national legislature, which, in his opinion, was the chief cause of the inadequacy of the confederation to fulfil its mission. "Happy indeed will it be," he wrote to David Stuart on the first of July, "if the convention shall be able to recommend such a firm and permanent government for this Union, that all who live under it may be secure in their lives, liberty, and property; and thrice happy would it be if such a recommendation should obtain. Everybody wishes, everybody expects something from the convention; but what will be the final result of its deliberations the book of fate must disclose. Persuaded I am, that the primary cause of all our disorders lies in the different state governments, and in the tenacity of that power which pervades the whole of their systems. Whilst independent sovereignty is so ardently contended for, whilst the local views of each state, and separate interests by which they are too much governed, will not yield to a more enlarged scale of politics, incompatibility in the laws of different states, and disrespect to those of the general government, must render the situation of this great country weak, inefficient, and disgraceful. It has already done so, almost to the final dissolution of it. Weak at home, and disregarded abroad, is our present condition, and contemptible enough it is."

"Thirteen governments," he wrote on the fifteenth of August, "pulling against each other, and all tugging at the federal head, will soon bring ruin on the whole; whereas, a liberal and energetic constitution, well checked and well watched, to prevent encroachments, might restore us to that degree of respectability and consequence to which we had the fairest prospect of attaining." And again: "I confess that my opinion of public virtue is so far changed, that I have my doubts whether any system, without means of coercion in the sovereign, will enforce due obedience to the ordinances of a general government, without which everything else fails."

Although Washington took no part in the debates of the convention, his opinions, concurrent with those of Hamilton, were firmly and strongly expressed, and had great influence. The constitution as finally framed and adopted did not receive his unqualified approval. He had decided objections to several of its features; but he accepted it as a whole, as the best that could be obtained under the circumstances, firmly persuaded that it was a great step in advance of the confederation, and that experience in its workings would suggest necessary amendments, for which ample provision was made. In fact, the instrument did not wholly please a single member of the convention. It was, to a considerable extent, a patchwork of compromises, and many doubted its being ratified by a majority of the states.

Hamilton regarded the constitution as adopted with feelings of disappointment. It lacked the strength that he desired it to possess; but, like Washington, he yielded his private sentiments and impulses to the consideration of the public good. His own plan, which he had urged with all his eloquence and energy, differed radically from the one adopted; yet, with a nobleness of spirit which challenges our highest admiration, he sacrificed the pride of opinion, and when the constitution had passed the ordeal of severest criticism and amendment by the convention, he avowed himself ready to sign it, and urged others, who hesitated, to do the same "No man's ideas are more remote from the plan than my own," he said; "but is it possible to deliberate between anarchy and confusion on one side, and the chance of good on the other."

A large majority of the members desired that the instrument should go forth to the people, not only as the act of the convention, but with the individual sanction and signatures of their representatives. Franklin, desirous of having it promulgated with such sanction, arose with a written speech in his hand when the engrossed copy was brought in, in which, with pleasant words, he endeavored to allay the irritated temper of some of the delegates, and procure for the constitution unanimous signature. Mr. Wilson read the speech, and it was closed with a form suggested by Gouverneur Morris, which might be signed without implying personal approval of the instrument: "Done by consent of the states present. In testimony whereof, we have subscribed," et cetera.

The appeals of Hamilton and Franklin, a few approving words of Washington, and the example of Madison and Pinckney, secured the signatures of several dissatisfied members; and all present, except Mason and Randolph of Virginia, and Gerry of Massachusetts, signed the constitution.[10] The absence of the colleagues of Mr. Hamilton (Yates and Lansing), who had left the convention in disgust on the first of July, caused New York to be regarded as not officially present; but, to secure for the proceedings the weight of a name so important as that of Hamilton, in the place that should have been filled by his state, was recited "Mr. Hamilton of New York."

"There is a tradition," says Curtis, "that when Washington was about to sign the instrument, he rose from his seat, and holding the pen in his hand, after a short pause, pronounced these words: 'Should the states reject this excellent constitution, the probability is that an opportunity will never again offer to cancel another in peace—the next will be drawn in blood.' While the members were signing, Doctor Franklin, looking toward the chair occupied by Washington, at the back of which a sun was painted, observed to the persons near him: 'I have often and often, in the course of the session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that sun behind the president, without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: at length I have the happiness to know it is a rising, not a setting sun.'"

The great convention adjourned on the seventeenth of September, after directing a copy of the constitution, with an accompanying letter, to be sent to the Congress. The journal of the convention was placed in the hands of Washington (by whom it was afterward deposited in the department of state); and on the following morning he wrote in his dairy: "The business being thus closed, the members adjourned to the City Tavern, dined together, and took a cordial leave of each other; after which, I returned to my lodgings, did some business with, and received the papers from, the secretary of the convention, and retired to meditate on the momentous work which had been executed, after not less than five, for a large part of the time six, and sometimes seven hours' sitting every day (except Sundays, and the ten days' adjournment to give a committee an opportunity and time to arrange the business) for more than four months."

FOOTNOTES:

[8] The following are the names of the delegates: New Hampshire—John Langdon, John Pickering, Nicholas Gilman, and Benjamin West. Massachusetts—Francis Dana, Elbridge Gerry, Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King, and Caleb Strong. Connecticut—William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman, and Oliver Ellsworth. New York—Robert Yates, John Lansing, Jr., and Alexander Hamilton. New Jersey—David Brearly, William Churchill Houston, William Paterson, John Neilson, William Livingston, Abraham Clark, and Jonathan Dayton. Pennsylvania—Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Jared Ingersoll, Thomas Fitzsimons, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris, and Benjamin Franklin. Delaware—George Read, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, and Jacob Broom. Maryland—James M'Henry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll, John Francis Mercer, and Luther Martin. Virginia—George Washington, Patrick Henry (refused to serve, and James M'Clure was nominated in his place), Edmund Randolph, John Blair, James Madison, Jr., George Mason, and George Wythe. North Carolina—Richard Caswell, Alexander Martin, William Richardson Davie, Richard Dobbs Spaight, and Willie Jones: Caswell and Jones having declined to serve, William Blount and Hugh Williamson were chosen in their places. South Carolina—John Rutledge, Charles Pinckney, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Pierce Butler. Georgia—William Few, Abraham Baldwin, William Pierce, George Walton, William Houston, and Nathaniel Pendleton.

[9] Curtis's History of the Origin, Formation, and Adoption of the Constitution of the United States is by far the most ample and reliable source of information on this subject.

[10] The following are the names of the delegates who signed the constitution: GEO. WASHINGTON, President, and deputy from Virginia. New Hampshire—John Langdon, Nicholas Gilman. Massachusetts—Nathaniel Gorham, Rufus King. Connecticut—William Samuel Johnson, Roger Sherman. New York—Alexander Hamilton. New Jersey—William Livingston, David Brearly, William Paterson, Jonathan Dayton. Pennsylvania—Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Mifflin, Robert Morris, George Clymer, Thomas Fitzsimons, Jared Ingersoll, James Wilson, Gouverneur Morris. Delaware—George Reed, Gunning Bedford, Jr., John Dickinson, Richard Bassett, Jacob Broom. Maryland—James M'Henry, Daniel of St. Thomas Jenifer, Daniel Carroll. Virginia—John Blair, James Madison, Jr. North Carolina—William Blount, Richard Dobbs Spaight, Hugh Williamson. South Carolina—John Rutledge, Charles C. Pinckney, Charles Pinckney, Pierce Butler. Georgia—William Few, Abraham Baldwin. Attest: William Jackson, Secretary.



CHAPTER VII.

THE CONSTITUTION SUBMITTED TO THE STATE LEGISLATURES—THE GREAT CONFLICT OF OPINIONS—WASHINGTON'S LETTERS TO MRS. GRAHAM AND LAFAYETTE ON THE SUBJECT—HAMILTON PREPARES FOR THE BATTLE—HIS PRELIMINARY REMARKS—OPPOSITION TO THE CONSTITUTION—THE FEDERALIST—STORMY DEBATES IN STATE CONVENTIONS—RATIFICATION OF THE CONSTITUTION—MEASURES FOR ESTABLISHING THE NEW GOVERNMENT—WASHINGTON'S THANKFULNESS FOR THE RESULT—WASHINGTON SPONTANEOUSLY NOMINATED FOR THE PRESIDENCY—HIS GREAT RELUCTANCE TO ENTER UPON PUBLIC LIFE AGAIN—LETTERS TO HIS FRIENDS ON THE SUBJECT—WASHINGTON ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES—PREPARATIONS FOR LEAVING HOME—VISIT TO, AND PARTING WITH HIS MOTHER—HIS JOURNEY TO THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT LIKE A TRIUMPHAL PROCESSION—HONORS BY THE WAY—ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION AT NEW YORK—HIS SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY.

The Congress, on the twenty-eighth of September, unanimously resolved to send the constitution adopted by the convention, and the accompanying letters, to the legislatures of the several states, and to recommend them to call conventions within their respective jurisdictions to consider it. And it was agreed, that when nine of the thirteen states should ratify it, it should become the fundamental law of the republic.

And now commenced the first great and general conflict of political opinions since the establishment of the independence of the United States; and in each of the several commonwealths, men of the first rank in talent, social position, and sound moral and political integrity, became engaged in the discussion of the great question of national government. That conflict had commenced in the general convention, but the proceedings of that body were under the seal of secrecy. Yet the positions assumed by the delegates in the general discussion in their several states, revealed the fact that extreme diversity of opinion had prevailed in the convention, and that the constitution was composed of compromises marked with the scars of severe conflict.

Referring to these differences of opinion in the convention, Washington remarked to Catharine Macaulay Graham, in a letter written on the sixteenth of November, that "the various and opposite interests which were to be conciliated, the local prejudices which were to be subdued, the diversity of opinions and sentiments which were to be reconciled, and, in fine, the sacrifices which were necessary to be made on all sides for the general welfare, combined to make it a work of so intricate and difficult a nature, that I think it is much to be wondered at that anything could have been produced with such unanimity as the constitution proposed.... Whether it will be adopted by the people or not remains yet to be determined."

To Lafayette he wrote in February following: "It appears to me little short of a miracle that the delegates from so many states, different from each other, as you know, in their manners, circumstances, and prejudices, should unite in forming a system of national government, so little liable to well-founded objections." After alluding to its obvious defects, he continued:—

"With regard to the two great points, the pivots upon which the whole machine must move, my creed is simply: First, that the general government is not invested with more powers than are indispensably necessary to perform the functions of a good government; and, consequently, that no objection ought to be made against the quantity of power delegated to it. Secondly, that these powers, as the appointment of all rulers will for ever arise from, and at short stated intervals recur to, the free suffrage of the people, are so distributed among the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, into which the general government is arranged, that it can never be in danger of degenerating into a monarchy, an oligarchy, an aristocracy, or any other despotic or oppressive form, so long as there shall remain any virtue in the body of the people.

"I would not be understood, my dear marquis, to speak of consequences which may be produced, in the revolution of ages, by corruption of morals, profligacy of manners, and listlessness in the preservation of the natural and inalienable rights of mankind, nor of the successful usurpations that may be established at such an unpropitious juncture upon the ruins of liberty, however providently guarded and secured, as these are contingencies against which no human prudence can effectually provide. It will at least be a recommendation to the proposed constitution, that it is provided with more checks and barriers against the introduction of tyranny, and those of a nature less liable to be surmounted, than any government hitherto instituted among mortals. We are not to expect perfection in this world; but mankind, in modern times, have apparently made some progress in the science of government. Should that which is now offered to the people of America be found an experiment less perfect than it can be made, a constitutional door is left open for its amelioration."

Hamilton, with his usual marvellous sagacity, clearly perceived the shaping of the conflict to be fought, and at once assumed the panoply of a most acute contestant in its favor. "The new constitution," he wrote immediately after the adjournment of the convention, "has in favor of its success these circumstances: A very great weight of influence of the persons who framed it, particularly in the universal popularity of General Washington. The good will of the commercial interest throughout the states, which will give all its efforts to the establishment of a government capable of regulating, protecting, and extending the commerce of the Union. The good will of most men of property in the several states, who wish a government of the Union able to protect them against domestic violence, and the depredations which the democratic spirit is apt to make on property; and who are, besides, anxious for the respectability of the nation. The hopes of the creditors of the United States that a general government, possessing the means of doing it, will pay the debt of the Union. A strong belief, in the people at large, of the insufficiency of the present confederation to preserve the existence of the Union, and of the necessity of the Union to their safety and prosperity; of course, a strong desire of change, and a predisposition to receive well the propositions of the convention."

Very soon Hamilton, with other federalists, as the supporters of the constitution were called, found it necessary to put forth all his intellectual energies in defence of that instrument. Conventions were speedily called in the several states to consider it, and the friends and opponents of the constitution marshalled their respective antagonistic forces with great skill and zeal.

In Virgina, Patrick Henry, George Mason, and Richard Henry Lee, opposed the constitution with all their power and influence, chiefly because it would, in a degree, annul state rights, and base the sovereignty too absolutely upon the popular will. Mason led in the opposition, and Henry gave him the support of his eloquence. His arguments were those of all other opponents; and with the leaders in his own and other states, he raised the cry, which soon became general, that the new constitution had no bill of rights and no sufficient guaranties for personal liberty.

They cited the experience of the past to show, that of all national governments a democratic one was the most unstable, fluctuating, and short-lived; and that despotism, arising from a centralization of power in the national government on one hand, and anarchy, incident to the instability of democracy—"the levelling spirit of democracy" denounced by Gerry as "the worst of political evils"—on the other, were the Scylla and Charybdis between which the republic would, in the opinion of their opponents, be placed, with almost a certainty of being destroyed.

These views were ably combated in a series of political essays written by Hamilton and Madison, with a few numbers by John Jay, which were published in a New York newspaper, the object being, as stated by Hamilton in the first number, "A discussion of the utility of the Union; the insufficiency of the confederation to preserve that Union;" and "the necessity of a government at least equally energetic with the one proposed, to the attainment of this object." These essays, under the general title of The Federalist, were written with uncommon ability, exerted a powerful influence, and present an admirable treatise on the philosophy of our federal constitution.[11]

Long and stormy debates occurred in the state conventions; and it was not until the twenty-first of June, 1788, that New Hampshire, the ninth state in order, ratified the constitution.[12] It then became the organic law of the republic. The Congress, when testimonials of ratification were received from a sufficient number of states, appointed the first Wednesday of January, 1789, for the people of the United States to choose electors of a president in accordance with the provisions of the constitution; the first Wednesday in February following for the electors to meet and make a choice; and the first Wednesday in March ensuing for the new government to meet for organization in the city of New York.

While these discussions were going on, Washington remained at Mount Vernon, a most anxious spectator of the progress of political events, especially in his own state, where the opposition to the constitution was very powerful and well organized. He took no direct part in the proceedings of his state convention. "There is not, perhaps, a man in Virginia," he wrote to General Lincoln, "less qualified than I am to say, from his own knowledge and observation, what will be the fate of the constitution here; for I very seldom ride beyond the limits of my own farms, and am wholly indebted to those gentlemen who visit me for any information of the disposition of the people toward it; but, from all I can collect, I have not the smallest doubt of its being accepted."

Washington's views were freely expressed in conversations at Mount Vernon and in his letters, and they had great weight; and when, finally, the seal of approbation of the constitution was set by New Hampshire and his own state, and that instrument became the supreme law of the land, his heart was filled with gratitude to the Great Disposer of events for his manifest protection of the American people from the calamities with which they had so long been threatened. "We may, with a kind of pious and grateful exultation," he wrote to Governor Trumbull, "trace the finger of Providence through those dark and mysterious events which first induced the states to appoint a general convention, and then led them, one after another, by such steps as were best calculated to effect the object into an adoption of the systems recommended by that general convention; thereby, in all human probability, laying a lasting foundation for tranquillity and happiness, when we had too much reason to fear that confusion and misery were coming rapidly upon us."

The people of the Union, as if governed by one impulse, now turned to Washington as the man who, above all others, was best qualified to become the chief magistrate of the nation. He was informally nominated by Hamilton, almost before the members of the convention that framed and adopted the constitution had reached their homes. In a paper from which we have just quoted, published immediately after the adjournment of the convention, Hamilton said: "If the government be adopted, it is probable General Washington will be the president of the United States. This will insure a wise choice of men to administer the government, and a good administration. A good administration will conciliate the confidence and affection of the people, and perhaps enable the government to acquire more consistency than the proposed constitution seems to promise for so great a country."

It was soon apparent to Washington that the universal sentiment of the people was in favor of his election to the chief magistracy. Almost every letter from his friends expressed a desire that he should accept the office when tendered to him, as it surely would be, by the electors chosen by the people; and before the elections were held, so general was the presumption that Washington would be the first president of the United States, that he received many letters soliciting appointments to office. These annoyed him exceedingly; for the subject, he said, never failed to embarrass and distress him beyond measure. The prospect of again being called into public life, in an arena in which difficulties more formidable and perplexing than those in a military sphere must be encountered, gave him great uneasiness. He loved his home, his family, and the quiet pursuits of agriculture; and he desired, above all earthly boons, the privilege of reposing among these.

To Hamilton he wrote, as early as August, 1788: "You know me well enough, my good sir, to be persuaded that I am not guilty of affectation when I tell you, that it is my great and sole desire to live and die in peace and retirement on my own farm."

In October he again wrote to Hamilton, saying: "In taking a survey of the subject, in whatever point of light I have been able to place it, I will not suppress the acknowledgment, my dear sir, that I have always felt a kind of gloom upon my mind, as often as I have been taught to expect I might, and perhaps must ere long, be called to make a decision."

To Governor Trumbull he wrote in December: "May Heaven assist me in forming a judgment; for at present I see nothing but clouds and darkness before me. Thus much I may safely say to you in confidence; if ever I should, from any apparent necessity, be induced to go from home in a public character again, it will certainly be the greatest sacrifice of feelings and happiness that ever was or ever can be made by me."

To Lafayette he had written several months before, in reply to a hint of the marquis that he would be called to the presidency, and said: "It has no enticing charms and no fascinating allurements for me.... At my time of life and under my circumstances, the increasing infirmities of nature and the growing love of retirement do not permit me to entertain a wish beyond that of living and dying an honest man on my own farm. Let those follow the pursuits of ambition and fame who have a keener relish for them, or who may have more years in store for the enjoyment."

As the time approached when he should make a decision, the mind of Washington was greatly exercised, and to all his friends he sincerely declared that no other consideration than the solemn requirements of his country could induce him to accept the office. These sentiments he expressed with full freedom to his intimate friend, Colonel Henry Lee, who had written to Washington with great warmth on the subject, and said: "Solicitous for our common happiness as a people, and convinced as I continue to be that our peace and prosperity depend on the proper improvement of the present period, my anxiety is extreme that the new government may have an auspicious beginning. To effect this, and to perpetuate a nation formed under your auspices, it is certain that again you will be called forth. The same principles of devotion to the good of mankind which have invariably governed your conduct, will, no doubt, continue to rule your mind, however opposite their consequences may be to your repose and happiness.... If the same success should attend your efforts on this important occasion which has distinguished you hitherto, then, to be sure, you will have spent a life which Providence rarely, if ever, gave to the lot of man."

To this Washington replied: "The principal topic of your letter is to me a point of great delicacy indeed—insomuch that I can scarcely, without some impropriety, touch upon it.... You are among the small number of those who know my invincible attachment to domestic life, and that my sincerest wish is to continue in the enjoyment of it solely until my final hour. But the world would be neither so well instructed, nor so candidly disposed, as to believe me uninfluenced by sinister motives, in case any circumstance should render a deviation from the line of conduct I had prescribed to myself indispensable.