CHAPTER XVI. and domestic habits of his boyhood. Neither pride nor vanity mingled with the feelings excited by the attentions she received as the mother of Washington. She 1789. listened to his praises and was silent, or added only that he had been a good son, and she believed he had done his duty as a man. his house As soon as he was established in his office, Washington Economy of introduced strict habits of economy into his household, hold. which were preserved without essential change to the end of his public life. The whole was under the care of a steward, to whom he gave general directions. All other persons connected with the establishment were accountable to the steward, but each of them was required to keep an exact record of the purchases and expenditures made by him, specifying every particular. These accounts, with tradesmen's bills and other vouchers, were presented once a week to Washington, who inspected them minutely, and certified with his own signature that they were approved. By this method he was enabled to ascertain at any moment the precise state of his pecuniary affairs, and to guard against extravagance and waste. He might say with Seneca; "I keep an account of my expenses; I cannot affirm that I lose nothing, but I can tell you what I lose, and why, and in what manner." The salary of the President, as fixed by law, was twenty-five thousand dollars a year. But with the most rigid economy his expenses were seldom within this limit, and he was of course obliged to draw on his private fortune to make up the deficiency. of Congress. Congress continued in session till near the end of Sep- Proceedings tember, when they adjourned for three months. They had been mostly occupied in passing laws for the organization of government, the administration of justice, and the raising of a revenue. Mercantile regulations were established, imposing duties on tonnage and imported goods. Amendments to the constitution were framed, and recommended to the States for adoption. Three executive de- Executive partments were formed, at the head of each of which was formed. departments XVI. 1789. CHAPTER to be a secretary, namely, the departments of foreign affairs, of the treasury, and of war. The first was afterwards called the department of state, and included both foreign and domestic affairs. So large a portion of the administration of government is effected by the executives of the several States, that a separate department for internal affairs was not thought necessary. The navy too was at this time so small, as not to require a distinct department. It was mainly in the charge of the secretary Secretaries of the execu ments. of war. The requisite laws being passed, it next devolved on tive depart the President to select proper persons to fill the several offices. In regard to the executive departments, this was of very great importance, inasmuch as the secretaries were not only to discharge the duties assigned to them by the constitution and laws, but were to be his cabinet, or council of state. On the wisdom of his choice, therefore, would in a great degree depend the character and success of his administration. So much time had elapsed in the session of congress, that he had been able to take a full survey of the subject, and to decide with deliberation. Jefferson. Hamilton. Long experience in public affairs, a high political standing, and acknowledged talents, pointed out Thomas Jefferson as eminently qualified for the state department. He was about to return from France, where he had filled the office of minister plenipotentiary, as successor to Dr. Franklin, with much credit to himself and his country. Alexander Hamilton was appointed to the head of the treasury. His transcendent abilities, integrity, firmness, and patriotism were well known to Washington, after a thorough trial and familiar acquaintance in the revolution; and they were scarcely less known or less appreciated by his countrymen at large. In the convention, Hamilton disapproved and opposed some of the principal articles of the constitution; and the more praise is due to him, that, after it was carried by a majority, and was proved to be the best that could be hoped for in the circumstances of the times, he gave up his predilections, XVI. 1789. joined heartily with its friends, and put into their scale CHAPTER the whole weight of his great powers of eloquence and argument, both in debate and by the use of his pen. Henry Knox was continued secretary of war, which sta- Knox. tion he had held under the confederation. As an officer, a man, and a friend, he was esteemed by Washington; and his steady principles and public services had gained for him a general confidence. The post of attorney- Randolph. general was conferred on Edmund Randolph, a gentleman distinguished by success in his profession at the bar, and by having been governor of Virginia, and a conspicuous member of the convention that framed the constitution. Such were the heads of the executive departments, and such the composition of the council, on which the President was mainly to rely for advice and support. For administering justice, in the execution of the laws for national purposes, the constitution had provided, that there should be a supreme court, and such inferior courts as Congress should establish. In organizing the judiciary system, it was decided that the supreme court should consist of a chief justice and five associate justices, and that there should be district courts, with one judge in each State. An associate justice and a district judge constituted a circuit court. Washington's opinion of the importance of the supreme court is forcibly described in his own language. "Impressed with a conviction," said he, "that the due administration of justice is the firmest pillar of good government, I have considered the first arrangement of the judicial department as essential to the happiness of the country, and to the stability of its political system. Hence the selection of the fittest characters to expound the laws, and dispense justice, has been an invariable object of my anxious concern." And again, in giving notice to Mr. Jay of his appointment as chief justice; "I have a full confidence that the love which you bear to our country, and a desire to promote the general happiness, will not suffer you to hesitate a moment to bring into action the talents, knowledge, and integrity, washing ton's opinion of the su preme court. XVI. CHAPTER which are so necessary to be exercised at the head of that department, which must be considered the keystone of our political fabric." 1789. John Jay appointed These views of the judiciary department, as forming a chief justice. most essential branch of the government, and as claiming the highest consideration, he always entertained; and in the appointment of justices, and judges of the district courts, he was extremely solicitous to secure the services of those, who were eminent for judicial knowledge, talents, personal worth, and experience. In placing John Jay at the head of the supreme court, he consulted alike the public good, the dignity of the court, and his own feelings. No man in the nation possessed a larger share of confidence, whether in regard to his ability or his legal attainments; none was more valued for the services he had rendered to his country, none more esteemed for his private virtues. The choice of his associates was also fortunate, and the court assumed a respectability and weight suited to the rank conferred upon it by the constitution. Rules followed by Washington in appoint ments to office. No part of the President's duties gave him more anxiety, than that of distributing the offices in his gift. Applications innumerable flowed in upon him even before he left Mount Vernon, many of them from his personal friends, and others supported by the recommendations of his friends; nor did they cease as long as any vacancies remained. He early prescribed to himself a rule, however, from which he never swerved, which was to give no pledges or encouragement to any applicant. He answered them all civilly, but avowed his determination to suspend a decision till the time of making the appointments should arrive, and then, without favor or bias, to select such individuals as in his judgment were best qualified to execute with faithfulness and ability the trust reposed in them. His sentiments and motives are well explained in a letter written to a gentleman, who had solicited an office for another person. "From the moment when the necessity had become XVI. applications more apparent," said he, "and as it were inevitable, I an- CHAPTER ticipated, with a heart filled with distress, the ten thousand embarrassments, perplexities, and troubles, to which 1789. I must again be exposed in the evening of a life already Numerous nearly consumed in public cares. Among all these anx- for office. ieties, I will not conceal from you, I anticipated none greater, than those that were likely to be produced by applications for appointments to the different offices, which would be created under the new government. Nor will I conceal, that my apprehensions have already been but too well justified. Scarcely a day passes, in which applications of one kind or another do not arrive; insomuch that, had I not early adopted some general principles, I should before this time have been wholly occupied in this business. As it is, I have found the number of answers, which I have been necessitated to give in my own hand, an almost insupportable burden to me. "The points in which all these answers have agreed in substance are, that, should it be my lot to go again into public office, I would go without being under any possible engagements of any nature whatsoever; that, so far as I knew my own heart, I would not be in the remotest degree influenced, in making nominations, by motives arising from the ties of family or blood; and that, on the other hand, three things, in my opinion, ought principally to be regarded, namely, the fitness of characters to fill offices, the comparative claims from the former merits and sufferings in service of the different candidates, and the distribution of appointments in as equal a proportion as might be to persons belonging to the different States in the Union. Without precautions of this kind, I clearly foresaw the endless jealousies, and possibly the fatal consequences, to which a government, depending altogether on the good-will of the people for its establishment, would certainly be exposed in its early stages. Besides, I thought, whatever the effect might be in pleasing or displeasing any individuals at the present moment, a due concern for my own reputation, not less decisively Three things to be re garded in ap pointments. |