and spurious, and beyond all question were so, although the last American biographer of Washington allows as probable that parts of letters really written by him were interwoven with the fabrications.* If, however, the charge itself be examined with candour, even though strictly and solely from the American side, it will be found to contain no matter of condemnation, but rather a topic of praise. Ought not a brave soldier who had known and seen the havoc of war to pause longer than any brawling civilian ere he resolves to inflict that havoc on his country? Ought not his reluctance to be stronger still when the war before him is not between nation and nation, but between the sons of the same race and the subjects of the same King? Was it not this very reluctance which in 1829 impelled the Duke of Wellington to exclaim amidst general applause, that long inured as he had been to scenes of strife, he would make any sacrifice, even of his own life, rather than expose his country to even one month of Civil War?† Mark also how brightly the first forbearance of Washington combines with his subsequent determination,-how he who had been slow to come forward was magnanimous in persevering. When defeat had overtaken the American army, - when subjugation by the British rose in view,-when not a few of the earliest declaimers against England were, more or less privately, seeking to make terms for themselves, and fitting their own necks to the yoke, -the high spirit of Washington never for a moment quailed; he repeatedly declared that if the Colonies were finally overpowered he was resolved to quit them for ever, and, assembling as many people as would follow, go and establish an independent state in the West, on the rivers Mississippi and Missouri.‡ There is a lofty saying which the Spaniards of old were wont to engrave on their Toledo blades, and which with truth and aptness might have adorned the sword of Wash *Life by Jared Sparks, p. 266. † Speech in the House of Lords, April 2. 1829. Sir A. Foster's Notes ut supra. See also Dr. Ramsay's History vol. i. p. 310. ington: NEVER DRAW ME WITHOUT REASON; NEVER SHEATH ME WITHOUT HONOUR! * Nor was Washington in any measure open to the same reproach as the ancient Romans, or some of his own countrymen at present,—that while eager for freedom themselves they would rivet the chains of their slave. To him at least could never be applied Dr. Johnson's taunting words: "How is it that we hear the loudest "yelps for liberty among the drivers of negroes?" The views of Washington on this great question are best shown at the close of the Revolutionary War, and at a period of calm deliberation, in one of his letters to La Fayette:-"Your late purchase of an estate in Cayenne "with a view of emancipating the slaves on it is a generous and noble proof of your humanity. Would to God "a like spirit might diffuse itself generally into the minds "of the people of this country! But I despair of seeing ❝it. Some petitions were presented to the Assembly at "its last Session for the abolition of slavery, but they "could scarcely obtain a reading. To set the slaves "afloat at once would, I really believe, be much inconve"nience and mischief, but by degrees it certainly might, "and assuredly ought to be, effected, and that too by "legislative authority."† 66 Washington had attended the first Congress at Philadelphia, and on several occasions took part in the debates. Though never aiming at eloquence, nor even approaching a trope or a metaphor, his speeches made a strong impression on his hearers from his practical knowledge, his excellent sense, and his manifest integrity. “I never,” says Jefferson, "heard either General Wash"ington or Dr. Franklin speak ten minutes at a time, nor to any but the main point, knowing that the little ones "would follow of themselves." At the second Congress the remembrance of Washington's conduct at the first 66 66 * "No me saques sin razon, See Captain G. Beauclerk's agreeably-written Journey to Morocco, p. 238. ed. 1828. + To the Marquis de La Fayette, May 10. 1786. Writings, vol. ix. p. 163. Memoirs and Correspondence, vol. i. p. 50. ed. 1829. combined with his military services to point him out as best qualified for the office of Commander-in-Chief. There were other considerations also. The four New England States had been the first to begin the war, and the foremost in their preparations to maintain it; so that it seemed a stroke of policy to draw in some one of the Southern States, as Virginia, more closely with them by selecting the General from that quarter. Thus all the deputies from New England, contrary to expectation, and much to the honour of their public spirit, took the lead in urging the merits of Washington; and his name being formally proposed, and a ballot called for, it appeared that he was unanimously chosen. He was to hold the rank of General-in-Chief, and receive the pay of five hundred dollars per month; and under him were named four officers with the rank of Major-General, and eight with the rank of Brigadier. The inmost thoughts of Washington at this anxious period are shown in his letter to his wife *, the only one of his letters to that lady which has been preserved: "You may believe me, my dear Patsy, when I assure you "in the most solemn manner that so far from seeking this appointment I have used every endeavour in my power to avoid it, not only from my unwillingness to part with you and the family, but from a consciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity, and that I "should enjoy more real happiness in one month with you "at home than I have the most distant prospect of finding "abroad if my stay were to be seven times seven years. "But as it has been a kind of destiny that has thrown me upon this service, I shall hope that my undertaking it is designed to answer some good purpose, .... and I "shall rely therefore confidently on that Providence which "has heretofore preserved and been bountiful to me." 66 Next day after his election Washington rising from his place in the Congress expressed his cordial thanks, and undertook the high trust conferred upon him. But at the same time he declared his resolution to decline the salary proposed, and to accept no more than the repayment of his own expenses, of which he promised to keep an exact ac * Dated June 18. 1775. Writings, vol. iii. p. 2. VOL. VI. E 66 count. To this determination with respect to pay or profit Washington steadily adhered; and thus after eight arduous years of the chief command he went out no richer than he came in, and no poorer. Mrs. Washington used to join her husband every year in winter-quarters, and return to Mount Vernon whenever the campaign commenced. To his agent at Mount Vernon we find Washington write meanwhile in the most kindly spirit: "Let "the hospitality of the house with respect to the poor be kept up. Let no one go hungry away. You are "to consider that neither myself nor wife is now in "the way to do these good offices."*-Thus also as to the culture of his lands the General, even amidst the most stirring and eventful scenes of the war, sent most minute instructions, and required in return frequent and full reports. It was to this beloved home of Mount Vernon, and to the hope of again enjoying it, that at any brief interval of leisure the thoughts of Washington ever fondly turned. There was certainly no period in his career when he would not have joyfully exchanged - had his high sense of duty allowed him-the cares of public for the ease of private life. And this wish for retirement, strong and sincere as it was in Washington, seems the more remarkable since it was not with him, as with so many other great men, prompted in any degree by the love of literature. He was not like Cicero, when shrinking in affright from the storms which rent the Commonwealth, and reverting with fond regret to the well-stored library of Atticus, and to his own favourite little seat beneath the bust of Aristotle†;-he was not like Clarendon at Montpellier, when he turned from an ungrateful age, not worthy of his virtue, and indited for all time to come his immortal History. Neither reading nor writing as such had any charms for Washington. But he was zealously devoted to the earliest and most needful of all the toils of man, 66 * To Lund Washington, November 26. 1775. It is remarkable as a peculiarity of language at that period or in that country that. Washington writing to his land-agent and own relative speaks of his intended yearly remuneration not as "salary," but as wages." "Maloque in illâ tuâ sedeculâ, quam habes sub imagine Aris"totelis, sedere, quam in istorum sellâ curuli." (Cic. ad Att. lib. iv. ep. 10.) he loved to be a feeder of flocks and a tiller of the ground. It has been justly remarked that of General Washington there are fewer anecdotes to tell than perhaps of any other great man on record. So equally framed were the features of his mind, so harmonious all its proportions, that no one quality rose salient above the rest. There were none of those chequered hues, none of those warring emotions, in which Biography delights. There was no contrast of lights and shades, no flickering of the flame; it was a mild light that seldom dazzled, but that ever cheered and warmed. His contemporaries or his close observers, as Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Gallatin *, assert that he had naturally strong passions, but had attained complete mastery over them. In self-control indeed he has never been surpassed. If sometimes on rare occasions, and on strong provocation, there was wrung from him a burst of anger, it was almost instantly quelled by the dominion of his will. He decided surely, though he deliberated slowly; nor could any urgency or peril move, him from his serene composure, his calm clear-headed good sense. Integrity and truth were also ever present in his mind. Not a single instance, as I believe, can be found in his whole career when he was impelled by any but an upright motive, or endeavoured to attain an object. by any but worthy means. Such are some of the high qualities which have justly earned for General Washington the admiration even of the country he opposed, and not merely the admiration but the gratitude and affection of his own. Such was the pure and upright spirit to which,, when its toils were over and its earthly course had been run, was offered the unanimous homage of the assembled Congress, all clad in deep mourning for their common, loss, as to "the man first in war, first in peace, and first "in the hearts of his fellow citizens." At this day in the United States the reverence for his character is, as it should be, deep and universal, and not confined, as with nearly all our English statesmen, to one party, one pro * Sir Augustus Foster's Notes (unpublished). Extracts in Quarterly Review, No. cxxxv. p. 39. † Resolutions of Congress moved by John Marshall, December 19. 1799. |