Part 3

Washington accepted this difficult trust: and he soon found a new obstacle to surmount, a new danger to remove. No bond of union, no central power, had hitherto united the colonies. Each one having been founded and governed separately, each, on its own account, providing for its own safety, for its public works, for its most trifling as well as most important affairs, they had contracted habits of isolation and almost of rivalship, which the distrustful mother country had taken pains to foster. In their relations to each other, even ambition and the desire of conquest insinuated themselves, as if the States had been foreign to each other; the most powerful ones sometimes attempted to absorb the neighboring establishments, or to deprive them of their authority; and in their most important interest, the defence of their frontiers against the savages, they often followed a selfish course of policy, and mutually abandoned one another.

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It was a most arduous task to combine at once, into one system, elements which had hitherto been separated, without holding them together by violence, and, while leaving them free, to induce them to act in concert under the guidance of one and the same power. The feelings of individuals no less than public institutions, passions as well as laws, were opposed to this result. The colonies wanted confidence in each other. All of them were jealous of the power of Congress, the new and untried rival of the local assemblies; they were still more jealous of the army, which they regarded as being, at the same time, dangerous to the independence of the States and to the liberty of the citizens. Upon this point, new and enlightened opinions were in unison with popular feeling. The danger of standing armies, and the necessity, in free countries, of perpetually resisting and diminishing their power, their influence, and the contagion of their morals, was one of the favorite maxims of the eighteenth century. {48} Nowhere, perhaps, was this maxim more generally or more warmly received than in the colonies of America. In the bosom of the national party, those who were the most ardent, the most firmly resolved to carry on the contest with vigor and to the end, were also the most sensitive friends of civil liberty; that is to say, these were the men, who looked upon the army, a military spirit, military discipline, with the most hostile and suspicious eye. Thus it happened, that obstacles were met with precisely in that quarter in which it was natural to look for, and to expect to find, the means of success.

And in this army itself, the object of so much distrust, there prevailed the most independent and democratic spirit. All orders were submitted to discussion. Each company claimed the privilege of acting on its own account and for its own convenience. The troops of the different States were unwilling to obey any other than their own generals; and the soldiers, any other than officers, sometimes directly chosen, and always at least approved, by themselves. {49} And the day after a defeat which it was necessary to retrieve, or a victory which was to be followed up, whole regiments would break up and go home, it being impossible to prevail upon them to wait even a few days for the arrival of their successors.

A painful doubt, mingled with apprehension, arises in the mind at the contemplation of the many and severe sufferings with which the course of the most just revolution is attended, and of the many and perilous chances to which a revolution, the best prepared for success, is exposed. But this doubt is rash and unjust. Man, through pride, is blind in his confident expectation, and, through weakness, is no less blind in his despair. The most just and successful revolution brings into light the evil, physical and moral, always great, which lies hidden in every human society. But the good does not perish in this trial, nor in the unholy connexion which it is thus led to form; however imperfect and alloyed, it preserves its power as well as its rights; if it be the leading principle in men, it prevails, sooner or later, in events also, and instruments are never wanting to accomplish its victory.

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Let the people of the United States for ever hold in respectful and grateful remembrance, the leading men of that generation which achieved their independence, and founded their government! Franklin, Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Jay, Henry Mason, Greene, Knox, Morris, Pinckney, Clinton, Trumbull, Rutledge; it would be impossible to enumerate them all; for, at the time the contest began, there were in each colony, and in almost every county in each colony, some men already honored by their fellow citizens, already well known in the defence of public liberty, influential by their property, talent, or character; faithful to ancient virtues, yet friendly to modern improvement; sensible to the splendid advantages of civilization, and yet attached to simplicity of manners; high-toned in their feelings, but of modest minds, at the same time ambitious and prudent in their patriotic impulses; men of rare endowments, who expected much from humanity, without presuming too much upon themselves, and who risked for their country far more than they could receive from her, even after her triumph.

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It was to these men, aided by God and seconded by the people, that the success of the cause was due. Among them, Washington was the chief.

While yet young, indeed very young, he had become an object of great expectation. Employed as an officer of militia in some expeditions to the western frontier of Virginia against the French and Indians, he had made an equal impression on his superiors and his companions, the English governors and the American people. The former wrote to London to recommend him to the favor of the King. [Footnote 20] The latter, assembled in their churches, to invoke the blessing of God upon their arms, listened with enthusiasm to an eloquent preacher, Samuel Davies, who, in praising the courage of the Virginians, exclaimed, "As a remarkable instance of this, I many point out to the public that heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some important service to his country." [Footnote 21]

[Footnote 20: Washington's Writings, Vol. II. p. 97.]

[Footnote 21: August 17th, 1755. Washington's Writings. Vol. II. p. 89.]

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It is also related, that fifteen years afterwards, in a journey which Washington made to the West, when on the banks of the Ohio, an old Indian at the head of his tribe requested to see him, and told him that, at the battle of Monongahela, he had several times discharged his rifle at him, and directed his warriors to do the same; but, to their great surprise, their balls had no effect. Convinced that Washington was under the protection of the Great Spirit, he had ceased to fire at him, and had now come to pay his respects to a man who, by the peculiar favor of Heaven, could never die in battle.

Men are fond of thinking that Providence has permitted them to penetrate its secret purposes. The anecdote of the old chief became current in America, and formed the subject of a drama, called _The Indian Prophecy_. [Footnote 22]

[Footnote 22: Washington's Writings, Vol. II. p. 475.]

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Never, perhaps, was this vague expectation, this premature confidence in the destiny, I hardly venture to say the predestination, of any individual more natural, than in the case of Washington; for there never was a man who appeared to be, and who really was, from his youth, and in his early actions, more consistent with his future career, and more adapted to the cause, upon which he was destined to bestow success.

He was a planter by inheritance and inclination, and devoted to those agricultural interests, habits, and modes of life, which constituted the chief strength of American society. Fifty years later, Jefferson, in order to justify his confidence in the purely democratic organization of this society, said, "It cannot deceive us as long as we remain virtuous, and I think we shall, as long as agriculture is our principal object." [Footnote 23]

[Footnote 23: _Edinburgh Review_, July, 1830, p. 498.]

From the age of twenty years, Washington considered agriculture as his principal employment, making himself well acquainted with the prevalent tone of feeling, and sympathizing with the virtuous and simple habits of his country. {54} Traveling, field-sports, the survey of distant tracts of land, intercourse, friendly or hostile, with the Indians on the frontier, these formed the amusements of his youth. He was of that bold and hardy temperament, which takes pleasure in those adventures and perils, which, in a vast and wild country, man has to encounter. He had that strength of body, perseverance, and presence of mind, which insure success.

In this respect, at his entrance into life, he felt a slightly presumptuous degree of self-confidence. He writes to Governor Dinwiddie; "For my own part I can answer, that I have a constitution hardy enough to encounter and undergo the most severe trials, and, I flatter myself, resolution to face what any man dares." [Footnote 24]

[Footnote 24: Washington's Writings, Vol. II. p. 29.]

To a spirit like this, war was a more congenial employment than field-sports or traveling. As soon as an opportunity offered, he embraced the employment with that ardor, which, in the early period of life, does not reveal a man's capacity so certainly as his taste. {55} In 1754, it is said, when George the Second was hearing a despatch read, which had been transmitted by the Governor of Virginia, and in which Washington, than a young major, ended the narrative of his first battle with the words, "I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe me, there is something charming in the sound;" the King observed, "He would not say so, if he had been used to hear many." Washington was of the King's opinion; for, when the major of the Virginia militia had become the Commander-in-chief of the United States, some one having asked him if it were true, that he had ever expressed such a sentiment, he replied, "If I said so, it was when I was young." [Footnote 25]

[Footnote 25: Washington's Writings, Vol. II. p. 39.]

But his youthful ardor, which was at the same time serious and calm, had the authority which belongs to a riper age. From the first moment in which he embraced the military profession, he took pleasure, far more than in the excitement of battle, in that noble exercise of the understanding and the will, armed with power in order to accomplish a worthy purpose, that powerful combination of human action and good fortune, which kindles and inspires the most elevated as well as the most simple minds. {56} Born in the first rank of colonial society, trained in the public schools in the midst of his countrymen, he took his place naturally at their head; for he was at once their superior and their equal; formed to the same habits, skilled in the same exercises; a stranger, like them, to all elegant learning, without any pretensions to scientific knowledge, claiming nothing for himself, and exerting only in the public service that ascendency, which always attends a judicious and penetrating understanding, and a calm and energetic character, in a disinterested position.

In 1754, he was just appearing in society, and entering upon his military career. It is a young officer of two-and-twenty, who commands battalions of militia, and corresponds with the representative of the king of England. In neither of these relations does he feel any embarrassment. He loves his associates; he respects the king and the governor; but neither affection nor respect alters the independence of his judgment or of his conduct. {57} By an admirable, instinctive power of action and command, he sees and apprehends, by what means and upon what terms success is to be obtained in the enterprise he has undertaken on behalf of his king and his country. And these terms he imposes, these means he insists upon; from the soldiers he exacts all that can be accomplished by discipline, promptness, and activity in the service; from the governor, that he shall discharge his duty in respect to the pay of the soldiers, the furnishing of supplies, and the choice of officers. In every case, whether his words or opinions are sent up to the superior to whom he is rendering his account, or pass down to the subordinates under his command, they are equally precise, practical, and decided, equally marked by that authority which truth and necessity bestow upon the man who appears in their name. From this moment, Washington is the leading American of his time, the faithful and conspicuous representative of his country, the man who will best understand and best serve her, whether he be called upon to fight or negotiate for her, to defend or to govern her.

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It is not the issue alone which has revealed this. His contemporaries foresaw it. Colonel Fairfax, his first patron, wrote to him, in 1756, "Your good health and fortune are the toast at every table." [Footnote 26] In 1759, chosen, for the first time, to the House of Burgesses in Virginia, at the moment when he was taking his seat in the House, the Speaker, Mr. Robinson, presented to him, in warm and animated terms, the thanks of the House for the services which he had rendered to his country. Washington rose to make his acknowledgments for so distinguished an honor; but such was his embarrassment, that he could not speak a single word; he blushed, hesitated, and trembled. The Speaker at once came to his aid, and said, "Sit down, Mr. Washington; your modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses the power of any language that I possess." [Footnote 27]

[Footnote 26: Washington's Writings, Vol. II. p. 145.]

[Footnote 27: Spark's _Life of Washington_, Vol. I. p. 107.]

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Finally, in 1774, on the eve of the great struggle, after the separation of the first Congress held for the purpose of making preparations to meet it, Patrick Henry replied to those that inquired of him, who was the first man in Congress, "If you speak of eloquence, Mr. Rutledge, of South Carolina, is the greatest orator; but, if you speak of solid information and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on that floor." [Footnote 28]

[Footnote 28: Spark's _Life of Washington_, Vol. I., p. 107.]

However, to say nothing of eloquence, Washington had not those brilliant and extraordinary qualities, which strike the imagination of men at the first glance. He did not belong to the class of men of vivid genius, who pant for an opportunity of display, are impelled by great thoughts or great passions, and diffuse around them the wealth of their own natures, before any outward occasion or necessity calls for its employment. Free from all internal restlessness and the promptings and pride of ambition, Washington did not seek opportunities to distinguish himself, and never aspired to the admiration of the world. {60} This spirit so resolute, this heart so lofty, was profoundly calm and modest. Capable of rising to a level with the highest destiny, he might have lived in ignorance of his real power without suffering from it, and have found, in the cultivation of his estates, a satisfactory employment for those energetic faculties, which were to be proved equal to the task of commanding armies and founding a government.

But, when the opportunity presented itself, when the exigence occurred, without effort on his part, without any surprise on the part of others, indeed rather, as we have just seen, in conformity with their expectations, the prudent planter stood forth a great man. He had, in a remarkable degree, those two qualities which, in active life, make men capable of great things. He could confide strongly in his own views, and act resolutely in conformity with them, without fearing to assume the responsibility.

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It is always a weakness of conviction, that leads to weakness of conduct; for man derives his motives from his own thoughts, more than from any other source. From the moment that the quarrel began, Washington was convinced, that the cause of his country was just, and that success must necessarily follow so just a cause, in a country already so powerful. Nine years were to be spent in war to obtain independence, and ten years in political discussion to form a system of government. Obstacles, reverses, enmities, treachery, mistakes, public indifference, personal antipathies, all these incumbered the progress of Washington, during this long period. But his faith and hope were never shaken for a moment. In the darkest hours, when he was obliged to contend against the sadness which hung upon his own spirits, he says, "I cannot but hope and believe, that the good sense of the people will ultimately get the better of their prejudices. ... I do not believe, that Providence has done so much for nothing. ... The great Governor of the universe has led us too long and too far on the road to happiness and glory to forsake us in the midst of it. By folly and improper conduct, proceeding from a variety of causes, we may now and then get bewildered; but I hope and trust, that there is good sense and virtue enough left to recover the right path before we shall be entirely lost." [Footnote 29]

[Footnote 29: Washington's Writings, Vol. IX. pp. 5, 383, 392.]

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And at a later period, when that very France which had so well sustained him daring the war, brought upon him embarrassments and perils more formidable than war; when Europe, upheaved from its foundations, was pressing heavily upon his thoughts, and perplexing his mind, no less than America, he still continued to hope and to trust. "The rapidity of national revolutions appears no less astonishing than their magnitude. In what they will terminate is known only to the Great Ruler of events; and, confiding in his wisdom and goodness, we may safely trust the issue to him, without perplexing ourselves to seek for that, which is beyond human ken; only taking care to perform the parts assigned to us, in a way that reason and our own consciences approve." [Footnote 30]

[Footnote 30: Ibid., Vol. X. p. 331.]

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The same strength of conviction, the same fidelity to his own judgment, which he manifested in his estimate of things generally, attended him in his practical management of business. Possessing a mind of admirable freedom, rather in virtue of the soundness of its views, than of its fertility; and variety, he never received his opinions at second hand, nor adopted them from any prejudice; but, on every occasion, he formed them himself, by the simple observation or attentive study of facts, unswayed by any bias or prepossession, always acquainting himself personally with the actual truth.

Thus, when he had examined, reflected, and made up his mind, nothing disturbed him; he did not permit himself to be thrown into, and kept in, a state of perpetual doubt and irresolution, either by the opinions of others, or by love of applause, or by fear of opposition. He trusted in God and in himself. "If any power on earth could, or the Great Power above would, erect the standard of infallibility in political opinions, there is no being that inhabits the terrestrial globe, that would resort to it with more eagerness than myself, so long as I remain a servant of the public. But as I have found no better guide hitherto, than upright intentions, and close investigation, I shall adhere to those maxims, while I keep the watch." [Footnote 31]

[Footnote 31: Washington's Writings, Vol. XI. p. 71.]

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To this strong and independent understanding, he joined a great courage, always ready to act upon conviction, and fearless of consequences. "What I admire in Christopher Columbus," said Turgot, "is, not his having discovered the new world, but his having gone to search for it on the faith of an opinion." Whether the occasion was of great or little moment, whether the consequences were near at hand or remote, Washington, when once convinced never hesitated to move onward upon the faith of his conviction. One would have inferred, from his firm and quiet resolution, that it was natural to him to act with decision, and assume responsibility;--a certain sign of a genius born to command; an admirable power, when united to a conscientious disinterestedness.

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On the list of great men, if there be some who have shone with a more dazzling lustre, there are none who have been exposed to a more complete test, in war and in civil government; resisting the king, in the cause of liberty, and the people, in the cause of legitimate authority; commencing a revolution and ending it. From the first moment, his task was clearly manifest in all its extent and all its difficulty. To carry on the war, he had not merely to create an army. To this work, always so difficult, the creating power itself was wanting. The United States had neither a government nor an army. Congress, a mere phantom, whose unity was only in name, had neither authority, nor power, nor courage, and did nothing. Washington was obliged, from his camp, not only to make constant solicitations, but to suggest measures for adoption, to point out to Congress what course they should pursue, if they would prevent both themselves and the army from becoming an idle name. His letters were read while they were in session, and supplied the subject of their debates; debates, characterized by inexperience, timidity, and distrust. They rested satisfied with appearances and promises. They sent messages to the local governments. {66} They expressed apprehensions of military power. Washington replied respectfully, obeyed, and then insisted; demonstrated the deceptiveness of appearances, and the necessity of a real force to give him the substance of the power, of which he had the name, and to insure to the army the success which they expected of it. Brave and intelligent men, devoted to the cause, were not wanting in this assembly, so little experienced in the art of government. Some of them went to the camp, examined for themselves, had interviews with Washington, and brought with them, on their return, the weight of their own observations and of his advice. The assembly gradually grew wiser and bolder, and gained confidence in themselves and in their general. They adopted the measures, and conferred upon him the powers, which were necessary. He then entered into correspondence and negotiations with local governments, legislatures, committees, magistrates, and private citizens; placing facts before their eyes; appealing to their good sense and their patriotism; availing himself, for the public service, of his personal friendships; dealing prudently with democratic scruples and the sensitiveness of vanity; maintaining his own dignity; speaking as became his high station, but without giving offence, and with persuasive moderation; though wisely heedful of human weakness, being endowed with the power, to an extraordinary degree, of influencing men by honorable sentiments and by truth.

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