XIX. 1798. Letter to President July 4. CHAPTER the prospect of that which seems to be expected, it is not easy for me to decide satisfactorily on the part it might best become me to act. In case of actual invasion by a formidable force, I certainly should not intrench myself under the cover of age and retirement, if my services should be required by my country to assist in repelling it. And, if there be good cause, which must be better known to the government than to private citizens, to expect such an event, delay in preparing for it might be dangerous, improper, and not to be justified by prudence. The uncertainty, however, of the event, in my mind, creates my embarrassment; for I cannot fairly bring it to believe, regardless as the French are of treaties and of the laws of nations, and capable as I conceive them to be of any species of despotism and injustice, that they will attempt to invade this country, after such a uniform and unequivocal expression of the sense of the people in all parts to oppose them with their lives and fortunes." Washington appointed to the com mand of the army. Before receiving this reply, the President had nominated him to the Senate as Commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States. The nomination was unanimously confirmed on the 3d of July, the day after it was made. The Secretary of War was despatched in person to Mount Vernon, as the bearer of the commission. Washington accepted the appointment, with two reservations; first, that the principal officers should be such as he approved; secondly, that he should not be called into the field, till the army was in a condition to require his presence, or till it became necessary by the urgency of circumstances. He added, however, that he did not mean to withhold any assistance he could afford in arranging and organizing the army; and, in conformity with the rule he had always followed, he declined receiving any part of the emoluments annexed to his appointment, until he should be in a situation to incur expense. There was much embarrassment in appointing the principal officers. Some of those, who had served in the rev XIX. 1798. Embarrasslecting the ment in se principal officers. olution, were prominent candidates for appointments in the CHAPTER new army. It became a question, whether their former rank should be taken into account. If this were decided in the affirmative, it would deprive the army of the services of men, whose talents, activity, and influence were of the greatest moment, but who would not accept subordinate places. It was the opinion of Washington, that, since the old army had long been disbanded, and a new one was now to be formed upon different principles and for a different object, no regard ought to be paid to former rank, but that the best men should be selected, and so arranged as most effectually to promote the public good. This opinion prevailed. officers The inspector-general was to be the second in com- General mand, and there were to be likewise two major-generals. appointed. For these offices Washington proposed Alexander Hamilton, Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, and Henry Knox, who were to rank in the order in which their names here stand. They were thus appointed. The President was not satisfied with the arrangement. His choice for the inspector-general rested upon Knox, but he acquiesced in the decision of Washington. Unfortunately General Knox was displeased with the arrangement, and declined accepting his commission. He believed that his former services gave him higher claims, than could be advanced for the two younger officers who were placed over him. From this time to the end of his life a great part of Washington's attention was taken up with the affairs of the new army. His correspondence with the Secretary of War, the major-generals, and other officers, was unremitted and very full, entering into details and communicating instructions, which derived value from his long experience and perfect knowledge of the subject. His letters during this period, if not the most interesting to many readers, will ever be regarded as models of their kind, and as affording evidence that the vigor and fertility of his mind had not decreased with declining years. He passed a Washingtaken up ton's time with the affairs of the army. XIX. 1799. CHAPTER month at Philadelphia, where he was assiduously employed with Generals Hamilton and Pinckney in making arrangements for raising and organizing the army. After November. the plan was finished, he applied himself, with all the ardor of his younger days, to effect its execution. Disputes with France adjusted. Washington's last illness. He never seriously believed, that the French would go. But it to the extremity of invading the United States. had always been a maxim with him, that a timely preparation for war afforded the surest means of preserving peace; and on this occasion he acted with as much promptitude and energy, as if the invaders had been actually on the coast. His opinion proved to be correct, and his prediction was verified. When it was discovered, that a war with the United States would not be against the government alone, but that the whole people would rise to resist aggression and maintain their rights and dignity as a nation, the French rulers relaxed into a more pacific temper. Intimations were given by them of a willingness to coöperate in effecting a friendly and equitable adjustment of existing differences. Listening to these overtures, the President again appointed three envoys extraordinary, and invested them with full powers to negotiate with the French government. When they arrived in Paris, they found Bonaparte at the head of affairs, who, having taken no part in the preceding disputes, and perceiving no advantage in continuing them, readily assented to an accommodation. No event was more desired by Washington, but he did not live to participate in the joy with which the intelligence was received by his countrymen. Since his retirement from the Presidency, his health had been remarkably good; and, although age had not come without its infirmities, yet he was able to endure fatigue and make exertions of body and mind with scarcely less ease and activity, than he had done in the prime of his strength. On the 12th of December he spent several hours on horseback, riding to his farms, and giving directions to his managers. He returned late in the after XIX. 1799. noon, wet and chilled with the rain and sleet, to which CHAPTER he had been exposed while riding home. The water had penetrated to his neck, and snow was lodged in the locks of his hair. A heavy fall of snow the next day prevented his going abroad, except for a short time near his house. A sore throat and hoarseness convinced him, that he had taken cold; but he seemed to apprehend no danger from it. He passed the evening with the family, read the newspapers, and conversed cheerfully till his usual hour for going to rest. In the night he had an ague, and before the dawn of day the next morning, which was Saturday, the 14th, the soreness in his throat had become so severe, that he breathed and spoke with difficulty. At his request he was bled by one of his overseers, and in the mean time a messenger went for Dr. Craik, who lived nine miles off, at Alexandria. As no relief was obtained by bleeding, and the symptoms were such as to alarm the family, another messenger was despatched for Dr. Brown, who resided nearer Mount Vernon. These physicians arrived in the morning, and Dr. Dick in the course of the day. All the remedies, which their united counsel could devise, were used without effect. No Dec. 14. His suffering was acute and unabated through the day, His death. but he bore it with perfect composure and resignation. Towards evening he said to Dr. Craik; "I die hard, but I am not afraid to die. I believed from my first attack, that I should not survive it. My breath cannot last long." From that time he said little, except to thank the physicians for their kindness, and request they would give themselves no more trouble, but let him die quietly. thing further was done, and he sank gradually till between ten and eleven o'clock at night, when he expired, in the sixty-eighth year of his age, and in the full possession of his mental faculties; exhibiting in this short and painful illness, and in his death, the same example of patience, fortitude, and submission to the Divine will, which he had shown in all the acts of his life. On Wednesday, CHAPTER the 18th of December, his remains were deposited in the family tomb at Mount Vernon.* XIX. 1799. of Congress the news of his death. Congress was at this time in session at Philadelphia; Proceedings and, when the news of the melancholy event arrived at on receiving the seat of government, both houses immediately adjourned for the remainder of the day. The next morning, as soon as the House of Representatives had convened, Mr. Marshall, afterwards Chief Justice, rose in his place, and addressed the Speaker in an eloquent and pathetic speech, briefly recounting the public acts of Washington. "Let us, then," said he, at the conclusion, "pay the last tribute of respect and affection to our departed friend. Let the Grand Council of the nation display those sentiments, which the nation feels." He then offered three resolutions, previously prepared by General Henry Lee, which were accepted. By these it was proposed, that the house should in a body wait on the President to express their condolence; that the Speaker's chair should be shrouded in black, and the members and officers of the house be dressed in black, during the session; and that a committee, in conjunction with a committee from the Senate, should be appointed "to consider on the most suitable manner of paying honor to the memory of the man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow citizens." Congress go into mourning. The Senate testified their respect and sorrow by similar proceedings. A joint committee of the two houses was appointed, who reported resolutions recommending, that a marble monument should be erected to commemorate the great events in the military and political life. of Washington; that an oration, suited to the occasion, should be pronounced in the presence of both houses of Congress; that the people of the United States should wear crape on the left arm thirty days as a badge of mourning; and that the President, in the name of Con A particular account of the last illness and death of Washington is contained in the Appendix, No. VI. |