this part of Paris, was still a good deal more expensive than
she had rashly supposed. She opened her eyes gravely at the
charges ; abused herself extravagantly for a lack of savoir vivre :
and both with one accord declared that it was too hot to eat.
But upon such eggs and such green peas as they did allow them-
selves — a portion of each, scrupulously shared — David at any
rate was prepared to live to the end of the chapter.
Afterwards, over the coffee and the cigarettes, — Elise taking
her part in both, — they lingered for one of those hours which
make the glamour of youth. Confidences flowed fast between
them. His French grew suppler and more docile, answered more
truly to the individuality behind it. He told her of his bringing-
up, of his wandering with the sheep on the mountains, of his
reading among the heather, of 'Lias and his visions, of Hannah's
cruelties and Louie's tempers, — that same idyl of peasant life to
which Dora had listened some months before. But how differ-
ently told ! Each different listener changes the tale, readjusts the
tone. But here also the tale pleased. Elise, for all her leanings
towards new schools in art, had the Romantic's imagination, and
the Romantic's relish for things foreign and unaccustomed. The
English boy and his story seemed to her both charming and
original. Her artist's eye followed the lines of the ruffled black
head, and noted the red-brown of the skin. She felt a wish to
draw him, — a wish which had entirely vanished in the case of
Louie.
^^ Your sister has taken a dislike to me,^^ she said to him once,
coolly. "And for me, I am afraid of her. Ah! and she broke
my glass ! ^^
She shivered, and a look of anxiety and depression invaded
her small face. He guessed that she was thinking of her pict-
ures, and began timidly to speak to her about them. When
they returned to the world of art, his fluency left him; he felt
crushed beneath the weight of his own ignorance and her ac-
complishment.
J -564 ^^^" HUMPHRY WARD
"Come and see them!'^ she said, springing up. «I am tired
of my Infanta. Let her be awhile. Come to the Salon, and I
will show you < Salome.* Or are you sick of pictures? What do
you want to see? (^a viest ^gal* I can always go back to my
work.**
She spoke with a cavalier lightness which teased and piqued
him.
«I wish to go where you go," he said flushing; "to see what
you see.**
She shook her little head.
" No compliments, Monsieur David. We are serious persons,
Vou and I. Well, then, for a couple of hours, soyons camarades ! ^^
*«It's all the same to me.>*
i5t'65
GEORGE WASHINGTON
(1732-1799)
!he Farewell Address of Washington is infused with that qual-
ity of his character which appealed most forcibly to his
contemporaries, and which has governed posterity's estimate
of him : entire and consistent devotion to a fixed ideal, the fruit of
a genius for patriotism. In the light of this genius alone can the
greatness of Washington be understood and appreciated; seen out
of its circle he is merely a colonial country gentleman of indifferent
education. As a boy he composed a set of rules of conduct, such as
any well-mannered boy might lay down for his guidance. It ends
however with these significant words : " Labor to keep alive in your
breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience.** Wash-
ington's country was his conscience. Not many men are intelli-
gent patriots, since the heat of the heart confuses the judgment; nor
are many consistent patriots, since the successful servant is peril-
ously near the office of master. The pre-eminence of Washington is
founded upon his intelligence and consistency in conducting ^^ one of
the greatest revolutions of this or of any time,** in serving his coun-
try as President, in retiring from office so soon as he perceived that
his services were no longer essential. The Farewell Address will
remain one of the most significant and important of historical docu-
ments, because it embodies the very essence of a sober and faithful
patriotism.
The life of Washington proves how much can be effected by single-
mindedness in the pursuit of an ideal. His contemporaries who met
him during the Revolution, or during his terms of office, seemed at a
loss to account for his greatness; as if the man were constantly hiding
behind his services. "Something of stillness envelops the actions of
Washington,** Chateaubriand wrote. Many accounts of his personal
appearance remain : few exact impressions of his personality. His
letters and his diaries throw little light upon him, neither do they
discover the secret of his extraordinary power. The Farewell Ad-
dress is perhaps the most truthful portrait of him which remains.
He was born in Virginia on February 226., 1732, of a family which
had come from England about the middle of the seventeenth cen-
tury. Of his early life little is known, save a few apocryphal stories.
His education was elementary: he was brought up on his father's
XXVI — 980
15666
GEORGE WASHINGTON
plantation, leading a free out-of-door life; he emerged into clear view
first as a surveyor of the lands of Lord Fairfax, father-in-law of his
half-brother Lawrence, Four years later, when he was about twenty
years of age, he became heir to the family property of Mount Ver-
non. In 1753 Lieutenant-Governor Dinwiddle appointed him com-
mander of the northern military district of Virginia. The French and
Indian War breaking out in the same year, Washington was sent by
the Governor to warn the French away from the new forts in west-
ern Pennsylvania. The intelligence and clear judgment which he
displayed in the execution of this commission led to his being
appointed, in 1755, commander-in-chief of all the Virginia forces, with
the task of defending a frontier of three hundred and fifty miles
with seven hundred and fifty men. In Braddock's campaign he came
rapidly to the front as an officer of extraordinary coolness, courage,
and military skill. At the close of this war he married Martha Dan-
dridge, the widow of Daniel Parke Custis, and settled down to twenty
years of retirement in Virginia. In 1774 the Virginia convention
appointed him one of seven delegates to the Continental Congress;
at which Congress, on the motion of John Adams, he was appointed
commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the colonies. On July 2d
of the same year he took command of the army at Cambridge, Mas-
sachusetts. From that time on he was engaged in a series of brill-
iant campaigns, which ended only when the object of the war had
been fully attained. James Thacher, a surgeon in the Revolution,
who kept a military diary, has left this description of Washington
the general: —
«The personal appearance of our commander-in-chief is that of a perfect
gentleman and accomplished warrior. He is remarkably tall, — full six feet, —
erect and well-proportioned. The strength and proportion of his joints and
muscles appear to be commensurate with the pre-eminent powers of his mind.
The serenity of his countenance, and majestic gracefulness of his deportment,
impart a strong impression of that dignity and grandeur which are peculiar
characteristics; and no one can stand in his presence without feeling the
ascendency of his mind, and associating with his countenance the idea of wis-
dom, philanthropy, magnanimity, and patriotism. There is a fine symmetry
in the features of his face indicative of a benign and dignified spirit. His
nose is straight, and his eyes inclined to blue. He wears his hair in a becom-
ing cue, and from his forehead it is turned back, and powdered in a manner
which adds to the military air of his appearance. He displays a native grav-
ity, but devoid of all appearance of ostentation. His uniform dress is a blue
coat with two brilliant epaulets, buff-colored under clothes, and a three-cornered
hat with a black cockade. He is constantly equipped with an elegant small-
sword, boots and spurs, in readiness to mount his noble charger. »
In 1783 Washington resigned his commission, and went again
into retirement, until his election to the Presidency in 1787. After
GEORGE WASHINGTON
15667
serving two terms, he spent the remainder of his life upon his
Mount Vernon estate in Virginia. He died in 1799.
<<I felt on his death, with my countrymen,'^ wrote Thomas Jeffer-
son, ^^ Verily a great man hath fallen in Israel. '*
Washington Irving said of him : <* The character of Washington
may want some of those poetical elements which dazzle and delight
the multitude ; but it possessed fewer inequalities, and a rarer union
of virtues, than perhaps ever fall to the lot of one man.'*
WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS
Friends and Fellow-Citizens :
THE period for a new election of a citizen to administer the
executive government of the United States being not far
distant, and the time actually arrived when your thoughts
must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed
with that important trust, it appears to me proper, especially as
it may conduce to a more distinct expression of the public voice,
that I should now apprise you of the resolution I have formed,
to decline being considered among the number of those out of
whom a choice is to be made.
I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be
assured that this resolution has not been taken without a strict
regard to all the considerations appertaining to the relation which
binds a dutiful citizen to his country; and that in withdrawing
the tender of service which silence in my situation might imply,
I am influenced by no diminution of zeal for your- future interest,
no deficiency of grateful respect for your past kindness; but am
supported by a full conviction that the step is compatible with
both.
The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in, the office to
which your suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform
sacrifice of inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference
to what appeared to be your desire. I constantly hoped that
it would have been much earlier in my power, consistently with
motives which I was not at liberty to disregard, to return to
that retirement from which I had been reluctantly drawn. The
strength of my inclination to do this, previous to the last elec-
tion, had even led to the preparation of an address to declare it
to you; but mature reflection on the then perplexed and critical
J -553 GEORGE WASHINGTON
posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and the unanimous
advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me to
abandon the idea.
I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as
internal, no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompati-
ble with the sentiment of duty or propriety; and am persuaded,
whatever partiality may be retained for my services, that in the
present circumstances of our country you will not disapprove my
determination to retire.
The impressions with which I first undertook the arduous
trust were explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge
of this trust, I will only say that I have, with good intentions,
contributed towards the organization and administration of the
government the best exertions of which a very fallible judgment
was capable. Not unconscious, in the outset, of the inferiority of
my qualifications, experience in my own eyes, perhaps still more
in the eyes of others, has strengthened the motives to diffidence
of myself: and every day the increasing weight of years admon-
ishes me more and more that the shade of retirement is as
necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied that if any cir-
cumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were
temporary, I have the consolation to believe that while choice
and prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism
does not forbid it.
In looking forward to the moment which is intended to ter-
minate the career of my public life, my feelings do not permit
me to suspend the deep acknowledgment of that debt of grati-
tude which I owe to my beloved country for the many honors
which it has conferred upon me; still more for the steadfast
confidence with which it has supported me; and for the opportu-
nities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable attach-
ment by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness
unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country
from these services, let it always be remembered to your praise;
and as an instructive example in our annals that, under circum-
stances in which the passions — agitated in every direction — were
liable to mislead, amidst appearances sometimes dubious, vicissi-
tudes of fortune often discouraging, in situations in which not
infrequently want of success has countenanced the spirit of crit-
icism, — the constancy of yo'ir support was the essential prop
of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by which they were
GEORGE WASHINGTON
15669
effected. Profoundly penetrated by this idea, I shall carry it with
me to the grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows that
Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its benefi-
cence ; that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual ;
that the free constitution, which is the work of your hands, may
be sacredly maintained; that its administration in every depart-
ment may be stamped with wisdom and virtue; — that, in fine,
the happiness of the people of these States, under the auspices
of liberty, may be made complete, by so careful a preservation
and cO prudent a use of this blessing, as will acquire to them
the glory of recommending it to the applause, the affection, and
adoption of every nation which is yet a stranger to it.
Here, perhaps, I ought to stop: but solicitude for your wel-
fare, which cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension
of danger natural to that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like
the present, to offer to your solemn contemplation, and to recom-
mend to your frequent review, some sentiments which are the
result of much reflection, of no inconsiderable observation; and
which appear to me all-important to the permanency of your
felicity as a people. These will be offered to you with the more
freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested warnings
of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive to
bias his counsels. Nor can I forget an encouragement to it, —
your indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not
dissimilar occasion.
Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of
your hearts, no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify
or confirm the attachment
The unity of government which constitutes you one people is
also now dear to you. It is justly so, for it is a main pillar in
the edifice of your real independence: the support of your tran-
quillity at home, your peace abroad; of your safety; of your pros-
perity in every shape ; of that very liberty which you so highly
prize. But as it is easy to foresee that from different causes,
and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, many arti-
fices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this
truth ; as this is the point in your political fortress against which
the batteries of external and internal enemies will be most con-
stantly and actively (though often covertly and insidiously) di-
rected: it is of infinite moment that you should properly estimate
15670
GEORGE WASHINGTON
the immense value of your national union to your collective and
individual happiness, — that you should cherish a cordial habit-
ual and immovable attachment to it; accustoming yourselves to
think and speak of it as of the Palladium of your political safety
and prosperity; watching for its preservation with jealous anxiety;
discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion that it
can, in any event, be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon
the first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our
country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now
link together the various parts.
For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest.
Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country
has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of Amer-
ican, which belongs to you in your national capacity, must
always exalt the just pride of patriotism more than any appel-
lation derived from local discriminations. With slight shades of
difference, you have the same religion, manners, habits, and polit-
ical principles. You have in a common cause fought and tri-
umphed together. The independence and liberty you possess are
the work of joint councils and joint efforts, — of common dan-
gers, sufferings, and successes.
But these considerations, however powerfully they address
themselves to your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those
which apply more immediately to your interest. Here every
portion of our country finds the most commanding motives for
carefully guarding and preserving the union of the whole.
The North, in an unrestrained intercourse with the South,
protected by the equal laws of the common government, finds in
the productions of the latter, great additional resources of mari-
time and commercial enterprise, and precious materials of manu-
facturing industry. The South, in the same intercourse, benefiting
by the agency of the North, sees its agriculture grow and its
commerce expand. Turning partly into its own channels the sea-
men of the North, it finds its particular navigation invigorated;
and while it contributes in different ways to nourish and increase
the general mass of the national navigation, it looks forward to
the protection of a maritime strength to which itself is unequally
adapted. The East, in a like intercourse with the West, already
finds, and in the progressive improvement of interior communi-
cations by land and water will more and more find, a valuable
GEORGE WASHINGTON
15671
vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad or manu-
factures at home. The West derives from the East supplies
requisite to its growth and comfort; and what is perhaps of still
greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the secure enjoy-
ment of indispensable outlets for its own production, to the
weight, influence, and future maritime strength of the Atlantic
side of the Union, directed by an indissoluble community of
interest, as one Jiation. Any other tenure by which the West
can hold this essential advantage — whether derived from its own
separate strength, or from an apostate and unnatural connection
with any foreign power — must be intrinsically precarious.
While then every part of our country thus feels an immedi-
ate and particular interest in union, all the parts combined in
the united mass of means and efforts cannot fail to find greater
strength, greater resource, proportionably greater security from
external danger, a less frequent interruption of their peace by
foreign nations: and what is of inestimable value, they must
derive from union an exemption from these broils and wars be-
tween themselves, which so frequently afflict neighboring countries
not tied together by the same government, which their own rival-
ships alone would be sufficient to produce; but which opposite
foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues, would stimulate and
embitter. Hence likewise they will avoid the necessity of those
overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of
government, are inauspicious to liberty; and which are to be
regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty. In this
sense it is, that your union ought to be considered as a main prop
of your liberty; and that the love of the one ought to endear
to you the preservation of the other.
These considerations speak a persuasive language to every
reflecting and virtuous mind; and exhibit the continuance of the
Union as a primary object of patriotic desire. Is there a doubt
whether a common government can embrace so large a sphere ?
Let experience solve it. To listen to mere speculation in such a
case were criminal. We are authorized to hope that a proper
organization of the whole, with the auxiliary agency of govern-
ments for the respective subdivisions, will afford a happy issue
to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full experiment.
With such powerful and obvious motives to union affecting all
parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated
15672
GEORGE WASHINGTON
its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the
patriotism of those who in any quarter may endeavor to weaken
its bands.
In contemplating the causes which may disturb our union, it
occurs as matter of serious concern that any ground should
have been furnished for characterizing parties by geographical
discriminations: Northern and Southern — Atlantic and Western;
whence designing men may endeavor to excite a belief that there
is a real difference of local interests and views. One of the ex-
pedients of party to acquire influence within particular districts,
is to misrepresent the opinions and aims of other districts. You
cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and
heart-burnings which spring from these misrepresentations. They
tend to render alien to each other those who ought to be bound
together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of our Western
country have lately had a useful lesson on this head. They have
seen, in the negotiation by the executive, and in the imanimous
ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the
universal satisfaction at that event throughout the United States,
a decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated
among them, of a policy in the general government, and in the
Atlantic States, unfriendly to their interests in regard to the
Mississippi, They have been witnesses to the formation of two
treaties — that with Great Britain, and that with Spain — which
secure to them everything they could desire in respect to our
foreign relations, towards confirming their prosperity. Will it
not be their wisdom to rely, for the preservation of these advan-
tages, on the union by which they were procured ? Will they
not henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who
would sever them from their brethren, and connect them with
aliens ?
To the efficacy and permanency of your union, a govern-
ment for the whole is indispensable. No alliances, however strict,
between the parts, can be an adequate substitute. They must
inevitably experience the infractions and interruptions which all
alliances in all times have experienced. Sensible of this moment-
ous truth, you have improved upon your first essay by the adop-
tion of a constitution of government better calculated than your
former for an intimate union, and for the efficacious manage-
ment of your common concerns. This government, the offspring
GEORGE WASHINGTON 15673
of your own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full
investigation and mature deliberation, completely free in its prin-
ciples, in the distribution of its powers, uniting security with
energy, and containing within itself a provision for its own
amendment, has a just claim to your confidence and your support.
Respect for its authority, compliance with its laws, acquiescence
in its measures, are duties enjoined by the fundamental maxims
of true liberty. The basis of our political systems is the right
of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of govern-
ment. But the constitution which at any time exists, till changed
by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly
obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right
of the people to establish government, presupposes the duty of
every individual to obey the established government.
All obstructions to the execution of the laws; all combina-
tions and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the
real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe, the regular delib-
eration and action of the constituted authorities, — are destructive
of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve
to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary
force; to put in the place of the delegated will of the nation, the
will of a party, — often a small but artful and enterprising minor-
ity of the community, — and according to the alternate triumphs
of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror
of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather