CC Introduction 
George Washington 

MARTHA  WASHINGTON
 
MARTHA DANDRIDGE, of Virginia, was married at nineteen years of age to Daniel Parke Custis. At an early age she was left a widow with two children, Martha and John Parke Custis. In 1759 she married George Washington, thus becoming the wife of the man who was to be chosen first President of the United States. Accomplished, wealthy and fascinating, fond of ceremony, yet hospitable, her entertainments at Mt. Vernon were world famous. The White House was not erected until after Washington's death, hence she never presided there; but, New York being the Capital of the country during Washington's administration, her court was held in that city, refined taste and abundant wealth admitting of appropriate display. Her patriotism was equal to that of her husband and led her through many trying scenes and privations during the Revolution. She died in her seventy first year, having gradually failed in health since her husband's death, nearly three years previous.
 
WASHINGTON

It is thirty years since I was named as the junior member of a committee of a Historical Society which had voted to print all the Washington letters in its collection.   I showed the audacity of youth, by saying squarely, that we must print the MSS. just as we found them, "swearwords," bad spelling, and all.    A dear old saint, the chairman, said, after an awful pause, "I think Mr. Hale is right.   I think the time has come when we can tell the truth about Washington."    He was quite right.   And the last forty years have been bravely telling the truth about Washington, as they learned it more and more certainly.    As things lave now turned, it proves that the study of Washington the man proves much more interesting than that of Washington the hero or the demigod. As to education, one could hardly invent a better training than he had 'or the work of his life.   Trained as a boy, to read and write well, and to use figures well, he falls, happily, into the constant company of his older brother, an officer in the English army and of Lord Fairfax, self exiled from the best literary training of his time.   Fairfax had been the friend of Steele and Addison, and had been favored with, himself, of writing for the "Spectator," when, to this hour, most of us would be glad to have had a stray article.   In the summer the boy and his noble teacher are out in the Valley of Virginia; soon the boy is acting as surveyor, sleeping at night in a log cabin or wigwam, and from the very beginning learning to know men    the characteristic of most help to him in his eventful life.

Till he comes to manhood, this sort of life seemed to open his career for him. And then, of a sudden, he becomes a rich man, with the responsibilities and anxieties which belong to the owner of a large estate. It was said, when the war began, that as John Hancock was the richest merchant in New England, George Washington was the richest citizen of the country, a remark to be studied by people who fear the dangers of wealth. The happy adventures of the Monongahela River, of his dealings with the French, give just the openings for such a youngster.

The "rub-a-dub" carries us away so far that we recall a dozen stories of war for one of home life. But, we must remember how much of his life was spent at home. He died in his sixty eighth year. Between sixteen years and his death, we have more than fifty one years of singularly active life. Of these fourteen are spent in war, and the rest in the varied occupations of a gentleman of large fortune.

He was always a leading citizen. Before he met Congress in the Continental Congress he was already known as "The Virginia Patriot." From the time of the peace of 1763 he was almost every year, the leading member of the Virginian House of Burgesses. Here he was a leader. When he spoke, he spoke with a purpose. Patrick Henry said of his speeches in the meeting of Congress in 1774: "If you speak of solid information and sound judgment, Colonel Washington is unquestionably the greatest man on that floor." He could have had no better school for studying men than such leadership of a Legislature implies. In his after life his accurate knowledge of men was of the greatest service to him.

His home life at Mount Vernon was generous, even lavish, in the largeness of its hospitalities, and in the completeness with which "He did the thing that he was set to do." The Mount Vernon flour commanded the highest prices in the West Indies. The barges on the river were manned by uniformed crews of his own people, the horses in the stable were of the best blood, and when in the autumn the hounds were called, he could mount as many guests as Mount Vernon had welcomed. Vulcan, Sweetlips, Forester, Truelove are the names of some of the hounds. Ajax, Blue Skin, Valiant are the names of some of the horses.

Virginia hospitality showed itself at its very best at Mount Vernon. If an English cruiser found her way so far up the river, the officers found themselves guests at the mansion house.

There is a curious passage in a letter to a London friend, in which he says, practically, that America will never again have any news to send to England. If it had not been for the double distilled madness of such people as Lord North and Lord George Germain, and, most of all, of the young King, who shall say that things might not have worried on in a decorous fashion for a generation more, with no conflict between Colonies virtually independent and a king who knew his place?

But this was not to be, and when the Continental Congress met at Philadelphia it was a matter of course that "the Virginia Patriot" should be the head of the Virginia delegation.

Observe, now, that this was an assembly of civilians. They had really supposed that their petition to the King might break through the ministerial hedges. In fact it was "spurned from the foot of the throne." It remained in Franklin's possession till he died. At this civilian assembly appeared Colonel George Washington, dressed in military uniform, the blue and buff, be it remembered, of old English whiggery. By an indication so simple did Colonel Washington show that this business was to be settled.

The world remembers him as the man who saved what could be saved after Braddock's defeat    the man who drove General Howe from Boston, who kept the Army of America in existence for six years, who saw five English Generals withdraw from America. The same man brought together the convention which made the Constitution, and, to crown his career, was the first President under its articles. So often was he in his place, and did what was to be done, as no other man could do it.

It was on June 15, 1775, that Congress determined to have a com-mander-in-chief of the United States Army, and it was John Adams who suggested that the post be given to Colonel Washington, who at that time was present in his uniform in the Congress chamber. Washington was selected, not only because the appointment of a Virginian would help to bind the South and New England more closely together in the approaching conflict, but also because his military reputation was unchallenged among American soldiers. The calibre of the man had been revealed in his experiences as a youth with the French and Indians, in his practical but disregarded' advice to Braddock, in his skill in redeeming what was left of Braddock's forces from complete annihilation after their defeat by the British, and by the brilliancy of his management in the successful expedition against Fort Duquesne. Although Washington's patience and' foresight finally compelled the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown on October 19, 1781, it was not until September 3, 1783, that the final treaty of peace with England was signed; and it was on December 23, 1783, that Washington appeared before Congress to lay down the commission of commander-in-chief of the American Army which he had so nobly and so efficiently borne.

INAUGURATION OF WASHINGTON.

The first inauguration of a President of the United States took place in New York on April 30, 1789. A general holiday had been proclaimed, and amid scenes of jubilation, the inhabitants of Manhattan Island turned out in great numbers to witness the spectacle. Shortly after noon, on the balcony of Federal Hall in front of the Senate Chamber, the oath of office was administered to the Father of His Country by the chancellor of the state of New York. With John Adams, who had just previously been inaugurated Vice-President, standing on his right, and Robert R. Livingston on his left, Washington laid his hand reverently on the large open Bible placed on a table before him, and at the conclusion of the oath, responded in a tone of vibrant solemnity, "I swear, so help me God." The Chancellor then stepped forward, and called out to the enormous crowd in the street below, "Long live George Washington, President of the United States!" while children shouted for joy and old men wept at the significance of the occasion.

THE FIRST CABINET
 
THE FIRST CABINET.
Knox and Randolph obeyed orders; only Jefferson and Hamilton counseled. Judging by his later eminence, one would presume that Jefferson dominated in the first cabinet. Not so; there was a stronger, clearer, more energetic character there, in the person of Hamilton, The financial policy of the country, the funding of the State debts, the machinery of the executive departments, the suppression of the Whiskey Rebellion    in a word, all those positive and far reaching measures which make the first Administration so notable in our annals    were achieved by Washington and Hamilton. Jefferson's constitutional scruples were uncontrollable; in his eyes, the federal Government had no powers but those specifically conferred by the States; to him, even the founding of a military academy was unconstitutional; but Hamilton, the man of action, chose to consider that the federal Government, either by express declaration or by implication, had been given sufficient power to be respected in the eyes of men.

These two gathered about themselves partisans, Hamilton's being called Federalists and Jefferson's, Republicans. Washington supported neither faction, but relied chiefly upon Hamilton for counsel.

Hamilton's genius is reflected in the words of the Farewell Address, since it was he who elaborated and revised Washington's first draft of that immortal utterance. See the articles entitled "Assumption of State Debts," "Federalist Party," "Whiskey Insurrection," and "Republican Party," in the Encyclopedic Index.

THE WHISKEY REBELLION,  1791 to 1794

The story of the first rebellion against the Federal Government is told in the article entitled " Whiskey Insurrection," in the Encyclopedic Index, and if the reader so desires he may read the history of that occurrence, as written by the pen of George Washington, on the pages cited beneath the above-mentioned article.

The crushing of this revolt was a crisis in our national life. If any section or class could, with impunity, defy the will of the majority as expressed in the Acts of Congress, the new Government would disintegrate as did the Confederation. For three years Washington temporized with the Pennsylvanians, because he feared that a call upon the militia to uphold the Government would be repudiated, and that the Constitution, thus shown to have no hold upon the people's affections, would perish in mockery and derision. But when the new Government had established its credit by Hamilton's financial plans, the number of colonists who imbibed their principles and fashions from Europe decreased in proportion as the number of Americans who were proud of the Republic increased. Then came Washington's call for volunteers, the ready answer of the militia and the suppression of the rebellion.

SUGGESTIONS.
It is worth while to read all of George Washington's messages for the viewpoint of the beginnings of our Government.
It is especially important to read more than once Washington's Farewell Address. Pages 205 to 216.
On February 18, 1862, the House and Senate passed a concurrent resolution that this Farewell Address be read in joint session of Congress. The provision was further made for reading the Farewell Address, or parts thereof, to the Army and Navy. Page 3306.
On February 19, 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation recommending that the people all over the country celebrate Washington's birthday by causing his Farewell Address to be read to them. 
For further suggestions on Washington's administration see Washington, George, Encyclopedic Index.
By reading the Foreign Policy of each President and by scanning the messages as to -the state of the nation, a thorough knowledge of the history of the United States will be acquired from the most authentic sources; because, as has been said, "Each President reviews the past, depicts the present and forecasts the future of the nation."