From Farm House to the White House Part 57

As before the war, he continued to remember the poor, whose veneration for him was greater than ever. His methods of a.s.sisting them were often original, and always practical; as, for example, keeping a boat on the Potomac for their use in fis.h.i.+ng. Here was an opportunity for them to obtain subsistence without sacrificing the virtues of industry and self-reliance.

Mr. Peake, who had charge of one of his plantations, said:

"I had orders to fill a corn-house every year for the sole use of the poor in my neighborhood, to whom it was a seasonable and most precious relief, saving numbers of poor women and children from miserable famine, and blessing them with a cheerful plenteousness of bread."

One year, when there was a scarcity of corn, and the price of it went up to a dollar per bushel, the suffering among the poor was much increased.

Was.h.i.+ngton ordered his agent to distribute all that could be spared from the granaries, and he purchased several hundred bushels in addition, at the high price, to be used in charity.

Governor Johnson of Maryland, a hero of '76, related the following incident to Mr. Weems:

The governor went to the Virginia Springs for his health. The place was crowded with people, but he secured "a mattress in the hut of a very honest baker" whom he knew. The baker did a large business, and every day Mr. Johnson noticed that many poor negroes came for loaves, and took them away without paying a cent.

"Stophel," said Mr. Johnson one day, "you seem to sell a world of bread here every day, but notwithstanding that, I fear you don't gain much by it."

"What makes you think so?" replied Stophel.

"You credit too much."

"Not I, indeed, sir; I don't credit at all."

"Ay, how do you make that out? Don't I see the poor people every day carrying away your bread, and yet paying you nothing?"

"Pshaw! what of that? They will pay me all in a lump at last."

"At _last_!" exclaimed the governor, "at the _last day_, I suppose. You think the Almighty will stand paymaster, and wipe off all your old scores for you at a dash."

"Not by any means, squire. The poor bakers can't give such long credit; but I will tell you how we work the matter. Was.h.i.+ngton directed me to supply these poor people at his expense, and I do it. Believe me, squire, he has often, at the end of the season, paid me as much as eighty dollars, and that, too, for poor creatures who did not know the hand that fed them; for I had strict orders from him not to mention it to anybody."

In a former chapter we learned the magnanimity of his conduct towards one Payne, who knocked him down for a supposed insult. Mr. Payne relates that after the Revolution he called upon Was.h.i.+ngton at Mount Vernon.

"As I drew near the house," he says, "I began to experience a rising fear lest he should call to mind the blow I had given him in former days. Was.h.i.+ngton met me at the door with a kind welcome, and conducted me into an adjoining room where Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton sat.

"'Here, my dear,' said he, presenting me to his lady, 'here is the little man you have so often heard me talk of, and who, on a difference between us one day, had the resolution to knock me down, big as I am; I know you will honor him as he deserves, for I a.s.sure you he has the heart of a true Virginian.'"

Mr. Payne adds: "He said this with an air which convinced me that his long familiarity with war had not robbed him of his n.o.bleness of heart.

And Mrs. Was.h.i.+ngton looked at him as if he appeared to her greater and lovelier than ever."

The same industry distinguished him on his return to his farms, for which he was so well known before the war. His rule was to rise at four o'clock and retire at nine. The forenoon was employed in labor and overseeing the work on his plantations. The presence of company did not interrupt his systematic methods. He would say to such:

"Gentlemen, I must beg leave of absence this forenoon. Here are books, music, and amus.e.m.e.nts; consider yourselves at home, and be happy."

But Was.h.i.+ngton was not allowed to remain long in private life. In 1787, a convention a.s.sembled in Philadelphia to form a confederacy of States.

Was.h.i.+ngton was a member of that body, and was unanimously made its presiding officer. The convention sat four months, in which time the confederacy of States was consummated, called the United States, with the present Const.i.tution essentially.

This new order of things required the election of a president, and Was.h.i.+ngton was unanimously elected. He was inaugurated on the thirtieth day of April, 1789, in the city of New York, then the seat of government. That the position was not one of his own seeking is quite evident from a letter which he wrote to General Knox:

"My movements to the chair of government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution, so unwilling am I, in the evening of life, nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an ocean of difficulties, without the competency of political skill, abilities, and inclinations which are necessary to manage the helm."

His journey to New York was accomplished in his own carriage, drawn by four horses. No king or conqueror was ever treated to a more enthusiastic ovation than was he from Mount Vernon to New York. The expression of a lad to his father indicates the exalted notions which the common people entertained of the great general. On getting a good view of him the lad exclaimed:

"Why, pa, he is only a man, after all!"

At Trenton, where he crossed the Delaware with his retreating, depleted army, his welcome was both imposing and beautiful. Upon the bridge an arch was erected, adorned with laurel leaves and flowers. Upon the crown of the arch, formed of leaves and flowers, were the words:

"DECEMBER 26TH, 1776."

Beneath was the sentence:

"THE DEFENDER OF THE MOTHERS WILL BE THE PROTECTOR OF THE DAUGHTERS!"

The president was obliged to pa.s.s under this arch to enter Trenton, where the female portion of the population met him. On one side little girls dressed in white stood, each one bearing a basket of flowers. On the other side were arranged the young ladies, and behind them the married women. The moment Was.h.i.+ngton and his suit approached the arch, the girls scattered their flowers before him, and the whole company of females sung the following ode, written for the occasion by Governor Howell:

"Welcome, mighty chief! once more Welcome to this grateful sh.o.r.e!

Now no mercenary foe Aims again the fatal blow.

Aims at thee the fatal blow.

Virgins fair and matrons grave, Those thy conquering arm did save, Build for thee triumphal bowers.

Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers!

Strew your hero's way with flowers!"

The reader may well suppose that his reception in New York as the _first_ President of the United States, and the "greatest general on earth," as many supposed, was grand indeed. No expense or pains were spared to make it worthy of the occasion.

Was.h.i.+ngton called to his cabinet, Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State; Alexander Hamilton, Secretary of the Treasury; General Knox, Secretary of War; Edmund Randolph, Attorney-General; and John Jay, Chief Justice.

He said, in his inaugural address:

"When I contemplate the interposition of Providence, as it was visibly manifested in guiding us through the Revolution, in preparing us for the reception of a general government, and in conciliating the good will of the people of America towards one another after its adoption, I feel myself oppressed and almost overwhelmed with a sense of the divine munificence. I feel that nothing is due to my personal agency in all those complicated and wonderful events, except what can simply be attributed to the exertions of an honest zeal for the good of my country."

The parade and pomp attending the first presidency in New York City exceeded anything of the kind we behold at the present day. Considering the condition of the country, as compared with its wealth and prominence now, the style of living and display in presidential circles was remarkable. Was.h.i.+ngton rode in a chariot drawn by six fine horses, attended by a retinue of servants. These horses were expensively caparisoned. His stable, under the charge of Bishop, his favorite servant, held twelve of the finest horses in the country. Two of them were splendid white chargers for the saddle. After the seat of government was removed to Philadelphia, the stables were under the care of German John, "and the grooming of the white chargers will rather surprise the moderns." Mr. Custis says:

"The night before the horses were to appear on the street, they were covered over with a paste, of which whiting was the princ.i.p.al component part; then the animals were swathed in body-cloths, and left to sleep upon clean straw. In the morning the composition had become hard, was well rubbed in and curried and brushed, which process gave to the coats a beautiful, glossy, and satin-like appearance. The hoofs were then blacked and polished, the mouths washed, teeth picked and cleansed, and the leopard-skin housings being properly adjusted, the white chargers were led out for service."

While the seat of government was in New York the president visited the New England States. He had been brought almost to the door of death by a malignant carbuncle, and it was thought, on his recovery, that such a tour would be beneficial. Besides, the people of New England were clamorous to see him.

The sickness referred to confined him to his room six weeks, during which time "Dr. Bard never quitted him." The public anxiety was very great, and the president understood full well that his condition was very critical. One day he said to the doctor:

"I want your candid opinion as to the probable termination of this sickness."

"Your condition is serious, but I expect that you will recover," Dr.

Bard replied.

"Do not flatter me with vain hopes," responded the president. "I am not afraid to die, and I am prepared to hear the worst."

"I confess, Mr. President, that I am not without serious apprehensions,"

added the doctor.

"Whether to-night or twenty years hence makes no difference; I know that I am in the hands of a good Providence," was the royal answer of the Christian ruler.