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THE FINEST IN RECORDED LITERATURE VI Patriot and President

Table of Contents, Duration, Start Times, & Maps George Washington, a Biography, Volume Six begins with the General’s long-awaited homecoming after spending just ten days at out of eight and a half years of war. He arrived on Christmas Eve, delighted to be “free of the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life”. He was a celebrity and was fêted during a visit to his mother at Fredericksburg in February 1784, and he received a constant stream of visitors wishing to pay their respects to him at Mount Vernon...... Washington renewed his interests in the Great Dismal Swamp and Potomac Canal projects begun before the war, though neither paid him any dividends. And he undertook a 34-day, 680-mile trip to check on his land holdings in the Ohio Country. He oversaw the completion of the remodeling work at Mount Vernon which transformed his residence into the mansion that survives to this day— although his financial situation was not strong. Creditors paid him in depreciated wartime currency, and he owed significant amounts in taxes and wages. Mount Vernon had made no profit during his absence, and he saw persistently poor crop yields due to pestilence and poor weather. His estate recorded its eleventh year running at a deficit in 1787, and there was little prospect of improvement...... The cover image depicts George Washington and is a composite including a photo of a wax model of Washington on display at the Mt.Vernon Estate. Above is shown a late-18th century painting of George and with their adoptive children, George Washington Parke Custis and Nelly Custis, as well as one of their slaves. Painted by Edward Savage. Above on the right is Mount Vernon from the carriage entrance painted by Edward Savage.

2 Washington undertook a new landscaping plan and succeeded in cultivating a range of fast-growing trees and shrubs that were native to North America......

Before returning to private life in June 1783, Washington called for a strong union. Though he was concerned that he might be criticized for meddling in civil matters, he sent a circular letter to all the states maintaining that the Articles of Confederation were no more than “a rope of sand” linking the states. He believed the nation was on the verge of “anarchy and confusion”, was vulnerable to foreign intervention, and that a national constitution would unify the states under a strong central government. When Shays’ Rebellion erupted over taxation in Massachusetts on August 29, 1786, Washington was further convinced that a national constitution was needed. Some nationalists feared that the new republic had descended into lawlessness, and they met together on September 11, 1786 at Annapolis to ask Congress to revise the Articles of Confederation. Congress agreed to a Constitutional Convention to be held in in the spring of 1787, and each state was to send delegates...... On December 4, 1786 Washington was chosen to lead the Virginia delegation, but he had concerns about the legality of the convention. He was persuaded to attend, however, as his presence would probably induce reluctant states to send delegates and smooth the way for the ratification process......

W ashington arrived in Philadelphia on May 9, 1787. Benjamin Franklin nominated Washington to preside over the convention, and he was unanimously elected to serve as president general. The convention’s state-mandated purpose was to revise the Articles of Confederation with “all such alterations and further provisions” required to improve them, and the new government would be established when the resulting document was “duly confirmed by the several states”. Governor Edmund Randolph of Virginia introduced Madison’s Virginia Plan on May 27, the third day of the convention. It called for an entirely new constitution and a sovereign national government, which Washington highly recommended......

3 The state electors under the Constitution voted for the president on February 4 and 5, 1789. The votes were tallied the next day, and Washington was informed immediately he had been elected president. Washington Howard Chandler Christy’s interpretation of the signing of departed for on The Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia 1787, painted in 1940. April 16 on what would become a triumphal procession all the way. George Washington was inaugurated on April 30, 1789, taking the oath of office at Federal Hall in New York City...... Though he wished to serve without a salary, Congress insisted adamantly that he accept it. His executive precedents included the inaugural address, messages to Congress, and the cabinet form of the executive branch. He was an able administrator and a judge of talent and character, and he talked regularly with department heads to get their advice. He remained non-partisan throughout his presidency and opposed the divisiveness of political parties...... George Washington’s Inauguration as the First President of the United States, Aug. 30, 1789 Washington dealt with major problems: a large debt, worthless by Ramon de Elorriaga. paper money, and no power to establish taxes. Great Britain refused to relinquish its forts in the American West, and Barbary pirates preyed on American merchant ships in the Mediterranean at a time when the United States did not even have a navy......

4 Congress created executive departments in 1789, including the State Department, the Department of War, and the Treasury Department. Washington appointed fellow Virginian Edmund Randolph as Attorney General, Samuel Osgood as Postmaster General, as Secretary of State, and Henry Knox as Secretary of War. Finally, he appointed as Secretary of the Treasury...... H is closest advisors formed two factions, portending the first party system. Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton formed the Federalist Party to promote the national credit. Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson opposed Hamilton’s agenda and founded the Jeffersonian Republicans. Washington favored Hamilton’s agenda, however, and it ultimately went into effect—resulting in bitter controversy...... W ashington’s first term was largely devoted to economic concerns, in which Hamilton had devised various plans to address matters. The establishment of public credit became a primary challenge for the federal government. Congress authorized the assumption and payment of the nation’s debts, with funding provided by customs duties and excise taxes......

H amilton created controversy among Cabinet members by advocating the establishment of the First Bank of the United States. Madison and Jefferson objected, but the bank easily passed Congress. Jefferson and Randolph insisted that the new bank was beyond the authority granted by the constitution. Washington sided with Hamilton and signed the legislation on February 25, and the rift between Hamilton and Jefferson became openly hostile. The feud led to the well-defined Federalist and Democratic Republican parties led by Hamilton and Jefferson respectively...... In March 1791, at Hamilton’s urging, with support from Madison, Congress imposed an excise tax on distilled spirits to help curtail the national debt, which took effect in July. Grain farmers strongly protested in Pennsylvania’s frontier districts, arguing that they were unrepresented and were shouldering too much of the debt. The issue would smolder for years......

5 Washington always tried to be even-handed in dealing with the Indians. He hoped they would abandon their itinerant hunting life and adapt to fixed agricultural communities in the manner of Anglo-Saxon settlers. He never advocated outright confiscation of their land or the forcible removal of tribes, and he berated American settlers who abused Indians. The administration regarded powerful tribes as foreign nations, and Washington even smoked a peace pipe and drank wine with them at the Philadelphia presidential house. He made numerous attempts to conciliate them, and he equated killing indigenous peoples with killing whites and sought to integrate them into European American culture......

During the Fall of 1789, Washington had to contend with the British military occupation in the Northwest frontier and their concerted efforts to incite hostile Indian tribes to attack American settlers. The Northwest tribes under Miami chief Little Turtle allied with the British Army to resist American expansion, and killed 1,500 settlers between 1783 and 1790......

In 1790, Washington sent Brigadier General Josiah Harmar to pacify the Northwest tribes, but he was defeated and forced to withdraw. Washington then sent Major General Arthur St. Clair to restore peace in the territory in 1791. On November 4, St. Clair’s forces were ambushed and destroyed with few survivors, despite Washington’s warning of surprise attacks. Washington was outraged over excessive Native American brutality and the execution of captives, including women and children. The president replaced St. Clair with the Revolutionary War hero General Anthony Wayne...... A s Washington’s first term came to an end late in 1791, the simmering feud between Hamilton and Jefferson moved into a more volatile phase. Anxiously, the nation looked to Washington to hold things together, and the old general wearily took up the responsibilities of a second four-year term. d ......

6 VOLUME SIX ...... Patriot and President

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MAPS Page 10 Presidential Travels in the North, 1789-1790 Page 11 Washington’s Western Tour Page 12 Washington’s Southern Tour

PORTRAITS Page 13 Tobias Lear Page 13 David Humphreys Page 14 “Nelly” Custis Page 14 Washington in 1787 Page 15 Page 15 Alexander Hamilton Page 16 Page 17 Abigail Adams Page 18 Edmund Randolph Page 18 Thomas Jefferson Page 19 Fisher Ames Page 19 William Maclay d

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10 Washington’s Western Tour, 1784 Adapted principally from A.B. Hulbert, Washington and the West (op.p. 32), with certain features traced from a map of The Travels of George Washington, compiled and drawn in the Cartographic Section of the National Geographic Society for “The National Geographic Magazine”. Bath is now Berkeley Springs W. Va.; Tomlinson’s is Frostburg, Md.; Gist’s was at the foot of the range which actually is a continuation of Chestnut Ridge, though South of the Youghiogheny River it also is called “Laurel Hill,” as if it were part of the dominant range approximately twelve miles to the East. Washington described Gist’s as “at the foot of Laurel” (2 Diaries, 288-89). Simpson’s is Perryopolis; Devore’s Ferry is Monongahela; Cannon’s is Canonsburg; Beason Town is Uniontown, Penn.; Ft. Pierpont is Easton, W. Va.; Friend’s is Oakland, Md. The road from Ft. Cumberland to Gist’s was known in Washington’s time as “Braddock’s Road.” d

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12 VOLUME SIX PORTRAITS Tobias Lear, A Fortunate Choice Almost from the day of his return to private life, Washington felt desperately the need of secretarial assistance. His own papers and accounts were woefully disordered, his personal correspondence remained heavy and, unexpectedly, he was deluged with requests, queries and applications of every kind. Early in 1785 the General began to inquire as his private secretary. Specifically, he wanted “a gentleman who can compose a good letter,” handle accounts, “examine, arrange and properly methodize my papers” and devote occasional time to the fundamental schooling of the two small Custis children. Young William Shaw came to Mount Vernon in July, 1785, and lightened the burden somewhat, but Washington was vexed at once by his employee’s frequent recreational excursions to Alexandria. For a brief moment it appeared that the services of the grammarian, Noah Webster, might be procured, but in the fall of 1785 the General was composing detailed letters to George William Fairfax and George Chapman in England: perhaps a retired clergyman, single and “with a small living,” would suit best.ePrecisely at this time suggested that some graduate of one of the New England colleges might fill Washington’s need. Then, in January, 1786, a letter arrived from Lincoln: “I have at last found a Mr. Lear, who supports the character of gentleman and scholar.” Six months later Tobias Lear walked into Washington’s home for the first time. Lear at twenty-four had honors from Harvard, a year’s broadening travel in Europe and, most welcome, proficiency in French. The search had ended. Washington employed him at the annual wage of 200 dollars and reported to Lincoln that the new secretary seemed “a genteel, well-behaved young man.” The General could not know that this son of a Portsmouth shipmaster would become, over the eight years to follow, his most intimate associate. Personable, industrious, discreet and highly intelligent, Lear carried out his duties at Mount Vernon in so exemplary a fashion that Washington in 1787 wrote of him to President Joseph Willard of Harvard in glowing terms. His service however came to full fruition after 1789 as private secretary to the Chef Magistrate. As Lear’s responsibilities multiplied, his talents grew with them — but his loyalty and self-effacement remained the same. When Lear resigned in 1793 to go abroad on a business venture, Washington introduced him to Gouverneur Morris as “a person who possesses my entire friendship and confidence.”-Above is an etching of Tobias Lear, 1869, Courtesy Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association......

David Humphreys, “Beloved of Washington” “For God’s sake,” wrote Washington in urgent tone to David Humphreys late in 1786, “tell me what is the cause of all these commotions?” Then he reiterated: “Do write me fully, I beseech you.” Greatly agitated by reports of insurrection in Massachusetts and hungry for accurate news, he well might look to Humphreys for an illuminating account. In the final days of the War the General had come to depend often and unreservedly upon the facile pen of this florid Lieutenant Colonel. As courtly in demeanor as he was corpulent of figure, this son of a Connecticut minister had his Master of Arts from Yale at 18. On Washington’s staff his craftsmanship was generally employed in the composition of graceful, tailored replies to the flood of addresses received by the General in the years following Yorktown. In 1780 he visited briefly at

13 Mount Vernon and revived an earlier proposal that the General undertake an autobiography or a volume of war memoirs. To this end Humphreys produced a draft, and Washington made additions from his recollections of the French and Indian War. In 1788 the Colonel returned on Washington’s warm invitation, to stay at length as a guest “occupied with literary pursuits.” He escorted the President-elect to New York in April, 1789, and Washington’s esteem was evidenced four months later in the appointment of Humphreys as special commissioner to the Creek Indians. Not on poetic or diplomatic achievements, however, did Humphreys fasten his fame. He was “beloved of Washington,” and this was enough in his own time. - This portrait of David Humphreys by Gilbert Stuart is at Yale University Art Gallery......

“Nelly” Custis – So young, so lovely Among the guests at Mount Vernon in the fall of 1789 were the French Minister, the Comte de Moustier, and his sister, the Marquise de Bréhan. Whereas the lady’s claim to distinction in society was generally, if ungenerously debated, her skill with brush and pencil was both generally and generously acknowledged. The charming profile miniature of Eleanor Parke Custis, reproduced here, was painted during this visit, when Madame de Bréhan executed similar portraits of the little girl’s step-grandfather, George Washington. Better known as “Nelly,” the child was in her tenth year, the youngest of three daughters born to “Jackie” and Eleanor Calvert Custis. After her father’s death in 1781, and her mother’s subsequent remarriage, “Nelly” and her small brother remained with General and Mrs. Washington, whose outpouring of parental affection, once devoted to Martha’s own “Patsy” and “Jackie”, now centered on these grandchildren. . - The miniature done in 1789 is by the Marquise de Bréhan,Yale University Art Gallery. The portrait to the right is by Gilbert Stuart in 1804, National Gallery, Washington, D.C......

“I will hope for the best.” From the detached retirement Washington watched the ebb and flow of national affairs with ever-increasing apprehension through 1784 and 1785. Early in 1786 he expressed to John Jay a sentiment embryonic in the minds of America’s best patriots: “That it is necessary to revise or amend the Articles of Confederation, I entertain no doubt.” The General had no panacea to prescribe, but “something must be done or the fabric will fall , for it certainly is tottering.” The “commercial” convention scheduled for September 1786, at Annapolis, was attended by delegates of five States only, and news of it’s failure was disheartening Yet out of this frustration had come Alexander Hamilton’s forceful call for a general convention in Philadelphia the following May “to take into consideration the situation for the United States” and to render the Articles of Confederation “adequate to the exigencies of the Union.” eWashington realized at once that this summons had come none too soon. From the gazettes and through his correspondents he had learned of the rebellion of Massachusetts farmers under Daniel

14 Shays. Was the new nation breaking asunder in anarchy? Lament yielded to imperative advice in November as Washington urged James Madison, brilliant young member of the House of Delegates, to sponsor Virginia’s leadership in an action to save “the great and most important of all objects, the federal government.”eBack from Richmond by the first post came Madison’s affirmative response. Virginia was ready to lead and had, in fact, chosen its slate of representatives for the Philadelphia Convention – with Washington at the head. This last move the General apparently had not anticipated. He congratulated the House of Delegates on its initiative, then regretfully declined his own nomination. The excuses were manifold – rheumatism, the press of personal business, the finality of his retirement and, foremost, the fact that he already had refused the triennial meeting of the Society of the Cincinnati, planned also for May in Philadelphia. The positive arguments and deferential persuasions of Madison and Governor Edmund Randolph sufficed, after several months, to alter Washington’s decision. With some reluctance still, he set out for Philadelphia on the 9th of May, 1787. Before the month was out, Charles Wilson Peale had solicited the General to sit again for his portrait. From it was engraved the last mezzotint ever wrought by the artist. The painting was done in early July and perhaps reflects Washington’s mood during those hours of national crisis. To Randolph he had written passively, “I will hope for the best.” - The portrait of Washington in 1787 is by Charles Wilson Peale, in the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts......

Madison and Hamilton, A Coalition Dividing Conditioned by experience to full appreciation of able lieutenants, Washington could contemplate the future of the Federal government with satisfaction and shining hope as the First Congress recessed on September 29, 1789. Never in the War had the General undertaken a large task with so splendid a galaxy of subordinates. For once Washington had at hand men upon whom he could depend without reluctance, seasoned timber this time instead of green. All about him now the President saw statesmen, public servants sharpened and polished in the art of government by the strenuous councils of the Confederation. Two among these he could look upon as the expert engineers of the new Federal system – in the executive branch, Alexander Hamilton as Secretary of the Treasury; in the legislative, James Madison as majority leader of the House.e Every evidence pointed to the fruitful collaboration of these leaders in the momentous work ahead. Both had indefatigability of youth – the Secretary was 32, the Representative but six years his senior: both were admirably educated, practiced in debate, bold and brilliant political theorists; both were afire with patriotism, singleminded in their dedication to perpetuate America’s independence at all costs. It augured well further, that Hamilton and Madison had shared tribulation and triumph. Together in the Continental Congress, they had chafed at the feebleness of that body and had arrived substantially at the same criticisms. Out of their meeting at Annapolis in 1786 had come ......

15 Hamilton’s recommendation for a Federal Convention, and in Philadelphia the next year Madison’s genius distinguished him as the principal architect of the Constitution. Parallel effort for ratification was the surpassing accomplishment of their political intimacy – authorship of the Federalist Papers, Madison’s uphill struggle against the towering influence of Patrick Henry in Virginia, Hamilton’s climactic victory over the organized and articulate supporters of Governor Clinton in New York.eIt seemed a certainty, in autumn of 1789, that these men would continue to work together. On October 12, Hamilton asked Madison for suggestions “as to any modification of the public debt.” When, however, the Secretary presented to Congress in January, 1790, the first of his comprehensive financial reports, Madison stood at the head of a conscientious, determined opposition. Within a few months the ground had split irreparably between Hamilton and Madison, the pillars of Federalism upon whom Washington had rested his fondest anticipations. - The portrait of James Madison is painted by Gilbert Stuart. Alexander Hamilton by John Trumbull is in the Chamber of Commerce Great Hall , N.Y.C......

John Adams, A Man of No Party “The history of our Revolution,” wrote this round-faced man to a favorite correspondent in 1790, “will be one continued lie from one end to the other. The essence of the whole will be that Dr. Franklin’s electrical rod smote the earth and out sprang General Washington; that Franklin electrified him with his rod – and thence forward these two conducted all the policy, negotiations, legislatures, and war.”eSo ungenerous a reflection exhibits perfectly the scythe-edged mind of John Adams cutting its careless swath through a bountiful field of illustrious contemporaries. As a young lawyer in Boston, Adams had displayed prodigious pride in his growing library and in his encyclopedic professional knowledge, and had taken inordinate delight in the exposure of intellectual flaws among his associates. His tongue and his pen were as acid as his mind keen, and experience accentuated these characteristics until Adams in middle age could view, as Jefferson said, “all parties and all men” with a measure of contempt. This was his habit, and behind it was lost irretrievably the truly amiable nature of the man. Lighthearted and temporary as many of his judgments were, they cost him friends by the score. Through thirty years Adams had been accumulating enemies, and it was scarcely a surprise in 1789 when his election to the Vice Presidency was secured by thirty-four only of the sixty-nine votes cast. As it was, Adams’s candidacy was genuinely promoted by Benjamin Lincoln and just a few others in Massachusetts; Hamilton and Madison were not enthusiastic, and Washington endorsed Adams primarily because George Clinton was aspiring to office and the New York Governor had disclosed himself vehemently hostile to the new Constitution. Adams at least was a safe choice and eminently qualified, a thorough student of government and a pioneer advocate of the three-branch system. Realizing that his role would be a mute one, Adams mocked himself with the observation, “My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived.”eAvoided by Hamilton as an unmanageable individualist, and sharply distrusted by Jefferson and Madison as a potential monarchist, Adams

16 stood apart – in reality, a man of no party. Where it was needed, his support went consistently to the administration – but always as an independent and never as the arch Federalist, the Hamiltonian collaborator depicted by the Republicans in the vitriolic campaign of 1792. Some years earlier Jefferson had delineated Adams accurately: “He is as disinterested as the Being Who made him.”- The portrait of John Adams is after the Original by C. W. Peale, Independence Hall, Philadelphia......

Abigail Adams, “Seated High” “I hope you will see our worthy President. He is much a favorite of mine, I do assure you.” So wrote Abigail Adams to her sister in September, 1789. She was George Washington’s advocate from first acquaintance and ever afterward his champion. Following his recovery from grave illness in the spring of 1790, she made a discerning comment: “It appears to me that union of the States, and consequently the permanency of Government depend upon his life. . . His death would, I fear, have had most disastrous consequences.”No less was she Martha’s loyal lieutenant. Indeed, the Washingtons and the administration had no more ardent adherent. eIt was her husband’s welfare and interests, however, that she consistently devoted her fullest efforts. Surely, whatever John Adams accomplished, he did the better because of his admired and admiring Abigail – his chief informant, wise counsellor, defender. If she assumed command in many matters of home and state, she commanded at the same time the respect of all. Her right “to be seated high” never was seriously disputed, but it was herself, not her position, that won esteem. eA sickly child according to her own account, and for most of her adult life in “delicate health,” her activities and accomplishments contradict this background of physical frailty. Affliction she wore with grace as readily as she wore the becoming garments of a lady of station and charm. Of high native intelligence, blessed with endurance and determination, she seemed fitted for the “bravest or most delicate duties.” She could master with equal assurance the demanding details of a dairy farm or the elevated, exacting assignment as wife of the first American envoy to Great Britain. A certain masculinity of mind gave force and direction to her thinking, and an unusual perception of people and politics around her. The dangers and difficulties in the struggle to establish a new government were as understandable to her as were those of earlier years in the struggle for independence. Whether, as in 1776, the roar in her ears was that nearby Revolutionary cannon on Dorchester Heights or, as in the nineties that of fervent Anti-Federalists on the streets of Philadelphia, she reacted with courage.eAbigail Adams was quick to praise and to extol the virtues of others, but she did not spare, in spoken or written words, those who incurred her disapproval. Brilliant in conversation, this remarkable woman was apt of phrase and, happily for posterity as for her contemporaries, she was facile and picturesque of pen. The flavor and vitality of her letters were monumental then; they are her best monument now. - The portrait is after the Original by Gilbert Stuart, now in the Adams House, Quincy, Mass., and reproduced by permission of the owner, Mrs. Robert Homans, Boston......

17 Randolph and Jefferson, Virginians in Dissent On December 14, 1790, the Secretary of the Treasury presented to Congress the most striking feature of a spectacular financial program which already had pleased many, alienated many and had awakened partisanship in every corner of the Union. Hamilton now asked for the establishment of a central, or “national” bank. Debate commenced in the Senate on January 11, 1791, and ended affirmatively, nine days later; the House followed with approval, thirty-nine votes to twenty, on February 8. Passage had been easy, but a question of constitutionality was in the air – did Congress possess the power to charter a bank? Washington determined to settle this point before committing the bill to law by Presidential signature. The opinion of each of his principal advisers must be sought and studied. Most certainly the Secretary of War would join in advocacy, but what of Secretary of State Thomas Jefferson and Attorney General Edmund Randolph? In response to the President’s specific solicitation, Randolph delivered a long, legal opinion in the negative. Jefferson’s denial was more assertive – the bank bill stood clearly in excess of the Constitution and should go back to Congress unsigned.eBy every qualification and for a myriad of reasons, the President had cause to rest large confidence in each of these men. Jefferson he had appreciated as patriot, statesman and diplomatist for almost twenty years; Randolph he had known as a boy, the scion of a famous Williamsburg Family and a brilliant law student, then briefly as a military aide in 1775 and, more significantly, as an architect of the Constitution. Jefferson had authored the Declaration of Independence; Randolph had sponsored Madison’s formula at the Federal Convention and as Governor of Virginia in 1788, had exercised his influence for ratification despite reservations which prompted him to reject the Constitution in final form. After much negotiation, the President was gratified early in 1790 to procure for the Department of State the services of Jefferson, now 46 and admirably seasoned for this assignment by five years as envoy to France. Randolph, ten years younger but vastly experienced in public life and as competent a lawyer as Washington knew, accepted the Attorney Generalship at manifest personal sacrifice. The President valued the friendship and the association of these fellow-Virginians; he considered thoughtfully their objections, then gave Hamilton opportunity to answer. The logic and, even more, the urgency of the reply were devastating. Washington was convinced; he signed the bank bill on February 25,1791. - Edmund Randolph: From F.J. Fisher’s copy in the State Capital of Richmond of the original Gilbert Stuart. Thomas Jefferson: After the Original by C.W. Peale, Independence Hall, Philadelphia.

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18 Ames, Zealot on the Floor “A pretty little warbling canary bird” – this was John Adam’s recollection in old age of the foremost orator of the first years under the Constitution. Deeply read in ancient history and in classics, endowed with sprightly imagination and beautifully modulated voice, Fisher Ames of Massachusetts enjoyed some distinction as a public writer in the Federal cause when elected over to the House of Representatives in 1789. He was spare of frame and just turned thirty as he took his seat, but shortly Ames discovered an electric power of address which earned him acknowledgment as the outstanding spokesman of Federalism in Congress. Never among Hamilton’s intimate friends, he became the vigorous champion of Federalist philosophy. “Law,” Ames told the House in 1792 in typically graphic metaphor, “is in some countries the yoke of government which bends or breaks the necks of the people – but, thank Heaven, in this country it is a man’s shield, his coat of mail, his castle of safety.” His admirers compared him in speaking skill to Burke and in reasoning prowess to the elder Pitt – “My God! How great he is!” James Iredell was to exclaim. Broadened by study but not broken to discipline, the orator gave terse explanation for his own talent: “I am habitually a zealot in politics . . . I burn and freeze . . .”- After the Original by Gilbert Stuart, the Frick Art Reference Library......

William Maclay, Cantankerous Critic “What a set of vipers I have to deal with!” His colleagues in the Senate might have identified the cheerless ring of William Maclay of Pennsylvania, but in 1789 they would hardly have recognized this likeness of a youngish man. Already in his fifties, balding and rheumatic, the lawyer from Harrisburg that year was elevated from obscurity to the First Congress. Failing reelection, he surrendered his seat in March, 1792. If Maclay conversed with anything like the venom which characterized the daily entries in his Journal, he must have been conspicuously unpopular among his contemporaries. Hamilton’s sharpest critic and a consistent defamer of Adams, he was slightly more generous to Washington: “The creatures that surround him would place a crown on his head, that they may have the handling of its jewels.” With his exit Congress was rid of its most cantankerous member and, as well an arch-foe of Federalism.

- After a miniature portrait by an unknow artist, the Frick Art Reference Library......

19 George Washington Far Left: Statue on the front steps of Federal Hall in Wall Street, Manhattan, New York City. John Quincy Adams Ward’s 1882 bronze statue of George Washington sits at the approximate site where he was inaugurated as President and where he took the oath of office as the First President of the United States. Below: In 1784, through the intercession of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, who were in Paris, the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Houdon was commissioned to carve a full-length marble statue of George Washington for the State Capitol in Richmond, Virginia. Houdon traveled to America, and stayed for a fortnight at Mount Vernon, in October 1785. While there, he created a terracotta bust of Washington and executed the life mask of him which is shown.

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