THE LIFE OF AlDericanHistory ThroughLiterature

Paul Finkelman Series Editor

FREEDOM ROAD Howard Fast Introduction by Eric Foner

JOHN RANDOLPH Henry Adams Introduction by Robert McColley

THE LIn Of WASHINGTON Mason L. Weems Introduction by Peter S. Onuf

GETIYSBURG Edited by Earl Schenck Miers and Richard A. Brown Introduction by James I. Robertson, Jr.

CLonL; OR, THE PRESIDENT'S DAUGHTER William Wells Brown Introduction by Joan E. Cashin THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON MASON LOCKE WEEMS Anew edition with primary documents and introduction by PETERS. ONUF ROUTLEDGE Routledge Taylor & Francis Group

LONDON AND NEW YORK First published1996 by M.E. Sharpe

Published2015 by Routledge 2 Park Square,Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OXI4 4RN 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA

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Forewordand About theEditor copyright© 1996 Taylor & Francis.All rights reserved. Introduction and introductionto RelatedDocuments copyright © 1996 by PeterS. Onuf

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Weems,M. L. (MasonLocke), 1759-1825. The life of Washington/ Mason Locke Weems;a new edition with primary documentsand introductionby PeterS. Onuf. p. cm. - (Americanhistory through literature) Previouslypublished: , N.Y. : Printedfor membersof the Limited Editions Club at the pressof A Colish, 1974. ISBN 1-56324-698-8(alk. paper)-- ISBN 1-56324-699-6(pbk. : alk. paper) I. Washington,George, 1732-1799. 2. Presidents-UnitedStates-Biography. 3. Generals-UnitedStates-Biography. 4. United States.-Biography. I. Onuf, PeterS. II. Title. III. Series. E312.W3893 1996 973.4'1 '092-dc20 [B) 95-26565 CIP ISBN 13: 9781563246999(pbk) ISBN 13: 9781563246982(hbk) Contents

Forewordby Paul Finkelman vii Introductionby PeterS. Onuf ix I Introductory 1 II Birth and Education 5 III George'sFather Dies-His Education Continued by His Mother-HisBehaviour under School-master Williams 14 IV GeorgeLeaves School-Is Appointed a Private Surveyorto Lord Fairfax, of the NorthernNeck- Wishesto Enteron Boardof a British Man of War-ProvidentiallyPrevented by His Mother- The First Lightnings of His Soul to War 19 V FrenchEncroachments on the Ohio--Washington VolunteersHis Servicesto GovernorDinwiddie-- His HazardousEmbassy to the Frenchand Indians-MiraculousEscapes-Account of His Journal-Anecdoteof His Modesty 23 VI The Frenchand Indian War Begins-WashingtonGoes Forth to Meet the Dangersof His Country-Aimsa Blow at Fort Du Quesne--Fails---GallantDefence of Fort Necessity-Retiresfrom the Servicein Disgust-Pressedinto it Again by General Braddock-Defeatand Deathof Braddock,and Dreadful Slaughterof His Army 27 VII Fateful Effects of Braddock'sDefeat-Washington Wishesto Carry the War into Indian Country- GovernmentRefuses--Defensive War Preferred- The FrontiersDesolated 37 VIII Washington'sMother Has a Very CuriousDream- It Pointsto GreatComing Troubles--ACloud Rising in England-The Causesof the RevolutionaryWar 45 IX Battle of Bunker's-hill-OfSullivan's Island- Declarationof Independence-Defeatof the Americanson Long-Island-HoweLooks Big- Times Squally 60 X Lord North, Coming to His Senses,Sends Commissionersto America-ClintonEvacuates Philadelphia-WashingtonPursues Him---Arnold'sApostacy-Andre Apprehended-Executed-HisCharacter 80 XI WashingtonAgain on His Farm-Sketchof His ConductThere-Suggests the Importanceoflnland Navigation---CompaniesForming-Urges a Reform of the Old Constitution-AppointedPresident ofthe United States--GreatDifficulties to Encounter----GloriouslySurmounts Them 103 XII The Deathof Washington 132 XIII Characterof Washington 139 XIV Washington'sCharacter Continued-His Benevolence 151 XV Washington'sCharacter Continued-His Industry 164 XVI Washington'sCharacter Continued-His Patriotism-Conclusion-Washington'sWill 173 RelatedDocuments 183 Foreword

Novelists, poets, and essayistsoften use history to illuminate their understandingof humaninteraction. At times theseworks also illumin- ate our history. They also help us better understandhow people in different times and places thought about their own world. Popular novelsare themselvesartifacts of history. This seriesis designedto bring back into print works of literature-- in the broadestsense of the term-thatilluminate our understandingof U.S. history. Each book is introducedby a major scholarwho places the book in a context and also offers some guidanceto reading the book as "history." The editor will show us where the author of the book has been in error, as well as where the author is accurate.Each reprintedwork also includesa few documentsto illustrate the histori- cal settingof the work itself. Books in this series will primarily fall into three categories.First, we will reprint works of "historical fiction"-books that are essentially works of history in a fictional setting. Ratherthan simply fiction about the past, eachwill be first-rate history presentedthrough the voices of fictional characters,or throughfictional presentationsof real characters in ways that do not distort the historical record. Second,we will reprint works of fiction, poetry, and other forms of literature that are primary sourcesof the era in which they were written. Finally, we will repub- lish nonfiction such as autobiographies,reminiscences, essays, and journalistic exposes,and even works of history that also fall into the generalcategory ofliterature.

Paul Finkelman

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GeorgeWashington died at Mount Vernon on December14, 1799, in the midst of a sustainedpolitical crisis that threatenedto destroy the fragile Americanunion. Countlesseulogists rushed into print to memo- rialize the first president'slife. Most were socially conservativeand politically High Federalistpreachers in prosperousport cities to the north who invoked filiopietistic reverencefor the "father of his coun- try" in order to buttressthe authority of the still-new federal govern- ment. But Mason Locke Weems was different. A forty-year-old, sometime Anglican cleric who said he had once been rector at (the mythical) "Mount-Vernon Parish" and who now made a living as an itinerant bookseller,Weems was more inspired by commercialoppor- tunities. "Washington,you know is gone," he wrote Philadelphiapub- lisher Mathew Carey, and "millions are gaping to read something about him." Weemshad a much better sensethan his competitorsof what the American people wantedto read. In respondingto this mar- ket, Weemsplayed an essentialrole in fabricating the image of Wash- ington that has since dominatedthe Americanhistorical imagination.It was the opportunisticbookseller of no certainpolitical persuasion,not the Federalistfaithful who long baskedin the father'sreflected glory, who securedWashington's everlasting fame. Weems'sLife ofWashington was one of the first greatbestsellers in American literature. The first edition, which Carey did not publish, appearedwithin months of its subject'sdeath. Recognizinghis poor judgment in spurning Weems'soriginal offer, Carey published later, much revised and enlarged versions, including the ninth edition of

ix x THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON

1809, reprinted here; by 1825, anothertwenty editions had beenpub- lished. To some extent the Life's popular appealmay be attributed to the edifying anecdotesabout the young Washingtoncollected in chap- ters 2 and 3, most notoriouslythe apocryphalcherry tree story ("I can't tell a lie, Pa"). "In the most elegantorations pronounced to his praise," Weemswrites in chapter1, "you seenothing of Washingtonbelow the clouds," nothing that common folk could identify with and aspire to. Weemspromises to focus on Washington's"private virtues," for "in these,every youth is interested,because in theseevery youth may become a Washington."Yet in truth very little of the Life fulfills this promise: by chapter4, the precocioussoldier has already been appointedmajor and adjutantgeneral of the Virginia forces; thereafterWeems's Washington is a decidedlyand very self-consciouslypublic man. Neither Weemsnor his readerswere particularly interestedin "hu- manizing" the great man, in bringing him "below the clouds" and down to earth. Quite the contrary, the heart of the Life is the inspired and inspiring rhetoric that markedkey passagesin Washington'spub- lic life and set forth Washington's--andWeems's--conception of American nationhood.Biography is the means,not the end, an excuse for concoctinga pasticheof addressesand admonitionsthat embodied the voice of paternal authority to a widening circle of dutiful and adoring readers.The enterprisingparson thus tappeda motherlode of popular patriotic sentiment.Weems's great achievementwas to liber- ate Washingtonfrom the embraceof his Federalistfriends--and eulo- gists--andto fashion a nonpartisanfather figure whose"voice" would resonatefor succeedinggenerations of his countrymen.

* * *

No one was bettersituated to be exaltedas a national hero, to embody the very idea of nationhood,than GeorgeWashington. From the very moment Congresschose him to commandthe American armies, on June 15, 1775, Washingtonwas celebratedas a great defenderof re- publican liberty. His script was already written for him when he as- sumedhis commandin the siegeof Boston in July. A truly repUblican hero, Washingtonunderstood, would never seek power as an end in itself, nor would he abusepower delegated to him. As Americanscame to see King George III as a despotic and unfeeling tyrant who had betrayedhis paternalobligations to his colonial "children," they natu- INTRODUCTION xi rally looked to Washingtonfor the republicanalternative, an appropri- ate father figure for American"Sons of Liberty." Washington,Weems's Life makesclear, knew that patriotic Ameri- cans expectedgreat things of him. Weems tells us that character,or reputation,is everything: "the private virtues ... lay the foundation of all humanexcellence," and thesemust be displayed"in all their lustre, before the admiring eyesof our children" (chapter1). From his preco- cious debut in public life, the young Washingtonhad beenconscious of his countrymen'sgaze, "early aware of the importanceof charac- teY' (chapter7). As a provincial officer in the Frenchand Indian War, he would not rest "content,himself to knowthat he had actedwisely or bravely," but "took care that the public should know it also." An avid reader of English playwright JosephAddison's Cato (1712), an im- menselypopular and influential rendition of the last daysof the Roman Republic, Washingtonwas always exquisitelyself-conscious about his performanceson the public stage, and of the need to adhereto the loftiest standardof republican virtue and self-sacrifice. The "private virtues" that Weems'sWashington, the "great preceptorto his coun- try," would impart to the rising generationwere derivedfrom the virtu- ouspublic personahe cultivatedthroughout his career(chapter 15). With many other self-styledrepublican patriots of the revolutionary generation,Washington recognized that his own passionsand ambi- tions constituted the greatestobstacles to his own and his new country's ultimate success.For a generationfearful to the point of paranoiaabout abusesof power-andreflexively hostile to "standing armies," the great engines of despotism-makingwar against the mothercountry, the greatestpower on earth,posed extraordinary ideo- logical, institutional, and personal problems: how could Americans assumeand exercisepower without jeopardizingliberty? Washington, who was "born to be a soldier," knew that the first enemyto be con- quered was his own "malignant passions" and "unreasonableself' (chapters3, 14). Having "triumph[ed] over himself," over his own lust for power, he could in turn triumph "over the British" (chapter 1). It was in this sensethat public virtue was predicatedon private, for republi- can heroesmust first vanquishpassionate and sinful impulsesthat could destroythe republic beforeexercising power in the public'sname. Washington'spersona was brilliantly fitted to the revolutionarymo- ment. The commander-in-chiefsecured the adoration of his fellow Americansby eschewingpersonal power, by standingon the dignity of xii THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON thatth~ Congress that commissionedhim (chapter9), by scrupulouslyup- holding the supremacyof civil authoritiesat all times. His restraintwas all the more remarkablewhile Congressand the state governments, overwhelmedby the burdensof a seeminglyinterminable and increas- ingly unpopularwar, squabbledamong themselvesand failed to sup- port their armies adequatelyin the field. Americans could revere GeneralWashington as they would a king, preciselybecause he did not graspfor kingly power, even as despairingpatriots began to fear that a return to monarchywas inevitable. It was much more important for Washingtonto enacthis script of republicanself-denial and to perse- vere from one inconclusivecampaign to the next than it was to achieve great victories--andthus to wield an irresistiblepower that might endan- ger liberty. Weems'sWashington is, of course, a great soldier, and his exploits on the battlefield--moststirringly at Trenton (chapter 9}----are duly celebrated.But the measureof Washington'sgreatness was always in what he would not do as he resistedtemptations to grasppower. Weems'sLife of Washingtonis a chronicle of reluctant public ser- vice and timely resignations.Washington's first resignation--fromthe British army in protestagainst the policy that "American officers, act- ing with the British, should bear no command" (chapter6}-set the pattern for his subsequentcareer. Washingtonhere demonstratedthe principled sensitivity to invidious distinctions that later would inspire provincial elites to launchan armedrebellion on behalfof equalrights. At the sametime, he discoveredthat withdrawal from public life pro- vided an extraordinaryopportunity to gain the public's attention and exercisea virtuous influence on its affairs. To achievelasting fame, he must be preparedto relinqUish power, to leave the scenes-andtemp- tations-ofpublic life, "Cincinnatus-like" for "his favourite plough" (chapter6). Washington'spreference for private life underscoredthe patriotic sacrificeshe madewhen he returnedto public service:to join GeneralBraddock's ill-starred marchto Fort Duquesnein 1755 (chap- ter 6); to take commandof the Continental army in 1775; to preside over the PhiladelphiaConvention in 1787; and shortly thereafterto become president under the new federal Constitution (chapter 11). Washington'sprevious withdrawals made these reluctant returns seem legitimateto vigilant republicanswho fearedthe abuseof power. Washington'smost significant withdrawal, the one that sealedhis lasting fame for his contemporaries,was his resignationfrom the army after the Peaceof Paris in 1783 had finally securedAmerican indepen- INTRODUCTION xiii dence.The period betweenthe Franco-Americanvictory at Yorktown in the summerof 1781 and news of the definitive peacein late 1783 was surely one of the most agonizing times in Washington'scareer: British forces remainedpoised to resumethe war while disgruntled dissidentsin his own army clamoredfor back pay and threatenedto seizethe remnantsof power from an increasinglyimpotent Congress. "Here, no doubt," writes Weems,"the tempter flashed the dangerous diadem before the eyes of our Countryman"(chapter 10). But Wash- ington would never betray his country, despitethe promptingsof his men and the provocationsof civilian authorities. "We have had the glory to conquerour enemies,"he told his restive colleaguesat New- burgh in March 1783; "now for the greater glory to conquer our- selves."He went on: in conqueringthemselves--as he had conquered himself-theywould "teachthe delightedworld, that men are capable of finding a heavenin noble actions.""As from the noblestof theatres, you shall display a spectacleof patriotism never seen before.... " Washington reenactedthis noble "spectacle" when he returned his commission to Congress,then meeting at Annapolis, in December 1783. Forced by mutinous state troops to flee Philadelphiain June, congressmencould appreciatethe awesomesignificance of Washington'srenunciation of power and the resulting demobilization of the Continentalarmy. Washington'sperformances at Newburgh and Annapolis demon- strateda highly theatrical senseof entrancesand exits. The metaphor of life-as-theaterwas compelling for Americans of the revolutionary generation: the unfolding historical drama was marked by epochal scenesand great speeches thatcommemorated and inspired noble ac- tions. Always a fervent and faithful constitutionalist,Washington dis- played the consciousnessof role and concernfor characterthat could translatelofty principle into the practiceof public life. Popularsover- eignty was the mastermetaphor for the new republicandispensation, with a vigilant electoratemeasuring public performancesagainst constitutional scripts that set forth and securedthe great principles of free government. As commander-in-chief,Washington demonstrated a masteryof his own role, showinghow the man of action could be guidedby reverencefor the rule of law. Following the samescript, PresidentWashington was rigor- ously, evenobsessively, punctilious about the etiquetteof republicancourt life, always consciousof the dignity of his office and of the majestyof the sovereignpeople whose commission he held. xiv THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON

Washington'smasterful performance in office was crucial to estab- lishing the legitimacy of the new federal government.Eager to return to Mount Vernon, Washingtonplanned to serveonly one term. In 1792 he begandrafting what would becomehis FarewellAddress, only to be dissuadedfrom retirement by pleas of colleagueswho feared that emerging partisandivisions would destroy the Union and with it the great American experimentin republican government.But this fac- tional polarization--pittingFederalist defenders of the administration and its controversialfinancial and foreign policies againstJeffersonian Republicanoppositionists, who fearedthe "consolidation"of power in an overly energetic central government-proceededapace in Washington'ssecond term, with Washington himself increasingly drawn into the polemical crossfire.When the first presidentfinally did publish his famous Farewell Address in September1796 (the center- piece of Weems'sLife, it is printed in full in chapter11), Washington was inspired as much by bitter feelings toward oppositionistswho challengedhis capacity for leadership,depicting him as a pawn of Alexander and his High Federalistallies, as he was by his anxious forebodings about the future of the Union he so cherished. Indeed, the partisanassault on Washington'scharacter constituted the most powerful evidencefor him-andfor a generationof Americans who revered him as father of his country-thatthe survival of the federal republic was in greatperil. The chiefprecipitant of party polarizationwas JohnJay's controver- sial treaty with Britain of 1794. According to Jeffersoniancritics, the treaty betrayedAmerican obligationsto France,its greatrevolutionary ally, making the United Statesa British satellite in the "conspiracyof kings" against France's republican revolution. Not surprisingly, Weems refers only briefly to these acrimoniousdebates: while cele- brating Washington's''firmness'' and "wisdom" in signing and im- plementingthe treaty, Weemsacknowledges that "this desirableevent was entirely execratedby great numbersof sensibleand honestmen" (chapter 11). Of course, many of these same "sensible and honest" men bitterly denouncedWashington, calling into questionthe imageof repUblican patriot-and "president above parties"-thathe had so carefully cultivated, and that Weemsnow soughtto refurbish. By the end of Washington'ssecond term, Jeffersonianoppositionists were so disenchantedwith their putative political "father" that they welcomed the ascensionof "honest" in 1797 to the third and final INTRODUCTION xv term of Federalist rule; Jefferson, their preferred candidate,would serveas Adams'svice president. Deepdivisions amongthe American peoplealong partisanand sec- tionallinestarnished Washington's image, providing the subjectmatter for a farewell addressthat would revivify patriotic devotion to union, and so redeem Washington'scharacter and secure his peaceful and contented retirement. The address,drawing on drafts provided by Hamilton and JamesMadison, was a brilliant recapitulationof central themesin earlier statepapers, including his Circular Letter to the Gov- ernorsof the States(June 8, 1783), written in anticipationof his retire- ment as commander-in-chief,and his First Inaugural Address as president(April 30, 1789). By reminding his countrymenof "the im- mensevalue of your national union," and of his own unremitting ef- forts to sustain and strengthenthat union throughout his career, Washingtonsought to rise abovethe partisanfray, to exploit this mo- ment of withdrawal, when his influence would be magnified and his motives could not be impugned. Not coincidentally, ParsonWeems tells us, the FarewellAddress is "about the length of an ordinary sermon," and it "may do as much good to the people of America as any sermon ever preached,that DIVINE ONE on the mount excepted"(chapter 11). The Farewell Addresswas popularly known as Washington's"leg- acy" to the Americanpeople. Within a few yearsits teachingabout the necessityof union and the dangersof "entanglingalliances" with for- eign powers--thegreat engineof domesticparty divisions in the early repUblic-wouldbecome holy writ for RepUblicansas well as for Fed- eralists. Yetwhen he retired to Mount Vernon in 1797, Washington's public careerwas not definitively closed. The Farewell Addressmay have been a stirring, and ultimately effective, call for national unity, but the diplomatic and political realities of the Adams years exacer- batedthe differencesthat had so exasperatedWashington. Deteriorating relations with France led to an undeclared "Quasi- War" (1798-1800),and Hamiltonian High Federalistsrode a crest of popular prowar sentimentto preparefor a full-fledged war--and to suppressRepublican oppositionists who supposedlyaided and abetted the enemy.Hamilton, who had servedas Washington'sadjutant during the RevolutionaryWar, still thirsted for battlefield glory, and he saw his opportunity in the "Provisional Army" authorizedby Congressto repel the anticipatedFrench invasion. To ensurethat the new army would enjoy broad popular support, Hamilton beggedWashington to xvi THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON assumeits command,to leave "his favourite plough" yet once again at a time of national emergency.Should an invasion actually take place, Washingtonagreed, he would take commandof the ProvisionalArmy, but the old generalwas confidentthat the Frenchwould not be "so mad as to venturean attackwhen they shallfind that the spirit ofthe nation is up" (chapter11). Washington'scharacter as a patriot would be reaf- firmed, for patriotic Americanswould be as unanimouslyopposed to the Frenchas they had beento British tyranny in the Revolution. In any event, High Federalistbellicosity was undercutby Adams's eleventh-hourdiplomacy: war fever subsided,Republicans rallied againstadministration excesses, and Jeffersonrode the reSUlting back- lash to the presidencyin his "revolution of 1800." Wheredid this dizzy chain of eventsleave Washingtonand his image?Was he, as Republi- cans had arguedin the waning months of his presidency,Hamilton's dupe?Could Washingtonbe extricatedfrom his Federalistfriends, and so regain his rightful statureas the "father of his country"?These were the questionsand challengesfacing Mason L. Weemsafter Washing- ton died on December14, 1799, executinga final withdrawal to "that pure, unembitteredfelicity, which the Almighty parenthas prepared in heavenfor the spirits of the just" (chapter12).

***

Washington'simage was restoredto its former glory even while his Federalistfriends squabbledamong themselves and preparedthe way for a Republican revival. Jeffersonians,who had been bullied into sullen silence for questioningadministration policy, now discovered that exalting Washington,the icon of Federalism,was the key to popu- lar success.With Federalism'sdemise, Washington could be embraced once again as the father of his country, a patriot above parties. Con- gressional Republicansseized their chance when news of the first president'sdeath arrived in Philadelphia."For severaldays hardly any thing was done in congress,"Weems writes, "but to talk of and to praisethe departedWashington. In this patriotic work all partiesjoined with equal alacrity and earnestness.In this," Weemsconcludes, in a passagewritten after Jefferson'sFirst InauguralAddress (March 1801) and echoing its conciliatory language,"all were federalists, all were republicans"(chapter 12). Weems'scrucial move was to link the death of Washington,the INTRODUCTION xvii popular hero of the Revolution, with the inaugurationof Jefferson, leaderof the self-proclaimedparty of the people.Revised and enlarged over the courseof Jefferson'stwo terms, Weems'sLife preachedna- tional unity, even when unpopular policies such as the ill-fated em- bargo (1807-1808) on foreign trade raised a firestorm of protest in New England and other commercial regions. Weems'stext was the Farewell Address,where, "like a true teachersent from God," Wash- ington "dwells chiefly on our union and brotherly love." Union, "the first birth oftrue religion, appearsto him as the one thing needful, the spring of political life, the bond of perfection" (chapter 16). In 1809, union meant supportingthe incoming administrationof JamesMadi- son, Jefferson'ssuccessor, even if this meant going to war against Britain, as it would within a few short years. ParsonWeems and his legion readersfound religious imagerycom- pelling, and it is one of the ironies of the rise of nationalistsentiment in America that Jefferson,the free-thinking Unitarian who loathedevan- gelical Christianity, should be one of its chief beneficiaries. Jesus Christ is "the Divine Founderof your republic," Weemstells his read- ers, and you can "hear his voice from the lips of his servantWashing- ton: 'Above all things hold dear your NATIONAL UNION ... .' " With the apotheosisof the first president(who, as in the inventedquotation above,continues to speakfrom beyondthe grave) camethe sacraliza- tion of the Union, the fundamentof the new Americancreed. In a kind of apostolic succession,Jefferson became the instrumentof this mil- lennial scheme afterWashington's death. Weems'ssuccess in depict- ing Washingtonas Christ's servantlifted the First Federalistfar above the partisanfray, enablingJefferson, the new guardianof sacredunion, to proclaimhis own nonpartisanpatriotism. Weems'sLife exploited a strain of patriotic religiosity that had helped make the broadly appealingto common folk with little direct interestin the constitutional issuesthat precipi- tated the imperial crisis. "Union" was a themethat had long resonated with evangelical revivalists, who sought to advance the cause of Christ's Kingdom in the New World. Evangelical Christianity also enabledWeems to translateWashington's self-consciously neoclassi- cal concernswith characterand reputationinto a popular, democratic idiom. The "germ of piety" implantedin the young Washington'sheart by his loving father "filled his after life with so many of the precious fruits of morality" (chapter 2); and evangelical Protestantswould xviii THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON readily recognizeWashington's struggle for self-masteryas the strug- gle of fallen man against his sinful nature, and that "so good a man must be the peculiar favourite of Heaven" (chapter 13). As Washing- ton himselfinsisted in his First Inaugural,"religion is the indispensable support"of republicanvirtue. Conspicuouslyabsent from Weems'saccount were the chargesof "infidelity" and "Jacobinism"that Federalistpoliticians and preachers leveledat Jeffersonduring the 1800 presidentialcampaign. For invidi- ous distinctions, Weemsturned insteadto the traitor BenedictArnold and, perhapsmore significantly for Washington'sfuture as father of his country, to Alexander Hamilton and his murderer, Aaron Burr. Both men were endowed with magnificent gifts: Hamilton was "a gigantic genius--astatesman fit to rule the mightiest monarchy"; Burr was "born to be great-braveas Caesar,polished as Chester- field, eloquent as Cicero," seemingly destined "to fill the place where Washingtonhad sat" (chapter13). But, alas, both were fatally flawed. "For lack of religion," Hamilton pursued"the phantomhon- our up to the pistol's mouth" in the fatal duel with Burr at Weehawken,New Jersey, in July 1804; also lacking religion, the impetuous Burr "could not wait the spontaneousfall of the rich honoursripening over his head." In Weems'saccount, Hamilton's and Burr's sinfulnesswas demon- stratedby the recklessways in which they risked the Union andsquan- dered natural gifts that could have benefited their country. Not coincidentally,Hamilton and Burr were Jefferson'sgreat political ene- mies, each representinga great threat to the future of the Union as Jefferson understoodit: Hamilton would draw all authority into an overpowerful central government,obliterating the states, and ulti- mately (fearful Jeffersonianspredicted) erect a British-style monarchy on the ruins of repUblican government; if thwarted in his quest for nationalpower, Burr, the quintessentialopportunist, would destroythe Union by fomenting separatistconspiracies. By transforming Washington'sadmonitions to his political children on behalfof sacred union into articles of patriotic faith, and by banishingJefferson's great rivals from the repUblican pantheon,Weems openedthe way for the emergenceof Jeffersonas a Christiannationalist, the hero of evangeli- cal sectariansthroughout the country.

*** INTRODUCTION xix

Mason L. Weems was well preparedby his own personalhistory to take a leading role in the apotheosisof Washington. Born in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in 1759, the first president'sfuture biogra- pher was the youngest of David Weems'snineteen children. After spendingmost of the RevolutionaryWar yearsin Britain, first studying medicine and then preparingfor the ministry, young Weemspreached in his native Maryland for severalyears before relocatingto Dumfries in Prince William County, eighteenmiles below Mount Vernon on the Potomac River, after marrying Frances Ewell in 1795. By 1791 Weemshad alreadybegun selling books,traveling as far as New York to the north and Georgiato the south. Weemswas happyto provide his farflung customerswith anything they fancied, including his own Life of Washington and popular biographies of , South Carolina'srevolutionary "Swamp Fox," and William Penn,founder of Pennsylvania.Using Prince William as his horne base,the publishing parsoncontinued to travel until his deathin Beaufort, South Carolina, in May 1825. Weems could exploit neighborhoodknowledge--and folklore--in embellishinghis portrait of Washington.But it was Weems'ssensitiv- ity to his prospectiveaudience that set him apartfrom his competitors, a sensitivity that may have reflectedthe ambiguity of his own creden- tials as a revolutionary patriot. Whether or not his protractedstay in Britain was promptedby loyalist sentiments,Weems clearly choseto avoid service in the American armies. And before returning to Amer- ica, he took ordersin the Churchof England,presumably finding some artful way not to swearallegiance to King GeorgeIII, its titular head. Weems'stiming could not have beenworse. Avowed Loyalists, return- ing to America at the sametime under the putative protection of the Peaceof Paris, were greetedwith social ostracismand legal sanctions. In most states,including Maryland, Anglican clergymenwere notori- ously loyalist, and their once proud church--bulwarkof the provincial social order-wasshunned by patriots. The AmericanizedEpiscopal church would not regain anything of its old vigor for more than a generation;instead, the evangelicalsects, notably Baptists and Meth- odists, dominated the religious landscapein the postrevolutionary Chesapeake--preciselywhen the young Anglican Weems sought to makea living for himselfthere. Weems'sexpensive British educationsignified his elite background and social aspirations;his ultimate successas author and bookseller xx THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON testified to his adaptability to the revolutionary transformation of American society and culture. Commercial opportunities may have drawn him out of his pulpit, but, like the religious revivalists whose techniqueshe mimicked, Weemsfound a large, receptiveaudience for his new kind of preaching.If the immediateimperative was to give the peoplewhat they wanted,the implicit messagewas that the people,the ultimate authority in the new republic, were sovereign--andwere enti- tled to hearand read whatever they wanted. Weems'sdeference to popularsovereignty is exemplifiedin the Life by the solicitudeof Washington,"the greatpreceptor," for the virtuous characterof republicanchildren who must one day governthemselves. In retrospect,this didacticismmay seemto be stultifyingly moralistic, dripping with an ostentatiousreligiosity. But for evangelicalAmeri- cans of the revolutionary generation, Weems's Washington spoke home truths, and no more compellingly than in grounding personal successas well as the nation's"political salvation"in the acceptanceof Christ's teachings.It was Christ's gospel of love and forgiveness,the "union and brotherly affection" preachedby his disciple Washington, that spoke most directly to Weems'scondition, however cynical and opportunistiche may havebeen. For Weemscould survive and prosper only in a world where the people took the messageof his Life of Washingtonto heart, in a national community that embracedanyone who embracedthe articles of faith exemplified and articulatedby the "father of his country." The awful antithesisof union was civil war. Weemswarned that a "separationof the states" would lead to a bloody war, with "all the bitternessand exterminatingspirit of a family quarrel" (chapter 16). The awful sceneshe evoked were not the figment of an overheated imagination: Americans of the revolutionary generationhad slaugh- tered each other in just such a family quarrel, most notoriously in the vicious struggle "between whigs and tories in the southern states." Weemspresumably experienced something of this conflict in his own life, however successfulhe may have been in avoiding the war; and Weems'scustomers in the southern backcountry could testify that "when brethrenturn their swordsinto eachother's bowels, war degen- eratesinto murder,and battlesinto butcheries." The family metaphor was a powerful one for Americans of the revolutionary generation.Nothing could be more horrible for them than the perversionand destructionof familial bonds andobligations: INTRODUCTION xxi the failure of GeorgeIII as political father led inexorablyto fratricidal divisions among the children he betrayed.By the same sentimental logic, Revolutionariessought to overcomethese dangerous divisions in a transcendent,patriotic brotherhood,constructing a "more perfect union" symbolically completed by the apotheosisof Washington, a good-----thatis, thoroughly republican-fatherfigure. Yet the yearning expressedby Weemsand other worshipersat Washington'sshrine is not for a return to a state of childlike dependencyunder an idealized monarchicalregime, substitutinggood father for bad, but rather for an end to the chronic, increasinglybitter conflicts amongthe children that threatenedto destroy a fragile union and the liberties it so tenuously secured. So many readers found the messageof Weems'sLife of Washingtoncompelling becausethey too recognizedthe ever-present dangersof disunion and civil war. Thesedangers were as great when Weems brought out his ninth edition in 1809, when the new nation stoodon the brink of yet anotherwar for independencewith Britain, as they had beenin the waning days of Federalistrule ten yearsearlier, or in 1776 when the Revolutionariesmade their fateful decisionto break away from the empire. Modem readerswill misreadWeems's book if they fail to graspthe political context within which it was written and first read. Taken out of that context,Weems's language seems exaggerated and overheated, crudely and transparentlydidactic, filiopietistic and moralistic. But what jars modem sensibilities is precisely what enabled Weems to reach his own audienceso effectively. The Life of Washington suc- ceeds brilliantly in memorializing the great rhetorical momentsthat marked, and to a large extent constituted,Washington's career. Ad- dressesoriginally designedfor selectaudiences and subsequentlycir- culatedthrough newspapers,magazines, pamphlets, and books--such as John Marshall's expensive,overstuffed, and justly neglectedfive- volume biography of Washington (1804--1807)--nowreached their widest audiencein Weems'sLife. By no meanswere theseaddresses simply of antiquarianinterest, for the ways in which Weems'sreaders respondedto Washington'sadmonitions would determine the new nation'sfuture. Skeptical readersmay-and should-quarrel with Weems'sversion of Washington.But they should also recognizethat, for all its errors and excess,The Life of Washington serves its subject well. Weems helped make Washingtona living, speakingpresence for a generation xxii THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON of readerswho knew that the work Washingtonhad begun remained incomplete. They, like Weems,may have had their own peculiar rea- sons for exalting national unity, but in doing so they both identified and identified with the central theme of Washington'spublic career. And Weems'shumble readersknew that, in the final accounting,they were the true custodiansof Washington'scharacter and reputation. Only by sustainingand strengtheningthe Union, by preservingand extendingthe stageon which the rising generationof young patriots would play their own roles, could Americansbecome the "GREAT AND HAPPY NATION" that GeorgeWashington envisioned. In doing so they would pay the ultimate tribute to the "father of his country."

PeterS. Onuf Chapter I

OH! as along the streamof time thy name Expandedflies, and gathersall its fame; May then theselines to future days descend, And prove thy COUNTRY'S good thine only end!

"AH, gentlemen!"-exc1aimedBonaparte-'twas just as he was about to embarkfor Egypt ... someyoung Americanshappening at Toulon, and anxiousto seethe mighty Corsican,had obtainedthe honour of an introduction to him. Scarcely were past the customary salutations, when he eagerlyasked, "how fares yourcountryman, the great W ASH- INGTON?" "He was very well," replied the youths, brightening at the thought that they were the countrymenof Washington;"he was very well, general,when we left America."-"Ah,gentlemen!" rejoined he, "Washingtoncan never be otherwisethan well.·-Themeasure of his fame is full-Posterity shall talk ofhim with reverenceas the founder ofa great empire, when my nameshall be lost in the vortex ofRevolu- tions! " Who then that has a spark of virtuous curiosity, but must wish to know the history of him whosename could thus awakenthe sigh even of Bonaparte?But is not his history already known? Have not a thou- sandorators spread his fame abroad,bright as his own Potomac,when he reflects the morning sun, and flames like a sea of liquid gold, the wonder and delight of all the neighbouring shores?Yes, they have indeed spreadhis fame abroad ... his fame as Generalissimoof the armies,and first Presidentof the councils of his nation. But this is not I 2 THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON halfhis fame.... True, he is there seenin greatness,but it is only the greatnessof public character,which is no evidenceof true greatness; for a public characteris often an artificial one. At the headof an army or nation, where gold and glory are at stake, and where a man feels himself the burning focus of unnumberedeyes; he must be a paltry fellow indeed,who does not play his part pretty handsomely... even the commonpassions of pride, avarice,or ambition, will put him up to his metal, and call forth his bestand bravestdoings. But let all this heat and blaze of public situation and incitementbe withdrawn; let him be thrust back into the shadeof private life, and you shall seehow soon, like a forced plant robbedof its hot-bed,he will drop his false foliage and fruit, and stand forth confessedin native stickweedsterility and worthlessness.... Therewas BenedictArnold-while strutting a BRIG- ADIER GENERAL on the public stage,he could play you the great man, on a handsomescale ... he out-marchedHannibal, and out-fought Burgoyne . . . he chacedthe British like curlews, or coopedthem up like chickens! and yet in the private walks of life, in Philadelphia,he could swindle rum from the commissary'sstores, and, with the aid of loose women, retail it by the gill!! ... And there was the great duke of Marlboroughtoo-his public character,a thunderboltin war! Britain's boast,and terror ofthe French! But his private character,what? Why a swindler to whom not Arnold's self could hold a candle; a perfect nondescriptof baseness;a shaverof farthings from the poor sixpenny pay of his own brave soldiers!!! It is not then in the glare of public, but in the shadeof private life, that we are to look for the man. Private life is always real life. Behind the curtain, where the eyesof the million are not upon him, and where a man can have no motive but inclination, no excitementbut honest nature, there he will always be sure to act himself; consequently,if he act greatly, he must be greatindeed. Hence it has beenjustly said, that, "our private deeds,if noble, are noblestof our lives." Of theseprivate deedsof Washingtonvery little has been said. In most of the elegantorations pronounced to his praise,you seenothing of Washingtonbelow the clouds-nothingof Washingtonthe dutiful son--the affectionatebrother-the cheerful school-boy-thediligent surveyor-theneat draftsman-thelaborious farmer-and widow's husband-theorphan's father-the poor man'sfriend. No! this is not the Washingtonyou see; 'tis only Washingtonthe HERO, and the Demi- god.... Washingtonthe sun beamin council, or the storm in war. CHAPTER J 3

And in all the ensignsof character,amidst which he is generally drawn, you seenone that representhim what he really was, "the Jupi- ter Conservator,"the friend and benefactorof men. Where'shis bright ploughsharethat he loved-or his wheat-crownedfields, waving in yellow ridges before the wanton breeze--orhis hills whitened over with flocks----or his clover-coveredpastures spread with innumerous herds----orhis neat-cladservants, with songsrolling the heavy harvest before them? Such were the scenesof peace,plenty, and happiness,in which Washingtondelighted. But his eulogistshave deniedhim these, the only sceneswhich belong to man the GREAT, and have trick'd him up in the vile drapery of man the little. See! there he stands! with the port of Mars "the destroyer," dark frowning over the fields of war ... the lightning of Potter'sblade is by his side-thedeep-mouthed can- non is before him, disgorging its flesh-manglingballs---his war-horse paws with impatienceto bear him, a speedythunderbolt, againstthe pale and bleeding ranks of Britain!-Theseare the drawings usually given of Washington;drawings masterlyno doubt, and perhapsjustly descriptive of him in some scenesof his life; but scenesthey were, which I am sure his soul abhorred, and in which at any rate, you see nothing of his private virtues. These old fashioned commoditiesare generally thrown into the back ground of the picture, and treated, as the grandeesat the London and Paris routs, treat their good old aunts and grandmothers,huddling them togetherinto the back rooms, there to wheezeand cough by themselves,and not depressthe fine lauda- num-raisedspirits of the young sparklers. And yet it was to those old-fashionedvirtues that our hero owed every thing. For they in fact were the food of the greatactions of him, whom men call Washington. It was they that enabledhim, first to triumph over himself, then over the British, and uniformly to set such bright examplesof humanper- fectibility and true greatness,that compared therewith,the history of his capturingCornwallis and Tarleton,with their buccaneeringlegions, soundsalmost as small as the story of old GeneralPutnam's catching his wolf and her lamb-killing whelps. Since then it is the private virtues that lay the foundation of all human excellence-sinceit was these that exalted Washingtonto be "Columbia'sfirst and greatestSon, " be it our first care to present these,in all their lustre, before the admiring eyes of our children. To them his private characteris every thing; his public, hardly any thing. For how glorious soever it may have been in Washington to have 4 THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON undertakenthe emancipationof his country; to have stemmedthe long tide of adversity; to have baffled every effort of a wealthy and warlike nation; to haveobtained for his countrymenthe completestvictory, and for himself the most unboundedpower; and then to have returnedthat power, accompaniedwith all the weight of his own greatcharacter and adviceto establisha governmentthat should immortalize the blessings of liberty ... however glorious, I say, all this may have been to himself, or instructive to future generalsand presidents,yet doesit but little concern our children. For who among us can hope that his son shall ever be called, like Washington,to direct the storm of war, or to ravish the ears of deeply listening Senates?To be constantlyplacing him then, before our children, in this high character,what is it but like springing in the clouds a golden Phoenix,which no mortal calibre can ever hopeto reach?Or like settingpictures of the Mammothbefore the mice whom "not all the mannaof Heaven"can ever raise to equality? Oh no! give us his private virtues! In these, every youth is interested, becausein theseevery youth may becomea Washingtotr-aWashing- ton in piety and patriotism,-in industry and honour-andconse- quently a Washington,in what alone deservesthe name,SELF ESTEEM and UNIVERSAL RESPECT.