The Life of George Washington, Vol. 5 Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War which Established the Independence of his Country and First President of the United States

Produced by Linda Cantoni and  David Widger





THE

LIFE

OF

GEORGE WASHINGTON,

COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE

AMERICAN FORCES,

DURING THE WAR WHICH ESTABLISHED THE INDEPENDENCE OF HIS COUNTRY, AND

FIRST PRESIDENT

OF THE

UNITED STATES.

COMPILED UNDER THE INSPECTION OF

THE HONOURABLE BUSHROD WASHINGTON,

FROM

_ORIGINAL PAPERS_

BEQUEATHED TO HIM BY HIS DECEASED RELATIVE, AND NOW IN POSSESSION OF
THE AUTHOR.

TO WHICH IS PREFIXED,

AN INTRODUCTION,

CONTAINING A COMPENDIOUS VIEW OF THE COLONIES PLANTED BY THE ENGLISH
ON THE

CONTINENT OF NORTH AMERICA,

FROM THEIR SETTLEMENT TO THE COMMENCEMENT OF THAT WAR WHICH TERMINATED
IN THEIR

INDEPENDENCE.


BY JOHN MARSHALL.


VOL. V.


THE CITIZENS' GUILD
OF WASHINGTON'S BOYHOOD HOME
FREDERICKSBURG, VA.

1926

Printed in the U.S.A.


[Illustration: President Washington

_From the portrait by John Vanderlyn, in the Capitol at Washington_

_This full-length portrait of our First President is the work of an
artist to whom Napoleon I awarded a gold medal for his "Marius Among
the Ruins of Carthage," and another of whose masterpieces, "Ariadne in
Naxos," is pronounced one of the finest nudes in the history of
American art. For Vanderlyn sat many other notable public men,
including Monroe, Madison, Calhoun, Clinton, Zachary Taylor and Aaron
Burr, who was his patron and whose portrait by Vanderlyn hangs in the
New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. Nevertheless, Vanderlyn failed in
achieving the success his genius merited, and he once declared
bitterly that "no one but a professional quack can live in America."
Poverty paralyzed his energies, and in 1852, old and discouraged he
retired to his native town of Kingston, New York, so poor that he had
to borrow twenty-five cents to pay the expressage of his trunk.
Obtaining a bed at the local hotel, he was found dead in it the next
morning, in his seventy-seventh year._]




CONTENTS


CHAPTER I.

G. Washington again unanimously elected President.... War between
Great Britain and France.... Queries of the President respecting the
conduct to be adopted by the American government.... Proclamation of
neutrality.... Arrival of Mr. Genet as minister from France.... His
conduct.... Illegal proceedings of the French cruisers.... Opinions of
the cabinet.... State of parties.... Democratic societies.... Genet
calculates upon the partialities of the American people for France,
and openly insults their government.... Rules laid down by the
executive to be observed in the ports of the United States in relation
to the powers at war.... The President requests the recall of
Genet.... British order of 8th of June, 1793.... Decree of the
national convention relative to neutral commerce.


CHAPTER II.

Meeting of congress.... President's speech.... His message on the
foreign relations of the United States.... Report of the Secretary of
State on the commerce of the United States.... He resigns.... Is
succeeded by Mr. Randolph.... Mr. Madison's resolutions founded on the
above report.... Debate thereon.... Debates on the subject of a
navy.... An embargo law.... Mission of Mr. Jay to Great Britain....
Inquiry into the conduct of the Secretary of the Treasury, terminates
honourably to him.... Internal taxes.... Congress adjourns.


CHAPTER III.

Genet recalled.... Is succeeded by Mr. Fauchet.... Gouverneur Morris
recalled, and is succeeded by Mr. Monroe.... Kentucky remonstrance....
Intemperate resolutions of the people of that state.... General Wayne
defeats the Indians on the Miamis.... Insurrection in the western
parts of Pennsylvania.... Quelled by the prompt and vigorous measures
of the government.... Meeting of Congress.... President's speech....
Democratic societies.... Resignation of Colonel Hamilton.... Is
succeeded by Mr. Wolcott.... Resignation of General Knox.... Is
succeeded by Colonel Pickering.... Treaty between the United States
and Great Britain.... Conditionally ratified by the President.... The
treaty unpopular.... Mr. Randolph resigns.... Is succeeded by Colonel
Pickering.... Colonel M'Henry appointed secretary at war.... Charge
against the President rejected..... Treaty with the Indians north-west
of the Ohio.... With Algiers.... With Spain.... Meeting of
congress.... President's speech.... Mr. Adet succeeds Mr. Fauchet.....
The house of representatives call upon the President for papers
relating to the treaty with Great Britain.... He declines sending
them.... Debates upon the treaty making power.... Upon the bill for
making appropriations to carry into execution the treaty with Great
Britain.... Congress adjourns.... The President endeavours to procure
the liberation of Lafayette.


CHAPTER IV.

Letters from General Washington to Mr. Jefferson.... Hostile measures
of France against the United States.... Mr. Monroe recalled and
General Pinckney appointed to succeed him.... General Washington's
valedictory address to the people of the United States....