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The Life of George
Washington by David Ramsey - 1807
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CHAPTER XI
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Washington elected President.
On his way to the seat of government at New-York, receives the most flattering marks of
respect. Addresses Congress. The situation of the United States in their foreign and
domestic relations, at the inauguration of Washington. Fills up offices solely with a view
to the public good. Proposes a treaty to the Creek Indians, which is at first rejected.
Col. Willet induces the heads of the nation 'to come New-York, to treat there. The
North-Western Indians refuse a treaty, but after defeating Generals Harmar and Sinclair,
they are defeated by Gen. Wayne. They then submit, and agree to treat. A new system is
introduced for meliorating their condition.
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It was intended that the new
government should commence its operations on the 4th of March, 1789; but from accidental
causes, the elections of Gen. Washington to the Presidency was officially announced to him
at Mount Vernon, till the 14th of next April. This was done by Charles Thomson, Secretary
of the late Congress who presented to him the certificate signed the President of the
Senate of the United States, stating that George Washington was unanimously elected
President. This unexpected delay was regretted by the public, but not by the newly elected
President. In a letter to Gen. Knox, he observed--
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"As to myself, the delay
may be compared to a reprieve; for in confidence I tell you, (with the world it would
obtain credit,) that 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 that competency of political skill, abilities
and inclination, which are necessary to manage the helm. I am sensible that I am embarking
the voice of the people, and a good name of my own, on this voyage, but what returns will
be made for them, Heaven alone can foretell. Integrity and firmness are all I can promise.
These, be the voyage long or short, shall never forsake me, I may be deserted by all men;
for of the consolations which are to be derived from these, under any circumstances, the
world cannot deprive me."
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On the second day after,
receiving notice of his appointment, Washington set out for New-York. On his way thither,
the road was crowded with numbers anxious to see the man of the people. Escorts of militia
and of gentlemen of the first character and station, attended him from state to state, and
he was every where received with the highest honours which a grateful and admiring people
could confer. Addresses of congratulation were presented to him by the inhabitants of
almost every place of consequence through which he passed, to all of which he returned
such modest, unassuming answers, as were in every respect suitable to his situation. So
great were the honours with which he was loaded, that they could scarcely have failed to
produce haughtiness in the mind of any ordinary man; but nothing of the kind was ever
discovered in this extraordinary age. On all occasions he behaved to all men with the
affability of one citizen to another. He was truly great in deserving the plaudits of his
country, but much greater in not being elated by them. Of the numerous addresses which
were present-ed on this occasion, one subscribed by Dennis Ramsay, the mayor of
Alexandria, in the name of the people of that city, who were the neighbours of Mr.
Washington, was particularly and universally ally admired. It was in the following words:
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" To George Washington Esq.
President of the United States, "Again your country commands your care. Obedient to
its wishes, unmindful of your ease, we see you again relinquishing the bliss of
retirement, and this too, at a period of life when nature itself seems to authorize a
preference of repose. Not to extol your glory as a soldier; not to pour forth our
gratitude for past services; and not to acknowledge the justice of the unexampled honour
which has been conferred upon you by the spontaneous and unanimous suffrage of three
millions of freemen, in your election to the supreme magistracy, nor to admire the
patriotism which directs your conduct, do your neighbours and friends now address you.
Themes less splendid, but more endearing, impress our minds. The first and best of
citizens must leave us; our aged 1789 must lose their ornament; our youth their model; our
agriculture its improver; our commerce its friend; our infant academy its protector; our
poor their benefactor; and the interior navigation of the Potowmac, (an event, replete
with the most extensive utility, already by your unremitted ex-ertions brought into
partial use,) its institutor and promoter.
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"Farewell. Go, and make a
grateful people happy, a people who will be doubly grateful when they contemplate this
recent sacrifice for their interest.
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"To that Being who maketh
and unmaketh at his will, we commend you; and after the accomplishment of the arduous
business to which you are called, may he restore to us the best of men, and the most
beloved fellow-citizen."
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To this Mr. Washington returned
the following answer:
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"Although I ought not to
conceal, yet I cannot describe.. the -painful emotions which I felt, in being called upon
to determine whether I would accept or refuse the Presidency of the United States. The
unanimity in the choice; the opinion of my friends communicated from different parts of
Europe as well as from America; the apparent wish of those who were not entirely satisfied
with the constitution in its present form, and an ardent desire on my own part to be
instrumental in connecting the good will of my countrymen towards each other, have induced
an acceptance. Those who know me best, (and you, my fellow-citizens, are, from your
situation, in that number,) 1789 know better than any others, my love of retirement is so
great that no earthly consideration, short of a conviction of duty, could have prevailed
upon me to depart from my resolution "never more to take any share in transactions of
a public nature;" for at my age, and in my circumstances, what prospects or
advantages could I propose to myself from embarking again on the tempestuous and uncertain
ocean of public life?
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"I do not feel myself under
the necessity of making public declarations in order to convince you, gentlemen, of my
attachment to yourselves, and regard for your interests. The whole tenour of my life has
been open to your inspection, and my past actions, rather than my present declara-tions,
must be the pledge of my future conduct.
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"In the mean time, I thank
you most sincerely for the expressions of kindness contained in your valedictory address.
1$ is true, just after having bade adieu to my domestic connexions, this ten-der proof of
your friendship is but too well calcu-lated still further to awaken my sensibility, and
increase my regret at parting from the enjoy-ment of private life. "All that now
remains for me, is to commit myself and you to the protection of that beneficent Being,
who on a former occasion hath happily brought us together, after a long and distressing
separation. Perhaps the same gracious Providence will again indulge me. Unutterable
sensations must then be left to more expressive silence, while from an aching heart I bid
all my affectionate friends and kind neighbours farewell."
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Gray's bridge over the
Schuylkill, which Mr. Washington had to pass, was highly decorated with laurels and
evergreens. At each end of it were erected magnificent arches, composed of lau-rels,
emblematical of the ancient Roman triumphal arches, and on each side of the bridge was a
laurel shrubbery. As Mr. Washington passed the bridge, a youth ornamented with sprigs of
laurel, assisted by machinery, let drop above his head, though unperceived by him, a civic
crown of laurel. Upwards of 20,000 citizens lined the fences, fields, and avenues, between
the Schuylkill and Philadel-phia. Through these he was conducted to the city by a numerous
and respectable body of the citizens, where he partook of an elegant en-tertainment
provided for him. The pleasures of the day were succeeded by a handsome display of
fireworks in the evening.
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When Mr. Washington crossed the
Delaware, and landed on the Jersey shore, he was saluted with three cheers by the
inhabitants of the vicinity. When he came to the brow of the hill on his way to Trenton, a
triumphal arch was erected on the bridge by the direction of the ladies of the place. The
crown of the arch was highly orna-mented with laurels and flowers, and on it was displayed
in large figures, "December 26th, 1776." On the sweep of the arch beneath, was
this inscription--" The Defender of the Mothers will also protect their
Daughters."
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On the north side were ranged a
number of female children dressed in white, with garlands of flowers on their heads, and
baskets of flowers on their arms; in the second row stood the young women, and behind them
the married ladies of the vicinity. The instant he passed the arch, the children began to
sing following ode:
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"Welcome mighty chief! once more "Welcome to this grateful shore. "Now
no mercenary foe Aims again the fatal blow, "Aims at thee the fatal blow,
"Virgins fair, and matrons grave, "These thy conquering arm did save!
"Build for thee triumphal bowers: "Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers;
"Strew your hero's way with flowers."
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As they sung the
last lines, they strewed their flowers on the road before their beloved deliverer. His
situation on this occasion, contrasted with what he had in December, 1776, felt on the
same spot, when the affairs of America were at the lowest ebb of depression, filled him
with sensations that cannot be described. He was rowed across the hay from Elizabethtown
to New-York, in an elegant barge, by thirteen pilots. All the vessels in the harbour
hoisted their flags. Stairs were erected and decorated for his reception, On his landing,
universal joy diffused itself through every order of the people, and he was received and
con-gratulated by the Governor of the state, and offi-cers of the corporation. He was
conducted from the landing place to the house which had been fitted up for his reception,
and was followed by an elegant procession of militia in their uniforms and by a great
number of citizens. In the evening the houses of the inhabitants were brilliantly
illuminated.
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A day was fixed soon after his
arrival, for his taking the oath of office, which was in the follow-ing words. "I do
solemnly swear, that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United
States; and will to the best of my ability preserve, protect, and defend the constitution
of the United States."
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On this occasion he was wholly
clothed in American manufactures. In the morning of the day appointed for this purpose,
the clergy of different denominations assembled their congregations in their respective
places of worship, and offered up public prayers for the President and people of the
United States. About noon a procession, followed by a multitude of citizens, moved from
the President's house to Federal Hall. When they came within a short distance from the
Hall, the troops formed a line on both sides of the way, through which Mr. Washington,
accompanied by the Vice-President, Mr. John Adams, passed into the Senate chamber.
Immediately after, accompanied by both houses, he went into the gallery fronting
Broad-street, and before them and an immense concourse of citizens, took the oath
prescribed by the constitution, which was administered by R. R. Livingston, the Chancellor
of the state of New-York. An awful silence prevailed among the spectators during this part
of the ceremony. It was a minute of the most sublime political joy. The Chancellor then
proclaimed him President of the United States. This was answered by the discharge of 13
guns: and by the effusions of shouts from near 10,000 grateful and affectionate hearts.
The President bowed most respectfully to the people, and the air resounded again with
their acclamations. He then retired to the Senate Chamber, where he made the following
speech to both houses.
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"Fellow citizens of the
Senate and of the House of Representatives,
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"Among the vicissitudes
incident to life, no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which
the notification was transmitted by your order, and received on the 14th day of the
present month. On the one hand, I was summoned by my country, whose voice I can never hear
but with veneration and love, from a retreat which I had chosen with the fondest
predilection, and, in my flattering hopes, with an immutable decision, as the asylum of my
declining years: a retreat which was rendered every day more necessary as well as more
dear to me, by the addition of habit to inclination, and of frequent interruptions in my
health to the gradual waste committed on it by time. On the other hand, the magnitude and
difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to
awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his
qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one who, inheriting inferior
endowments from nature, and unpractised in the duties of civil administration, ought to be
pecu-liarly conscious of his own deficiencies.
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"In this conflict of
emotions, all I dare aver is, that it has been my faithful study to collect my duty from a
just appreciation of every circumstance by which it might be effected. All I dare hope is,
that, if in accepting this task, I have been too much swayed by a grateful remembrance of
former circumstances, or by an affectionate sensibility to this transcendent proof of the
confidence of my fellow citizens; and have thence too little consulted my incapacity, as
well as disinclination for the weighty and untried cares before me; my ERROR will be
palliated by the motives which misled me, and its consequences be judged by my country
with some share of the partiality in which they originated.
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"Such being the impressions
under which I have, in obedience to the public summons, repaired to the present station;
it will be peculiarly improper to emit, in this first official act, my fervent
supplications to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe; who presides in the
councils of nations; and whose providential aids can supply every human defect, that his
benediction may consecrate to the liberties and happiness of the people of the United
States, a government instituted by themselves for these essential purposes; and may enable
every instrument employed in its administration, to execute with success, the functions
allotted to his charge.
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"In tendering this homage
to the great Author of every public and private good, I assure myself that it expresses
your sentiments not less than my own; nor those of my fellow-citizens at large, less than
either. No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand which conducts
the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they
have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished
by some token of providential agency; and in the important revolution just accomplished in
the system of their united government, the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consent of
so many distinct communities, from which the event has resided, cannot be compared with
the means by which most governments have been established, without some return of pious
gratitude along with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the past seem to
presage.
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"These reflections, arising
out of the present crisis, have forced themselves too strongly on my mind to be
suppressed. You will join with me, I trust, in thinking that There are none, under the
influence of which the proceedings of a new and free government can more auspiciously
com-mence.
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"By the article
establishing the executive department, it is made the duty of the president 'to recommend
to your consideration, such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient.' The
circumstances under which I now meet you will acquit me from entering into that subject,
further than to refer to the great constitutional charter under which you are assembled,
and which, in defining your powers, designates the objects to which your attention is to
be given. It will be more consistent with those circumstances, and far more congenial with
the feelings which actuate me, to substitute in place of a recommendation of particular
measures, the tribute that is due to the talents, the rectitude, and the patriotism, which
adorn the characters selected to devise and adopt them.
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"In these honourable
qualifications, I behold the surest pledges that, as on one side, no local prejudices or
attachments, no separate views nor party animosities, will misdirect the comprehensive and
equal eye which ought to watch over this great assemblage of communities and interests:
so, on another, that the foundations of our national policy will be laid in the pure and
immutahle principles, of private morality; and the preeminence of free government be
exemplified by all the attributes which can win the affections of its citizens, and
command the respect of time world.
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"I dwell on this prospect
with every satisfaction which an ardent love for my country can inspire; since there is no
truth more thoroughly established than that there exists, in the economy and course of
nature, an indissoluble union between virtue and happiness; between duty and advantage;
between the genuine maxims of an honest and magnanimous policy, and the solid rewards of
public prosperity and felicity: since we ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious
smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of
order and right, which heaven itself has ordained: and since the preservation of the
sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of government, are justly
considered as DEEPLY, perhaps as FINALLY, staked on the experiment intrusted to the hands
of the American people.
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"Besides the ordinary
objects submitted to your care, it will remain with your judgment to decide, how far an
exercise of the occasional power delegated by the fifth article of the constitution is
rendered expedient, at the present juncture, by the nature of objections which have, been
urged against the system, or by the degree of inquietude which has given birth to them.
Instead of undertaking particular recommendations on this subject, in which I could be
guided by no lights derived from official opportunities, I shall again give way to my
entire confidence in your. discernment and pursuit of the public good: for I assure myself
that whilst you carefully avoid every alteration which might endanger the benefits of a
united and effective government, or which ought to await the future lessons of experience;
a reverence for the characteristic rights of freemen, and a regard for the public harmony,
will sufficiently influence your deliberations on the question how far the former can be
more impregnably fortified, or the latter be safely and advantageously promoted.
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"To the preceding
observations I have one to add, which will be most properly addressed to the house of
representatives. It concerns myself and will therefore be as brief as possible. When I was
first honoured with a call into the service of my country, then on the eve of an arduous
struggle for its liberties, the light, in which I contemplated my duty required that I
should renounce every pecuniary compensation. From this resolution I have in no instance
departed. And being still under the impressions which produced it, I must decline, as
inapplicable to myself, any share in the personal emoluments which may be indispensable
included in a permanent provision for the executive department; and must accordingly pray
that the pecuniary estimates for the station in which I am placed, may, during my
continuance in it, be limited to each actual expenditures as the public good may be
thought to require.
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"Having thus imparted to
you my sentiments, as they have been awakened by the occasion which brings us together, I
shall take my present leave; but not without resorting once more to the benign Parent of
the human race, in humble supplication, that since he has been pleased to favour the
American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquillity, and
dispositions for deciding with unparralleled unanimity on a form of government for the
security of their union, and the advancement of their happiness; so his diving blessing
may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views, the temperate consultations, and the
wise measures on which the success of this government must depend."
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"In their answer to this
speech, the senate say:
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"The unanimous suffrage of
the elective body in your favour, is peculiarly expressive of the gratitude, confidence,
and affection of the citizens of America, and is the highest testimonial at once of your
merit, and their esteem. We are sensible, sir, that nothing but the voice of your
fellow-citizens could have called you from a retreat, chosen with the fondest
predilection, endeared by habit, and consecrated to the repose of declining years. We
rejoice, and with us all America, that, in obedience to the call of our common country,
you have returned once more to public life. In you all parties confide; in you all
interests unite; and we have no doubt that your past services, great as they have been,
will be equalled by your future exertions; and that your prudence and sagacity as a
statesman, will tend to avert the dangers to which we were exposed, to give stability to
the present government, and dignity and splendour to that country, which your skill and
valour as a soldier, so eminently contributed to raise to independence and to
empire."
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The affection for the person and
character of the President with which the answer of the house of representatives glowed,
promised that between this branch of the legislature also and the executive, the most
harmonious co-operation in the public service might be expected.
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"The representatives of the
people of the United States," says this address, "present their congratulations
on the event by which your fellow-citizens have attested the pre-eminence of your merit.
You have long held the first place in their esteem. You have often received tokens of
their affection. You now possess the only proof that remained of their gratitude for your
services, of their reverence for your wisdom, and of their confidence in your virtues. You
enjoy the highest, because the truest honour, of being the first magistrate, by the
unanimous choice of the freest people on the face of the earth.
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"We well know the anxieties
with which you must have obeyed the summons from the repose reserved for your declining
years, into public scenes of which you had taken your leave for ever. But obedience was
due to the occasion. It is already applauded by the universal joy which welcomes you to
your station. And we cannot doubt that it will be rewarded with all the satisfaction with
which an ardent love for your fellow-citizens must review successful efforts to promote
their happiness.
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"This anticipation is not
justified merely by the past experience of your signal services. It is particularly
suggested by the pious impressions under which you commence your administration; and the
enlightened maxims by which you mean to conduct it. We feel with you the strongest
obligations to adore the invisible hand which has led the American people through so many
difficulties; to cherish a conscious responsibility for the destiny of republican liberty;
and to seek the only sure means of preserving and recommending the precious deposit in a
system of legislation founded on the principles of an honest policy, and directed by the
spirit of a diffusive patriotism.
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"In forming the pecuniary
provisions for the executive department, we shall not lose sight of a wish resulting from
motives which give it a peculiar claim to our regard. Your resolution, in a moment
critical to the liberties of your country, to renounce all personal emolument, was among
the many presages of your patriotic services, which have been amply fulfilled; and your
scrupulous adherence now to the law then imposed whilst it increase the lustre of a
character which has so many titles to admiration.
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"Such are the sentiments
with which we have thought fit to address you. They flow from our own hearts, and we
verily believe that among the millions we represent, there is not a virtuous citizen whose
heart will disown them.
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"All that remains is, that
we join in your fervent supplications for the blessing of Heaven on our country; and that
we add our own for the choicest of these blessings on the most beloved of her
citizens."
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The President and Congress then
attended on divine service.
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In the evening a very ingenious
and splendid show of fireworks was exhibited. Betwixt the fort and the Bowling-Green stood
conspicuous, a superb and brilliant transparent painting, in the centre of which was the
portrait of the President, represented under the emblem of fortitude; on the right hand
was Justice, representing the Senate of the United States, and on his left Wisdom,
representing the House of Representatives.
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When Washington commenced his
administration, the condition of the United States was so embarrassed as to excite many
fears for the success of the new government. The treasury was empty. Large debts were due
both by the old Congress and individuals to foreigners, and also from the United States to
its own citizens, and from citizens to citizens. Every effort made by the former
government to pay, or even to fund its debts, had failed, from the imbecility of the
federal system. Great discontents prevailed in the United States, for the party opposed to
the new constitution was strong and numerous. Several of these were elected to seats in
the new Congress. Some were clamorous for a new convention, and the most moderate for
amendments of what had been modified. Two states, North-Carolina and Rhode-Island, by
refusing an acceptance of the constitution, were without the pale of its operations.
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Animosities prevailed to a great
degree between the United States and Great-Britain. Each charged the other with a breach
of their late treaty. In support of these charges, one party urged the severities
practised towards the loyalists, and that some of the states had interposed legal
impediments to the recovery of debts due to British subjects.
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The other recriminated by
alleging, that the British, on their departure from the United States, had carried off
with them several thousands of negroes belonging to the Americans; and continued to
possess sundry posts within the acknowledged limits of the United States; and that from
these posts they encouraged and instigated the neighbouring Indians to make war on their
northwestern frontier settlements.
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Spain, from their circumstance
of their owning the land on each side of the mouth of the Mississippi, claimed the
exclusive navigation of that river; while the western inhabitants of the United States
looked to their country for a vindication of their common right to the use of this highway
of nature. The boundaries of the United States towards the territories of Spain in the
south, and towards those of Britain in the north-east, were both unsettled and in dispute.
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The whole regular effective
force of the United States, was less than six hundred men. Their trade was restricted much
more than when they formed a part of the British empire. They had neither money to
purchase, nor a naval force to compel the friendship of the Barbary powers; and were
therefore exposed to capture whenever they ventured to trade in the Mediterranean, the
coasts of which offered the best markets for some of their valuable commodities.
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The military strength of the
northern Indians who inhabited the country between the Lakes, the Mississippi, and the
Ohio, was computed at 5000 then, and of these 1,500 were at open war with the United
States. The Creeks, in the south-west, who could bring 6,000 fighting men into the field,
were at war with Georgia.
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These were but a part of the
embarrassments under which the United States laboured when Gen. Washington was called to
the helm. The redress of most of them required legislative interference, as well as
executive aid. To point out the particular agency of the President in removing these
embarrassments, and generally meliorating the condition of the United States, is
peculiarly the province of the biographer of Washington.
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Congress having organized the
great departments of government, it became the duty of the President to designate proper
persons to fill them. In discharging this delicate and difficult trust, Washington kept
himself free from every engagement, and uniformly declined giving decisive answers to
applicants, having previously resolved to nominate persons to offices with a sole view to
the public good, and to bring forward those who, upon every consideration, and from the
best information he could obtain, were in his judgment most likely to answer the great
end.
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Under these impressions he
placed Col. Hamilton at the head of the Treasury Department.
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At the head of the Department of
Foreign Affairs, he placed Mr. Thomas Jefferson.
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General Knox was continued in
the Department of War, which he had filled under the old Congress.
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The office of Attorney General
was assigned to Mr. Edmund Randolph.
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These composed the cabinet
council of the first President.
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The judicial department was
filled as follows: John Jay, of New-York, Chief Justice. John Rutledge, of
South Carolina, James Wilson, of Pennsylvania, William Cushing, of Massachusetts, Robert
Harrison, of Maryland, and John Blair, of Virginia, Associate Judges.
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The officers who had been
appointed by the individual states to manage the revenue, which, under the old system, was
paid into the state treasury, were re-appointed to corresponding offices under the new
constitution, by which the revenue had been transferred from the local to the general
treasury of the union.
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It was among the first cares of
Washington to make peace with the Indians. Gen. Lincoln, Mr. Griffin, and Col. Humphreys,
very soon after the inauguration of the President, were deputed by him to treat with the
Creek Indians. These met with McGillvray, and other chiefs of the nation, with about 2,000
men, at the Rock Landing, on the frontiers of Georgia. The negociations were soon broken
off by McGillvray, whose personal interests and connexion with Spain were supposed to have
been the real cause of their abrupt and unsuccessful termination.
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The next year brought round an
accomplishment of the President's wishes, which had failed in the first attempt. Policy
and interest concurred in recommending every prudent measure for detaching the Creek
Indians from all connexion with the Spaniards, and cementing their friendship with the
United States. Negociations carried on with them in the vicinity of the Spanish
settlements, promised less than negociations conducted at the seat of government.
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To induce a disposition
favourable to this change of place, the President sent Col. Willet, a gallant and
intelligent officer of the late army, into the Creek country, apparently on private
business, but with a letter of introduction to McGillvray, and with instructions to take
occasional opportunities to point out the distresses which a war with the United States
would bring on the Creek nation, and the indiscretion of their breaking off the
negociation at the Rock Landing; and to exhort him to repair with the chiefs of his nation
to New-York, in order to effect a solid and lasting peace. Willet performed these duties
with so much dexterity, that McGillvray, with the chiefs of his nation, were induced to
come to New-York, where fresh negociations commenced, which, on the 7th of August, 1790,
terminated in the establishment of peace.
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The pacific overtures made by
Washington to the Indians of the Wabash and the Miamis, failed of success. Long experience
had taught the President, that on the failure of negociations with Indians, policy,
economy, and even humanity, required the employment of a sufficient force to carry
offensive war into their country, and lay waste their settlements.
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The accomplishment of this was
no easy matter. The Indian nations were numerous, accustomed to war, and not without
discipline. They were said to be furnished with arms and ammunition from the British posts
held within the United States, in violation of the treaty of peace. Generals Harmar and
Sinclair were successively defeated by the Indians; and four or five years elapsed before
they were subdued. This was accomplished by Gen. Wayne, in 1794.
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Soon after that event, a peace
was concluded, under his auspices, between these Indians and the United States. In the
progress of this last Indian war, repeated overtures of peace were made to the
North-western Indians, but rejected. About the same period a new system was commenced for
turning them off from hunting to the employments of civilized life, by furnishing them
with implements and instructions for agriculture and manufactures.
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In this manner, during the
Presidency of George Washington, peace was restored to the frontier settlements both in
the north and south-west, which has continued ever since, and it is likely to do so,
while, at the same time, the prospect of meliorating the condition of the savages is daily
brightening; for the system first began by Washington with the view of civilizing these
fierce sons of nature, have been ever since steadily pursued by all his successors. Indian
wars are now only known from the records or recollection of past event; and it probable
that the day is not far distant when the United States will receive a considerable
accession of citizens from the civilized red men of the forest.
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| CONTINUE TO CHAPTER TWELVE |
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