From the moment the public was possessed of this new arrangement of their political system, the attention of all was directed to General Washington as the first President of the United States. He alone was believed to fill so pre-eminent a station in the public opinion, that he might be placed at the head of the nation without exciting envy; and he alone possessed the confidence of the people in so unlimited a degree that under his auspices, the friends of the government might hope to see it introduced with a degree of firmness which would enable it to resist the open assaults, and secret plots of its numerous adversaries. By all who knew him, fears were entertained that his preference for private life would prevail over the wishes of the public; and, soon after the adoption of the constitution was ascertained, his correspondents began to press him on a point which was believed essential to the completion of the great work on which the grandeur and happiness of America was supposed to depend. "We can not," said Mr. Johnson, a gentleman of great political eminence in Maryland, "do without you, and I, and thousands more can explain to any body but yourself, why we can not do without you." "I have ever thought," said Mr. Gouverneur Morris, a gentleman who had been among the most valuable members of congress through great part of the war, and who had performed a most splendid part in the general convention, "and have ever said that you must be president; no other man can fill that office. No other man can draw forth the abilities of our country into the various departments of civil life. You alone can awe the insolence of opposing factions, and the greater insolence of assuming adherents. I say nothing of foreign powers, nor of their ministers. With these last you will have some plague. As to your feelings on this occasion, they are, I know, both deep and affecting; you embark property most precious on a most tempestuous ocean: for, as you possess the highest reputation, so you expose it to the perilous chance of popular opinion. On the other hand, you will, I firmly expect, enjoy the inexpressible felicity of contributing to the happiness of all your countrymen. You will become the father of more than three millions of children; and while your bosom glows with parental tenderness, in theirs, or at least in a majority of them, you will excite the duteous sentiments of filial affection. This, I repeat it, is what I firmly expect; and my views are not directed by that enthusiasm which your public character has impressed on the public mind. Enthusiasm is generally short sighted and too often blind. I form my conclusions from those talents and virtues which the world believes, and which your friends know you possess."
To those who attribute human action in every case to the motives which most usually guide the human mind, it will appear scarcely possible that the supreme magistracy could possess no charms for a man long accustomed to command others; and that ambition had no share in tempting the hero of the American revolution to tread once more the paths of public life. Yet, if his communications to friends to whom he unbosomed the inmost sentiments of his soul be inspected, it will be difficult to resist the conviction that the struggle produced by the occasion was unaffected, and that, in accepting the presidency of the United States, no private passion was gratified; but a decided preference for private life yielded to a sense of duty, and a deep conviction of his obligations to his country.
As this is an important æra in the life of Washington, and the motives by which he was actuated will assist in developing his real character, the American reader, at least, will be gratified at seeing copious extracts from his correspondence on this interesting occasion.
In a letter detailing those arrangements which were making for the introduction of the new government, Colonel Lee proceeded thus to speak of the presidency of the United States. "The solemnity of the moment, and its application to yourself, have fixed my mind in contemplations of a public and a personal nature, and I feel an involuntary impulse which I can not resist, to communicate without reserve to you some of the reflections which the hour has produced. Solicitous for our common happiness as a people, and convinced as I continue to be that our peace and prosperity depend on the proper improvement of the present period, my anxiety is extreme that the new government may have an auspicious beginning. To effect this, and to perpetuate a nation formed under your auspices, it is certain that again you will be called forth.
"The same principles of devotion to the good of mankind, which have invariably governed your conduct, will no doubt continue to rule your mind, however opposite their consequences may be to your repose and happiness. It may be wrong, but I can not suppress, in my wishes for national felicity, a due regard for your personal fame and content.
"If the same success should attend your efforts on this important occasion which has distinguished you hitherto, then, to be sure, you will have spent a life which Providence rarely if ever before gave to the lot of one man. It is my anxious hope, it is my belief, that this will be the case; but all things are uncertain, and perhaps nothing more so than political events." He then proceeded to state his apprehensions, that the government might sink under the active hostility of its foes, and in particular, the fears which he entertained from the circular letter of New York, around which the minorities in the several states might be expected to rally.
To counteract its baneful influence with the legislature of Virginia, he expressed his earnest wish, that Mr. Madison might be prevailed on to take a seat in that assembly, and then added,
"It would certainly be unpleasant to you, and obnoxious to all who feel for your just fame, to see you at the head of a trembling system. It is a sacrifice on your part unjustifiable in any point of view. But on the other hand no alternative seems to be presented.
"Without you, the government can have but little chance of success; and the people, of that happiness which its prosperity must yield."
1789