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The appointed hour for a new presidential election was now drawing near. At that time no nomination for chief-magistrate was formally made, nor officially announced. The letter of the constitution was adhered to, and the people were called upon to choose electors only, who, when they should meet at the time specified by the constitution, should ballot for whomsoever they pleased for president. Yet the politicians and the leaders of parties in the Congress usually held up to the view of the people candidates who afterward received the consideration of the electoral college. The electors were therefore chosen in reference, first, to their partisan character, and secondly, to their partiality to some particular man prominent in the political field.

It was well known to Washington's more intimate friends, that he would not consent to re-election. His reserve on that subject, and the long delay in making a public announcement of his intention to retire to private life puzzled the politicians. The president's political enemies were more active than ever. We have already noticed the publication of certain queries proposed by Washington to his cabinet, respecting the reception of Genet, by which it was hoped to prejudice him in the public mind by proving, by implication, his hostility to France. Another weapon used by his unscrupulous enemies, for the purpose of degrading him in the eyes of the American people, was the republication of a series of spurious letters, purporting to have been written by Washington. They were first published in London, in 1777, and republished in Rivington's Royal Gazette, in February, 1778. These letters, it was charged, were written by Washington from the army to members of his family, in which he expressed private views of public affairs quite inconsistent with his acts as commander-in-chief, or his professions as a patriot. It was alleged that Billy, his body-servant, had been captured, and that these letters, or copies of them, were found in a portmanteau in the servant's possession. But the original fabricator of the letters missed his aim. It was well known that Billy had never been in the hands of the enemy;[107] and, in a short time, this attempt to injure Washington was forgotten, and the letters were buried in oblivion. But the hyena of political partisanship dragged them from the grave almost twenty years later, and they were republished with a new title,[108] and put forth as genuine, very soon after the appearance of two volumes of Washington's official letters, which had been copied, by permission, in the office of the secretary of state, carried to London, and there printed.

In order to give more force to the intended effect of these spurious letters, a preface to the new edition was carefully written, which contained the following paragraph:—

Nothing in our modern political warfare has equalled, in meanness and moral turpitude, this assassin-stab at the character of a public man. Washington, with proper dignity, treated it as he had done other slanders, with that contemptuous silence which it deserved. But that very silence was construed into an acknowledgment of the truth of the words of the calumny. “The malignant commentators on this spurious text,” says Marshall, “would not admit the possibility of its being apocryphal.”

While political and partisan abuse was pouring most copiously upon the head of the president, his Farewell Address appeared. It was published, as we have seen, at about the middle of September, and produced a great sensation throughout the country. The ribald voice of party-spirit was for a moment subdued in tone, if not silenced, for it was deprived of the theme of Washington's renomination, which had been a convenient excuse for attacks upon his character. In every part of the Union sentiments of veneration for the author were manifested. Some of the state legislatures directed the address to be entered at large upon their journals. It was published in every newspaper in the land, and in many of those in foreign countries; and in legislative bodies and social and diplomatic circles abroad, it was for some time a fruitful topic of remark. From the time of its publication until the expiration of the term of his presidency, Washington received public addresses from all the state legislatures which were convened within that period. Many public bodies, also, addressed him with affectionate words, expressing cordial approbation of his conduct during the eight years that he had filled the office of chief-magistrate of the nation.[109]

Already the strong hold which his person and character had taken of the affections of his countrymen had been fully evinced. Names of men having great political influence had been held up to the people in several states as his successor, but were not satisfactory. “In districts where the opposition to his administration was most powerful,” says Marshall, “where all his measures were most loudly condemned; where those who approved his system possessed least influence; the men who appeared to control public opinion on every other subject found themselves unable to move it on this. Even the most popular among the leaders of the opposition were reduced to the necessity of surrendering their pretensions to a place in the electoral body, or of pledging themselves to bestow their suffrages on the actual president. The determination of his fellow-citizens had been unequivocally manifested, and it was believed to be apparent that the election would again be unanimous, when he announced his resolution to withdraw from the honors and the toils of office.”

“The president declining to be again elected,” wrote Oliver Wolcott, “constitutes a most important epoch in our national affairs. The country meet the event with reluctance, but they do not feel that they can make any claim for the further services of a man who has conducted their armies through a successful war; has so largely contributed to establish a national government; has so long presided over our councils and directed the public administration, and in the most advantageous manner settled all national differences, and who can leave the administration when nothing but our folly and internal discord can render the country otherwise than happy.”

The federalists and republicans now marshalled their forces for the election. Their respective chiefs were brought forward. John Adams, whose official station placed him in the line of promotion, and whose public services, ability, and sterling integrity were well known to the nation, was the choice of the federalists for the presidency, and Thomas Pinckney, the accomplished diplomat, for the vice-presidency. The republican party chose Mr. Jefferson, to use a modern political phrase, as their standard-bearer. With these names as watchwords, the party leaders went into the contest for presidential electors in November. That contest was warm in every doubtful state. The parties seemed equally balanced, and the final result of the action of the electoral college, unlike the operations of the canvass in our day, could not be determined beforehand.

While the canvass was in progress, Adet, the French minister, imitating Genet, attempted to influence the political action of the American people. The British treaty, the recall of Monroe, and the appointment of Pinckney as his successor at Paris, offended him, and a few weeks after the departure of Pinckney, he made a formal communication of the decree of his government, already mentioned, which evinced a spirit of hostility. In his accompanying letter he entered into an elaborate defence of the decree, and renewed complaints which he had before urged, that British ships-of-war were allowed to recruit their crews by pressing into their service sailors from American vessels. Further imitating Genet, by appealing to the people, Adet sent his communication to be printed in the Aurora, at the same time that it was forwarded to the state department. This was followed, in the course of a few days, by a proclamation, signed by Adet, calling upon all Frenchmen residing in America, in the name of the French Directory, to wear the tri-colored cockade, which he termed “the symbol of a liberty the fruit of eight years' toil and five years' victories;” and assured those he addressed, that any Frenchman who should hesitate to comply, should not be allowed the aid of French consular chanceries, or the national protection. Immediately after this “cockade proclamation” was issued, that token of attachment to the French republic abounded. It was worn by many Americans as well as Frenchmen, and it became the badge of party distinction for several years.

Adet followed up his proclamation by another missile, sent simultaneously to the state department and the Aurora, demanding “the execution of that contract [treaty of 1778] which assured to the United States their existence, and which France regarded as the pledge of the most sacred union between two people, the freest upon earth.” He assumed that his government was “terrible to its enemies, but generous to its allies,” and prefaced his summary of alleged violations of the international compact, by a flourish of rhetoric intended to impress the American people.

“When Europe rose up against the republic, at its birth,” he said, “and menaced it with all the horrors of famine; when on every side France could not calculate on any but enemies, their thoughts turned toward America, and a sweet sentiment then mingled itself with those proud feelings which the presence of danger, and the desire of repelling it, produced in their hearts. In Americans they saw friends. Those who went to brave tempests and death upon the ocean, forgot all dangers in order to indulge the hope of visiting that American continent where, for the first time, the French colors had been displayed in favor of liberty. Under the guaranty of the law of nations, under the protecting shade of a solemn treaty, they expected to find in the ports of the United States an asylum as sure as at home; they thought, if I may use the expression, there to find a second country. The French government thought as they did. O hope worthy of a faithful people, how hast thou been deceived! So far from offering the French the succors which friendship might have given without compromising itself, the American government, in this respect, violated the obligations of treaties.”

This exordium was followed by a summary of instances of bad faith on the part of the United States, beginning, as he said, with the president's “insidious proclamation of neutrality,” and aggravated by the late treaty with Great Britain. Adet announced the fact that the French Directory, as an expression of their dissatisfaction with what they considered equivalent to a treaty of alliance between the United States and Great Britain, had given him orders to suspend his ministerial functions, and to return home. “But the cause,” he added, “which had so long restrained the just resentment of the executive directory from bursting forth, now tempered its effects. The name of America, notwithstanding the wrongs of its government, still excited sweet emotions in the hearts of Frenchmen; and the executive directory wished not to break with a people whom they loved to salute with the appellation of a friend.” Therefore, the suspension of his functions was not to be regarded as a rupture between France and the United States, but as a mark of just discontent, which was to last until the government of the United States “returned to sentiments and to measures more conformable to the interests of the alliance, and to the sworn friendship between the two nations.”

This extraordinary letter closed with the following peroration, intended to stimulate the anti-British feeling among the Americans, and to influence the action of the electoral college in their choice of chief-magistrate of the republic:—

The second session of the fourth Congress convened on the fifth of December, and Washington met both houses, for the last time, on the seventh. His message was short, but comprehensive, dignified, and temperate. He took a general view of the condition of the country, in which he adverted to the existing relations with the Indians; the delay in delivering up the western posts, according to the provisions of Jay's treaty; the proceedings of the commissioners to determine the northeastern boundary of the United States; the action of other commissioners under the treaty; the appointment of agents to reside in Great Britain and the West Indies, “for the protection and relief of American seamen;” and the relations with Algiers. He urged an increase of the naval force of the United States as indispensable. “It is in our own experience,” he said, “that the most sincere neutrality is not a sufficient guard against the depredations of nations at war. To secure respect to a neutral flag requires a naval force, organized and ready to vindicate it from insult or aggression. This may even prevent the necessity of going to war, by discouraging belligerent powers from committing such violations of the rights of the neutral party, as may, first or last, leave no other option.” He advised them to “begin, without delay, to provide and lay up the materials for the building and equipping of ships-of-war,” and to be prepared for all future contingencies.

He urged upon them the importance of measures for fostering and encouraging domestic manufactures, especially those articles which might be needed in the event of war. “Ought our country,” he said, “to remain in such cases dependent on foreign supply, precarious, because liable to be interrupted? If the necessary articles should, in this mode, cost more in time of peace, will not the security and independence thence arising form an ample compensation?”

He also recommended the fostering care of the government in promoting agriculture, the predominant interest of the country. “In proportion as nations advance in population and other circumstances of maturity,” he said, “this truth becomes more apparent, and renders the cultivation of the soil more an object of public patronage. Institutions grow up supported by the public purse; and to what object can it be dedicated with greater propriety?”

He again urged the expediency of establishing a national university and a military academy. “However pacific the general policy of the nation may be,” he said, in reference to the military school, “it ought never to be without an adequate stock of military knowledge for emergencies. The first would impair the energies of its character, and both would hazard its safety, or expose it to greater evils when war could not be avoided. Besides, that war might not depend upon its own choice. In proportion as the observance of pacific maxims might exempt a nation from the necessity of practising the rules of the military art, ought to be its care in preserving and transmitting, by proper establishments, the knowledge of that art. Whatever argument may be drawn from particular examples, superficially viewed, a thorough examination of the subject will evince, that the art of war is at once comprehensive and complicated; that it demands much previous study; and that the possession of it in its most improved and perfect state, is always of great moment to the security of a nation. This, therefore, ought to be a serious care of every government.” These and former suggestions on this subject made by Washington, were finally acted upon by the Congress, and in March, 1802, an act was passed for the establishment of such an institution at West Point, in the Hudson Highlands.[110] But little was done, however, until the breaking out of war, in 1812, when a corps of professors was appointed, and the institution was organized.

Washington made the following temperate remarks, in his message, concerning the disputes with France: “While, in our external relations, some serious inconveniences and embarrassments have been overcome, and others lessened, it is with much pain and deep regret I mention, that circumstances of a very unwelcome nature have lately occurred. Our trade has suffered, and is suffering, extensive injuries in the West Indies, from the cruisers and agents of the French republic; and communications have been received from its minister here, which indicate the danger of a further disturbance of our commerce by its authority; and which are, in other respects, far from agreeable. It has been my constant, sincere, and earnest wish, in conformity with that of our nation, to maintain cordial harmony, and a perfect friendly understanding with that republic. The wish remains unabated; and I shall persevere in the endeavor to fulfil it, to the utmost extent of what shall be consistent with a just and indispensable regard to the rights and honor of our country; nor will I easily cease to cherish the expectation, that a spirit of justice, candor, and friendship, on the part of the republic, will eventually insure success. In pursuing this course, however, I can not forget what is due to the character of our government and nation; or to a full and entire confidence in the good sense, patriotism, self-respect, and fortitude of my countrymen.”

In conclusion Washington observed: “The situation in which I now stand, for the last time, in the midst of the representatives of the people of the United States, naturally recalls the period when the administration of the present form of government commenced; and I can not omit the occasion to congratulate you, and my country, on the success of the experiment, nor to repeat my fervent supplication to the Supreme Ruler of the Universe, and Sovereign Arbiter of Nations, that his providential care may still be extended to the United States; that the virtue and happiness of the people may be preserved; and that the government which they have instituted for the protection of their liberties may be perpetual.”

The answer of the senate to this speech embraced all of its topics, and approved every sentiment it contained. After alluding to the prosperous condition of the United States, especially in their domestic relations, the senate said: “While contemplating the causes that produce this auspicious result, we must acknowledge the excellence of the constitutional system, and the wisdom of the legislative provisions; but we should be deficient in gratitude and justice, did we not attribute a great portion of these advantages to the virtue, firmness, and talents of your administration, which have been conspicuously displayed in the most trying times, and on the most critical occasions: it is, therefore, with the sincerest regrets that we now receive an official notification of your intentions to retire from the public employments of your country.

“When we review the various scenes of your public life, so long and so successfully devoted to the most arduous services, civil and military, as well during the struggles of the American Revolution as the convulsive periods of a recent date, we can not look forward to your retirement without our warmest affections and most anxious regards accompanying you; and without mingling, with our fellow-citizens at large, in the sincerest wishes for your personal happiness that sensibility and attachment can express. The most effectual consolation that can offer for the loss we are about to sustain, arises from the animating reflection that the influence of your example will extend to your successors, and the United States will thus continue to enjoy an able, upright, and energetic administration.”

The reply of the house was equally warm in personal compliments. “We have ever concurred with you,” they said, “in the most sincere and uniform disposition to preserve our neutral relations inviolate, and it is, of course, with anxiety and deep regret we hear that any interruption of our harmony with the French republic has occurred; for we feel, with you and with our constituents, the cordial and unabated wish to maintain a perfect friendly understanding with that nation. Your endeavors to fulfil that wish, and by all honorable means to preserve peace, and to restore that harmony and affection which have heretofore so happily subsisted between the French republic and the United States, can not fail, therefore, to interest our attention. And while we participate in the full reliance you have expressed in the patriotism, self-respect, and fortitude of our countrymen, we cherish the pleasing hope that a mutual spirit of justice and moderation will insure the success of your perseverance.

“When we advert to the internal situation of the United States,” they continued, “we deem it equally natural and becoming to compare the present period with that immediately antecedent to the operation of the government, and to contrast it with the calamities in which the state of war still involves several of the European nations, as the reflections deduced from both tend to justify as well as to excite a warmer admiration of our free constitution, and to exalt our minds to a more fervent and grateful sense of piety toward Almighty God for the beneficence of his providence, by which its administration has been hitherto so remarkably distinguished.

“And while we entertain a grateful conviction that your wise, firm, and patriotic administration has been signally conducive to the success of the present form of government, we can not forbear to express the deep sensations of regret with which we contemplate your intended retirement from office.

“As no other suitable occasion may occur, we can not suffer the present to pass without attempting to disclose some of the emotions which it can not fail to awaken. The gratitude and admiration of your countrymen are still drawn to the recollection of those resplendent virtues and talents which were so eminently instrumental to the achievements of the Revolution, and of which that glorious event will ever be the memorial. Your obedience to the voice of duty and your country, when you quitted, reluctantly, a second time, the retreat you had chosen, and accepted the presidency, afforded a new proof of the devotedness of your zeal in its service, and an earnest of the patriotism and success which have characterized your administration. As the grateful confidence of the citizens in the virtues of their chief-magistrate has essentially contributed to that success, we persuade ourselves that the millions whom we represent participate with us in the anxious solicitude of the present occasion.

“Yet we can not be unmindful that your moderation and magnanimity, twice displayed, by retiring from your exalted stations, afford examples no less rare and instructive to mankind, than valuable to a republic. Although we are sensible that this event, of itself, completes the lustre of a character already conspicuously unrivalled by the coincidence of virtue, talents, success, and public estimation; yet we conceive we owe it to you, sir, and still more emphatically to ourselves, and to our nation (of the language of whose hearts we presume to think ourselves, at this moment, the faithful interpreters), to express the sentiments with which it is contemplated.

“The spectacle of a free and enlightened nation offering, by its representatives, the tribute of unfeigned approbation to its First Citizen, however novel and interesting it may be, derives all its lustre (a lustre which accident or enthusiasm could not bestow, and which adulation would tarnish) from the transcendent merit of which it is the voluntary testimony.

“May you long enjoy that liberty which is so dear to you, and to which your name will ever be so dear; may your own virtues and a nation's prayers obtain the happiest sunshine for the decline of your days, and the choicest of future blessings. For our country's sake, for the sake of republican liberty, it is our earnest wish that your example may be the guide of your successors; and thus, after being the ornament and safeguard of the present age, become the patrimony of our descendants.”

When the committee presented this address to the house, some of the more zealous of the opposition, among whom was Mr. Giles, of Virginia, warmly opposed it. He moved that the whole of it in which the character and influence of the president were eulogized should be expunged. He expressed his belief that the want of “wisdom and firmness” in the administration had conducted the affairs of the nation to a crisis which threatened greater calamities than any that had before occurred. He did not regret the president's retiring from office. He hoped he would do so, and enjoy the happiness that awaited him in retirement. He believed that it would more conduce to that happiness that he should retire, than if he should remain in office. He believed that the government of the United States, founded on the broad basis of the people, required no single man to administer it. The people were competent to manage governmental affairs; and they would be in a calamitous situation indeed, if one man were essential to the existence of the government. He believed that there were a thousand men in the United States capable of filling the presidential chair, and he was willing to trust to the discernment of the people in making a proper choice. Though the voice of all America should declare the president's retiring a calamity, he could not join in the declaration, because he did not conceive it to be a misfortune. He had always, he said, disapproved of the measures of the administration in regard to foreign relations, and so had many members of the house, and he should not now disavow former opinions, without being first convinced of having been in error. He perceived more cause than ever for adhering to his old opinions. The course of events had pointed out their propriety; and, if he was not much mistaken, a crisis was at hand which would confirm them. He desired gentlemen who were willing to compliment the president to have some respect for the feelings of others.

The administration party in the house strenuously opposed the motion to expunge. They admitted that there might be many who were able to fill the presidential chair with equal ability with Washington, but there was not one who possessed, in a similar degree, the confidence of the people. The regrets of his constituents, because of his proposed retirement, had been expressed in every part of the Union, and the voice of the people coincided with the sentiments of the address. The motion to expunge was lost by a large majority. Only twelve members recorded themselves in the affirmative, among whom was Andrew Jackson, who had just taken his seat in the house, as a representative of Tennessee.

While Adet was fulminating his thunders against the administration, and the opposition in the house were doing all in their power to injure the president, the Aurora newspaper was pouring out its venom with increased malignity. “If ever a nation was debauched by a man,” said a correspondent of that paper, on the twenty-third of December, “the American nation has been debauched by Washington. If ever a nation was deceived by a man, the American nation has been deceived by Washington. Let his conduct, then, be an example to future ages. Let it serve to be a warning that no man may be an idol. Let the history of the federal government instruct mankind, that the mask of patriotism may be worn to conceal the foulest designs against the liberties of the people.”

At about the same time, a malignant pamphlet, in the form of a letter from Thomas Paine to Washington, was issued from the office of the Aurora. Paine had been a member of the National Assembly of France, and thrown into prison. Application had been made to the United States government for his release, but, as in the case of Lafayette, it could do nothing. This seeming neglect kindled the ire of Paine, who had, at this time, become an habitual drunkard. He had, in consequence, also become morose in disposition, and dogmatical in his opinions to an insufferable degree. Monroe sympathized with him; and under his roof, in Paris, Paine wrote the virulent letter alluded to, and sent it to Bache, of the Aurora, to print and disseminate. The following extract will be sufficient to exhibit its tone and temper:—

“The part I acted in the American Revolution is well known; I shall not here repeat it. I know, also, that had it not been for the aid received from France in men, money, and ships, that your cold and unmilitary conduct (as I shall show in the course of this letter) would, in all probability, have lost America; at least she would not have been the independent nation she now is. You slept away your time in the field till the finances of the country were completely exhausted, and you have but little share in the glory of the final event. It is time, sir, to speak the undisguised language of historical truth.

“Elevated to the chair of the presidency, you assumed the merit of everything to yourself, and the natural ingratitude of your constitution began to appear. You commenced your presidential career by encouraging and swallowing the grossest adulation; and you travelled America, from one end to the other, to put yourself in the way of receiving it. You have as many addresses in your chest as James the Second. As to what were your views (for if you are not great enough to have ambition, you are little enough to have vanity) they can not be directly inferred from expressions of your own; but the partisans of your politics have divulged the secret.”