national university; gift for the establishment of Endowment of a national university; reason for locating the institution at the national capital; discourages the project of the Geneva professors; disposition of his shares in the James River Com- To Robert Brooke, Governor of Virginia, 16 Desires to devote his shares in the Potomac and Desires a section on education to be incorporated in the Farewell Address; uses of a national uni- To Robert Morris, 12 April, 1786 . Attempts of the Quakers to free slaves; unlawful- To the People of the United States, 19 September, Announces that he will not accept a third term; 531 real independence; the name American to be Introduction THOMAS JEFFERSON, who was not disposed to be any more favorable in his judgment of Washington than the facts compelled him to be, says of him: "His was the singular destiny and merit, of leading the armies of his country successfully through an arduous war, for the establishment of its independence; of conducting its councils through the birth of a government, new in its forms and principles, until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly train; and of scrupulously obeying the laws through the whole of his career, civil and military, of which the history of the world furnishes no other example." The circumstances of Washington's life were peculiarly happy, and his career singularly wellrounded and complete. Endowed by birth with influential social connections, placed early in life in affluent circumstances, his military services in the French and Indian War made him the most prominent American soldier of his day. When the colonists took up arms against Great Britain, his appointment as commander-in-chief of the American forces on both military and political grounds was alike natural and inevitable. While he possessed a large measure of the public confidence at the beginning of the Revolution, the qualities which he displayed in the conduct of that struggle placed him among the great men of the world, and gave him a degree of influence with his countrymen that no other American has ever possessed. His experiences in the Revolution made him realize most keenly the necessity of a firmer union than was furnished by the Articles of Confederation, and long before independence was assured, he sought to imbue others with his ambition for the establishment of a national government which should be strong enough to maintain its authority, meet its obligations, and uphold the national dignity and honor. In the last days of the Confederation, when the bonds of union were slowly dissolving and something very like anarchy seemed inevitable, it was the weight of Washington's name, more than any other one factor, which led to the formation and adoption of the Constitution. And when the new government was ready to be put into operation, the election of Washington to the presidency was as natural as had been his appointment to the command of the army fourteen years before; while in the starting of the new government, his personal influence was as large a factor in its success as that influence had been in securing its adoption. It may be questioned whether any other American of his day could have overcome the bitter opposition which was offered to his policy of neutrality in the war between England and France, to his treaty of commerce with Great Britain, and to his enforcement of the excise law in Western Pennsylvania. If it had been necessary to wage the war for independence without his military genius and unstinted devotion; if his influence had been lacking in the effort of the few to establish an adequate government for the union; or if he had not stood sponsor for the great measures which gave stability to the new government and a place of honor and dignity to the nation, it is difficult to believe that any one of these movements could have been brought to a successful conclusion. No other leader of modern times has conducted a people through such momentous changes, or placed his work on so permanent a foundation as did Washington. And he had the almost unique good fortune of living to witness the triumph of every great cause which he had advocated, while in the closing years of his life, removed from the animosities which every public career seems to entail, he received the veneration of the civilized world. Few public men have left so complete a record of their lives as has Washington. He began at an early period to keep copies of the letters which he wrote and to preserve all important papers which came into his hands. Every phase of his public life is amply recorded, not indeed with any purpose of leaving a record, but merely because the circumstances of his career were such that the transaction of the business of the day was in |