9013. WASHINGTON (George), Federalists and.—[further continued].
From the moment * * *
of my retiring from the administration, the
federalists got unchecked hold of General Washington.
His memory was already sensibly impaired
by age, the firm tone of mind for which
he had been remarkable, was beginning to relax,
its energy was abated; a listlessness of labor, a
desire for tranquillity had crept on him, and a
willingness to let others act, and even think
for him. Like the rest of mankind, he was disgusted
with the atrocities of the French Revolution,
and was not sufficiently aware of the
difference between the rabble who were used as
instruments of their perpetration, and the steady
and rational character of the American people,
in which he had not sufficient confidence. The
opposition too of the republicans to the British
treaty, and zealous support of the federalists in
that unpopular, but favorite measure of theirs,
had made him all their own. Understanding,
moreover, that I disapproved of that treaty, and
copiously nourished with falsehoods by a malignant
neighbor of mine [Henry Lee, “ LightHorse
Harry”], who ambitioned to be his correspondent,
he had become alienated from myself
personally, as from the republican body
generally of his fellow citizens; and he wrote
the letters to Mr. Adams and Mr. Carroll, over
which, in devotion to his imperishable fame,
we must forever weep as monuments of mortal
decay.—
The Anas. Washington ed. ix, 99.
Ford ed., i, 168.
(1818)
