Happy Birthday, G. Washington!

My apologies to the Father of our Country for having neglected to mention his birthday yesterday. For those new to VFR, please see this Washington celebration from 2004 which I re-link every year, presenting the two most life-like images of Washington with which I am familiar. Then see the Washington collection that I posted last year at this time. For something new, check out this interactive tour of the Gilbert Stuart Lansdowne portrait of Washington. I had wanted to post an entire chapter from James Thomas Flexner’s one-volume biography of Washington, The Indispensable Man, the chapter that describes Washington’s life at Mount Vernon after he returned from the Revolutionary War, probably the happiest time of his life, but unfortunately it is not on the Web.

However, here, on the Web, is an entire biography of Washington I have not read, written by David Ramsay in 1807. At the beginning of Ramsay’s chapter 10, he quotes two letters Washington wrote a few weeks after he had returned to Mount Vernon in December 1783 following an absence of eight and half years, during which—giving an idea of his ceaseless movement as Commander in Chief—he had resided at 280 different headquarters. His relief and happiness at being home again is evident in every word.

The first letter (this is a more correct version of it than in Ramsay’s book) is to Gen. Henry Knox:

I am just beginning to experience that ease and freedom from public cares, which, however desireable, takes some time to realize; for, strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, that it was not till lately I could get the better of my usual custom of ruminating, as soon as I waked in the morning, on the business of the ensuing day; and of my surprise at finding, after revolving many things in my mind, that I was no longer a public man, nor had anything to do with public transactions.

I feel now, however, as I conceive a wearied traveller must do, who, after treading many a painful step with a heavy burthen on his shoulders, is eased of the latter, having reached the haven to which all the former were directed; and from his house-top is looking back, and tracing with an eager eye the meanders by which he escaped the quicksands and mires which lay in his way; and into which none but the all-powerful Guide and Dispenser of human events could have prevented his falling.

The second letter is to the Marquis de Lafayette, written February 1, 1784:

At length my Dear Marquis I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, and under the shadow of my own Vine and my own Fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life, I am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments, of which the Soldier who is ever in pursuit of fame, the Statesman whose watchful days and sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin of other countries, as if this globe was insufficient for us all, and the Courtier who is always watching the countenance of his Prince, in hopes of catching a gracious smile, can have very little conception. I am not only retired from all public employments, but I am retiring within myself; and shall be able to view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of private life with heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all; and this my dear friend, being the order for my march, I will move gently down the stream of life, until I sleep with my Fathers.

Posted by Lawrence Auster at February 23, 2007 05:12 PM | Send