Washington, George

(February 22, 1732—December 14, 1799), the first President of the United States, was born in West more land County, Va. Some of the familiar anecdotes of his early life rest on the more than doubtful authority of Weems, one of his first chroniclers. At the age of sixteen he was compelled to leave school, and he became a surveyor. His appointment as adjutant-general and major at the early age of nineteen was preparatory to his selection for the first striking public _ event of his life, his service as me enger from the Virgin i an to the French Governor in 1753-1754. How he traversed the pathle forests of Western Pennsylvania is familiar; the following summer a battle at Great Meadows fought by his small force ushered in the long French and Indian War. Washington was obliged to surrender Fort Nece ity. He resigned, but the next year served on Braddock’s siaff at the defeat of the Monongahela, and had a miraculous escape. Colonel Washing: ton continued in the army until 1759, and had a part in the taking of Fort Duquesne in 1758. He married in 1759, and the same year entered the Virginia House of Burge es. For several years he now led the life of a Virginia planter, at Mount Vernon. He was a delegate to the first and second Contineutal Congre es; by the latter body he was appointed commander-in-chief, June 17, 1775, and tuok command of the army under the historic elm at Cambridge, July 3. It was his task to put into the form of an organized force the raw and ill-equipped soldiers. His first enterprise succeeded; Boston was evacuated by the British, March 17, 1776, and the army was transferred to New York. After the Declaration of Independence, a disheartening series of reverses marked the half-year: the battle of Brooklyn, the withdrawal from New York, White Plains, the fall of Fort Washington, and the melancholy retreat of the diminishing army acro New Jersey. The morale of the troops and of the country was suddenly raised by Washington’s brilliant surprise of Trenton and victory of Princeton. In the autumn of 1777 his army, though defeated at Brandy wine and German town, kept a large British force occupied, and so contributed to the dénouement of the year, at Saratoga. Then came the gloomy winter at Valley Forge, and the cabal of Conway and Gates. The battle of Mon mouth was won in the summer, but thereafter Washington's part was for some veare in other phases of the war than in battles, and active hostilities drifted away principally to the south. The treason of Arnold in 1780 was a severe blow. In the following summer Washington showed the qualitic> of a great general by his secret and rapid march from the Hudson to Chesapeake Bay, a march which resulted in the fall of York town. His significance in the war was largely moral; there was a widespread confidence in his thorough devotion to the cause. He replied severely to the Newburg addre of 1782 (which had hinted at monarchy). After a letter to the State Governors he took leave of the anny and officers, and, December 23, 1783, resigned to Congre at Anna polis his commi ion. Deeply impre ed with the need of a more efficient government, he presided over the Federal Convention of 1787. He was the unanimous choice for President, and was inaugurated at New York April 30, 1789. Elected again without opposition, he served until 1797. Of his Cabinet, Jefferson was Secretary of State, Hamilton of the Treasury, Knox of War, and Randolph Attorney-General. Washington-made tours to the North and South. In 1793 he i ued a neutrality proclamation. His part in Jay’s treaty of 1795 caused a temporary lo of his popularity. On September 19,1796, he i ued his Farewell Addre . Perhaps his greatne was even better shown by his conduct as President than by his generalship. When war with France seemed imminent in 1798, he was appointed lieutenant-general, but he died soon after at Mount Vernon. He has been universally deemed the greatest of Americans, and one of the noblest public characters of all time. His writings and life were edited by Sparks, twelve volumes, and more recently by Ford. Of other biographies there are; by Marshall, five volumes; Irving, five volumes; Everett, Hale, H. C. Lodge. 357