large correspondence on agriculture with gentlemen in Europe and America. His letters to Sir John Sinclair, Arthur Young, and Dr. Anderson, have been published and are well known. Indeed his thoughts never seemed to flow more freely, nor his pen to move more easily, than when he was writing on agriculture, extolling it as a most attractive pursuit, and describing the pleasure he derived from it, and its superior claims not only on the practical economist, but on the statesman and philanthropist.

The President had not been long in New York before he found it necessary to establish rules for receiving visiters and entertaining company. There being no precedent to serve as a guide, this was an affair of considerable delicacy and difficulty. In the first place, it was essential to maintain the dignity of the office by such forms as would inspire deference and respect; and, at the same time, the nature of republican institutions and the habits of the people required the chief magistrate to be accessible to every citizen on proper occasions and for reasonable purposes. A just line was therefore to be drawn between too much pomp and ceremony on the one hand, and an extreme of familiarity on the other. Regard was also to be had to the President's time and convenience. After a short experiment of leaving the matter to the discretion of the public, it was proved, that without some fixed rule he would never have an hour at his disposal. From breakfast till dinner his door was besieged with persons calling to pay their respects, or to consult him on affairs of little moment. His sense of duty to the claims of his office, and to himself, convinced him that this practice could not be endured. The Vice-President, Mr. Jay, Mr. Madison, Mr. Hamilton, and other gentlemen, concurred in this opinion, and by their advice a different mode was adopted.

Every Tuesday, between the hours of three and four, he was prepared to receive such persons as chose to call. Foreign ministers, strangers of distinction, and citizens, came and went without ceremony. The hour was passed in free conversation on promiscuous topics, in which the President joined. Every Friday afternoon the rooms were open in like manner for visits to Mrs. Washington, which were on a still more sociable footing, and at which General Washington was always present. These assemblages were in the nature of public levees, and they did not preclude such visits of civility and friendship, between the President's family and others, as is customary in society. On affairs of business by appointment, whether with public officers or private citizens, the President was always ready to bestow his time and attention. He accepted no invitations to dinner, but invited to his own table foreign ministers, officers of the government, and strangers, in such numbers at once as his domestic establishment would accommodate. On these occasions there was neither ostentation nor restraint, but the same simplicity and ease with which his guests had been entertained at Mount Vernon.

No visits were received on Sundays. In the morning he uniformly attended church, and in the afternoon he retired to his private apartment. The evening was spent with his family, and then an intimate friend would sometimes call, but promiscuous company was not admitted.*

Having laid down these general rules, which soon became known to the public, he found relief from a heavy tax upon his time, and more leisure for a faithful discharge of his duties. In the course of the summer,

* For an account of his religious opinions and habits, see Vol. XII. p. 399.

however, he was seized with a violent malady, which reduced him very low, and which for a few days was thought to endanger his life. He was confined six weeks to his bed, and it was more than twelve before his strength was restored. A constitution naturally strong, and the attendance of Dr. Bard, a physician equally eminent for the excellence of his character and skill in his profession, enabled him to rise from an illness the most painful and trying that he had ever endured. From the effects of it he never entirely recovered.

He had hardly gained strength to go abroad, when he heard of the death of his mother, who died in August, at the age of eighty-two. Writing to his sister on this occasion he said; "Awful and affecting as the death of a parent is, there is consolation in knowing, that Heaven has spared ours to an age beyond which few attain, and favored her with the full enjoyment of her mental faculties, and as much bodily strength as usually falls to the lot of fourscore. Under these considerations, and a hope that she is translated to a happier place, it is the duty of her relatives to yield due submission to the decrees of the Creator." A short time before he left Mount Vernon for New York, he made a visit to his mother at Fredericksburg, the place of her residence. She was then sinking under a disease, which he foresaw would prove fatal; and he took an affecting and final leave of her, convinced he should never see her again. She had been a widow forty-six years. Through life she was remarkable for vigor of mind and body, simplicity of manners, and uprightness of character. She must have felt a mother's joy at the success and renown of her son, but they caused no change in her deportment or style of living. Whenever he visited her at her dwelling, even in the height of his greatness, he literally

VOL. I.

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returned to the scenes and domestic habits of his boyhood. Neither pride nor vanity mingled with the feelings excited by the attentions she received as the mother of Washington. She listened to his praises and was silent, or added only that he had been a good son, and she believed he had done his duty as a man.

As soon as he was established in his office, Washington introduced strict habits of economy into his household, which were preserved without essential change to the end of his public life. The whole was under the care of a steward, to whom he gave general directions. All other persons connected with the establishment were accountable to the steward, but each of them was required to keep an exact record of the purchases and expenditures made by him, specifying every particular. These accounts, with tradesmen's bills and other vouchers, were presented once a week to Washington, who inspected them minutely, and certified with his own signature that they were approved. By this method he was enabled to ascertain at any moment the precise state of his pecuniary affairs, and to guard against extravagance and waste. He might say with Seneca; "I keep an account of my expenses; I cannot affirm that I lose nothing, but I can tell you what I lose, and why, and in what manner." The salary of the President, as fixed by law, was twenty-five thousand dollars a year. But with the most rigid economy his expenses were seldom within this limit, and he was of course obliged to draw on his private fortune to make up the deficiency.

Congress continued in session till near the end of September, when they adjourned for three months. They had been mostly occupied in passing laws for the organization of government, the administration of justice, and the raising of a revenue. Mercantile reg

ulations were established, imposing duties on tonnage and imported goods. Amendments to the constitution were framed, and recommended to the States for adoption. Three executive departments were formed, at the head of each of which was to be a secretary, namely, the departments of foreign affairs, of the treasury, and of war. The first was afterwards called the department of state, and included both foreign and domestic affairs. So large a portion of the administration of government is effected by the executives of the several States, that a separate department for internal affairs was not thought necessary. The navy

too was at this time so small, as not to require a distinct department. It was mainly in the charge of the secretary of war.

The requisite laws being passed, it next devolved on the President to select proper persons to fill the several offices. In regard to the executive departments, this was of very great importance, inasmuch as the secretaries were not only to discharge the duties assigned to them by the constitution and laws, but were to be his cabinet, or council of state. On the wisdom of his choice, therefore, would in a great degree depend the character and success of his administration. So much time had elapsed in the session of Congress, that he had been able to take a full survey of the subject, and to decide with deliberation. Long experience in public affairs, a high political standing, and acknowledged talents, pointed out Thomas Jefferson as eminently qualified for the state department. He was about to return from France, where he had filled the office of minister plenipotentiary, as successor to Dr. Franklin, with much credit to himself and his country. Alexander Hamilton was appointed to the head of the treasury. His transcendent abilities,