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XV.

1784.

Letter to the

legislature of

Virginia on

internal

wearied diligence by an extensive correspondence to pro- CHAPTER cure facts respecting the rivers falling into the Ohio from the west, and into the great Lakes, and also the distances from various navigable points in those rivers and lakes to the head waters of the streams flowing towards the Atlantic. Soon after returning from his western tour, he com- navigation. municated to the governor of Virginia the fruits of his investigations in a letter, one of the ablest, most sagacious, and most important productions of his pen. Presenting first a clear state of the question, and showing the practicability of facilitating the intercourse of trade between the east and the west by improving and extending the water communications, he then proceeds by a train of unanswerable argument and illustration to explain the immense advantages, that would arise from such a measure, in strengthening the union of the States, multiplying the resources of trade, and promoting the prosperity of the country.

for opening

an inter

course with

the western

States.

October 10.

"I need not remark to you," said he, "that the flanks Arguments and rear of the United States are possessed by other powers, and formidable ones too; nor how necessary it is to apply the cement of interest to bind all parts of the Union together by indissoluble bonds, especially that part of it, which lies immediately west of us, with the middle States. For what ties, let me ask, should we have upon those people? How entirely unconnected with them shall we be, and what troubles may we not apprehend, if the Spaniards on their right, and Great Britain on their left, instead of throwing stumblingblocks in their way, as they now do, should hold out lures for their trade and alliance? What, when they get strength, which will be sooner than most people conceive (from the emigration of foreigners, who will have no particular predilection towards us, as well as from the removal of our own citizens), will be the consequence of their having formed close connexions with both or either of those powers, in a commercial way? It needs not, in my opinion, the gift of prophecy to foretell.

CHAPTER
XV.

1784.

"The western States (I speak now from my own observation) stand as it were upon a pivot. The touch of a feather would turn them any way. They have looked down the Mississippi, until the Spaniards, very impolitically I think for themselves, threw difficulties in their way; and they looked that way for no other reason, than because they could glide gently down the stream; without considering, perhaps, the difficulties of the voyage back again, and the time necessary to perform it in; and because they have no other means of coming to us but by long land transportations and unimproved roads. These causes have hitherto checked the industry of the present settlers; for, except the demand for provisions, occasioned by the increase of population, and a little flour, which the necessities of the Spaniards compel them to buy, they have no incitements to labor. But smooth the road, and make easy the way for them, and then see what an influx of articles will be poured upon us; how amazingly our exports will be increased by them, and how amply we shall be compensated for any trouble and expense we may encounter to effect it.

"A combination of circumstances makes the present conjuncture more favorable for Virginia, than for any other State in the Union, to fix these matters. The jealous and untoward disposition of the Spaniards on one hand, and the private views of some individuals, coinciding with the general policy of the court of Great Britain, on the other, to retain as long as possible the posts of Detroit, Niagara, and Oswego, (which, though done under the letter of the treaty, is certainly an infraction of the spirit of it, and injurious to the Union,) may be improved to the greatest advantage by this State, if she would open the avenues to the trade of that country, and embrace the present moment to establish it. It only wants a beginning. The western inhabitants would do their part towards its execution. Weak as they are, they would meet us at least half way, rather than be driven into the arms of foreigners, or be made dependent upon them; which would

XV.

eventually either bring on a separation of them from us, CHAPTER or a war between the United States and one or the other of those powers, most probably with the Spaniards.”

At this time the State of Virginia, being large and powerful, stretching on one side to the Atlantic ocean and on the other to the western waters, and having in its bosom two noble rivers descending from the summits of the Alleganies, he thought the most favorably situated for beginning the great work. He recommended, therefore, as a preliminary step, that commissioners should be appointed to survey the Potomac and James Rivers from tide-water to their sources, and the portages between them and the principal western streams, following these streams to their junction with the Ohio, measuring with accuracy the distances, noting the obstructions to be removed, and estimating the probable expense. He also advised a similar survey of the rivers west of the Ohio as far as Detroit. "These things being done," said he, "I shall be mistaken if prejudice does not yield to facts, jealousy to candor, and finally, if reason and nature, thus aided, do not dictate what is right and proper to be done." The governor laid this letter before the legislature. It was the first suggestion of the great system of internal improvements, which has since been pursued in the United States.

A short time before his journey to the west, Washington had the satisfaction of receiving at Mount Vernon the Marquis de Lafayette, for whom he cherished the warmest friendship, heightened by gratitude for the disinterestedness and ardor with which he had espoused the cause of American freedom, and the signal services he had rendered. Two or three months were passed by Lafayette in the middle and eastern States, and in November he arrived at Richmond in Virginia. Washington met him at that place, where they were both received with public honors by the legislature then in session. They returned together to Mount Vernon; and, when Lafayette's visit was concluded, Washington accompanied him on his way to Annapolis.

1784.

Surveys of

the western

rivers rec

ommended.

Visit of La-
Mount Ver-

fayette to

non.

CHAPTER

XV. 1784.

Lafayette.

In a letter to Lafayette's wife he said; "We restore the Marquis to you in good health, crowned with wreaths of love and respect from every part of the Union." The Departure of parting of the two friends was affecting, and showed the strength of the ties by which they were united. As soon Dec. 8. as he reached home, Washington wrote to him as follows. "In the moment of our separation, upon the road as I travelled, and every hour since, I have felt all that love, respect, and attachment for you, with which length of years, close connexion, and your merits have inspired me. I often asked myself, as our carriages separated, whether that was the last sight I ever should have of you? And, though I wished to say No, my fears answered Yes. I called to mind the days of my youth, and found they had long since fled to return no more; that I was now descending the hill I had been fiftytwo years climbing, and that, though I was blest with a good constitution, I was of a short-lived family, and might soon expect to be entombed in the mansion of my fathers. These thoughts darkened the shades, and gave a gloom to the picture, and consequently to my prospect of seeing you again." This melancholy presage was fulfilled. They never met afterwards. But their attachment remained indissoluble, and Washington lived to sympathize in the misfortunes of his friend, and to have the consolation of using all the means in his power to rescue him from the sufferings he so long endured in a cruel imprisonment.

Companies for internal navigation organized.

The hopes of General Washington, in regard to his favorite scheme of internal navigation, were more than realized. The legislature of Virginia, after duly considering his letter to the governor, not only appointed the commission for surveys, but organized two companies, called the Potomac Company and the James River Company, for the purpose of carrying the plan into effect. They moreover complimented him without a dissenting voice, by a donation of fifty shares in the former company, and one hundred shares in the latter; the fifty

XV.

shares being estimated at ten thousand dollars, and the CHAPTER others at five thousand pounds sterling. Aware of his delicacy on the subject of receiving money from the pub- 1785. lic, the legislature contrived to frame the preamble of the act in such language, as, it was hoped, would remove his scruples. "It is the desire of the representatives of this commonwealth to embrace every suitable occasion of testifying their sense of the unexampled merits of George Washington towards his country; and it is their wish in particular, that those great works for its improvement, which, both as springing from the liberty which he has been so instrumental in establishing, and as encouraged by his patronage, will be durable monuments of his glory, may be made monuments also of the gratitude of his country."

If he was highly gratified, as he must have been, with this public testimony of affection and respect, he was scarcely less embarrassed by it. Not that he hesitated, as to the course he should pursue, but the grant had been made in so liberal a manner, and from motives so pure, that he feared a refusal might be regarded in an unfavorable light, as evincing either ingratitude to his friends, or a disposition to gain applause by a show of disinterestedness, unusual if not unnecessary. He stated his difficulties freely in private letters to the governor, and to some of the principal members of the legislature; declaring, at the same time, that he could not, consistently with his principles, accept the proffered gift in such a way, that he should derive from it any emolument to himself. A positive decision was not required till the next session of the legislature, when he wrote officially to the governor declining the grant; but, lest the operations of the companies should be retarded by withdrawing the subscriptions for the shares, which had been made by the treasurer on his account, he suggested, that, if the Assembly should think proper to submit to him the appropriation of them for some object of a public nature, he would accept the trust. His proposition was cheerfully

Washington ceiving a do

declines re

nation from

Virginia.

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