Hamilton. Hamilton had stood by him in every hour of trial, true in friendship and powerful in support. A note from Hamilton to Washington, dated May 10, 1796, shows that Hamilton had been invited and was glad to aid in revising a rough draft that Washington had prepared.

A paper has been preserved in which is first inserted Madison's draft, and then a series of notes by Washington to be wrought into the new address. These notes include nearly all the elements of the main points of the address as it was finally published. Various drafts were sent back and forth between Washington and Hamilton. The work was nearly four months in hand, and was executed with a deliberation and solicitude that show how important they regarded it.

In May, 1796, the President wrote to Hamilton: "Even if you should think it best to throw the whole into a different form, let me request, notwithstanding, that my draft may be returned to me (along with yours) with such amendments and corrections as to render it as perfect as the formation is susceptible of; curtailed if too verbose; and relieved of all tautology not necessary to enforce the ideas in the original or quoted part. My wish is that the whole may appear in a plain style, and be handed to the public in an honest, unaffected, simple, part."

When Hamilton had made a new draft of the address with such alterations as he deemed advisable, he read it to John Jay for criticism, and they discussed it paragraph by paragraph until the whole met with their approval. It is clear from John Jay's testimony that he believed Hamilton's transcript to be in substance essentially the same as Washington's original.

The copy from which the final draft was printed is wholly in the handwriting of Washington, and bears the marks of a most rigid and laborious revision. It is thus described by Mr. Claypoole: "The manuscript copy consists of thirtytwo pages of quarto letter paper, sewed together as a book,

and with many alterations; as in some places whole paragraphs are erased, and others substituted; in others, many lines struck out; in others, sentences and words erased, and others interlined in their stead. The tenth, eleventh, and sixteenth pages are almost entirely expunged, saving only a few lines; and one-half of the thirty-first page is also effaced." 1

Jared Sparks, in his Life of Washington, concludes, "My opinion is, that the Address, in the shape it now bears, is much indebted for its language and style to the careful revision and skilful pen of Hamilton; that he suggested some of the topics and amplified others; and that he undertook this task not more as an act of friendship, than from a sincere desire that a paper of this kind should go before the public in a form which would give it great and lasting utility. But I do not think that this aid, however valuable, was such as to detract from the substantial merit of Washington, or to divest him of a fair claim to the authorship of the Address."

Horace Binney (in his "Inquiry," 1859) says that the fundamental thoughts and principles were Washington's, but he was not the composer. "Hamilton was, in the prevalent literary sense, the composer and writer of the paper. The occasional adoption of Washington's language does not materially take from the justice of this attribution. The new plan, the different form, proceeded from Hamilton. He was the author of it. He put together the thoughts of Washington in a new order, and with a new bearing; and while, as often as he could, he used the words of Washington, his own language was the general vehicle, both of his own thoughts, and for the expansion and combination of Washington's thoughts. Hamilton developed the thoughts of Washington, and corroborated them included several cognate subjects, and added many effective thoughts from

1 Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, vol. i, p. 257.

his own mind, and united all into one chain by the links of his masculine logic."

VI. QUESTIONS AND EXERCISES ON THE FAREWELL

ADDRESS

1. Make an outline of the Address, giving the main topics in order and the sub-topics under each main topic.

2. What propositions does Washington undertake to prove? What arguments does he present in support of each proposition?

3. To what extent was Washington indebted to Madison in the preparation of the Address? To Hamilton? Jay?

To

4. Norman Hapgood says that the credit for the Address is properly given to Washington by the world, for the experience was his, the solution his, Hamilton his. What facts of history can you present in support of this judgment?

5. Was Washington justified in publishing the Address with no public recognition of his indebtedness to Hamilton?

6. Norman Hapgood says that the Address "is written with a literary vigor quite beyond the reach of Washington himself." Jared Sparks says that no one, after reading the other writings of Washington, can "doubt his ability to compose such a paper." Read other writings by Washington and consider which of these judgments seems to you nearer the truth.

7. What were the circumstances of the first presentation of the Address to the people?

8. Was Washington a true American?

per's Magazine, 113: 770.)

(Consult Har

9. Discuss the character of Washington as revealed in the Address.

10. Washington advised the nation to "avoid the accumu

lation of debt"; to "resist with care the spirit of innovation " upon the principles of our government; "to observe good faith and justice toward all nations"; "to promote institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge." Has the United States heeded the advice of the Father of the Country in these particulars?

(For help on questions 10, 11, 12, see the Outlook, Feb. 25, 1899.)

11. What other warnings are given in the Address? To what extent have they been heeded?

12. Has all that Washington hoped for in the development of the nation been fully attained?

13. What kind of alliances with foreign powers did Washington regard as "entangling"?

(For aid on this and the next five questions, consult the Forum, 28: 13.)

14. Can the Address be construed as an argument against imperialism?

15. Washington said, "If we remain one people, under an efficient government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury from external annoyances." What specific annoyances did he have in mind?

16. " Europe has a set of primary interests which to us have none, or a very remote relation." To what does this refer?

17. "Our national situation enables us to pursue a course of self-withdrawal from European affairs." In what respects has the situation changed since Washington wrote these words? To what extent have we participated in European affairs within the past twenty years?

18. Is the Monroe Doctrine implied in the Address?

19. What are the three branches of the Federal government? What does Washington mean by "reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power"? Quote the sections of the Constitution bearing on this point.

20. Explain Washington's reference to "permanent, in

veterate national antipathies and passionate attachments." What was the special need of warning the people against passionate attachments? What expression of such an attachment was made on the occasion of the Bunker Hill Oration?

21. What were Washington's objections to party government?

22. What can be said in favor of party government?

23. Have there been any tendencies in recent years for one department of the government to encroach upon another?

24. Have we yet become "a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence"?

25. What was the "subsisting war in Europe" toward which Washington took a neutral position? What incentives had our people to take part in the war?

26. "As a didactic writer, he can scarcely be esteemed too much; his sentiments have a force and fascination to restore reason, invigorate patriotism, and awaken piety; his public letters and documents should be engraved upon the tablet of the nation, as examples of profound sagacity, genuine integrity, and unaffected humility: they should be eternally regarded, in a political interpretation, as 'eyes to the blind.' His simplicity of style proves him to have been guided by a fine taste; when a writer is verbose or glittering, his argument is weakened, and none but the unwise can admire him." (From Washington's Political Legacies, published 1800.) To what extent is this judgment of the year 1800 the judgment of to-day?

27, Find out by count the average number of words per sentence in any three pages of Washington's Address, in any three pages of Webster's Oration, and in any one of your own compositions. What conclusions do you draw regarding your own style?

(See also questions 5, 6, 7, 8, 11, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 in Part XV of the Introduction to Webster's Oration.)