- 144
Washington, George
Description
- Washington, George
- Autograph leaf from his discarded First Inaugural Address
- ink on paper
Provenance
Literature
Condition
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
Although George Washington did not receive official notification of his unanimous election to the presidency until 14 April 1789, his elevation to that office was essentially a foregone conclusion from the time that New Hampshire's ratification of the United States Constitution, 21 June 1788, provided the ninth-state approval necessary to put the new governmental compact into effect. Washington's ambivalence about becoming the chief executive is well known: on 1 April 1789 he famously wrote to Henry Knox, Acting Secretary of War and his old comrade in arms, that "my movements to the chair of Government will be accompanied with feelings not unlike those of a culprit who is going to the place of his execution: so unwilling am I, in the evening of a life nearly consumed in public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an Ocean of difficulties, without that competency of political skill—abilities & inclination which is necessary to manage the helm" (sold, Sotheby's, 1 November 1993, lot 232).
Washington's modesty—false or not—was belied by his willingness to serve. Indeed, the very office of presidency, as constituted, owes much to the character of Washington. His fame as the steady hero of the Revolution, his manifest lack of personal ambition, and his determination not to profit from public service won him a reputation unapproached by any other American of his—or any subsequent—day. Despite his strong desire to live in the "peaceful abode" of his Mount Vernon estates, he felt compelled to give active support to the Federal cause, agreeing to serve as president of the Constitutional Convention. Even before the delegates gathered in Philadelphia, there was a widespread belief that however the office of chief executive was ultimately defined, Washington was its only possible cndidate. The potentially dictatorial powers invested in the presidency of commandership in chief of the armed forces could only have been approved under the near-universal assumption that Washington would be that trustworthy commander.
Washington accepted the inevitability of his election, and as early as January 1789 he had begun work on an Inaugural Address. With the assistance of David Humphreys, Washington wrote a lengthy and thoughtful charge to Congress, touching on a myriad of issues and recommendations: implementation and amendment of the Constitution, proposed legislation, organization of the judicial branch, taxation, defense, and encouragement of national commerce and culture. In February, Washington sent the text of the address to James Madison for his review and comment. While Madison's response does not survive, it can be assumed that he counseled Washington to deliver a less detailed, less radical, and—if only for practical reasons—shorter speech to Congress and his fellow citizens. Washington complied, and his first Inaugural Address was set aside in favor of a briefer, more personal statement, probably drafted with the help of Madison. It was this shortened and somewhat sterilized version of Washington's vision for the country that he read at his inauguration at Federal Hall, New York, 30 April 1789.
Washington's original Inaugural Address survived in holograph among his papers at Mount Vernon until the later 1820s, when it was transferred—with eight crates of other original documents—to the custody of Bostonian Jared Sparks, the nineteenth-century "editor" of Washington's writings. In consultation with Madison, Sparks decided that the undelivered Address should not be included in his selection of Washington's works. Having determined that the 73-page manuscript was now superfluous to him, Sparks made the much more startling decision to distribute the address to the autograph hunters and other souvenir hounds who had begun to hector him for examples of Washington's signature. Content at first to scatter the address leaf by leaf, Sparks eventually took to cutting individual leaves to into several smaller slips, evidently so he could accommodate more requests. James Thomas Flexner's excoriation of Sparks's "most horrendous historical vandalism" scarcely seems condemnation harsh enough.
Largely through the efforts of a new breed of manuscript collector—notably Forest G. Sweet and Nathaniel E. Stein (from whose collections this and the leaf following derive)—Washington's first Inaugural Address was recognized and, in part, rescued.
In this pivotal and eloquent passage from his first, undelivered Inaugural Address, Washington voices his strong support for the Constitution, “a government of the people,” whose right of franchise “turns the first wheel of government,” and whose exercise of their right to vote will “afford less opportunity for corruption & indifference; & more for stability & system than has usually been incident to popular governments.”
“[page 27:] set up my judgment as the standard of perfection?—And shall I arrogantly pronounce that whosoever differs from me, must discern the subject through a distorting medium, or be influenced by some nefarious design?—The mind is so formed in different persons as to contemplate the same object in different points of view. Hence originates difference on questions of the greatest import, both human & divine.—In all the Institutions of the former kind, great allowances are doubtless to be made for the fallibility & imperfections of their authors.—Although the agency I had in forming this system, and the high opinion I entertained of my colleagues for their ability & integrity may have tended to warp my judgment in its favour; yet I will not pretend to say that it appears absolutely perfect to me, or that there may not be many faults which have escaped my discernment.—I will only say, that, during and since the session of the Convention, I have attentively heard and read [page 28:] every oral & printed information on both sides of the question that could be procured.—This long & laborious investigation, in which I endeavoured as far as the frailty of nature would permit to act with candour has resulted in a fixed belief that this Constitution, is really in its formulation a government of the people; that is to say, a government in which all power is derived from, and at stated periods reverts to them—and that, in its operation, it is purely, a government of Laws made & executed by the fair substitutes of the people alone.—The election of the differt. branches of Congress by the Freemen, either directly or indirectly is the pivot on which turns the first wheel of government—a wheel which communicates motion to all the rest.—At the sametime the exercise of this right of election seems to be so regulated as to afford less opportunity for corruption & indifference; & more for stability & system than has usually been incident to popular governments.—Nor can the Members of Congress exempt themselves from the consequences of” [end of present leaf; the sentence is concluded on page 29 of the Address, “of any unjust & tyranical acts which they may impose upon others” (Pierpont Morgan Library, New York)].
Washington’s interpretation of the Constitution, and his embrace of his office as a representation of the people, has been echoed by virtually all of his successors, but seldom with his persuasiveness, passion, and probity.