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Show I Authorship 0 of H Washington's n Farewell g ; Address n 1 ' g 1II2UE docs not seem to (Cl? nnvo been nny unlty of b0" V fo.A llof regnrdlng tho author-MTf author-MTf ship of Washington's fare-wo11 fare-wo11 n(1(lrC83' "nionB somo Pr of 1110 enr,,cr historians, and much of tho samo confusion con-fusion has resulted from tho various and contradictory statements regarding regard-ing Washington's retirement from publico pub-lico Jlfc. A page from a letter written writ-ten to James Madison by Washington, In May, 1792, Is to somo extent nn answer an-swer to somo of tho statements which havo been mado from tlmo to timo. Whon all tho facts In tho caso aro arranged, there does not appear to bo any mystery surrounding either tho retirement of Washington or of tho authorship of tho historic address. Ilrlelly, as tho letter auotod In facsimile fac-simile Indicates. Washington had decided de-cided to rctlro from public Hfo boforo tho tldo of opposition to him had set In, and hnd determined to proparo what ho himself entitles n valedictory no-dress. no-dress. It Is probablo that no question ques-tion regarding tho authorship of tho address would over havo nrlson had not tho untimely death of Hamilton, who was slain In tho dual with Uurr, thrown his private papers into tho hands of persona who wero not apprised ap-prised of all tho facts In tho caso. They, or somo friends of Hamilton, about tho mlddlo or tho last contury, happened upon a draft of tho address In tho handwriting of Hamilton, and immediately spread tho Intolllgenco that Washington's secretary of tho treasury was tho real author of tho papor. Somo historians, having In mind tho wavo of opposition to Washington which aroso during his first term of offlco, and which became more bitter during his second term, havo intimated inti-mated that tho retirement of tho first president was merely tho act of a man who saw that ho had lost his popularity and had enough common senso not to linger where ho hnd be-como be-como unendurable In 1792 Washington Washing-ton still was tho popular Idol There has been no dlsngreelKont on that score among tho historians, and It was on Mny 20 of that year, during this period of good will, that tho Father of Ills Country decided to retire from public Hfo. It was also at this tlmo that ho was devising In his mind a dignified mothod of making this withdrawal. with-drawal. Tho letter was among Mndlson's papers at his death, and somo years ago was sold at auction In Now York, bringing $1,325, and passing Into tho collection of ono of tho New York collectors. Thoro Is nothing In this letter to lndlcnto that Washington retired from public Hfo on account of his unpopularity, un-popularity, and, if it wero necessary, would show that Hamilton was not tho author of tho valedictory address. Madison, nppoalcd to In tho letter Just quoted, did find tlmo to draw up such an address as Washington indicated. indi-cated. This was submitted to tho president, nnd the lattor prepared a papor from It. This copy ho submitted sub-mitted to Jny, at that tlmo cblof Jus-tlco Jus-tlco of tho United Stntca supreme court, and to Alexander Hamilton, tho secretary of tho treasury. In forward ing tho paper to Hamilton, Wnshing ton wrote: "Evon If you should think It best to throw tho wholo Into n different dif-ferent form let mo Buggest, notwithstanding, notwith-standing, that my draught mny bo returned re-turned to mo (along with yours) with such amendments and corrections as to rendor It ns perfect as tho formation forma-tion Is Biisceptlblo of; curtailed, if too verboso, and relieved of all tautology not nccessnry to enforco tho Ideas In the original or quoted part. My wish Is that tho wholo may appear In a plain stylo, and bo hnndod to tho public In an honest, unaffected, simple part." Hamilton prepared a draft which Washington said ho preferred to others oth-ers submlttod to him. It was mainly main-ly a change In form, but Hamilton's paper Is said to havo dlfforod much' from tho original. This draft was followed fol-lowed by Washington, who wroto tho address and thon submlttod tho now production to Pickering, McHonry and WolcotL Theso mado fow changes and theso aro said to havo been, as Pickering has recordod, "regarding chiefly tho grammar and composition." composi-tion." Although tho first letter to Madison on tho subjoct bears the dato of May 20, 1792, tho farowoll address was not glvon to the people until Septombor 19, 1796. |