reaty the rage of party spirit turned
full against Washington himself. He was blackguarded and abused in every
possible way. He was accused of having shown incapacity while General and
of having embezzled public funds while President. He was nicknamed "the
Step-Father of his country." The imputation on his honor stung so keenly
that he declared "he would rather be in his grave than in the Presidency,"
and in private correspondence he complained that he had been assailed "in
terms so exaggerated and indecent as could scarcely be applied to a Nero,
a notorious defaulter, or even to a common pickpocket." The only rejoinder
which his dignity permitted him to make is that contained in his Farewell
Address, dated September 17, 1796, in which he made a modest estimate of
his services and made a last affectionate appeal to the people whom he had
so faithfully served.

The Farewell Address was not a communication to Congress. It was issued in
view of the approaching presidential election, to give public notice that
he declined "being considered among the number of those out of whom a
choice is to be made." The usual address to Congress was delivered by
Washington on December 7, 1796, shortly after the opening of the second
session of the Fourth Congress. The occasion was connected in the public
mind with his recent valedictory, and Congress was ready to vote a reply
of particularly cordial tenor. Giles stood to his guns to the last,
speaking and voting against complimentary resolutions. "He hoped gentlemen
would compliment the President privately, as individuals; at the same
time, he hoped such adulation would never pervade the House." He held that
"the Administration has been neither wise nor firm," and he acknowledged
that he was "one of those who do not think so much of the President as
some others do." On this issue Madison forsook him, and Giles was voted
down, 67 to 12. Among the eleven who stood by Giles was a new member who
made his first appearance that session--Andrew Jackson of Tennessee. In
later years, when Giles's opinions had been modified by experience and
reflection, he regretted his attitude towards Washington. It is due to
Giles to say that he did not stab in the dark. He had qualities of
character that under better constitutional arrangements would have
invigorated the functions of the House as an organ of control, but at that
time, with the separation that had been introduced between the House and
the Adminis