he accusation, so often made, that he opposed an administration
of which he was a member and which by the plainest party-rules he was
bound to support, it is completely answered by the statement, that his
conduct was understood by Washington, that he repeatedly offered to
resign, and that when he retired it was in opposition to the President's
wish. It is not worth while for us to apply a higher standard of party
loyalty to Washington's ministers than he himself applied.

One great difficulty encountered by the politicians of that day seems to
have been purely fanciful. Strictly speaking, the government did not
have a policy. It went into operation with the impression that it would
be persistently resisted, that its success was doubtful, and that any
considerable popular disaffection would be fatal to it. These fears
proved to be unfounded. The day Washington took the oath, the government
was as stable as it now is. Disturbing elements undoubtedly existed, but
they were controlled by great and overruling necessities, recognized by
all men. Thus the final purpose of the administration was accomplished
at the outset. The labor which it was expected would task the patriotism
and exercise the skill of the most generous and experienced was
performed without an effort,--as it were, by a mere pulsation of the
popular heart. The question was not, How shall the government be
preserved? but, How shall it be administered? This is evident now, but
was not seen then. The statesmen of the time believed that the Union was
constantly in danger, and that their best efforts were needed to protect
it. In this spirit they approached every question which presented
itself. Thinking that every measure directly affected the safety of the
republic, a difference of opinion could not be a mere disagreement upon
a matter of policy. In proportion to the intensity of each man's
patriotism was his conviction that in his way alone could the government
be preserved, and he naturally thought that his opponents must be either
culpably neglecting or deliberately plotting against the interests of
the country. Real difficulties were increased by imaginary ones.
Opposition became treason. Parties called themselves Republicans and
Federalists;--they called each other monarchists and anarchists. This
delusion has always characterized our politics; noisy politicians of
the present day stigmatize their adversaries as disunionists; but during
the first twenty year