nce, and
from gratitude for the services she had rendered in the war, whatever
may have been the motives that had influenced that government to yield
assistance.

Washington, who had consented in 1794 to serve a second term as
president, now began to weary of the cares of office. The quarrel
between Hamilton and Jefferson, leading to the formation of the two
great political parties which, under different names, have since divided
the nation; the whiskey rebellion in Pennsylvania, which required the
whole strength of the government to subdue; the Indian atrocities in the
Northwest, resulting in the unfortunate expedition of St. Clair; the
opposition to the financial schemes of the Secretary of the Treasury to
restore the credit of the country; and the still greater popular
disaffection toward Jay's treaty with Great Britain,--these and other
annoyances made him long for the quiet life of Mount Vernon; and he
would have resigned the presidency in disgust but for patriotic motives
and the urgent remonstrances of his cabinet. Faithful to his trust, he
patiently labored on. If his administration was not dashingly brilliant,
any more than his career as a general, he was beset with difficulties
and discouragements which no man could have surmounted more gloriously
than he: and when his eight years of service had expired he had the
satisfaction to see that the country was at peace with all the world;
that his policy of non-interference with European politics was
appreciated; that no more dangers were to be feared from the Indians;
that the country was being opened for settlers westward to the Ohio
River; that the navigation of the Mississippi was free to the Gulf of
Mexico; that canals and internal improvements were binding together the
different States and introducing general prosperity; that financial
difficulties had vanished; and that the independence and assured growth
of the nation was no longer a matter of doubt in any European State.

Nothing could induce Washington to serve beyond his second term. He
could easily have been again elected, if he wished, but he longed for
rest and the pursuits of agricultural life. So he wrote his Farewell
Address to the American people, exhorting them to union and harmony,--a
document filled with noble sentiments for the meditation of all future
generations. Like all his other writings, it is pregnant with moral
wisdom and elevated patriotism, and in language is clear, forcible, and
to