Robert Y. Hayne and his times

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Preface

In presenting to the public a life of Robert Y. Hayne, a word of explanation seems appropriate. Few, if any, of the public men of the United States have been so neglected by students of history ; and it is astonishing to note how many writers, some of whom are otherwise quite careful, have been guilty of repeating the statement that, save for the fact that on the floor of the United States Senate he drew from Daniel Webster his greatest oratorial effort, Hayne would not be known to our national history. Yet it is undeniable that, within five months of his connection with that distinguished body, the senator from South Carolina was the undisputed leader of his faction. This position he held throughout the constantly recurring struggle which culminated in the great crisis, nullification. During this period Mahlon Dickerson gave way to Webster, and Webster in turn to Clay, as the leader of the opposing faction, the Protectionists.

Of the carelessness which has in great measure brought about the low estimate of Hayne, evidence is found in allusions to the South Carolinian in recent works. For example, in one history of the United States which on the whole deserves praise for its fairness and liberality, we find the statement, " Senator Hayne was a man of finished education." The facts are that he never received any college instruction, was forced by his necessities to prepare himself for, and to apply for admission to, the bar before he had attained his majority, and was in possession of a lucrative practice at an age when most men who enjoy the opportunity are still in college.

vii viii PREFACE

Another writer asserts that in the Great Debate, " Senator Hayne — whose speeches were not remarkable — was put forward to deliver the prologue, but Calhoun was the prompter behind the scenes." No authority is cited for this assertion. It is made, moreover, in spite of the fact, easily ascertainable, that in the first and greatest argument ever made by Calhoun for nullification, and published but little more than a year after the debate, one of Hayne's main contentions is flatly contradicted. If Webster considered the contention untenable, an even greater opponent of nullification, Edward Livingston, declared that it was unassailable.

Of course there are some writers who have treated him more fairly. Cicero W. Harris pays a fine tribute to the South Carolinian in his " Sectional Struggle," and Woodrow Wilson in his " Division and Reunion " accords juster treatment than is usually rendered to him in the Great Debate ; while Meigs, in a later and more careful life of Benton than that which appears in the " American Statesmen " series, if he singles Hayne out for no especial eulogium, at least exhibits some discrimination in his comments and refrains from belittling references. Yet the usual estimate of the man can only be described as slighting; and so distinctly has this impressed itself upon me that I have attempted to comply with the suggestion that I should prepare a sketch of Hayne's life.

In arriving at conclusions, it has been my aim to be influenced as little as possible by commentators, but to leave the reader to form his own opinion from the facts. The occasional discovery that my own estimate of any matter was in accord with that of eminent individuals was of course most pleasing, and in no case more so than in the characterization of Hayne's great speech on the tariff of 1824 in the " Life of Martin Van Buren," by Edward M. Shepard of the New York Bar.

In the endeavor to picture the man, I have deemed it essen-

PREFACE ix

tial to portray, as far as lay in my power, Hayne's environment. Through patient search, I believe that I have gathered some incidents of his life and facts relating to the South Carolina of his day which are not generally known. That the work is imperfect is quite patent to me ; but, imperfect as it is, it is my hope that it may lead to a more careful consideration of the lofty aspirations, the notable achievements, and the profound wisdom of a statesman long neglected, the purity and selfabnegation of whose life has never been surpassed in our history, and the grasp of whose intellect on some questions still before us reached a depth we are not yet capable of accurately fathoming.

In the prosecution of this attempt, one of my chief difficulties has been due to the loss of the bulk of Hayne's papers and correspondence in the period immediately following the Civil War. Through the kindness of Mr, John Taylor of Columbia, S.C, however, I have had an opportunity of examining a few letters to him which are still preserved. While I have drawn upon standard works for occasional extracts, I have endeavored as far as possible to reach original sources. In the main, although greatly assisted by the correspondence of Calhoun, edited by Dr. Jameson, and the abridgment of the Debates of Congress, my work rests on the very complete files of the press of South Carolina for this period.

To Miss Ellen FitzSimons, the librarian of the Charleston Library, and to Professor Nathaniel W. Stephenson, of the College of Charleston, I am grateful for helpful assistance and encouragement. For the portrait of Hayne by Morse, which appeared as an illustration for the first time in Elson's " History of the United States," I am indebted to the widow of Senator Hayne's son, William Alston Hayne. A photograph from the painting in her possession was obtained through the kindness of Miss Susan Pringle of Charleston, who has also assisted me xii CONTENTS

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Hayne as Attorney-General — Letters to Cheves — Republican party in

nation broken into factions — Conditions in South Carolina . . 82

CHAPTER Vll Judge Nott's opinion on nullification 03

CHAPTER VIII The rise of the negro question and its corollary, the tariff ... 99

CHAPTER IX The Charleston memorial against the tariff 106

A consideration of the tone of public opinion and interest in industrial

enterprise, North and South, in 1 82 1 114

Lowndes nominated for the Presidency by the Legislature of South Carolina ,25

CHAPTER XII Denmark Vesey's insurrection ........ 130

CHAPTER XIII Hayne's election to the United States Senate 137

Book II The Appeal To Reason Chapter I

I

Hayne's entrance into the United States Senate — His portrait by Benton — His influence from the outset

CONTENTS xiil

PAGE

CHAPTER II Hayne's great speech against the tariff of 1824 158

Hayne's controversy with Ex-Senator Smith — The latter's war on Calhoun — Calhoun's abandonment of his canvass for the Presidency . 168

The controversy over Canning's protest concerning South Carolina's legislation with regard to negroes entering her ports — Hayne's opinion as to the tone of the Legislature —The resolution of Senator King of New York — Hayne's reply 178

The struggle between Calhoun and Smith for control of the State —

A glimpse of society at the federal capital and at Charleston in the twen- i^ ties — Charitable, educational, religious and industrial conditions at the latter place ^94

CHAPTER VII Hayne's remarkable speech against the Colonization Society . . 202

Calhoun foresees trouble — Webster enters the Senate — Boston confides her memorial against higher duties to Hayne — The Charleston- Hamburg Railroad begun — " The damned tariff and our friend

The temper of South Carolina in 1828 — Hayne reelected by unanimous

vote to the Senate — His first clash with Webster .... 220 xiv CONTENTS

PAGE

**Our friend J. Q." — His varying views on various subjects — His estimate of Webster and of Hayne and of the great debate . . . 227

CHAPTER XI Hayne's speech on the public lands — Webster's assault upon Hayne . 235

CHAPTER XII Hayne's reply to Webster 241

CHAPTER XIII Webster's rejoinder to the reply 253

CHAPTER XIV The debate closed and the record set straight 260

CHAPTER XV

Some Northern estimates of Hayne — Charleston's appreciation of Webster — The mechanics of Charleston — Their belief in the Union as well as the locomotive ......... 268

CHAPTER XVI D. E. Huger defeats the attempt to nullify in 1830 .... 278

CHAPTER XVII

The breach between Calhoun and Jackson — McDuffie precipitates nullification against the approval of Calhoun — Hayne expounds its practicability from its previous use — Calhoun's logical exposition — Sumter's solemn appeal ......... 286

CHAPTER XVIII

The struggle for control of South Carolina — The last appeal to reason

CONTENTS XV

CHAPTER XIX

PAGE

Clay threatens South Carolina in his reply — Hayne's error in supporting Clay. Webster and Calhoun in their opposition to Van Buren's appointment — He supports Benton in sustaining Jackson's veto of the bank bill against Clay and Webster 312

Book III The Appeal To Force

CHAPTER I

The nullification convention — Henry Middleton's point — Hayne

elected Governor, Floyd for President — Hayne's inaugural . . 317

CHAPTER n

Calhoun succeeds Hayne in the Senate — The President's Proclamation — Its force as estimated by the Legislature of South Carolina — John Quincy Adams's opinion of it and of Hayne's reply . . . 327

Hayne's defiant reply to the President's Proclamation and why it contained

some bitter words 335

The attitude of the South Carolina Legislature with regard to the Proclamation — The interposition of Virginia — Calhoun's confidence . 341

The debate on Clay's Compromise bill on the tariff and Wilkins's Revenue collection bill — South Carolina accepts the first and nullifies the second 347

Charleston, as she appeared in the light of the nullification ball and the

Hamburg Railroad in 1833 — Political comment North . . . 356 xvi CONTENTS

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Hayne's character as evinced by his declarations — His temperament as contrasted with that of Calhoun — The contemplated route of the railroad to the West in 1833 3^4

The spirit of intolerance cropping out — The progress of the railroad — The test oath and Hayne's tactful influence — Nullifiers and Unionists come together 373

Book IV The Appeal To Interest Chapter I

The Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad — Hayne's deep interest in it as a means of preserving the Union — Calhoun's attempt to divert the route 383

CHAPTER II

The political possibilities of the great Western Railroad in the light of abolition agitation — The revolt of H. L. Pinckney from the domination of Calhoun over the South Carolina delegation in Congress — The Knoxville convention — Hayne made president . . . 393

Pinckney's defeat — Calhoun's new route — Small amount of subscriptions outside of South Carolina — McDuffie's powerful criticism — How it was met — The vote of the State for President of the United States 404

Memminger secures the acceptance by North Carolina of the amended charter for the road — Anonymous attack on road \n Mercury — Hayne's reply — Suspension of specie payments by Northern banks — Action of Charleston banks ....... 417

CONTENTS xvii

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Meeting at Charleston to denounce banks captured by opponents — Reverend Fiske threatens bloodshed if Hayne presides — Hayne presides and Fiske is struck — Ex-Governor Wilson and Waddy Thompson criticise the chairman — Hayne's term as mayor ends successfully — Division in Congressional delegation from South Carolina — Petigru a false prophet 430

Hayne's argument in behalf of the French Broad route — His reception in Tennessee and his last meeting with Jackson — South Carolina Legislature supports Calhoun's attitude on divorce of bank and State, but lends credit of State to road, on Hayne's appeal . . 441

R. Barnwell Rhett's remarkable resolution concerning abolition — Calhoun not ready for it — Hayne's wonderfully clear appreciation of Southern industrial conditions 451

Hamilton's revolt — Calhoun consults with Van Buren's Secretary of War as to the overthrow of Thompson and Legare — The quarrel between Calhoun and Thompson 461

Calhoun resigns from the directorship of the Louisville, Charleston and Cincinnati Railroad — His two letters considered — Hayne's letter, which intervened . . . . . . . . . •471

Judge King's letter on the bank elections — The estimate of Hayne and the Western Road at this time in Virginia — Hayne's letter concerning the vote to reject the nomination of Van Buren as Minister to England — His powerful influence with the South Carolina Legislature 489 xviii CONTENTS

PAGK

Industrial conditions in South Carolina in 1839 — Import and export trade, North and South — South Carolina as viewed by her own press — The slave trade ........ 499

CHAPTER XII

The last meeting of the stockholders of the Louisville, Cincinnati and Charleston Railroad which Hayne attended — The contest at the meeting 505

CHAPTER XIII Hayne's death and the comments of his contemporaries thereon . • 5^5

CHAPTER XIV

The short-lived resurrection of the original scheme of the road — Clingman's powerful speech in vindication of Hayne and Blanding — One year more before the collapse — The project critically considered . 525

Index 537

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Robert Young Hayne (i 791-1839) Frontispiece ^

By Samuel Finley Breese Morse, 1820. From the original portrait in possession of Mrs. William Alston Hayne, San Francisco, Cal.

OPPOSITE PAGE

Charles Pinckney 21

Langdon Cheves (1819) 85 "^

William Smith 149 ^

James Hamilton, Jr. (1832) 317

Robert Y. Hayne (Valentine's Bust) 383

XIX

The year 1791 should be a memorable year in the history of \ the State of South Carolina : first, because, at the very beginning of that year, viz., the 19th of February, was enacted the law for the abolition of the rights of primogeniture,^ a statute marking the profound change which had taken place in the State, with the , adoption of the new State Constitution of the previous year;! second, because of the fact that in that year, in the month of May, the first and greatest of the Presidents of the Union visited the State, and the story of his reception,^ bringing before us, as it does, the condition and the sentiments of the people of her metropolis, indicates, in some manner, what contribution she had made to the Federal Union by her ratification of the Federal Constitution, which she had had such an important part in framing; third, on account of the fact that in the fall of that year, November 10,^ was born that South Carolinian who most clearly saw the impending conflict between the State and Federal sovereignties, and most intelligently strove to avert it.

It is an interesting coincidence that the act for the abolition of 1 the rights of primogeniture was, by its terms, to go into effect ' only the day before the great President reached the city of Charleston. It had been passed in obedience to the tenth article of the State Constitution, ordained the third day of June, 1790, the sug-

* Statutes at Large, So. Ca., Vol. 5, p. 162. ' Charleston Year Book, 1883, p. 503.

* So. Ca. Hist. <& Gen. Mag., Vol. 5, p. 171.

B I gestion of the young Governor, Charles Pinckney, as the surest I safeguard of RepubHcan sentiment. From this, it may be fairly inferred that, even after the achievement of her independence and the election of her own Executive, up to 1789, the political sentiment of the State, as it found expression in the choice of officials and framing of law, was in the main Federalistic and aristocratic ; and, probably, no influence exerted by any individuals had been more effective in holding her to that faith than that of the two illustrious Pinckney brothers, Charles Cotesworth and Thomas, both of the school of Washington and Hamilton, — Charles Cotesworth, one of the State's five deputies to the convention, which framed the Constitution of the Union, and Thomas, Governor of the State, at the time of the selection of these deputies and the empowering of such to act.

But as influential as these two brothers were, the Pinckney family had produced, in the person of another and younger member, the Charles first above alluded to, one whose influence on the history of the State and nation was even greater.

Captured by the British at the fall of Charleston, then a member of the House of Representatives of South Carolina, at the age of twenty-two his recognized attainments ^ suggested him to his fellows as best suited to draft their remonstrance. On their release, elected and reelected to the Continental Congress and, in 1787, to the Federal Constitutional Convention,^ it is now indisputable that he was more instrumental in shaping the great work there evolved than any single member; for while the draft with which he furnished the Convention has been lost, recent inr vestigations establish the fact that of its eighty-four provisions,

' "He was proficient in Latin, Greek, French, Spanish and Italian." Old pamphlet by W. S. E., in possession of Charles Pinckney of Claremont, quoted in address to Porter Military Academy, by Theo. D. Jervey, June 25, 1905. News & Courier.

* So. Ca. Hist. & Gen. Mag., Vol. 2, p. 145.

no less than thirty-two, and probably more, were incorporated at his suggestion.*

Elected Governor in 1 789, he had had occasion to note the strong tide of feeling against Federalism, which the fight of the up-country, led by the old veteran, General Sumter, at the ratification of the Constitution, had disclosed and, with regard to which the vote of 89 to 135 ^ to postpone and 73 to 149 to refuse to ratify, was the exhibit (many of the members being the same that had in the Legislature, at an earlier date, by a vote of 93 to 40 ^ defeated a bill, permitting the importation of African slaves) which intimated that there was something much more profound than sectional feeling or class, or commercial interest, that had stirred them to this opposition to the Constitution. President of the Convention which formulated the new Constitution for the State, while voting for Charleston as against Columbia for the capital, on which the low-country was defeated by a majority of four votes, in contrast to the outspoken Charles Cotesworth, he acted as a compromiser and adjuster of differences, as if he realized, even then, how necessary in the future the aid of some of these very opponents would be to him, and how naturally they would turn to him, as a leader; for it was a time of change, and the State Constitution itself was probably foreshadowed in many particulars by the speech in which he opened the deliberations of that body.*

* "We can say that Pinckney suggested some thirty-one or thirty-two provisions, which were finally embodied in the Constitution. ... It must not be assumed that we know all that Pinckney thus contributed to the fabric of the Constitution. We now know very definitely the nature of his recommendations . . . but there were doubtless some other propositions that likewise found permanence in the work of the Convention. If mere assertion based on analogy and general probability were worth while, other portions of the Constitution might be pointed out as coming from the ingenious and confident young statesman of South Carolina." "Sketch of Charles Pinckney's Plan for a Constitution, 1787," by Andrew Mc- Laughlin, p. 741, American Historical Review.

* So. Ca. Gazette, April 21 and 23, 1788.

'So. Ca. Gazette, Jan. 23, 1788. " Thomas Pinckney, " by his grandson, C. C. Pinckney, p. 95. " City Gazette, May 12, 1790.

The act by which the deputies had been commissioned to participate in the Philadelphia Convention had recited: "Whereas the powers at present vested in the United States in Congress assembled, by the articles of confederation and perpetual union of the said States are found by experience greatly inadequate to the weighty purposes they were originally intended to answer, and it has become absolutely necessary to the welfare of the confederated States that other and more ample powers in certain cases should be vested in and exercised by the said United States in Congress assembled, etc. Be it therefore enacted . . . that five commissioners be forthwith appointed . . . duly authorized and empowered in devising and discussing all such alterations, clauses, articles and provisions as may be thought necessary to render the Federal Constitution entirely adequate to the actual situation and future good government of the confederated otates. ...

The vote to postpone and to refuse to ratify indicates, therefore, the dissatisfaction, in some quarters, with the result.

We have the statesman-like speech in which Charles Pinckney defended that work and confidently contemplated the ratification; but the efforts of General Sumter and Jehu Wilson, in opposition, have not been preserved. In the following burst of poetic frenzy, some of the views of the opposition may, however, appear : —

"In evil hour his pen Squire Adams drew, Claiming dominion to his well-born few.

In the gay circle of St. James' plac'd He wrote, and, writing, has his work disgrac'd. Smit with the splendor of a British King The crown prevail'd, so once despis'd a thing. Shelbourne and Pitt approv'd of all he wrote; While Rush and Wilson echo back his note.

' Statutes at Large, So. Ca., Vol. 5, p. 4.

"Tho' British armies could not here prevail, Yet British politics shall turn the scale. In five short years of freedom weary grown We quit our plain republics for a throne.

Congress and President full proof shall bring, A mere disguise for Parliament and King.

"A standing army ! — curse the plan so base; A despot's safety, — Liberty's disgrace. — Who saved these realms from Britain's bloody hand, Who, but the generous rustics of the land. That free-born race inured to every toil, Who tame the ocean and subdue the soil; Who, tyrants banished from this injured shore, Domestic traitors may expel once more.

" Ye, who have bled in Freedom's sacred cause, Ah, why desert her maxims and her laws?

When thirteen States are moulded into one. Your rights are vanished and your honors gone. The form of Freedom shall alone remain As Rome had senators when she hugged the chain.

" Sent to revise your systems — not to change — Sages have done what Reason deems most strange ! Some alterations in our fabric we Calmly propos'd and hoped to see.

Ah, now deceived, those heroes in renown Scheme for themselves — and pull the fabric down — Bid in its place Columbia's tombstone rise Inscrib'd with these sad words — Here Freedom lies." '

After reading this, we are not greatly surprised to note, Games of the up-country, two years later, alluding to Charleston as the home of the "opulent" ^ and as a capital less well suited to "those who are styled of a Plebeian race " ; for Charleston and the low-country, almost to a man, had been for ratification.

But leaving these contentions, let us glance at the condition of

» So. Ca. Gazette, Jan. 26, 1788. ' City Gazette, May 26, 1790.

the people of the State, calmed by the abolition of the rights of primogeniture and a new apportionment of the representatives. By the census of 1790 the population of the State was put at 249,073, or about 140,000 whites to about 108,000 negroes. In five out of the six districts into which the State was divided, the number of whites was as follows: Charleston, 15,743; Georgetown, 11,313; Orangeburg and Beaufort, 13,693; Camden, 31,413; Ninety-Six, 47,288/

The city of Charleston, the metropolis of the State, contained 16,359 inhabitants, 8089 whites and 8270 colored. How many of these latter were free does not appear; but that there must have been more than a few does appear from the fact that in that year, November i, was founded the "Brown Fellowship Society," to which it is said free black men were not eligible, and they accordingly formed their own. The northern boundary of the city was Hudson Street, in part; but in the main. Boundary, now called Calhoun. Lines of shipping to England, Ireland and Germany were established and well patronized; while quite a number of artisans found occupation in their trades.

^ So. Ca. Gazette, Jan. i, 1791.

'State Gazette, June 2, 1788.

and officials the day the Constitution was ratified, two years previous; while in the daily papers of this year, in juxtaposition to advertisements with regard to miniature painting and polite literature, appeared offerings of fine dress goods for fine folk and osnaburgs for negroes; good stock, excellent land and prime fieldhands for cultivating same.

The General Assembly of the State, consisting of 125 members of the House and 36 of the Senate, had just reelected Charles Pinckney Governor by a majority of 49 votes, and the supplies for government, including ;^9oo salary for the Governor, and ;^ioo for his secretary, aggregated ;^37,36i. The State, according to the Connecticut American Mirror, "was getting into a good way, under a new constitution." ^

This ;!(^9oo, or $4500, was, at this time, a small matter to the Governor, as he was the fortunate owner of seven plantations and nearly 2000 negroes, yielding him annually about $80,000.^

To this community. May 2, 1791, came the great President. The account of Washington's reception is interesting. It shows the great man, as he was, the personification of dignity; and it helps us to understand the people of Charleston and their ways — the environment which affected those subjected to it. The Committee of Council to make arrangements consisted of the Honorable Amoldus Vander Horst, Intendant, Colonel Mitchell, Mr. Morris, Mr. Corbett and Mr. Marshall. Sixty pounds, or about $300, was applied to the hiring of the house of Thomas Heyward, Esquire, together with the furniture, a housekeeper and servants. A barge was procured and lengthened. It was to be manned by twelve masters of American vessels in port as a volunteer crew.

^ So. Ca. Gazette, Dec. 6, 1790.

2 "Hon. Charles Pinckney, LL.D., No. 2," by W. S. E. of S. C, written for De Bow's Review Pamphlets, July and August, 1864, Ser. 5, Vol. 7, Charleston Library Society.

handsomely dressed at their own expense. These elected to clothe themselves in "sky-blue jackets." This barge was to be presented to the great man at Haddrel's Point for his conveyance to the city by the Recorder, who, in his official robes, should there await his arrival.

Promptly at the day and hour named, General Moultrie, General Pinckney and the Honorable John B. Holmes, the Recorder, in his official robes, met the President at Haddrel's Point, where they embarked and, accompanied by a flotilla, crowded with cheering passengers and from which two bands were discoursing music, proceeded across the harbor to the foot of Queen Street, where steps had been arranged and where the President was met by the Governor, the Intendant, the City Council and the State Society of the Cincinnati.

However the Governor may have been attired, he must have appeared to the public as a somewhat inconsiderable personage, in contrast with the imposing presence of the Intendant and Wardens, each of whom carried a black varnished wand threequarters of an inch in diameter and six feet long; those of the Wardens headed in silver and that of the Intendant in gold, on which were inscribed the ciphers C.C.L, What the Governor said, does not appear; but his Honor the Intendant addressed the distinguished guest as follows: "The Intendant and Wardens beg leave, sir, to welcome you to this city. It will be their care to make your stay agreeable — they have provided accommodations for yourself and suite to which they will be happy to conduct you."

The Father of his Country calmly replied that he was ready to attend them and would follow, and the procession moved forward in the following order : —

City Sheriff (with mace).

Messenger and Marshall.

Treasurer and Clerk.

Recorder.

Wardens with their wands (two and two).

The Intendant.

President and suite.* By rare good fortune the Reverend Isaac Stockton Keith, late of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who had arrived with his wife at Charleston three years previous, was present, and with her assistance prepared an account, in which appear details more noticeable to outsiders and impressions more interesting than such as might be recorded by a native; to wit, the "sky-blue jackets," above.

To begin with, we are informed, it was a serene and beautiful morning, and on such the harbor, alone, is a sight worth seeing; but on this festive occasion all the vessels in port had out their bunting, a guard of militia was in attendance at the landing, there was a loud peal of huzzas from the crowd and a feu de joie by the corps of artillery.

The procession included the different orders of citizens, whose stations had been previously assigned by lot, except the clergy, to whom the honor was given of walking next after the President and principal officers of government and foreign ministers. The march was to the Exchange, where the President, accompanied by the Governor and those who immediately followed, including the clergy, ascended the steps to a platform, at "that elegant building," at which point there was another /ew de joie, and the rest of the procession passed by, having the honor of seeing and saluting the President and receiving the honors of his bows and smile. Later during the visit, says the Reverend Keith, "there was a grand ball, that the ladies might have an opportunity of enjoying his presence among them, of paying their respects and testifying their love and admiration and also of displaying their charms of beauty and dress

' Charleston Year Book, 1883, p. 503 ; Keith's Works, p. 428.

lo INTRODUCTORY

before him." With regard to which last, our informant says he has been "told that the ornaments provided for the embellishments of the lovely persons of our fair citizens were extremely rich and superb, and probably," he adds, "in many degrees above the taste of so plain a Virginia planter as the worthy George Washington." ^