A Year With George Washington
On February 23, 1789, Gouverneur Morris, principal draftsman of the Constitution and envoy to France, wrote to George Washington regarding, among other things, the impact of the newly wrought U.S. Constitution on Europe.
Morris addressed Washington as “Dear General,” not yet aware that the Electoral College had met earlier in the month and unanimously elected him the first President of the United States.
Morris’s brief letter began innocently enough with an explanation of his efforts to procure for Washington a gold watch. He employed the services of Thomas Jefferson, who yet occupies the post of Minister to France, despite his pending request for leave. Morris ultimately chose the official jeweler of King Louis XVI and ordered one for himself as well.
Next, Morris admitted that, while he is newly arrived in Europe, he believed the U.S. Constitution had raised the nation’s esteem, a reverence that he believed would be further augmented should Washington agree to serve at the nation’s head.
Before his closing felicitations, Morris recounted a story that revealed King George III harbored an obsession of sorts for Washington. On one occasion, it seems the British Monarch became caught up in a hallucination that William Pitt (the Younger), Prime Minister of Great Britain, had taken the form of General Washington, and, in a rage, the king proceeded to attempt to strangle him. He might have killed his Prime Minister, so the story goes, were bystanders not present to render him aid and separate the king’s hands from the poor man’s neck.
The story, apocryphal or not, offers a glimpse into King George’s love-hate relationship with the American Cincinnatus. Another story with considerably more credibility involves American painter Benjamin West, who over the years had befriended King George and was granted the honor and title of “Historical Painter to His Majesty.”
West, having painted him on multiple occasions, had spent quite a bit of time with the king. As an American, the conversations between the two often skewed toward events in the colonies.
On one occasion, which was recorded in the diary of a friend of West’s named Joseph Farington, and said to have taken place months after the British defeat at Yorktown. West is conversing with his friend, who wonders out loud what General Washington will do when the colonies are free of the mother country.
“The King began to talk abt. America,” Farington recalled. “He asked West what would Washington do were America to be declared independent. West said He believed He would retire to a private situation.—The King said if He did He would be the greatest man in the world.”
Not long after the admiring king uttered those prophetic words, Washington relinquished his sword and returned to Mount Vernon a humble citizen. He was indeed “the greatest man in the world.” Many believe that sentiment yet endures.
