Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1873-01-07
THE FIRST OABINBT.
The Men who Surrounded washing
ION. n ------

Mr.. Parton, in the January Atlantic,
thus describes Washington and his first
cabinet:
Age had not queRched the vivacity Of
either of the four Secretaries efferson,
forty-seven; Knox, forty; Randolph,
thirty.seven; Hamilton, thirty-three.
When, in the worlds history, was so
young group charged with a task so
new, so difficult so momentous2 ..sa-.sa
Such were the gentlemen who had
gathered around the council table at
the Presidents house in New York in
1880; at the head of the table General
Washington, now ffty-eight, his frame
as erect as ever, but his face showing the
deep traces of the thousand anxious
hours he had passed. Not versed in
the lore OF schools, but gifted with a
great sum of intellect, the eternal glory
of this man ,.that he used all the mind
he had in patient endeavors to find out
the right way; ever on the watch to
keep out Of deciding until he had ex-
hausted every source of elueidatlon
within his reach. Some questions he
could not decide with his own mind, and
he knew he could not In such cases he
bent all his powers to ascertain how the
subject appeared to minds fitted to crap
ple with it, and getting them to view it
without prejudice.
am delighted to learn that Mr.. Car
lyle can seldom hear the name OF Wash
ington pronounced without breaking
forth with an explosion of contempt, es-
pecially, 1t is said if there is an Amerl-
can within hearing Washington Is the
exact opposite of fell Carlylean hero.
His glory is that he was not richly en-
dowed, not sufficient unto himself, not
Indifferent to human rights, opinions,
preferences; but, feeling deeply his need
of help, sought it where alone 1T was to
be found, in minds fitted by nature and
training to supply his lack. 1t is this
heartfelt desire to be right which shines
so affectingly from the plain words Of
Washington, and gives him rank SO far
above the gorgeous bandits whom hero
worshippers adore.
On the right of the President, in the
place of honor, sat Jefferson, now forty
seven. the senior of all his colleagues;
tall. erect, ruddy, noticeably quiet, and
unobtrusiye of his address and de-
meanor; the least pugnacious OF men,
Not a fanatic, not an enthusiast, but an
old-fashioned Wing, nnrtured upon
"Old Coke" enlightened by twenty-five
years intense discussiou-with pen,
tongue and Eword-of Cokean princi-
ples. Fresh from the latest commentary
upon Coke-the ruins of the Bastile-
and wearing still his red Paris waist
coas and breeches, he was an object OF
nsrticuIar interest to all men, and,
doubtless. often relieved the severity OF
business by some thrilling relation out
Of his late foreign eKpeEenee;
Opposite him, on the Presidents lett,
was the place of Hamilton, Secretary OF
the Treasury, in all the alertness and
yigor of thiFty-three years. If time had
matured his talents, it had not lessened
his self.snficiency; because, rs yet, all
his short life had been success, and be
had associated chiefly with men who pos
Sessed nothing of his auency or his
arithmetic. A positive, vehement little
Gentleman, with as firm q faith in the
annaratus of finance as General Knox
had in great guns. he was now in the
full tide of activity, lobbying measures
through Congress, and organizing the
Treasury Department-the most con-
snicuous man in the Administration, ex-
cent the Presidept--as usual, his unseen
work was his best. n organizing 3 sys-
TEN of collecting, keeping and disbqrsing
the revenue, he employed SO mucn tact ts
sors have each, in turn, admired and re-
tsined his most important devices: He
arranged the system so that the seere-
,ar- of the Treasury, at any moment,
eoGld com survey the working Of itI aud he
held at command all the resources Of
the United States, subject TO lawiai I, use,
without being able TO divert one dollar
10 purpose not specially authorized;
he could not draw his own pittance Of
salary without the signature OF the four
chief officers of the Departmsnt-comP-
troller. Auditor and Register.