Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1873-01-16
The FIRST CABINET.
The Men Whe Surrounded Wash
ington.

The Men Nne surrounded Wash-
ington.
Mr.. Parton, in the January atlantic,
thus describes Washington and his first
Cabinet:
Age had not quenched the vivacity
of either OF the four Secretaries-Jef-
ferson, A; Knox, 40; Randolph, 81;
Hamilton, SO. When, in the worlds
history, was so young group charged
with task 80 new, so difficult, and so
momenti0us ....
Such we're the gentlemen who had
gathered ronud the council table at the
Presidents house, in New York in
17S0; at the head of the table General
Washington, now SO, 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 is, 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 his decision everything like bias
or prejudice, never deciding until he
had exhausted every source OF eluc!da-
tfon within his reach. Some questions
he could not decide with his own mind,
and heknew he could not. In sucn
cases he bent all his powers to ascer-
tanning how the subject appeared to
minds fitted to grspple with it, and get
ting them to view without prejudice.
am delighted to learn that Carlyle
can seldom hear the name Of Washing
ton pronounced without breaking forth
with an explosion of contempt, espe-
cially, it is said, if there is an Amer
ican within hearing. Washington is
the exact opposite of full Carlylean
hero. His glory is that he was not
richly endowed, not sufficient unto
himself, not Indifferent to human
rights, opinions and preferences; but,
feeling deeply his need of help, sought
it, where alone it was to be found in
minds fitted by nature and training to
supply his lack. 1t is this heartfelt de-
sire to be right which shines so Affect
ingly from the plain words of Wash
ington, 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;
older in public service, toe, than any of
them; tall, erect, ruddy, noticeably
quiet, and unobtrusive of his address
and demeanor; the least pugnacious OF
men. Not fanatic, not an enthusiastic
out an old-fashioned Whig, nurtured
upon 'old Coke" enlightened by
twenty-five years. intense discussion
with pen, tongue, and sword--of Coke
an principles. Fresh from the latest
commentary upon Coke-the ruins of
the Bastile-and wearing still red Paris
waistcoat and breeches, he was an OBJ
ject of particular interest TO all men,
and doubtless, often relieved the sever
! ity of business by some thrilling rela-
ton out of his late foreign experience.
Opposite him, Oh the Presidents left,
was the place of Hamilton, Secretary
of the Treasury, in all the alertness
! and vigor of thirty-three years. If time
had matured his talents, it had not
lessened his self-sufficlency; because, as
yet, all his short life had been success;
and he had associated chiefly with men
who posed nothing either of his fluen-
cy or his arithmetic. A positive, ve-
hement little gentleman, with as firm
a faith in the apparatus 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 Depart
ment-the most conspicuous man in
the Administration, except the Presi-
dent-as usual, his unseen work was
his hest. In organizing system OF
collecting, keeping, nd disbursing the
revenue, he employed so much tact,
forethought and fertility, that his sue
cessors have each, in turn, ad ''ired and
, retained his most important devices.
He arranged the system so that the
Secretary of the Treasury, at any mo-
ment, could survey the whole working
of it; and he held at com mand all the
resources of the United States, subject
: to lawful use, without being able to
lawful use, without being able to divert
one dollar to a purpose not specially
: authorized. He could not draw his
5 own pittance of salary without the sig
5 natures of the four chief officers of tht
: : Department-Comptroller, Auditor
Treasurer, and Register.