The Irish standard., 1897-11-27

desire that none of the men nay ex-
ceed In stature five feet ten inches, nor
fall short of five feet nine inches, sober,
young, active and we'll made. When 1
recommended care in your choice, /
would be understood to mean men Of
good character in the regiment, that
possess the pride of appearing clean and
soldierlike. l am satisfied there can be
no absolute security for the fidelity Of
this class of people, but yet think it
most likely to be found in those who
have family connections in the country.
You will therefore send me none but
natives, and men of some property, if
you have them. I must insist that, in
making this choice, you give no intima-
ton Of my preference of natives, as I
do not want to create any individual dis
tinction between them and the foreign
ers. am yours, ETC."
Except as stated above, nothing has
been found in any Of the orders or let
ters Of Washington that has any bearing
upon the subject of your communica-
tion. In this connection it Is proper to
| remark that John ]. Lalor, in his "Cy-
| clopedia of Political Science, Political
Economy, and of the Political History
of the United States," (Vol. L.. p. S6)
speaks of the order Put none but Amer
leans on guard tonight" as mythical
| order of Washington" and states that
it was favorite counterslgn of the
political organization known as the
"KnoWnothing" or "Ameriaan" party.
Very respectfully,
F. G. AINSWORTH,
Col. U. S. Army,
Chief Record and Pension Office.
Commenting on the above, Secretary
| General Murray, of the American-Irish
Historical society, observes: The al
legged order, Put none but Americans
on guard tonight may, therefore, lie
set down as bogus. There is nothing
in the official records at the national
capital to show that Washington ever
issued such an order. I have never be-
lieved that he did. am doubly con-
vinced now that he did not.
Indeed, speaking of outpost duty,
Washington puts on an equal footing
with natives all others of good charac-
ter, provided they have wife or family
in this country, etc. Thus he does not
draw the line at foreign-born soldiers.
"As for his body guard, the rolls show
many distinctively Irish names. Their
bearers may have been American born
or the order requiring natives may have
been relaxed. Condor (the Irish Race
in America, PIP. 234-235) states that
among Washington's guard were Jere-
miah Driscoll, Charles Dougherty, T..
Manning, James Hughes, D. Manning
s. Daily, William Hennessy, Thomas
Gillen, Denis Moriarty and others bear
ing names of that kind"
In this connection the Irish Standard
will append the following interesting
letter of Roger Vail, then vice-president
Of the Catholic Truth society. which ap-
peared in the Minneapolis Tribune in
July, 1890, in reply to DR.. David James
Burrell, pastor of Westminster church,
of this city, but now of New York, where
he has attracted attention by his intol-
Grant utterances:
1.-The phrase in question, Put none
but Americans on guard,'" wrote Mr.
Vail, "hsd it's origin in the days cf
Knownothingism, which DIR. Burrell
seems inclined to revive at the close of
the 10Th century. 1t is gross injustice
to the memory of Washington to add the
sanction of his great name to the hatred
and prescription Of American citizens Of
foreign birth. The pretended order Of
Washington is employed for the base
purpose of justifying the ignoble war
upon foreigners, especially if protesting
the Catholic faith, into which men OF
sectarian prejudices in this city have
unwisely allowed themselves to be
drawn. place none but Americans on
guard is pithy expression so accord
ant with their intolerance, and so hos
tile to the broad principles of true Amer
| icanism that it has been unscrupulousy
palmed upon the illustrious Father Of
His Country.
''Imagine George Washington, the
| head of the American army, which coll
| tained many true and tried soldiers Of
| foreign birth, including such high Of
| ficers as Lafayette, De Steuben, Mont
| gomery, Kosciusko, DeKalb. Pulaski,
Lee, Gates and others, and an allied
army of French troops led by chivalrous
| noblemen, by whose aid the war of the
Revolution was brought to victorious
ermination-imagine him, surrounded
and supported by such auxiliaries, issu-
ing such an order as Put none but
| Americans on guard The very state
ment on the face of it is an absurdity.
when Jared Sparks, the celebrated
biographer Of Washington, was asked
concerning the phrase, he said he had
never met with any such expression in
| Washington's writings or manuscripts.
But an attempt has been made to make
it appear that he used words of similsr
| import.