The Author of a late Address, anxious to deserve, ’tho he should fail to Engage your Esteem, and determined, at every risqué, to unfold your duty, & discharge his own—would beg leave to solicit the further Indulgence of a few moments attention.
Aware of the Coyness with which his last letter would be received, he feels himself neither disappointed; nor displeased with the caution it has met—Ye well knew that it spoke a language, which till now had been heard only in whispers, and that it contained some sentiments, which confidence itself would have breathed with distrust. But, their Lives have been short, and their Observations imperfect indeed, who have yet to learn, that alarms may be false—that the best designs are sometimes obliged to assume the worst Aspect, and that however synonymous Surprise & disaster may be in military phrase—in moral & political meaning, they convey Ideas, as different as they are distinct.
Suspicion, detestable as it is in private Life, is the loveliest trait of political Character. It prompts you to enquiry—bars the Door against Designs, and opens every Avenue to truth. It was the first to oppose a Tyrant here, and still stands sentinel over the Liberties of America—With this Belief, it would ill become me, to stifle the Voice of this honest Guardian—a guardian, who, (authorized by circumstances, digested into proof) has herself given Birth to the Address you have read, and now goes forth among you, with a request to all, that it may be treated fairly—that it may be considered before it can be abused—and condemned, before it be tortured, convinced that in a search after Error, Truth will appear—that apathy itself will grow warm in the pursuit, and tho’ it will be the last to adopt her advice, it will be the first to act upon it.
The General Orders of Yesterday which the weak may mistake for disapprobation, and the designing dare to represent as such, wears, in my opinion, a very different complexion, and carries with it a very opposite tendency—Till now, the Commandr in Chief has regarded the Steps you have taken for redress, with good wishes alone, tho’ ostensible Silence has authorized your meetings and his private Opinion has sanctified your Claims—Had he disliked the Object in view would not the same sense of Duty which forbad you from meeting on the third Day of this Week, have forbidden you from meeting on the seventh? Is not the same subject held up for your discussion, and has it not passed the seal of office, and taken all the solemnity of an Order—this will give system to your proceedings, and stability to your resolves, will ripen speculation into fact, and while it adds to the unanimity, it cannot possibly lessen the Independency of your sentiments. It may be necessary to add upon this subject, that from the Injunction with which the general Orders close, every man is at liberty to conclude that the Report, to be made to Head Quarters, is intended for Congress—Hence will arise another motive for that Energy, which has been recommended—for can you give the lie to the pathetic descriptions of your representations & the more alarming predictions of our friends?
To such as make Want of signature an objection to opinion, I reply—that it matters very little who is the Author of sentiments which grow out of your feelings, and apply to your Wants—That in this Instance Diffidence suggested what Experience enjoins, and that while I continue to move on the high road of Arguments and Advice, (which is open to all) I shall continue to be the sole Confident of my own secret—But should the Time come, when it shall be necessary to depart from this general line, and hold up any Individual among you, as an Object of the resentment or contempt of the rest, I thus publicly pledge my Honor as a soldier, and veracity as a Man, that I will then assume a visible existence, and give my name to the Army, with as little reserve as I now give my opinions.
I am &c.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE MEETING WITH OFFICERS’
CANTONMENT, NEWBURGH, NEW YORK, MARCH 15, 1783
Agreeable to the Orders of the 11th instant, the Officers of the American Army being convened, His Excellency the Commander in Chief was pleased to open the meeting with the following address to them on the subject of their being called together which with some other papers were left for the consideration of the Assembly. The Honorable Major General Gates being President.
GENERAL WASHINGTON’S ADDRESS TO THE OFFICERS AT THE TEMPLE,
MARCH 15, 1783
[General Washington’s aside about his spectacles was not included in his written formal address, but it has been attested to by numerous accounts by those present at the meeting, including Major Samuel Shaw’s, and has been accepted by all biographers of Washington. There is disagreement about the exact words and when during the speech the aside came, but I have included it where I believe it most logically fits.]
Gentlemen,
By an anonymous summons, an attempt has been made to convene you together—how inconsistent with the rules of propriety! how unmilitary! And how subversive of all order and discipline—let the good sense of the Army decide.
In the moment of this summons, another anonymous production was sent into circulation; addressed more to the feelings & passions, than to reason & judgment of the Army. The Author of the piece, is entitled to much credit for the goodness of his Pen; and I could wish he had as much rectitude for his Heart—for, as Men see thro’ different Optics, and are induced by the reflecting faculties of the Mind, to use different means to attain the same end; the Author of the Address, should have had more charity, than to mark for Suspicion, the Man who should recommend Moderation and longer forbearance—or in other words, who should not think as he thinks, and act as he advises. But he had another plan in view, in which candor and liberty of Sentiment, regard to justice, and love of Country, have no part; and he was right, to insinuate the darkest suspicion to effect the blackest designs.