....THE SWORD OF WASHINGTON AND THE STAFF OF FRANKLIN.
Mr. Summers, one of the Representatives of the State of Virginia, rose, and addressed the House as follows:
Mr. Speaker: I rise for the purpose of discharging an office not connected with the ordinary business of a legislative assembly. Yet, in asking permission to interrupt, for a moment, the regular order of parliamentary proceedings, I cannot doubt that the proposition which I have to submit will prove as gratifying as it may be unusual.
Mr. Samuel T. Washington, a citizen of Kanawha county, in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and one of my constituents, has honored me with the commission of presenting, in his name and on his behalf, to the Congress of the United States, and through that body to the people of the United States, two most interesting and valuable relics connected with the past history of our country, and with men whose achievements, both in the field and in the cabinet, best illustrate and adorn our annals.
One is the Sword worn by George Washington, first as a colonel in the colonial service of Virginia, in Forbes's campaign against the French and Indians, and afterwards during the whole period of the war of independence, as commander-in-chief of the American army.
It is a plain couteau, or hanger, with a green hilt and silver guard. On the upper ward of the scabbard is engraven, "J. Bailey, Fish Kill." It is accompanied by a buckskin belt, which is secured by a silver buckle and clasp, whereon are engraven the letters "G. W." and the figures "1757." These are all of the plainest workmanship, but substantial, end in keeping with the man and with the times to which they belong.
The history of this sword is perfectly authentic, and leaves no shadow of doubt as to its identity. The last will and testament of General Washington, bearing date on the 9th day of February, 1799, contains, among a great variety of bequests, the following clause:
"To each of my nephews, William Augustine Washington, George Lewis, George Steptoe Washington, Bushrod Washington, and Samuel Washington, I give one of the swords or couteaux of which I may die possessed; and they are to choose in the order they are named. These swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheath them for the purpose of shedding blood, except it be for self defence, or in defence of their country and its rights; and, in the latter case, to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands to the relinquishment thereof."
In the distribution of the swords hereby devised among the five nephews therein enumerated, the one now presented fell to the share of Samuel Washington, the devisee last named in the clause of the will which I have just read.
This gentleman, who died a few years since in the county of Kanawha, and who was the father of Samuel T. Washington, the donor, I knew well. I have often seen this sword in his possession, and received from himself the following account of the manner in which it became his property in the division made among the devisees:
He said that he knew it to have been the side-arm of General Washington during the revolutionary war; not that used on occasions of parade and review, but the constant service sword of the great chief; that he had himself seen General Washington wear this identical sword, he presumed, for the last time, when, in 1794, he reviewed the Virginia and Maryland forces, then concentrated at Cumberland under the command of General Lee, and destined to co-operate with the Pennsylvania and New Jersey troops, then assembled at Bedford, in suppressing what has been called the "whiskey insurrection."
General Washington was then President of the United States, and as such was commander-in-chief of the army. It is known that it was his intention to lead the army in person upon that occasion, had he found it necessary, and he went to Bedford and Cumberland prepared for that event. The condition of things did not require it, and he returned to his civil duties at Philadelphia.
Mr. Samuel Washington held the commission of a captain at that time himself, and served in that campaign, many of the incidents of which he has related to me.
He was anxious to obtain this particular sword, and preferred it to all the others, among which was the ornamented and costly present from the great Frederick.
At the time of the division among the nephews, without intimating what his preference was, he jocosely remarked, "that inasmuch as he was the only one of them then present who had participated in military service, they ought to permit him to take choice." This suggestion was met in the same spirit in which it was made; and, the selection being awarded him, he chose this, the plainest, and, intrinsically, the least valuable of any, simply because it was the "battle sword."
I am also in possession of the most satisfactory evidence, furnished by Colonel George C. Washington, of Georgetown, the nearest male relative now living of General Washington, as to the identity of this sword. His information, as to its history, was derived from his father, William Augustine Washington, the devisee first named in the clause of the will which I have read; from his uncle, the late Judge Bushrod Washington, of the Supreme Court; and Major Lawrence Lewis, the acting executor of General Washington's will--all of whom concurred in the statement that the true service sword was that selected by Captain Samuel Washington.
It remained in this gentleman's possession until his death, esteemed by him the most precious memento of his illustrious kinsman. It then became the property of his son, who, animated by that patriotism which so characterized the "Father of his Country," has consented that such a relic ought not to be appropriated by an individual citizen, and has instructed me, his representative, to offer it to the nation, to be preserved in its public depositories as the common property of all, since its office has been to achieve and secure the common liberty of all.
He has, in like manner, requested me to present this Cane to the Congress of the United States, deeming it not unworthy the public acceptance.
This was once the property of the philosopher and patriot, Benjamin Franklin.
By a codicil to his last will and testament, we find it thus disposed of:
"My fine crab-tree walking stick, with a gold head, curiously wrought in the form of the cap of Liberty, I give to my friend, and the friend of mankind, General Washington. If it were a sceptre, he has merited it, and would become it."
General Washington, in his will, devises this cane as follows:
"Item. To my brother, Charles Washington, I give and bequeath the gold-headed cane left me by Dr. Franklin in his will."
Captain Samuel Washington was the only Surviving son of Charles Washington, the devises from whom he derived, by inheritance, this interesting memorial; and, having transmitted it to his son, Samuel T. Washington, the latter thus seeks to bestow it worthily, by associating it with the battle sword in a gift to his countrymen.
I cordially concur with Mr. Washington in the opinion that they each merit public preservation; and I obey, with pleasure, his wishes in here presenting them, in his name, to the nation.
Let the Sword of the Hero and the staff of the Philosopher go together. Let them have place among the proudest trophies and most honored memorials of our national achievements.
Upon that staff once leaned the sage, of whom it has been said, "He snatched the lightning from heaven, and the sceptre from tyrants."
A mighty arm once wielded this sword in a righteous cause, even unto the dismemberment of empire. In the hand of Washington, this was "the sword of the Lord, and of Gideon."
It was never drawn except in the defence of public liberty; it was never sheathed until a glorious and triumphant success returned it to the scabbard, without a stain of cruelty or dishonor upon its blade; it was never surrendered except to that country which bestowed it.
Mr. Summers, having concluded his address, delivered the sword and staff to the Sergeant-at-arms of the House, who bore them to the Speaker, the latter rising from his seat to receive them,
[At the conclusion of this address, the galleries, which were crowded, sent forth emphatic manifestations of approbation.]
The following are the letters referred to in the address of Mr. Summers:
Coal's Mouth, Kanawha County, (Va., ) January 9, 1843.
My Dear Sir: With this you will receive the war sword of my grand uncle, General George Washington, and the gold-headed cane bequeathed to him by Dr. Benjamin Franklin.
These interesting relics I wish to be presented, through you, my dear sir, to the Congress of the United States, on behalf of the nation.
Congress can dispose of them in such manner as shall seem most appropriate, and best calculated to keep in memory the character and services of those two illustrious founders of our re- public.
I am, with esteem, yours,
SAMUEL T. WASHINGTON.
Hon. George W. Summers,
House of Representatives.
Georgetown, January 31, 1843.
Dear Sir: I have before me your letter of the 30th instant, requesting me to give you any information in my possession in relation to the sword placed in your hands by Mr. Samuel T. Washington, (alleged to have been the service sword of General Washington during the revolutionary war, ) and which he has instructed you, in his name, to present to the Congress of the United States.
General Washington, by his will, made disposition of his swords in the following words: "To each of my nephews, William Augustine Washington, George Lewis, George Steptoe Washington, Bushrod Washington, and Samuel Washington, I give one of the swords, or couteaux, of which I may die possessed; and they are to choose in the order they are named. These swords are accompanied with an injunction not to unsheath them for the purpose Of shedding blood, except it be for self-defence, or in defence of their country and its rights; and in the latter case to keep them unsheathed, and prefer falling with them in their hands to the relinquishment thereof."
Two of these swords are in my possession, being devised to me, the one by my father, William Augustine Washington, and the other by my uncle, the late Judge Bushrod Washington. The descendants of George Lewis and George Steptoe Washington have two other of these swords, and that in your charge is without doubt the one which was selected by Colonel Samuel Washington.
My father was entitled to the first choice under the will, but was prevented by indisposition from attending at Mount Vernon when the distribution took place, and Judge Washington selected for him the most finished and costly sword, with which associations were connected highly complimentary to General Washington; but I often heard my father say that he would have preferred the sword selected by Colonel Samuel Washington, from the fact that it was used by the General during the revolutionary war. I have at different times heard similar statements as to this fact made by Colonel Samuel Washington, Judge Washington, and Major Lawrence Lewis, and am not aware that it has been questioned by any member of the family. The sword was represented to me as being a couteau, with a plain green ivory handle.
I entertain no doubt whatever as to the identity of this sword, and hope that the information I have given may prove satisfactory.
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
G. C. WASHINGTON.
Hon. George W. Summers,
House of Representatives.
Mr. John Quincy Adams, one of the Representatives from the State of Massachusetts, then addressed the House as follows:
In presenting the resolution which I hold in my hand to the House, it may perhaps be expected that I should accompany it with some remarks suitable to the occasion; and yet, sir, I never rose to address this House under a deeper conviction of the want of words to express the emotions that I feel. It is precisely because occasions like this are adapted to produce universal sympathy, that little can be said by any one, but what, in the language of the heart, in tones not loud but deep, every one present has silently said to himself. My respected friend from Virginia, by whom this offering of patriotic sentiment has been presented to the Representative Assembly of the nation, has, it seams to me, already said all that can be said suitable to this occasion. In parting from him, as, after a few short days, we must all do, it will, on my part, be sorrowing that in all probability I shall see his face and hear his voice no more. But his words of this day are planted in my memory, and will there remain fill the last pulsation of my heart.
The sword of Washington! The staff of Franklin! Oh, sir, what associations are linked in adamant with those names! Washington, the warrior of human freedom--Washington, whose sword, as my friend has said, was never drawn lint in the cause of his country, and never sheathed when needed in his country's cause! Franklin, the philosopher of the thunderbolt, the printing press, and the ploughshare! What names are these in the scanty catalogue of the benefactors of human kind! Washington and Franklin! What other two men, whose lives belong to the eighteenth century of Christendom, have left a deeper impression of themselves upon the age in which they lived, and upon all after time! Washington, the warrior and the legislator I In War, contending by the wager of battle for the independence of his country, and for the freedom of the human race; ever manifesting, amidst its horrors, by precept and example, his reverence for the laws of Peace, and for the tenderest sympathies of humanity: in Peace, soothing the ferocious spirit of discord, among his own countrymen, into harmony and union, and giving to that very sword now presented to his country a charm more potent than that attributed in ancient times to the lyre of Orpheus. Franklin! the mechanic of his own fortune, teaching, in early youth, under the shackles of indigence, the way to wealth, and in the shade of obscurity the path to greatness; in the maturity of manhood, disarming the thunder of its terrors, the lightning of its fatal blast, and wresting from the tyrant's hand the still more afflictive sceptre of oppression:
while descending into the yale of years, traversing the Atlantic ocean, braving in the dead of winter the battle and the breeze, bearing in his hand the charter of Independence, which he had contributed to form, and tendering, from the self-created nation to the mightiest monarchs of Europe, the olive branch of peace, the mercurial wand of commerce, and the amulet of protection and safety to the man of peace, on the pathless ocean, from the inexorable cruelty and merciless rapacity of war. And, finally, in the last stage of life, With four score winters Upon his head, under the torture of an incurable disease, returning to his native land, closing his days as the Chief Magistrate of his adopted Commonwealth, after contributing by his counsels, under the Presidency of Washington, and recording his name, under the sanction of devout prayer invoked by him to God, to that Constitution under the authority of which we are here assembled, as the Representatives of the North American people, to receive, in their name and for them, these venerable relics of the wise, the valiant, and the good founders of our great confederated Republic--these sacred symbols of our golden age.
May they be deposited among the archives of our Government! and may every American who shall hereafter behold them ejaculate a mingled offering of praise to that Supreme Ruler of the Universe by whose tender mercies our Union has been hitherto preserved through all the vicissitudes and revolutions of this turbulent world, and of prayer for the continuance of these blessings, by the dispensations of his Providence, to our beloved country, from age to age, till Time shall be no more!
[The same tokens of approbation which had greeted the address of Mr. Summers were exhibited at the close of Mr. Adams's remarks,]
The resolution moved by Mr. Adams is as follows:
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the UnitedStates of America in Congress assembled, That the thanks of this Congress be presented to Samuel T. Washington, of Kanawha county, Virginia, for the present of the sword used by his illustrious relative, George Washington, in the military career of his early youth in the seven years' war and throughout the war of the National Independence, and of the staff bequeathed by the patriot, statesman, and sage, Benjamin Franklin, to the same leader of the armies of Freedom in the revolutionary war, George Washington; that these precious relics are hereby accepted in the name of the nation; that they be deposited for safe keeping in the Department of State of the United States; and that a copy of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, be transmitted to the said Samuel T. Washington.
The said resolution was read; and the question was put, Shall it pass?
And passed in the affirmative, unanimously.
It was then, on motion of Mr. Taliaferro,
Ordered, That the addresses of Mr. Summers and Mr. Adams be entered on the Journal; that the resolution be taken to the Senate by the Clerk, accompanied by the Sword and staff, with a request that the Senate will concur in the said resolution.
And then, on motion of Mr. McKennan, the House, at 12 o'clock and 40 minutes, adjourned until to-morrow, 11 o'clock in the forenoon.
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