che wrote a
pamphlet, with the avowal that "the design of these remarks is to prove
the want of claim in Mr. Washington either to the gratitude or confidence
of his country.... Our chief object ... is to _destroy undue impressions
in favor of Mr. Washington_." Accordingly it charged that Washington was
"treacherous," "mischievous," "inefficient;" dwelt upon his "farce of
disinterestedness," his "stately journeyings through the American
continent in search of personal incense," his "ostentatious professions
of piety," his "pusillanimous neglect," his "little passions," his
"ingratitude," his "want of merit," his "insignificance," and his
"spurious fame."

The successor of Bache as editor of these two journals, William Duane,
came to the office with an equal hatred of Washington, having already
written a savage pamphlet against him. In this the President was charged
with "treacherous mazes of passion," and with having "discharged the
loathings of a sick mind." Furthermore it asserted "that had you obtained
promotion ... after Braddock's defeat, your sword would have been drawn
against your country," that Washington "retained the barbarous usages of
the feudal system and kept men in Livery," and that "posterity will in
vain search for the monuments of wisdom in your administration;" the
purpose of the pamphlet, by the author's own statement, being "to expose
the _Personal Idolatry_ into which we have been heedlessly running," and
to show the people the "fallibility of the most favored of men."

A fourth in this quartet of editors was the notorious James Thomson
Callender, whose publications were numerous, as were also his impeachments
against Washington. By his own account, this writer maintained, "Mr.
Washington has been twice a traitor," has "authorized the robbery and ruin
of the remnants of his own army," has "broke the constitution," and
Callender fumes over "the vileness of the adulation which has been paid"
to him, claiming that "the extravagant popularity possessed by this
citizen reflects the utmost ridicule on the discernment of America."

The bitterest attack, however, was penned by Thomas Paine. For many years
there was good feeling between the two, and in 1782, when Paine was in
financial distress, Washington used his influence to secure him a position
"out of friendship for me," as Paine acknowledged. Furthermore, Washington
tried to get the Virginia Legislature to pension Paine or give him a grant
of land,