how, united by a common and imminent danger, the thirteen States
succeeded in asserting and obtaining independence without the aid of a
central and efficient government, and the difficulties which were
encountered when a voluntary surrender of a part of their immense
sovereignty became necessary as a condition of national existence. He
said that the doctrine that all powers should emanate from the people is
not a question of expediency.

In this address he summed up the reasons why Washington exercised such a
beneficial influence upon the destinies of his country. In a
confidential letter to his wife in 1797, he expressed an opinion that
the father of his country was not a good-natured and amiable man, but
time had mellowed these recollections and softened the asperity of this
judgment. Washington had not, he said (in 1843), 'an extraordinary
amount of acquired knowledge; he was neither a classical scholar nor a
man of science, nor was he endowed with the powers of eloquence, nor
with other qualities more strong than solid, which might be mentioned;
but he had a profound and almost innate sense of justice, on all public
occasions a perfect control of his strong passions,[27] above all a most
complete and extraordinary self-abnegation. Personal consequences and
considerations were not even thought of, they never crossed his mind,
they were altogether obliterated.' Mr. Gallatin held that "the Americans
had a right to be proud of Washington, because he was selected and
maintained during his whole career by the people--never could he have
been thus chosen and constantly supported had he not been the type and
representative of the American people."

The commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the foundation of the
New York Historical Society, November, 1844, was an occasion of unusual
interest. John Romeyn Brodhead, who had just returned from the Hague
with the treasures of New Netherland history gathered during his
mission, was the orator of the day. The venerable John Quincy Adams, Mr.
Gallatin's old associate at Ghent, was present. After the address, which
was delivered at the Church of the Messiah on Broadway, the society and
its guests crossed the street to the New York Hotel, where a banquet
awaited them. Mr. Gallatin retired early, leaving the chair to the first
vice-president, Mr. Wm. Beach Lawrence. After he had left the room, Mr.
Adams, speaking to a toast to the archaeologists of America, said: "Mr.
Gallatin