108 TRAVELS THROUGH NORTH AMERICA . 
Not one town of any importance was there 
in the whole union, where some meeting did 
not take place in honour of this day; yet 
singular as it may appear, there are people in 
the country, Americans too, foremost in boast¬ 
ing' to other nations of that constitution, which 
has been raised for them by his alour and 
wisdom, who are either so insensible to his 
merit, or so totally devoid of every generous 
sentiment, that they can refuse to join in com¬ 
mendations of those talents to which they are 
so much indebted ; indeed to such a length 
has this perverse spirit been carried, that I 
have myself seen numbers of men, in all other 
*/ 
points men of respectability, that have per¬ 
emptorily refused even to pay him the small 
compliment of drinking to his health after 
dinner ; it is true indeed, that they qualify 
their conduct partly by asserting, that it is 
only as president of the United States, and not 
as General Washington, that they have a dis¬ 
like to him: but this is onlv a mean subter- 
fuge, which they are forced to have recourse 
to, lest their conduct should appear too 
strongly marked with ingratitude. During the 
war there were many, and not loyalists either, 
who were doing all in their power to remove 
him from that command whereby he so emi¬ 
nently dsstinguished himself. It is the spirit of 
dissatisfaction which forms a leading trait in 
