Page:The Presidents of the United States, 1789-1914, v. I.djvu/63

Rh Meantime a tax on distilled spirts had encountered much opposition in various parts of the country, and in August, 1794, was forcibly resisted and defied by a large body of armed insurgents in the western counties of Pennsylvania. Washington issued a proclamation calling out the militia of the neighboring states, and left home to cross the mountains and lead the troops in person. But the insurrection happily succumbed at his approach, and his presence became unnecessary. The arrogant and offensive conduct of the French minister, M. Genet, irreconcilable dissensions in the cabinet, and renewed agitations and popular discontents growing out of the Jay treaty, gave Washington no little trouble in these latter years of his administration, and he looked forward with eagerness to a release from official cares. Having made up his mind unchangeably to decline another election as president, he thought it fit to announce that decision in the most formal manner. He had consulted Madison at the close of his first term in regard to an address declining a second election. He now sought the advice and counsel of Alexander Hamilton, no longer a member of the cabinet, and the farewell address was prepared and published nearly six months before his official term had expired. That immortal paper has often been printed with the date of September 17, 1796, and special interest has been expressed in the coinci-