This extreme exactness in money matters, down even to the most trifling sums, was no doubt a foible, but it is well to observe that it was not a foible which sought only a selfish advantage, for the rule which he applied to others he applied also to himself.  He meant to have his due, no matter how trivial, and he meant also that others should have theirs.  In trifles, as in greater things, he was scrupulously just, and although he was always generous and ready to give, he insisted rigidly on what was justly his.  A gift was one thing, a business transaction was another.  The man himself who told these very stories was a good example of the kindliness which went hand in hand with this exactness in business affairs.  Parkinson was an Englishman, of great narrowness of mind, who came out here to be a farmer, failed, and went home to write a book in denunciation of the country.  America never had a more hostile critic.  According to this profound observer, there was no good land in America, and no possibility of successful agriculture.  The horses were bad, the cattle were bad, and sheep-raising was impossible.  There was no game, the fish and oysters were poor and watery, and no one could ever hope in this wretchedly barren land for either wealth or comfort.  It was a country fit only for the reception of convicts, and the cast-off mistress of an Englishman made a good wife for an American.  A person who held such views as these was not likely to be biased in favor of anything American, and his evidence as to Washington may be safely trusted as not likely to be unduly favorable.  He tells us that on his arrival at Mount Vernon, with letters of introduction, he was kindly received; that this hospitality was never relaxed; and that the general lent him money.  He was at least grateful, and these are his last words as to Washington:—­

“To me he appeared a mild, friendly man, in company rather reserved, in private speaking with candor.  His behavior to me was such that I shall ever revere his name.

“General Washington lived a great man, and died the same.

“I am of opinion that the general never knowingly did anything wrong, but did to all men as he would they should do to him.”

Evidently he appeared to Mr. Parkinson kindly and generous, as well as exactly just.  It is well to have the truth about Washington, and nothing but the truth.  Yet in escaping from the falsehoods of the eulogist and the myth-maker, let us beware of those which spring from the reaction against the current and accepted views.  I have quoted the Parkinson stories at length, because they enforce this point admirably.  No a priori theory is safe, and to assume that Washington must have committed grave errors and been guilty of mean actions because they are common to humanity, and have not been admitted in his case, is just as misleading as to assume, as is usually done, that he was absolutely perfect and without fault.