The goodness and kindness of man’s heart, however, are much more truly shown in the little details of life than in the great matters which affect classes or communities.  Washington was considerate and helpful to all men, and if he was ever cold and distant in his manner, it was to the great, and not to the poor or humble.  As has been indicated by his recognition of the actor Bernard, he had in high degree the royal gift of remembering names and faces.  When he was at Senator Dalton’s house in Newburyport, on his New England tour of 1789, he met an old servant whom he had not seen since the French war, thirty years before.  He knew the man at once, spoke to him, and welcomed him.  So it was with the old soldiers of the Revolution, who were always sure of a welcome, and, if he had ever seen them, of a recognition.  No man ever turned from his presence wounded by a cold forgetfulness.  When he was at Ipswich, on this same journey, Mr. Cleaveland, the minister of the town, was presented to him.  As he approached, hat in hand, Washington said, “Put on your hat, parson, and I will shake hands with you.”  “I cannot wear my hat in your presence, general,” was the reply, “when I think of what you have done for this country.”  “You did as much as I.”  “No, no,” protested the parson.  “Yes,” said Washington, “you did what you could, and I’ve done no more.”  What a gracious, kindly courtesy is this, and not without the salt of wit!  Does it not show the perfection of good manners which deals with all men for what they are, and is full of a warm sympathy born of a good heart?  He was criticised for coldness and accused of monarchical leanings, because, at Mrs. Washington’s receptions and his own public levees, he stood, dressed in black velvet, with one hand on the hilt of his sword and the other behind his back, and shook hands with no one, although he talked with all.  He did this because he thought it became the President of the United States upon state occasions, and his sense of the dignity of his office was always paramount.  But away from forms and ceremonies, with the old servant or the old soldier, or the country parson, his hand was never behind his back, and his manners were those of a great but simple gentleman, and came straight from a kind heart, full of sympathy and good feeling.

He was, too, the most hospitable of men in the best sense, and his house was always open to all who came.  When he was away during the war or the presidency, his instructions to his agents were to keep up the hospitality of Mount Vernon, just as if he had been there himself; and he was especially careful in directing that, if there were general distress, poor persons of the neighborhood should have help from his kitchen or his granaries.