I love the many anecdotes about this man – he seems quite likable, and yet also intimidating (the intellect, the fearlessness). Just came across a quote in a book I’m reading and it made me laugh.
Morris, despite his wooden leg (or who knows, maybe because of it) was quite a womanizer. The ladies loved him. And he loved the ladies. He’s the one who took Hamilton’s dare: “Go over there and pat Washington on the back and say, ‘How’s it goin’, dude?'” Morris, gamely, took the dare. Went over and cuffed Washington on the arm, saying some genial friendly like thing – and Washington froze him with a frigid stare. Morris never got over the humiliation of the moment. If the story is true, Morris counted it as one of the worst moments of his life (this from a guy who had had his leg amputated, and had lost the use of his arm as a child). That tells you how bad it was! He and Washington were good friends, though, so I think that made Morris’ social agony in the moment even worse.
Many of Morris’ fellow revolutionaries were a bit chagrined by the open-ness of his womanizing; a gentleman should be more discreet. John Jay wrote the following in a letter to a friend:
Gouverneur’s leg has been a tax on my heart. I am almost tempted to wish he had lost something else.
Morris is a guy I think I would have liked.
…wonder if that was maybe the origin of the slangy usage of “leg” to apply to that other male appendage. (I’ve most often heard it referred to as “third leg,” but in Morris’ case I guess that might not apply…)
(chuckling over the mental image of “How’s it goin’ dude?”)
I know, I love the image of the Founding Fathers basically double-dog-daring each other.
Hamilton as an instigator … imagine that.
Morris does sound like a classic rapscallion. And I love the John Jay remark. It shows he wasn’t the boring guy he’s often made out to be, just sitting in a corner, sipping a sensible drink while looking over his latest treaty. (Then again, maybe he felt so strongly because Mrs. Jay was at the receiving end of a Morris appendage).
Randy – I love the John Jay remark too – you don’t get too much humor from Jay, that’s true. It’s a funny comment. I wonder if there was some jealousy there??