Part 49 (1/2)
”Neither the extraordinary partiality of the American people, the extravagant praises which were bestowed upon him, nor the inveterate opposition and malignant calumnies which he encountered, had any visible influence upon his conduct. The cause is to be looked for in the texture of his mind. To him, that innate and una.s.suming modesty which adulation would have offended, which the voluntary plaudits of millions could not betray into indiscretion, and which never intruded upon others his claims to superior consideration, was happily blended with a high and correct sense of personal dignity, and with a just consciousness of that respect which is due to station. Without exertion, he could maintain the happy medium between that arrogance which wounds and that facility which allows the office to be degraded in the person who fills it.
”It is impossible to contemplate the great events which have occurred in the United States under the auspices of Was.h.i.+ngton, without ascribing them, in some measure, to him. If we ask the causes of the prosperous issue of a war, against the successful termination of which there were so many probabilities; of the good which was produced, and the ill which was avoided, during an administration fated to contend with the strongest prejudices that a combination of circ.u.mstances and of pa.s.sions could produce; of the favor of the great ma.s.s of his fellow-citizens, and of the confidence which, to the last moment of his life, they reposed in him--the answer, so far as these causes may be found in his character, will furnish a lesson well meriting the attention of those who are candidates for political fame.
”Endowed by nature with a sound judgment and an accurate, discriminating mind, he feared not that laborious attention which made him perfectly master of those subjects, in all their relations, on which he was to decide. And this essential quality was guided by an unvarying sense of moral right, which would tolerate the employment only of those means that would bear the most rigid examination; by a fairness of intention which neither sought nor required disguise; and by a purity of virtue which was not only untainted, but unsuspected.
”Was.h.i.+ngton's character, so perfect in its harmonious combination of the best and greatest qualities that const.i.tute the true man, has endured the test of criticism for three quarters of a century; and every time it pa.s.ses through the crucible of severe a.n.a.lysis, in the hands of masters, it appears more perfect than before the ordeal. To this task the best minds of Europe have brought their keenest powers of research, and the conclusion is always the same.”
”The bold and successful pa.s.sages of the Delaware, and the surprise of the Hessians,” says one of our most accomplished essayists, ”awaked in Frederick of Prussia the sympathy and high appreciation which he manifested by the gift of a sword, with an inscription exclusively in praise of Was.h.i.+ngton's generals.h.i.+p. The moderation of his nature, the heroic balance of his soul, whereby elation was kept in abeyance in the hour of success, not less n.o.bly than despair in the day of misfortune, attracted the French philosopher, habituated as he was, in the history of his own nation, to the a.s.sociation of warlike and civic fame with the extremes of zeal and indifference, of violence and caprice. In his estimation, the good sense and moral consistency of Was.h.i.+ngton and his compatriots naturally offered the most remarkable problem. Accordingly, Guizot bears witness chiefly to this unprecedented union of comprehensive designs and prudential habits, of aspiration and patience, in the character of Was.h.i.+ngton; and, doubtless through the contrast with the restless ambition which marks the lives of his own ill.u.s.trious countrymen, is mainly struck with the fact that, 'while capable of rising to the level of the highest destiny, he might have lived in ignorance of his real power, without suffering from it.' The Italian patriot, obliged to vent his love of country in terse dramatic colloquies, and through the lips of dead heroes, is thrilled with the grand possibilities of action, through the realization of his sentiments by achievement, opened to Was.h.i.+ngton. Even the poor Indians, so often cajoled out of their rights as to be thoroughly incredulous of good faith among the pale-faces, made him an exception to their rooted distrust. 'The white men are bad,' said an aboriginal chief, in his council-speech, 'and can not dwell in the region of the Great Spirit, _except Was.h.i.+ngton_.' And Lord Brougham, in a series of a.n.a.lytical biographies of the renowned men of the last and present century, which indicate a deep study and philosophical estimate of human greatness, closes his sketch of Was.h.i.+ngton by the emphatic a.s.sertion that the test of the progress of mankind will be their appreciation of his character.”[151]
At his installation as chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, in the spring of 1860, Lord Brougham, in his address, after speaking of Napoleon and Wellington, said: ”But in Was.h.i.+ngton we may contemplate every excellence, military and civil, applied to the service of his country and of mankind--a triumphant warrior, unshaken in confidence when the most sanguine had a right to despair; a successful ruler in all the difficulties of a course wholly untried--directing the formation of a new government for a great people, the first time so vast an experiment had ever been tried by man; voluntarily and unostentatiously retiring from supreme power with the veneration of all parties, of all nations, of all mankind, that the rights of men may be conserved, and that his example might never be appealed to by vulgar tyrants. It will be the duty of the historian and the sage, in all ages, to omit no occasion of commemorating this ill.u.s.trious man; and until time shall be no more, will a test of the progress which our race has made in wisdom and in virtue be derived from the veneration paid to the immortal name of WAs.h.i.+NGTON.”
One of the most beautiful of the many eulogies of the Great Patriot was written, soon after his death, by an unknown hand (supposed to be that of an English gentleman), on the back of a cabinet profile likeness of Was.h.i.+ngton, executed in crayon, by Sharpless. It is in the form of a monumental inscription. The following is a copy of it:--
WAs.h.i.+NGTON, The DEFENDER OF HIS COUNTRY, The FOUNDER OF LIBERTY, The FRIEND OF MAN.
HISTORY and TRADITION are explored in vain For a Parallel to his Character.
In the Annals of MODERN GREATNESS He stands alone, And the n.o.blest Names of Antiquity Lose their l.u.s.tre in his Presence.
Born the _Benefactor of Mankind_, He was signally Endowed with all the Qualities Appropriate to his _Ill.u.s.trious Career_.
_Nature_ made him _Great_, And, Heaven-directed, He made _himself Virtuous_.
Called by his Country to the _Defence_ of her _Soil_, And the _Vindication_ of her _Liberties_, He led to the Field _Her Patriot Armies_; And, displaying in rapid and brilliant succession The United Powers Of _Consummate Prudence_ and Heroic Valor, He triumphed in Arms Over the most powerful Nation of Modern Europe; His Sword giving _Freedom to America_, His Counsels breathing _Peace to the World_.
After a short repose From the _tumultuous Vicissitudes_ Of a sanguinary War, The astounding Energies of WAs.h.i.+NGTON Were again destined to a _New Course_ Of _Glory and Usefulness_.
_The Civic Wreath_ Was spontaneously placed By the _Grat.i.tude_ of the _Nation_ On the Brow of the DELIVERER _of his_ COUNTRY.
He was twice _solemnly invested_ With the POWERS of _Supreme Magistracy_, By the _Unanimous Voice_ of _A Free People_; And in his EXALTED and ARDUOUS Station, His _Wisdom_ in the _Cabinet_ Transcended the _Glories of the Field_.
The _Destinies_ of _Was.h.i.+ngton_ Were now complete.
Having pa.s.sed the Meridian of a _Devoted Life_, Having founded on the Pillars Of NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE The _Splendid Fabric_ Of a GREAT REPUBLIC, And having firmly Established The Empire of the West, He solemnly deposited on the _Altar of his Country_ His _Laurels_ and his _Sword_, And retired to the _Shades_ Of PRIVATE LIFE.
A _Spectacle_ so _New_ and so _Sublime_, Was contemplated by _Mankind_ With the _Profoundest Admiration_; And the Name of WAs.h.i.+NGTON, Adding new _l.u.s.tre_ to _Humanity_, Resounded _To the remotest Regions of the Earth_.
_Magnanimous in Youth_, Glorious through Life, Great in Death, His highest Ambition The _Happiness of Mankind_, His _n.o.blest Victory_ The _Conquest of Himself_.
Bequeathing to America The _Inheritance_ of his _Fame_, And building his _Monument_ In the _Hearts of his Countrymen_, He Lived, The _Ornament_ of the Eighteenth Century; He Died, LAMENTED BY A MOURNING WORLD.
FOOTNOTES:
[151] _Essays, Biographical and Critical; or, Studies of Character_. By Henry T. Tuckerman.
CHAPTER XLIV.
WAs.h.i.+NGTON'S HABITS AND PERSONAL APPEARANCE.
Was.h.i.+ngton, as we have observed in the earlier portion of this work, was pa.s.sionately fond of field-sports; and during the first years of his married life, and even to the kindling of the Revolution, he frequently indulged in the pleasures of the chase. He was an admirable equestrian, but was not a successful sportsman. He engaged in the chase more for the pleasure produced by the excitement, than for the honors of success. He had quite a large kennel of hounds, and a fine stud of horses. Of these he kept, with his own hand, a careful register, in which might be found the names, ages, and marks of each. With these, his companions of the chase, he was as carefully punctual in his attentions as to any other business of his life. Among the names of his horses were those of c.h.i.n.kling, Valiant, Ajax, Magnolia, Blueskin, etc. Magnolia was a full-blooded Arabian, and was used for the saddle upon the road. Among the names of his hounds were Vulcan, Ringwood, Singer, Truelove, Music, Sweetlips, Forester, Rockwood, etc. It was his pride (and a proof of his skill in hunting) to have his pack so critically drafted, as to speed and bottom, that in running, if one leading dog should lose the scent, another was at hand immediately to recover it; and thus, when in full cry, to use a racing-phrase, you might ”cover the pack with a blanket.”
Mr. Custis, in his _Recollections of Was.h.i.+ngton_, has given some interesting incidents of his life as a sportsman. ”During the season,”
he says, ”Mount Vernon had many sporting guests from the neighborhood, from Maryland, and elsewhere. Their visits were not of days, but weeks; and they were entertained in the good old style of Virginia's ancient hospitality. Was.h.i.+ngton, always superbly mounted, in true sporting costume, of blue coat, scarlet waistcoat, buckskin breeches, top-boots, velvet cap, and whip with long thong, took the field at daybreak, with his huntsman, Will Lee, his friends and neighbors.” They usually hunted three times a week, if the weather was favorable.
On the hunting-mornings, breakfast was served at candlelight. Was.h.i.+ngton seldom partook of anything but Indian-corn cakes and milk. At dawn the whole cavalcade would leave Mount Vernon, and frequently before sunrise the dogs would be in full cry after a fox, Was.h.i.+ngton usually rode a horse named _Blueskin_, a fiery animal, of great endurance, and of a dark, iron-gray color. Billy (who was Was.h.i.+ngton's body-servant during the war) always kept with the hounds; ”and, mounted on _c.h.i.n.kling_,” says Custis, ”a French horn at his back, throwing himself almost at length on the animal, with his spurs in flank, this fearless horseman would rush at full speed, through brake and tangled wood, in a style at which modern huntsmen would stand aghast.” When the chase was ended, the party would return to Mount Vernon to dinner, where other than sporting guests were frequently a.s.sembled to greet them. The table was always furnished generously; and the expensive style in which Was.h.i.+ngton kept up his establishment before the Revolution may be inferred from an entry in his diary, in 1768, in which he says, ”Would any one believe that, with a _hundred and one cows_, actually reported at a late enumeration of the cattle, I should still be obliged to buy b.u.t.ter for my family?” During the war, these pleasures were suspended, nor was the sporting establishment ever revived, to any great extent. Lafayette sent Was.h.i.+ngton some hounds in 1785, but increasing private and public duties caused the master of Mount Vernon to neglect the pleasures in which he once took such delight.
It must not be supposed that, during those years of social enjoyment, Was.h.i.+ngton neglected any duties. As a member of the Virginia house of burgesses, he was a.s.siduous, punctual, and faithful. As a farmer, he was careful, prudent, and skilful; and he managed his estate of eight thousand acres with such signal industry and ability, that he was considered a model agriculturist. He did not leave his farms to the entire care of his overseers. He continually exercised a general supervision of his affairs, except when absent on public business; and even then, through weekly reports, which he required his manager to transmit to him regularly, he had a perfect knowledge of all operations, and sometimes gave lengthy and minute directions.