CHARACTER AND MEMORY OF WASHINGTON.

BY J. G. ADAMS.

'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 Washington.' Lord Brougham.

THERE is a day in our year which should be held more sacred by every American; a day which should be remembered, not only in that transient consideration which goes out with mere word-offering and amusement; but the coming of which should be hailed with patriotic reverence, thanksgiving, and joy. It is the birth-day of Washington, sacred in its commemorative greatness forever! It has come once more in its bright walks of a long and eventful century; and its presence has given occasion to thoughts which involuntarily start up when the name and the history of this eminent man are brought before us. Will the reader suffer me a few words in

reference to the character and memory of Washington ?

That which renders the character of this individual so chiefly distinguished in the history of his fellow men, is its just and harmonious proportions. All along through past time we see in our chief heroes persons of excess in some peculiar portions of that character which goes to make up the whole man. What were Alexander, Cæsar, and Napoleon? Strong and wondrous men, indeed; but what is their collective fame to that of Washington? It shines, dazzles, overpowers the vision, perhaps, with an intenseness of intellectual light, or with the idea of unprecedented daring and physical accomplishment. But where is the warmth of that light? Who is really made better, purer, more ardently inspired with love and honor for his race by its effulgence? It fails to invigorate, to fertilize, in its influence on mankind.

If we turn our attention to the establishment of other nations, in the old world, we find the exaltation of passion over reason and humanity; the strifes of 'low ambition and the pride of kings;' the desperation of leaders, and usurpers, and demagogues, who having gained their ends in the acquisition of power, now turn and abuse and destroy those from whom they have derived it.

Lust of dominion, vanity and haughtiness, like that which brought the vaunting Nebuchadnezzar low with the beasts of the field, have too generally been the leading characteristics in the leading heroes of our race. They have had rather their own aggrandizement than the general good in view. They have by their extraordinary though partial developments of character, rather awakened the astonishment, and elicited the momentary applause, than secured the lasting love and blessing of mankind. Against such representations of human greatness we are ever ready to place the character of Washington. Here was a greatness such as the world has seldom seen; a combination of virtues rarely witnessed among all the specimens of human character yet discovered by the most patient, far-seeing, and laborious historian.

Washington was great in intellectual capacity; not in this respect superlatively great among men ; but sufficiently so to meet the emergency which called him into active and conspicuous public life; and that is saying a great word. The leading intellects of our nation saw that he was the individual for the crisis unto which we had come. North, south, everywhere, there was one mind. The nomination, the appointment of Washington as commander-in-chief of the American forces, found its ready acquiescence in the hearts of the people.

Nor did Washington ever disappoint the high trust reposed in him. Through privation, peril, the malice and treachery of some enemies, threatened mutiny; in times when weak nerves were trembling, and weak hearts were sinking, under the desperate fortunes of war, and when all human calculation seemed to forbid success in our nation, did this towering soul maintain its ascendency, and inspire the souls of those awaiting his directions with new encouragement and power. Nor was this reigning influence of his confined to the camp and field of conflict.. It was realized in the part he acted as the statesman- the civilian. Here he never disappointed expectation. was eminently sagacious, magnanimous, wise. He had been once elevated by the people to preside over the new republic. He had done that duty, as to the time constitutionally allotted him; and earnestly sought to retire to the tranquillity and enjoyment of domestic life. But the leading wisdom of our country again solicited him. Men of different political opinions freely and truly regarded him as their patron, their tower of strength, their right arm of political security.

He

'The confidence of the whole nation,' said Mr. Jefferson, 'is centred in you. Your being at the helm will more than answer to every argument which can be used to alarm and lead the people

in any quarter into violence or secession. North and south will hang together if they have you to hang on; and if the first corrective of a numerous representation should fail in its effect, your presence will give time for trying others not inconsistent with the union and peace of the states. I am perfectly aware of the oppression under which your present office lays your mind, and of the ardor with which you pant for retirement to domestic life. But there is sometimes an eminence of character on which society have such peculiar claims, as to control the predilection of the individual for a particular walk of happiness, and restrain him to that alone rising from the present and future benedictions of mankind. This seems to be your condition, and the law imposed on you by Providence in forming your character, and fashioning the events on which it was to operate.'* Language like this explains itself. It is but an expression of the feeling of the whole nation. That nation felt and acknowledged the superiority of this one man.

And what gave chief character and value to this greatness of Washington? The true answer is, the sterling moral excellence of the man; that excellence which shone not only with the multitude in

*Sparks's Life of Washington.