The first Congress of the United Colonies met at Philadelphia in 1774.
Washington was a leading member of that body, and took an active
part in opposition to the principles assumed by the then British
administration and parliament in relation to the American colonies.
He was unanimously elected by Congress, General and Commander-in-chief
of the United Colonies and of all their forces. When the President of
Congress communicated this election, Washington thus addressed him:
“Mr. President――Although I am truly sensible of the high honor done
me by this appointment, I feel a consciousness that my abilities and
military experience may not be equal to the extensive trust. However,
as the Congress desire it, I will enter upon the momentous duty and
exert every power I possess in their service and in support of our
glorious cause. I beg they will accept my most cordial thanks for this
distinguished testimony of their approbation.
“But unless some unlucky event should happen unfavorable to my
reputation, I beg it may be remembered by every gentleman in the room
that I this day declare, with the utmost sincerity, I do not think
myself equal to the command with which I am honored. I beg leave, sir,
to assure the Congress, that, as no pecuniary consideration could have
tempted me to accept this arduous employment, at the expense of my
domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit from it.
I will keep an exact account of my expenses. These, I doubt not, the
Congress will discharge, and that is all I desire.”
Under what privations, difficulties and discouragements, Washington
led our fathers through their revolutionary struggle, to victory and
national independence, is well known. His agency in establishing that
independence upon the basis of union in a national constitution, and
his excellent administration of the government as the first President
of the United States under that constitution, is equally well known.
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Washington was exactly six feet high. His limbs were well formed and
indicated strength. His eyes were greyish, and his hair of a brown
color. His complexion was light, and his countenance serene and
thoughtful.
His manners were graceful, manly and dignified. His general appearance
never failed to engage the respect and esteem of all who approached
him. He possessed the most perfect self-government, and in a remarkable
degree the faculty of hiding the weaknesses inseparable from human
nature. He ever bore his distinguished honors with meekness and
equanimity. Reserved but not haughty in his disposition, he was
accessible to all but he unbosomed himself only to his confidential
friends.
He was not so much distinguished for brilliancy of intellect, as for
industry of application, solidity of judgment and consummate prudence
of conduct. He was not so eminent for any single quality as for a union
of great, amiable, and good qualities, rarely combined in the same
character.――_Bancroft’s Life of Washington._
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Mr. Stewart, the eminent portrait painter, used to say there were
features in the face of Washington, different from any he had ever
observed in any other human being. The sockets for the eyes were larger
than he had ever met with before, and the upper part of his nose
broader.
He always spoke with great diffidence, and sometimes hesitated for a
word; but it was always to find one well adapted to his meaning. His
language was manly and expressive.
Few persons ever found themselves for the first time in the presence
of Washington, without being impressed with a degree of veneration
and awe; nor did those emotions subside on a closer acquaintance; on
the contrary, his person and deportment were such as tended rather
to augment them. The whole range of history does not present to our
view a character upon which we can dwell with such entire and unmixed
admiration. The long life of Washington is unstained by a single blot.
He was indeed a man of such rare endowments, and such a fortunate
temperament, that every action he performed was equally exempted from
the charge of vice or weakness. Whatever he said or did, or wrote, was
stamped with a striking and peculiar propriety. His qualities were
so happily blended and so nicely harmonized, that the result was a
great and perfect whole. The passions of his mind and the dispositions
of his heart were admirably suited to each other. His views, though
liberal, were never extravagant. His virtues, though comprehensive and
beneficent, were discriminating, judicious and practical.
Yet his character, though regular and uniform, possessed none of the
littleness which may sometimes belong to these descriptions of men.
It formed a majestic pile, the effect of which was not impaired, but
improved by order and symmetry. There was nothing in it to dazzle by
wildness, and surprise by eccentricity. It was of a higher species of
moral beauty. It contained every thing great and elevated, but it had
no false and tinsel ornament. It was not the model cried up by fashion
and circumstance: its excellence was adapted to the true and just moral
taste, incapable of change from the varying accidents of manners, of
opinions and times. General Washington is not the idol of a day, but
the hero of ages!
Placed in circumstances of the most trying difficulty at the
commencement of the American contest, he accepted that situation
which was pre-eminent in danger and responsibility. His perseverance
overcame every obstacle; his moderation conciliated every opposition;
his genius supplied every resource; his enlarged views could plan,
revise, and improve every branch of civil and military operation. He
had the superior courage which can act or can forbear to act, as policy
dictates, careless of the reproaches of ignorance either in power or
out of power. He knew how to conquer by waiting, in spite of obloquy,
for the moment of victory; and he merited true praise by despising
undeserved censure. In the most arduous moments of the contest, his
prudent firmness proved the salvation of the cause which he supported.
His conduct was, on all occasions, guided by the most pure
disinterestedness. Far superior to low and grovelling motives, he
seemed even to be uninfluenced by that ambition which has justly been
called the instinct of great souls. He acted ever as if his country’s
welfare, and that alone, was the moving spring. His excellent mind
needed not even the stimulus of ambition, or the prospect of fame.
Glory was a secondary consideration. He performed great actions; he
persevered in a course of laborious utility, with an equanimity that
neither sought distinction, nor was flattered by it. His reward was
in the consciousness of his own rectitude, and in the success of his
patriotic efforts.
As his elevation to the chief power was the unbiassed choice of his
countrymen, his exercise of it was agreeable to the purity of its
origin. As he had neither solicited nor usurped dominion, he had
neither to contend with the opposition of rivals, nor the revenge of
enemies. As his authority was undisputed, so it required no jealous
precautions, no rigorous severity. His government was mild and gentle;
it was beneficent and liberal; it was wise and just. His prudent
administration consolidated and enlarged the dominion of an infant
republic. In voluntarily resigning the magistracy which he had filled
with such distinguished honor, he enjoyed the unequalled satisfaction
of leaving to the state he had contributed to establish, the fruits of
his wisdom and the example of his virtues.
It is some consolation, amidst the violence of ambition and the
criminal thirst of power, of which so many instances occur around us,
to find a character whom it is honorable to admire, and virtuous to
imitate. A conqueror, for the freedom of his country! a legislator,
for its security! a magistrate, for its happiness! His glories were
never sullied by those excesses into which the highest qualities are
apt to degenerate. With the greatest virtues, he was exempt from the
corresponding vices. He was a man in whom the elements were so mixed
that “Nature might have stood up to all the world” and owned him as
her work. His fame, bounded by no country, will be confined to no age.
The character of Washington, which his contemporaries admire, will be
transmitted to posterity; and the memory of his virtues, will remain
while patriotism and virtue are esteemed among men.――_From an English
publication._
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Transcriber’s Notes:
――Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).
――Punctuation and spelling inaccuracies were silently corrected.
――Archaic and variable spelling has been preserved.
――Variations in hyphenation and compound words have been preserved.