Class. _ E-3'^ Book_ £jf J^ WASHINGTON. COLOSSAL BUST 36' OF W A SHINGTON, (In American Marble, Designed to a Scale of 10 Feet Hight.) ILLUSTRATED BY A llpnatapl Critip* fxm tfrlMto |flrh %rtpra, WITH INTRODUCTORY REMARKS, EMBRACING A SYNOPSIS OF THE PHRENOLOGICAL POINTS OF HIS CHARACTER. BY A NEW YOKK MERCHANT. Web) STorST: FOWLER & WELLS, No. 308 BROADWAY. 18 64. 3 • Cr Washingtoniana Lli* c?£ INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. The accompanying critique on living's Life of Wash- ington is reproduced from The Churchman, on this occa- sion chiefly to illustrate the new bust of Washington, now exhibiting. The essential points of the critique involve the Tem- peramental, Physiognomical, and Phrenological traits of both the hero and his biographer. Relying upon the experiences and study of many years in this depart- ment of Natural Science, the critic treads with confi- dence in the path of discriminating philosophical inquiry into the causes which united to produce that providen- tial man of the eighteenth century. In a merely literary point of view, it would have been rashness itself to have intruded those observations on the peerless his- torian ; but the criticisms are made only to show the true scientific bearings of the subject. This new bust represents the " Father of his Country" at about the age of forty-five, the most active period of his life ; showing a marked predominance of the lym- phatic temperament, indicating torpidity of the vascu- 6 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. lar system. This leading characteristic of his tem- perament was the origin of disparaging remark, when he was elected colonel at an early age: he was jeered as "the beardless boy." This condition, in connection with the large ganglionic features of the face and neck, gave the peculiar scope of his character, and most physiolo- gists would have deemed the elements of a great man entirely wanting. It is said that, when Lavater first saw an authentic model in plaster of Washington's face, he thought the lineaments so entirely inconsistent with his great fame, that he considered the cast an imposition. All the busts and portraits of Washington now ex- tant, err in giving too youthful or too aged an expres- sion to his countenance. It will be seen that the bust, while representing a sufficiently youthful expression, in the front view, for the age represented, the profile or side view gives a maturity and firmness of character, which would dis- tinguish him at that period of his life, under the heavy responsibilities he then sustained. The art of sculpture has never yet, except accident- ally, had the important assistance of phrenological science. With its aid, light will be shed on many points and achievements, that would otherwise fail of just appreciation in the productions of the artist. Genius and imagination have often supplied the de- sideratum, but always with more or less imperfection. Science has classified the faculties as the spiritual, INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 7 intellectual, and animal. The most important of these is the spiritual, which constituted him a leader among- his fellow-men. The order in which these facul- ties are grouped and developed indicates the particular kind of genius. Washington presents such a rare grouping, that it is only once in a large cycle of time that the world can expect such a superior organization, under circumstances so fully calculated to develop and display, as he did, the transcendent powers of a " right man in the right place ;" hence, too, the necessit}' of a providence to guide such individuals to their proper sphere in society, where they can accomplish the great end for which nature and God destine them. The casts, in plaster, taken from Washington during life, are imperfect in the most important particulars, from the then insufficient and somewhat dangerous mode of taking them. The top and back of the head, embodying the most commanding elements of charac- ter, were never given ; and hence our artist had to rely for his materials on the best pictures of our sub- ject, with the more substantial aid derived from the incidents of his life, explained by phrenology. With- out this mode of procedure, his true character must have been lost to the world. In this bust, the predominance is given to veneration, firmness, conscientiousness, and benevolence, for it appears from the cast, in our pos- session, that these organs must have been unusually large, which, as they were grouped, made this — the 8 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. moral and spiritual — the leading feature in his char- acter. The spiritual predominates over all the rest, the in- fluence of which, in the events of his life, in all he said or did, is shown in our analysis of his character in the accompanying critique. The retreating forehead evidences that his percep- tive faculties take the lead in his intellect, in a perfect- ly harmonious order, without being disturbed by any philosophical problems. The propensities, from which all our physical actions emanate, embrace the organs of secretiveness, destruc- tiveness, and cautiousness, the outlines of which are expressed by the width between the ears at the base of the aead. St WASHINGTON. [From The Churchman, Vol. xxv. No. 49.] " Life of George "Washington." By "Washington Irving. In Three Volumes. Vols. I. and II. New York : Putnam & Co. In estimating the value of this work, purporting to be the Life of George Washington, it appears necessary to us to inquire how far the author is gifted with the capacity to execute such an un- dertaking, so far as this is determined by any indications afforded in previous writings, and by what is here done, as compared wiih the nature and character of the subject as related, not to any indi- vidual ideal, however elevated, but to that position which history assigns, and which succeeding ages, in the approbation of all great and good men, are destined to ratify. Evidently, a biography of the Father of his country is not to be executed by a mere reliance on artistic conditions ; none will deny that its perfection must even involve the subjection of certain of those qualities for which Irving is peculiarly distinguished, and, with their subjection, a vital change in that combination by which he has realized a na- tional fame. In such a work, therefore, contrasts are not wholly to be obtained by contrasts of position, nor the true portraiture by mere happy and luminous expressions. Irving's desire has un- questionably been to give the most faithful life extant ; and with- out disparaging his acknowledged power of delineation in all relating to the conventional or incidental, enabling him to clothe with human interest the most remote or ordinary topic, we may yet deny him the qualification to be the biographer of a man who, 10 WASHINGTON. as the inspired foreshadower of the wants and necessities of hu- manity, directing, and, by his prescient knowledge and internal strength, executing, as it were, the Revolution, gave unity to the incongruous and variant principles in which it originated, and means of triumph to those vague and undefined aspirations which succeeded the mere desire of redress for local grievances. We are far from indifferent to the merits of our best writer, he who, beyond any other man, has given character and nationality to American literature, rendering it unique in its wild freedom, its fresh and buoyant romance — grace mingled with pathos, and en- thusiasm of spirit with keen observance of the social phases of life ; but what if, with this high and unequaled praise, he shall be found wanting in his appreciation of those characteristics by which Wash- ington stands individualized in bold relief against the vicissitudes of the past, and his skill prove at fault in the depicting a charac- ter that in itself allows of no conventional estimate ? Washington neither depends for his individual greatness on the greatness of the epoch, or the magnitude of his success, or any estimate of social influence as these may be conceived to have affected him ; to discern him is to discern that centralizing relation which he held to all the elements of action arrayed for contest, by which he continued superior to all the exigencies of his position, prepared for any reverse by the concealed potency of that individual influence ever meted accord- ing to the occasion that demanded it. There is one predominant quality in Irving, which, of itself, might seem to assign him this self-appointed task— the love of home and country, which in him is so spiritualized as to constitute a portion of his own existence, entering into all his emotions, and even shaping his ideal fancies. Yet withal, this exists with him only as the finest and highest so- cial sentiment ; and a social estimate is not that by which Wash- ington is to be individualized in the greatness of his character ; for, with all the charm it lends to expression, it gives, at best, only mannerism ; aside from pictorial and luminous words, there will be no living expression, no characteristic embodiment ; greatness will be made to depend on, or to grow out of, incidents, leaving nothing behind them, as soon as recited, but the echo of a name. 3? WASHINGTON. 11 The writings of Irving may in vain be searched for qualities more appropriate to the task on hand, or for proof of that structure of mind its fit execution would involve. In " Tales of the Alham- bra," we have reveled in an almost eastern wealth of imagina- tion, subdued to the requisitions of art ; in " Astoria," with its fresh and vivid scenery, we have read the details of American lit- erature, and shared in the spirit, so far as we discerned its motive ; in the " Book of the Hudson," historic recollections and existing features are skillfully combined with exquisite sentiment ; " Co- lumbus and his Companions" engage, by their faith, and doubts, and struggles, and ceaseless vicissitudes, and unrecompensed toil, those human sympathies which, for a provided purpose, Irving can so well involve ; in " Bracebridge Hall," the social depictor is at once at home in the rustic cottage, as with hard-riding, fox-hunt- ing lords and squires, and discerns at a glance the relation be- tween landlord and tenant, whilst, with keen love of nature, he notes, for after revery, the rookeries, and green lanes, and waving meadows, and shadowy woodlands of " merry England," and with yearning for the marvelous, takes up with haunted houses, and strange legends, and dim traditions, always coming back to pres- sent life ; his " History of New York," for its quaint humor, and graphic contrast, and whimsical depictures, sometimes boisterous, sometimes humorously dry and curt, will live as long as the race of Knickerbockers ; " Mahomet and his Successors" are depicted with brilliancy and force, so far as the means discovered to be employed are great and powerful, and spiritual and temporal pre- rogatives are asserted by new conquests and accessions ; for de- pending on incidental circumstances for the disclosure of elements of character, Irving, unconsciously, and with honest intent, judges men by their successes, giving no plenary indulgence for reverses. Other works than those specified, including his " Tales of a Trav- eller," " Tour on the Kocky Mountains," and the " Crayon Mis- cellany," exhibit, in every possible phase, those qualities with which he is so peculiarly gifted ; but with all the delight his productions afford, and the extent to which they affect the heart, affording means of relief to that superabundant enthusiasm in the popular 12 WASHINGTON. mind, which, unable to shape itself to any religious sentiment, craves for this satisfaction, we in vain search them for evidence of any ability to discriminate character, to judge a man by his in- herent worth. So far as Irving's qualities are illustrated in this, his latest production, we have graphic topical description, vivid delineation of action as it passes with the record of social influ- ences as these may be surmised to have affected his subject. But Irving never rises above incident, and instead of being in- spired by the man as a great artificer in the hands of God to realize a republic, he has looked for inspiration to events and cir- cumstances, to the extent even of searching out, with no mean pains, the motives and conduct of men to whom the commander- in- chief intrusted the execution of any of his plans, as though Washington's* greatness consisted in being a mere tactician, after an approved military code, and the issue had been dependent on any march or countermarch ; whereas, it was the very certainty of this issue, by virtue of Washington's inspired capacities, that alone presents him in his proportioned grandeur. There is no spectacle more lamentable than that of an able writer undertak- ing a work he can not perfect. So unapproachable in all other departments of his choice, Irving becomes trivial and uniformly unjust, in assigning character to nations or to men holding rela- tion to the Eevolution— John Bull being sent off to a chop-house by the gate of Paradise, and Lee, the ablest general of the Revo- lution, as respects disciplined prowess, being charged with un- worthy motives in any delay to comply with the orders of the com- mander-in-chief, as though the rapidity with which masses of troops were moved, and the quickness with which blows were given, were the first qualities demanded — as though the action of Lee, who chiefly depended on distraction of the enemy and division of his forces for the more effective execution, were not controlled by mili- tary considerations — Washington, indeed, being the only man supe- rior to all incidental exigencies, by his foreknowledge of the decisive issue, added to the spirit of reliant dependence and courage which he infused into the common soldier, himself the soul of every move- ment in council as in war, all looking up to him as to an infallible //0 WASHINGTON. 13 guide and assured protector. Lee's declaration that, on a personal interview with Washington, he would explain every thing, is itali- cized with full marks of suspicion. How far superior to this in- vidious portrayal, to give to Washington an undue, because false, position, would have been the exhibition of the contrast existing in the character of the men — Lee, recognizing no elements of action not approved in the schools, or illustrated by experi- ence ; Washington, in the reliant capacity of controlling the most refractory elements, bending every thing to his purpose by the might of his inspiration. Aiming for effects, our author has thus missed, even in an artistic view, the greatest. We are aware the work is not completed, but such important periods have been already dismissed as fully to justify our comments. So much does Irving depend for conception of character on fortuitous circum- stances, that two whole pages are given to Lee on a mere matter of punctilio. Other men, in other ways, are suppressed for a like purpose. We confess, we do not like to see those who fought to realize our freedom, aspersed for the sake of satisfying artistic con- ditions. Without establishing artificial differences, Irving would not maintain the most superficial distinctions, and never realize even his own ideal. To exalt this, qualities are arrogated even which Washington never possessed — such as " the control of legis- lative bodies," and which, had he possessed, would have derogated from his character ; and in place of his clear and conscientious judgment and marvelous executive ability — proceeding by no rules of art, created by no previous and corresponding experience, or matured by the contemplation of any analogy provided by history — presented him only as a party manoeuvrer, dependent on the lowest order of combination. If it be answered, that Irving did not undertake to write the history of the Revolution, that an expose of its principles, a philo- sophic exegesis of its conception and development, was not his office, we have to answer that we do not ask for philosophy, but for what Washington was. Throughout, indeed, he seeks to en- force an impression of unaffected admiration, and if Washington had been merely a social character, none could so well have deline- 14 WASHINGTON. ated him. We allow that a vast number of epithets have been assigned to Washington, the author drawing for these even on foreign writers ; but had Washington had no greater capacity than that here evidenced, we can hardly regard him as higher than the incidents of which he was the soul and front, instead as the Father of his country, yearning to realize what he conceived to be the higher aim of the people's struggle, to lay the foundation of national and of individual greatness, and becoming, in the end, for all nations of men, the great exemplar of the rights of humanity. The man is neither individualized nor personified. The life of Marion, in his small and circumscribed sphere, has more of soul interest than these two ponderous volumes, in which locale and inci- dent are presented with such incomparable artistic skill. But was it by such incident that Washington was formed ? Was it by sentiment that he became a great arbiter in human affairs ? What made him great? The result, or the inspired capacity to produce that result ? The talent for recording incidents, no matter how graphic, and of delineating conventional position, is not the capa- city to describe the soul and the heart of a providential man. Washington, in whose life a nation found its existence, and our common humanity its vindication, admits not of a mere artistic measurement; art must be rendered subsidiary, or the failure will be the more utter, from the very eminence of the qualities in- voked ; and with nothing individualized, instead of a character in bold relief for after times, disassociated from all its accessories, and standing in his own proportioned grandeur, Washington and his ragged regiments will fade from view, like the dread Dulcarnon and his fabled hosts. How much has not Washington Irving had to restrain— how much of the love of the marvelous and the ro- mantic — how much of the promptings of that intuition that would lead him to revery and passive reflection, rather than severe and critical comment, and discovery of those shades of character which are not to be found in the acts of men, in executing this one biog- raphy — slowing eking out prosaic facts from faded revolutionary documents, to be illumined and embalmed by those pictured words by which he invests with a charm even commonplace ex- WASHINGTON. 15 pressions ! Washington Irving is an overburdened spirit of sen- timent, manifesting itself, not only by peculiarities of expression, but by peculiar principles of social life, which he so well does, giving to his writings elements of duration, because involving everlasting conditions, and so rendering them pleasing alike to old and young. The love of country and of home which all men possess, blended with such burdened spirits, fastens itself on our warmest affection. We shall now humbly endeavor to present the character of Washington as determined by the conditions of history, and the exigencies of humanity. Irving, instead of leading incidents, has suffered incidents to lead him ; and, in place of rendering these merely illustrative of an individuality existing quite apart from accessories, has sought Washington's greatness in the greatness of the events attaching to his career. We come now to a true delineation of the character of the Father of his country. The task of presenting Washington as he really was, and not as men, according to the varying mode in which they may view the more prominent facts of the Revolution, choose to regard him, we feel to be of the nature of a duty ; for, whatever may be said of the estimate in which Washington is held — and even Irving has sought, in his conventional ideal, to excite unaffected admiration — the right apprehension of his character, as the harmonizer of variant and conflicting elements of thought and action, and the director of these to the highest issue of which they were at the time susceptible, together with his example truly com- prehended, would be one influence tending to rescue our institutions from their present downward tendency — in saving us from, what we may term, the despotism of a republic. Party, which now has complete ascendency in our national counsels, is an element to be rendered subservient to higher issues, if the obligations imposed on us as a people by the Revolution are ever to be fulfilled. Therefore, it is needful that we regard that combination of power in the individual man, by which, under the most adverse conditions, and at a period of great emergency, Washington embodied and realized the highest wants of our common humanity, social necessi- 16 WASHINGTON. ties, and religious freedom — thus giving effect to divided interests and vague aspirations. In the acceptance by Washington of every physical and moral, and political, religious, and sectarian element, we at once recognize the man who embodied all the wants and desires of the people, and, harmonizing these with his own spirit, foreshadowed in him- self the decreed issue — something higher and nobler than any dared hope for, or even worthily aspired after. This comprehension of the elements in action, and their relation to the cause, involved a pres- cience by which he extended his range of vision beyond those present appearances which confounded and deluded others, rendering him never doubtful of the issue, in the consciousness that he was the agent of Divine Providence in a design, not clearly seen as yet, but assuring, in its execution, ultimate and enduring success ; a design such as no human intervention, no successes of hostile armies, no strategic defeats, no diplomatic subterfuge, no defection of parties and men, no vacillation in counsel or division in views, no influences, in a word, springing from divided personal and general interests, could controvert. This reliance, abiding in a conscious, intuitive, internal strength, proceeding from an inspired judgment of posi- tion, was not locked in his own breast, but extended itself in per- sonal influence to officers, and men, and people, impelling them to look up to him with reverence, as a leader and protector. For there was united with this marvelous comprehension, which gave a centralizing position in respect to all influences, with this calm- ness, coolness, and collected judgment, with this inspired develop- ment of all that was involved in, or could in any form affect, the contest, and the power of execution that accompanied it, such a simplicity of character, such a sensitive appreciation of the lowest as of the highest matter, as identified him with the interest, and secured him the sympathy, even of the humblest. In his military capacity, we can regard Washington as only second to Moses, affording, as he did, unity and efficiency to the operations of unorganized and scattered forces, coping with disci- plined armies, fully provisioned and under the ablest generals, and in a country peculiarly admitting of the force superior in numbers //2 WASHINGTON. 17 and best furnished with material to effect surprises and to coun- tervail, by the accessory aid everywhere afforded, the best con- certed plans. The source of the admiration of Napoleon for the military capacity of Washington, was the viewing his ability to attain success though devoid of every one of those conditions on which that great representative of physical power would venture the hope of triumph, or hazard the disaster of a failure. That Washington was not indebted for his triumph to mere military capacity, in its strategic sense, is rendered evident by his ascendency in council as in war, compelling, by an uncompr'e- hended influence, regard to his opinions, and acquiescence in the decisions of that judgment, which, firm, conscientious, prudent, watchful, took of all things a humanitarian estimate, his sincerity investing all he said with dignity, and his care for the opinions of others, disclosing in the expression of his own, the power of adaptation in a wonderful, almost superhuman, manner. In exe- cution, this same susceptibility and plasticity, united to the inspired development afforded by his judgment, was exhibited in an anticipative, prudent, and watchful management. His foresee- ing character, displayed in his opinions and his power of combi- nation, which, shaped to the desired end, are only, indeed, to be rightly estimated by considering how the elements of strength were wanting in any apparent unity, necessarily divided among the great body of adventurers of the country who flocked to the revolutionary standard. The greatness of the reliance which Washington exercised, and that which he inspired, can not be looked for in any then existing institutions, or in any means of rendering available, to any large extent, the triumphs of science. No preparative discipline, of whatever form ; scarce one skilled artisan at command ; merely a set of men more adventurous than patriotic, with the dissatisfied elements of the Old World, to withstand the practiced soldiery of England, and armed bands of mercenaries. How far the stability which characterized the whole movement from its inception to its consummation, was due to Washington's inspiring influence, is still further enforced by the consideration, that, according to the 18 WASHINGTON. technical tenets of the schools, he was far from being superior to other generals, in the marshaling of large bodies of troops. Wherein, then, lay the provided resource? In his power to estimate positions to an extent which no general ever under- stood at his early age — notwithstanding his want of profes- sional skill and experience, grappling with difficulties, by con- ditions of surrounding circumstances and the right estimation of his own capacity. Washington's judgment, sound and prudent as it was, was united with such an extreme sensibility and foreknowing appreci- ation as would have disqualified him for that wonderful power of command proper to his office as commander-in-chief, had it held to other capacities in his strange and marvelous combination, other than a subordinate and duly proportioned relation. His childlike spirit rendered him approachable to all persons, and sensitive to all influences, though itself aiding nothing in decision, except so far as it led him to conscious knowledge of position, and induced the feeling of moral obligation to put his heart, and soul, and fortunes in so hazardous a cause. The natural amenity of his character, shining about his stern and lofty position, was thus the very test of his greatness ; to a child, or to a slave, speaking in language suited to their capacities, though not with childish comprehension, and to fulfilling the minutiae of conven- tional politeness and propriety, whilst, at the next moment, turn- ing to dictate to experienced generals, and to disclose unsuspected means of carrying out a great enterprise. Such a combination of childlike appreciation with superior wisdom, necessitated his appointment to the command in chief. This superhuman mild- ness, in its severely simple display, as in the furnishing of food to a hostile, but famished army, made him so much feared by his enemies, and loved and venerated by soldiery and people. It be- spoke itself, in an unexcelled grace of manner, the result of an harmonious blending of the powers of his mind — every capacity acting, at all times, together, there being no counteraction and no defection. It was less the intuitive power with which Washington grasped WASHINGTON. 19 and comprehended circumstances than his acute understanding and predominant moral character, enabling him to possess a calmness in action, and in all moments of general excitement, that, as a point of view, gave such stability to the actuating motives of the civilian and the soldier, inducing these to place indi- vidually, as well as collectively, their fortunes in his hands, and to give him credit for scientific predisposal of plans, with a view to concerted action, in what was not unfrequently momentary in- spiration. Washington's judgment we have individualized ; his moral sen- timents were always right, always proper ; by these he knew when to approve, when to disapprove, never seeking the low ground of openly lowering the estimate in which his opponents might be held. He never, for the sake of maintaining a position, said what he did not act, and was always greater in acts than in words ; whilst all he affirmed, though as deductions from positions in which none else could aid him, came to pass. In himself, and by his own marvelous and conserving influence bringing him into connection with that supreme power that prevailed over the for- tunes of our strife, he may have been said to have held his position by possession, and not by authority. "Were was the inherent authority in a position, the successful holding of which was to determine, in the conventional regard of men, the title to the term of a patriot or rebel? One leading quality of Washington, and one involving the whole cast of his endowments, is his activity ; for, with superhuman ability and capacity in the collection and care of forces, he was always ready when necessity demanded it. But whilst the source of inspiration and strength to others, in his individual capacity, Washington relied not on himself for the success of the Revolution any more than on his generals ; his reliance was on truth and integrity ; and with the judgment to know men sufficiently not to be deceived, he was always prepared, in case of deception, to counteract the loss. Any deception that might be practiced on him but elicited more strongly his means of strength ; he never estimating the value of his position by his physical success — success in the mode in which it was to come 20 WASHINGTON. being already realized in his heart. This estimate, giving to num- bers only their due relation in the vast aggregate, and to strategic ability its true value, gave him unwavering confidence even when almost without men, and presence of mind amidst circumstances perpetually changing, and demanding for their direction infinitely more than intellectual discrimination, or any art involved in the arrangement of troops on an open field. It is not, therefore, his generalship that absorbs our admiration in the contemplation of Washington— just as we do not regard as a mere human device the Eevolution. That Eevolution marking an epoch in human history by the principles in which its complex and combined character presently became manifested, Washington, in the action of his individual mind, and the work he wrought, is elevated to almost superhuman grandeur in the near relation in which he thus stands to the secrets of the divine purpose, and that reliant front he wore when all was dark and shadowy, and in the great tempest every human means of reliance fell away. In his comprehension of the elements to be dealt with, and his ability to adjust them, how shall we cease to admire the might of Washington's inspira- tion, fed from the source of all enlightenment, spiritualizing all his thoughts, and enabling the highest issue to be evolved ! For the Eevolution less triumphant, or not ceutred and embodied in his person, would have resulted only in some sectional or lower aim, leading to universal dissatisfaction, and providing no means of permanency. Every individual differed from his fellow in regard to liberty ; and even had the standard been uniform, where, but in the character of Washington, was any apparent instrument of achieving the liberties of his country — Washington wanting alike men and food ; Congress, itself in the helplessness of infancy and in a state of destitution, thus practically committing to the com- mander-in-chief even the functions of a Committee of Ways and Means ? And herein we are called to search for, in Washington, something more than his inspired judgment of position, whereby, under all disadvantages, he maintained ascendency and secured success. Men and events (in the unanticipated extent to which a char- WASHINGTON. 21 acter accepting as a means of strength all their elements, could deal with these in the might of his own consciousness and rec- tious judgment,) submitted to him ; his every act carrying such a secret and inexpressible influence, such proved abnegation of self, such evidence of regard for the interests of all, as shielded him from every charge of ambition, even with those who had entered on the Eevolution with unworthy motives, his sincerity and devo- tion to the cause of the country never being questioned. In itself, this, as a mere consequence, establishes the greatness of the man. In Washington, we discern the development of those qualities which especially characterize the American people, illustrated by that executive spirit from which a world-wide commerce has been generated, and this by virtue of that self-sacrificing disposition which, in its consciousness of true relations, foregoes a present passing gratification for a future and stable good. Therefore his peculiar fitness to summon to the designs of Providence, in united and effective action, a mass of adventurers from all quarters of the earth, all bent on the gratification of their own individual as- pirations and desires. What would have been the value of the declaration of national independence had Washington not realized it ? Of what avail all assistance and co-operation, had he not given individuality to the cause ? The Revolution would have realized but little, had not the American character allowed, in like manner, all the advantages it secured being rendered available to enrichment and progress. Just as Moses, instead of the grati- fication of a sensuous demand, gave to his people a moral law, so Washington, accepting all their wants and necessities, gave them, for their aspirations and their toil directed to countless issues, and on everlasting tablets, the divine law of individual freedom. Though the unity of the Revolution partook of a spiritual char- acter, the religious element was a subordinate one in the Ameri- can Revolution ; and thus, whilst in Washington we behold a man great in his representative character, and under conditions altogether new, and recognize, in his conscious reliance on the decreed issue, the elements of the sublimest faith, we do not look to him for any high manifestation of Christian life. Hie religious 22 WASHINGTON. ideas partook, through his susceptibility to all influences, of those of a day in which the leading statesmen were infidels or atheists. He was, nevertheless in direct communication with the truth as far as necessary for this people, as a nation, to carry out ; and thus, in his Farewell Address, when all for which he had been ordained had been consummated, foreseeing that yet further issues must arise, to which the Revolution was to be consecrated, he holds religion to be the best establishing and only unitary power. With prophetic vision, and with that same centralizing and indi- vidual power of a spirit divinely illumined, to comprehend the nature, and tendency, and due order of every existing element, he warned his countrymen, as his greatest fear, of the ascendency of party over all other sources of strength. Washington's crowning triumph had been in the presentation of a republic to his country, unshackled by any conditions but the requirements of individual development ; the greatest gift yet committed to a mortal to bestow. And now, at the fitting moment, shone forth that spirit of self-abnegation which per- tained to the very order of his mind, and the most triumphant proof that, in his conscious estimate of all men and things, of all positions and relations, as they affected the design he had accomplished, he had likewise judged truly of himself. That Revolution finished, he felt his task was done. He had finished his course, and kept his faith with mankind ; and his intuitive appreciation of this completed destiny and foreordained purpose, made him wish to retire as a private citizen, without the prestige of a statesman. Having found himself an humble instrument in the hands of Providence for the accomplishment of a grand design — the practical recognition even in the humblest of the greatness of our humanity, which, as the commander-in-chief of the armies of the republic, he had upheld, in all the force and grandeur of his character — he now made that self-sacrifice to the common good with that spirit of disinterestedness which only a great heart can possess ; desiring no longer the destiny of a nation in his responsibility, when he could no longer control or benefit its action. WASHINGTON. 23 This prescient knowledge, superior to all emergencies of the past, and rendering him anticipative of all d^gers in the future, so far as these lay in the development of then existing elements — how poorly could it avail amidst lawyers and politicians, his very susceptibility of temperament rendering him only a compromiser amidst the influences attending on the formation of an initiative form of government, and which, existing from motives of expe- diency, or personal and individual aims, would admit of no recti- fying control. Yet Washington does not lack his full-proportioned grandeur ; and were his example now followed, his warning voice accepted, and the influence under which he acted acknowl- edged, in a prevailing submission to the guidance of God's providential men, who wait but the occasion to manifest and carry out, by concentrating the elements of prevailing strength, the highest issue of which these are susceptible, we might have occasion to hail the return of that self-sacrificing, and confiding, and reliant spirit, in the consciousness of some high and eternal design to be evolved, by which Washington, the Father of his country, was animated. A life led in this spirit, subduing to its ordained purpose all conditions, is godlike ; it is such a life, that sentiment — the sentiment of a conventional estimate — utterly destroys it. (/?