Washington and the American Republic, Vol. 3.

by Benson John Lossing

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 Washington 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 illustrious 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 Washington.”

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 Washington, executed in crayon, by Sharpless. It is in the form of a monumental inscription. The following is a copy of it:—

WASHINGTON,
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 noblest Names of Antiquity
Lose their Lustre in his Presence.
Born the Benefactor of Mankind,
He was signally Endowed with all the Qualities
Appropriate to his Illustrious 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
Washington
Were again destined to a New Course
Of Glory and Usefulness.
The Civic Wreath
Was spontaneously placed
By the Gratitude 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 Washington
Were now complete.
Having passed 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 Washington,
Adding new Lustre 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 noblest 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.

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CHAPTER XLIV.

WASHINGTON'S HABITS AND PERSONAL APPEARANCE.

Washington, as we have observed in the earlier portion of this work, was passionately 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 Chinkling, 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.”