8 June, 1783
A KING OF MEN
Hand in hand with ... rare soundness of judgment there went a completeness of moral self-control which was all the more impressive inasmuch as Washington’s was by no means a tame or commonplace nature, such as ordinary power of will would suffice to guide.
He was a man of intense and fiery passions. His anger when once aroused had in it something so terrible, that strong men were cowed by it like frightened children. This prodigious animal nature was habitually curbed by a will of iron and held in the service of a sweet and tender soul, into which no mean or unworthy thought had ever entered.
Whole-souled devotion to public duty, an incorruptible integrity, which no appeal to ambition or vanity could for a moment solicit—these were attributes of Washington, as well marked as his clearness of mind and his strength of purpose.
And it was in no unworthy temple, that Nature had enshrined this great spirit. His lofty stature—exceeding six feet—his grave and handsome face, his noble bearing, and courtly grace of manner, all proclaimed in Washington a king of men.
John Fiske
WHEN WASHINGTON DIED
Crape enshrouded the Standards of France, and the Flags upon the victorious ships of England fell fluttering to half-mast at the tidings of his death.
Chief Justice Fuller