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three of which he was defeated, and the last was a draw. He conducted two sieges-Boston and Yorktown-in both of which he was successful; and he destroyed two outposts-Trenton and Princetonin a manner generally regarded as so brilliant and effective that he saved the patriot cause from its first period of depression. His characteristics as a soldier were farseeing judgment and circumspection, a certain long-headedness, as it might be called, and astonishing ability to recover from and ignore a defeat. In his pitched battles, like Long Island and Brandywine, he knew that defeat was probable, and he prepared for it.1

He was compelled to act so much on the defensive, and the British methods were so slow, that his activities in the field were not numerous when we consider that he was in command for seven years. The greater part of his time and energy was employed in building up the cause by mild, balanced, but wonderfully effective arguments; reconciling animosities by tactful precautions; and by the confidence his personality inspired preventing the army from disbanding. A large part of this labor was put forth in writing letters of wonderful beauty and perfection in the literary art, when we consider the end they were to accomplish. Complete editions of his writings of this sort usually fill a dozen or more

'Limiting by his foresight the extent of his loss, guarding by his disposition security of retreat, and repairing with celerity the injury sustained, his relative condition was often ameliorated, although victory adorned the brow of his adversary.-LEE, Memoirs, Vol. I, p. 237.

large volumes; and there have been few if any great generals of the world who have accomplished so much by writing, or who have been such consummate masters of language.

Sufficient care has not always been taken to distinguish between the different periods of his life. He aged rapidly at the close of the Revolution; his reserved manner and a certain "asperity of temper," as Hamilton called it, greatly increased; and some years afterwards, when President, he had become a very silent and stiffly formal man, far different from the young soldier who, in the prime of life, drew his sword beneath the old elm at Cambridge to take command of the patriot army.

The Virginians of his time appear to have had occupations and social intercourse which educated them in a way we are unable to imitate. Washington in his prime was a social and convivial man, fond of cards, fine horses, and fox-hunting. Although not usually credited with book learning, his letters and conduct in the Revolution show that he was quite familiar with the politics of foreign countries and the general information of his time. We have not yet learned to appreciate the full force of his intellect and culture.

WASHINGTON AT TRENTON 1

The Battle Monument, October 19, 1893

BY RICHARD WATSON GILDER

Since ancient Time began

Ever on some great soul God laid an infinite burden

The weight of all this world, the hopes of man. Conflict and pain, and fame immortal are his guerdon!

And this the unfaltering token

Of him, the Deliverer-what though tempests

beat,

Though all else fail, though bravest ranks be broken, He stands unscared, alone, nor ever knows defeat.

Such was that man of men;

And if are praised all virtues, every fame Most noble, highest, purest-then, ah! then, Upleaps in every heart the name none needs to

name.

Ye who defeated, 'whelmed,

Betray the sacred cause, let go the trust; Sleep, weary, while the vessel drifts unhelmed; Here see in triumph rise the hero from the dust!

'By permission of the publishers, Houghton, Mifflin & Co.

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'Gainst fate and failure; ye who proudly cope With evil high enthroned; all ye who scorn Life from Dishonor's hand, here take new he

Here know how Victory borrows

For the brave soul a front as of disaster,

And in the bannered East what glorious morrows For all the blackness of the night speed sur faster.

infinitely sensitive in its delicacy, and almost conclusive in the certainty of its determinations; indirect, and unconscious in its 'operation, yet unshunnable in sagacity, and as strong and confident as nature itself. The highest and finest qualities of human judgment seem to be in commission among the nation, or the race. It is by such a process, that whenever a true hero appears among mankind, the recognition of his character, by the general sense of humanity, is instant and certain: the belief of the chief priests and rulers of mind, follows later, or comes not at all. The perceptions of a public are as subtly-sighted, as its passions are blind. It sees, and feels, and knows the excellence, which it can neither understand, nor explain, nor vindicate. These involuntary opinions of people at large explain themselves, and are vindicated by events, and form at last the constants of human understanding. A character of the first order of greatness, such as seems to pass out of the limits and course of ordinary life, often lies above the ken of intellectual judgment; but its merits and its infirmities never escape the sleepless perspicacity of the common sentiment, which no novelty of form can surprise, and no mixture of qualities can perplex. The mindthe logical faculty-comprehends a subject, when it can trace in it the same elements, or relations, which it is familiar with elsewhere: if it finds but a faint analogy of form or substance, its decision is embarrassed. But this other instinct seems to become subtler, and more rapid, and more absolute in conviction, at the line where reason begins to falter.

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