ersonal courage, and a firmness of
resolution which neither dangers nor difficulties could shake. But
candour will allow him other great and valuable endowments. If his
military course does not abound with splendid achievements, it
exhibits a series of judicious measures adapted to circumstances,
which probably saved his country.

Placed, without having studied the theory, or been taught in the
school of experience the practice of war, at the head of an
undisciplined, ill organized multitude, which was impatient of the
restraints, and unacquainted with the ordinary duties of a camp,
without the aid of officers possessing those lights which the
Commander-in-chief was yet to acquire, it would have been a miracle
indeed had his conduct been absolutely faultless. But, possessing an
energetic and distinguishing mind, on which the lessons of experience
were never lost, his errors, if he committed any, were quickly
repaired; and those measures which the state of things rendered most
adviseable, were seldom, if ever, neglected. Inferior to his adversary
in the numbers, in the equipment, and in the discipline of his troops,
it is evidence of real merit that no great and decisive advantages
were ever obtained over him, and that the opportunity to strike an
important blow never passed away unused. He has been termed the
American Fabius; but those who compare his actions with his means,
will perceive at least as much of Marcellus as of Fabius, in his
character. He could not have been more enterprising, without
endangering the cause he defended, nor have put more to hazard,
without incurring justly the imputation of rashness. Not relying upon
those chances which sometimes give a favourable issue to attempts
apparently desperate, his conduct was regulated by calculations made
upon the capacities of his army, and the real situation of his
country. When called a second time to command the armies of the United
States, a change of circumstances had taken place, and he meditated a
corresponding change of conduct. In modelling the army of 1798, he
sought for men distinguished for their boldness of execution, not less
than for their prudence in counsel, and contemplated a system of
continued attack. "The enemy," said the General in his private
letters, "must never be permitted to gain foothold on our shores."

In his civil administration, as in his military career, ample and
repeated proofs were exhibited of that practical good sense, of