ile_--a war to the knife; how, at a later day, when, on the eve of
the conclusion of the war in Europe, it was resolved to commence
hostilities with England, he sought to postpone the struggle for a
season, convinced that a short delay would render it unnecessary, and
how signally his foresight was justified by the result; thus
recommending, in opposition to the pervading sentiment of the State, a
policy which would have saved thousands of valuable lives, and a hundred
millions of money, expended in our contest with England; how, at a still
later day, when the Senate of the United States, unconsciously and
needlessly, were about to involve us in a war with Spain, his eloquence
rescued the country from the impending danger; yet, when war was
declared against his will, ever ready to unite with his countrymen in
prosecuting hostilities with the greatest vigor; how, alone among all
the departed statesmen of Virginia, he managed, with the industry and
attention of an ordinary citizen, his private affairs, into which he
introduced a system which the planter and the merchant might wisely
imitate, and which enabled him to compete with his most skilful
contemporaries in the success which followed all his exertions; how,
unseduced by a love of gold in an age of speculation, he never committed
a dollar to the caprices of fortune, or lost an investment; how, though
affluent with wealth, won mainly by downright industry, and waxing
greater every hour by the force of that wondrous element in the
accumulation of money, a lengthened lapse of years, he constantly and
steadily turned his back upon the extravagance and social follies of the
day, and exhibited in his household and in his life those stern and
sterling virtues of prudence, economy, and thrift, which were the
characteristics of the early fathers of the republic; displaying before
the eyes of the people a model wherein the loftiest genius, the most
varied and profound learning, the most fervid patriotism ever sinking
self in country, the severe simplicity and frugality which should ever
shine along the track of a true republican statesman, and an escutcheon
undebased by a solitary vice, were united in all their fair and grand
proportions; how, in his happy home, he dispensed, freely and without
price, the marvellous stores of learning and experience which he had
amassed during his long and eventful career, turning his modest study
into a chamber of philosophy, and the well-sprin