st the conviction that the struggle produced by the
occasion was unaffected, and that, in accepting the presidency of the
United States, no private passion was gratified; but a decided
preference for private life yielded to a sense of duty, and a deep
conviction of his obligations to his country.

As this is an important aera in the life of Washington, and the motives
by which he was actuated will assist in developing his real character,
the American reader, at least, will be gratified at seeing copious
extracts from his correspondence on this interesting occasion.

In a letter detailing those arrangements which were making for the
introduction of the new government, Colonel Lee proceeded thus to
speak of the presidency of the United States. "The solemnity of the
moment, and its application to yourself, have fixed my mind in
contemplations of a public and a personal nature, and I feel an
involuntary impulse which I can not resist, to communicate without
reserve to you some of the reflections which the hour has produced.
Solicitous for our common happiness as a people, and convinced as I
continue to be that our peace and prosperity depend on the proper
improvement of the present period, my anxiety is extreme that the new
government may have an auspicious beginning. To effect this, and to
perpetuate a nation formed under your auspices, it is certain that
again you will be called forth.

"The same principles of devotion to the good of mankind, which have
invariably governed your conduct, will no doubt continue to rule your
mind, however opposite their consequences may be to your repose and
happiness. It may be wrong, but I can not suppress, in my wishes for
national felicity, a due regard for your personal fame and content.

"If the same success should attend your efforts on this important
occasion which has distinguished you hitherto, then, to be sure, you
will have spent a life which Providence rarely if ever before gave to
the lot of one man. It is my anxious hope, it is my belief, that this
will be the case; but all things are uncertain, and perhaps nothing
more so than political events." He then proceeded to state his
apprehensions, that the government might sink under the active
hostility of its foes, and in particular, the fears which he
entertained from the circular letter of New York, around which the
minorities in the several states might be expected to rally.

To counteract its baneful influence with the le