an when he
seems destitute of everything, nor have his arms ever been so fatal to
his enemies, as at the very instant when they thought they had crushed
him forever. It is his to excite a spirit of heroism and enthusiasm in a
people who are by nature very little susceptible of it; to gain over the
respect and homage of those whose interest it is to refuse it, and to
execute his plans and projects by means unknown even to those who are
his instruments; he is intrepid in dangers, yet never seeks them but
when the good of his country demands it, preferring rather to temporize
and act upon the defensive, because he knows such a mode of conduct best
suits the genius and circumstances of the nation, and all that he and
they have to expect, depends upon time, fortitude, and patience; he is
frugal and sober in regard to himself, but profuse in the public cause;
like Peter the Great, he has by defeats conducted his army to victory;
and like Fabius, but with fewer resources and more difficulty, he has
conquered without fighting, and saved his country.

Such are the ideas that arise in the mind at the sight of this great
man, in examining the events in which he had a share, or in listening to
those whose duty obliges them to be near his person, and consequently
best display his character. In all these extensive States they consider
him in the light of a beneficent god, dispensing peace and happiness
around him. Old men, women, and children press about him when he
accidentally passes along, and think themselves happy, once in their
lives, to have seen him--they follow him through the towns with torches,
and celebrate his arrival by public illuminations. The Americans, that
cool and sedate people, who in the midst of their most trying
difficulties, have attended only to the directions and impulses of plain
method and common sense, are roused, animated, and inflamed at the very
mention of his name: and the first songs that sentiment or gratitude has
dictated, have been to celebrate General Washington.

IV

THE PRESIDENT

WASHINGTON AND THE CONSTITUTION

BY JOHN M. HARLAN

It is the concurring judgment of political thinkers, that no event in
all the history of the Anglo-Saxon race has been more far-reaching in
its consequences than the organization of the present Government of the
United States. And it is in every sense appropriate to connect the name
of Washington with the Constitution which brought that government int