, which we have derived from our ancestors. But
the manner of doing it, to answer the purpose effectually, is the point in
question. That no man should scruple, or hesitate a moment, to use a--s in
defence of so valuable a blessing, on which all the good and evil of life
depends, is clearly my opinion." When actual war ensued, he was among the
first to begin to collect and drill a force, even while he wrote, "unhappy
it is, though to reflect, that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a
brother's breast, and that the once happy and peaceful plains of America
are either to be drenched with blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad
alternative! But can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?"

Not till early in 1776 did he become a convert to independence, and
then only by such "flaming arguments as were exhibited at Falmouth and
Norfolk," which had been burned by the British. At one time, in 1776, he
thought "the game will be pretty well up," but "under a full persuasion of
the justice of our cause, I cannot entertain an Idea, that it will finally
sink, tho' it may remain for some time under a cloud," and even in this
time of terrible discouragement he maintained that "nothing short of
independence, it appears to me, can possibly do. A peace on other terms
would, if I may be allowed the expression, be a peace of war."

Pickering, who placed a low estimate on his military ability, said that,
"upon the whole, I have no hesitation in saying that General Washington's
talents were much better adapted to the Presidency of the United States
than to the command of their armies," and this is probably true. The
diplomatist Thornton said of the President, that if his "circumspection is
accompanied by discernment and penetration, as I am informed it is, and as
I should be inclined to believe from the judicious choice he has generally
made of persons to fill public stations, he possesses the two great
requisites of a statesman, the faculty of concealing his own sentiments
and of discovering those of other men."

To follow his course while President is outside of the scope of this work,
but a few facts are worth noting. Allusion has already been made to his
use of the appointing power, but how clearly he held it as a "public
trust" is shown in a letter to his longtime friend Benjamin Harrison, who
asked him for an office. "I will go to the chair," he replied, "under no
pre-engagement of any kind or nature whatsoever. But, when in it, to the