in honor "of the only man," as
Jefferson said, "who had the confidence of all."

Congress received him in a manner to attest their profoundest respect
and love. Resigning his commission, he said:

"Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great
theatre of action, and, bidding an affectionate farewell to this august
body, under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my
commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life."

Our American Cincinnatus retired to his farm and plough, which he left
eight years before at the call of his country. He designed to spend the
remainder of his days in retirement at Mount Vernon. His large estates
demanded his attention, and his tastes for agricultural pursuits adapted
him to the situation.

Under his careful and efficient supervision, his Mount Vernon estate
rapidly improved. He enlarged his house, so that he might accommodate
the numerous distinguished visitors who now paid him their respects. He
studied agriculture by consulting the best authorities, doing it not
alone for the purpose of improving his own estates, but also to aid his
newly emancipated country in developing its resources.

He lent his great influence to educational and religious enterprises, so
essential to the stability and progress of the free and independent
Colonies. Through his influence, two companies were organized to extend
the navigation of the James and Potomac rivers. Grateful for his aid in
creating enterprises of so great public benefit, the General Assembly
presented him with one hundred and fifty shares of the stock, worth
fifty thousand dollars. He declined to accept the large gift, saying:

"What will the world think if they should hear that I have taken fifty
thousand dollars for this affair? Will they not suspect, on my next
proposition, that money is my motive? Thus for the sake of money, which,
indeed, I never coveted from my country, I may lose the power to do her
some service, which may be worth more than all money."

He assured the Assembly that if they would contribute the amount for a
national university in what is now the District of Columbia, and a
literary institution in Rockbridge County, since called Washington
College, he should esteem their gift even more than he would were he to
accept and devote it to his own private use; and they complied with his
wishes.

As before the war, he continued to remember the poor, whose veneration
fo