ro of Saratoga and
his much loved compeer of the Carolina? No: our Washington wears not
borrowed glory. To Gates, to Greene, he gave, without reserve, the
applause due to their eminent merit; and long may the chiefs of Saratoga
and of Eutaws receive the grateful respect of a grateful people.

Moving in his own orbit, he imparted heat and light to his most distant
satellites; and, combining the physical and moral force of all within
his sphere, with irresistible weight he took his course, commiserating
folly, disdaining vice, dismaying treason, and invigorating despondency,
until the auspicious hour arrived when, united with the intrepid forces
of a potent magnanimous ally, he brought to submission the since
conqueror of India; thus finishing his long career of military glory
with a lustre corresponding with his great name, and in this, his last
act of war, affixing the seal of fate to our nation's birth.

To the horrid din of war sweet peace succeeded; and our virtuous chief,
mindful only of the public good, in a moment tempting personal
aggrandizement, hushed the discontents of growing sedition, and,
surrendering his power into the hands from which he had received it,
converted his sword into a plough-share, teaching an admiring world that
to be truly great you must be truly good.

Were I to stop here, the picture would be incomplete and the task
imposed unfinished. Great as was our Washington in war, and much as did
that greatness contribute to produce the American republic, it is not in
war alone his pre-eminence stands conspicuous; his various talents,
combining all the capacities of a statesman with those of a soldier,
fitted him alike to guide the councils and the armies of our nation.
Scarcely had he rested from his martial toils, while his invaluable
parental advice was still sounding in our ears, when he who had been our
shield and our sword was called forth to act a less splendid but more
important part.

Possessing a clear and penetrating mind, a strong and sound judgment,
calmness and temper for deliberation, with invincible firmness and
perseverance in resolutions maturely formed, drawing information from
all, acting from himself with incorruptible integrity and unvarying
patriotism, his own superiority and the public confidence alike marked
him as the man designed by Heaven to lead in the great political, as
well as military, events, which have distinguished the area of his life.

The finger of an ove