have seen him in that delightful retreat,
entertaining friends and strangers with the most generous hospitality,
and receiving the homage of the great and the good of all lands.

We have seen him called from that retirement to take the lead in the
formation of a new code of organic laws for the government of the infant
nation in whose nativity he had performed the most conspicuous part; and
then, by the spontaneous voice of the whole people, summoned to the helm
of state under that more perfect form of government which he and his
compatriots had devised. We have seen him as the chief magistrate of
the republic, firm almost beyond precedent in his loyalty to the best
interests of his country, unmoved by the appeals of sympathy, unseduced
by the wiles of politicians, unappalled by the shocks of faction and the
surges of popular commotions. We have seen him leave the cares and
honors of office, even while the nation was imploring him to remain, and
retiring to private life with the blessed assurance of repose and a
serene old age. We have seen him leaving that repose at the call of the
people, and again cheerfully preparing to serve his country, as the
leader of its armies, to repel hostile invasion. And we have seen him go
down into the grave, without any of the infirmities of old age--with
step elastic, eye undimmed, countenance fresh and youthful in
appearance, and intellect unclouded, until the last--leaving to his
countrymen the image of an almost perfect man, in all the beautiful
proportions of mental, moral, and physical vigor, while the world
lamented, and eulogy found him one of its noblest and most suggestive
themes.

It remains for us now to consider his character and his habits of life
in the social relations. Historians, biographers, essayists, and
personal friends, have drawn pictures of that wonderful man (whose
proportions, in comparison of others, grow more colossal every day) with
pencils somewhat partial, perhaps, as is natural, but graphic and
generally truthful. It is not for us, at this remote distance from the
period and theatre of his life, to attempt to delineate him with any
expectation of improving upon these originals. We will be content to
group some of their pictures, in whole and in part, in such a way, that
all knowledge essential to a just appreciation of the _whole_ character
of WASHINGTON may be obtained by the reader who may have followed us in
the long narrative of his public life, re