Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1839-05-30
NUMBER Ii.

of purpose, the entire subjugatlon Of oil
the passions which carry havoc through
ordinary minds, and often,imes lay waste
the faircst prospects Of greatness,--nay.
the discipline oil those feelings which are
wont 10 lull or seduce genius, and to mar
and to cloud over the aspect Of virtue
herself,--joined with, or rather leading
to the most absolute seIE.dcnial, the most
habltual and exclusive devotion to princi-
pie, --iflhese things can constitute d great
character, without, either qu~ickness D fsp-
prehension, or resources Of information,
or inventive powers, or any brilliant quali-
~ that might dazzle the v~ulgar,--thsn
surely Washington was the greatcsLsuan
that ever lived in this world uninspired by
Divine wisdom, and unsustained BY SUPER
natural virtue. Nor could tho human
fancy create a combination Of qualities,
even to the very wants and defects OF this
subject, more perfectly fitted FOR the scenes
in which il was his lot to bear the chief
part whether we regard the war which
he conducted, the political constitution
over which he afterwards presided, or
the tempesiuous times through which no
had finally to guide the bark himself had
launched. Ayerse as his puro mind and
temperate disposition naturally was from
the atrocities Of the French Revolution,
he vet never leant against the cause Of
liberty, but clung TO it even when defor-
med by the excuses ofits savage vo;aries.
Towards France, while he r~cprobated
her aggressions upon other States, and
bravely resisted her pretensions to contiol
his own, he yet never ceased to feel the
gratitude which her aid TO the American
cause had planted eternally in every Amer
lean bosom and for the freedom of a ma
ton which had followed the noble exam
pie OF his c%ountrymen in breaking the
chains Off thousand years, he united with
those countrymen in cherishing a natural
sympathy and regard. To England,
whom no had only known as q tyrant, he
never, even in the worst times Of + fench
turbulence at home, aud injury to foreign
States, could unbend from the attitude Of
dis.rust and defiance into which the cons
due, Of her sovereign and his Parliament,
not unsupported by her people, had forced
him, and in which the war had left him.
Nor was thsre ever among all the COM
placent self.delusions with which the fond
c~onceits oil national vanity are apt to n.
~toxicate us, One more utterly lantastical
than the notion wherewith the politicians
Of the Pitt school wero wont 10 fatter
themselves, and beguile their followers,
that simply because the Great Ameri-
can would not yield either TO the brava-
does Of the republican envoy, or to the
ierce democracy Of JED, rson, lie there.
fore had become weary Of republics, and
q friend TO monarchy and 10 England.
In truth, his devotion to liberty, and his
intimate persuasion that IL can only be
enjoyed under the republican form, con
stautly gained strength to the end Of his
truly glorious life and his steady re.or
luton TO hold the balance even between
conlending extremes at home, AZ well as
10 repel any advance from abroad inconi.
patible with perfect Independence, vas
not more dictated by The nat0ral justice OF
his disposition, and the habitual sobfieiy
Of his views, than it sprang from a pro.
found conviction, that q commonwealth is
most effectually served by the corman
ding prudence which checks all excuses,
and guarantees il against the peril that
chiefly btsels popular government.
THE paorEssnR AID u SruprNr.
"A professor Of Latin in the University
Of Edinburgh, now no more, having desi-