The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1857-07-02
From Elliot's Netc England.
yAcrTTNcToN Ar AMpRInpE


| WASHINGTON AT CAMBRIDGE
General Washington set out from Phila-
dclphia with Gen. Lee and few attenants
take command of an undisciplined army,
and to sec "that the liberties Of America.
receive no detrimcnt." Expectation waited
for him along his way, and hope followed
with longing eyes. The Assembly of New
York congratulated him; Governor Trun,-
bull, of Connecticut, gave warm welcome
and encouragement; delegation from the
Massachusetts Provisional Congress met
him at Springfield, and the Congress was
cordial in its address.
lie arrived at Cambridge, and took COM
mand of the army on the I'd of July.
Washington was then forty three years
old. Born and raised in Virginia, where
he had Leen a surveyor and land agent,
and accustomed to frontier life, he was
not new to arms, for he had led various ex-
petitions against the Indians, and had saved
the remains of Braddocks command.
lie was master of an ample fortune
Gnherted from q relative) and large es-
tate on the banks of the Potomac, at Mount
Vernon was well married. but childless.
No man in America was externally better
able to fill the difficult and dangerous posi-
ton to which he had been elected.
How was he fitted for it by nature and
educationa
His body was vigorous, accustomed to
hardship, and his person was commanding,
and he was trained to act with men and
soldiers. With no briliancy of mind, with
trained impulses, instincts small, and SYM
pathies latent, rs the master &C an estate in
Virginia he woui,i nave excited no enthusi-
,.siIi when living, and would have died uni
versally respected. lie was not the man
to seize the mon,eiit and by an inspiration,
with single blow, accomplish the work Of
years. But, in the midst of doubtful and
discordant elements, surrounded by strong,
impetuous, or willful, or disponding men,
beset by conflicting opinions, his calm,
sound mind led him to conclusions which,
if slow, were sure. lie was not man of
inspirations, but of judgments As en-
executive man, through difficult and try
ing crisis, lie had no superior, and perhaps
no equal, in America.
But his moral poaoer was singularly great,
and deserves monument such as these
United States ought to become. He was
free from selfseeking, from vanity, aud
jealousy, and inspired all who came within
his influence with respect for his lofty
character.
This. sound judgment and calm moral
confidence, united with his steady execu-
tive talent, made himthe man for the hour
He went forward with his purpose, and no
danger or difficulty could discourage conf.
dence.
, When his work was done lie was ready
, to return to the people the sword they bad
, put into his hands, and to become one will,
. them in carrying forward to grand future
the principles Of liberty and of self. govern.
3 ment. He practiced what others have
, preached, and proved that victorious com.
mander need not always be usurper and
] tyrant, and that general and statesman
can be just as we'll as great.
! Sabine estimates that as MANY as
: twenty thousand Tories took up arms
against the Rebels during the war; and
among their leaders were the able General
: Timothy Ruggles, of Massachusetts, Will
Q liam Stark, of New Hampshire, Sir Johr
johnson, Beverly Robinson, and Oliver DE-
Lancy, of New York.
After the war some Of the Legislature,
continued their hostility to the banisIet
Tories, and refused them their rights OF
property many were then forced to settle
and cultivate New Brunswick and Novo
Scotia; and by them Upper Canada wa.
peopled.
A general amnesty would have been moi
!, ,, only graceful, but polite.
A board Of commissioners was appointed
BY Parliament, in 1888, to inquire into tbe
circumstances, etc., of the Loyalists or To
ries. 1t sat till 1870; but before 1884
two thousand and sixty-three claimants ap
peared and their claims amounted to owe,
97,ooo,ooo sterling.
The commission~bad awarded 92o1, ,75C
for G534, ,705 exclaimed.
: In the end some s4O,oo0,00o were
!. claimed, and some fifteen and half mil
lions Of dollars were paid by England to
the Loyalists of America. Pecuniarily
therefore, they Jared better than the Wbigs
whose losses and sacrifices were as great
but who got money payment for them:
. Difficulty excites the mind tssshs digui,
ty which sustains and finally conqueH aisk,
Q fortune, and the ordeal reihss when it chas.