Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1858-06-05

etry ne acquired just knowledge enough to bt
- able to practice measuring land but all his in.
= struction at school taught him not so much a,
the photography or rules of grammar ofhis own
$ tongue. His culture was altogether his own
n work. and he was in the strictest sense a self
made man; yet from his early life he never
, seemed uneducated. At sixteen he went into
the wilderness as surveyor, and for three years
/ continued the pursuit, where the forests trained
g him in mcditative solitude, to freedom and
largoncss Of mind and nature revealed to him
her obedience to serene and silent laws. In his
intervals from toll he seemed always to be at
tracted TO the best men, and to be cherished bv
them. Fairfax, his employer, an Oxford schol-
ar, already aged, became his fast friend. He
read little, but with close attention. Whatever
he took in hand he applied himself to with care
and his papers which have been preserved, show
how ne almost imperceptibly gained the power
OF writing correctly-always expressing himself
with cearness and drectness, often with felicity
of language and grace.
When the frontiers on the West became dis
turbed, he at nineteen was commissioned an adj
Jutant general, with the rank of major. At
twenty-one he went as the envoy of Virginia to
the council of Indian chiefs on the Ohio, and to
the French officers near Lake Erie Famewait-
ed upon him from his YOUTH and no one of his
colony was so much spoken of. He conducted
the first military expedition from Virginia that
crossed the Alleghanies. Braddock selected him
as an aid, and he was the only man who came
out OF the disastrous defeat near the Mononga-
hela wlth increased reputation, which extended
70 England. The next year, when he was but
four -and-twenty, the great esteem in which he
was held in Virginia, and his real merit led the
Lieutenant Governor of Maryland to request
that ne might be 'commissionated and appoint
ed second in command of the army designed to
| Ir1nr rb to tl,n
der-in-Chief, heard the proposal with great sat
isfaction and pleasure for he knew no proyin-
cial officer upon the continent to whom he would
SO readily give it as to Washington In 1853
he acted under Forbes brigadier, and but
for him that general would never have been able
to cross the mountains
Courage was so natural to him, that it was
hardly spoken of to his praise; no one ever
at any moment of his life discovered in him the
least shrinking in danger; and he had a hardi-
hood of daring which escaped notice. because it
was so enveloped by superior calmness and wis
dom.
He was as cheerful as he was spirited. frank
and communicative in the society of friends. fond
of the tox-chase and the Dance often sportive
in his letters, and liked hearty laugh This
joyousness of disposition remained to the last,
though the vastness of his responsibilities was
soon to take from him the right of displaying
the impulsiye qualities of his nature and the
weight which he was to bear up was to overlay
and repress his gaiety and openncss.
His hand was liberal giving quietly and with
ont observation, as though he was ashamed of
nothing but being discovered in doing good
He was kindly and compassionate and of lively
sensibility to the sorrows of Others so that if
his country had only needed victim for its re-
lief, he would have willingly offered himself as
a sacrifice. But while he was prodigal of him
self, he was considerate for others ever parsi-
monious Of the blood of his countrymen.
He was prudent in the management of his
private affairs. purchased rich lands from the
Mohawk Valley to the flats of the Kanawha and
improved hls fortune by the correctness of his
other am IMAM the good of his no,,r,x,. -. -
the hour of his country's poverty. he refGseu
personal emolument for his service.
His faculties were well balanced and COM
bined that his constitution, free from excess was
tempered evenly with all the elements of activi-
ty, and his mind resembled well-ordered COM
monwealth; his passions, which had the intens-
est vigor, owned allegiance to reason and, with
all the fiery quickness of his spirit his impetu-
Gus and massive will was held in check by con-
summate judgment He had in his composition
a calm which gave him, in moments of highest
excitement, the power of self-control, and ena-
bled him to excel in patience even when he had
most cause for disgust Washington was offer
ed command when there was little to bring
out the unorganized resources of the continent
but his own influence, and authority was connec-
ted with the people by the most frail, most at
tenuated, scarcely discernible threads; vet, We
hement as was his nature impassoned as was
his courage, he so restrained his ardor that he
never failed continuously to exert the attracting
power of that influence, and never exerted it so
sharply as to break its force.
In SpcreSy he was unslrna sspd hut his
cresy had the character of prudent reserve, not
of cunning or concealment.
His understanding was lucid and his iudg-
ment accurate, so that his conduct never betray-
ed hurry or confusion No detail was too mi
mute for his personal inquiry and continued su-
pervison; and, at the same time, he compre-
hended events in their widest aspects and rela-
tions. He never seemed above the objectwhch
engaged his attention. and he was always equal
without an effort to the solution of the highest
questions, even when there existed no prece-
dents to guide his decision.
In this way, he never drew to himself admi-
ration for the possession of any one quality in
excess, never made in council any one sugges-
ton that was sublime but impracticable, never
in action took to himself the praise or the blame
of undertakings astonishing in conception but
beyond his means ofexecution. ltwas the most
wonderful accomplishment of this man, that,
piaceu upon tne largest tneatre OF events at the
head of the greatest revolution in human affairs,
he never failed to observe all that was possible,
and at the same time to bound his aspirations
by that which was possible.
A slight tnge in his character, perceptbe on
ly to the close observer, revealed the region
from which he sprung, and he might be describ-
ed as the best specimen of manhood as develop
ed in the South; but his qualities were so fault
lessly proportioned, that his whole country rath-
er claimed him as its choicest representative, the
most complete expression of all its attainments
and aspirations. He studied his country and
conformed to it. His countrymen felt that he
was the best type of America, and rejoined in
it, and were proud of it. They lived in his life,
and made his success and his praise their own
Profoundly impressed with confidence in
Gods Providence, and exemplary in his respect
for the forms of public worship, no philosopher
: of the eighteenth century was more firm in the
support of freedom of religious opinion; none
more tolerant or more remote from bigotry but
belief in God, and trust in His overruing pow
er, formed the essence of his character. Divine
wisdom not only lumines the spirit, it inspires