ence, George Washington was unanimously appointed commander-in-chief of the armies of America. As it was effected without rivalship or opposition, it did not awaken either envy or jealousy. It was the result of an intuitive perception and universal acknowledgment, that he was, if not the only, certainly the most suitable personage for the -momentous trust. It was a great act of national homage, spontaneously paid to preeminent endowments.

5. The qualities, which, as a warrior, Washington manifested most strongly during the Revolutionary conflict, were a perception intuitively clear; a coolness at no time disturbed; a firmness that nothing could shake; and a practical judgment that rarely erred. When the case was doubtful, he skillfully took advantage of every favorable circumstance that presented itself, and was fertile in his resources for the creation of circumstances, when they did not occur. It was .by this multifarious exercise of his genius, that he preserved his army from the sword of an enemy, overwhelming in force, and achieved the freedom and independence of his country.

LESSON XLVII.

LA FAYETTE.*

1. There is probably no man living, whose history partakes so largely of the spirit of romance and chivalry, as that of the individual, who is now, emphatically, the guest of the people. At the age of nineteen years, he left his country, and espoused the cause of the American colonies. His motive for this conduct must have been one of the no

La Fayette, see note, p. 58.

blest that ever actuated the heart of man. He was in possession of large estates; allied to the highest orders of French nobility; surrounded by friends and relatives; with prospects of future distinction and favor, as fair as ever opened to the ardent view of aspiring and ambitious youth.

2. He was just married to a lady of great worth and respectability, and it would seem, that nothing was wanting to a life of affluence and ease. Yet, La Fayette left his friends his wealth, his country, his prospects of distinction, his wife, and all the sources of domestic bliss, to assist a foreign nation in its struggle for freedom; and at a time, too, when the prospects of that country's success were dark, disheartening, and almost hopeless.

3. He fought for that country; he fed and clothed her armies; he imparted of his wealth to her poor. He saw her purposes accomplished, and her government established on principles of liberty. He refused all compensation for his services. He returned to his native land, and engaged in contests for liberty there. He was imprisoned by a foreign government, suffered every indignity and every cruelty that could be inflicted, and lived after his release, almost an exile, on the spot where he was born.

4. More than forty years after he first embarked in the cause of American liberty, he returns to see, once more, his few surviving companions in arms, and is met by the grateful salutations of the whole nation. It is not possible to reflect on these facts, without feeling our admiration excited to a degree that almost borders on reverence. Sober history, it is hoped, will do justice to the name of La Fayette. It is not in the power of fiction, to embellish his character or his life.

5. Illustrious patriot! undaunted champion of the rights of man! known to us by a still dearer title,―friend and companion of Washington!-receive the congratulations of the people you assisted to save. Our fathers, who fought and

-

conquered by your side, who mingled their sacred blood with yours, in the dreadful conflict, our fathers - where are they? But few of them, alas! remain to witness the honors which their children pay to their benefactor. Most of them have gone to receive, in other worlds, the reward of faithful servants. Where are Gates, and Putnam, and Lee, and Greene? Ye lion-hearted heroes, ye should have lived, to meet, once more, your brave associate, to have welcomed him to this redeemed and happy country.

6. And where is he, the bravest among the brave, he, whose pure name,

a stain, eternal, brings

On vulgar chieftains, raised, by crimes, to kings,—

Pillar of state, and bulwark of the field,

A host, his presence, and his arm, a shield?

He, too, sleeps in death. The prayers of ransomed millions could not save even him from the decree of mortality. The silent shades of Vernon, those holy heights to which he loved to retreat to view the world he had improved and blessed, are the sacred depository of his relics.

7. Although no marble column, piercing the clouds with its spiry crest, points out to the traveler the spot where the hero sleeps; although no sculptured monument preserves the name, no inscription records the achievements of "the sole heir of unrebuked applause;" yet, is the spot dearer to the souls of the free, more familiar to the steps of the grateful, than all that Egypt, or Carthage, or Greece, or Rome can boast. The path is trodden by hermit feet; the humble slab sparkles with the pearl, distilled from affection's eye; the record of his virtue is indelibly impressed on the hearts of his countrymen; while patriotism lingers around the hallowed place, and guards the sleeping tenant.

8. Friend and companion of Washington! approach and

Gates, Putnam, Lee, and Greene, distinguished officers in the war of the Revolution.

view the sepulcher of the man you loved. No massive gates shall bar your entrance; you will pass no dark, and gloomy, and low-browed arches of stone, pregnant with unwholesome dew and a deadly atmosphere, and crowded with disgusting relics of mortality. Like him, who ascended Pisgah's top, to view the land of promise, your friend, our hero, hath his sepulcher alone in the sacred mountain; its roof is the azure vault serene, lighted by the never-dying fires of heaven, that glitter in eternal beauty upon his ashes; while viewless choristers are forever murmuring his dirge, in the deeptoned melodies of nature.

LESSON XLVIII.
LVIII.

AN EXTRACT FROM CATO'S SENATE. ADDISON.

[Characters.—MARCUS, CATO,* DECIUS, SEMPRONIUS, and LUCIUS See Personation, p. 202].

[Enter Marcus.]

Marc. Fathers, this moment, as I watched the gate,
Lodged on my post, a herald is arrived

From Cæsar's camp; and with him, comes old Decius,
The Roman knight. He carries in his looks

Impatience, and demands to speak with Cato.

Cato. By your permission, fathers, — bid him enter.

[Exit Marcus.]

Decius was once my friend; but other prospects
Have loosed those ties, and bound him fast to Cæsar.
His message may determine our resolves.

[Enter Decius.]

Dec. Cæsar sends health to Cato.

Cato.

Could he send it

Ca'to and Ca'sar. See notes, p. 87.

To Cato's slaughtered friends, it would be welcome.
Are not your orders to address the senate?

Cæsar sees

Dec. My business is with Cato.
The straits to which you 're driven; and, as he knows
Cato's high worth, is anxious for your life.

Cato. My life is grafted on the fate of Rome.
Would he save Cato, bid him spare his country.
Tell your dictator this; and tell him, too, Cato
Disdains a life, which he has power to offer.

Dec. Rome and her senators submit to Cæsar;
Her generals and her consuls are no more,

Who checked his conquests, and denied his triumphs.
Why will not Cato be this Cæsar's friend?

Cato. Those very reasons thou hast urged, forbid it.
Dec. Cato, I have orders to expostulate

And reason with you, as from friend to friend;
Think on the storm that gathers o'er your head,
And threatens every hour to burst upon it;
Still may you stand high in your country's honors:
Do but comply, and make your peace with Cæsar,
Rome will rejoice, and cast its eyes on Cato,

As on the second of mankind.

Cato.

No more?

I must not think of life on such conditions.

Dec. Cæsar is well acquainted with your virtues,
And therefore sets this value on your life.

Let him but know the price of Cato's friendship,
And name your terms.

Cato.

Bid him disband his legions,

Restore the commonwealth to liberty,

Submit his actions to the public censure,

And stand the judgment of a Roman senate.

Let him do this, and Cato is his friend.

Dec. Cato, the world talks loudly of your wisdom

Cato. Nay, more;

ployed