LETTER VII. WASHINGTON,-, 1818. LORD B........ Since my last, I have been to visit Mount Vernon, memorable for having once been the residence of the illustrious Washington, the saviour of his country. It is now in the possession of a near relation, of the same name, who is one of the associate judges of the supreme court, and a very amiable man. It is beautifully situated, on the right bank of the Potomac, which is seen from it as far as the eye can reach, pursuing its meandering course to the Chesapeake. I must confess it was not without feelings of deep and intense interest, that I strolled over ground consecrated by the ashes of one of the greatest and best men the world has produced. The richness and beauty of the landscape, were lost in the gloom of melancholy recollection, and I gazed on the humble sepulchre which contained his mortal remains, with those feelings which I know you would experience in beholding, on the far famed plain of Troy, the tumuli of Hector, Achilles, and Patroclus. There is a singular kind of pleasure in contemplating the ashes of the "mighty dead," who slumber beneath you. It is a pleasure which resembles the sensation produced by the Heavenly tones of the Eolean harp, heard amid the repose and tranquillity of night. The mind is thrown off its poise, and floats along the stream of time, mellowed and chastened by retrospection. The fame of a great man preserves every thing connected with him from oblivion; and, in the language of Bruce," while even the situations of magnificent cities are forgotten, we are familiar with the insignificant village, that sheltered some humble philosopher, or the rill that quenched the thirst of some indigent bard." From an attentive perusal of the American history, and a close examination of the chraracter of Washington, it appears to me that the principal faculty of his mind was judgment, which always led him to avoid the dangers of precipitancy, and the errors which sometimes result from a more vivid and brilliant imagination. The dictates of that judgment, constituted the line of his conduct, which was, of course, marked with the most consummate prudence, This virtue never seems to have deserted him either as a statesman or a warrior, in a public or a private capacity. His prudence and caution were particularly observable in his military career, and, like Pericles, he never willingly came to an engagement when the danger was considerable, and the success very uncertain; nor did he envy the glory, or imitate the conduct of those generals, who are admired and applauded, because their rash enterprises have been attended with success.* He had many difficulties to encounter, but these difficulties he readily surmounted. Patriotism animated, and prudence conducted him to triumph. With a limited education, and little patronage, he paved his way to greatness, and by his virtues, cast a blaze of glory around his character, that time can only increase, and that posterity must contemplate, with enthusiasm and rapture. There is no parallel for such a man in the annals of the world; so singular a combination of virtues, with so few vices; such disinterested patriotism, and such unimpeachable integrity, with so many temptations to swerve, and so many inducements to betray, were never before united. Immovable in the hour of danger, no difficulties could shake, no terrors appal him. He was always the same, in the glare of pros perity, and in the gloom of adversity. Like Fabricius, he could not be moved from the paths of virtue and honor, and like Epaminondas, he made every thing bend to the interest of his country. His country was his idol, and patriotism the predominent feeling of his mind. Personal aggrandisement and individual resentment and interest, were alike sacrificed to this overwhelming passion, which no difficulty could weaken, and no neglect destroy. Washington was reserved, without being haughty; religious, without being bigotted; great in all stations, and sublime in *Plutarch's Pericles all his actions, whether he moved in the sphere of domestic obscurity, or employed his energies in wielding the destinies of his country. Antiquity would have made him a God; posterity will make him more. Every nation can boast of its heroes, its statesman, and its bards, but there are few that have produced their Washingtons. He stands alone in the history of the world, and will be venerated while virtue and patriotism have an influence on human action. You will, no doubt, be astonished to understand that the remains of this great and excellent man still repose in a humble sepulchre, on the estate at which he resided, and from which, like Cincinnatus, he was several times called by his country. The Americans are certainly not ungrateful, but they seem to have an aversion to perpetuate a man's name by "monumental brass," or to express their gratitude by splendid tombs, or ponderous and magnificent mousolea. Your long acquaintance with Westmins ter Abbey, where the high and the low, the great and the obscure, the good man and the villian, are alike honored by their country or their friends, may perhaps draw from you a burst of indignation, at the imaginary apathy and indifference of this great republic, to the memory and past services of its illustrious dead; but I question whether it be not correct policy. To begin would be to have no end, and the erection of a monument to Washington might terminate, as in Russia, with a monument to a dog. Since the inver. sion of writing, and the present extension of knowledge, the "storied urn and animated bust," have become almost useless. History will record with fidelity the illustrious actions of him who has deserved well of his country, and his name will be as perpetual as if Pelion had been piled on Ossa to preserve his memory. It was doubtless, owing to the want of this art that the humble tumuli of the Celts and the massy pyramids * of the Egyptians were formed; they had no other mode of expressing their gratitude or of perpetuating the memory of their dead. After all, my lord, perhaps the best monument is to "read their gratitude in a nations age." Can storied urn, or animated bust, Back to its mansion call the fleeting breath? It is but justice, however, to state that though the American government have refused to erect a monument to the memory of their illustrious hero, his countrymen have not been quite so fastidious; and the citizens of Baltimore, with that enthusiasm and public spirit which have done them so much credit, are now engaged in building a monument that will at once evince their gratitude, their patriotism and Leur mass indistructible a fatigue le tems. De Lille. |