The Columbia Democrat

It is good, in every possible occasion, for us Americans to ponder the character of this man. We have never seen a finer picture of Washington's greatness than the following. It appeared in the London "Courier," then a leading British government paper, on the 24th of January, 1800. It was at that time cut from the paper, and has been preserved in a family scrap book ever since. It has been republished in more recent days, we have not seen it; but we are persuaded our readers will own, even if it has appeared since, it cannot be revived too frequently. We have no idea to whom its authorship is to be ascribed:

"The melancholy account of the death of General Washington was brought by a vessel from Baltimore, which arrived off Dover. General Washington was we believe, in his 68th year. The height of his person was about five feet eleven; his chest full, and his limbs, though rather slender, well shaped and muscular. His head was small, in which respect he resembled the make of a great number of his countrymen. His eyes were of a light grey color; and in proportion to the length of his face, his nose was long. Mr. Stewart, the eminent portrait painter, used to say, there were features in his face totally different from what he had ever observed in that of any other human being: the sockets of the eyes, for instance, were larger than what he ever met with before, and the upper part of his nose broader. All his features, he observed, were indicative of the strongest passions; yet like Socrates, his judgement and great command have always made him appear a man of a different cast in the eyes of the world. He always spoke with great diffidence and sometimes hesitated for a word: but it was always to find one particularly well adapted to his meaning. His language was manly and expressive. At levee. his discourse with strangers turned principally upon the subject of America; and if they had been through any remarkable places, his conversation was free and particularly interesting, or he was intimately acquainted with every part of the country. He was much more open and free in his behaviour at home than in private, and in the company of ladies still more so than when solely with men.

Few persons ever found themselves for the first time in the presence of General Washington without being impressed with a certain degree of veneration and awe: nor did those emotions subside on a closer acquaintance; on the contrary, his person and deportment were such as rather tended to augment them. The hard services he had seen, the important and laborious offices he filled, gave a kind of austerity to his countenance, and a reserve to his manners, yet he was the kindest husband. the most humane master, the steadiest friend. The whole range of history does not present to our view a character upon which we can dwell with such entire and unmixed admiration.

The long life of George Washington is unstained by a single blot. He was indeed a man of such rare endowments., and such fortunate temperament, that every action he performed was equally exempted from the charge of vice or weakness. Whatever he said, or did, or wrote, was stamped with a striking and peculiar propriety. His qualities were so happily blended, and so nicely harmonized, that the result was a great and perfect whole. The power of his mind, and the disposition of his heart were admirably suited to each other. It was the union of the most consummate prudence with the most perfect moderation. His views, though large and liberal, were never extravagant. His virtues, though comprehensive and beneficent, were discriminating, judicious and practical. Yet his character, though regular and uniform, possessed none of the littleness which may sometimes belong to these descriptions of men. It formed a majestic pile, the which was not impaired, but improved by order & symmetry. There was nothing in it to dazzle by wildness, & surprise by eccentricity. It was of a higher species of moral beauty. It contained everything great and no tinsel ornament. It was not the model cried up by fashion and circumstances its excellence was adapted to the true just moral taste, incapable of change from the varying accidents of manners, of opinions and times.
General Washington is not the idol of a day, but the hero of ages! Placed in circumstances of the most trying difficulties at the commencement of the American contest, he accepted that situation which was pre-eminent in danger and responsibility. His perseverance overcame every obstacle; his moderation conciliated every opposition; his genius supplied every resource; his enlarged view could plan, revise, and improve every branch of civil and military operation He had the superior courage which can act or forbear to act, as true policy dictates, careless of the reproaches of ignorance either in power or out of power. He knew how to conquer by waiting in spite of obloquy, for the moment of victory; and he merited true praise by despising undeserved censure. In the most arduous moments of the contest, his prudent firmness proved the salvation of the cause which he supported. His conduct was on all occasions, guided by the most pure disinterestedness--Far superior to low and groveling motives, he seemed even to be uninfluenced by that ambition which has justly been called the instinct of great souls —He acted ever as if his country's welfare and that alone, was the moving spring. His excellent mind needed not even the stimulus of ambition, or the prospect of fame. Glory was a secondary consideration. He performed great actions, he preserved in a course of laborious utility, with an unequanimity that neither sought distinction, nor was flattered by it. His reward was in the consciousness of his own rectitude, and in the success of his patriotic efforts

As his elevation to the chief power was the unbiased choice of his countrymen, his exercise of it was agreeable to the purity of its origin. As he had neither solicited nor usurped dominion, he had neither to contend with the opposition of rivals, nor the revenge of enemies. As his authority was undisputed, so it required no jealous precautions, no vigorous severity. His government was mild and gentle ; it was beneficent and liberal; it was wise and just. His prudent administration consolidated enlarged the dominion of an infant republic.

In voluntary resigning the magistracy which he had filled with such distinguished honor, he enjoyed the unparalleled satisfaction of leaving to the state he had contributed to establish, the fruits of his wisdom and the example of his virtues. It is some consolation; amidst the violence of ambition and the criminal thirst of power, of which so many instances occur around us, to find a character whom it is honorable to admire and virtuous to imitate. Consider, for the freedom of his country a legislator. for its society a magistrate. for its happiness a patriot. His glories were never sullied by those excesses into which the highest qualities are apt to degenerate With the greatest virtues, he was exempt from the corresponding vices. He was a man in whom the elements were so mixed that "Nature might have stood up to all the world" and owned him as her work. His fame, bounded by no country, will be confined to no age. The character of General Washington. which his contemporaries regret and admire, will be transmitted to posterity, and the memory of his virtues are held sacred among men, and will remain undiminished."