the neighbouring gentry, had his chariot-and-four with rich liveries for Mrs. Washington and her visitors, and kept his barge on the Potomac, rowed by negroes in check shirts and velvet caps. Regular and systematic in all his transactions, he expected the same punctuality from others, and whilst he treated his guests of every degree with a natural and cordial politeness, which put them perfectly at ease, there was that about him which forbade intrusion, and checked all undue familiarity. It may astonish some of our Reformers to learn, that he was a strict preserver of game; and once, when a sturdy poacher had been making sad havoc on the banks of the river, Washington pursued him into the water, dragged him and his canoe to the shore, wrested from him the gun with which he was armed, and inflicted such personal chastisement, as deterred him from again trespassing in those quarters. It is also amusing to find that Washington was at this time fond of dancing, and, although grave and ceremonious as Sir Charles Grandison, a popular partner with the fair sex. And whilst he thus cultivated the social pleasures at Mount Vernon, he performed the duties of a magistrate with much zeal and judgment, attended the House of Burgesses of which he had been elected

a member, and managed the affairs of his estate with business-like accuracy and despatch. And when to all this it is added, that he had been bred up as a loyal subject of the Crown, and a devout member of the Church of England, and that he was at all times remarkable for the moderation and sobriety of his views, it is obvious that such a man must have felt many painful misgivings, before he consented to embark on the stormy sea of revolution.

The truth is, that Washington, along with many other wise and good men, most earnestly desired to prevent the disputes with England from coming to extremity. It must be remembered that no less than fourteen years elapsed, between the first resistance of Boston to the sugar-duties, and the first meeting of Congress at Philadelphia. During that long period of suspense, innumerable efforts were made to effect a reconciliation with the mothercountry, and no one was more anxious than Washington for the success of these endeavours. It was only slowly and gradually that he became convinced of the hopelessness of any satisfactory arrangement, and even then he hesitated, before counselling an appeal to arms. But when once blood had been shed, and he saw his native land.

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fairly committed to the contest, he resolved, with whatever reluctance and sorrow of heart, to take his full share in the dangers and responsibilities of the crisis. No thought of the peaceful years he had spent on the banks of the Potomac-of the wife, and friends, and much-loved home, and genial pursuits and prosperous fortune, which must now all be risked on the hazard of a die-could hold him back for a moment from what he considered the call of honour and duty. "Unhappy it is to reflect," he writes, "that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a brother's breast, and that the once happy and peaceful plains of America are to be either drenched with blood, or inhabited by slaves. Sad alternative! But can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?"

It was in this mood that he joined the Congress of 1775. When the time came to appoint a commander-in-chief, many eyes were turned upon him, as the person whose high character and military experience entitled him to the first claim. Difficulties arose, however, from the jealousy which even then had arisen amongst the colonies, and from the unwillingness of New England to confide the army to a Virginian. It would seem that John Adams, of

Massachusetts, had the merit of deciding the Congress on this memorable occasion; and if so, it was the most important of all the services he rendered to his country. The dissentient members were persuaded to withdraw their opposition, and Washington was unanimously elected to the command. He accepted it on the sole condition, that he was not to receive any pay or emolument. "I beg leave to assure the Congress," he said, "that, as no pecuniary consideration could have tempted me to accept this arduous employment at the expense of my domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any profit of it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. Those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I desire."

Washington was now forty-three years of age, tall and handsome, majestic in deportment, and full of manly vigour. When he appeared on horseback, every one was struck with his martial air and carriage. The long interval of repose at Mount Vernon had in no way diminished his aptitude for military affairs, and he set about his arrangements with a promptness and decision, which astonished the few veterans with whom he was brought in contact. Amongst these was General Charles Lee,

an English soldier of fortune, who had spent his life in camps, and engaged in a variety of adventures. Having served his own country in both hemispheres, and being discontented with his promotion, he had visited first the court of Frederick the Great, and then that of Stanislaus Augustus, obtained employment in the Polish army, held a command of Cossacks in the war between Russia and Turkey, and otherwise distinguished himself in different parts of Europe. Restless and dissatisfied, he now offered his sword to the Americans, and was appointed to the rank of major-general. His colleagues were Artemas Ward a native of Massachusetts, who had served under Abercrombie in the French war; Philip Schuyler, a member of one of the oldest Dutch families of New York, who had gained his experience in the same school; and Israel Putnam, of Connecticut, who was well versed in all the devices of Indian strategy. At Washington's request, the post of adjutant-general was bestowed on Horatio Gates, an English ex-major settled in Virginia, with whom he had formed an acquaintance in Braddock's fatal campaign, and who, like Lee, provoked by what he considered the neglect of his merits, was prepared to turn his arms against the land of his birth.