HENRY ARMITT BROWN.

1878.

AND what shall I say of him who bears on his heart the weight of all? Who can measure the anxieties that afflict his mind? Who weigh the burdens that he has to bear? Who but himself can ever know the responsibilities that rest upon his soul? Behold him in yonder cottage, his lamp burning steadily through half the winter night, his brain never at rest, his hand always busy, his pen ever at work; now counselling with Greene how to clothe and feed the troops, or with Steuben how to reorganize the service; now writing to Howe about exchanges, or to Livingston about the relief of prisoners, or to Clinton about supplies, or to Congress about enlistments or promotions or finances or the French Alliance; opposing foolish and rash counsels to-day, urging prompt and rigorous policies to-morrow; now calming the jealousy of Congress, now soothing the wounded pride of ill-used officers; now answering the complaints of the civil authority, and now those of the starving soldiers, whose sufferings he shares, and by his cheerful courage keeping up the hearts of both; repressing the zeal of friends to-day, and overcoming with steadfast rectitude the intrigues of enemies in Congress and in camp to-morrow; bearing criticism with patience, and calumny with fortitude, and, lest his country should suffer, answering both only with plans for her defence, of which others are to reap the glory; guarding the long coast with

ceaseless vigilance, and watching with sleepless eye a chance to strike the enemy in front a blow; a soldier, subordinating the military to the civil power; a dictator, as mindful of the rights of Tories as of the wrongs of Whigs; a statesman, commanding a revolutionary army; a patriot, forgetful of nothing but himself; this is he whose extraordinary virtues only have kept the army from disbanding, and saved his country's cause. Modest in the midst of Pride; Wise in the midst of Folly; Calm in the midst of Passion; Cheerful in the midst of Gloom; Steadfast among the Wavering; Hopeful among the Despondent; Bold among the Timid; Prudent among the Rash; Generous among the Selfish; True among the Faithless; Greatest among good men, and Best among the Great-such was George Washington at Valley Forge.

HENRY ARMITT BROWN was born at Philadelphia, December 1, 1844, and died there August 21, 1878. He graduated at Yale College in 1865, and after studying law was admitted to the Philadelphia bar December 18, 1869. Mr. Brown delivered several important historical addresses, was a ripe scholar, a forcible writer, and an accomplished orator. Our extract is from his "Oration at Valley Forge, June 19, 1878, the one hundredth anniversary of the departure of the Army of the Revolution from winter quarters at that place." This oration while showing the careful student, and earnest patriot, is remarkable for its graphic descriptions and historical information. It is printed in the Memoirs of the author by J. M. Hoppin, published at Philadelphia in 1880. 8vo. In a previous oration delivered in Carpenters' Hall, Philadelphia, September 5, 1874, in commemoration of the one hundredth anniversary of the meeting of the Congress of 1774, Mr. Brown in alluding to Washington, as a member, said: "This is he who has just made in the Virginia Convention that speech which Lynch of Carolina says is the most eloquent that ever was made: 'I will raise a thousand men, subsist them at my own expense, and march with them, at their head, for the relief of Boston.' These were his words-and his name is Washington."

JOHN RICHARD GREEN.

1880.

WITH the rejection of these efforts for conciliation,* began the great struggle which ended eight years later in the severance of the American Colonies from the British Crown. The Congress of delegates from the Colonial Legislatures at once voted measures for general defence, ordered the levy of an army, and set George Washington at its head. No nobler figure ever stood in the forefront of a nation's life. Washington was grave and courteous in address; his manners were simple and unpretending; his silence and the serene calmness of his temper spoke of a perfect self-mastery. But there was little in his outer bearing to reveal the grandeur of soul which lifts his figure with all the simple majesty of an ancient statue out of the smaller passions, the meaner impulses of the world around him. What recommended him for command was simply his weight among his fellow landowners of Virginia, and the experience of war which he had gained by service in border contests with the French and the Indians, as well as in Braddock's luckless expedition against Fort Duquesne. It was only as the weary fight went on that the colonists discovered, however slowly and imperfectly, the greatness of their leader, his clear judgment, his heroic endurance, his silence under

* Measures advocated by William Pitt, Earl of Chatham, in the House of Lords, and by Edmund Burke in the House of Commons.-ED.

difficulties, his calmness in the hour of danger or defeat, the patience with which he waited, the quickness and hardness with which he struck, the lofty and serene sense of duty that never swerved from its task through resentment or jealousy, that never through war or peace felt the touch of a meaner ambition, that knew no aim save that of guarding the freedom of his fellow countrymen, and no personal longing save that of returning to his own fireside when their freedom was secured. It was almost unconsciously that men learned to cling to Washington with a trust and faith such as few other men have won, and to regard him with a reverence which still hushes us in presence of his memory. But even America hardly recognized his real greatness while he lived. It was only when death set its seal on him that the voice of those whom he had served so long proclaimed him "the man first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his fellow countrymen."

JOHN RICHARD GREEN was born at Oxford, England, in 1837, and died at Menton, France, March 7, 1883. He was educated at Magdalen College School, and when about eighteen, entered for a scholarship at Jesus College. After taking his degree in 1860, he entered the Ministry, and filled several charges. In 1868 he commenced collecting materials for his "History of the English People." The work appeared about 1874 in one volume, but was afterwards recast on a larger scale, and published at intervals from 1877 to 1880, in 4 vols., 8vo, from Chapter ii, Book ix, of which we quote.

WILLIAM E. H. LECKY.

1882.

To the appointment of Washington, far more than to any other single circumstance, is due the ultimate success of the American Revolution, though in purely intellectual powers, Washington was certainly inferior to Franklin, and perhaps to two or three other of his colleagues. There is a theory which once received the countenance of some considerable physiologists, though it is now, I believe, completely discarded, that one of the great lines of division among men. may be traced to the comparative development of the cerebrum and the cerebellum. To the first organ it was supposed belong those special gifts or powers which make men poets, orators, thinkers, artists, conquerors, or wits. To the second belong the superintending, restraining, discerning, and directing faculties which enable men to employ their several talents with sanity and wisdom, which maintain the balance and the proportion of intellect and character, and make sound judgments and well-regulated lives. The theory, however untrue in its physiological aspect, corresponds to a real distinction in human minds and characters, and it was especially in the second order of faculties that Washington excelled. His mind was not quick or remarkably original. His conversation had no brilliancy or wit. He was entirely without the gift of eloquence, and he had very few accomplishments. He knew no language but his own, and except for