and won for her universal admiration and praise. As Washington was a model President and a finished gentleman, so Providence had given him a model wife and a Christian woman, whose influence was genial, and whose example was worthy of universal imitation by her countrywomen, and especially by all who should succeed her in the high position she occupied. The following letter, written to a friend after the President had returned from his tour to the North and East, is a fine development of her feelings, taste, and character: NEW YORK, December 26, 1789. MY DEAR MADAM:-Your very friendly letter of the 27th of last month has afforded me much more satisfaction than all the formal compliments and empty ceremonies of mere etiquette could possibly have done. I am not apt to forget the feelings that have been inspired by my former society with good acquaintances, nor to be insensible to their expressions of gratitude to the President of the United States; for you know me well enough to do me the justice to believe that I am only fond of what comes from the heart. Under a conviction that the demonstrations of respect and affection which have been made to the President originate from that source, I cannot deny that I have taken some interest and pleasure in them. The difficulties which presented themselves to view upon entering upon the Presidency seem thus to be, in some measure, surmounted. It is owing to this kindness of our numerous friends, in all quarters, that my new and unwished-for situation is not indeed a burden to me. When I was much younger, I should probably have enjoyed the innocent gayeties of life as much as most of my age. But I had long since placed all the prospects of my future worldly happiness in the still enjoyments of the fireside at Mount Vernon. I little thought, when the war was finished, that any circumstance could possibly have happened which would call the general into public life again. I had anticipated that from that moment we should have been left to grow old, in solitude and tranquillity, together. That was, dear madam, the first and dearest wish of my heart; but in that I have been disappointed. I will not, however, contemplate with too much regret disappointments that are inevitable. Though the general's feelings and my own were perfectly in unison with respect to our predilection for private life, yet I cannot blame him for having acted according to his ideas of duty in obeying the voice of his country. The consciousness of having attempted to do all the good in his power, and the pleasure of finding his fellow-citizens so well satisfied with the disinterestedness of his conduct, will doubtless be some compensation for the great sacrifices which I know he has made. Indeed, in his journey from Mount Vernon to this place, in his late tour through the Eastern States, by every public and by every private information which has come to him, I am persuaded he has experienced nothing to make him repent his having acted from what he conceived to be alone a sense of indispensable duty. On the contrary, all his sensibilities have been awakened in receiving such repeated and unequivocal proofs of sincere regard from all his countrymen. With respect to myself, I sometimes think the arrangement is not quite as it ought to have been,-that I, who had much rather be at home, should occupy a place with which a great many younger women would be prodigiously pleased. As my grandchildren and domestic connections make up a great portion of the felicity which I looked for in this world, I shall hardly be able to find any substitute that would indemnify me for the loss of a part of such endearing society. I do not say this because I am dissatisfied with my present station. No: God forbid! For everybody and every thing conspire to make me as contented as possible in it. Yet I have seen too much of the vanity of human affairs to expect felicity from the splendid scenes of public life. I am still determined to be cheerful and happy in whatever station I may be, for I have also learnt that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our disposition, and not upon our circumstances. We carry the seeds of the one or the other about us, in our minds, whithersoever we go. I have two of my grandchildren with me, who enjoy advantages in point of education, and who, I trust, by the goodness of Providence, will continue to be a great blessing to me. My other two grandchildren are with their mother in Virginia. The President's health is quite restored by his late journey. Mine is much better than it used to be. I am sorry to hear that General Warren has been ill; I hope before this time that he may be entirely recovered. We should rejoice to see you both. To both I wish the best of Heaven's blessings, and am, dear madam, with esteem and regard, your friend and humble servant. M. WASHINGTON. "What chiefly won old and young was a bland cheerfulness,the silent history of the soul's happiness,-and an expressive smile, inspiring every beholder with confidence, like a beam from the Temple of Truth. There was about her in youth a womanly dignity which chastened the most forward admiration into respect." Her public life was in beautiful correspondence with her youthful accomplishments and graceful conduct. In the first republican court of America she formed the social etiquette of the Government on the rules of Christian dignity and propriety, and the example was pure and ennobling in its national influences. Piety gave the crowning finish to her character, and adorned her public and private life with its virtues. Her Christian resignation at the death of her illustrious husband has all the humility and beauty of submission to the Divine will. When the great man breathed his last, she said, ""Tis well: all is now over. I soon shall follow him; I have no more trials to pass through." "That piety," says Mrs. Sigourney, "which had so long been her strength, continued its support, but her heart drooped. Cheerfulness did not forsake her; yet she discharged the habitual round of duties as one who felt that the 'glory had departed."" "In the life of this model woman," says a writer, "we perceive that it was neither the beauty with which she was endowed, nor the high station she attained, that gave enduring lustre to her character, but her Christian fidelity in those duties which devolve upon her sex. These fitted her to irradiate the home, to lighten the cares, to cheer the anxieties, to sublimate the enjoyments, of him who was her exalted and illustrious husband. Christian fidelity marked her whole public life; and her influence, like that of Washington, has been beneficent upon the interests of the nation." "I had," said a female relative who was twenty years an inmate of the family, "the most perfect model of female excellence ever with me as my monitress, who acted the part of a tender and devoted parent, loving me as only a mother can love, and never extenuating or approving in me what she disapproved in others. She never omitted her private devotions or her public duties; and she and her husband were so perfectly united and happy, that they must have been Christians. She had no doubts, no fears, of him. After forty years of devoted affection and uninterrupted happiness, she resigned him, without a murmur, into the arms of his Saviour and his God, with the assured hope of his eternal felicity." Her Christian duties, public and private, she never omitted. During the Presidency of Washington in Philadelphia, Bishop White testifies to her habitual and devout attendance, with her husband, on the public services of the sanctuary, and that she was a constant communicant at the table of the Lord, in his church. Among the resolutions of Congress, in session at Philadelphia, on the death of General Washington, were the following: December 24, 1799. Resolved, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, That a marble monument be erected by the United States, in the Capitol, in the city of Washington, and that the family of General WASHINGTON be requested to permit his body to be deposited under it; and that the monument be so designed as to commemorate the great events of his military and political life. And be it further resolved, That the President of the United States be requested to direct a copy of these resolutions to be transmitted to MRS. WASHINGTON, assuring her of the profound respect Congress will ever bear to her person and character, of their condolence on the late afflictive dispensation of Providence, and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains of General GEORGE WASHINGTON in the manner expressed in the first resolution. The following message was received from the PRESIDENT: GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE, and GENTLEMEN OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: In compliance with the request in one of the resolutions of Congress of the 21st of December last, I transmitted a copy of those resolutions, by my secretary, Mr. Shaw, to Mrs. Washington, assuring her of the profound respect Congress will ever bear to her person and character, of their condolence in the late afflictive dispensation of Providence, and entreating her assent to the interment of the remains of General GEORGE WASHINGTON in the manner expressed in the first resolution. As the sentiment of that virtuous lady, not less beloved by this nation than she is at present greatly afflicted, can never be so well expressed as in her own words, I transmit to Congress her original letter. It would be an attempt of too much delicacy to make any comment upon it; but there can be no doubt that the nation at large, as well as all the branches of the Government, will be highly gratified by any arrangement which may diminish the sacrifice she makes of her individual feelings. JOHN ADAMS. MRS. WASHINGTON'S LETTER. MOUNT VERNON, December 31, 1799. SIR:-While I feel, with keenest anguish, the late dispensation of Divine Providence, I cannot be insensible to the mournful tributes of respect and veneration which are paid to the memory of my dear deceased husband; and, as his best services and most anxious wishes were always devoted to the welfare and happiness of his country, to know that they were truly appreciated and gratefully remembered affords no inconsiderable consolation. Taught, by that great example which I have so long had before me, never to oppose my private wishes to the public will, I must consent to the request made by Congress, which you have had the goodness to transmit to me; and in doing this I need not-I cannot-say what a sacrifice of individual feeling I make to a sense of public duty. With grateful acknowledgments and unfeigned thanks for the personal respect and evidences of condolence expressed by Congress and yourself, I remain, very respectfully, sir, Your most obedient servant, MARTHA WASHINGTON. The following historical scene is thus described by ChiefJustice Marshall :— "At Trenton, Washington was welcomed in a manner as new as it was pleasing. In addition to the usual demonstrations of respect and attachment which were given by the discharge of cannon, by military corps, and by private persons of distinction, the gentler sex prepared, in their own taste, a tribute of applause indicative of the grateful recollection in which they held their deliverance, twelve years before, from a formidable enemy. On the bridge over the creek which passes through the town was erected a triumphal arch, highly ornamented with laurels and flowers, and supported by thirteen pillars, each entwined with wreaths of evergreen. On the front arch was inscribed, in large gilt letters, THE DEFENDERS OF THE MOTHERS WILL BE THE PROTECTORS OF THE DAUGHTERS. "On the centre of the arch, above the inscription, was a dome or cupola of flowers and evergreens, encircling the dates of the two memorable events which were peculiarly interesting to the people of New Jersey. The first was the battle of Trenton, and the second the bold and judicious stand taken by the American troops at the same creek, by which the march of the British army was arrested on the evening preceding the battle of Princeton. At this place Washington was met by a party of matrons leading their daughters dressed in white, who carried baskets of flowers in their hands, and sang, with exquisite sweetness, an ode composed for the occasion. It is as follows: Welcome, mighty chief, once more Virgins fair and matrons grave, Build for thee triumphal bowers; Strew your hero's way with flowers! "The beauty of the scene, and its lovely exhibition of gratitude and patriotism, touched the heart of the great hero, and |