But his youthful ardor, which was at the same time serious and calm, had the authority which belongs to a riper age. From the first moment in which he embraced the military profession, he took pleasure, far more than in the excitement of battle, in that noble exercise of the understanding and the will, armed with power in order to accomplish a worthy purpose, that powerful combination of human action and good fortune, which kindles and inspires the most elevated as well as the most simple minds. {56} Born in the first rank of colonial society, trained in the public schools in the midst of his countrymen, he took his place naturally at their head; for he was at once their superior and their equal; formed to the same habits, skilled in the same exercises; a stranger, like them, to all elegant learning, without any pretensions to scientific knowledge, claiming nothing for himself, and exerting only in the public service that ascendency, which always attends a judicious and penetrating understanding, and a calm and energetic character, in a disinterested position. In 1754, he was just appearing in society, and entering upon his military career. It is a young officer of two-and-twenty, who commands battalions of militia, and corresponds with the representative of the king of England. In neither of these relations does he feel any embarrassment. He loves his associates; he respects the king and the governor; but neither affection nor respect alters the independence of his judgment or of his conduct. {57} By an admirable, instinctive power of action and command, he sees and apprehends, by what means and upon what terms success is to be obtained in the enterprise he has undertaken on behalf of his king and his country. And these terms he imposes, these means he insists upon; from the soldiers he exacts all that can be accomplished by discipline, promptness, and activity in the service; from the governor, that he shall discharge his duty in respect to the pay of the soldiers, the furnishing of supplies, and the choice of officers. In every case, whether his words or opinions are sent up to the superior to whom he is rendering his account, or pass down to the subordinates under his command, they are equally precise, practical, and decided, equally marked by that authority which truth and necessity bestow upon the man who appears in their name. From this moment, Washington is the leading American of his time, the faithful and conspicuous representative of his country, the man who will best understand and best serve her, whether he be called upon to fight or negotiate for her, to defend or to govern her. {58}