WASHINGTON, "first in war, first in peace and in the hearts of his countrymen," was the God-given vidette of American freedom; and from the time he took command of the Continental Army at Boston on the 3d of July, 1775, until he laid down his commission, after nine years of trial and blood, with Cornwallis and King George defeated forever, he was the same great and good man and President, without a stain on his sword or character. Standing by his bedside at Mount Vernon, on the 31st of December, 1799, I watched his great soul as it took flight for heaven, and heard his last words on earth, "'Tis well!" _Like some grand mountain shining from afar, Or like the radiance of the morning star, Spreading its silver light throughout the gloom, That gilds the glory of his classic tomb; Mount Vernon keeps his loved and sacred dust-- An urn of grief that holds a nation's trust, Where pilgrims bend along the waning years, To gaze upon his grave through pearly tears. His monument in coming years shall stand A Mecca for the brave of every land, And while Potomac waters flash and flow, The fame of Washington shall gain and grow, Adown the ages through the aisles of time-- A patriot forever in his prime! Age after age will sweep its course away The work of man will crumble and decay; Yet, on the tide of time from sun to sun, Shall shine the glory of our Washington; And all the stars that in their orbit roll, Around the world from pole to pole, Shall keep his name and fame as true and bright, As yonder sparkling jewels of the night!_ The greatest pioneer of Colonial patriotism and independence, the Demosthenes of the American Continent, was the eloquent orator, PATRICK HENRY, whose meteors of thought dazzled the nations and made tyrants tremble on their thrones. How well I remember that March morning in 1775, as he rose in the legislative halls of Virginia, and uttered that impassioned oration against tyranny and the minions of King George. Even now those eloquent phrases sound in mine ears, and waft me back to the scenes and men that made the Republic: "I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided, and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past, and judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the brutal British ministry for the past ten years to justify the hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the house. "Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded, and we have been spurned with contempt from the foot of the throne.