Fidelity to his trusts was one of his most marked characteristics, and in this respect he possessed the spirit of his Lord, “who was faithful to Him that appointed him,” and as Moses was “faithful in all his house,” so our friend possessed this crowning virtue of a noble and useful life. * * It is true that many have excelled him in particular abilities, especially in those that are most striking and brilliant, such as poetic sense and successful oratory, which are most frequently denominated genius. But these have often been combined with defects of judgment, or temper, or principle, so that their influence has been sadly marred or used for mischief. As in our civil war it was not every eloquent orator or able editor who was the best adviser or steadiest supporter of the policy that preserved the Union; but some of them would have let the nation be divided, or compromised the questions at issue, only to be reopened without hope of right settlement. But here was a man for all times and all places. In the halls of legislation, in the Governor’s chair, before a board of selectmen, arranging bounties for volunteers and for the support of their families, or among his own workmen, advising them as to what they might or might not properly do in such a crisis—he is the same wise counsellor and faithful helper everywhere, doing the work assigned to him as well as, if not better than, most poets or orators. And when war was over, and such work no longer needed, when peace was to be restored and amicable relations cultivated between those who had been deadly foes; when business prosperity was to be brought about again and banks were to be well managed, and trust funds made secure, and the increasing wealth and enterprise of the country to be turned into benevolent and Christian channels, here he found his fields of delight, and his abilities and character shone out in new beauty and strength. Here was Governor Washburn’s real genius—the completeness and best use of all his abilities, combined with principles that directed them all to the noblest ends. This seems to be the divine method of training men for their best work. They are placed in stations of responsibility, which they are not properly qualified to fill; but if they are conscientious and faithful, and especially where they put themselves under divine guidance and are controlled by religious motives—the most powerful of all—they become qualified for almost any station in life, and for the highest and most responsible duties.