The elements of which character is composed have been combined in the various nations of the past in different proportions. And if we continue our remarks in relation to the Greeks and Romans, as partially representative of them all, we cannot fail to see that the passion for the cabinet or the field has been predominant in proportion as either has commanded the most of these elements. But it appears as if it were left for the American to combine into a perfect character all the elements of which it is composed, and to hold that character up an improvement upon the past, and as a guide and pattern for the future. And that this perfect character is not yet fully developed in a national point, is most clearly certain. When it is, the world will look upon what it has not yet seen; a nation combining in right proportions the elements which make man a social and religious being, with those which make him a patriot. Then may the man be regarded as the representative of his nation; and the elements of which the character of his nation is composed, will be found to centre in himself. ELEMENTS OF CHARACTER IN WASHINGTON. And although these elements of character have never rendered an entire nation illustrious, yet may we find them centering in a single individual. I present our own unequalled WASHINGTON as an example of the character in individual isolation. And I would present him as the MODEL from which a nation of his kind might be moulded. And when you imagine a nation of such men as Washington you have the character in its completeness, so far as human character may be called complete. And you have it in the beauty of its practical operation. And a proud day will it be for this world of ours, when a nation of such men as Washington shall exist. And the thing is not impossible. Such may be the case when the model is understood and imitated. In Washington were combined the qualities which exhibit man in the true nobility of his nature,――the noblest workmanship of Heaven. And a nation of such men might arise upon this, our American territory, if the proper means were used to bring about the consummation. And how is this important work to be effected? It may be done by having the model held up in the analysis of its substance, showing the elements of which it is composed; defining thoroughly its relations, and so simplifying them, that they might be readily apprehended and understood when presented to the nation’s mind. If in such analysis, the model of American character were held up before the American youth, it could not fail to be imitated. And to render the work effectual, the holding up of the model should be attended with the communication of such instruction, and in such manner, as might encourage the youth to embrace the character in its simple elements, and to emulate it in the model which the combination of these elements may furnish. This would be to teach character to the subject who was expected to adopt it.