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Now was the time, if ever, for him to have pushed for another place, there to make a stand. A rapid retreat by the Princeton road was apparently in his thoughts, but he lacked decision. The idea of flying before the rebels was intolerable. Some one, too, exclaimed at the ruinous loss of leaving all their baggage to be plundered by the enemy. Changing his mind, he made a rash resolve. "All who are my grenadiers, forward!" cried he, and went back like a storm upon the town. diers bravely but rashly on, when, in the midst of his career, he He led his grenareceived a fatal wound from a musket ball, and fell from his horse. His men, left without their chief, were struck with dismay, and retreated by the right-up the banks of the Assunpink, intending to escape to Princeton. Washington saw their design, and threw Colonel Hand's corps of Pennsylvania riflemen in their way; while a body of Virginia troops gained their left. Thus brought to a stand, and perfectly bewildered, the men grounded their arms and surrendered at discretion.

The number of prisoners taken in this affair was nearly one thousand, of whom thirty-two were officers. Washington's triumph, however, was impaired by the failure of the two simultaneous attacks. General Ewing, who was to have crossed before day at Trenton Ferry, and taken possession of the bridge leading out of the town, over which the light horse and Hessians retreated, was prevented by the quantity of ice in the river. Cadwalader was hindered by the same obstacle. He got part of his troops over, but found it impossible to embark his cannon, and was obliged, therefore, to return to the Pennsylvania side of the river. Had he and Ewing crossed, Donop's quarters would have been beaten up, and the fugitives from Trenton intercepted. By the failure of this part of his plan, Washington had been

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exposed to imminent hazard. The force with which he had
crossed, twenty-four hundred men, raw troops, was not enough
to cope with the veteran garrison, had it been properly on its
guard; and then there were the troops under Donop at hand to
coöperate with it. Nothing saved him but the utter panic of
the enemy, and their exaggerated idea of his forces; for one of
their journals states that Washington had with him fifteen
thousand men, and another, six thousand. Even now that the
place was in his possession he dared not linger in it. There was
a superior force under Donop below him, and a strong battalion
of infantry at Princeton. His own troops were exhausted by
the operations of the night and morning, and they had to guard
about a thousand prisoners. Washington, therefore, determined
to recross the Delaware with his prisoners and captured artillery.
WASHINGTON IRVING (Adapted).

WASHINGTON'S CHARACTER

GENERAL WASHINGTON's personal appearance was in harmony with his character; it was a model of manly strength and beauty. He was about six feet two inches in height, and his person wellproportioned, in the earlier part of life rather spare, and never too stout for active and graceful movement. The complexion inclined to the florid; the eyes were blue and remarkably far apart; a profusion of brown hair was drawn back from the forehead, highly powdered according to the fashion of the day, and gathered in a bag behind. He was scrupulously neat in his dress, and while in camp, though he habitually left his tent at sunrise, he was usually dressed for the day. His strength of arm, and his skill and grace as a horseman, have been already

mentioned. His power of endurance was great, and there were occasions, as at the retreat from Long Island and the battle of Princeton, when he was scarcely out of his saddle for two days. Punctilious in his observance of the courtesies of society as practiced in his day, he was accustomed, down to the period of his inauguration as President, at the balls given in his honor, to take part in a minuet or country-dance. His diary uniformly records, sometimes with amusing exactness, the precise number of ladies present at the assemblies at which he was received on his tours through the Union. His general manner in large societies, though eminently courteous, was marked by a certain military reserve. In smaller companies he was easy and affable, but not talkative. He was frequently cheered into gayety, at his fireside, by the contagious merriment of the young and happy, but often relapsed into a thoughtful mood, moving his lips, but uttering no audible sound.

No one has ever denied to Washington the possession of the highest degree of physical and moral courage; no one has ever accused him of missing an opportunity to strike a bold blow; no one has pointed out a want of vigor in the moment of action, or of forethought in the plans of his campaigns; in short, no one has alleged a fact, from which it can be made even probable that Napoleon or Cæsar, working with his means and on his field of action, could have wrought out greater or better results than he did, or that, if he had been placed on a field of action and with a command of means like theirs, he would have shown himself unequal to the position.

There is, in this respect, a great mistake on the subject of Washington's temperament, which was naturally sanguine. Traditionary accounts, which must, however, be received with

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great caution as far as particular anecdotes are concerned, authorize the belief that, in early life at least, he habitually waged a strenuous warfare with his own ardent temper. At all events, while he was placed in circumstances, in both his wars, which forced upon him the Fabian policy, there were occasions, when he seized the opportunity of making what, if it had failed, would have been called a rash movement. This showed him the possessor of an expansive capacity; conforming patiently to straits, and keeping good heart in adversity, but ready at a moment of change to move with vigor and power. When we add to this an unquestioned fondness for the military profession, who can doubt that, if he had been trained in the great wars of Europe, he would have proved himself equal to their severest tests? It is a remarkable fact, that from his youth upward he evinced military capacity beyond that of all the trained and experienced officers with whom he was associated or brought in conflict. The neglect of his advice in 1755 cost the veteran Braddock his army and his life, and threw the valley of the Ohio into the power of the French; and all the skill and energy visible in the operations of General Forbes, by which it was recovered in 1758, were infused into them by Washington.

In the possession of that mysterious quality of character, manifested in a long life of unambitious service, which, called by whatever name, inspires the confidence, commands the respect, and wins the affection of contemporaries, and grows upon the admiration of successive generations, forming a standard to which the merit of other men is referred, and a living proof that pure patriotism is not a delusion, nor virtue an empty name, no one of the sons of men has equalled George Washington.

- EDWARD EVERETT.

"INDEPENDENCE NOW, AND FOREVER"

SUPPOSED SPEECH OF JOHN ADAMS

SINK or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I give my hand and my heart to this vote. It is true, indeed, that in the beginning we aimed not at independence. But there is a divinity which shapes our ends. The injustice of England has driven us to arms; and, blinded to her own interest, she has obstinately persisted, till independence is now within our grasp. We have but to reach forth to it, and it is ours. Why, then, should we defer the declaration?

If we postpone independence, do we mean to carry on or to give up the war? Do we mean to submit, and consent that we shall be ground to powder, and our country and its rights trodden down in the dust? I know we do not mean to submit. We never shall submit!

The war, then, must go on; we must fight it through. And if the war must go on, why put off the declaration of independence? That measure will strengthen us. It will give us character abroad. Nations will then treat with us, which they never can do while we acknowledge ourselves subjects in arms against our sovereign.

If we fail, it can be no worse for us. The cause will raise up armies; the cause will create navies. But we shall not fail. The people the people, if we are true to them—will carry us, and will carry themselves, gloriously through this struggle. I care not how fickle other people have been found. I know the people of these colonies; and I know that resistance to British aggression is deep and settled in their hearts, and cannot be eradicated.