The reverence which was felt for the person of Washington by individuals was expressed by public bodies, even, as in the example just given, before the close of the struggle which he conducted so nobly. The Federal Congress took the initiative in voting him honors, such as the senate of old Rome was wont to decree for their heroes and sages. That body was in session at Princeton, in the summer of 1783, when arrangements for the consummation of the declared peace with Great Britain was in progress, and Washington, having been requested to make his head-quarters near, took post at Rocky Hill, a few miles off. Before his arrival, the Congress, on the 7th of August,

"Resolved (unanimously, ten states being present), That an equestrian statue of General Washington be erected at the place where the residence of Congress shall be established;" and appointed Arthur Lee, Oliver Ellsworth, and Thomas Mifflin, a committee to propose a plan for the same.

The committee recommended a statue of bronze, the general to be represented in a Roman dress, holding a truncheon in his right hand, and his head encircled with a laurel wreath. The statue was to be supported by a marble pedestal, on which were to be represented the evacuation of Boston, the capture of the Hessians at Trenton, the battle of Princeton, the action of Monmouth, and the surrender of York. On the upper part of the pedestal was to be the following inscription:

"The United States, in Congress assembled, ordered this statue to be erected in the year of our Lord, 1783, in honor of GEORGE WASHINGTON, the illustrious commander-in-chief of the armies of the United States of America, during the war which

vindicated and secured their liberty, sovereignty, and independence."

It was resolved that this statue should be executed by the best artist in Europe, under the superintendence of the minister of the United States at Versailles (Doctor Franklin), at the expense of the government, and that Congress should transmit to the minister the best likeness of Washington that could be procured.

A few months after the passage of these resolutions, two young artists arrived at Rocky Hill. These were Joseph Wright and William Dunlap. The former bore a letter from Dr. Franklin to Washington, and he was permitted to paint the portraits of the general and his wife. Dunlap, then a mere lad, also painted a portrait of the chief.

Young Wright was a son of Mrs. Patience Wright, who had then acquired much eminence in Europe and America for her models in wax of living men, and he inherited some of his mother's peculiar faculty. Some members of the Congress, aware of this, conceived the idea of having him make a plaster cast from the face of Washington, to be sent to Europe for the use of the sculptor who should execute the bronze statue. It was proposed, and Washington consented to submit to the unpleasant operation of lying upon his back and having the wet plaster laid upon his face. What a spectacie did the great Republican leader present at that moment!

The operation was a most disagreeable one, for the manipu lator was inexperienced and unskilful. He was very anxious too, to relieve Washington from his position, and, in his haste and trepidation, an accident occurred which made his labor fruitless. After the plaster had sufficiently hardened, the

artist proceeded, as quickly as possible, to remove it, when he let it fall upon the floor, and it was dashed in pieces. The desires of Congress, strongly expressed, to have another trial, were of no avail. Washington would not consent, and the statue voted by that body was never made.

Young Wright appears to have been unfortunate in his efforts to acquire fame and fortune in connection with the likeness of Washington. He afterward cut a die for a medallion profile of the chief, which was declared by all to be an exceedingly faithful picture. After striking a few impressions the die was broken, and the artist's labor was lost. An engraving on copper, of larger size, was afterward made from one of these impressions. A broadside edition of Washington's Farewell Address, printed in 1796, in possession of the writer, is embellished with an impression from that engraving. When Washington had become a private citizen—a plain farmer on the banks of the Potomac-neither desiring nor expecting further public employment, the hearts of his countrymen, beating warmly with gratitude for his services, yearned to honor him with some testimonial of their profound regard. Virginia, his native state, proud to own him as her son, took the lead in the manifestation of this sentiment. On the 22d of June, 1784, the legislature of Virginia—

"Resolved, That the Executive be requested to take measures for procuring a statue of General Washington, to be of the finest marble and best workmanship, with the following i.scription on its pedestal:

"The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia have caused this Statue to be erected as a Monument of Affection and Gratitude to GEORGE WASHINGTON, who, uniting to

the Endowments of the Hero the Virtues of the Patriot, and exerting both in establishing the Liberties of his Country, has rendered his Name dear to his Fellow Citizens, and given the World an immortal Example of true Glory.'"

This inscription was written by James Madison. On the day when this resolution was adopted, the General Assembly also voted an address to General Washington, and a joint committee of the two houses was appointed to prepare one and present it. The committee, with Mr. Madison at the head, waited upon Washington, at Mount Vernon, a few days afterward, presented the address, and received the following reply:

"GENTLEMEN :-With feelings which are more easy to be conceived than expressed, I meet and reciprocate the congratulations of the representatives of this commonwealth on the final establishment of peace.

"Nothing can add more to the pleasure which arises from a conscious discharge of public trust, than the approbation of one's country. To have been so happy, under a vicissitude of fortune, amidst the difficult and trying scenes of an arduous conflict, as to meet this, is, in my mind, to have attained the highest honor; and the consideration of it, in my present peaceful retirement, will heighten all my domestic joys, and constitute my greatest felicity.

"I should have been truly wanting in duty, and must have frustrated the great and important object for which we resorted to arms, if, seduced by a temporary regard for fame, I had suffered the paltry love of it to interfere with my country's welfare; the interest of which was the only inducement which carried me into the field, or permitted the sacred rights of civil

authority, though but for a moment, to be violated and infringed by a power meant originally to rescue and confirm them.

"For those rewards and blessings which you have invoked for me in this world, and for the fruition of that happiness which you pray for in that which is to come, you have, gentlemen, all my thanks and all my gratitude. I wish I could insure them to you, and the state you represent, a hundredfold."

Benjamin Harrison was governor of Virginia when the General Assembly requested the executive to take measures for procuring a statue of Washington; and a little more than a month after the date of that resolution, he wrote to Doctor Franklin and Mr. Jefferson, then in Paris, on the subject, requesting them to attend to the matter, and acquainting them that he had ordered Mr. Peale to send them a full-length portrait of the general, to be used as a model for the sculptor.

The only method by which a perfect likeness of the great patriot might be secured, was to have the artist make a model from the living face; and Messrs. Franklin and Jefferson accordingly engaged Houdon, a portrait sculptor, then without a rival in the world, to go to America for the purpose. Houdon was a small, active, and exceedingly industrious Frenchman; careful and prudent, and disposed to make an excellent bargain for himself. "The terms," Mr. Jefferson wrote, "are twenty-five thousand livres [about $4,620], one thousand English guineas (the English guinea being worth twenty-five livres), for the statue and pedestal. Besides this, we pay his expenses going and returning, which we expect will be