Listen to the same spirit as it speaks in his circular address to the
governors of the different States, urging them to "forget their local
prejudices and policies; to make those mutual concessions which are
requisite to the general prosperity, and in some instances to sacrifice
their individual advantages to the interest of the community." Watch
how it guides him unerringly through the critical period of American
history which lies between the success of the Revolution and the
establishment of the nation, enabling him to avoid the pitfalls of
sectional and partisan strife, and to use his great influence with the
people in leading them out of the confusion of a weak confederacy into
the strength of an indissoluble union of sovereign States.

See how he once more sets aside his personal preferences for a quiet
country life, and risks his already secure popularity, together with his
reputation for consistency, by obeying the voice which calls him to be a
candidate for the Presidency. See how he chooses for the cabinet and for
the Supreme Court, not an exclusive group of personal friends, but men
who can be trusted to serve the great cause of Union with fidelity and
power--Jefferson, Randolph, Hamilton, Knox, John Jay, Wilson, Cushing,
Rutledge. See how patiently and indomitably he gives himself to the toil
of office, deriving from his exalted station no gain "beyond the lustre
which may be reflected from its connection with a power of promoting
human felicity." See how he retires, at last, to the longed-for joys of
private life, confessing that his career has not been without errors of
judgment, beseeching the Almighty that they may bring no harm to his
country, and asking no other reward for his labors than to partake, "in
the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under
a free government, the ever favorite object of my heart."