either soldier or statesman. We can well believe that it was with
heartfelt satisfaction that soon after independence was at last assured
he wrote to his old comrade-in-arms the Marquis de Chastellux: "I am at
length become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, where under
my own vine and fig-tree free from the bustle of a camp and the
intrigues of a court, I shall view the busy world with calm
indifference, and with serenity of mind, which the soldier in pursuit of
glory, and the statesman of a name, have not leisure to enjoy."

Years before as a boy he had copied into a wonderful copy-book that is
still preserved in the Library of Congress some verses that set forth
pretty accurately his ideal of life--an ideal influenced, may we not
believe, in those impressionable years by these very lines. These are
the verses--one can not call them poetry--just as I copied them after
the clear boyish hand from the time-yellowed page:

TRUE HAPPINESS

These are the things, which once possess'd
Will make a life that's truly bless'd
A good Estate on healthy Soil,
Not Got by Vice nor yet by toil;
Round a warm Fire, a pleasant Joke,
With Chimney ever free from Smoke:
A strength entire, a Sparkling Bowl,
A quiet Wife, a quiet Soul,
A Mind, as well as body, whole
Prudent Simplicity, constant Friend,
A Diet which no art Commends;
A Merry Night without much Drinking