would conciliate the moderate patriots, for he had clung to the old
arguments as long as possible, and refrained from forcing events. If
substantial independence of Parliament and the Ministry could be
secured, he was willing to allow the King a vague or imaginary headship
until in the course of years that excrescence should slough away.

Many were inclined to think that a New England general should command
the New England army that was gathered before Boston; but they were
obliged to admit that the appointment of a general from Virginia, the
most populous and prosperous of the colonies, would tend to draw the
Southern interest to the patriot cause.

Washington was forty-three years old, which was the right age for
entering upon the supreme command in what might be a long war. He had
distinguished himself by helping to rescue Braddock's defeated army in
1755, and he had taken a more or less prominent part in the subsequent
campaigns which ended in driving the French out of Canada. This military
education and experience seemed slight, and not equal to that of the
British officers who would be opposed to him. But it was American
experience, no colonist was any better equipped, and he was of a larger
intelligence than Putnam, Ward, and other Americans who had served in
the French War.

His strong character and personality had impressed themselves upon his
fellow-delegates in the Congress. It was this impressive personality
which made his career and brought to him grave responsibility without
effort on his part to seek office or position. When he was only
twenty-one the governor of Virginia had sent him through the wilderness
to interview the French commander near Lake Erie, a mission which
required the hardihood of the hunter and some of the shrewd intelligence