The executive council of Pennsylvania had instructed the delegates of the State to lay before Congress the question of remuneration for his long and faithful services. But the latter would listen to no proposition on the subject. Simple in his tastes and habits, he had enough for his wants and sought only repose. At first it was difficult to roll away the weight of care that had so long rested on him. He could not, he said, get the better of the habit of reflecting on the business of the day immediately after waking, but as he became gradually accustomed to his freedom, he felt, as he wrote in a private letter, "like a wearied traveler, who, after treading many a painful step with a heavy burden on his shoulders, is eased of the latter, having reached the haven to which all the former were directed, and from his house-top is looking back and tracing with an eager eye the meanders by which he escaped the quicksands and mires which lay in his way, and into which none but the all-powerful Guide and Disposer of events could have prevented his falling." In a letter to Lafayette, to whom he always opened his heart, he said, "At length I am become a private citizen on the banks of the Potomac, and under the shadow of my own vine and fig-tree, free from the bustle of a camp and the busy scenes of public life, and am solacing myself with those tranquil enjoyments of which the soldier who is ever in pursuit of fame, the statesman whose watchful days and sleepless nights are spent in devising schemes to promote the welfare of his own, perhaps the ruin of other countries, as if this globe was insufficient for us all, and the courtier who is always watching the countenance of his prince, in hopes of catching a gracious smile, can have very little conception. I have not only retired from all public, employments, but I am retiring within myself, and shall be able to view the solitary walk, and tread the paths of private life with a heartfelt satisfaction. Envious of none, I am determined to be pleased with all; and this, my dear friend,

being the order of my march, I will move gently down the stream of life until I sleep with my fathers."

How simple yet self-sustained-how elevated in his own grand thoughts above all that this world can bestow Through all the mazes and darkness and storms of the last eight years-apparently chained and fettered by circumstances to the earth, he had nevertheless, in the might of a great soul, been steadily soaring up to the serene heights of contemplation, to the pure atmosphere of unworldly thought.

During the summer Washington devoted most of his time to the improvement of his farm and in entertaining guests that crowded to see him from almost every quarter of the world. Lafayette again visiting this country in August, he had an affectionate interview with Washington, and then started on a northern tour, while the latter made his sixth and last expedition west to visit his lands in that section. Supplied with tents, pack-horses and provisions, he set out in September on a journey of six hundred and eighty miles through the wilderness. He went by the old Braddock route, where had occurred the most important events of his early life. What strange reminiscences that journey must have called up, and what a change had passed over his destiny and that of his country since he first trod that desolate region. As he stood by Braddock's grave, the past and present met, and presented strange and most striking contrasts. A mere stripling, dressed in an Indian hunting-shirt, he had first passed over this route on his perilous journey as a commissioner to the French. The second time he traversed it in search of his first battle. The third ended in the terrible defeat of Braddock; and now, after such a long interval, he trod it a portion neither of French or English territory, but of a free land of which he was the deliverer. Having surveyed his lands on the Monongahela, he returned by a long and tedious route through the wilderness. The result of

his investigations were given in an able letter to the Gov ernor of Virginia, in which he portrayed clearly the advantage that would arise from a water communication through the country. With that sagacious forethought which was so characteristic of him, he had from the first foreseen and foretold the advantages of such communications both in the north and south.

On his return he again met Lafayette at Richmond, where both were received with public honors. The latter then accompanied him to Mount Vernon, and the two friends enjoyed that sweet communion which is known only to pure and virtuous hearts. His visit being completed, Lafayette reluctantly took his departure, accompanied by Washington as far as Annapolis. The tender nature of the relation that existed between these great and good men, and the warmth of Washington's affection, may be seen in the following simple, touching letter to the Marquis after their separation, December 8th.

Says he, "In the moment of our separation, upon the road as I traveled, and every hour since, I have felt all that love, respect, and attachment for you with which length of years, close connection, and your merits have inspired me. I often asked myself, as our carriages separated, whether that was the last sight I should ever have of you? And though I wished to say no, my fears answered yes. I called to mind the days of my youth, and found they had long since fled, to return no more; that I now was descending the hill that I had been fifty-two years climbing, and that, though I was blest with a good constitution, I was of a short lived family, and might soon expect to be entombed with my fathers. These thoughts darkened the shades and gave a gloom to the picture, and consequently to my prospect of seeing you again."

In consequence of his letter to the Governor on the importance of internal navigation, the Legislature organized