[Transcriber's note: This production is based onhttps://archive.org/details/essayoncharacte00guiz/page/1]{i}
Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousandeight hundred and forty, by James Munroe & Co., in the Clerk'soffice of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
The following Essay is a translation of the Introduction, by M.Guizot, to a French version of Sparks's Life of Washington, andof selected portions of Washington's Writings, which has recentlyappeared in Paris, in six octavo volumes. M. Guizot is wellknown, not only as the author of many valuable historical works,but as a practical statesman himself, and therefore peculiarlyqualified to appreciate the character of Washington, and toestimate his claims to the gratitude of his country, and theadmiration of mankind. The Essay can hardly fail to be read withinterest by every countryman of the illustrious man who forms itssubject. It is a performance remarkable for the knowledge whichit evinces of our own history, for its great political wisdom,its elevated moral tone, and its just discrimination in regard tothe character of Washington.{iv}Every American citizen must be highly gratified to find his ownveneration for the name of Washington confirmed by this unbiassedtribute from a foreigner so distinguished in literature andpolitics, as M. Guizot. Nothing has ever been written concerninghim in Europe, so accurate, so just, and so profound as this; andit will serve to justify and strengthen that admiration, whichhas been accorded to him in foreign countries, hardly less thanin his own.
George S. Hillard.
No foreign event occurring at a distance ever awakened so livelya sympathy in France, as the Revolution of the United States ofAmerica. No great man who was a foreigner has ever, in thiscountry, been the object of general admiration to such an extentas Washington. He has had the applause of both the court and thepeople, of the old régime and the new nation. During hislife, testimonials of respect were heaped upon him by Louis theSixteenth; and, at his death, Napoleon directed a public mourningfor him, and a funeral oration. [Footnote 1]
[Footnote 1: "Bonaparte rendered unusual honors to the name of Washington, not long after the event of his death was made known in France. By what motives he was prompted, it is needless to inquire. At any rate, both the act itself and his manner of performing it are somewhat remarkable, when regarded in connexion with his subsequent career. He was then First Consul. On the 9th of February, he issued the following order of the day to the army, "Washington is dead! This great man fought against tyranny; he established the liberty of his country. His memory will always be dear to the French people, as it wil