原文：
I think I knew General Washington intimately and thoroughly; and were I called on to delineate his character, it should be in terms like these.
His mind was great and powerful, without being of the very first order; his penetration strong, though not so acute as that of a Newton, Bacon, or Locke; and as far as he saw, no judgment was ever sounder. It was slow in operation, being little aided by invention or imagination, but sure in conclusion. Hence the common remark of his officers, of the advantage he derived from councils of war, where hearing all suggestions, he selected whatever was best; and certainly no General ever planned his battles more judiciously. But if deranged during the course of the action, if any member of his plan was dislocated by sudden circumstances, he was slow in re-adjustment. The consequence was, that he often failed in the field, and rarely against an enemy in station, as at Boston and York. He was incapable of fear, meeting personal dangers with the calmest unconcern. Perhaps the strongest feature in his character was prudence, never acting until every circumstance, every consideration, was maturely weighed; refraining if he saw a doubt, but, when once decided, going through with his purpose, whatever obstacles opposed. His integrity was most pure, his justice the most inflexible I have ever known, no motives of interest or consanguinity, of friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decision. He was, indeed, in every sense of the words, a wise, a good, and a great man. His temper was naturally irritable and high toned; but reflection and resolution had obtained a firm and habitual ascendency over it. If ever, however, it broke its bonds, he was most tremendous in his wrath. In his expenses he was honorable, but exact; liberal in contributions to whatever promised utility; but frowning and unyielding on all visionary projects and all unworthy calls on his charity. His heart was not warm in its affections; but he exactly calculated every man’s value, and gave him a solid esteem proportioned to it. His person, you know, was fine, his stature exactly what one would wish, his deportment easy, erect and noble; the best horseman of his age, and the most graceful figure that could be seen on horseback. Although in the circle of his friends, where he might be unreserved with safety, he took a free share in conversation, his colloquial talents were not above mediocrity, possessing neither copiousness of ideas, nor fluency of words. In public, when called on for a sudden opinion, he was unready, short and embarrassed. Yet he wrote readily, rather diffusely, in an easy and correct style. This he had acquired by conversation with the world, for his education was merely reading, writing and common arithmetic, to which he added surveying at a later day. His time was employed in action chiefly, reading little, and that only in agriculture and English history. His correspondence became necessarily extensive, and, with journalizing his agricultural proceedings, occupied most of his leisure hours within doors. On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect, in nothing bad, in few points indifferent; and it may truly be said, that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him in the same constellation with whatever worthies have merited from man an everlasting remembrance. For his was the singular destiny and merit, of leading the armies of his country successfully through an arduous war, for the establishment of its independence; of conducting its councils through the birth of a government, new in its forms and principles, until it had settled down into a quiet and orderly train; and of scrupulously obeying the laws through the whole of his career, civil and military, of which the history of the world furnishes no other example.
参考译文：
乔治•华盛顿
对于华盛顿将军,我想我非常熟悉,了解十分透彻.如果让我来描述一下他的性格,应如下所述:
他的思想虽非出类拔萃，却也博大强健；他的洞察力虽不如牛顿，培根或洛克那般犀利，却也十分敏锐。只要经过他的观察做出的判断比任何人的都更加稳妥可靠。 他思维缓慢，很少借助创造力与想象力，但结论总是非常明确。正因如此，他手下军官都一致认为这得益于战争委员会：在那儿，他听取各方建议，择善而从；没有哪位将军能像他这般明智地指挥战争。然而，一旦在行动的过程中遭遇变故，或者计划的一部分被突发事件打乱，他就很难迅速做出调整。 故而他在野战中往往失利但在阵地战中却无往不胜,波士顿、约克顿战役就是很好的例子。他无所畏惧，淡然面对个人安危。 或许他性格之中最为显著的便是谨慎，在各种情况，每种想法都认真权衡过之前，他绝不会轻易行动；如果发现疑点,便会驻足观看，而一旦决定，无论面对多么大的困难都会勇往直前，直到实现目标。 他无比正直，是我所知道的最为公正无私的一个人.利益、亲情、友情、仇恨都不能影响他的决定。无论从哪个角度来看，他的确是一个智慧、善良的伟人。他生性高傲易怒；但总是在他的理智与坚定控制之下。然而,一旦冲破束缚,他的愤怒异常猛烈. 在财政支出方面,他是值得称赞的，而且非常严格。对于那些实用性项目总是慷慨支持；对那些不切实际的计划与毫无价值的求助他总是非常反感,不予理睬。他的心并非满是温情,但他准确地估量着每个人的价值,并给予相应的实实在在的尊重。大家都知道,他仪表堂堂,身材也是每个人都梦寐以求的。 挺拔的身姿, 从容文雅的举止;他是那个年纪最优秀的骑手,马背上最优雅的身影。尽管在朋友圈里他无须戒备,可以自由谈论,但他不善言辞,既无满腹经纶，也不能口若悬河。当在公众场合突然被问及个人见解,他会措手不及,话语简短,有些窘迫。然而，他善于写作，虽然有时略显冗长,但文体得当. 在同全世界的交往中,他学会了这一本领.他受过的教育不多,只包括阅读,写作还有算术,后来他又学习了测量.他的时间主要花在行动上,很少阅读,而且只涉及农业与英国历史.他的通信必然变得十分广泛,并且在室内的大部分时间都用来做农事记载。总之,他的性格大体上是完美的,没有瑕疵，从不冷漠,可以这样说, 个性与命运从来没有如此完美地结合过,创造出了一代英杰,并将他置于人们永远铭记的伟人之列。他的使命与功绩只有一个:那就是领导祖国的军队赢得艰苦的战争，取得独立；就是带领他的一班人马建立拥有新形式、新纲领的新政府，并不断巩固、直到它进入稳妥有序的轨道；那就是一生恪守各种法规，不管是民法还是军法，这在世界史上找不出第二个相当的例子来。
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