"The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia have caused this statue to be erected as a monument of affection and gratitude to George Washington, who uniting to the endowments of the hero, the virtues of the patriot, and exercising both in establishing the liberties of his country, has rendered his name dear to his fellow citizens, and given to the world an immortal example of true glory."
Mr. Jefferson, being then in Paris, engaged
Houdon to come to Virginia to make the
statue, saying of him: "He is without rivalship,
the first statuary of his age, as proof of
which he receives orders from every other
country for things intended to be capital."
It is a tradition that Houdon spent several days at Mount Vernon before he selected the attitude for the statue. One day Washington was summoned to inspect a pair of horses offered for sale. He asked their price, and was told "a thousand dollars." At once he drew himself up, with an expression of indignation at the price, and Houdon, watching him, exclaimed, "Ah, I 'ave him, I 'ave him!" and immediately set to work to make the pose immortal.
In the Capitol grounds stands Crawford's famous equestrian statue of the great hero.
Thomas Crawford, father of F. Marion
