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diff --git a/15140.txt b/15140.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08fd67a --- /dev/null +++ b/15140.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9299 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Washington's Birthday, by Various, Edited by +Robert Haven Schauffler + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Washington's Birthday + +Author: Various + +Release Date: February 22, 2005 [eBook #15140] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlene Taylor, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) in +commemoration of Washington's Birthday, February 22, 2005 + + + +Our American Holidays + +WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY + +Its History, Observance, Spirit, and Significance as Related in Prose +and Verse, with a Selection from Washington's Speeches and Writings + +Edited by + +ROBERT HAVEN SCHAUFFLER + +New York +Dodd, Mead and Company + + + + + + + +PREFACE + + +The popular idea of Washington has recently begun to veer away from the +vision of an eighteenth century demigod in a wig,--an old-fashioned +statue in dusky bronze, stern and forbidding. We are swinging around +toward the idea of a loveable, fallible, very human personality with +humor, a hot temper, and a genuine love of pleasure. + +Accordingly, in gathering material for this book the editor has passed +by those earlier writers who are mainly responsible for this distorted +view; and he has aimed to gather here the essays, orations poems, +stories, and exercises which best exhibit the modern conception of +Washington; together with a selection from his own writings and the +finest of the elder tributes to the memory of our greatest National +Hero. + + +NOTE + +The Editor and Publishers wish to acknowledge their indebtedness to +Houghton, Mifflin & Company; Doubleday, Page & Company; J.B. Lippincott +& Co.; Mr. David McKay, John Macy, and others who have very kindly +granted permission to reprint selections from works bearing their +copyright. + + + + +CONTENTS + + +INTRODUCTION + +I +THE DAY + +WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY _Oliver Wendell Holmes_ +WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY _Margaret E. Sangster_ +THE BIRTHDAY OF WASHINGTON _Anonymous_ +WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY _George Howland_ +WASHINGTON AND OUR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES _Charles W. Eliot_ +CROWN OUR WASHINGTON _Hezekiah Butterworth_ +WASHINGTON-MONTH _Will Carleton_ + +II +EARLY YEARS + +A GLIMPSE OF WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE _Grace B. Johnson_ +SOMETHING OF GEORGE WASHINGTON'S BOYHOOD _Anonymous_ +WASHINGTON'S TRAINING _Charles Wentworth Upham_ +WASHINGTON AS HE LOOKED + +III +THE GENERAL + +WASHINGTON IS APPOINTED COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF _Sydney George Fisher_ +WASHINGTON AT TRENTON _Richard Watson Gilder_ +GEORGE WASHINGTON +VALLEY FORGE _Henry Armitt Brown_ +WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE _Canon R.G. Sutherland_ +A FRENCHMAN'S ESTIMATE OF WASHINGTON IN 1781 _Claude C. Robin_ + +IV +THE PRESIDENT + +WASHINGTON AND THE CONSTITUTION _John M. Harlan_ +WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION _Edward S. Ellis_ +WASHINGTON _Mary Wingate_ +WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION _Edward Everett Hale_ +WASHINGTONIANA +LESSONS FROM THE WASHINGTON CENTENNIAL _George A. Gordon_ +PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S RECEPTIONS _William Sullivan_ +THE FOREIGN POLICY OF WASHINGTON _Charles James Fox_ + +V +LAST DAYS + +GEORGE WASHINGTON _Hamilton Wright Mabie_ +WASHINGTON'S LAST DAYS _Elisabeth Eggleston Seelye_ +THE MOUNT VERNON TRIBUTE +THE WORDS OF WASHINGTON _Daniel Webster_ + +VI +TRIBUTES + +MEMORIALS OF WASHINGTON _Henry B. Carrington_ +FROM THE "COMMEMORATION ODE" _Harriet Monroe_ +WASHINGTON'S STATUE _Henry Theodore Tuckerman_ +TRIBUTES +WASHINGTON'S NAME IN THE HALL OF FAME _Margaret E. Sangster_ +ESTIMATES OF WASHINGTON +WASHINGTON'S RELIGIOUS CHARACTER _William M'Kinley_ +WASHINGTON _Anonymous_ + +VII +WASHINGTON'S PLACE IN HISTORY + +THE HIGHEST PEDESTAL _William E. Gladstone_ +WASHINGTON IN HISTORY _Chauncey M. Depew_ +TO THE SHADE OF WASHINGTON _Richard Alsop_ +THE MAJESTIC EMINENCE OF WASHINGTON _Chauncey M. Depew_ +FOR A LITTLE PUPIL _Anonymous_ +WASHINGTON'S FAME _Asher Robbins_ +WASHINGTON, THE BRIGHTEST NAME ON HISTORY'S PAGE _Eliza Cook_ +WASHINGTON, THE PATRIOT + +VIII +THE WHOLE MAN + +GEORGE WASHINGTON _John Hall Ingham_ +HISTORICAL MEMORABILIA OF WASHINGTON _H.B. Carrington_ +A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF WASHINGTON _Henry Mitchell MacCracken_ +THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON _Daniel Webster_ +MOUNT VERNON, THE HOME OF WASHINGTON _William Day_ +THE UNSELFISHNESS OF WASHINGTON _Robert Treat Paine_ +THE GENIUS OF WASHINGTON _Edwin P. Whipple_ +WASHINGTON'S SERVICE TO EDUCATION _Charles W.E. Chapin_ +ADDRESS AT THE DEDICATION OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT + _John W. Daniel_ +THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON _Henry Cabot Lodge_ + +IX +ANECDOTES AND STORIES + +ANECDOTES OF WASHINGTON +THE ABUSE OF WASHINGTON _Thomas Wentworth Higginson_ +PROVIDENTIAL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON _Irving Allen_ +CHARACTERISTICS OF WASHINGTON +GREAT GEORGE WASHINGTON _Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith_ +HEADQUARTERS IN 1776 _Paul Leicester Ford_ + +X +SELECTIONS FROM WASHINGTON'S SPEECHES AND WRITINGS + +SELECTIONS FROM THE RULES OF CIVILITY +SAID BY WASHINGTON +WASHINGTON BEFORE THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND, AUGUST, 1776 +FROM VARIOUS LETTERS, SPEECHES, AND ADDRESSES +WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL TO THE ARMY +PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S RESPONSE TO THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR ON + RECEIPT OF THE COLORS OF FRANCE, 1769 +WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS + +XI +EXERCISES + +DECORATIONS FOR WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY EXERCISES +SOME YEARS IN WASHINGTON'S LIFE _M. Lizzie Stanley_ +SOMETHING BETTER _Clara J. Denton_ +THE STATES CROWNING WASHINGTON _Kate Bowles Sherwood_ +THE NEW GEORGE WASHINGTON _Anonymous_ +IN PRAISE OF WASHINGTON + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +A good deal of American history was once violently distorted by the +partisanship of the eighteenth century, frozen solid by its icy +formalism, and left thus for the edification of succeeding generations. +For example, it was not until 1868 that Franklin's Autobiography was by +accident given to the world in the simple natural style in which he +wrote it. The book had been "edited" by Franklin's loyalist grandson, +and had been cut and tortured into the pompous, stilted periods that +were supposed to befit the dignity of so important a personage. When +John Bigelow published the original with all its naivete and homely +turns of phrases and suppressed passages, he shed a flood of light upon +Benjamin Franklin. + +But not _such_ a flood as has still more recently been shed upon our +struggle for independence, and the hero who led it. + +Mr. Sydney George Fisher[1] has shown how the history of the Revolution +has been garbled by the historians into the story of a struggle between +a villainous monster on the one hand, and a virtuous fairy on the other: +He has shown how a period that is said to have changed the thought of +the world like the epochs of Socrates, of Christ, of the Reformation, +and of the French Revolution, has been described in a series of "able +rhetorical efforts, enlarged Fourth-of-July orations, or pleasing +literary essays on selected phases of the contest." These writers have +ignored the fearful struggle of the patriots with the loyalists, the +early leniency of England as expressed in the conduct of General Howe, +the Clinton-Cornwallis controversy, and many other important subjects. +In short, their design was--as Mr. Wister has happily put it, "to leave +out any facts which spoil the political picture of the Revolution they +chose to paint for our edification; a ferocious, blood-shot tyrant on +the one side, and on the other a compact band of 'Fathers,' downtrodden +and martyred, yet with impeccable linen and bland legs." + +In view of this state of affairs, it is not strange that Washington +should have shared in the general misrepresentation. Like Franklin's, +his writings, too, were altered by villainous editors. In his letters, +for example, such a natural phrase as "one hundred thousand dollars will +be but a flea-bite" was changed to "one hundred thousand dollars will be +totally inadequate." + +The editors were aided in their refrigerating enterprise by a throng of +partisan biographers, first among whom was the Rev. Mr. Weems, that +arch-manipulator of facts for moral purposes. They were helped also by +many of our old sculptors and painters, who were evidently more +concerned to portray a grand American hero in a wig than to give us a +real man of flesh and blood. + +"By such devices," writes Owen Wister,[2] "was a frozen image of George +Washington held up for Americans to admire, rigid with congealed virtue, +ungenial, unreal, to whom from our school-days up we have been paying a +sincere and respectful regard, but a regard without interest, sympathy, +heart--or, indeed, belief. It thrills a true American to the marrow to +learn at last that this far-off figure, this George Washington, this man +of patriotic splendor, the captain and savior of our Revolution, the +self-sacrificing and devoted President, was a man also with a hearty +laugh, with a love of the theater, with a white-hot temper ... a +constant sportsman, fox-hunter, and host...." + +"The unfreezing of Washington was begun by Irving, but was in that day a +venture so new and startling, that Irving, gentleman and scholar, went +at it gingerly and with many inferential deprecations. His hand, +however, first broke the ice, and to-day we can see the live and human +Washington, full length. He does not lose an inch by it, and we gain a +progenitor of flesh and blood." + +Since Irving the thawing process has been carried on with growing +success by such able biographers as Lodge and Scudder, Hapgood and Ford, +Woodrow Wilson, Owen Wister, and Frederick Trevor Hill. + +As yet this new idea of Washington's essential humanity has seemed too +novel and startling to make its way deep into the popular conviction. I +say "new idea." In reality it is a very old idea; only it has been +smothered by the partisan writers of history and biography. Certainly +the accounts of the first celebrations of Washington's Birthday do not +sound as though our ancestors were trying to work up their enthusiasm +over a steel-engraving hero. + +"It was the most natural thing," writes Walsh,[3] "for our forefathers +to choose Washington's Birthday as a time for general thanksgiving and +rejoicing, and it is interesting to note that the observance was not +delayed until after the death of Washington. Washington had the +satisfaction of receiving the congratulations of his fellow-citizens +many times upon the return of his birthday, frequently being a guest at +the banquets given in honor of the occasion. In fact, after the +Revolution, Washington's Birthday practically took the place of the +birthday of the various crowned heads of Great Britain, which had always +been celebrated with enthusiasm during colonial times. When independence +was established, all these royal birthdays were cast aside, and the +birthday of Washington naturally became one of the most conspicuous in +the calendar of America's holidays. + +"It may be interesting at this time to look back upon those early days +of the republic and see how the newly liberated citizens attested their +admiration for their great general and the first President of their +country. But the people did not wait until Washington was raised to the +highest position his country could give him before honoring his +birthday. + +"The first recorded mention of the celebration is said to be the one in +_The Virginia Gazette_ or _The American Advertiser_ of Richmond: +'Tuesday last being the birthday of his Excellency, General Washington, +our illustrious Commander-in-Chief, the same was commemorated here with +the utmost demonstrations of joy.' The day thus celebrated was February +11, 1782, the Old Style in the calendar not having then been everywhere +and for every purpose abandoned. Indeed, the stone placed as late as in +1815 on the site of his birthplace in Westmoreland County, Virginia, had +the following inscription: 'Here, the 11th of February, 1732, George +Washington was born.' + +"Twelve months later the 11th was commemorated at Talbot Court-House in +Maryland. On the same day a number of gentlemen met in a tavern in New +York. One had written an ode. Another brought a list of toasts. All, +before they went reeling and singing home, agreed to assemble in future +on the same anniversary and make merry over the birth of Washington. + +"Next year they had an ampler opportunity. In the previous October the +British troops had evacuated New York City, which was gradually +recovering from the distresses of the long war. The demonstrations were +not very elaborate, but they were intensely patriotic. In a newspaper of +February 17, 1784, we find an interesting account of this first public +celebration in New York: + +"'Wednesday last being the birthday of his Excellency, General +Washington, the same was celebrated here by all the true friends of +American Independence and Constitutional Liberty with that hilarity and +manly decorum ever attendant on the Sons of Freedom. In the evening an +entertainment was given on board the East India ship in this harbor to a +very brilliant and respectable company, and a discharge of thirteen +cannon was fired on this joyful occasion.' + +"A club called a 'Select Club of Whigs' assembled in New York on the +evening of February 11, and a brief account of the proceedings at its +meeting was sent to the _New York Gazette_, with an amusing song, +written, it was stated, especially for this occasion. The following +stanzas will serve as a sample of this effusion of poetical patriotism: + + Americans, rejoice; + While songs employ the voice, + Let trumpets sound. + The thirteen stripes display + In flags and streamers gay, + 'Tis Washington's Birthday, + Let joy abound. + + Long may he live to see + This land of liberty + Flourish in peace; + Long may he live to prove + A grateful people's love + And late to heaven remove, + Where joys ne'er cease. + + Fill the glass to the brink, + Washington's health we'll drink, + 'Tis his birthday. + Glorious deeds he has done, + By him our cause is won, + Long live great Washington! + Huzza! Huzza! + +"The following is also an interesting example of newspaper editorial +patriotism which appeared in the _New York Gazette_ at the same time: +'After the Almighty Author of our existence and happiness, to whom, as a +people, are we under the greatest obligations? I know you will answer +"To Washington." That great, that gloriously disinterested man has, +without the idea of pecuniary reward, on the contrary, much to his +private danger, borne the greatest and most distinguished part in our +political salvation. He is now retired from public service, with, I +trust, the approbation of God, his country, and his own heart. But shall +we forget him? No; rather let our hearts cease to beat than an +ungrateful forgetfulness shall sully the part any of us have taken in +the redemption of our country. On this day, the hero enters into the +fifty-third year of his age. Shall such a day pass unnoticed? No; let a +temperate manifestation of joy express the sense we have of the +blessings that arose upon America on that day which gave birth to +Washington. Let us call our children around us and tell them the many +blessings they owe to him and to those illustrious characters who have +assisted him in the great work of the emancipation of our country, and +urge them by such examples to transmit the delights of freedom and +independence to their posterity.' + +"It is also interesting to know that New York City was not the only +place in the country remembering Washington's Birthday in this year +1784. The residents of Richmond, Virginia, were not forgetful of the +day, and in the evening an elegant entertainment and ball were given in +the Capitol Building, which, we are informed, were largely attended. So +late as 1796, Kentucky and Virginia persisted in preserving the Old +Style date. But we have documentary evidence that in 1790 the Tammany +Society of New York celebrated the day on February 22. The society had +been organized less than a year, and it is interesting to see that it +did not allow the first Washington's Birthday in its history to pass by +without fitting expressions of regard for the man who was then living in +the city as President of the United States. Washington, at that time, +lived in the lower part of Broadway, a few doors below Trinity Church. +Congress was in session in the old City Hall, on the corner of Wall and +Nassau Streets, now occupied by the Sub-Treasury. New York was the +capital of the country, but it was the last year that it enjoyed that +distinction, for before the close of 1790 the seat of government was +removed to Philadelphia, where it remained until 1800, when permanent +governmental quarters were taken up at Washington. It may be of interest +to know how the founders of this famous political organization +commemorated Washington's Birthday. Fortunately, the complete account of +this first Tammany celebration has been preserved. It was published in +a New York newspaper, a day or two after the event, as follows: + +"'At a meeting of the Society of St. Tammany, at their wigwam in this +city, on Monday evening last, after finishing the ordinary business of +the evening, it was unanimously resolved: That the 22d day of February +be, from this day and ever after, commemorated by this society as the +birthday of the Illustrious George Washington, President of the United +States of America. The society then proceeded to the commemoration of +the auspicious day which gave birth to the distinguished chief, and the +following toasts were drank in porter, the produce of the United States, +accompanied with universal acclamations of applause: + + 1. May the auspicious birthday of our great Grand Sachem, George + Washington, ever be commemorated by all the real sons of St. + Tammany. + + 2. The birthday of those chiefs who lighted the great Council Fire + in 1775. + + 3. The glorious Fourth of July, 1776, the birth of American + Independence. + + 4. The perpetual memory of those Sachems and warriors who have been + called by the Kitchi Manitou to the Wigwam above since the + Revolution. + + 5. The births of the Sachems and warriors who have presided at the + different council fires of the thirteen tribes since 1776. + + 6. Our Chief Sachem, who presides over the council fire of our + tribe. + + 7. The 12th of May, which is the birthday of our titular saint and + patron. + + 8. The birth of Columbus, our secondary patron. + + 9. The memory of the great Odagh 'Segte, first Grand Sachem of the + Oneida Nation, and all his successors. + + 10. The friends and patrons of virtue and freedom from Tammany to + Washington. + + 11. The birth of the present National Constitution, 17th of + September, 1787. + + 12. The Sachems and warriors who composed that council. + + 13. May the guardian genius of freedom pronounce at the birth of + all her sons--Where Liberty dwells, there is his country. + +"'After mutual reciprocations of friendship on the joyous occasion, the +society adjourned with their usual order and harmony.' + +"In Washington ever since the first President was inaugurated it had +been the practice of the House to adjourn for half an hour to +congratulate him on the happy return of his natal day. But this +observance was dropped in 1796, on account of the animosities excited by +the Jay Treaty. + +"The Philadelphians, always patriotic, never allowed Washington's +Birthday to go by without the celebration. In 1793 a number of old +Revolutionary officers belonging to the First Brigade of Pennsylvania +Militia had a 'very splendid entertainment at Mr. Hill's tavern in +Second Street, near Race Street.' According to a Philadelphia newspaper +account, the company was numerous and truly respectable, and among the +guests on that occasion were the Governor of Pennsylvania, Thomas +Mifflin, and Mr. Muhlenberg, Speaker of the House of Representatives. At +all these patriotic banquets it was customary to give as many toasts as +there were States in the Union, so that during the early years we +invariably find that thirteen toasts was the rule. As new States were +added, however, extra toasts were added to the list. Just when this +custom died out can perhaps not be definitely determined, but probably +the rapid increase of the States may have had something to do with it, +as the diners probably saw that it was taxing their drinking abilities +too heavily with the addition of each new State. However, at this +Philadelphia celebration the toasts were fifteen, as two new States had +recently been added, and among some of the most interesting are the +following: + + The people of the United States--May their dignity and happiness be + perpetual, and may the gratitude of the Nation be ever commensurate + with their privileges. + + The President of the United States--May the evening of his life be + attended with felicity equal to the utility and glory of its + meridian. + + The Fair Daughters of America--May the purity, the rectitude, and + the virtues of their mind ever continue equal to their beauty and + external accomplishments. + + The Republic of France--Wisdom and stability to her councils, + success to her armies and navies, and may her enemies be + compensated for their defeats by the speedy and general diffusion + of that liberty which they are vainly attempting to suppress. + + May Columbia be ever able to boast a Jefferson in council, a + Hamilton in finance, and, when necessary, a Washington to lead her + armies to conquest and glory. + + The Day--May such auspicious periods not cease to recur till every + day in the year shall have smiled on Columbia with the birth of a + Washington. + + Our Unfortunate Friend the Marquis de Lafayette--May America + become shortly his asylum from indignity and wrong, and may the + noon and evening of his life be yet honorable and happy in the + bosom of that country where its morning shone with such unclouded + splendor. + +"In conclusion, the newspaper account of this celebration states that +'the afternoon and evening were agreeably spent in social pleasures and +convivial mirth, and the conduct of the whole company was marked by that +politeness, harmony, and friendship which ought ever to characterize the +intercourse of fellow-citizens and gentlemen.' + +"Balls and banquets, it will be seen, were the chief methods employed in +celebrating the day, and there was hardly a town so small that it could +not manage to have at least one of these functions in honor of George +Washington. The early newspapers for a month, and often longer, after +the 22d of February, were filled with brief accounts of these +celebrations from different localities. Many of them are very +interesting, showing, as they do, the patriotism of the people, as well +as their customs and habits in their social entertainments. For +instance, when Washington's Birthday was celebrated in Alexandria, +Virginia, in 1791, the _Baltimore Advertiser_ gives us the following +amusing account of a ball held at Wise's tavern: + +"'The meeting was numerous and brilliant. Joy beamed in every +countenance. Sparkling eyes, dimpled cheeks dressed in smiles, prompted +by the occasion, with all the various graces of female beauty, +contributed to heighten the pleasure of the scene. At an interesting +moment a portrait of the President, a striking likeness, was suddenly +exhibited. The illustrious original had been often seen in the same room +in the mild character of a friend, a pleased and pleasing guest. The +song of "God Bless Great Washington, Long Live Great Washington," +succeeded. In this prayer many voices and all hearts united. May it not +be breathed in vain.'" + +In course of time Washington's Birthday was made a legal holiday in one +State after another, until to-day it is legally recognized in every +State but Alabama. + +But as it gradually became legalized, so it also became formalized +little by little, until, in some parts of America, the very phrase, "a +Washington's Birthday celebration," came to mean a sort of exercise in +hypocrisy,--a half-hearted attempt to galvanize a dead emotion into +life. + +This attitude toward Washington as a man was due largely to the +misrepresentations of the early literature. Three distinct eras in our +regard for him as a public character have been pointed out by Bradley T. +Johnson:[4] + + The generation which fought the Revolution, framed and adopted the + Constitution, and established the United States were impressed with + the most profound veneration, the most devoted affection, the most + absolute idolatry for the hero, sage, statesman. In the reaction + that came in the next generation against "the old soldiers," who + for thirty years had assumed all the honors and enjoyed all the + fruits of the victory that they had won, accelerated by the + division in American sentiment for or against the French + Revolution, it came to be felt, as the younger generation always + will feel, that the achievements of the veterans had been greatly + overrated and their demigod enormously exaggerated. They thought, + as English Harry did at Agincourt, that "Old men forget: yet all + shall be forgot, but they'll remember with advantages what feats + they did that day." + + The fierce attacks of the Jeffersonian Democracy on Washington, his + principles, his life, and his habits, exercised a potent influence + in diminishing the general respect for his abilities felt by the + preceding generation; and Washington came to be regarded as a + worthy, honest, well-meaning gentleman, but with no capacity for + military and only mediocre ability in civil affairs. This estimate + continued from the beginning of Jefferson's administration to the + first of Grant's. Neither Marshall nor Irving did much during that + period to place him in a proper historical light.... + + But in the last twenty-five years there has been a steady drift + toward giving Washington his proper place in history and his + appropriate appreciation as soldier and statesman. The general who + never won a battle is now understood to have been the Revolution + itself, and one of the great generals of history. The statesman who + never made a motion, nor devised a measure, nor constructed a + proposition in the convention of which he was president, is + appreciated as the spirit, the energy, the force, the wisdom which + initiated, organized, and directed the formation of the + Constitution of the United States and the Union by, through, and + under it; and therefore it seems now possible to present him as the + Virginian soldier, gentleman, and planter, as a man, the evolution + of the society of which he formed a part, representative of his + epoch, and his surroundings, developed by circumstances into the + greatest character of all time--the first and most illustrious of + Americans. + +Henry Cabot Lodge,[5] writing in 1899, was one of the first to discover +"the new Washington." "The real man," he wrote, "has been so overlaid +with myths and traditions, and so distorted by misleading criticisms, +that ... he has been wellnigh lost. We have the religious and statuesque +myth, we have the Weems myth (which turns Washington into a faultless +prig), and the ludicrous myth of the writer of paragraphs. We have the +stately hero of Sparks, and Everett, and Marshall, and Irving, with all +his great deeds as general and President duly recorded and set down in +polished and eloquent sentences; and we know him to be very great and +wise and pure, and, be it said with bated breath, very dry and cold.... +In death as in life, there is something about Washington, call it +greatness, dignity, majesty, what you will, which seems to hold men +aloof and keep them from knowing him. In truth he was a difficult man to +know.... + +"Behind the popular myths, behind the statuesque figure of the orator +and the preacher, behind the general and the President of the historian, +there was a strong, vigorous man, in whose veins ran warm, red blood, in +whose heart were stormy passions and deep sympathy for humanity, in +whose brain were far-reaching thoughts, and who was informed throughout +his being with a resistless will." + +It is a shameful thing that there should ever have been any doubt in +American minds of the true significance of Washington either as man or +soldier or statesman. But the writers of our day have decided that--if +they can help it--the sins of the fathers are not going to be visited +upon "the third and fourth generation." The call has gone out for modern +champions of our ancient champion; and literature has responded with a +will. + +It takes long, however, to straighten out a national misconception. The +new literature has not yet had time to take hold of the popular +imagination. But when it does, and when we cease to regard the Father of +our Country as a demigod, and begin to love him as a man, then +Washington's Birthdays everywhere will lose their stiff, perfunctory, +bloodless character, and recover the inspiring, emotional quality of the +early celebrations. + +R.H.S. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] In "The True History of the American Revolution" and "The Struggle +for American Independence." + +[2] "The Seven Ages of Washington." + +[3] In "Curiosities of Popular Customs." + +[4] "General Washington." + +[5] Introduction to "George Washington." + + + + +I + +THE DAY + + +WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY[6] + +BY OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES + + + Welcome to the day returning, + Dearer still as ages flow, + While the torch of Faith is burning, + Long as Freedom's altars glow! + See the hero whom it gave us + Slumbering on a mother's breast; + For the arm he stretched to save us + Be its morn forever blest! + + Vain is empire's mad temptation! + Not for him an earthly crown! + He whose sword has freed a nation + Strikes the offered scepter down. + See the throneless conqueror seated, + Ruler by a people's choice; + See the patriot's task completed; + Hear the Father's dying voice: + + "By the name that you inherit, + By the sufferings you recall, + Cherish the fraternal spirit; + Love your country first of all! + Listen not to idle questions + If its bands may be untied; + Doubt the patriot whose suggestions + Strive a nation to divide." + + Father! we, whose ears have tingled + With the discord notes of shame; + We, whose sires their blood have mingled + In the battle's thunder-flame,-- + Gathering, while this holy morning + Lights the land from sea to sea, + Hear thy counsel, heed thy warning; + Trust us while we honor thee. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] _By permission of the publishers, Houghton, Mifflin & Co_. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY + +BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER + + 'Tis splendid to live so grandly + That long after you are gone, + The things you did are remembered, + And recounted under the sun; + To live so bravely and purely, + That a nation stops on its way, + And once a year, with banner and drum, + Keeps its thought of your natal day. + + 'Tis splendid to have a record, + So white and free from stain + That, held to the light, it shows no blot, + Though tested and tried amain; + That age to age forever + Repeats its story of love, + And your birthday lives in a nation's heart, + All other days above. + + And this is Washington's glory, + A steadfast soul and true, + Who stood for his country's honor + When his country's days were few. + And now when its days are many, + And its flag of stars is flung + To the breeze in defiant challenge, + His name is on every tongue. + + Yes, it's splendid to live so bravely, + To be so great and strong, + That your memory is ever a tocsin + To rally the foes of the wrong; + To live so proudly and purely + That your people pause in their way, + And year by year, with banner and drum, + Keep the thought of your natal day. + + * * * * * + +THE BIRTHDAY OF WASHINGTON + +ANONYMOUS + +The birthday of the "Father of his Country!" May it ever be freshly +remembered by American hearts! May it ever reawaken in them a filial +veneration for his memory; ever rekindle the fires of patriotic regard +for the country which he loved so well, to which he gave his youthful +vigor and his youthful energy; to which he devoted his life in the +maturity of his powers, in the field; to which again he offered the +counsels of his wisdom and his experience as president of the convention +that framed our Constitution; which he guided and directed while in the +chair of state, and for which the last prayer of his earthly +supplication was offered up, when it came the moment for him so well, +and so grandly, and so calmly, to die. He was the first man of the time +in which he grew. His memory is first and most sacred in our love, and +ever hereafter, till the last drop of blood shall freeze in the last +American heart, his name shall be a spell of power and of might. + +Yes, gentlemen, there is one personal, one vast felicity, which no man +can share with him. It was the daily beauty and towering and matchless +glory of his life which enabled him to create his country, and at the +same time secure an undying love and regard from the whole American +people. "The first in the hearts of his countrymen!" Yes, first! He has +our first and most fervent love. Undoubtedly there were brave and wise +and good men before his day, in every colony. But the American nation, +as a nation, I do not reckon to have begun before 1774, and the first +love of that young America was Washington. The first word she lisped was +his name. Her earliest breath spoke it. It still is her proud +ejaculation; and it will be the last gasp of her expiring life! Yes; +others of our great men have been appreciated--many admired by all--but +him we love; him we all love. About and around him we call up no +dissentient, discordant, and dissatisfied elements--no sectional +prejudice nor bias--no party, no creed, no dogma of politics. None of +these shall assail him. Yes; when the storm of battle blows darkest and +rages highest, the memory of Washington shall nerve every American arm +and cheer every American heart. It shall relume that Promethean fire, +that sublime flame of patriotism, that devoted love of country, which +his words have commended, which his example has consecrated. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY + +BY GEORGE HOWLAND + + Welcome, thou festal morn! + Never be passed in scorn + Thy rising sun, + Thou day forever bright + With Freedom's holy light, + That gave the world the sight + Of Washington. + + Unshaken 'mid the storm, + Behold that noble form-- + That peerless one-- + With his protecting hand, + Like Freedom's angel stand + The guardian of our land, + Our Washington. + + Then with each coming year, + Whenever shall appear + That natal sun, + Will we attest the worth, + Of one true man to earth, + And celebrate the birth + Of Washington. + + Traced there in lines of light, + Where all pure rays unite, + Obscured by none; + Brightest on history's page, + Of any clime or age, + As chieftain, man, and sage, + Stands Washington. + + Name at which tyrants pale, + And their proud legions quail, + Their boasting done; + While Freedom lifts her head, + No longer filled with dread, + Her sons to victory led + By Washington. + + Now the true patriot see, + The foremost of the free, + The victory won. + In Freedom's presence bow, + While sweetly smiling now, + She wreaths the smiling brow + Of Washington. + + Then with each coming year, + Whenever shall appear + That natal sun, + Shall we attest the worth + Of one true man to earth, + And celebrate the birth + Of Washington. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON AND OUR SCHOOLS AND +COLLEGES + +BY CHARLES W. ELIOT + +The brief phrase--the schools and colleges of the United States--is a +formal and familiar one; but what imagination can grasp the infinitude +of human affections, powers, and wills which it really comprises? But +let us forget the outward things called schools and colleges, and summon +up the human beings. Imagine the eight million children actually in +attendance at the elementary schools of the country brought before your +view. Each unit in this mass speaks of a glad birth, a brightened home, +a mother's pondering heart, a father's careful joy. In all that +multitude, every little heart bounds and every eye shines at the name +of Washington. + +The two hundred and fifty thousand boys and girls in the secondary +schools are getting a fuller view of this incomparable character than +the younger children can reach. They are old enough to understand his +civil as well as his military achievements. They learn of his great part +in that immortal Federal convention of 1787, of his inestimable services +in organizing and conducting through two Presidential terms the new +Government,--services of which he alone was capable,--and of his firm +resistance to misguided popular clamor. They see him ultimately +victorious in war and successful in peace, but only through much +adversity and many obstacles. + +Next, picture to yourselves the sixty thousand students in colleges and +universities--selected youth of keen intelligence, wide reading, and +high ambition. They are able to compare Washington with the greatest men +of other times and countries, and to appreciate the unique quality of +his renown. They can set him beside the heroes of romance and +history--beside David, Alexander, Pericles, Caesar, Saladin, +Charlemagne, Gustavus Adolphus, John Hampden, William the Silent, Peter +of Russia, and Frederick the Great, only to find him a nobler human type +than any one of them, more complete in his nature, more happy in his +cause, and more fortunate in the issues of his career. They are taught +to see in him a soldier whose sword wrought only mercy and justice for +mankind; a statesman who steadied a remarkable generation of public men +by his mental poise and exalted them by his singleness of heart; and a +ruler whose exercise of power established for the time on earth a +righteous government by all and for all. + +And what shall I say on behalf of the three hundred and sixty thousand +teachers of the United States? None of them are rich or famous; most of +them are poor, retiring, and unnoticed; but it is they who are building +a perennial monument to Washington. It is they who give him a +million-tongued fame. They make him live again in the young hearts of +successive generations, and fix his image there as the American ideal of +a public servant. It is through the schools and colleges and the +national literature that the heroes of any people win lasting renown; +and it is through these same agencies that a nation is molded into the +likeness of its heroes. + +The commemoration of any one great event in the life of Washington and +of the United States is well, but it is nothing compared with the +incessant memorial of him which the schools and colleges of the country +maintain from generation to generation. What a reward is Washington's! +What an influence is his and will be! One mind and will transfused by +sympathetic instruction into millions; one life pattern for all public +men, teaching what greatness is and what the pathway to undying fame! + + * * * * * + +CROWN OUR WASHINGTON + +BY HEZEKIAH BUTTERWORTH + + Arise! 'tis the day of our Washington's glory; + The garlands uplift for our liberties won. + Oh sing in your gladness his echoing story, + Whose sword swept for freedom the fields of the sun! + Not with gold, nor with gems, + But with evergreens vernal, + And the banners of stars that the continent span, + Crown, crown we the chief of the heroes eternal, + Who lifted his sword for the birthright of man! + + He gave us a nation to make it immortal; + He laid down for Freedom the sword that he drew, + And his faith leads us on through the uplifting portal + Of the glories of peace and our destinies new. + Not with gold, nor with gems, + But with evergreens vernal, + And the flags that the nations of liberty span, + Crown, crown him the chief of the heroes eternal, + Who laid down his sword for the birthright of man! + + Lead, Face of the Future, serene in thy beauty, + Till o'er the dead heroes the peace star shall gleam, + Till Right shall be Might in the counsels of duty, + And the service of man be life's glory supreme. + Not with gold, nor with gems, + But with evergreens vernal, + And the flags that the nations in brotherhood span, + Crown, crown we the chief of the heroes eternal, + Whose honor was gained by his service to man! + + O Spirit of Liberty, sweet are thy numbers! + The winds to thy banners their tribute shall bring + While rolls the Potomac where Washington slumbers, + And his natal day comes with the angels of spring. + We follow thy counsels, + O hero eternal! + To highest achievement thy school leads the van, + And, crowning thy brow with the evergreen vernal, + We pledge thee our all to the service of man! + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON-MONTH[7] + +BY WILL CARLETON + + February--February-- + How your moods and actions vary + Or to seek or shun! + Now a smile of sunlight lifting, + Now in chilly snowflakes drifting; + Now with icy shuttles creeping + Silver webs are spun. + Now, with leaden torrents leaping, + Oceanward you run, + Now with bells you blithely sing, + 'Neath the stars or sun; + Now a blade of burdock bring + To the suffering one; + February--you are very + Dear, when all is done: + Many blessings rest above you, + You one day (and so we love you) + Gave us Washington. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] _By permission of the author_. + + + + +II + +EARLY YEARS + + +A GLIMPSE OF WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE + +BY GRACE B. JOHNSON + +From _The Christian Endeavor World_ + +Seldom visited and almost unknown is the Wakefield Farm in Virginia, the +birthplace of our first President. Recent attempts have been made to +popularize the place, but there is little to attract the ordinary +traveler; and its distance from a city makes excursions impracticable. + +Lying on the Potomac River, about seventy miles below the city of +Washington, one edge of the estate reaches down a steep, wooded bank to +dip into the water, while, stretching back, it rambles on in grassy +meadows and old stubble-fields to the corn-lands and orchards of the +adjoining plantations. Skirting the land on one side is Pope's Creek, +formerly Bridges' Creek, which in Washington's time was used as the main +approach to the estate. On this side there is an easy, undulating slope; +but this entrance has been abandoned. Only at high tide can small boats +enter the creek, and another way had to be adopted. An iron pier nearly +two miles away has been built, and is the landing-place for large and +small craft. + +All is quiet here now. There is only the rustle of the leaves, the +drowsy hum of insects, and the interrupted discourse of the +preacher-bird in the clump of trees near which stood the first home of +Washington, to break the stillness on a summer day. No one lives here. +Indeed, no one has lived here since the fire which destroyed the house +and negro cabins, in Washington's boyhood. But here the baby life was +spent, in the homestead founded by his great-grandfather, John +Washington, who came from England in 1657. + +Only a heap of broken bits grown over with catnip showed the place of +the great brick chimney the first time I visited the farm; and the +second time these, too, were gone. Now a plain, graceful shaft, bearing +the simple inscription, "Washington's Birthplace," and below, "Erected +by the United States, A.D. 1895," marks the place. + +From the monument through the trees, can be seen the gleaming river, +rippling its way silently to the bay, and over all rests the same +brooding sense of peace and quietness which one feels at Mt. Vernon or +at Arlington, the city of our nation's dead. + + * * * * * + +SOMETHING OF GEORGE WASHINGTON'S +BOYHOOD + +ANONYMOUS + +From _The Evangelist_ + +George Washington was born at a time when savagery had just departed +from the country, leaving freshness and vigor behind. The Indian had +scarcely left the woods, and the pirate the shore near his home. His +grandfather had seen his neighbor lying tomahawked at his door-sill, and +his father had helped to chase beyond the mountains the whooping savages +that carried the scalps of his friends at their girdle. The year his +brother was born, John Maynard's ship had sailed up the James River with +the bloody head of Blackbeard hanging to the bowsprit. + +He had only one uncle, a brother Lawrence, and a cousin Augustine, all +older than he, but the youngest of his older brothers was twelve years +of age when George was born, while his cousin Augustine was only four +years older, and his cousin Lawrence six years older than himself. When +he was seven years old his sister Betty was a little lass of six. Two +brothers, Samuel and John, were nearing their fourth and fifth +birthdays. Charles, his baby brother, was still in his nurse's arms. +Early the shadow of death crossed his boyish path, for his baby sister, +Mildred, born soon after he was seven, died before he was nine. + +The first playmate Washington had, out of his own immediate family, was +another Lawrence Washington, a very distant cousin, who lived at Chotauk +on the Potomac, and who, with his brother, Robert Washington, early won +Washington's regard, and kept it through life. When Washington made his +will he remembered them, writing, "to the acquaintances and friends of +my juvenile years, Lawrence Washington and Robert Washington, I give my +other two gold-headed canes having my arms engraved on them." + +It was at Chotauk, with Lal and Bob Washington, that George Washington +first met with traffic between the old world and the new. There was no +money used except tobacco notes, which passed among merchants in London +and Amsterdam as cash. Foreign ships brought across the ocean goods that +the Virginians needed, and the captains sold the goods for these tobacco +notes. Much of Washington's time was spent with these boys, and when he +grew old he recalled the young eyes of the Chotauk lads, as they, with +him, had stood on the river-bank vainly trying to see clearly some +object beyond vision, and in memory of the time he wrote in his will, +"To each I leave one of my spy-glasses which constituted part of my +equipage during the late war." + +Of Washington's first school there is no record or tradition other than +that gathered by Parson Weems. He says: "The first place of education to +which George was ever sent was a little old field school kept by one of +his father's tenants, named Hobby, an honest, poor old man, who acted +in the double capacity of sexton and schoolmaster. Of his skill as a +gravedigger tradition is silent; but for a teacher of youth his +qualifications were certainly of the humbler sort, making what is +generally called an A, B, C schoolmaster. While at school under Mr. +Hobby he used to divide his playmates into parties and armies. One of +them was called the French and the other American. A big boy named +William Bustle commanded the former; George commanded the latter, and +every day with cornstalks for muskets and calabashes [gourds] for drums, +the two armies would turn out and march and fight." + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S TRAINING + +BY CHARLES WENTWORTH UPHAM + +Among the mountain passes of the Blue Ridge and the Alleghanies, a youth +is seen employed in the manly and invigorating occupation of a surveyor, +and awakening the admiration of the backwoodsmen and savage chieftains +by the strength and endurance of his frame and the resolution and energy +of his character. In his stature and conformation he is a noble specimen +of a man. In the various exercises of muscular power, on foot, or in the +saddle, he excels all competitors. His admirable physical traits are in +perfect accordance with the properties of his mind and heart; and over +all, crowning all, is a beautiful, and, in one so strong, a strange +dignity of manner, and of mien--a calm seriousness, a sublime +self-control, which at once compels the veneration, attracts the +confidence, and secures the favor of all who behold him. That youth is +the Leader whom Heaven is preparing to conduct America through her +approaching trial. + +As we see him voluntarily relinquishing the enjoyments, luxuries, and +ease of the opulent refinement in which he was born and bred, and +choosing the perils and hardships of the wilderness; as we follow him +fording swollen streams, climbing rugged mountains, breasting the forest +storms, wading through snowdrifts, sleeping in the open air, living upon +the coarse food of hunters and of Indians, we trace with devout +admiration the divinely appointed education he was receiving to enable +him to meet and endure the fatigues, exposures, and privations of the +War of Independence. + +Soon he was called to a more public sphere of action; and we again, +follow him in his romantic adventures as he travels the far-off +wilderness, a special messenger to the French commander on the Ohio, and +afterwards, when he led forth the troops of Virginia in the same +direction, or accompanied the ill-starred Braddock to the blood-stained +banks of the Monongahela. Everywhere we see the hand of God conducting +him into danger, that he might extract from it the wisdom of an +experience not otherwise to be obtained, and develop those heroic +qualities by which alone danger and difficulty can be surmounted; but +all the while covering him with a shield. + +When we think of him, at midnight and in midwinter, thrown from a frail +raft into the deep and angry waters of a wide and rushing Western river, +thus separated from his only companion through the wilderness with no +aid for miles and leagues about him, buffeting the rapid current and +struggling through driving cakes of ice; when we behold the stealthy +savage, whose aim against all other marks is unerring, pointing his +rifle deliberately at him, and firing over and over again; when we see +him riding through showers of bullets on Braddock's fatal field, and +reflect that never, during his whole life, was he ever wounded, or even +touched by a hostile force--do we not feel that he was guarded by an +unseen hand, warding off every danger? No peril by flood or field was +permitted to extinguish a life consecrated to the hopes of humanity and +to the purposes of Heaven. + +For more than sixteen years he rested from his warfare, amid the shades +of Mount Vernon; ripening his mind by reading and reflection, increasing +his knowledge of practical affairs, entering into the whole experience +of a citizen at home and on his farm, and as a delegate to the Colonial +Assembly. When, at last, the war broke out, and the unanimous voice of +the Continental Congress invested him, as the exigency required, with +almost unbounded authority, as their Commander-in-Chief, he blended, +although still in the prime of his life, in the mature bloom of his +manhood, the attributes of a sage with those of a hero. A more +perfectly fitted and furnished character has never appeared on the +theater of human action than when, reining up his war-horse beneath the +majestic and venerable elm, still standing at the entrance of the +Watertown road to Cambridge, George Washington unsheathed his sword and +assumed the command of the gathered armies of American Liberty. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON AS HE LOOKED + +From _The Christian Endeavor World_ + +According to Captain Mercer, the following describes Washington when he +took his seat in the House of Burgesses in 1759: + + He is as straight as an Indian, measuring six feet two inches in + his stockings, and weighing one hundred and seventy-five pounds. + His head is well shaped, though not large, and is gracefully poised + on a superb neck, with a large, and straight rather than prominent + nose; blue-gray penetrating eyes, which are widely separated and + overhung by heavy brows. A pleasing, benevolent, though commanding + countenance, dark-brown hair, features regular and placid, with all + the muscles under control, with a large mouth, generally firmly + closed. + +Houdon's bust accords with this description. + + + + +III + +THE GENERAL + + +WASHINGTON IS APPOINTED COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF[8] + +BY SYDNEY GEORGE FISHER + +On the 16th of June, the day before the battle of Bunker Hill, the +Congress, having accepted Massachusetts' gift of the army before Boston, +gave the command of it to Colonel George Washington, of Virginia, and +made him a general and commander-in-chief of all the forces of the +patriot cause. + +Hancock, it is said, had ambitions in that direction, and was somewhat +disappointed at the choice. But the fitness of Washington for the office +was generally admitted as soon as John Adams urged his appointment. He +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 +of the diplomat. + +But much to the surprise of travelers and visitors, Washington never +appeared to be a brilliant man. He was always a trifle reserved, and +this habit grew on him with years. His methods of work were homely and +painstaking, reminding us somewhat of Lincoln; and the laborious +carefulness of his military plans seemed to European critics to imply a +lack of genius. + +But it was difficult to judge him by European standards, because the +conditions of the warfare he conducted were totally unlike anything in +Europe. He never commanded a real army with well-organized departments +and good equipment. His troops were usually barefooted, half-starved, +and for several years incapable of performing the simplest parade +manoeuvre. Brilliant movements, except on a small scale, as at +Princeton, were rarely within his reach; and large complicated movements +were impossible because he had not the equipment of officers and +organization for handling large bodies of men spread out over a great +extent of country. He was obliged to adopt the principle of +concentration and avoid making detachments or isolated movements that +could be cut off by the British. To some of his contemporaries it +therefore seemed that his most striking ability lay in conciliating +local habits and prejudices, harmonizing discordant opinions, and +holding together an army which seemed to the British always on the eve +of disbanding. + +He reasoned out, however, in his own way, the peculiar needs of every +military position, and how he did this will appear more clearly as our +narrative progresses. He often spoke of his own lack of military +experience, as well as of the lack of it in the officers about him; and +this seems to have led him to study every situation like a beginner, +with exhaustive care, consulting with everybody, calling councils of war +on every possible occasion, and reasoning out his plans with minute +carefulness. This method, which his best friends sometimes ridiculed, +was in striking contrast to the method of one of his own officers, +General Greene, and also to the method of Grant in the Civil War. Both +Greene and Grant dispensed altogether with laborious consultations and +councils of war. + +But the laborious method was well suited to Washington, whose mind was +never satisfied unless it could strike a balance among a great mass of +arguments and details which must be obtained from others, and not +through his own imagination. He liked to reserve his decision until the +last moment, and this trait was sometimes mistaken for weakness. His +preparedness and devotion to details remind us of Napoleon. His +cautious, balancing, weighing habit, developed by lifelong practice, +runs through all his letters and every act of his life, appearing in +some of the great events of his career as a superb and masterful +equipoise. It became very impressive even to those who ridiculed it; it +could inspire confidence through years of disaster and defeat; and it +enabled him to grasp the general strategy of the war so thoroughly that +no military critic has ever detected him in a mistake. + +As a soldier he fought against distinguished British officers four +pitched battles--Long Island, Brandywine, Germantown, and Monmouth; in +the first three of which he was defeated, and the last was a draw. He +conducted two sieges--Boston and Yorktown--in both of which he was +successful; and he destroyed two outposts--Trenton and Princeton--in a +manner generally regarded as so brilliant and effective that he saved +the patriot cause from its first period of depression. His +characteristics as a soldier were farseeing judgment and circumspection, +a certain long-headedness, as it might be called, and astonishing +ability to recover from and ignore a defeat. In his pitched battles, +like Long Island and Brandywine, he knew that defeat was probable, and +he prepared for it.[9] + +He was compelled to act so much on the defensive, and the British +methods were so slow, that his activities in the field were not numerous +when we consider that he was in command for seven years. The greater +part of his time and energy was employed in building up the cause by +mild, balanced, but wonderfully effective arguments; reconciling +animosities by tactful precautions; and by the confidence his +personality inspired preventing the army from disbanding. A large part +of this labor was put forth in writing letters of wonderful beauty and +perfection in the literary art, when we consider the end they were to +accomplish. Complete editions of his writings of this sort usually fill +a dozen or more large volumes; and there have been few if any great +generals of the world who have accomplished so much by writing, or who +have been such consummate masters of language. + +Sufficient care has not always been taken to distinguish between the +different periods of his life. He aged rapidly at the close of the +Revolution; his reserved manner and a certain "asperity of temper," as +Hamilton called it, greatly increased; and some years afterwards, when +President, he had become a very silent and stiffly formal man, far +different from the young soldier who, in the prime of life, drew his +sword beneath the old elm at Cambridge to take command of the patriot +army. + +The Virginians of his time appear to have had occupations and social +intercourse which educated them in a way we are unable to imitate. +Washington in his prime was a social and convivial man, fond of cards, +fine horses, and fox-hunting. Although not usually credited with book +learning, his letters and conduct in the Revolution show that he was +quite familiar with the politics of foreign countries and the general +information of his time. We have not yet learned to appreciate the full +force of his intellect and culture. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] From "The Struggle for American Independence," by Sydney George +Fisher. Copyright by J.B. Lippincott & Co., Philadelphia. + +[9] Limiting by his foresight the extent of his loss, guarding by his +disposition security of retreat, and repairing with celerity the injury +sustained, his relative condition was often ameliorated, although +victory adorned the brow of his adversary.--LEE, _Memoirs_, Vol. I, p. +237. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON AT TRENTON[10] + +_The Battle Monument, October 19, 1893_ + +BY RICHARD WATSON GILDER + + Since ancient Time began + Ever on some great soul God laid an infinite burden-- + The weight of all this world, the hopes of man. + Conflict and pain, and fame immortal are his guerdon! + + And this the unfaltering token + Of him, the Deliverer--what though tempests beat, + Though all else fail, though bravest ranks be broken, + He stands unscared, alone, nor ever knows defeat + + Such was that man of men; + And if are praised all virtues, every fame + Most noble, highest, purest--then, ah! then, + Upleaps in every heart the name none needs to name. + + Ye who defeated, 'whelmed, + Betray the sacred cause, let go the trust; + Sleep, weary, while the vessel drifts unhelmed; + Here see in triumph rise the hero from the dust! + + All ye who fight forlorn + 'Gainst fate and failure; ye who proudly cope + With evil high enthroned; all ye who scorn + Life from Dishonor's hand, here take new heart of hope. + + Here know how Victory borrows + For the brave soul a front as of disaster, + And in the bannered East what glorious morrows + For all the blackness of the night speed surer, faster. + + Know by this pillared sign + For what brief while the powers of earth and hell + Can war against the spirit of truth divine, + Or can against the heroic heart of man prevail. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[10] _By permission of the publishers, Houghton, Mifflin & Co._ + + * * * * * + +GEORGE WASHINGTON + +From "_Washington and the Generals of the Revolution_" + +It is a truth, illustrated in daily experience, and yet rarely noted or +acted upon, that, in all that concerns the appreciation of personal +character or ability, the instinctive impressions of a community are +quicker in their action, more profoundly appreciant, and more reliable, +than the intellectual perceptions of the ablest men in the community. +Upon all those subjects that are of moral apprehension, society seems to +possess an intelligence of its own, infinitely sensitive in its +delicacy, and almost conclusive in the certainty of its determinations; +indirect, and unconscious in its operation, yet unshunnable in sagacity, +and as strong and confident as nature itself. The highest and finest +qualities of human judgment seem to be in commission among the nation, +or the race. It is by such a process, that whenever a true hero appears +among mankind, the recognition of his character, by the general sense of +humanity, is instant and certain: the belief of the chief priests and +rulers of mind, follows later, or comes not at all. The perceptions of a +public are as subtly-sighted, as its passions are blind. It sees, and +feels, and knows the excellence, which it can neither understand, nor +explain, nor vindicate. These involuntary opinions of people at large +explain themselves, and are vindicated by events, and form at last the +constants of human understanding. A character of the first order of +greatness, such as seems to pass out of the limits and course of +ordinary life, often lies above the ken of intellectual judgment; but +its merits and its infirmities never escape the sleepless perspicacity +of the common sentiment, which no novelty of form can surprise, and no +mixture of qualities can perplex. The mind--the logical +faculty--comprehends a subject, when it can trace in it the same +elements, or relations, which it is familiar with elsewhere: if it finds +but a faint analogy of form or substance, its decision is embarrassed. +But this other instinct seems to become subtler, and more rapid, and +more absolute in conviction, at the line where reason begins to falter. +Take the case of Shakespeare. His surpassing greatness was never +acknowledged by the learned until the nation had ascertained and settled +it as a foregone and questionless conclusion. Even now, to the most +sagacious mind of this time, the real ground and evidence of its own +assurance of Shakespeare's supremacy, is the universal, deep, immovable +conviction of it in the public feeling. There have been many acute +essays upon his minor characteristics; but intellectual criticism has +never grappled with Shakespearian art, in its entireness and grandeur, +and probably it never will. We know not now wherein his greatness +consists. We cannot demonstrate it. There is less indistinctness in the +merit of less eminent authors. Those things which are not doubts to our +consciousness, are yet mysteries to our mind. And if this is true of +literary art, which is so much within the sphere of reflection, it may +be expected to find more striking illustration in great practical and +public moral characters. + +These considerations occur naturally to the mind in contemplating the +fame of Washington. An attentive examination of the whole subject, and +of all that can contribute to the formation of a sound opinion, results +in the belief that General Washington's _mental_ abilities illustrate +the very highest type of greatness. His _mind_, probably, was one of +the very greatest that was ever given to mortality. Yet it is impossible +to establish that position by a direct analysis of his character, or +conduct, or productions. When we look at the incidents or the results of +that great career--when we contemplate the qualities by which it is +marked from its beginning to its end--the foresight which never was +surprised, the judgment which nothing could deceive, the wisdom whose +resources were incapable of exhaustion--combined with a spirit as +resolute in its official duties as it was moderate in its private +pretensions, as indomitable in its public temper as it was gentle in its +personal tone--we are left in wonder and reverence. But when we would +enter into the recesses of that mind--when we would discriminate upon +its construction, and reason upon its operations--when we would tell how +it was composed, and why it excelled--we are entirely at fault. The +processes of Washington's understanding are entirely hidden from us. +What came from it, in counsel or in action, was the life and glory of +his country; what went on within it, is shrouded in impenetrable +concealment. Such elevation in degree, of wisdom, amounts almost to a +change of kind, in nature, and detaches his intelligence from the +sympathy of ours. We cannot see him as he was, because we are not like +him. The tones of the mighty bell were heard with the certainty of Time +itself, and with a force that vibrates still upon the air of life, and +will vibrate forever. But the clock-work, by which they were regulated +and given forth, we can neither see nor understand. In fact, his +intellectual abilities did not exist in an analytical and separated +form; but in a combined and concrete state. They "moved altogether when +they moved at all." They were in no degree speculative, but only +practical. They could not act at all in the region of imagination, but +only upon the field of reality. The sympathies of his intelligence +dwelt exclusively in the national being and action. Its interests and +energies were absorbed in them. He was nothing out of that sphere, +because he was everything there. The extent to which he was identified +with the country is unexampled in the relations of individual men to the +community. During the whole period of his life he was the thinking part +of the nation. He was its mind; it was his image and illustration. If we +would classify and measure him, it must be with nations, and not with +individuals. + +This extraordinary nature of Washington's capacities--this impossibility +of analyzing and understanding the elements and methods of his +wisdom--have led some persons to doubt whether, intellectually, he was +of great superiority; but the public--the community--never doubted of +the transcendant eminence of Washington's abilities. From the first +moment of his appearance as the chief, the recognition of him, from one +end of the country to the other, as THE MAN--the leader, the counselor, +the infallible in suggestion and in conduct--was immediate and +universal. From that moment to the close of the scene, the national +confidence in his capacity was as spontaneous, as enthusiastic, as +immovable, as it was in his integrity. Particular persons, affected by +the untoward course of events, sometimes questioned his sufficiency; but +the nation never questioned it, nor would allow it to be questioned. +Neither misfortune, nor disappointment, nor accidents, nor delay, nor +the protracted gloom of years, could avail to disturb the public trust +in him. It was apart from circumstances; it was beside the action of +caprice; it was beyond all visionary, and above all changeable feelings. +It was founded on nothing extraneous; not upon what he had said or done, +but upon what he was. They saw something in the man, which gave them +assurance of a nature and destiny of the highest elevation--something +inexplicable, but which inspired a complete satisfaction. We feel that +this reliance was wise and right; but why it was felt, or why it was +right, we are as much to seek as those who came under the direct +impression of his personal presence. It is not surprising, that the +world recognizing in this man a nature and a greatness which philosophy +cannot explain, should revere him almost to religion. The distance and +magnitude of those objects which are too far above us to be estimated +directly--such as stars--are determined by their parallax. By some +process of that kind we may form an approximate notion of Washington's +greatness. We may measure him against the great events in which he +moved; and against the great men, among whom, and above whom, his figure +stood like a tower. It is agreed that the War of American Independence +is one of the most exalted, and honorable, and difficult achievements +related in history. Its force was contributed by many; but its grandeur +was derived from Washington. His character and wisdom gave unity, and +dignity, and effect to the irregular, and often divergent enthusiasm of +others. His energy combined the parts; his intelligence guided the +whole: his perseverance, and fortitude, and resolution, were the +inspiration and support of all. In looking back over that period, his +presence seems to fill the whole scene; his influence predominates +throughout; his character is reflected from everything. Perhaps nothing +less than his immense weight of mind could have kept the national +system, at home, in that position which it held, immovably, for seven +years; perhaps nothing but the august respectability which his demeanor +threw around the American cause abroad, would have induced a foreign +nation to enter into an equal alliance with us upon terms that +contributed in a most important degree to our final success, or would +have caused Great Britain to feel that no great indignity was suffered +in admitting the claim to national existence of a people who had such a +representative as Washington. What but the most eminent qualities of +mind and feeling--discretion superhuman--readiness of invention, and +dexterity of means, equal to the most desperate affairs--endurance, +self-control, regulated ardor, restrained passion, caution mingled with +boldness, and all the contrarieties of moral excellence--could have +expanded the life of an individual into a career such as this? + +If we compare him with the great men who were his contemporaries +throughout the nation; in an age of extraordinary personages, Washington +was unquestionably the first man of the time in ability. Review the +correspondence of General Washington--that sublime monument of +intelligence and integrity--scrutinize the public history and the +public men of that era, and you will find that in all the wisdom that +was accomplished or was attempted, Washington was before every man in +his suggestions of the plan, and beyond every one in the extent to which +he contributed to its adoption. In the field, all the able generals +acknowledged his superiority, and looked up to him with loyalty, +reliance, and reverence; the others, who doubted his ability, or +conspired against his sovereignty, illustrated, in their own conduct, +their incapacity to be either his judges or his rivals. In the state, +Adams, Jay, Rutledge, Pinckney, Morris--these are great names; but there +is not one whose wisdom does not vail to his. His superiority was felt +by all these persons, and was felt by Washington himself, as a simple +matter of fact, as little a subject of question, or a cause of vanity, +as the eminence of his personal stature. His appointment as +commander-in-chief was the result of no design on his part; and of no +efforts on the part of his friends; it seemed to take place +spontaneously. He moved into the position, because there was a vacuum +which no other could supply: in it, he was not sustained by government, +by a party, or by connections; he sustained himself; and then he +sustained everything else. He sustained Congress against the army, and +the army against the injustice of Congress. The brightest mind among his +contemporaries was Hamilton's; a character which cannot be contemplated +without frequent admiration, and constant affection. His talents took +the form of genius, which Washington's did not. But active, various, +and brilliant, as the faculties of Hamilton were, whether viewed in the +precocity of youth, or in the all-accomplished elegance of maturer +life--lightning-quick as his intelligence was to see through every +subject that came before it, and vigorous as it was in constructing the +argumentation by which other minds were to be led, as upon a shapely +bridge, over the obscure depths across which his had flashed in a +moment--fertile and sound in schemes, ready in action, splendid in +display, as he was--nothing is more obvious and certain than that when +Mr. Hamilton approached Washington, he came into the presence of one who +surpassed him in the extent, in the comprehension, the elevation, the +sagacity, the force, and the ponderousness of his mind, as much as he +did in the majesty of his aspect and the grandeur of his step. The +genius of Hamilton was a flower, which gratifies, surprises, and +enchants; the intelligence of Washington was a stately tree, which in +the rarity and true dignity of its beauty is as superior as it is in its +dimensions. + + * * * * * + +VALLEY FORGE + +BY HENRY ARMITT BROWN + +_From Centennial Address delivered at Valley Forge, June 19, 1878_ + +The century that has gone by has changed the face of Nature, and wrought +a revolution in the habits of mankind. We to-day behold the dawn of an +extraordinary age. Man has advanced with such astounding speed, that, +breathless, we have reached a moment when it seems as if distance had +been annihilated, time made as nought, the invisible seen, the +intangible felt, and the impossible accomplished. Already we knock at +the door of a new century, which promises to be infinitely brighter and +more enlightened and happier than this. + +We know that we are more fortunate than our fathers. We believe that our +children shall be happier than we. We know that this century is more +enlightened than the past. We believe that the time to come will be +better and more glorious than this. We think, we believe, we hope, but +we do not know. Across that threshold we may not pass; behind that veil +we may not penetrate. It may be vouchsafed us to behold it, wonderingly, +from afar, but never to enter in. It matters not. The age in which we +live is but a link in the endless and eternal chain. Our lives are like +sands upon the shore; our voices, like the breath of this summer breeze +that stirs the leaf for a moment, and is forgotten. The last survivor of +this mighty multitude shall stay but a little while. The endless +generations are advancing to take our places as we fall. For them, as +for us, shall the years march by in the sublime procession of the ages. + +And here, in this place of sacrifice, in this vale of humiliation, in +this valley of the shadow of death, out of which the life of America +rose regenerate and free, let us believe, with an abiding faith, that to +them union will seem as dear, and liberty as sweet, and progress as +glorious, as they were to our fathers and are to you and me, and that +the institutions which have made us happy, preserved by the virtue of +our children, shall bless the remotest generation of the time to come. +And unto Him who holds in the hollow of His hand the fate of nations, +and yet marks the sparrow's fall, let us lift up our hearts this day, +and unto His eternal care commend ourselves, our children, and our +country. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE + +BY CANON R.G. SUTHERLAND + + With his lean, ragged levies, undismayed, + He crouched among the vigilant hills; a show + To the disdainful, heaven-blinded foe. + Unlauded, unsupported, disobeyed, + Thwarted, maligned, conspired against, betrayed-- + Yet nothing could unheart him. Wouldst thou know + His secret? There, in that thicket on the snow, + Washington knelt before his God, and prayed. + + Close in their lair for perilous months and days + He held in leash his wolves, grim, shelterless, + Gaunt, hunger-bitten, stanch to the uttermost; + Then, when the hour was come for hardiness + Rallied, and rushed them on the reeling host; + And Monmouth planted Yorktown's happy bays! + + * * * * * + +A FRENCHMAN'S ESTIMATE OF WASHINGTON IN 1781 + +BY CLAUDE C. ROBIN + +From _Magazine of American History_. + +_The following extract from a letter written by Abbe Robin, chaplain in +the French army in America, and bearing date "Camp of Phillipsburg, +August 4, 1781," a few weeks after his arrival in this country, is very +suggestive. This letter was the first of a series of thirteen letters +from the Abbe while in America, which were published in Paris in 1782. +He writes_: + +I have seen General Washington, that most singular man--the soul and +support of one of the greatest revolutions that has ever happened, or +can happen. I fixed my eyes upon him with that keen attention which the +sight of a great man always inspires. We naturally entertain a secret +hope of discovering in the features of such illustrious persons some +traces of that genius which distinguishes them from, and elevates them +above, their fellow mortals. + +Perhaps the exterior of no man was better calculated to gratify these +expectations than that of General Washington. He is of a tall and noble +stature, well proportioned, a fine, cheerful, open countenance, a simple +and modest carriage; and his whole mien has something in it that +interests the French, the Americans, and even enemies themselves, in +his favor. Placed in a military view, at the head of a nation where each +individual has a share in the supreme legislative authority, and where +coercive laws are yet in a degree destitute of vigor, where the climate +and manners can add but little to their energy, where the spirit of +party, private interest, slowness and national indolence, slacken, +suspend, and overthrow the best concerted measures; although so situated +he has found out a method of keeping his troops in the most absolute +subordination; making them rivals in praising him; fearing him when he +is silent, and retaining their full confidence in him after defeats and +disgrace. His reputation has, at length, arisen to a most brilliant +height; and he may now grasp at the most unbounded power, without +provoking envy or exciting suspicion. He has ever shown himself superior +to fortune, and in the most trying adversity has discovered resources +until then unknown: and, as if his abilities only increased and dilated +at the prospect of difficulty, he is never better supplied than when he +seems destitute of everything, nor have his arms ever been so fatal to +his enemies, as at the very instant when they thought they had crushed +him forever. It is his to excite a spirit of heroism and enthusiasm in a +people who are by nature very little susceptible of it; to gain over the +respect and homage of those whose interest it is to refuse it, and to +execute his plans and projects by means unknown even to those who are +his instruments; he is intrepid in dangers, yet never seeks them but +when the good of his country demands it, preferring rather to temporize +and act upon the defensive, because he knows such a mode of conduct best +suits the genius and circumstances of the nation, and all that he and +they have to expect, depends upon time, fortitude, and patience; he is +frugal and sober in regard to himself, but profuse in the public cause; +like Peter the Great, he has by defeats conducted his army to victory; +and like Fabius, but with fewer resources and more difficulty, he has +conquered without fighting, and saved his country. + +Such are the ideas that arise in the mind at the sight of this great +man, in examining the events in which he had a share, or in listening to +those whose duty obliges them to be near his person, and consequently +best display his character. In all these extensive States they consider +him in the light of a beneficent god, dispensing peace and happiness +around him. Old men, women, and children press about him when he +accidentally passes along, and think themselves happy, once in their +lives, to have seen him--they follow him through the towns with torches, +and celebrate his arrival by public illuminations. The Americans, that +cool and sedate people, who in the midst of their most trying +difficulties, have attended only to the directions and impulses of plain +method and common sense, are roused, animated, and inflamed at the very +mention of his name: and the first songs that sentiment or gratitude has +dictated, have been to celebrate General Washington. + + + + +IV + +THE PRESIDENT + + +WASHINGTON AND THE CONSTITUTION + +BY JOHN M. HARLAN + +It is the concurring judgment of political thinkers, that no event in +all the history of the Anglo-Saxon race has been more far-reaching in +its consequences than the organization of the present Government of the +United States. And it is in every sense appropriate to connect the name +of Washington with the Constitution which brought that government into +existence. It is appropriate because his splendid leadership of the +Revolutionary armies made it possible to establish upon this continent a +government resting upon the consent of the governed, yet strong enough +to maintain its existence and authority whenever assailed. + +But it is especially appropriate for the reason that he was among the +first of the great men of the Revolutionary period to discern the +inherent defects in the articles of confederation; and but for his +efforts to bring about a more perfect union of the people, the existing +Constitution, it is believed, would not have been accepted by the +requisite number of States. He was indeed the pioneer of the Union +established by that Constitution. Of the accuracy of these statements +there is abundant evidence. + +We are only in the spring-time of our national life, and yet we have +realized all that Washington could possibly have anticipated from the +creation of the present Government. What more could be desired in a +system of government than is secured in the existing organizations of +the General and State governments with their respective powers so +admirably adjusted and distributed as to draw from Gladstone the remark +that the American Constitution was "the most wonderful work ever struck +off at one time by the brain and purpose of man"? + +Despite the fears of many patriotic statesmen at the time of the +adoption of the Constitution, that that instrument would destroy the +liberties of the people, every genuine American rejoices in the fullness +of a grateful heart that we have a government under which the humblest +person in our midst has a feeling of safety and repose not vouchsafed to +the citizen or subject of any other country; with powers ample for the +protection of the life of the nation and adequate for all purposes of a +general nature, yet so restricted by the law of its creation in the +exercise of its powers, that it cannot rightfully encroach upon those +reserved to the States or to the people. + +I will not allude to or discuss particular theories of constitutional +construction, but I may say, and I am glad that it can be truthfully +said, that the mass of the people concur in holding that only by +maintaining the just powers of both the National and State governments +can we preserve in their integrity the fundamental principles of +American liberty. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S ADMINISTRATION[11]--1789-1797 + +BY EDWARD S. ELLIS + +WASHINGTON'S PATRIOTISM.--Washington would have preferred to spend the +remainder of his life in his tranquil home at Mount Vernon, but his +patriotism would not allow him to disregard the call of his country. He +had so little money at the time, that his home was threatened by the +sheriff, and he had to borrow funds with which to pay his most pressing +debts. + +WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION.--The President-elect left Mount Vernon on +April 16, and the entire journey to New York was a continual ovation. He +received honors at almost every step of the way, and was welcomed to the +nation's capital by the joyous thousands who felt that no reward could +be too great for the illustrious patriot that had enshrined himself +forever in the hearts of his loving countrymen. The inauguration +ceremonies took place April 30, in Federal Hall, on the present site of +the sub-treasury building. Chancellor Robert R. Livingston of New York +administered the oath, in a balcony of the Senate chamber, in full view +of the vast concourse on the outside, who cheered the great man to the +echo. Other ceremonies followed, Washington showing deep emotion at the +manifestation of love and loyalty on the part of all. + +THE FIRST CONSTITUTIONAL CONGRESS.--The first session of the first +Constitutional Congress was chiefly occupied in setting the government +machinery in motion. The following nominations for the first Cabinet +were made by Washington, and confirmed by the Senate: Thomas Jefferson, +secretary of foreign affairs, afterward known as secretary of state; +Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury; Henry Knox, secretary of +war; and Edmund Randolph, attorney-general. John Jay was appointed chief +justice of the supreme court, with John Rutledge, James Wilson, William +Cushing, Robert H. Harrison, and John Blair associates. (The Senate +refused to confirm the nomination of Rutledge.) + +FEDERALISTS AND REPUBLICANS.--The most urgent question was that of +finance. Hamilton handled it with great skill. The debt of the +confederation and States was almost eighty million dollars. Hamilton's +plan, as submitted to Congress, called for the payment by the United +States of every dollar due to American citizens, and also the war debt +of the country. There was strong opposition to the scheme, but it +prevailed. The discussions in Congress brought out the lines between the +Federalists and the Republicans, or, as they were afterward called, +Democrats. The Federalists favored the enlargement of the powers of the +general government, while the Republicans insisted upon holding the +government to the exact letter of the Constitution, and giving to the +individual States all rights not expressly prohibited by the +Constitution. + +THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENT.--North Carolina did not adopt the Constitution +until November 13, 1789. Little Rhode Island sulked until Massachusetts +and Connecticut proposed to parcel her between them, when she came to +terms and adopted the Constitution, May 29, 1790. It was decided to +transfer the seat of government to Philadelphia until 1800, when it was +to be permanently fixed upon the eastern bank of the Potomac. The third +session of the first Congress, therefore, was held in Philadelphia, on +the first Monday in December, 1790. Through the efforts of Hamilton, the +United States Bank and a national mint were established in that city, +and did much to advance the prosperity of the country. + +A PROTECTIVE TARIFF.--In 1791, Hamilton made a memorable report to +Congress. In it he favored a protective tariff, recommending that the +materials from which goods are manufactured should not be taxed, and +advising that articles which competed with those made in this country +should be prohibited. These and other important features were embodied +in a bill, which was passed February 9, 1792. + +TROUBLE WITH THE INDIANS.--Trouble occurred with the Indians in the +Northwestern Territory and in the South. Georgia was dissatisfied with +the treaty, by which a considerable part of the State was relinquished +to the Indians. The difficulty in the Northwest was much more serious. +General Harmar was sent to punish the red men for their many outrages, +but was twice defeated. Then General St. Clair took his place. Before he +set out, Washington impressively warned him against being surprised, +but he, too, was beaten, and his army routed with great slaughter. + +"Mad Anthony" Wayne now took up the task, with nearly three thousand +men, and completed it thoroughly. At Fallen Timbers, August 20, 1794, he +met the combined tribes and delivered a crushing defeat, from which the +Indians did not recover for years. One year later, eleven hundred chiefs +and warriors met the United States commissioners at Fort Greenville and +signed a treaty of peace, relinquishing at the same time a vast tract of +land lying in the present States of Indiana and Michigan. + +THE WHISKEY REBELLION.--Among the important laws passed by Congress was +one imposing a duty on distilled spirits. This roused great opposition +in western Pennsylvania, where whiskey was the principal article of +manufacture and trade. The revolt there assumed such formidable +proportions that it became known as the "Whiskey Rebellion," and the +President was compelled to call out the militia, fifteen thousand +strong, to suppress it. + +WASHINGTON'S SECOND TERM.--Washington did not desire a second term, but +his countrymen would not permit him to decline. He again received all +the electoral votes cast, while the next highest number went to John +Adams. Strong party spirit was shown, Hamilton being the leader of the +Federalists, and Jefferson the foremost Republican. + +"CITIZEN GENET."--During Washington's administrations, France was +plunged into the bloodiest revolution known in history. Her +representative in this country was Edmond Charles Genet (zheh-na), +better known as "Citizen Genet." Landing at Charleston, South Carolina, +in April, 1793, he did not wait to present his credentials to the +government, but began enlisting soldiers and fitting out privateers for +the French service. Many thoughtless citizens encouraged him, but the +wise Washington, finding that Genet defied him, ended the business by +compelling his country to recall him. + +JAY'S TREATY.--There was much trouble also with Great Britain, but a +treaty was finally arranged with her by our special envoy, John Jay. One +of its provisions guaranteed payment to British citizens of debts due +them before the war. This caused much opposition, but the time came when +it was admitted that Jay's treaty was one of the best made by our +government. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] From "Young People's History of Our Country." Thomas R. Shewell & +Co., 1900. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON + +BY MARY WINGATE + + O noble brow, so wise in thought! + O heart, so true! O soul unbought! + O eye, so keen to pierce the night + And guide the "ship of state" aright! + O life, so simple, grand and free, + The humblest still may turn to thee. + O king, uncrowned! O prince of men! + When shall we see thy like again? + The century, just passed away, + Has felt the impress of thy sway, + While youthful hearts have stronger grown + And made thy patriot zeal their own. + In marble hall or lowly cot, + Thy name hath never been forgot. + The world itself is richer, far, + For the clear shining of a star. + And loyal hearts in years to run + Shall turn to thee, O Washington. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S INAUGURATION[12] + +BY EDWARD EVERETT HALE + +On the fourth of March, 1789, Elbridge Gerry, who had been chosen to the +Senate of the United States, wrote thus from New York to John Adams: + + My Dear Friend: I find, on inquiry, that you are elected + Vice-President, having three or four times the number of votes of + any other candidate. Maryland threw away their votes on Colonel + Harrison, and South Carolina on Governor Rutledge, being, with some + other states which were not unanimous for you, apprehensive that + this was a necessary step to prevent your election to the chair. On + this point they were mistaken, for the President, as I am informed + from pretty good authority, has a unanimous vote. It is the + universal wish of all that I have conferred with, and indeed their + expectation, that both General Washington and yourself will accept; + and should either refuse, it will have a very disagreeable effect. + The members present met to-day in the City Hall, there being about + eleven Senators and thirteen Representatives, and not constituting + a quorum in either house, they adjourned till to-morrow. + + Mrs. Gerry and the ladies join me in sincere regards to yourself, + your lady, Colonel and Mrs. Smith, and be assured I remain, etc. + + E. GERRY. + +So slow was the movement of news in those days, and so doubtful, even +after the election, were all men as to its results, Adams would not +start from Braintree, his home, till he knew he was elected, nor +Washington from Mt. Vernon. Charles Thompson, the Secretary of the old +Congress, arrived at Mt. Vernon on the fourteenth of April and +communicated to Washington the news of his election. No quorum of the +House of Representatives had been formed until the first of April, nor +of the Senate until the sixth. These bodies then counted the electoral +vote, with the result predicted by Gerry in his letter written two days +before. + +Washington waited a day before starting to the seat of Government. On +the sixteenth of April he started for New York. He writes in his diary: + + About ten o'clock I bade adieu to Mount Vernon, to private life and + to domestic felicity; and with a mind oppressed with more anxious + and painful sensations than I have words to express, set out for + New York in company with Mr. Thompson and Colonel Humphries, with + the best dispositions to render service to my country in obedience + to its call, but with less hope of answering its expectations. + +The journey began with a public dinner at Alexandria. Said the +gentlemen of Alexandria in their address to him: + + Farewell!... Go!... and make a grateful people happy, a people who + will be doubly grateful when they contemplate this recent sacrifice + for their interest. + +And Washington in his reply said: + + At my age, and in my circumstances, what prospects or advantages + could I propose to myself, for embarking again on the tempestuous + and uncertain ocean of public life? + +The journey went on with similar interruptions. The rule so often laid +down by the Virginians afterward that that is the best government which +governs least, was certainly well kept until the thirteenth of April. To +this hour the adventurous cyclist, stopping at some wayside inn to +refresh himself, may find upon the wall the picture of the maidens and +mothers of Trenton in New Jersey. Here Washington met a deputation sent +to him by Congress. A triumphal arch had been erected, and a row of +young girls dressed in white, a second row of ladies, and a third of +their mothers, awaited him. As he passed, the girls scattered flowers, +and sang the verses which Judge Marshall has preserved: + + Welcome, mighty chief, once more + Welcome to this grateful shore; + Now no mercenary foe + Aims again the fatal blow-- + Aims at thee the fatal blow. + + Virgins fair and matrons grave, + These thy conquering arm did save. + Build for thee triumphal bowers, + Strew, ye fair, his way with flowers-- + Strew your Hero's way with flowers. + +His progress through New Jersey was everywhere accompanied by similar +festivities--"festive illuminations, the ringing of bells, and the +booming of cannon." He had written to Governor Clinton, that he hoped he +might enter New York without ceremony; but this was hardly to be +expected. A committee of both houses met him at Elizabethtown; he +embarked in a splendid barge manned by thirteen pilots, masters of +vessels, and commanded by Commodore Nicholson; other barges and boats +fell in in the wake; and a nautical procession swept up the Bay of New +York. On board two vessels were parties of ladies and gentlemen, who +sang odes as Washington appeared. The ships in the harbor were dressed +in colors and fired salutes as he passed. On landing at Murray's Wharf +he was welcomed by Governor Clinton and General Knox. It is of the +landing at this point that the anecdote is told that an officer asked +Washington's orders, announcing himself as commanding his guard. +Washington, with his ready presence of mind, begged him to follow any +directions he had already received in the arrangements, but said that +for the future the affection of his fellow-citizens was all the guard +that he required. + +At the end of the day, in his diary, the sad man says: + + The acclamations of the people filled my mind with sensations as + painful as pleasing. + +It was some days before the formal inauguration. The two houses of +Congress did not know by what title they should address him, and a +committee had been appointed to discuss this subject. It was finally +agreed that the address should be simply, "To the President of the +United States"--a form which has remained to the present day. + +The inauguration finally took place on the thirtieth of April. + +On the thirtieth at last all things were ready, and the inauguration +went forward. The place was at what they then called Federal Hall, in +New York, and Chancellor Livingstone administered the oath: + + I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully administer and execute + the office of President of the United States, and will, to the best + of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of + the United States. + +A salute of thirteen guns followed, amid the cheers of thousands of +people. Washington then delivered his inaugural speech to both houses in +the Senate Chamber. After this ceremony he walked to St. Paul's Church, +where the Bishop of New York read prayers. Maclay, who was a Senator in +the first Congress, says: + + He was agitated and embarrassed more than he ever was by the + leveled cannon or pointed musket. He trembled and several times + could scarce make out to read his speech, though it must be + supposed he had often read it before. + +Fisher Ames says: + + He addressed the two houses in the Senate Chamber. It was a very + touching scene, and quite of a solemn kind. His aspect, grave + almost to sadness, his modesty, actually shaking, his voice deep, a + little tremulous, and so low as to call for close attention. + +John Adams had taken his place as President of the Senate two days +before. As he did not always in after life speak any too cordially of +Washington, it is worth noting that at this critical period he said that +he congratulated the people of America on "the prospect of an executive +authority in the hands of one whose portrait I shall not pretend to +draw.... Were I blessed with powers to do justice to his character, it +would be impossible to increase the confidence, or affection of his +country, or make the smallest addition to his glory. This can only be +effected by a discharge of the present exalted trust on the same +principles, with the same abilities and virtues which have uniformly +appeared in all his former conduct, public or private. May I +nevertheless be indulged to inquire, if we look over the catalogue of +the first magistrates of nations, whether they have been denominated +presidents or consuls, kings or princes, where shall we find one whose +commanding talents and virtues, whose overruling good fortune, have so +completely united all hearts and voices in his favor? who enjoyed the +esteem and admiration of foreign nations and fellow-citizens with equal +unanimity? Qualities so uncommon are no common blessings to the country +that possesses them. By these great qualities and their benign effects +has Providence marked out the head of this Nation, with a hand so +distinctly visible as to have been seen by all men, and mistaken by +none." + +Whether on this occasion, there were too much ceremony was a question +discussed at the time, in connection with the heated discussion as to +the etiquette of the new Administration. There is a correspondence +between Washington and an old friend, Stuart, of Virginia, who had told +him that the people of that State accused him of "regal manners." + +Washington's reply, with his usual good sense, answers a good many +questions which are bruited to-day. Dr. Albert Shaw, in the _Review of +Reviews_, once brought some of these questions forward. "How far is it +right for the people of a free state to kill their magistrates by +inches?" This is the question reduced to its simplest terms. It was +generally understood, when the late Governor Greenhalge died in +Massachusetts, that his career, invaluable to the people of that State +and of the country, had been cut off untimely by a certain etiquette, +which obtains in Massachusetts, that whenever there is a public dinner +the Governor of the State must be present and make a speech. With +reference to a somewhat similar notion, Washington says: + + Before the present custom was established I was unable to attend to + any business whatever. Gentlemen, consulting their own convenience + rather than mine, were calling from the time I rose from breakfast, + often before, until I sat down to dinner. To please everybody was + impossible. I therefore adopted that line of conduct which combined + public advantage with private convenience. + +In another place he says: + + Had I not adopted the principle of returning no visits, I should + have been unable to have attended to any sort of business. + +In contrast with the simple ceremonies at which a sensitive democracy +took exception, we find now that a great nation considers no honors too +profuse for the ceremonies which attend the inauguration of its chief +magistrate. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] Reprinted from _The Independent_. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTONIANA + +_Extracts from the Contemporary Newspapers and other Accounts of the +Inauguration of our First President in 1789_ + +From _The Massachusetts Sentinel_, May 6, 1789: + +New York, May 1. Yesterday the great and illustrious Washington, the +favorite son of liberty, and deliverer of his country, entered upon the +execution of the office of First Magistrate of the United States of +America; to which important station he had been unanimously called by +the united voice of the people. The ceremony which took place on this +occasion was truly grand and pleasing, and every heart seemed anxious to +testify the joy it felt on so memorable an event. His Excellency was +escorted from his house by a troop of light Dragoons, and the Legion, +under the command of Colonel Lewis, attended by a committee of the +Senate and House of Representatives, to Federal Hall, where he was +formally received by both Houses of Congress, assembled in the Senate +Chamber; after which he was conducted to the gallery in front of the +hall, accompanied by all the members when the oath prescribed by the +Constitution was administered to him by the Chancellor of this State, +who then said-- + + "Long live George Washington, + +"President of the United States;" which was answered by an immense +concourse of citizens, assembled on the occasion, by the loudest plaudit +and acclamation that love and veneration ever inspired. His Excellency +then made a speech to both Houses, and then proceeded, attended by +Congress, to St. Paul's Church, where Divine Service was performed by +the Right Rev. Samuel Provost, after which His Excellency was conducted +in form to his own house. In the evening a most magnificent and +brilliant display of fireworks was exhibited at the Fort, under the +direction of Colonel Beuman. The houses of the French and Spanish +Ministers were illuminated in a superb and elegant manner; a number of +beautiful transparent paintings were exhibited, which did infinite +credit to the parties concerned in the design and execution. + + * * * * * + +April 30. We have had this day one of those impressive sights which +dignify and adorn human nature. At nine o'clock all the churches were +opened--and the people, in prodigious numbers, thronged these sacred +temples--and, with one voice, put up their prayers to Almighty God for +the safety of the President. + +At twelve the procession moved to the Federal State House, where in the +gallery fronting Broad Street, in the presence of an immense concourse, +His Excellency took the oath, the book being placed on a velvet cushion. +The Chancellor then proclaimed him President--and in a moment the air +trembled with the shouts of the citizens, and the roar of artillery. His +Excellency, with that greatness of soul--that dignity and calmness, +which are his characteristics--then bowed to his "fellow-citizens"--who +again huzzaed. + + * * * * * + +From "_History of the Arts of Design in America_," by William Dunlap: + +Major L'Enfant was a native of France; he was employed to rebuild after +a design of his own the old New York City Hall in Wall Street, fronting +Broad Street; making therefrom the Federal Hall of that day (1789). The +new building was for the accommodation of Congress; and in the balcony +upon which the Senate Chamber opened, the first President of the United +States was inaugurated. A ceremony which I witnessed, and which for its +simplicity, the persons concerned in it, the effect produced upon my +country and the world, in giving stability to the Federal Constitution, +by calling Washington to administer its blessings, remains on my mind +unrivaled by any scene witnessed, through a long life, either in Europe +or America. + + * * * * * + +From Dunlap's "_School History of New York_": + +In 1789, I saw Washington divested of the garb of war, place his hand on +the Bible, and swear to support that Constitution under which I have +since lived happily half a century. Between the pillars of the old City +Hall, in Wall Street, as altered for the reception of the Federal +Congress, in view of thousands who filled Broad Street as far as the eye +could extend its view, and every avenue within sight of the building, +the man of the people's choice was announced to them, as the first +President of the United States of America. + + * * * * * + +Abstract of account in _New York Packet_: + +New York, May 1, 1789. Yesterday at two o'clock was solemnly inaugurated +into office, our Illustrious President. + +The ceremony was begun by the following procession from the Federal +House to the President's house, viz.: + + Troop of Horse + Assistants + Committee of Representatives + Committee of Senate + Gentlemen to be admitted in the Senate Chamber + Gentlemen in coaches + Citizens on foot + +On their arrival, the President joined the procession in his carriage +and four, and the whole moved through the principal streets to the State +House in the following order: + + Troop of Horse + Infantry + Sheriff on horseback + Committee of Representatives + Committee of Senate + President and + Assistants (President's Suite) Assistants + Gentlemen to be admitted in the Senate Chamber + Gentlemen in coaches + Citizens on foot + +When the van reached the State House, the troops opening their ranks +formed an avenue, through which, after alighting, the President, +advancing to the door, was conducted to the Senate Chamber, where he was +received by both branches of Congress, and by them accompanied to the +balcony or outer gallery in front of the State House, which was +decorated with a canopy and curtains of red interstreaked with white for +the solemn occasion. In this public manner the oath of office required +by the Constitution was administered by the Chancellor of this State, +and the illustrious Washington thereupon declared by the said +Chancellor, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, amidst the repeated huzzas +and acclamations of a numerous and crowded audience. + +After the inauguration, the President, returning to the Senate Chamber, +delivered a speech to both Houses of Congress. + +After this the President, accompanied by both Houses of Congress, +proceeded on foot to St. Paul's Church (where divine service was +performed by the Right Rev. Dr. Provost, suitable to the immediate +occasion) in the following order, viz.: + + Troop of Horse + Infantry + Door Keeper and Messenger of Representatives + Clerk + Representatives + Speaker + President and Vice-President + President's Suite + Senators + Secretary + Door Keeper and Messenger of the Senate + Gentlemen admitted into the Senate Chamber + Sheriff + Citizens + +Constables, marshals, etc., on each side of the Members of Congress at +proper distances, from the front of the Representatives to the rear of +the Senators. + +In the evening fireworks were displayed under the direction of Colonel +Bauman.--The brilliancy and excellency of them does honor to the +projector. + +The houses of their Excellencies the French and Spanish Ambassadors were +most elegantly illuminated on this auspicious occasion. + + * * * * * + +Extract of a letter from a gentleman in New York to his friend in +Philadelphia, dated May 1, 1789: + +Yesterday the great Patriot Washington took a solemn charge of the +liberties of America. The magnificence and splendor of the procession, +from his house to the Federal Building, commanded the admiration of +every beholder. But above all, the solemnity which appeared while he +took the oath of office, was truly affecting. The silent joy which every +rank of spectators exhibited in their countenances, bespoke the sincere +wishes of their hearts. I could have wished you to have been a +spectator. + +The fireworks exhibited in the evening were truly brilliant; and the +illuminations and transparent paintings of the Spanish and French +Ambassadors surpassed even conception itself. + + * * * * * + +New York, May 2, 1789. We feel satisfied in adding to the account given +in yesterday's paper of the inauguration of the President,--that His +Excellency on that great day, was dressed in a complete suit of elegant +broadcloth of the manufacture of his country.--_Pennsylvania Packet_, +May 6, 1789. + +From the _Gazette of the United States_: + +THE PRESIDENT, accompanied by His Excellency the Vice-President, the +Speaker of the House of Representatives, and both Houses of Congress, +went to St. Paul's Chapel, where divine service was performed by the +Right Rev. Dr. Provost, Bishop of the Episcopal Church in this State, +and Chaplain to the Senate. + +The religious solemnity being ended, the President was escorted to his +residence. + + * * * * * + +Evening Celebration + +The transparent paintings exhibited in various parts of the city, on +Thursday evening, were equal at least to anything of the kind ever +before seen in America. + +That displayed before the Fort at the bottom of Broad-way did great +honor to its inventors and executors, for the ingenuity of the design, +and goodness of the workmanship; it was finely lighted and +advantageously situated: The virtues, Fortitude,[13] Justice,[14] and +Wisdom[15] were judiciously applied; of the first, all America has had +the fullest evidence; and with respect to the two others, who does not +entertain the most pleasing anticipations. + +His Excellency Don Gardqui's residence next caught the eye--and fixed it +in pleasing contemplation: The _Tout-en-semble_ here, formed a most +brilliant front; the figures well fancied. The Graces suggested the best +ideas; and the pleasing variety of emblems, _flowers_, shrubbery, +_arches_, &c., and above all the Moving Pictures, that figured in the +windows or, as it were, in the _background_, created by fixing the +transparencies between the windows, afforded a new--an animated and +enchanting spectacle. + +The residence of his Excellency, Count Meustier, was illuminated in a +stile of novel elegance; the splendid bordering of lamps round the +windows, doors, &c., with the fancy pieces of each window; and above all +the large designs in front, the allusions, of which we cannot at present +particularly describe, did great honor to the taste and sentiment of the +inventor. + +The above two instances of attention to honor this great and important +occasion, so highly interesting to our "dear country," evince the +friendship, the delicacy, and politeness of our illustrious allies. + +The portrait of "THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY" exhibited in Broad-Street, +was extremely well executed, and had a fine effect. + +There was an excellent transparency, also shown at the Theatre, and at +the corner, near the Fly-Market: In short, emulation and ingenuity were +alive; but perhaps were in no instance exhibited to greater advantage +than in the display of fireworks, which, from one novelty to another, +continued for two hours, to surprise by variety, taste, and brilliancy. + +The illumination of the Federal State House was among the most +agreeable of the exhibitions of the evening; and the ship Carolina +formed a beautiful pyramid of stars: The evening was fine--the company +innumerable--everyone appeared to enjoy the scene, and no accident casts +the smallest clouds upon the retrospect. + + * * * * * + +May 1. Yesterday morning The President received the compliments of His +Excellency the Vice-President, His Excellency the Governor of this +State, the principal Officers of the different Departments; the foreign +Ministers; and a great number of other persons of distinction. + +We are informed that the President has assigned every Tuesday and +Friday, between the hours of two and three, for receiving visits; and +that visits of compliment on other days, and particularly on Sundays, +will not be agreeable to him. + +It seems to be a prevailing opinion that so much of The President's time +will be engaged by the various and important business imposed upon him +by the Constitution, that he will find himself constrained to omit +returning visits, or accepting invitations to Entertainments. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[13] The President. + +[14] The Senate. + +[15] The Representatives of the United States. + + * * * * * + + +LESSONS FROM THE WASHINGTON CENTENNIAL + +BY GEORGE A. GORDON + +Picture to yourselves the joy and expectation of that day which saw the +establishment of our Government a century ago. As the patriots of that +day in the midst of festivity and joy look back upon famine and +nakedness and peril and sword, upon battlefields and garments rolled in +blood, as they think of their emergence from the long struggle weary and +exhausted, as they recall their precarious existence as a nation under +the articles of confederation, as they behold the blessing of God upon +their faith and courage and energy, can we not hear those voices, hushed +so long ago, speaking to us and assuring us that they that sow in tears +shall reap in joy? + +We think of the founding of our Government and we recall at this moment +the representatives of three generations of statesmen, Washington and +Hamilton, Clay and Webster, Lincoln and Sumner. Our attention will be +concentrated on the unique and commanding figure of the first President. +Through the renewed study and statement of his public career many +lessons, familiar indeed, but of fresh importance, will be read into the +hearts of our country. + +We cannot doubt in the case of Washington the fact of a divine call. +Joshua was not more evidently called to command the armies of Israel +than Washington to lead the forces of the united colonies. David was +not more signally summoned from the sheep-folds to the throne of his +people than Washington from his quiet home on the Potomac to the seat of +supreme power over his countrymen. There was not a single believer in +the Divine Being in the Constitutional Congress who did not hear in the +voice of John Adams, when he moved the appointment of George Washington +as Commander-in-Chief of all the forces raised or to be raised, the +creation and appointment of God. + +So, in his election and re-election to the office of President, Hamilton +set forth the clearness and urgency of the call in the remark that +circumstances left Washington no option. That wonderful triumphal +procession from Mount Vernon to New York, through Baltimore, +Philadelphia, and Trenton, is in response to the appeal and command not +only of earth, but of Heaven. As the nation's first President was called +of God, so is the nation itself called. The divine ideal is before it as +it was before him. God had work for Washington; he had work for his +nation; he had work for every one of his fellow-citizens. An ideal good +is before every man, and divine power behind him. Let him consent to the +control of the power. + +The nation's life and each individual life within it is founded on the +sense of obligation. We have in the model of Washington a definition of +duty in the special sense of the term, in the saying, "I most heartily +wish the choice may not fall upon me. The wish of my soul is to spend +the evening of my days as a private citizen on my farm." There is the +power of inclination, the pleading of personal ease and comfort, the +assertion of individual good. In all this there is nothing wrong, until +it comes into conflict with the national call, with the universal good. +Then came the fight between the special and the general, the private and +the public, the individual and the universal good. + +The hope of a nation is in the choice of office of its best men. The +historic peril of the republic lies in the choice of unfit men for +eminent official position. This is our peril. It is well we are becoming +more and more alive to it. Nevertheless it is well to remember that +there have been times in our history when the voice of electors has been +the voice of God. When Washington was elected, the fittest man was +chosen. His was the rule of the wisest and best man. There are few +living who will not confess that Abraham Lincoln was another example of +the choice by the people of the best man. We turn in hope to the great +future. After he had taken the oath, Washington bowed his head, kissed +the Bible, and, with the deepest feeling, uttered the words, "So help me +God." There was his hope. There is the hope of every man. There is the +hope of the nation. + + * * * * * + +PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S RECEPTIONS + +BY WILLIAM SULLIVAN + +He devoted one hour every other Tuesday, from three to four, to these +visits. He understood himself to be visited as the "President of the +United States," and not on his own account. He was not to be seen by +anybody and everybody; but required that everyone who came should be +introduced by his secretary, or by some gentleman whom he knew himself. +He lived on the South side of Market Street, just below Sixth. The place +of reception was the dining-room in the rear, twenty-five or thirty feet +in length, including the bow projecting over into the garden. Mrs. +Washington received her visitors in the two rooms on the second floor, +from front to rear. + +At three o'clock, or at any time within a quarter of an hour afterward, +the visitor was conducted to this dining-room, from which all seats had +been removed for the time. On entering, he saw the tall, manly figure of +Washington, clad in black velvet; his hair in full dress, powdered and +gathered behind in a large silk bag; yellow gloves on his hands; holding +a cocked hat with cockade in it, and the edges adorned with a black +feather, about an inch deep. He wore knee and shoe buckles; and a long +sword with a finely wrought and polished steel hilt. The scabbard was +white polished leather. + +He stood always in front of the fireplace, with his face toward the door +of entrance. The visitor was conducted to him, and he required to have +the name so distinctly pronounced that he could hear it. He had the very +uncommon faculty of associating a man's name and personal appearance so +durably in his memory, as to be able to call anyone by name, who made a +second visit. He received his visitor with a dignified bow, while his +hands were so disposed of as to indicate that the salutation was not to +be accompanied with shaking hands. This ceremony never occurred in these +visits, even with his most near friends, that no distinction might be +made. + +As these visitors came in, they formed a circle round the room. At a +quarter-past three, the door was closed, and the circle was formed for +that day. He then began on the right and spoke to each visitor, calling +him by name and exchanging a few words with him. When he had completed +his circuit he resumed his first position, and the visitors approached +him in succession, bowed, and retired. By four o'clock the ceremony was +over. + +On the evenings Mrs. Washington received visitors, he did not consider +himself as visited. He was then as a private gentleman, dressed usually +in some colored coat and waistcoat, often brown with bright buttons, and +black on his lower limbs. He had then neither hat nor sword; he moved +about among the company, conversing with one and another. He had once a +fortnight an official dinner, and select companies on other days. He sat +(it is said) at the side in a central position, Mrs. Washington +opposite; the two ends were occupied by members of his family, or by +personal friends. + + * * * * * + +THE FOREIGN POLICY OF WASHINGTON + +BY CHARLES JAMES FOX + +How infinitely superior must appear the spirit and principles of General +Washington, in his late address to Congress, compared with the policy of +modern European courts! Illustrious man!--deriving honor less from the +splendor of his situation than from the dignity of his mind! Grateful to +France for the assistance received from her in that great contest which +secured the independence of America, he yet did not choose to give up +the system of neutrality in her favor. Having once laid down the line of +conduct most proper to be pursued, not all the insults and provocations +of the French Minister, Genet, could at all put him out of his way or +bend him from his purpose. It must, indeed, create astonishment that, +placed in circumstances so critical, and filling a station so +conspicuous, the character of Washington should never once have been +called in question; that he should in no one instance have been accused +either of improper insolence or of mean submission in his transactions +with foreign nations. It has been reserved for him to run the race of +glory without experiencing the smallest interruption to the brilliancy +of his career. The breath of censure has not dared to impeach the purity +of his conduct, nor the eye of envy to raise its malignant glance to the +elevation of his virtues. Such has been the transcendent merit and the +unparalleled fate of this illustrious man! + +How did he act when insulted by Genet? Did he consider it as necessary +to avenge himself for the misconduct or madness of an individual by +involving a whole continent in the horrors of war? No; he contented +himself with procuring satisfaction for the insult by causing Genet to +be recalled, and thus at once consulted his own dignity and the +interests of his country. Happy Americans! while the whirlwind flies +over one quarter of the globe, and spreads everywhere desolation, you +remain protected from its baneful effects by your own virtues and the +wisdom of your government. Separated from Europe by an immense ocean, +you feel not the effect of those prejudices and passions which convert +the boasted seats of civilization into scenes of horror and bloodshed. +You profit; by the folly and madness of the contending nations, and +afford, in your more congenial clime, an asylum to those blessings and +virtues which they wantonly contemn, or wickedly exclude from their +bosom! Cultivating the arts of peace under the influence of freedom, you +advance by rapid strides to opulence and distinction; and if by any +accident you should be compelled to take part in the present unhappy +contest,--if you should find it necessary to avenge insult or repel +injury,--the world will bear witness to the equity of your sentiments +and the moderation of your views; and the success of your arms will, no +doubt, be proportioned to the justice of your cause. + + + + +V + +LAST DAYS + + +GEORGE WASHINGTON[16] + +BY HAMILTON WRIGHT MABIE + +On the 4th of March, 1797, Washington went to the inauguration of his +successor as President of the United States. The Federal Government was +sitting in Philadelphia at that time, and Congress held sessions in the +courthouse on the corner of Sixth and Chestnut Streets. + +At the appointed hour Washington entered the hall, followed by John +Adams, who was to take the oath of office. When they were seated, +Washington arose and introduced Mr. Adams to the audience, and then +proceeded to read in a firm, clear voice his brief valedictory--not his +great "Farewell Address," for that had already been published. A lady +who sat on "the front bench," "immediately in front" of Washington, +describes the scene in these words: + + There was a narrow passage from the door of entrance to the room. + General Washington stopped at the end to let Mr. Adams pass to the + chair. The latter always wore a full suit of bright drab, with + loose cuffs to his coat. General Washington's dress was a full suit + of black. His military hat had the black cockade. There stood the + "Father of his Country," acknowledged by nations the first in war, + first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen. No + marshals with gold-colored scarfs attended him; there was no + cheering, no noise; the most profound silence greeted him as if the + great assembly desired to hear him breathe. Mr. Adams covered his + face with both his hands; the sleeves of his coat and his hands + were covered with tears. Every now and then there was a suppressed + sob. I cannot describe Washington's appearance as I felt + it--perfectly composed and self-possessed till the close of his + address. Then, when strong nervous sobs broke loose, when tears + covered the faces, then the great man was shaken. I never took my + eyes from his face. Large drops came from his eyes. He looked as if + his heart was with them, and would be to the end. + +On Washington's retirement from the Presidency one of his first +employments was to arrange his papers and letters. Then, on returning to +his home, the venerable master found many things to repair. His landed +estate comprised eight thousand acres, and was divided into farms, with +inclosures and farm buildings. And now, with body and mind alike sound +and vigorous, he bent his energies to directing the improvements that +marked his last days at Mount Vernon. + +In his earlier as well as in later life, his tour of the farms would +average from eight to twelve or fourteen miles a day. He rode upon his +farms entirely unattended, opening his gates, pulling down and putting +up his fences as he passed, visiting his laborers at their work, +inspecting all the operations of his extensive establishment with a +careful eye, directing useful improvements, and superintending them in +their progress. + +He usually rode at a moderate pace in passing through his fields. But +when behind time, this most punctual of men would display the +horsemanship of his earlier days, and a hard gallop would bring him up +to time so that the sound of his horse's hoofs and the first dinner bell +would be heard together at a quarter before three. + +A story is told that one day an elderly stranger meeting a Revolutionary +worthy out hunting, a long-tried and valued friend of the chief, +accosted him, and asked whether Washington was to be found at the +mansion house, or whether he was off riding over his estate. The friend +answered that he was visiting his farms, and directed the stranger the +road to take, adding, "You will meet, sir, with an old gentleman riding +alone in plain drab clothes, a broad-brimmed white hat, a hickory switch +in his hand, and carrying an umbrella with a long staff, which is +attached to his saddle-bow--that person, sir, is General Washington." + +Precisely at a quarter before three the industrious farmer returned, +dressed, and dined at three o'clock. At this meal he ate heartily, but +was not particular in his diet with the exception of fish, of which he +was excessively fond. Touching his liking for fish, and illustrative of +his practical economy and abhorrence of waste and extravagance, an +anecdote is told of the time he was President and living in +Philadelphia. It happened that a single shad had been caught in the +Delaware, and brought to the city market. His steward, Sam Fraunces, +pounced upon the fish with the speed of an osprey, delighted that he +had secured a delicacy agreeable to the palate of his chief, and +careless of the expense, for which the President had often rebuked him. + +When the fish was served, Washington suspected the steward had forgotten +his order about expenditure for the table, and said to Fraunces, who +stood at his post at the sideboard, "What fish is this?" "A shad, sir, a +very fine shad," the steward answered. "I know Your Excellency is +particularly fond of this kind of fish, and was so fortunate as to +procure this one--the only one in market, sir, the first of the season." +"The price, sir, the price?" asked Washington sternly. "Three--three +dollars," stammered the conscience-stricken steward. "Take it away," +thundered the chief, "take it away, sir! It shall never be said that my +table set such an example of luxury and extravagance." Poor Fraunces +tremblingly did as he was told, and the first shad of the season was +carried away untouched, to be speedily discussed in the servants' +dining-room. + +Although the Farmer of Mount Vernon was much retired from the business +world, he was by no means inattentive to the progress of public affairs. +When the post-bag arrived, he would select his letters and lay them +aside for reading in the seclusion of his library. The newspapers he +would peruse while taking his single cup of tea (his only supper) and +read aloud passages of peculiar interest, remarking the matter as he +went along. He read with distinctness and precision. These evenings with +his family always ended at precisely nine o'clock, when he bade +everyone good-night and retired to rest, to rise again at four and renew +the same routine of labor and enjoyment. + +Washington's last days, like those that preceded them in the course of a +long and well-spent life, were devoted to constant and careful +employment. His correspondence both at home and abroad was immense. Yet +no letter was unanswered. One of the best-bred men of his time, +Washington deemed it a grave offense against the rules of good manners +and propriety to leave letters unanswered. He wrote with great facility, +and it would be a difficult matter to find another who had written so +much, who had written so well. General Harry Lee once observed to him, +"We are amazed, sir, at the vast amount of work you get through." +Washington answered, "Sir, I rise at four o'clock, and a great deal of +my work is done while others sleep." + +He was the most punctual of men, as we said. To this admirable quality +of rising at four and retiring to rest at nine at all seasons, this +great man owed his ability to accomplish mighty labors during his long +and illustrious life. He was punctual in everything, and made everyone +about him punctual. So careful a man delighted in always having about +him a good timekeeper. In Philadelphia the first President regularly +walked up to his watchmaker's to compare his watch with the regulator. +At Mount Vernon the active yet punctual farmer invariably consulted the +dial when returning from his morning ride, and before entering his +house. + +The affairs of the household took order from the master's accurate and +methodical arrangement of time. Even the fisherman on the river watched +for the cook's signal when to pull in shore and deliver his catch in +time for dinner. + +Among the picturesque objects on the Potomac, to be seen from the +eastern portion of the mansion house, was the light canoe of the house's +fisher. Father Jack was an African, an hundred years of age, and +although enfeebled in body by weight of years, his mind possessed +uncommon vigor. And he would tell of days long past, when, under African +suns, he was made captive, and of the terrible battle in which his royal +sire was slain, the village burned, and himself sent to the slave ship. + +Father Jack had in a considerable degree a leading quality of his +race--somnolency. Many an hour could the family of Washington see the +canoe fastened to a stake, with the old fisherman bent nearly double +enjoying a nap, which was only disturbed by the jerking of the white +perch caught on his hook. But, as we just said, the domestic duties of +Mount Vernon were governed by clock time, and the slumbers of fisher +Jack might occasion inconvenience, for the cook required the fish at a +certain hour, so that they might be served smoking hot precisely at +three. At times he would go to the river bank and make the accustomed +signals, and meet with no response. The old fisherman would be quietly +reposing in his canoe, rocked by the gentle undulations of the stream, +and dreaming, no doubt, of events "long time ago." The importune master +of the kitchen, grown ferocious by delay, would now rush up and down +the water's edge, and, by dint of loud shouting, cause the canoe to turn +its prow to the shore. Father Jack, indignant at its being supposed he +was asleep at his post, would rate those present on his landing, "What +you all meck such a debil of a noise for, hey? I wa'nt sleep, only +noddin'." + +The establishment of Mount Vernon employed a perfect army of domestics; +yet to each one were assigned special duties, and from each one strict +performance was required. There was no confusion where there was order, +and the affairs of this estate, embracing thousands of acres and +hundreds of dependents, were conducted with as much ease, method, and +regularity as the affairs of a homestead of average size. + +Mrs. Washington was an accomplished housewife of the olden time, and she +gave constant attention to all matters of her household, and by her +skill and management greatly contributed to the comfort and +entertainment of the guests who enjoyed the hospitality of her home. + +The best charities of life were gathered round Washington in the last +days at Mount Vernon. The love and veneration of a whole people for his +illustrious services, his generous and untiring labors in the cause of +public utility; his kindly demeanor to his family circle, his friends, +and numerous dependents; his courteous and cordial hospitality to his +guests, many of them strangers from far distant lands; these charities, +all of which sprang from the heart, were the ornament of his declining +years, and granted the most sublime scene in nature, when human +greatness reposes upon human happiness. + +On the morning of the 13th of December, 1799, the General was engaged in +making some improvements in the front of Mount Vernon. As was usual with +him, he carried his own compass, noted his observations, and marked out +the ground. The day became rainy, with sleet, and the improver remained +so long exposed to the inclemency of the weather as to be considerably +wetted before his return to the house. About one o'clock he was seized +with chilliness and nausea, but having changed his clothes, he sat down +to his indoor work. At night, on joining his family circle, he +complained of a slight indisposition. Upon the night of the following +day, having borne acute suffering with composure and fortitude, he died. + +In person Washington was unique. He looked like no one else. To a +stature lofty and commanding he united a form of the manliest +proportions, and a dignified, graceful, and imposing carriage. In the +prime of life he stood six feet, two inches. From the period of the +Revolution there was an evident bending in his frame so passing straight +before, but the stoop came from the cares and toils of that arduous +contest rather than from years. For his step was firm, his appearance +noble and impressive long after the time when the physical properties of +men are supposed to wane. + +A majestic height was met by corresponding breadth and firmness. His +whole person was so cast in nature's finest mould as to resemble an +ancient statue, all of whose parts unite to the perfection of the +whole. But with all its development of muscular power, Washington's form +had no look of bulkiness, and so harmonious were its proportions that he +did not appear so tall as his portraits have represented. He was rather +spare than full during his whole life. + +The strength of Washington's arm was shown on several occasions. He +threw a stone from the bed of the stream to the top of the Natural +Bridge, Virginia, and another stone across the Rappahannock at +Fredericksburg. The stone was said to be a piece of slate about the size +of a dollar with which he spanned the bold river, and it took the ground +at least thirty yards on the other side. Many have since tried this +feat, but none have cleared the water. + +In 1772 some young men were contending at Mount Vernon in the exercise +of pitching the bar. The Colonel looked on for a time, then grasping the +missile in his master hand, he whirled the iron through the air, and it +fell far beyond any of its former limits. "You see, young gentlemen," +said the chief with a smile, "that my arm yet retains some portion of my +early vigor." He was then in his fortieth year, and probably in the +fullness of his physical powers. Those powers became rather mellowed +than decayed by time, for "his age was like lusty winter, frosty yet +kindly," and up to his sixty-eighth year he mounted a horse with +surprising agility, and rode with ease and grace. Rickets, the +celebrated equestrian, used to say, "I delight to see the General ride, +and make it a point to fall in with him when I hear he is out on +horseback--his seat is so firm, his management so easy and graceful, +that I, who am an instructor in horsemanship, would go to him and learn +to ride." + +In his later day, the General, desirous of riding pleasantly, procured +from the North two horses of a breed for bearing the saddle. They were +well to look at, and pleasantly gaited under the saddle, but also scary, +and therefore unfitted for the service of one who liked to ride quietly +on his farm, occasionally dismounting and walking in his fields to +inspect improvements. From one of these horses the General sustained a +fall--probably the only fall he ever had from a horse in his life. It +was upon a November evening, and he was returning from Alexandria to +Mount Vernon, with three friends and a groom. Having halted a few +moments, he dismounted, and upon rising in his stirrup again, the horse, +alarmed at the glare from a fire near the roadside, sprang from under +his rider, who came heavily to the ground. His friends rushed to give +him assistance, thinking him hurt. But the vigorous old man was upon his +feet again, brushing the dust from his clothes, and after thanking those +who came to his aid, said that he had had a very complete tumble, and +that it was owing to a cause no horseman could well avoid or +control--that he was only poised in his stirrup, and had not yet gained +his saddle when the scary animal sprang from under him. + +Bred in the vigorous school of frontier warfare, "the earth for his +bed, his canopy the heavens," Washington excelled the hunter and +woodsman in their athletic habits, and in those trials of manhood which +filled the hardy days of his early life. He was amazingly swift of foot, +and could climb steep mountains seemingly without effort. Indeed, in all +the tests of his great physical powers he appeared to make little +effort. When he overthrew the strong man of Virginia in wrestling, upon +a day when many of the finest athletes were engaged in the contest, he +had retired to the shade of a tree intent upon the reading of a book. It +was only after the champion of the games strode through the ring calling +for nobler antagonists, and taunting the reader with the fear that he +would be thrown, that Washington closed his book. Without taking off his +coat he calmly observed that fear did not enter his make-up; then +grappling with the champion, he hurled him to the ground. "In +Washington's lion-like grasp," said the vanquished wrestler, "I became +powerless, and went down with a force that seemed to jar the very marrow +in my bones." The victor, regardless of shouts at his success, leisurely +retired to his shade, and again took up his book. + +Washington's powers were chiefly in his limbs. His frame was of equal +breadth from the shoulders to the hips. His chest was not prominent, but +rather hollowed in the center. He never entirely recovered from a +pulmonary affection from which he suffered in early life. His frame +showed an extraordinary development of bone and muscle; his joints were +large, as were his feet; and could a cast of his hand have been +preserved, it would be ascribed to a being of a fabulous age. Lafayette +said, "I never saw any human being with so large a hand as the +General's." + +Of the awe and reverence which the presence of Washington inspired we +have many records. "I stood," says one writer, "before the door of the +Hall of Congress in Philadelphia, when the carriage of the President +drew up. It was a white coach, or, rather, of a light cream color, +painted on the panels with beautiful groups representing the four +seasons. As Washington alighted, and, ascending the steps, paused on the +platform, he was preceded by two gentlemen bearing large white wands, +who kept back the eager crowd that pressed on every side. At that moment +I stood so near I might have touched his clothes; but I should as soon +have thought of touching an electric battery. I was penetrated with +deepest awe. Nor was this the feeling of the schoolboy I then was. It +pervaded, I believe, every human being that approached Washington; and I +have been told that even in his social hours, this feeling in those who +shared them never suffered intermission. I saw him a hundred times +afterward, but never with any other than the same feeling. The Almighty, +who raised up for our hour of need a man so peculiarly prepared for its +whole dread responsibility, seems to have put a stamp of sacredness upon +his instrument. The first sight of the man struck the eye with +involuntary homage, and prepared everything around him to obey. + +"At the time I speak of, he stood in profound silence and had the +statue-like air which mental greatness alone can bestow. As he turned to +enter the building, and was ascending the staircase to the Congressional +hall, I glided along unseen, almost under the cover of the skirts of his +dress, and entered into the lobby of the House, which was in session to +receive him. + +"At Washington's entrance there was a most profound silence. House, +lobbies, gallery, all were wrapped in deepest attention. And the souls +of the entire assemblage seemed peering from their eyes as the noble +figure deliberately and unaffectedly advanced up the broad aisle of the +hall between ranks of standing Senators and members, and slowly ascended +the steps leading to the Speaker's chair. + +"The President, having seated himself, remained in silence, and the +members took their seats, waiting for the speech. No house of worship +was ever more profoundly still than that large and crowded chamber. + +"Washington was dressed precisely as Stuart has painted him in +full-length portrait--in a full suit of the richest black velvet, with +diamond knee-buckles and square silver buckles set upon shoes japanned +with most scrupulous neatness; black silk stockings, his shirt ruffled +at the breast and waist, a light dress sword, his hair profusely +powdered, fully dressed, so as to project at the sides, and gathered +behind in a silk bag ornamented with a large rose or black ribbon. He +held his cocked hat, which had a large black cockade on one side of it, +in his hand, as he advanced toward the chair, and when seated, laid it +on the table. + +"At length thrusting his hand within the side of his coat, he drew forth +a roll of manuscript which he opened, and rising, read in a rich, deep, +full, sonorous voice his opening address to Congress. His enunciation +was deliberate, justly emphasized, very distinct, and accompanied with +an air of deep solemnity as being the utterance of a mind conscious of +the whole responsibility of its position, but not oppressed by it. There +was ever about the man something which impressed one with the conviction +that he was exactly and fully equal to what he had to do. He was never +hurried; never negligent; but seemed ever prepared for the occasion, be +it what it might. In his study, in his parlor, at a levee, before +Congress, at the head of the army, he seemed ever to be just what the +situation required. He possessed, in a degree never equaled by any human +being I ever saw, the strongest, most ever-present sense of propriety." + +In the early part of Washington's administration, great complaints were +made by political opponents of the aristocratic and royal demeanor of +the President. Particularly, these complaints were about the manner of +his receiving visitors. In a letter Washington gave account of the +origin of his levees: "Before the custom was established," he wrote, +"which now accommodates foreign characters, strangers, and others, who, +from motives of curiosity, respect for the chief magistrate, or other +cause, are induced to call upon me, I was unable to attend to any +business whatever; for gentlemen, consulting their own convenience +rather than mine, were calling after the time I rose from breakfast, and +often before, until I sat down to dinner. This, as I resolved not to +neglect my public duties, reduced me to the choice of one of these +alternatives: either to refuse visits altogether, or to appropriate a +time for the reception of them.... To please everybody was impossible. +I, therefore, adopted that line of conduct which combined public +advantage with private convenience.... These visits are optional, they +are made without invitation; between the hours of three and four every +Tuesday I am prepared to receive them. Gentlemen, often in great +numbers, come and go, chat with each other, and act as they please. A +porter shows them into the room, and they retire from it when they +choose, without ceremony. At their first entrance they salute me, and I +them, and as many as I can talk to." + +An English gentleman, after visiting President Washington, wrote: "There +was a commanding air in his appearance which excited respect and forbade +too great a freedom toward him, independently of that species of awe +which is always felt in the moral influence of a great character? In +every movement, too, there was a polite gracefulness equal to any met +with in the most polished individuals of Europe, and his smile was +extraordinarily attractive.... It struck me no man could be better +formed for command. A stature of six feet, a robust but +well-proportioned frame calculated to stand fatigue, without that +heaviness which generally attends great muscular strength and abates +active exertion, displayed bodily power of no mean standard. A light eye +and full--the very eye of genius and reflection. His nose appeared +thick, and though it befitted his other features, was too coarsely and +strongly formed to be the handsomest of its class. His mouth was like no +other I ever saw: the lips firm, and the under jaw seeming to grasp the +upper with force, as if its muscles were in full action when he sat +still." + +Such Washington appeared to those who saw and knew him. Such he remains +to our vision. His memory is held by us in undying honor. Not only his +memory alone, but also the memory of his associates in the struggle for +American Independence. Homage we should have in our hearts for those +patriots and heroes and sages who with humble means raised their native +land--now our native land--from the depths of dependence, and made it a +free nation. And especially for Washington, who presided over the +nation's course at the beginning of the great experiment in +self-government and, after an unexampled career in the service of +freedom and our human-kind, with no dimming of august fame, died calmly +at Mount Vernon--the Father of his Country. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[16] From "Heroes Every Child Should Know." Copyright, 1906, by +Doubleday, Page & Co. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S LAST DAYS[17] + +BY ELIZABETH EGGLESTON SEELYE + +Once more before he died Washington was called into public life for a +short time. President Adams had sent three commissioners to France. The +French Minister, Talleyrand, treated them ill, and sent secret agents to +them to let them know that nothing would be done until they paid large +bribes. The three Americans sent home cipher dispatches in which they +told how they had been received. President Adams thought best to publish +these dispatches, putting the letters X, Y, and Z in place of the names +of the secret agents. These papers came to be known as the X, Y, and Z +dispatches, and they caused great excitement in America. The cry was, +"Millions for defense, but not one cent for tribute," and the war spirit +rose very high. Everyone wished Washington to be the leader in case +there should be war with France. President Adams accordingly wrote to +Washington, asking him to accept the command of the new army which was +to be formed. Washington accepted, on condition that he was not to be +called into service unless there should really be war, and that he +should be allowed to name the chief officers who were to serve under +him. He wished to put a young and able man second in command--for old +officers seldom make good ones--so he chose Hamilton first, then +Pinckney, and then Knox. Adams disliked Hamilton, and tried to place +Knox second in command, as this old officer thought his due. There was +some trouble between Washington and Adams on this point, but Adams was +forced to give way to the great leader. Washington went to Philadelphia +in the fall of 1798, to work over army plans with his major-generals. It +seemed possible that he might have to lead the Americans against one of +Napoleon's great armies. But though he made careful preparations, +Washington did not believe that there would be war. He thought, however, +that preparing for war would be the best way to bring about peace. And +so it proved; for no sooner did Talleyrand see that the Americans were +really aroused than he caused it to be intimated to the American +Minister at Holland that he would treat another envoy better. Adams +accordingly sent one to France, and war was finally averted, though the +news of the settlement did not reach America until after the death of +her great General. + +Washington had said, "I am of a short-lived family, and cannot remain +long upon the earth." In fact, his sister and all of his brothers except +one died before he did. According to his usual careful habits, he made +out a long paper, in which he planned how his estates should be managed +for several years, with a rotation of crops. He finished this paper only +four days before his death. The day before he was taken ill he walked +out with his nephew, Lawrence Lewis, who was married to Nelly Custis +and living at Mount Vernon, and talked to him about building a new +family vault. "This change," said he, "I shall make first of all, for I +may require it before the rest." + +On the 12th of December, 1799, Washington made the tour, as usual, of +his plantations. The weather was very bad. There was rain, hail, and +snow falling at different times, and a cold wind blowing. It was after +three o'clock when he returned. Mr. Lear, his secretary, brought him +some letters to be franked, for he intended to send them to the post +office that afternoon. Washington franked the letters, but said that the +weather was too bad to send a servant out with them. Lear noticed that +the General's neck appeared to be wet, and that there was snow clinging +to his hair. He spoke to him about it, but Washington said that he was +not wet, as his greatcoat had protected him. He went to dinner, which +was waiting for him, without changing his clothes. The next day he +complained of a sore throat, and remained in the house in the morning, +as it was snowing hard. In the afternoon, however, he went out to mark +some trees which he wished cut down, between the house and the river. He +was quite hoarse by evening. He sat in the parlor, however, with Mrs. +Washington and Lear, reading the papers which had been brought from the +post office. He read some things aloud in spite of his hoarseness. At +nine o'clock Mrs. Washington went to the room of her granddaughter +Nelly, whose first child had recently been born. The two gentlemen +continued to read the papers, and Washington seemed cheerful. Once he +became excited over some political event, and used some of the strong +words he could command on occasion. Before they went to bed, Lear +advised the General to take something for his cold. + +"No," said Washington; "you know I never take anything for a cold. Let +it go as it came." + +During the night, however, he had a chill, and awoke Mrs. Washington, +telling her that he felt ill. She wished to get up, but he would not +allow her to do this, lest she should take cold. When the servant came +into the room to make a fire at daylight, Mrs. Washington sent for Lear, +and got up herself. The General was now breathing with difficulty, and +could scarcely speak. Lear sent for Dr. Craik, and meantime Washington +told him to send for Mr. Rawlins, an overseer, to bleed him. Rawlins +came soon after sunrise, and trembled at the prospect of opening a vein +on the great man's arm. "Don't be afraid," said Washington; and when the +vein had been opened, he added, "the orifice is not large enough." Mrs. +Washington did not approve of the bleeding before the doctor came, but +Washington said, "More, more." It was a universal remedy in those days, +but it brought no relief to the sufferer. + +During the day three doctors arrived. Washington was bled three times; +blisters were applied to the throat and the feet; all that medical +science could do in that day was tried, but without success. The disease +was an acute laryngitis, and could have been relieved only by +tracheotomy, which was not practical in the South, though it had been +tried in Philadelphia at an earlier date. About half-past four in the +afternoon the sick man asked Mrs. Washington to go downstairs and fetch +two wills from his desk. He looked at them, and asked her to burn one of +them, which she did. Lear now came to his bedside and took his hand. + +"I find I am going," Washington said to him. "My breath cannot last +long. I believed from the first that the disorder would prove fatal. Do +you arrange and record all my late military letters and papers. Arrange +my accounts and settle my books, as you know more about them than anyone +else, and let Mr. Rawlins finish recording my other letters which he has +begun." + +Washington asked Lear whether he thought of anything else that ought to +be done; he had but a very short time, he said, to remain with his +friends. The secretary answered that he could think of nothing, and that +he hoped the General was not so near his end as he thought. Washington +smiled, and said that he certainly was, "and that, as it was a debt +which we must all pay, he looked on the event with perfect resignation." + +Sometimes he seemed to be in pain and distress from the difficulty of +breathing, and was very restless. Lear would then lie down upon the bed +and raise and turn him as gently as possibly. Washington often said, "I +am afraid I shall fatigue you too much"; and when the young man assured +him that he wished for nothing but to give him ease, Washington replied: + +"Well, it is a debt we must pay to each other, and I hope that when you +want aid of this kind you will find it." + +He noticed that his servant, Christopher, had been standing most of the +day, and told him to sit down. He asked when his nephew Lewis and his +adopted son Custis, who were away from home, would return. When his +lifelong friend, Dr. Craik, came to his bedside, he said: "Doctor, I die +hard, but I am not afraid to go. I believed from my first attack that I +should not survive it. My breath cannot last long." The doctor was +unable to answer from grief, and could only press his hand. + +He afterward said to all the physicians: "I feel myself going. I thank +you for your attentions; but, I pray you, take no more trouble about me. +Let me go off quietly; I cannot last long." He continued to be restless +and uneasy, but made no complaints, only asking now and then what time +it was. When Lear helped him to move, he gave the secretary a look of +gratitude. About ten o'clock at night he made several efforts to speak +to Lear before he could do so. He finally said: "I am just going. Have +me decently buried; and do not let my body be put into the vault in less +than three days after I am dead." Lear nodded, for he could not speak. + +"Do you understand?" asked Washington. + +"Yes." + +"'Tis well," said the dying man. + +About ten minutes before death his breathing became easier; he felt his +own pulse, and the expression of his face changed. One hand presently +fell from the wrist of the other. Lear took it in his and pressed it to +his bosom. + +Mrs. Washington, who sat near the foot of the bed, asked in a firm +voice, "Is he gone?" + +Lear was unable to speak, but made a sign that Washington was dead. + +"Tis well," said she; "all is now over; I shall soon follow him; I have +no more trials to pass through." + +Washington died on December 14, 1799, in his sixty-eighth year. All his +neighbors and relatives assembled to attend his funeral; the militia and +Freemasons of Alexandria were present; eleven pieces of artillery were +brought to Mount Vernon to do military honors, and a schooner which lay +in the Potomac fired minute guns. Washington's horse, with saddle, +holster, and pistols, was led before the coffin by two grooms dressed in +black. The body was deposited in the old family vault, after short and +simple ceremonies. Washington was deeply mourned all over the United +States, for never had a man been so beloved by his own countrymen. + +Washington left all of his estates to his wife for life; after her death +they were to be divided between his nephews and nieces, and Mrs. +Washington's grandchildren. He made his nephew, Bushrod Washington, his +principal heir, leaving Mount Vernon to him. He said that he did this +partly because he had promised the young man's father, his brother, John +Augustine, when they were bachelors, to leave Mount Vernon to him in +case he should fall in the French war. He willed that all his negro +slaves should be set free on the death of his wife. He said that he +earnestly wished that it might be done before this, but he feared it +would cause trouble on account of their intermarriages with the dower +negroes who came to Mrs. Washington from her first husband, and whom he +had no right to free. He willed also that such should be comfortably +clothed and fed by his heirs. To his five nephews he left his swords, +with the injunction that they were "not to unsheath them for the purpose +of shedding blood, except it be in self-defense, or in defense of their +country and its rights; and in the latter case to keep them unsheathed, +and prefer falling with them in their hands to the relinquishment +thereof." + +Washington's life is an open book. He knew that he was making history, +and he kept careful copies of all his most important letters and +writings, so that it is impossible that there should be doubts on any +very important point. So jealous was he of his own honorable reputation, +that his last act as President was to file a denial of the authenticity +of some spurious letters which were attributed to him by his political +enemies. These letters were first published during the Revolution by the +English, and purported to be written by Washington to Lund Washington, +to Mrs. Washington, and to John Parke Custis. The person who wrote them +knew something of Washington's private affairs, but he made the American +general say things which represented him as opposed to the independence +of the colonies. It was asserted that Washington in his retreat from New +York left his servant Billy behind, and that these papers were found in +a handbag which the valet carried. As it was well known in the army that +Billy had never been captured, Washington did not then think it needful +to deny having written these letters; but when they were brought forward +again by his enemies during the last years of his Presidency, he was +alarmed lest they should go down to history as his own. Most of +Washington's writings which are preserved show him to us only as a grave +public character, and lives of Washington drawn mainly from this source +are apt to make the great man seem unnaturally cold, dignified, remote, +and impressive. So usual has this view of Washington become, that there +is a common belief that he never laughed aloud--a belief which there are +many stories to refute. + +Washington had immense physical courage. In all the battles in which he +fought he exposed himself fearlessly. His moral courage was even +greater. He never shrank from doing what he thought right because it was +likely to make him unpopular. Perhaps Washington's greatest qualities +were his wisdom and prudence. These traits were very important in the +leader of a young people engaged in a revolutionary struggle. He had few +brilliant military successes, but it is impossible to say what he might +not have done had he not been weighed down by immense difficulties. His +influence over men was great, and those who were under him loved him. He +was never swayed by mean motives, his actions were always honorable, and +he was generous even to those who were his bitter opponents. Though he +was a man of action, he thought deeply on many subjects. "Never," said +Jefferson, "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." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[17] "The Story of Washington." D. Appleton & Co., 1893. + + * * * * * + +THE MOUNT VERNON TRIBUTE[18] + +WASHINGTON + +The Defender of His Country, The Founder of Liberty, + +THE FRIEND OF MAN. + +History and Tradition are Explored in Vain for a Parallel +to His Character. + +IN THE ANNALS OF MODERN GREATNESS, HE STANDS ALONE, +And the Noblest Names of Antiquity Lose Their Lustre +In His Presence. Born the Benefactor of Mankind, He +United All The Qualities Necessary to An Illustrious +Career. + +NATURE MADE HIM GREAT; + +He made himself virtuous. + +Called By His Country To The Defence of Her Liberties, +He Triumphantly Vindicated The Rights of Humanity, +And on The Pillars of National Independence Laid the +Foundations Of A Great Republic. Twice Invested With +the Supreme Magistracy, By the Unanimous Voice of a +Free People, He Surpassed In The Cabinet + +THE GLORIES OF THE FIELD, + +And Voluntarily Resigning the Sceptre and the Sword, +Retired to the Shades of Private Life. A Spectacle So +New and So Sublime Was Contemplated With the Profoundest +Admiration; And the Name of + +WASHINGTON, + +Adding New Lustre to Humanity, +Resounded To The Remotest Regions Of the Earth. +Magnanimous in Youth, + +GLORIOUS THROUGH LIFE, +GREAT IN DEATH, + +His Highest Ambition the Happiness of Mankind, +His Noblest Victory the Conquest of Himself, +Bequeathing to Posterity the Inheritance of His Fame, + +_And Building His Monument in the Hearts of His +Countrymen,_ + +He Lived the Ornament Of the Eighteenth Century, and +Died Regretted By a Mourning World. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[18] The author of this inscription is not known. It has been +transcribed from a manuscript copy written on the back of a +picture-frame, in which is set a miniature likeness of Washington, and +which hangs in one of the rooms of the mansion at Mount Vernon, where it +was left some time after Washington's death.--H.B. CARRINGTON. + + * * * * * + +THE WORDS OF WASHINGTON + +BY DANIEL WEBSTER + +_Delivered at the laying of the cornerstone of the new wing of the +Capitol at Washington, July 4, 1851_ + +Washington! Methinks I see his venerable form now before me. He is +dignified and grave; but concern and anxiety seem to soften the +lineaments of his countenance. The government over which he presides is +yet in the crisis of experiment. Not free from troubles at home, he sees +the world in commotion and arms all around him. He sees that imposing +foreign powers are half disposed to try the strength of the recently +established American Government. Mighty thoughts, mingled with fears as +well as with hopes, are struggling within him. He heads a short +procession over these then naked fields; he crosses yonder stream on a +fallen tree; he ascends to the top of this eminence, whose original oaks +of the forest stand as thick around him as if the spot had been devoted +to Druidical worship, and here he performs the appointed duty of the +day. + +And now, if this vision were a reality; if Washington now were actually +amongst us, and if he could draw around him the shades of the great +public men of his own day, patriots and warriors, orators and statesmen, +and were to address us in their presence, would he not say to us: + +"Ye men of this generation, I rejoice and thank God for being able to +see that our labors, and toils, and sacrifices, were not in vain. You +are prosperous, you are happy, you are grateful. The fire of liberty +burns brightly and steadily in your hearts, while duty and the law +restrain it from bursting forth in wild and destructive conflagration. +Cherish liberty, as you love it; cherish its securities, as you wish to +preserve it. Maintain the Constitution which we labored so painfully to +establish, and which has been to you such a source of inestimable +blessings. Preserve the Union of the States, cemented as it was by our +prayers, our tears, and our blood. Be true to God, to your country, and +to your duty. So shall the whole Eastern world follow the morning sun, +so contemplate you as a nation; so shall all generations honor you, as +they honor us; and so shall that Almighty power which so graciously +protected us, and which now protects you, shower its everlasting +blessings upon you and your posterity!" + +Great Father of your Country! We need your words; we feel their force, +as if you now uttered them with lips of flesh and blood. Your example +teaches us, your affectionate addresses teach us, your public life +teaches us, your sense of the value of the blessings of the Union. Those +blessings our fathers have tasted, and we have tasted, and still taste. +Nor do we intend that those who come after us shall be denied the same +high function. Our honor, as well as our happiness, is concerned. We +cannot, we dare not, we will not, betray our sacred trust. We will not +filch from posterity the treasure placed in our hands to be transmitted +to other generations. The bow that gilds the clouds in the heavens, the +pillars that uphold the firmament, may disappear and fall away in the +hour appointed by the will of God; but, until that day comes, or so long +as our lives may last, no ruthless hand shall undermine that bright arch +of Union and Liberty which spans the continent from Washington to +California! + + + + +VI + +TRIBUTES + + +MEMORIALS OF WASHINGTON[19] + +BY HENRY B. CARRINGTON + +Modern history, oratory, and poetry are so replete with tributes to the +memory of Washington, that the entire progress of the civilized world +for more than a century has been shaped by the influence of his life and +precepts. The memorial shaft at the national capital, which is the +loftiest of human structures, and is inner-faced by typical expressions +of honor from nearly all nations, is a fit type of his surmounting +merit. The ceremonies which attended the cornerstone consecration and +signalized its completion are no less an honor to the distinguished +historian and statesman who voiced the acclamations of the American +people than a perpetual testimonial worthy of the subject honored by the +occasion and by the monument. When the world pays willing tribute, and +the most ambitious monarch on earth would covet no higher plaudit than +that he served his people as faithfully as Washington served America, it +is difficult to fathom the depths of memorial sentiment and place in +public view those which are the most worthy of study and appreciative +respect. The national life itself throbs through his transmitted life, +and the aroma of his grace is as consciously breathed by statesmen and +citizens to-day as the invisible atmosphere which secures physical +vitality and force. Senator Vance of North Carolina, thus earnestly +commends to the youth of America the brightness and beauty of the great +example: + + Greater soldiers, more intellectual statesmen, and profounder sages + have doubtless existed in the history of the English race, perhaps + in our own country, but not one who to great excellence in the + threefold composition of man, the physical, intellectual, and + moral, has added such exalted integrity, such unaffected piety, + such unsullied purity of soul, and such wondrous control of his own + spirit. He illustrated and adorned the civilization of + Christianity, and furnished an example of the wisdom and perfection + of its teachings which the subtlest arguments of its enemies cannot + impeach. That one grand, rounded life, full-orbed with intellectual + and moral glory, is worth, as the product of Christianity, more + than all the dogmas of all the teachers. The youth of America who + aspire to promote their own and their country's welfare should + never cease to gaze upon his great example, or to remember that the + brightest gems in the crown of his immortality, the qualities which + uphold his fame on earth and plead for him in heaven, were those + which characterized him as the patient, brave, Christian gentleman. + In this respect he was a blessing to the whole human race no less + than to his own countrymen, to the many millions who annually + celebrate the day of his birth. + +Such sentiments fitly illustrate the controlling element of character +which made the conduct of Washington so peerless in the field and in the +chair of state. His first utterances upon assuming command of the +American army before Boston, on the 2d of July, 1775, were a rebuke of +religious bigotry and an impressive protest against gaming, swearing, +and all immoral practices, which might forfeit divine aid in the great +struggle for national independence. Succeeding orders, preparatory to +the battle of Long Island, in August, 1776, breathe the same +spirit,--that which transfused all his activities, as with celestial +fire, until he surrendered his commission with a devout and public +recognition of Almighty God as the author of his success. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[19] From the "Patriotic Reader." Lippincott Co. + + * * * * * + +FROM THE "COMMEMORATION ODE" + +_World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, October 21, 1892_ + +BY HARRIET MONROE + +WASHINGTON + + When dreaming kings, at odds with swift-paced time, + Would strike that banner down, + A nobler knight than ever writ or rhyme + With fame's bright wreath did crown + Through armed hosts bore it till it floated high + Beyond the clouds, a light that cannot die! + Ah, hero of our younger race! + Great builder of a temple new! + Ruler, who sought no lordly place! + Warrior, who sheathed the sword he drew! + Lover of men, who saw afar + A world unmarred by want or war, + Who knew the path, and yet forbore + To tread, till all men should implore; + Who saw the light, and led the way + Where the gray world might greet the day; + Father and leader, prophet sure, + Whose will in vast works shall endure, + How shall we praise him on this day of days, + Great son of fame who has no need of praise? + + How shall we praise him? Open wide the doors + Of the fair temple whose broad base he laid. + Through its white halls a shadowy cavalcade + Of heroes moves o'er unresounding floors-- + Men whose brawned arms upraised these columns high, + And reared the towers that vanish in the sky,-- + The strong who, having wrought, can never die. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S STATUE + +BY HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN + + The quarry whence thy form majestic sprung + Has peopled earth with grace, + Heroes and gods that elder bards have sung, + A bright and peerless race; + But from its sleeping veins ne'er rose before + A shape of loftier name + Than his, who Glory's wreath with meekness wore, + The noblest son of Fame. + Sheathed is the sword that Passion never stained; + His gaze around is cast, + As if the joys of Freedom, newly gained, + Before his vision passed; + As if a nation's shout of love and pride + With music filled the air, + And his calm soul was lifted on the tide + Of deep and grateful prayer; + As if the crystal mirror of his life + To fancy sweetly came, + With scenes of patient toil and noble strife, + Undimmed by doubt or shame; + As if the lofty purpose of his soul + Expression would betray-- + The high resolve Ambition to control, + And thrust her crown away! + O, it was well in marble firm and white + To carve our hero's form, + Whose angel guidance was our strength in fight, + Our star amid the storm! + Whose matchless truth has made his name divine + And human freedom sure, + His country great, his tomb earth's dearest shrine. + While man and time endure! + And it is well to place his image there + Upon the soil he blest: + Let meaner spirits, who its councils share, + Revere that silent guest! + Let us go up with high and sacred love + To look on his pure brow, + And as, with solemn grace, he points above, + Renew the patriot's vow! + + +TRIBUTES + +_Extract from an address by President Gary of the Union League Club, at +the celebration of Washington's Birthday at the Auditorium, Chicago, +February 22, 1900_ + +It is needless to dispute with others as to Washington's rank in minor +things. We know that for us and for our country his is the greatest name +that lives; that in the grand struggle and march for freedom he was +humanity's greatest leader, and that through us as a nation he gave to +the world its chiefest example of republican self-government And now +that his greatness is acknowledged and his praises sung the world round, +our hearts swell with pride and gratitude that he is ours; our +countryman; our great American; our Washington. Not the safe and +invincible general merely, not the wise first President, but George +Washington, the sublime personality, greatest seen when all props and +scaffoldings of rank and station are torn away. + + * * * * * + +From Green's "_History of the English People_": + +No nobler figure ever stood in the forefront of a nation's life. +Washington was grave and courteous in address; his manners were simple +and unpretending; his silence and the serene calmness of his temper +spoke of a perfect self-mastery; but little there was in his outer +bearing to reveal the grandeur of soul which lifts his figure with all +the simple majesty of an ancient statue, out of the smaller passions, +the meaner impulses of the world around him. + +It was only as the weary fight went on that the colonists learned, +little by little, the greatness of their leader--his clear judgment, his +calmness in the hour of danger or defeat; the patience with which he +waited, the quickness and hardness with which he struck, the lofty and +serene sense of duty that never swerved from its task through resentment +or jealousy, that never, through war or peace, felt the touch of a +meaner ambition; that knew no aim save that of guarding the freedom of +his fellow-countrymen; and no personal longing save that of returning to +his own fireside when their freedom was secured. + +It was almost unconsciously that men learned to cling to Washington with +a trust and faith such as few other men have won, and to regard him with +reverence which still hushes us in presence of his memory. + + * * * * * + +Washington's is the mightiest name of earth--long since mightiest in the +cause of civil liberty; still mightiest in moral reformation. On that +name no eulogy is expected. It cannot be. To add brightness to the sun, +or glory to the name of Washington, is alike impossible. Let none +attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name, and in its naked deathless +splendor leave it shining on. + +ABRAHAM LINCOLN. + + * * * * * + +Washington cannot be stripped of any part of his credit for patriotism, +wisdom, and courage; for the union of enterprise with prudence; for +integrity and truthfulness; for simply dignity of character; for tact +and forbearance in dealing with men; above all for serene fortitude in +the darkest hour of his cause, and under trials from the perversity, +insubordination, jealousy, and perfidy of those around him, severer than +any defeat. + +GOLDWIN SMITH. + + * * * * * + +The life of our Washington cannot suffer by a comparison with those of +other countries who have been most celebrated and exalted by fame. The +attributes and decorations of royalty could have only served to eclipse +the majesty of those virtues which made him, from being a modest +citizen, a more resplendent luminary. + +Malice could never blast his honor, and envy made him a single exception +to her universal rule. For himself he had lived enough to life and to +glory. For his fellow-citizens, if their prayers could have been +answered, he would have been immortal. His example is complete, and it +will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only +in the present age, but in future generations, as long as our history +shall be read. + +JOHN ADAMS. + + * * * * * + +His character, though regular and uniform, possessed none of the +littleness which may sometimes belong to these descriptions of men. It +formed a majestic pile, the effect of which was not inspired, but +improved, by order and symmetry. There was nothing in it to dazzle by +wildness, and surprise by eccentricity. It was of a higher species of +moral beauty. It contained everything great and elevated, but it had no +false or trivial ornament. It was not the model cried up by fashion and +circumstance: its excellence was adapted to the true and just moral +taste, incapable of change from the varying accidents of manners, of +opinions, and times. General Washington is not the idol of a day, but +the hero of ages. + +ANONYMOUS. + + * * * * * + +Washington stands alone and unapproachable like a snow peak rising above +its fellows into the clear air of morning, with a dignity, constancy, +and purity which have made him the ideal type of civic virtue to +succeeding generations. + +JAMES BRYCE. + + * * * * * + + Pale is the February sky, + And brief the midday's sunny hours; + The wind-swept forest seems to sigh + For the sweet time of leaves and flowers. + + Yet has no month a prouder day, + Not even when the Summer broods + O'er meadows in their fresh array, + Or Autumn tints the glowing woods. + + For this chill season now again + Brings, in its annual round, the morn + When, greatest of the sons of men, + Our glorious Washington was born! + + * * * * * + + Amid the wreck of thrones shall live + Unmarred, undimmed, our hero's fame, + And years succeeding years shall give + Increase of honors to his name. + +WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. + + * * * * * + +Washington, the warrior and legislator! In war contending, by the wager +of battle, for the independence of his country, and for the freedom of +the human race; ever manifesting amidst its horrors, by precept and +example, his reverence for the laws of peace and the tenderest +sympathies of humanity: in peace soothing the ferocious spirit of +discord among his countrymen into harmony and union; and giving to that +very sword, now presented to his country, a charm more potent than that +attributed in ancient times to the lyre of Orpheus. + +JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. + + * * * * * + +George Washington may justly be pronounced one of the greatest men whom +the world has produced. Greater soldiers, more intellectual statesmen, +and profounder sages have doubtlessly existed in the history of the +English race--perhaps in our own country--but no one who to great +excellence in each of these fields has added such exalted integrity, +such unaffected piety, such unsullied purity of soul, and such wondrous +control of his own spirit. That one grand rounded life, full-orbed with +intellectual and moral glory, is worth, as the product of Christianity, +more than all the dogmas of all the teachers. He was a blessing to the +whole human race, no less than to his own countrymen--to the many +millions who celebrate the day of his birth. + +ZEBULON B. VANCE. + + * * * * * + +First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen, he +was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life; +pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere, uniform, dignified, and +commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him, as were the +effects of that example lasting. + +HENRY LEE. + + * * * * * + +Happy was it for America, happy for the world, that a great name, a +guardian genius, presided over her destinies in war. The hero of America +was the conqueror only of his country's foes, and the hearts of his +countrymen. To the one he was a terror, and in the other he gained an +ascendency, supreme, unrivaled, the triumph of admiring gratitude, the +reward of a nation's love. + +JARED SPARKS. + + * * * * * + +The sword of Washington! The staff of Franklin! Oh sir, what +associations are linked in adamant with these names! Washington, whose +sword, as my friend has said, was never drawn but in the cause of his +country, and never sheathed when wielded in his country's cause. +Franklin, the philosopher of the thunderbolt, the printing-press, and +the plowshare. + +JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. + + * * * * * + +Others of our great men have been appreciated,--many admired by all. But +him we love. Him we all love. About and around him we call up no +dissentient and discordant and dissatisfied elements, no sectional +prejudice nor bias, no party, no creed, no dogma of politics. None of +these shall assail him. When the storm of battle blows darkest and rages +highest, the memory of Washington shall nerve every American arm and +cheer every American heart. It shall relume that Promethean fire, that +sublime flame of patriotism, that devoted love of country, which his +words have commended, which his example has consecrated. + +RUFUS CHOATE. + + * * * * * + + Where may the wearied eyes repose + When gazing on the great, + Where neither guilty glory glows + Nor despicable state? + Yes,--one, the first, the last, the best, + The Cincinnatus of the West, + Whom envy dared not hate, + Bequeathed the name of Washington + To make men blush there was but one. + +LORD BYRON. + + * * * * * + +_From "Washington's Vow," by John Greenleaf Whittier, read at the +dedication of the Washington Arch, at New York City, 1889_ + + How felt the land in every part + The strong throb of a nation's heart? + As its great leader gave, with reverent awe, + His pledge to Union, Liberty, and Law! + + That pledge the heavens above him heard, + That vow the sleep of centuries stirred. + In world-wide wonder listening peoples bent + Their gaze on Freedom's great experiment. + + * * * * * + + Thank God! the people's choice was just! + The one man equal to his trust. + Wise without lore, and without weakness good, + Calm in the strength of flawless rectitude. + + * * * * * + + Our first and Best--his ashes lie + Beneath his own Virginia sky. + Forgive, forget, oh! true and just and brave, + The storm that swept above thy sacred grave. + + * * * * * + + Then let the sovereign millions where + Our banner floats in sun and air, + From the warm palm-lands to Alaska's cold, + Repeat with us the pledge, a century old! + +Let a man fasten himself to some great idea, some large truth, some +noble cause, even in the affairs of this world, and it will send him +forward with energy, with steadfastness, with confidence. This is what +Emerson meant when he said: "Hitch your wagon to a star." These are the +potent, the commanding, the enduring men,--in our own history, men like +Washington and Lincoln. They may fail, they may be defeated, they may +perish; but onward moves the cause, and their souls go marching on with +it, for they are part of it, they have believed in it. + +HENRY VAN DYKE. + + * * * * * + + O name forever to thy country dear! + Still wreath'd with pride, "still uttered with a tear!" + Thou that could'st rouse a nation's host to arms, + Could'st calm the spreading tumult of alarms, + Of civil discord, awe the threatening force + And check even Anarchy's licentious course! + Long as exalted worth commands applause, + Long as the virtuous bow to virtue's laws, + Long as thy reverence and honor join'd, + Long as the hero's glory warms the mind, + Long as the flame of gratitude shall burn, + Or human tears bedew the patriot's urn, + Thy sound shall dwell on each Columbian tongue + And live lamented in elegiac song! + Till some bold bard, inspired with Delphic rage! + Shall with thy lusters fire his epic page! + + In Fate's vast chronicle of future time, + The mystic mirror of events sublime + Where deeds of virtue gild each pregnant page + And some grand epoch makes each coming age, + Where germs of future history strike the eye + And empires' rise and fall in embryo lie, + Though statesmen, heroes, sages, chiefs abound + Yet none of worth like Washington's are found! + + * * * * * + + Rear to his name a monument sublime! + Bid art and genius all their powers bestow, + And let the pile with life and grandeur glow. + High on the top let Fame with trumpet's sound, + Announce his god-like deeds to worlds around! + Let Pallas lead her hero to the field, + In Wisdom's train, and cover with her shield. + A sword present to dazzle from afar + And flash bright terrors through the ranks of war. + With port august let oak-wreath'd Freedom stand + And hail him father of the chosen land; + With laurels deck him, with due honors greet, + And crowns and scepters place beneath his feet; + Let Peace, her olive blooming like the morn, + And kindred Plenty with her teeming horn, + With Commerce, child, and regent of the main, + While Arts and Agriculture join the train, + Rear a sad altar, bend around his urn, + And to their guardian, grateful incense burn! + Let History calm, in thoughtful mood reclin'd, + Record his actions to enrich mankind, + And Poesy divine his deeds rehearse + In all the energy of epic verse! + + To future ages there let Mercy own + He never from her bosom forc'd a groan; + Here let a statesman, there a reverend sage + To mark and emulate his steps engage, + Columbia widow'd, count his virtues o'er, + Around his tomb her pearly sorrows pour, + And mild Religion of celestial mien + Point to her patron's place, in realms unseen! + Then stamp in gold the monument above + The mournful tribute of a nation's love! + But not alone in scenes where glory fir'd, + He mov'd, no less, in civic walks admir'd! + Though long a warrior, choice of human blood, + As Brutus noble, and as Titus good! + To all that formed the hero of the age, + He joined the patriot and the peaceful sage, + The statesman powerful and the ruler just, + No less illustrious than the chief august; + And to condense his characters in one, + The god-like Father of his Country shone! + +_From an old Magazine_. + + * * * * * + + Hail, brightest banner that floats on the gale, + Flag of the country of Washington, hail! + Red are thy stripes with the blood of the brave; + Bright are thy stars as the sun on the wave; + Wrapt in thy folds are the hopes of the free. + Banner of Washington!--blessings on thee! + + Traitors shall perish and treason shall fail; + Kingdoms and thrones in thy glory grow pale! + Thou shalt live on, and thy people shall own + Loyalty's sweet, when each heart is thy throne; + Union and Freedom thine heritage be. + Country of Washington!--blessings on thee! + +WILLIAM S. ROBINSON. + + * * * * * + + Point of that pyramid whose solid base + Rests firmly founded on a nation's trust, + Which, While the gorgeous palace sinks in dust, + Shall stand sublime, and fill its ample space. + + Elected chief of freemen! greater far + Than kings whose glittering parts are fixed by birth-- + Nam'd by thy country's voice for long try'd worth, + Her crown in peace, as once her shield in war! + + Deign, Washington, to hear a British lyre, + That ardent greets thee with applausive lays, + And to the patriot hero homage pays. + + O, would the muse immortal strains inspire, + That high beyond all Greek and Roman fame, + Might soar to times unborn, thy purer, nobler name! + +DOCTOR AIKIN. + + * * * * * + +Had he, a mortal, the failings attached to man?--Was he the slave of +avarice? No. Wealth was an object too mean for his regard, and yet +economy presided over his domestic concerns; for his mind was too lofty +to brook dependence. Was he ambitious? No. His spirit soared beyond +ambition's reach. He saw a crown high above all human grandeur. He +sought, he gained, and wore that crown. But he had indeed one +frailty--the weakness of great minds. He was fond of fame, and had +reared a colossal reputation. It stood on the rock of his virtue. This +was dear to his heart. There was but one thing dearer. He loved glory, +but still more he loved his country. That was the master passion, and +with resistless might it ruled his every thought and word and deed. + +GOUVERNEUR MORRIS. + + * * * * * + +Washington! Father and deliverer of his country! What sweetness dwells +in his name--a name sounded by million-tongued fame through her golden +trumpet into distant worlds. The sooty African that traverses Niger's +sandy waste--the Algerian desperate in fight--the half-lived +Laplander--the Arabian, swift as the wind--the Scythian--the inoffensive +Brahmin,--have all heard it, and when mentioned, revere it. + +WILLIAM CLARK FRAZER. + + * * * * * + +Three times Washington's character saved the country; once by keeping up +the courage of the nation till the Revolutionary War was ended; then, by +uniting the nation in the acceptance of the Federal Constitution; +thirdly, by saving it from being swept away into anarchy and civil war +during the immense excitement of the French Revolution. Such was the +gift of Washington, a gift of God to the nation, as far beyond any other +of God's gifts as virtue is more than genius, as character is more than +intellect, as wise conduct is better than outward prosperity. + +JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. + + * * * * * + +Patriots of America--and military officers of every name, view the great +example that is set before you. Emulate the virtues of Washington, and +in due time your heads will also be adorned with the wreath of honor. +Here you learn what is true and unfading glory. You will see that it is +not the man who is led on by the blind impulse of ambition; who rushes +into the midst of embattled hosts, merely to show his contempt of death; +or who wastes fair cities or depopulates rich provinces,--to spread far +the terrors of his name--who is admired and praised as the true hero and +friend of mankind;--but the man, who, in obedience to the public voice, +appears in arms for the salvation of his country, shuns no perils in a +just cause, endeavors to alleviate instead of increase the calamities of +war, and whose aim is to strengthen and adorn the temple of liberty, as +resting on the immovable basis of virtue and religion. The voice of +justice and the voice of suffering humanity forbid us to bestow the palm +of true valor on the mad exploits of the destroyers of mankind. + +Washington's delight was to save, not to destroy. His greatest glory is +that with small armies and the loss of few lives--compared with the +wastes of other wars--he made his country free and happy. + +ROBERT DAVIDSON. + + * * * * * + +Brave without temerity, laborious without ambition, generous without +prodigality, noble without pride, virtuous without severity--Washington +seems always to have confined himself within those limits where the +virtues, by clothing themselves in more lively but more changeable and +doubtful colors, may be mistaken for faults. Inspiring respect, he +inspires confidence, and his smile is always the smile of benevolence. + +MARQUIS CHASTELLEUX. + + * * * * * + +God has given this nation many precious gifts; but the chief gift of +all, the one, we may say, which has added something to every other one, +is the gift of this great soldier, this great statesman, this great and +good man, this greatest of all Americans, past, present--past, if not to +come. Our heritage from him is illustrious above all others. + +ANONYMOUS. + + * * * * * + + Great without pomp, without ambition brave, + Proud, not to conquer fellow-men, but save; + Friend to the weak, a foe to none but those + Who plan their greatness on their brethrens' woes; + Aw'd by no titles--undefil'd by lust-- + Free without faction--obstinately just; + Warm'd by religion's sacred, genuine ray, + That points to future bliss the unerring way; + Yet ne'er control'd by superstition's laws, + That worst of tyrants in the noblest cause. + +--_From a London Newspaper_. + + * * * * * + +Extract from a translation of a Dutch Ode to Washington. Dr. O'Calla has +made a literal translation; Alfred B. Street, of Albany, the poetical +translation. + + No lofty monument thy greatness needs; + The freedom which America from thee + Received, and happiness of thy great deeds + The everlasting monument shall be. + + Thy proud foot trampled on the British chain; + But O! beware lest some false foreign power + Rivet his fetters on thy land again, + For despots smile while waiting for their hour. + + How deeply touched, Humanity! your soul, + When you beheld the grateful tears that rained + Down a glad Nation's cheek, as Freedom's goal + Was by that Nation's might in triumph gained. + + O, Fatherland, whoever loves thy fame, + Sighing shall mourn thy glory lost, when won; + Freedom, when leaving thee, lit up her flame + Within the patriot heart of Washington. + + When Time shall sink in everlasting gloom, + And Death with Time shall cease for evermore; + When the dead burst the cerements of the tomb, + As the last trumpet breaks in thunder o'er; + + Then as it feels its pulses once more free, + Let every heart Columbia claims as son + Beat first for God, but let its next throb be + For the eternal bliss of Washington. + + * * * * * + +The character of Washington! Who can delineate it worthily? Modest, +disinterested, generous, just, of clean hands and a pure heart, +self-denying and self-sacrificing, seeking nothing for himself, +declining all remuneration beyond the reimbursement of his outlays, +scrupulous to a farthing in keeping his accounts, of spotless integrity, +scorning gifts, charitable to the needy, forgiving injuries and +injustices, brave, fearless, heroic, with a prudence ever governing his +impulses, a wisdom ever guiding his valor, true to his friends, true to +his country, true to himself, fearing God, no stranger to private +devotion or public worship, but ever recognizing a divine aid and +direction in all that he accomplished. His magnetism was that of merit, +superior, surpassing merit; the merit of spotless integrity, of +recognized ability, and of unwearied willingness to spend and be spent +in the service of his country. + +ROBERT C. WINTHROP. + + * * * * * + +One of the best of modern Americans, James Russell Lowell, who was born +on the same day of the month as Washington, February 22d, 1819, wrote +shortly before his death, to a schoolgirl, whose class proposed noticing +his own birthday: "Whatever else you do on the twenty-second of +February, recollect, first of all, that on that day a really great man +was born, and do not fail to warm your hearts with the memory of his +service, and to brace your minds with the contemplation of his +character. The rest of us must wait uncovered till he be served." + +ELBRIDGE S. BROOKS. + + * * * * * + +The fame of Washington stands apart from every other in history, shining +with a truer luster and a more benignant glory. With us his memory +remains a national property, where all sympathies, throughout our widely +extended and diversified empire meet in unison. Under all dissensions +and amid all the storms of party, his precepts and example speak to us +from the grave with a paternal appeal; and his name--by all +revered--forms a universal brotherhood, a watchword of our Union. + +IRVING AND FISKE. + + * * * * * + +The soul of Washington was one of the grandest of all ages that takes +its equal rank with Greek and Roman and Hebrew names of renown for +humane and prime worth, names that seem written not in our poor records, +but on the sky's arch--names in the broad sunshine of whose moral glory, +spreading through the world, all the little fires which men have made +with the kindling of words from abstract conceptions,--go out. For +however otherwise a man may be distinguished--unless there be in him a +spirit of love, devotion, and self-sacrifice, we feel he lacks the very +pith and beauty of manhood; and though he may be a great performer with +his pen as one plays well on a musical instrument, a Great Being he is +not. + +_Christian Examiner_. + + * * * * * + +It will be the duty of the historian and the sage of all nations to let +no occasion pass of commemorating this illustrious man; and until time +shall be no more, will a test of the progress which our race has made in +wisdom and virtue, be derived from the veneration paid to the immortal +name of Washington. + +LORD BROUGHAM. + + * * * * * + +The character of Washington may want some of those poetical elements, +but it possessed fewer inequalities and a rarer union of virtues than +perhaps ever fell to the lot of any other man. Prudence, firmness, +sagacity, moderation, an overruling judgment, an immovable justice, +courage that never faltered, patience that never wearied, truth that +disdained all artifice, magnanimity without alloy. It seems as if +Providence had endowed him in a pre-eminent degree with the qualities +requisite to fit him for the high destiny he was called upon to fulfill. + +IRVING AND FISKE. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S NAME IN THE HALL OF FAME + +BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER + + Republics are ungrateful, but ours, its best-loved son + Still keeps in memory green, and wreathes the name of Washington. + As year by year returns the day that saw the patriot's birth, + With boom of gun and beat of drum and peals of joy and mirth, + And songs of children in the streets and march of men-at-arms, + We honor pay to him who stood serene 'mid war's alarms; + And with his ragged volunteers long kept the foe at bay, + And bore the flag to victory in many a battle's day. + + We were a little nation then; so mighty have we grown + That scarce would Washington believe to-day we were his own. + With ships that sail on every sea, and sons in every port, + And harvest-fields to feed the world, wherever food is short, + And if at council-board our chiefs are now discreet and wise, + And if to great estate and high, our farmers' lads may rise, + We owe a debt to him who set the fashion of our fame, + And never more may we forget our loftiest hero's name. + + Great knightly soul who came in time to serve his country's need, + To serve her with the timely word and with the valiant deed, + Along the ages brightening as endless cycles run + Undimmed and gaining luster in the twentieth century's sun, + First in our Hall of Fame we write the name all folk may ken, + As first in war, and first in peace, first with his countrymen. + + * * * * * + +ESTIMATES OF WASHINGTON + +George Washington, the brave, the wise, the good. Supreme in war, in +council, and in peace. Washington, valiant, without ambition; discreet, +without fear; confident, without presumption. + +DR. ANDREW LEE. + + * * * * * + +More than any other individual, and as much as to one individual was +possible, has he contributed to found this, our wide spreading empire, +and to give to the Western World independence and freedom. + +CHIEF JUSTICE MARSHALL. + + * * * * * + +Let him who looks for a monument to Washington look around the United +States. Your freedom, your independence, your national power, your +prosperity, and your prodigious growth are a monument to him. + +KOSSUTH. + + * * * * * + +More than all, and above all, Washington was master of himself. If there +be one quality more than another in his character which may exercise a +useful control over the men of the present hour, it is the total +disregard of self when in the most elevated positions for influence and +example. + +CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S RELIGIOUS CHARACTER + +BY WILLIAM M'KINLEY + +_In an Address, February 22, 1898_ + +Though Washington's exalted character and the most striking acts of his +brilliant record are too familiar to be recounted here, yet often as the +story is retold, it engages our love and admiration and interest. We +love to record his noble unselfishness, his heroic purposes, the power +of his magnificent personality, his glorious achievements for mankind, +and his stalwart and unflinching devotion to independence, liberty, and +union. These cannot be too often told or be too familiarly known. + +A slaveholder himself, he yet hated slavery, and provided in his will +for the emancipation of his slaves. Not a college graduate, he was +always enthusiastically the friend of liberal education.... + +And how reverent always was this great man, how prompt and generous his +recognition of the guiding hand of Divine Providence in establishing and +controlling the destinies of the colonies and the Republic.... + +Washington states the reasons of his belief in language so exalted that +it should be graven deep in the mind of every patriot: + + No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand + which conducts the affairs of man more than the people of the + United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the + character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished + by some token of providential agency; and in the important + revolution just accomplished in the system of their united + government the tranquil deliberations and voluntary consents of so + many distinguished communities from which the events resulted + cannot be compared with the means by which most governments have + been established, without some return of pious gratitude, along + with an humble anticipation of the future blessings which the same + seems to presage. The reflections arising out of the present crisis + have forced themselves strongly upon my mind. You will join me, I + trust, in thinking that there are none under the influence of which + the proceedings of a new and free government are more auspiciously + commenced. + + +In his Farewell Address, Washington contends in part: + + (1) For the promotion of institutions of learning; + + (2) for cherishing the public credit; + + (3) for the observance of good faith and justice toward all nations.... + +At no point in his administration does Washington appear in grander +proportions than when he enunciates his ideas in regard to the foreign +policy of the government: + + Observe good faith and justice toward all nations; cultivate peace + and harmony with all; religion and morality enjoin this conduct. + Can it be that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be + worthy of a free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great + nation, to give to mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of + a people always guided by an exalted justice and benevolence. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON + +ANONYMOUS + +We are met to testify our regard for him whose name is intimately +blended with whatever belongs most essentially to the prosperity, the +liberty, the free institutions, and the renown of our country. That name +was a power to rally a nation in the hour of thick-thronging public +disasters and calamities; that name shone amid the storm of war, a +beacon light to cheer and guide the country's friends; its flame, too, +like a meteor, to repel her foes. That name in the days of peace was a +loadstone, attracting to itself a whole people's confidence, a whole +people's love, and the whole world's respect; that name, descending +with all time, spread over the whole earth, and uttered in all the +languages belonging to the tribes and races of men, will forever be +pronounced with affectionate gratitude by everyone in whose breast there +shall arise an aspiration for human rights and human liberty. + +Washington stands at the commencement of a new era, as well as at the +head of the New World. A century from the birth of Washington has +changed the world. The country of Washington has been the theater on +which a great part of that change has been wrought, and Washington +himself a principal agent by which it has been accomplished. His age and +his country are equally full of wonders, and of both he is the chief. + +It is the spirit of human freedom, the new elevation of individual man, +in his moral, social, and political character, leading the whole long +train of other improvements, which has most remarkably distinguished the +era. Society has assumed a new character; it has raised itself from +beneath governments to a participation in governments; it has mixed +moral and political objects with the daily pursuits of individual men, +and, with a freedom and strength before altogether unknown, it has +applied to these objects the whole power of the human understanding. It +has been the era, in short, when the social principle has triumphed over +the feudal principle; when society has maintained its rights against +military power, and established on foundations never hereafter to be +shaken its competency to govern itself. + + + + +VII + +WASHINGTON'S PLACE IN HISTORY + + +THE HIGHEST PEDESTAL + +BY WILLIAM E. GLADSTONE + +When I first read in detail the life of Washington, I was profoundly +impressed with the moral elevation and greatness of his character, and I +found myself at a loss to name among the statesmen of any age or country +many, or possibly any, who could be his rival. In saying this I mean no +disparagement to the class of politicians, the men of my own craft and +cloth, whom in my own land, and my own experience, I have found no less +worthy than other men of love and admiration. I could name among them +those who seem to me to come near even to him. But I will shut out the +last half century from the comparison. I will then say that if, among +all the pedestals supplied by history for public characters of +extraordinary nobility and purity, I saw one higher than all the rest, +and if I were required at a moment's notice to name the fittest occupant +for it, I think my choice at any time during the last forty-five years +would have lighted, as it would now light, upon Washington. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON IN HISTORY + +BY CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW + +No man ever stood for so much to his country and to mankind as George +Washington. Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, and Jay each +represented some of the elements which formed the Union. Washington +embodied them all. + +The superiority of Washington's character and genius were more +conspicuous in the formation of our government and in putting it on +indestructible foundations than leading armies to victory and conquering +the independence of his country. "The Union in any event" is the central +thought of the "Farewell Address," and all the years of his grand life +were devoted to its formation and preservation. + +Do his countrymen exaggerate his virtues? Listen to Guizot, the +historian of civilization: "Washington did the two greatest things which +in politics it is permitted to man to attempt. He maintained by peace +the independence of his country, which he conquered by war. He founded a +free government in the name of the principles of order, and by +re-establishing their sway." + +Hear Lord Erskine, the most famous of English advocates: "You are the +only being for whom I have an awful reverence." + +Remember the tribute of Charles James Fox, the greatest parliamentary +orator who ever swayed the British House of Commons: "Illustrious man, +before whom all borrowed greatness sinks into insignificance." + +Contemplate the character of Lord Brougham, pre-eminent for two +generations in every department of human thought and activity, and then +impress upon the memories of your children his deliberate judgment: +"Until time shall be no more will a test of the progress which our race +has made in wisdom and virtue be derived from the veneration paid to the +immortal name of Washington." + +Blot out from the page of history the names of all the great actors of +his time in the drama of nations, and preserve the name of Washington, +and the century would be renowned. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SHADE OF WASHINGTON + +BY RICHARD ALSOP + + Exalted chief, in thy superior mind + What vast resource, what various talents joined! + Tempered with social virtue's milder rays, + There patriot worth diffused a purer blaze; + Formed to command respect, esteem, inspire, + Midst statesmen grave, or midst the social choir, + With equal skill the sword or pen to wield, + In council great, unequaled in the field, + Mid glittering courts or rural walks to please, + Polite with grandeur, dignified with ease; + Before the splendors of thy high renown + How fade the glow-worn lusters of a crown; + How sink diminished in that radiance lost + The glare of conquest, and of power the boast. + Let Greece her Alexander's deeds proclaim; + Or Caesar's triumphs gild the Roman name; + Stripped of the dazzling glare around them cast, + Shrinks at their crimes humanity aghast; + With equal claim to honor's glorious meed. + See Attila his course of havoc lead! + O'er Asia's realms, in one vast ruin hurled. + See furious Zingis' bloody flag unfurled. + On base far different from the conqueror's claim + Rests the unsullied column of thy fame; + His on the woes of millions proudly based, + With blood cemented and with tears defaced; + Thine on a nation's welfare fixed sublime, + By freedom strengthened and revered by time. + He, as the Comet, whose portentous light + Spreads baleful splendor o'er the glooms of night, + With chill amazement fills the startled breast. + While storms and earthquakes dire its course attest, + And nature trembles, lest, in chaos hurled, + Should sink the tottering fabric of the world. + Thou, like the Sun, whose kind propitious ray + Opes the glad morn and lights the fields of day, + Dispels the wintry storm, the chilling rain, + With rich abundance clothes the smiling plain, + Gives all creation to rejoice around, + And life and light extends o'er nature's utmost bound. + Though shone thy life a model bright of praise, + Not less the example bright thy death portrays, + When, plunged in deepest we, around thy bed, + Each eye was fixed, despairing sunk each head, + While nature struggled with severest pain, + And scarce could life's last lingering powers retain: + In that dread moment, awfully serene, + No trace of suffering marked thy placid mien, + No groan, no murmuring plaint, escaped thy tongue, + No lowering shadows on thy brow were hung; + But calm in Christian hope, undamped with fear, + Thou sawest the high reward of virtue near, + On that bright meed in sweetest trust reposed, + As thy firm hand thine eyes expiring closed, + Pleased, to the will of heaven resigned thy breath, + And smiled as nature's struggles closed in death. + + * * * * * + +THE MAJESTIC EMINENCE OF WASHINGTON + +BY CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW + +_In an Address, February 22, 1888_ + +"Time's noblest offspring is the last." + +As the human race has moved along down the centuries, the vigorous and +ambitious, the dissenters from blind obedience and the original +thinkers, the colonists and state builders, have broken camp with the +morning, and followed the sun till the close of day. They have left +behind narrow and degrading laws, traditions, and castes. Their +triumphant success is pushing behind every bayonet carried at the order +of Kaiser or Czar; men, who, in doing their own thinking, will one day +decide for themselves the problems of peace and war. + +The scenes of the fifth act of the grand drama are changing, but all +attention remains riveted upon one majestic figure. He stands the +noblest leader who ever was intrusted with his country's life. His +patience under provocation, his calmness in danger, and lofty courage +when all others despaired, his prudent delays when delay was best, and +his quick and resistless blows when action was possible, his magnanimity +to defamers and generosity to his foes, his ambition for his country and +unselfishness for himself, his sole desire of freedom and independence +for America, and his only wish to return after victory to private life, +have all combined to make him, by the unanimous judgment of the world, +the foremost figure of history. + + * * * * * + +FOR A LITTLE PUPIL + +ANONYMOUS + + "Napoleon was great, I know, + And Julius Caesar, and all the rest, + But they didn't belong to us, and so + I like George Washington the best." + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S FAME + +BY ASHER ROBBINS + +It is the peculiar good fortune of this country to have given birth to a +citizen whose name everywhere produces a sentiment of regard for his +country itself. In other countries, whenever and wherever this is +spoken of to be praised, it is called the country of Washington. I +believe there is no people, civilized or savage, in any place however +remote, where the name of Washington has not been heard, and where it is +not respected with the fondest admiration. We are told that the Arab of +the desert talks of Washington in his tent, and that his name is +familiar to the wandering Scythian. He seems, indeed, to be the delight +of humankind, as their beau-ideal of human nature. No American, in any +part of the world, but has found the regard for himself increased by his +connection with Washington, as his fellow-countryman; and who has not +felt a pride, and has occasion to exult, in the fortunate connection? + +A century and more has now passed away since he came upon the stage, and +his fame first broke upon the world; for it broke like the blaze of day +from the rising sun--almost as sudden, and seemingly as universal. The +eventful period since that era has teemed with great men, who have +crossed the scene and passed off. Some of them have arrested great +attention--very great. Still Washington retains his preeminent place in +the minds of men; still his peerless name is cherished by them in the +same freshness of delight as in the morn of its glory. History will keep +a record of his fame; but history is not necessary to perpetuate it. In +regions where history is not read, where letters are unknown, it lives, +and will go down from age to age, in all future time, in their +traditionary lore. Who would exchange this fame, the common inheritance +of our country, for the fame of any individual which any country of any +time can boast? I would not; with my sentiments I could not. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON + +_The Brightest Name on History's Page_ + +BY ELIZA COOK + + Land of the West! though passing brief the record of thine age, + Thou hast a name that darkens all on history's wide page! + Let all the blasts of Fame ring out,--thine shall be loudest far; + Let others boast their satellites,--thou hast the planet star. + Thou hast a name whose characters of light shall ne'er depart; + 'Tis stamped upon the dullest brain, and warms the coldest heart; + A war-cry fit for any land where freedom's to be won; + Land of the West! it stands alone,--it is thy Washington! + + Rome had its Caesar, great and brave, but stain was on his wreath; + He lived the heartless conqueror, and died the tyrant's death. + France had its eagle, but his wings, though lofty they might soar, + Were spread in false ambition's flight, and dipped in murder's gore. + Those hero-gods, whose mighty sway would fain have chained the waves-- + Who flashed their blades with tiger zeal to make a world of slaves-- + Who, though their kindred barred the path, still fiercely waded on, + Oh, where shall be _their_ "glory" by the side of Washington! + + He fought, but not with love of strife; he struck but to defend; + And ere he turned a people's foe, he sought to be a friend; + He strove to keep his country's right by reason's gentle word, + And sighed when fell injustice threw the challenge sword to sword. + He stood the firm, the wise, the patriot, and the sage; + He showed no deep, avenging hate, no burst of despot rage; + He stood for Liberty and Truth, and daringly led on + Till shouts of victory gave forth the name of Washington. + + No car of triumph bore him through a city filled with grief; + No groaning captives at the wheels proclaimed him victor-chief; + He broke the gyves of slavery with strong and high disdain, + But cast no scepter from the links when he had rent the chain. + He saved his land, but did not lay his soldier trappings down + To change them for a regal vest and don a kingly crown. + Fame was too earnest in her joy, too proud of such a son, + To let a robe and title mask her noble Washington. + + England, my heart is truly thine, my loved, my native earth,-- + The land that holds a mother's grave and gave that mother birth! + Oh, keenly sad would be the fate that thrust me from thy shore + And faltering my breath that sighed, "Farewell for evermore!" + But did I meet such adverse lot, I would not seek to dwell + Where olden heroes wrought the deeds for Homer's song to tell. + "Away, thou gallant ship!" I'd cry, "and bear me safely on, + But bear me from my own fair land to that of Washington." + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON, THE PATRIOT + +_An extract from President McKinley's address on Washington, taken from +a report in the Cleveland Leader_ + +Washington and the American Republic are inseparable. You cannot study +history without having the name of Washington come to you unbidden. +Bancroft said, "But for Washington the Republic would never have been +conceived; the Constitution would not have been formed, and the Federal +Government would never have been put in operation." Washington felt that +the Revolution was a struggle for freedom, and it was by his strong +character and wonderful patriotism that the army was held together +during the prolonged and perilous war. In all the public affairs of the +colonies Washington was the champion of right. His military career has +never been equaled. He continued at the head of his army until the close +of the war, overcoming jealousies and intrigues, which only the greatest +courage and the sublimest wisdom could do. The ideal he had ever +cherished was one in which the individual could have the greatest +liberty, consistent with the country's best interests, and it was with +this ideal constantly in mind that he carried on the war and embodied +the principles of liberty within the government. Washington had many +temptations, but the greatest of them came after the victory was +achieved. At the time when the army was in revolt, when there was +dissatisfaction in Congress, and consternation and distress throughout +the colonies, it was proposed that the original plan of government be +abandoned and that Washington be chosen as the military ruler or +dictator. Washington's strong reproval of such proposals and his +insistence upon the stronger government, showed his unselfish regard for +the country. A weaker man might have weakened, a bad one would, but +Washington was determined to embody into the government all that had +been achieved by the war. Washington in what he did had no precedents. +He and his associates made the chart which assisted them in guiding the +new government. He established credit, put the army and navy on a +permanent basis, fostered commerce, and was ever on the side of +education. + +Everything that he did demonstrates his marvelous foresight. We cannot +afford to spare the inspiration that comes from Washington. It promotes +patriotism and gives vigor to national life. Washington's views on +slavery were characterized by a high sense of justice and an exalted +conscience. He was the owner of slaves by inheritance, all his interests +were affected by slavery, yet he was opposed to it, and in his will he +provided for the liberation of his slaves. He set the example for +emancipation. He hoped for, prayed for, and was willing to vote for what +Lincoln afterward accomplished. + + + + +VIII + +THE WHOLE MAN + + +GEORGE WASHINGTON + +BY JOHN HALL INGHAM + + This was the man God gave us when the hour + Proclaimed the dawn of Liberty begun; + Who dared a deed, and died when it was done, + Patient in triumph, temperate in power,-- + Not striving like the Corsican to tower + To heaven, nor like great Philip's greater son + To win the world and weep for worlds unwon, + Or lose the star to revel in the flower. + The lives that serve the eternal verities + Alone do mold mankind. Pleasure and pride + Sparkle awhile and perish, as the spray + Smoking across the crests of cavernous seas + Is impotent to hasten or delay + The everlasting surges of the tide. + + * * * * * + +HISTORICAL MEMORABILIA OF WASHINGTON + +COMPILED BY H.B. CARRINGTON + +1732. February 22 (February 11, O.S.), born. +1748. Surveyor of lands at sixteen years of age. +1751. Military inspector and major at nineteen years of age. +1752. Adjutant-general of Virginia. +1753. Commissioner to the French. +1754. Colonel, and commanding the Virginia militia. +1755. Aide-de-camp to Braddock in his campaign. +1755. Again commands the Virginia troops. +1758. Resigns his commission. +1759. January 6. Married. +1759. Elected member of Virginia House of Burgesses. +1765. Commissioner to settle military accounts. +1774. In First Continental Congress. +1775. In Second Continental Congress. +1775. June 15. Elected commander-in-chief. +1775. July 2. In command at Cambridge. +1776. March 17. Expels the British from Boston. +1776. August 27. Battle of Long Island. +1776. August 29. Masterly retreat to New York. +1776. September 15. Gallant, at Kipp's Bay. +1776. October 27. Battle of Harlem Heights. +1776. October 29. Battle near White Plains. +1776. November 15. Enters New Jersey. +1776. December 5. Occupies right bank of the Delaware. +1776. December 12. Clothed with "full power." +1776. December 14. Plans an offensive campaign. +1776. December 26. Battle of Trenton. +1777. January 3. Battle of Princeton. +1777. July. British driven from New Jersey, during. +1777. July 13. Marches for Philadelphia. +1777. September 11. Battle of Brandywine. +1777. September 15. Offers battle at West Chester. +1777. October 4. Battle of Germantown. +1778. Winters at Valley Forge. +1778. June 28. Battle of Monmouth. +1778. British again retire from New Jersey. +1778. Again at White Plains. +1779. At Middlebrook, New Jersey, and New Windsor. +1780. Winters at Morristown, New Jersey. +1781. Confers with Rochambeau as to plans. +1781. Threatens New York in June and July. +1781. Joins Lafayette before Yorktown. +1781. October 19. Surrender of Cornwallis. +1783. November 2. Farewell to the army. +1733. November 25. Occupies New York. +1783. December 4. Parts with his officers. +1783. December 23. Resigns his commission. +1787. Presides at Constitutional Convention. +1789. March 4. Elected President of the United States. +1789. April 30. Inaugurated at New York. +1793. March 4. Re-elected for four years. +1796. September 17. Farewell to the people. +1797. March 4. Retires to private life. +1798. July 3. Appointed commander-in-chief. +1799. December 14. Died at Mount Vernon. + + * * * * * + +A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF WASHINGTON[20] + +BY HENRY MITCHELL MACCRACKEN + +George Washington was a son of Augustine Washington and his second wife, +Mary Ball, and a descendant of John Washington, who emigrated from +England about 1657, during the protectorate of Cromwell. He was born in +the English colony of Virginia, in Westmoreland County, on February 22, +1732. His education was simple and practical. To the common English +instruction of his time and home, young Washington added bookkeeping and +surveying. The three summers preceding his twentieth year he spent in +surveying the estate of Lord Fairfax on the northwest boundary of the +colony, an occupation which strengthened his splendid physical +constitution to a high point of efficiency, and gave him practice in +topography,--valuable aids in the military campaigning which speedily +followed. + +In 1751, at nineteen, he was made Adjutant in the militia, with the rank +of Major. In the following year he inherited the estate of Mount Vernon. +In the winter of 1753-54, at twenty-one, he was sent by the Governor of +Virginia on a mission to the French posts beyond the Alleghanies. Soon +after his return he led a regiment to the headwaters of the Ohio, but +was compelled to retreat to the colony on account of the overwhelming +numbers of the French at Fort Duquesne. In Braddock's defeat, July 9, +1755, Washington was one of the latter's aides, and narrowly escaped +death, having had two horses shot under him. During the remaining part +of the French and Indian War, he was in command of the Virginia +frontier, with the rank of Colonel, and occupied Fort Duquesne in 1758. +On January 17, 1759, he married a wealthy widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, and +removed to Mount Vernon. The administration of his plantations involved +a large measure of commerce with England, and he himself with his own +hand kept his books with mercantile exactness. + +Soon after the outbreak of hostilities, Washington was appointed by the +Continental Congress, at forty-three years of age, Commander-in-Chief of +the Armies of the Revolution, and assumed their control at Cambridge on +July 3, 1775. In 1776 he occupied Boston, lost New York, then +brilliantly restored the drooping spirit of the land at Trenton and +Princeton. In the year following he lost Philadelphia, and retreated to +Valley Forge. Threatened by the jealousy of his own subordinates, he put +to shame the cabal formed in the interests of Gates, who had this year +captured Burgoyne. For three years, 1778-80, he maintained himself +against heavy odds in the Jerseys, fighting at Monmouth the first year, +reaching out to capture Stony Point the next year, and the third year +combating the treason of Arnold. In 1781, he planned the cooping up of +Cornwallis on the peninsula of Yorktown, with the aid of the French +allies, and received his surrender on October 19th. + +Resigning his commission at Annapolis, December 23, 1783, he returned to +his estate at Mount Vernon, but vastly aided the incipient work of +framing the Constitution by correspondence. In May, 1787, he took his +seat as President of the Constitutional Convention at Philadelphia. He +was inaugurated the first President of the United States in April, 1789, +after a unanimous election. He was similarly reflected in 1793, but +refused a third term in 1796. In the face of unmeasured vituperation he +firmly kept the nascent nation from embroiling herself in the wars of +France and England. Retiring again to Mount Vernon in the spring of +1797, he nevertheless accepted, at sixty-six years of age, the post of +Commander-in-Chief of the provisional army raised in 1798 to meet the +insolence of the French Directorate. In December, 1799, while riding +about his estates during a snowstorm, he contracted a disease of the +throat, from which he died on December 14, 1799. He provided by his will +for the manumission of his slaves, to take effect on the decease of his +widow. No lineal descendants can claim as an ancestor this extraordinary +man. He belongs to his country. His tomb is at Mount Vernon, and is in +keeping of the women of America. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[20] From "The Hall of Fame." Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons, New York, +1901. + + * * * * * + +THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON + +BY DANIEL WEBSTER + +_A Speech Delivered at a Public Dinner, Washington, February 22, 1832_ + +_The Power of the Name of Washington_ + +We are met to testify our regard for him whose name is intimately +blended with whatever belongs most essentially to the prosperity, the +liberty, the free institutions, and the renown of our country;. That +name was of power to rally a nation, in the hour of thick-thronging +public disasters and calamities; that name shone, amid the storm of war, +a beacon light, to cheer and guide the country's friends; it flamed, +too, like a meteor, to repel her foes. That name, in the days of peace, +was a lodestone, attracting to itself a whole people's confidence, a +whole people's love, and the whole world's respect. That name, +descending with all time, spreading over the whole earth, and uttered in +all the languages belonging to the tribes and races of men, will forever +be pronounced with affectionate gratitude by everyone in whose breast +there shall arise an aspiration for human rights and human liberty. + +We perform this grateful duty, Gentlemen, at the expiration of a hundred +years from his birth, near the place so cherished and beloved by him, +where his dust now reposes, and in the capital which bears his own +immortal name. + +All experience evinces that human sentiments are strongly influenced by +association. The recurrence of anniversaries, or of longer periods of +time, naturally freshens the recollection, and deepens the impression, +of events with which they are historically connected. Renowned places, +also, have a power to awaken feeling, which all acknowledge. No American +can pass by the fields of Bunker Hill, Monmouth, and Camden, as if they +were ordinary spots on the earth's surface. Whoever visits them feels +the sentiment of love of country kindling anew, as if the spirit that +belonged to the transactions which have rendered these places +distinguished still hovered round, with power to move and excite all who +in future time may approach them. + +_Washington's Great Moral Example to the Youth of America_ + +But neither of these sources of emotion equals the power with which +great moral examples affect the mind. When sublime virtues cease to be +abstractions, when they become embodied in human character, and +exemplified in human conduct, we should be false to our own nature if we +did not indulge in the spontaneous effusions of our gratitude and our +admiration. A true lover of the virtue of patriotism delights to +contemplate its purest models; and that love of country may be well +suspected which affects to soar so high into the regions of sentiment as +to be lost and absorbed in the abstract feeling, and becomes too +elevated or too refined to glow with fervor in the commendation or the +love of individual benefactors. All this is unnatural. It is as if one +should be so enthusiastic a lover of poetry as to care nothing for Homer +or Milton; so passionately attached to eloquence as to be indifferent to +Tully[21] and Chatham; or such a devotee to the art, in such an ecstasy +with the elements of beauty, proportion, and expression, as to regard +the masterpieces of Raphael and Michel Angelo with coldness or contempt. +We may be assured, Gentlemen, that he who really loves the thing itself, +loves its finest exhibitions. A true friend of his country loves her +friends and benefactors, and thinks it no degradation to commend and +commemorate them. The voluntary outpouring of the public feeling, made +to-day, from the north to the south, and from the east to the west, +proves this sentiment to be both just and natural. In the cities and in +the villages, in the public temples and in the family circles, among all +ages and sexes, gladdened voices to-day bespeak grateful hearts and a +freshened recollection of the virtues of the Father of his Country. And +it will be so, in all time to come, so long as public virtue is itself +an object of regard. The ingenuous youth of America will hold up to +themselves the bright model of Washington's example, and study to be +what they behold; they will contemplate his character till all its +virtues spread out and display themselves to their delighted vision; as +the earliest astronomers, the shepherds on the plains of Babylon, gazed +at the stars till they saw them form into clusters and constellations, +overpowering at length the eyes of the beholders with the united blaze +of a thousand lights. + +_A Wonderful Age and Country_ + +Gentlemen, we are at a point of a century from the birth of Washington; +and what a century it has been! During its course, the human mind has +seemed to proceed with a sort of geometric velocity, accomplishing for +human intelligence and human freedom more than had been done in fives or +tens of centuries preceding. Washington stands at the commencement of a +new era, as well as at the head of the New World. A century from the +birth of Washington has changed the world. The country of Washington has +been the theater on which a great part of that change has been wrought, +and Washington himself a principal agent by which it has been +accomplished. His age and his country are equally full of wonders; and +of both he is the chief. + +If the poetical prediction, uttered a few years before his birth, be +true; if indeed it be designed by Providence that the grandest +exhibition of human character and human affairs shall be made in this +theater of the Western world; if it be true that, + + "The four first acts already past, + A fifth shall close the drama with the day; + Time's noblest offspring is the last"; + +how could this imposing, swelling, final scene be appropriately opened, +how could its intense interest be adequately sustained but by the +introduction of just such a character as our Washington? + +_The Spark of Human Freedom_ + +Washington had attained his manhood when that spark of liberty was +struck out in his own country which has since kindled into a flame and +shot its beams over the earth. In the flow of a century from his birth, +the world has changed in science, in arts, in the extent of commerce, in +the improvement of navigation, and in all that relates to the +civilization of man. But it is the spirit of human freedom, the new +elevation of individual man, in his moral, social, and political +character, leading the whole long train of other improvements, which has +most remarkably distinguished the era. Society, in this century, has not +made its progress, like Chinese skill, by a greater acuteness of +ingenuity in trifles; it has not merely lashed itself to an increased +speed round the old circles of thought and action; but it has assumed a +new character; it has raised itself from _beneath_ governments to a +participation in governments; it has mixed moral and political objects +with the daily pursuits of individual men; and, with a freedom and +strength before altogether unknown, it has applied to these objects the +whole power of the human understanding. It has been the era, in short, +when the social principle has triumphed over the feudal principle; when +society has maintained its rights against military power, and +established, on foundations never hereafter to be shaken, its competency +to govern itself. + +_A New Governmental Experiment_ + +It was the extraordinary fortune of Washington that, having been +intrusted in revolutionary times, with the supreme military command, and +having fulfilled that trust with equal renown for wisdom and for valor, +he should be placed at the head of the first government in which an +attempt was to be made on a large scale to rear the fabric of social +order on the basis of a written constitution, and of a pure +representative principle. A government was to be established without a +throne, without an aristocracy, without castes, orders, or privileges; +and this government, instead of being a democracy existing and acting +within the walls of a single city, was to be extended over a vast +country of different climates, interests, and habits, and of various +communions of our common Christian faith. The experiment certainly was +entirely new. A popular government of this extent, it was evident, could +be framed only by carrying into full effect the principle of +representation or of delegated power; and the world was to see whether +society could, by the strength of this principle, maintain its own peace +and good government, carry forward its own great interests, and conduct +itself to political renown and glory. By the benignity of Providence, +this experiment, so full of interest to us and to our posterity +forever, so full of interest, indeed, to the world in its present +generation and in all its generations to come, was suffered to commence +under the guidance of Washington. Destined for this high career, he was +fitted for it by wisdom, by virtue, by patriotism, by discretion, by +whatever can inspire confidence in man toward man. In entering on the +untried scenes, early disappointment and the premature extinction of all +hope of success would have been certain, had it not been that there did +exist throughout the country, in a most extraordinary degree, an +unwavering trust in him who stood at the helm. + +_The World Interested in the Experiment_ + +I remarked, Gentlemen, that the whole world was and is interested in the +result of this experiment. And is it not so? Do we deceive ourselves, or +is it true that at this moment the career which this government is +running is among the most attractive objects to the civilized world? Do +we deceive ourselves, or is it true that at this moment that love of +liberty and that understanding of its true principles which are flying +over the whole earth, as on the wings of all the winds, are really and +truly of American origin? + +_Importance of the English Revolution of 1688_ + +At the period of the birth of Washington there existed in Europe no +political liberty in large communities, except in the provinces of +Holland, and except that England herself had set a great example, so +far as it went, by her glorious Revolution of 1688. Everywhere else, +despotic power was predominant, and the feudal or military principle +held the mass of mankind in hopeless bondage. One-half of Europe was +crushed beneath the Bourbon scepter, and no conception of political +liberty, no hope even of religious toleration, existed among that nation +which was America's first ally. The king was the state, the king was the +country, the king was all. There was one king, with power not derived +from his people, and too high to be questioned; and the rest were all +subjects, with no political right but obedience. All above was +intangible power, all below quiet subjection. A recent occurrence in the +French chamber shows us how public opinion on these subjects is changed. +A minister had spoken of the "king's subjects." "There are no +subjects," exclaimed hundreds of voices at once, "in a country where the +people make the king!" + +Gentlemen, the spirit of human liberty and of free government, nurtured +and grown into strength and beauty in America, has stretched its course +into the midst of the nations. Like an emanation from Heaven, it has +gone forth, and it will not return void. It must change, it is fast +changing, the face of the earth. Our great, our high duty is to show, in +our own example, that this spirit is a spirit of health as well as a +spirit of power; that its benignity is as great as its strength; that +its efficiency to secure individual rights, social relations, and moral +order, is equal to the irresistible force with which it prostrates +principalities and powers. The world, at this moment, is regarding us +with a willing, but something of a fearful, admiration. Its deep and +awful anxiety is to learn whether free States may be stable, as well as +free; whether popular power may be trusted, as well as feared; in short, +whether wise, regular, and virtuous self-government is a vision for the +contemplation of theorists, or a truth established, illustrated, and +brought into practice in the country of Washington. + +_The United States a Western Sun_ + +Gentlemen, for the earth which we inhabit, and the whole circle of the +sun, for all the unborn races of mankind, we seem to hold in our hands, +for their weal or woe, the fate of this experiment. If we fail, who +shall venture the repetition? If our example shall prove to be one not +of encouragement, but of terror, not fit to be imitated, but fit only to +be shunned, where else shall the world look for free models? If this +great _Western Sun_ be struck out of the firmament, at what other +fountain shall the lamp of liberty hereafter be lighted? What other orb +shall emit a ray to glimmer, even, on the darkness of the world? + +There is no danger of our overrating or overstating the important part +which we are now acting in human affairs. It should not flatter our +personal self-respect, but it should reanimate our patriotic virtues and +inspire us with a deeper and more solemn sense both of our privileges +and of our duties. We cannot wish better for our country, nor for the +world, than that the same spirit which influenced Washington may +influence all who succeed him; and that the same blessing from above, +which attended his efforts, may also attend theirs. + +_Washington's Farewell Address_ + +The principles of Washington's administration are not left doubtful. +They are to be found in the Constitution itself, in the great measures +recommended and approved by him, in his speeches to Congress, and in +that most interesting paper, his Farewell Address to the people of the +United States. The success of the government under his administration is +the highest proof of the soundness of these principles. And, after an +experience of thirty-five years, what is there which an enemy could +condemn? What is there which either his friends, or the friends of the +country, could wish to have been otherwise? I speak, of course, of great +measures and leading principles. + +In the first place, all his measures were right in their intent. He +stated the whole basis of his own great character, when he told the +country, in the homely phrase of the proverb, that honesty is the best +policy. One of the most striking things ever said of him is, that "_he +changed mankind's ideas of political greatness_."[22] To commanding +talents, and to success, the common elements of such greatness, he +added a disregard of self, a spotlessness of motive, a steady submission +to every public and private duty, which threw far into the shade the +whole crowd of vulgar great. The object of his regard was the whole +country. No part of it was enough to fill his enlarged patriotism. His +love of glory, so far as that may be supposed to have influenced him at +all, spurned everything short of general approbation. It would have been +nothing to him that his partisans or his favorites outnumbered, or +outvoted, or outmanaged, or outclamored, those of other leaders. He had +no favorites; he rejected all partisanship; and, acting honestly for the +universal good, he deserved, what he so richly enjoyed, the universal +love. + +His principle it was to act right, and to trust the people for support; +his principle it was not to follow the lead of sinister and selfish +ends, nor to rely on the little arts of party delusion to obtain public +sanction for such a course. Born for his country and for the world, he +did not give up to party what was meant for mankind. The consequence is, +that his fame is as durable as his principles, as lasting as truth and +virtue themselves. While the hundreds whom party excitement, and +temporary circumstances, and casual combinations, have raised into +transient notoriety, sink again, like thin bubbles, bursting and +dissolving into the great ocean, Washington's fame is like the rock +which bounds that ocean, and at whose feet its billows are destined to +break harmlessly forever. + +_His Conduct of America's Foreign Relations_ + +The maxims upon which Washington conducted our foreign relations were +few and simple. The first was an entire and indisputable impartiality +towards foreign States.[23] He adhered to this rule of public conduct, +against very strong inducements to depart from it, and when the +popularity of the moment seemed to favor such a departure. In the next +place, he maintained true dignity and unsullied honor in all +communications with foreign States. It was among the high duties +devolved upon him to introduce our new government into the circle of +civilized States and powerful nations. Not arrogant or assuming, with no +unbecoming or supercilious bearing, he yet exacted for it from all +others entire and punctilious respect. He demanded, and he obtained at +once, a standing of perfect equality for his country in the society of +nations; nor was there a prince or potentate of his day, whose personal +character carried with it, into the intercourse of other States, a +greater degree of respect and veneration. + +He regarded other nations only as they stood in political relations to +us. With their internal affairs, their political parties and +dissensions, he scrupulously abstained from all interference; and, on +the other hand, he repelled with spirit all such interference by others +with us or our concerns. His sternest rebuke, the most indignant +measure of his whole administration, was aimed against such an attempted +interference. He felt it as an attempt to wound the national honor, and +resented it accordingly. + +_Foreign Influence a Foe of Republican Government_ + +The reiterated admonitions in his Farewell Address show his deep fears +that foreign influence would insinuate itself into our counsels through +the channels of domestic dissension, and obtain a sympathy with our own +temporary parties. Against all such dangers he most earnestly entreats +the country to guard itself. He appeals to its patriotism, to its +self-respect, to its own honor, to every consideration connected with +its welfare and happiness, to resist, at the very beginning, all +tendencies toward such connection of foreign interests with our own +affairs. With a tone of earnestness nowhere else found, even in his last +affectionate farewell advice to his countrymen, he says, "Against the +insidious wiles of foreign influence, (I conjure you to believe me, +fellow-citizens,) the jealousy of a free people ought to be _constantly_ +awake; since history and experience prove that foreign influence is one +of the most baneful foes of republican government." + +_The Advantages of American Isolation_ + +Lastly, on the subject of foreign relations, Washington never forgot +that we had interests peculiar to ourselves. The primary political +concerns of Europe, he saw, did not affect us. We had nothing to do +with her balance of power, her family compacts, or her successions to +thrones. We were placed in a condition favorable to neutrality during +European wars, and to the enjoyment of all the great advantages of that +relation. "Why, then," he asks us, "why forego the advantages of so +peculiar a situation? Why quit our own to stand upon foreign ground? +Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, +entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, +rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice?" + +Indeed, Gentlemen, Washington's Farewell Address is full of truths +important at all times, and particularly deserving consideration at the +present. With a sagacity which brought the future before him, and made +it like the present, he saw and pointed out the dangers that even at +this moment most imminently threaten us. I hardly know how a greater +service of that kind could now be done to the community, than by a +renewed and wide diffusion of that admirable paper, and an earnest +invitation to every man in the country to reperuse and consider it. Its +political maxims are invaluable; its exhortations to love of country and +to brotherly affection among citizens, touching; and the solemnity with +which it urges the observance of moral duties, and impresses the power +of religious obligation, gives to it the highest character of truly +disinterested, sincere, parental advice. + +_Washington's Domestic Policy_ + +The domestic policy of Washington found its pole-star in the avowed +objects of the Constitution itself. He sought so to administer that +Constitution as to form more perfect union, establish justice, insure +domestic tranquillity, provide for the common defense, promote the +general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. These were objects +interesting in the highest degree, to the whole country, and his policy +embraced the whole country. + +Among his earliest and most important duties was the organization of the +government itself, the choice of his confidential advisers, and the +various appointments to office. This duty, so important and delicate, +when a whole government was to be organized, and all its offices for the +first time filled, was yet not difficult to him, for he had no sinister +ends to accomplish, no clamorous partisans to gratify, no pledges to +redeem, no object to be regarded but simply the public good. It was a +plain, straightforward matter, a mere honest choice of good men for the +public service. + +_His First Cabinet_ + +His own singleness of purpose, his disinterested patriotism, were +evinced by the selection of his first cabinet, and by the manner in +which he felled the seats of justice, and other places of high trust. He +sought for men fit for offices; not for offices which might suit them. +Above personal considerations, above local considerations, above party +considerations, he felt that he could only discharge the sacred trust +which the country had placed in his hands, by a diligent inquiry after +real merit, and a conscientious preference of virtue and talent. The +whole country was the field of his selection. He explored that whole +field, looking only for whatever it contained most worthy and +distinguished. He was, indeed, most successful, and he deserved success +for the purity of his motives, the liberality of his sentiments, and his +enlarged and manly policy. + +_Important Measures of His Administrations_ + +Washington's administration established the national credit, made +provision for the public debt, and for that patriotic army whose +interests and welfare were always so dear to him; and, by laws wisely +framed, and of admirable effect, raised the commerce and navigation of +the country, almost at once, from depression and ruin to a state of +prosperity. Nor were his eyes open to these interests alone. He viewed +with equal concern its agriculture and manufactures, and, so far as they +came within the regular exercise of the powers of this government, they +experienced regard and favor. + +It should not be omitted, even in this slight reference to the general +measures and general principles of the First President, that he saw and +felt the full value and importance of the judicial department of the +government. An upright and able administration of the laws he held to be +alike indispensable to private happiness and public liberty. The temple +of justice, in his opinion, was a sacred place, and he would profane and +pollute it who should call any to minister in it, not spotless in +character, not incorruptible in integrity, not competent by talent and +learning, not a fit object of unhesitating trust. + +_His Opinion of the Dangers of Party Spirit_ + +Among other admonitions Washington has left us, in his last +communication to his country, an exhortation against the excesses of +party spirit. A fire not to be quenched, he yet conjures us not to fan +and feed the flame. Undoubtedly, Gentlemen, it is the greatest danger of +our system and of our time. Undoubtedly, if that system should be +overthrown, it will be the work of excessive party spirit, acting on the +government, which is dangerous enough, or acting in the government, +which is a thousand times more dangerous; for government then becomes +nothing but organized party, and, in the strange vicissitudes of human +affairs, it may come at last, perhaps, to exhibit the singular paradox +of government itself being in opposition to its own powers, at war with +the very elements of its own existence. Such cases are hopeless. As men +may be protected against murder, but cannot be guarded against suicide, +so government may be shielded from the assaults of external foes, but +nothing can save it when it chooses to lay violent hands on itself. + +_His Love of the Union_ + +Finally, Gentlemen, there was in the breast of Washington one sentiment +so deeply felt, so constantly uppermost, that no proper occasion escaped +without its utterance. From the letter which he signed in behalf of the +Convention when the Constitution was sent out to the people, to the +moment when he put his hand to that last paper in which he addressed his +countrymen, the Union,--the Union was the great object of his thoughts. +In that first letter he tells them that to him and his brethren of the +Convention, union appears to be the greatest interest of every true +American; and in that last paper he conjures them to regard that unity +of government which constitutes them one people as the very palladium of +their prosperity and safety, and the security of liberty itself. He +regarded the union of these States less as one of our blessings, than as +the great treasure-house which contained them all. Here, in his +judgment, was the great magazine of all our means of prosperity; here as +he thought, and as every true American still thinks, are deposited all +our animating prospects, all our solid hopes for future greatness. He +has taught us to maintain this union, not by seeking to enlarge the +powers of the government, on the one hand, nor by surrendering them, on +the other; but by an administration of them at once firm and moderate, +pursuing objects truly national, and carried on in a spirit of justice +and equity. + +_The American Nation Unique_ + +The extreme solicitude for the preservation of the Union, at all times +manifested by him, shows not only the opinion he entertained of its +importance, but his clear perception of those causes which were likely +to spring up to endanger it, and which, if once they should overthrow +the present system, would leave little hope of any future beneficial +reunion. Of all the presumptions indulged by presumptuous men, that is +one of the rashest which looks for repeated and favorable opportunities +for the deliberate establishment of a united government over distinct +and widely extended communities. Such a thing has happened once in human +affairs, and but once; the event stands out as a prominent exception to +all ordinary history; and unless we suppose ourselves running into an +age of miracles, we may not expect its repetition. + +Washington, therefore, could regard, and did regard nothing as a +paramount political interest but the integrity of the Union itself. With +a united government, well administered, he saw that we had nothing to +fear; and without it, nothing to hope. The sentiment is just, and its +momentous truth should solemnly impress the whole country. If we might +regard our country as personated in the spirit of Washington, if we +might consider him as representing her, in her past renown, her present +prosperity, and her future career, and as in that character demanding of +us all to account for our conduct, as political men or as private +citizens, how should he answer him who has ventured to talk of disunion +and dismemberment? Oh how should he answer him who dwells perpetually on +local interests, and fans every kindling flame of local prejudice? How +should he answer him who would array State against State, interest +against interest, and party against party, careless of the continuance +of that unity of government which constitutes us one people? + +The political prosperity which this country has attained, and which it +now enjoys, has been acquired mainly through the instrumentality of the +present government. While this agent continues, the capacity of +attaining to still higher degrees of prosperity exists also. We have, +while this lasts, a political life capable of beneficial exertion, with +power to resist or overcome misfortunes, to sustain us against the +ordinary accidents of human affairs, and to promote, by active efforts, +every public interest. But dismemberment strikes at the very being which +preserves these faculties. It would lay its rude and ruthless hand on +this great agent itself. It would sweep away, not only what we possess, +but all power of regaining lost, or acquiring new possessions. It would +leave the country not only bereft of its prosperity and happiness, but +without limbs, or organs, or faculties, by which to exert itself +hereafter in the pursuit of that prosperity and happiness. + +_Dismemberment of the United States the Greatest of Evils_ + +Other misfortunes may be borne, or their effects overcome. If disastrous +war should sweep our commerce from the ocean, another generation may +renew it; if it exhaust our treasury, future industry may replenish it; +if it desolate and lay waste our fields, still, under a new cultivation, +they will grow green again, and ripen to future harvests. It were but a +trifle even if the walls of yonder Capitol were to crumble, if its lofty +pillars should fall, and its gorgeous decorations be all covered by the +dust of the valley. All these might be rebuilt. But who shall +reconstruct the fabric of demolished government? Who shall rear again +the well-proportioned columns of constitutional liberty? Who shall frame +together the skillful architecture which unites national sovereignty +with State rights, individual security, and public prosperity? No, if +these columns fall, they will be raised not again. Like the Coliseum and +the Parthenon, they will be destined to a mournful, a melancholy +immortality. Bitterer tears, however, will flow over them than were ever +shed over the monuments of Roman or Grecian art; for they will be the +remnants of a more glorious edifice than Greece or Rome ever saw, the +edifice of constitutional American liberty. + +But let us hope for better things. Let us trust in that gracious Being +who has hitherto held our country as in the hollow of his hand. Let us +trust to the virtue and the intelligence of the people, and to the +efficacy of religious obligation. Let us trust to the influence of +Washington's example. Let us hope that that fear of Heaven which expels +all other fear, and that regard to duty which transcends all other +regard, may influence public men and private citizens, and lead our +country still onward in her happy career. Full of these gratifying +anticipations and hopes, let us look forward to the end of that century +which is now commenced. A hundred years hence, other disciples of +Washington will celebrate his birth, with no less of sincere admiration +than we now commemorate it. When they shall meet, as we now meet, to do +themselves and him that honor, so surely as they shall see the blue +summits of his native mountains rise in the horizon, so surely as they +shall behold the river on whose banks he lived, and on whose banks he +rests, still flowing on toward the sea, so surely may they see, as we +now see, the flag of the Union floating on the top of the Capitol; and +then, as now, may the sun in his course visit no land more free, more +happy, more lovely, than this our own country! + +FOOTNOTES: + +[21] At the beginning of the nineteenth century Marcus Tullius Cicero +was often called Tully. + +[22] A remark by Fisher Ames (1758-1808), of Massachusetts,--perhaps the +extremest Federalist of his time. + +[23] The famous phrase, "honest friendship with all nations, entangling +alliances with none," was not Washington's but Jefferson's. + + * * * * * + +MOUNT VERNON, THE HOME OF +WASHINGTON + +BY WILLIAM DAY + +_The following lines were written on the back of a picture at Mount +Vernon_: + + There dwelt the Man, the flower of human kind, + Whose visage mild bespoke his nobler mind. + + There dwelt the Soldier, who his sword ne'er drew + But in a righteous cause, to Freedom true. + + There dwelt the Hero, who ne'er killed for fame, + Yet gained more glory than a Caesar's name. + + There dwelt the Statesman, who, devoid of art, + Gave soundest counsels from an upright heart; + + And, O Columbia, by thy sons caressed, + There dwelt the Father of the realms he blessed; + Who no wish felt to make his mighty praise, + Like other chiefs, the means himself to raise; + But there retiring, breathed in pure renown, + And felt a grandeur that disdained a crown. + + * * * * * + +THE UNSELFISHNESS OF WASHINGTON + +BY ROBERT TREAT PAINE + +To the pen of the historian must be resigned the more arduous and +elaborate tribute of justice to those efforts of heroic and political +virtue which conducted the American people to peace and liberty. The +vanquished foe retired from our shores, and left to the controlling +genius who repelled them the gratitude of his own country, and the +admiration of the world. The time had now arrived which was to apply the +touchstone to his integrity, which was to assay the affinity of his +principles to the standard of immutable right. + +On the one hand, a realm to which he was endeared by his services almost +invited him to empire; on the other, the liberty to whose protection his +life had been devoted, was the ornament and boon of human nature. + +Washington could not depart from his own great self. His country was +free. He was no longer a general. Sublime spectacle! more elevating to +the pride of virtue than the sovereignty of the globe united to the +scepter of the ages! Enthroned in the hearts of his countrymen, the +gorgeous pageantry of prerogative was unworthy the majesty of his +dominion. That effulgence of military character which in ancient states +has blasted the rights of the people whose renown it had brightened, was +not here permitted, by the hero from whom it emanated, to shine with so +destructive a luster. Its beams, though intensely resplendent, did not +wither the young blossoms of our Independence; and Liberty, like the +burning bush, flourished, unconsumed by the glory which surrounded it. + +To the illustrious founder of our Republic it was reserved to exhibit +the example of a magnanimity that commanded victory, of a moderation +that retired from triumph. Unlike the erratic meteors of ambition, whose +flaming path sheds a disastrous light on the pages of history, his +bright orb, eclipsing the luminaries among which it rolled, never +portended "fearful change" to religion, nor from its "golded tresses" +shook pestilence on empire. + +What to other heroes has been glory, would to Washington have been +disgrace. To his intrepidity it would have added no honorary trophy, to +have waded, like the conqueror of Peru, through the blood of credulous +millions, to plant the standard of triumph at the burning mouth of a +volcano. To his fame, it would have erected no auxiliary monument to +have invaded, like the ravager of Egypt, an innocent though barbarous +nation, to inscribe his name on the pillar of Pompey. + + * * * * * + +THE GENIUS OF WASHINGTON[24] + +BY EDWIN P. WHIPPLE + +The history, so sad and so glorious, which chronicles the stern struggle +in which our rights and liberties passed through the awful baptism of +fire and blood, is eloquent with the deeds of many patriots, warriors, +and statesmen; but these all fall into relations to one prominent and +commanding figure, towering up above the whole group in unapproachable +majesty, whose exalted character, warm and bright with every public and +private virtue, and vital with the essential spirit of wisdom, has burst +all sectional and national bounds, and made the name of Washington the +property of all mankind. + +This illustrious man, at once the world's admiration and enigma, we are +taught by a fine instinct to venerate, and by a wrong opinion to +misjudge. The might of his character has taken strong hold upon the +feelings of great masses of men; but, in translating this universal +sentiment into an intelligent form, the intellectual element of his +wonderful nature is as much depressed as the moral element is exalted, +and consequently we are apt to misunderstand both. Mediocrity has a bad +trick of idealizing itself in eulogizing him, and drags him down to its +own level while assuming to lift him to the skies. How many times have +we been told that he was not a man of genius, but a person of "excellent +common sense," of "admirable judgment," of "rare virtues"! and, by a +constant repetition of this odious cant, we have nearly succeeded in +divorcing comprehension from his sense, insight from his judgment, force +from his virtues, and life from the man. Accordingly, in the panegyric +of cold spirits, Washington disappears in a cloud of commonplaces; in +the rhodomontade of boiling patriots, he expires in the agonies of rant. +Now, the sooner this bundle of mediocre talents and moral qualities, +which its contrivers have the audacity to call George Washington, is +hissed out of existence, the better it will be for the cause of talent +and the cause of morals; contempt of that is the condition of insight. +He had no genius, it seems. O no! genius, we must suppose, is the +peculiar and shining attribute of some orator, whose tongue can spout +patriotic speeches, or some versifier, whose muse can "Hail Columbia," +but not of the man who supported states on his arm, and carried America +in his brain. The madcap Charles Townshend, the motion of whose +pyrotechnic mind was like the whiz of a hundred rockets, is a man of +genius; but George Washington raised up above the level of even eminent +statesmen, and with a nature moving with the still and orderly celerity +of a planet round the sun,--he dwindles, in comparison, into a kind of +angelic dunce! What is genius? Is it worth anything. Is splendid folly +the measure of its inspiration? Is wisdom that which it recedes from, or +tends towards? And by what definition do you award the name to the +creator of an epic, and deny it to the creator of a country? On what +principle is it to be lavished on him who sculptures in perishing marble +the image of possible excellence, and withheld from him who built up in +himself a transcendent character indestructible as the obligations of +Duty, and beautiful as her rewards? + +Indeed, if by the genius of action you mean will enlightened by +intelligence, and intelligence energized by will,--if force and insight +be its characteristics, and influence its test,--and, especially, if +great effects suppose a cause proportionately great, that is, a vital +causative mind,--then is Washington most assuredly a man of genius, and +one whom no other American has equaled in the power of working morally +and mentally on other minds. His genius, it is true, was of a peculiar +kind, the genius of character, of thought, and the objects of thought +solidified and concentrated into active faculty. He belongs to that rare +class of men,--rare as Homers and Miltons, rare as Platos and Newtons, +who have impressed their characters upon nations without pampering +national vices. Such men have natures broad enough to include all the +facts of a people's practical life, and deep enough to discern the +spiritual laws which underlie, animate, and govern those facts. +Washington, in short, had that greatness of character which is the +highest expression and last result of greatness of mind; for there is no +method of building up character except through mind. Indeed, character +like his is not _built_ up, stone upon stone, precept upon precept, but +_grows_ up, through an actual contact of thought with things,--the +assimilative mind transmuting the impalpable but potent spirit of public +sentiment, and the life of visible facts, and the power of spiritual +laws, into individual life and power, so that their mighty energies put +on personality, as it were, and act through one centralizing human will. +This process may not, if you please, make the great philosopher or the +great poet; but it does make the great _man_,--the man in whom thought +and judgment seem identical with volition,--the man whose vital +expression is not in words, but deeds,--the man whose sublime ideas +issue necessarily in sublime acts, not in sublime art. It was because +Washington's character was thus composed of the inmost substance and +power of facts and principles, that men instinctively felt the perfect +reality of his comprehensive manhood. This reality enforced universal +respect, married strength to repose, and threw into his face that +commanding majesty which made men of the speculative audacity of +Jefferson, and the lucid genius of Hamilton, recognize, with unwonted +meekness, his awful superiority. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[24] From "Character and Characteristic Men." Published by Houghton, +Mifflin & Co. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S SERVICE TO EDUCATION + +BY CHARLES W.E. CHAPIN + +Washington's ideas concerning education have the approval of educators +of our day. He was in advance of his age; it is a question if we have +quite caught up with him. Of the two plans of his mature years and +ripened experience, one has been realized, the West Point idea, which +brings together, from every State and Territory of the Union, young men +to be trained for military service; that other plan of a National +University, with schools of administration and statesmanship, is yet +being considered. + +Washington shared neither the least nor the most of the educational +advantages of his colony. The elder brothers, Lawrence and Augustine, +had realized their father's hopes, and had been sent to England for +their schooling as he had been for his, but the early death of the +father defeated that plan for George, so he obtained the early +preparation for his life work from the "home university," over which +Mary Washington presided, a loving and wise head. At times George was +with his brother Augustine at Bridges Creek, to be near the best parish +school, and then he was at home; but all the time he was advancing +rapidly in that school of men and affairs. "He was above all things +else, a capable, executive boy," says Woodrow Wilson in his biography. +"He loved mastery and he relished acquiring the most effective means of +mastery in all practical affairs. His very exercise books, used at +school, gave proof of it." As he did these things with care and +industry, so he followed with zest the spirited diversions of the hunt +and the life in fields and forests. Very early he put his knowledge of +the surveyor's art to practical test, and applied the chain and +logarithm to the reaches of the family lands. His skill came to the +notice of Lord Fairfax, who wished to know the extent of the lands he +had inherited in the New World. Washington, though but sixteen, was +equal to the task; in a month's time, after fording swollen streams and +penetrating the forests, he presented to Lord Fairfax maps and figures +which showed him the extent and boundaries of his estate. For three +years Washington followed this fascinating yet perilous work, and then, +being strongly recommended by Lord Fairfax, and himself being able to +show in clear, round style his mastery of the art and science of +surveying, he received in 1748 from the President of William and Mary +College the appointment as official surveyor for Culpeper County; such a +certificate was equivalent to a degree of civil engineer in those days. + +Thus from an institution of higher learning, George Washington received +the first public recognition of service, and of merit. It was the +turning point in his life; it opened up fully the path to those +experiences which equipped him for that efficient service in the French +and Indian War, and the Revolution. + +The honorable position of Chancellor had been held by the Bishops of +London from the foundation of the College in 1693 to the Revolution. The +old statute defining the duties of the office is interesting: "The +Chancellor is to be the Maecenas, or patron of the College; such a one +as by his favor with the King and by his interest with all other persons +in England may be enabled to help in all the College affairs. His advice +is to be taken, especially in such arduous and momentous affairs as the +College shall have to do in England. If the College has any petitions at +any time to the King, let them be presented by the Chancellor." We can +imagine a grim smile on Washington's countenance as he read the +provisions made concerning the functions of his office, especially that +of conferring with the King. + +In his letter to Samuel Griffin, Esq., Rector of the College, accepting +his appointment, he says: "Influenced by a heartfelt desire to promote +the cause of science in general and the prosperity of the College of +William and Mary in particular, I accept the office of Chancellor in the +same, and request you will be pleased to give official notice thereof to +the learned body who have thought proper to honor me with the +appointment. I confide fully in their strenuous endeavors for placing +the system of education on such a basis as will render it most +beneficial to the State, and the Republic of letters, as well as to the +more extensive interests of humanity and religion." This call to the +leadership of education in his own State antedated his election to the +Presidency of the new Republic by a year, and he continued in that +service to the College of William and Mary until the close of his life. + +About the close of the Revolution, the State of Maryland began to +broaden its educational institutions. The School of Kent County at +Chestertown was placed in 1780 under the charge of the Rev. Dr. William +Smith, the minister of the parish who had been President of the College +of Philadelphia until its charter was revoked. Dr. Smith conducted the +Academy at Chestertown with great energy and ability, and in 1782 the +Visitors of the Academy asked that it be made a college; the legislature +made provision that when a total endowment of five thousand pounds +currency should be provided for the school, it should be incorporated +into a college, with enlarged courses of study and suitable professors, +and should be denominated Washington College, "in honorable and +perpetual memory of his Excellency, General Washington, the illustrious +and virtuous Commander-in-Chief, of the armies of the United States." In +five months the energetic trustees raised $14,000; Washington +contributed fifty guineas. The College was at once incorporated, and in +the following year, at its first commencement, its endowment had +increased to $28,000. It was the first college in Maryland; Washington +was elected as a member of the first Board of Visitors, but being with +the army at Newburgh, was unable to take his place on the Board, until +the second commencement of the College in 1784. Five years later, the +College bestowed upon Washington the degree of Doctor of Laws; his +letter of acknowledgment expressed the sentiment that, "in civilized +societies the welfare of the state and the happiness of the people are +advanced or retarded in proportion as the morals and education of the +youth are attended to. I cannot forbear on this occasion to express the +satisfaction which I feel on seeing the increase of our seminaries of +learning through the extensive country, and the general wish which seems +to prevail for establishing and maintaining these valuable +institutions." The old College has suffered by fire, and the +vicissitudes of fortune, yet it has lived through the years, and is +to-day doing a prosperous and noble work. + +The Potomac and Virginia Company, and the James River Company were among +those organizations for transportation which Washington aided for the +opening up of the country. There was a recognition of his services to +the country, and the legislature of Virginia in 1785, through Patrick +Henry, then Governor, gave Washington fifty shares in the Potomac and +Virginia Company, and one hundred shares in the James River Company. +Washington replied that he had resolutely shut his hand against every +pecuniary recompense during the revolutionary struggle; and that he +could not change that position. He added that, if the legislature would +allow him to turn the gifts from his own private emolument to objects of +a public nature, he would endeavor to select objects which would meet +the most enlightened and patriotic views of the Assembly of Virginia. +The proposition met with hearty approval, and Washington held the stock +in both companies, awaiting the time when proper and worthy objects +should be found for the benefactions. + +In 1785 he proposed to Edmund Randolph and Thomas Jefferson, that the +revenue of the stock in those companies be used for the establishment of +two schools, one upon each river, for the education of poor children, +particularly those whose parents had fallen in the struggle for liberty. +The idea was a noble one, yet Washington's call to the large service of +the College of William and Mary as its Chancellor, and to the country as +its President, prevented him from carrying it out. He carried out the +spirit of his idea by giving fifty pounds a year for the instruction of +poor children in Alexandria, and by making large provision for the +education of the sons of soldiers. In 1783 he honored a Princeton +commencement by his presence, and bestowed upon the College a gift of +fifty pounds. A tour through Georgia in 1790 gave him opportunity to +visit and approve of the Academy of Augusta. About the same time the +indomitable Kirkland, missionary to the Iroquois, was trying every +source of influence and money in behalf of an academy in Oneida County, +New York, to be located near the old Property Line, where both the sons +of the settlers and the children of the forest might be educated. His +visit to Philadelphia secured a generous benefaction from Washington, +and at the same time his influence and that of others, so that Congress +appropriated $15,000 yearly to "instruct the Iroquois in agriculture and +the useful arts." + +Washington had now matured his idea of a national university. He was +ready to lay it before the country, and to be the first contributor to +its endowment. Virginia was taking new interest in its schools and the +influence of William and Mary College was widening: there was a demand +for more thoroughly equipped academies. The school at Augusta, which the +Revolution had been the means of christening Liberty Hall, had become +prominent. In 1796 Washington settled upon Liberty Hall as the proper +recipient of the one hundred shares in the James River Company to +augment its endowment. In accepting the gift the name of the academy was +changed, and the trustees were able to sign themselves, "the trustees of +Washington Academy, late Liberty Hall." Washington was greatly touched +by the honor, and ascribed his ability to make the donation to "the +generosity of the Legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia." + +The institution prospered. About 1802 a new charter was granted with +larger powers, under the name of Washington College. John Robinson, a +soldier of the Revolution under Washington, gave, in emulation of his +illustrious commander, his entire estate to Washington College; from it +the trustees realized $40,000 toward the endowment. The stock of the +James River Company, which Washington transferred to the College, to-day +yields an income of six per cent, on $50,000, and, after prospering +years, the College has now a productive endowment of $600,000, and a +property worth $800,000. The country has passed through many critical +periods since Washington's day, and the Union is stronger than ever. The +old College is a witness to the all-healing power of time and kinship, +for its name has again been added to: it is Washington and Lee +University now; and thus is joined with the name of the Father of His +Country the name of one whom the South has ever loved, whom the North +long since forgave, and whose memory the country will ever cherish. + +The Revolutionary War was a costly experiment of education in military +affairs in the field; it cost heavily in blood and treasure. Washington +realized that preparation for service in the army must be had in +military schools. + +From the very beginning of the war until the end of his life, by +official message and by letter, Washington urged the importance of +military instruction. In his message to Congress in 1796 he said: "The +institution of a military academy is recommended by cogent reasons. +However pacific the general policy of a nation may be, it ought never to +be without an adequate stock of military knowledge for emergencies. In +proportion as the observance from the necessity of practicing the rules +of the military art, ought to be its care in preserving and transmitting +by proper establishments the knowledge of that art. A thorough +examination of the subject will evince that the art of war is extensive +and complicated; that it demands much previous study; and that the +possession of it in its most important and perfect state is always of +great moment to the security of a nation." Congress did make provision +for the carrying out of many of the President's recommendations; it +created a new grade in the army, that of _Cadet_, to which young men +exclusively were admitted, and money was appropriated for their +education in the science of war that they might be prepared for +positions of command. But Congress delayed the potential part of the +plan; it did not collect the regiment of artillerists and engineers at a +single station, nor did it erect buildings for the uses of education. + +The idea did not die; in 1802 Congress made the first of those +provisions for a military academy with the plan and scope which +Washington had so persistently urged. West Point was chosen as the place +of its location. That academy has more than once demonstrated the +wisdom of the far-seeing Washington. + +West Point is the realization of Washington's plans for a national +school of military instruction. To-day it represents to the country the +important features of that plan for a National University. By his last +will and testament, Washington bequeathed the fifty shares of stock in +the Potomac Company to the establishment of a National University in the +central part of the United States; he made provision that until such a +university should be founded the fund should be self-accumulating by the +use of the dividends in the purchase of more stock, to still further +augment the endowment fund. In the transfers and changes of commercial +life apparent record of that stock has been lost, yet that last will +bequeathed an ideal which in indirect ways is still inspiring our +national educational system. + +Let us take our place by the side of a student of our national history +and institutions, as after a walk through the buildings across that +noble plain at West Point he sits down to meditate, on the granite steps +of the "Battle Monument." He is where the history of yesterday abides, +but about him is represented the strength and life of the nation, and +the strong military figures of officers, cadets, and soldiers from every +section of our country. He feels the wisdom of that great desire of +Washington's that the life and thought of the widely separated sections +of the rising empire should become homogeneous and unified by the +meeting of the young men of the land in a central school, during the +years of training for the country's service at arms. This student of +history would feel how that hope had been fulfilled by the loyal service +which the sons of West Point to so large a degree rendered the Union in +its days of peril; and with deep gratitude would he acknowledge that +enthusiastic loyalty with which the North and South, the East and West, +as represented at West Point and throughout the country, rushed to its +service to release those islands of the sea from the thraldom and +tyranny of a medieval monarchy. + +Then the vista of the future would open before him, and he would see +that larger hope and plan of Washington's realized in the city of his +name. There in that center in the Nation's life he would see young men +assembling in the national schools of administration, commerce, consular +service, and finance, to study questions of government and international +relations. He would see reaching to all the lands of earth a peace more +beautiful than that of the river below him; and wider and deeper than +that Western ocean where now is flying our flag of hope and promise. + + * * * * * + +ADDRESS AT THE DEDICATION OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT + +BY JOHN W. DANIEL + +_Delivered in the Hall of the House of Representatives, February 21, +1885_ + +Mr. President of the United States, Senators, Representatives, Judges, +Mr. Chairman, and My Countrymen:--Alone in its grandeur stands forth the +character of Washington in history; alone like some peak that has no +fellow in the mountain range of greatness. + +"Washington," said Guizot, "Washington did the two greatest things which +in politics it is permitted to man to attempt. He maintained by peace +the independence of his country, which he had conquered by war. He +founded a free government in the name of the principles of order and by +re-establishing their sway." Washington did, indeed, do these things. +But he did more. Out of disconnected fragments, he molded a whole, and +made it a country. He achieved his country's independence by the sword. +He maintained that independence by peace as by war. He finally +established both his country and its freedom in an enduring frame of +constitutional government, fashioned to make liberty and union one and +inseparable. These four things together constitute the unexampled +achievement of Washington. + +The world has ratified the profound remark of Fisher Ames, that "he +changed mankind's ideas of political greatness." It has approved the +opinion of Edward Everett, that he was "the greatest of good men, and +the best of great men." It has felt for him, with Erskine, "an awful +reverence." It has attested the declaration of Brougham that he was +"the greatest man of his own or of any age."... + +Conquerors who have stretched your scepter over boundless territories; +founders of empires who have held your dominions in the reign of law; +reformers who have cried aloud in the wilderness of oppression; teachers +who have striven to cast down false doctrines, heresy, and schism; +statesmen whose brains have throbbed with mighty plans for the +amelioration of human society; scar-crowned vikings of the sea, +illustrious heroes of the land, who have borne the standards of siege +and battle, come forth in bright array from your glorious fanes, and +would ye be measured by the measure of his stature? Behold you not in +him a more illustrious and more venerable presence? Statesman, soldier, +patriot, sage, reformer of creeds; teacher of truth and justice, +achiever and preserver of liberty, the first of men, founder and saviour +of his country, father of his people--this is he, solitary and +unapproachable in his grandeur! + +Oh, felicitous Providence that gave to America our Washington! + +High soars into the sky to-day, higher than the pyramid or the dome of +St. Paul's or St. Peter's--the loftiest and most imposing structure +that man has ever reared--high soars into the sky to where--"Earth +highest yearns to meet a star" the monument which "We the people of the +United States" have uplifted to his memory. It is a fitting monument, +more fitting than any statue. For his image could only display him in +some one phase of his varied character. So art has fitly typified his +exalted life in yon plain, lofty shaft. Such is his greatness, that only +by a symbol could it be represented. As Justice must be blind in order +to be whole in contemplation, so History must be silent that by this +mighty sign she may disclose the amplitude of her story. + +No sum could now be made of Washington's character that did not exhaust +language of its tributes and repeat virtue by all her names. No sum +could be made of his achievements that did not unfold the history of his +country and its institutions--the history of his age and its +progress--the history of man and his destiny to be free. But, whether +character or achievement be regarded, the riches before us only expose +the poverty of praise. So clear was he in his great office that no ideal +of the leader or ruler can be formed that does not shrink by the side of +the reality. And so has he impressed himself upon the minds of men, that +no man can justly aspire to be the chief of a great, free people, who +does not adopt his principles and emulate his example. We look with +amazement on such eccentric characters as Alexander, Caesar, Cromwell, +Frederick, and Napoleon, but when Washington's face rises before us, +instinctively mankind exclaims: "This is the man for nations to trust +and reverence, and for rulers to follow." + +Drawing his sword from patriotic impulse, without ambition and without +malice, he wielded it without vindictiveness, and sheathed it without +reproach. All that humanity could conceive he did to suppress the +cruelties of war and soothe its sorrows. He never struck a coward's +blow. To him age, infancy, and helplessness were ever sacred. He +tolerated no extremity unless to curb the excesses of his enemy, and he +never poisoned the sting of defeat by the exultation of the conqueror. + +Peace he welcomed as a heaven-sent herald of friendship; and no country +has given him greater honor than that which he defeated; for England has +been glad to claim him as the scion of her blood, and proud, like our +sister American States, to divide with Virginia the honor of producing +him. + +Fascinated by the perfection of the man, we are loath to break the +mirror of admiration into the fragments of analysis. But, lo! as we +attempt it, every fragment becomes the miniature of such sublimity and +beauty that the destructive hand can only multiply the forms of +immortality. + +Grand and manifold as were its phases, there is yet no difficulty in +understanding the character of Washington. He was no Veiled Prophet. He +never acted a part. Simple, natural, and unaffected, his life lies +before us--a fair and open manuscript. He disdained the arts which wrap +power in mystery in order to magnify it. He practiced the profound +diplomacy of truthful speech--the consummate tact of direct attention. +Looking ever to the All-Wise Disposer of events, he relied on that +Providence which helps men by giving them high hearts and hopes to help +themselves with the means which their Creator has put at their service. +There was no infirmity in his conduct over which charity must fling its +veil; no taint of selfishness from which purity averts her gaze; no dark +recess of intrigue that must be lit up with colored panegyric; no +subterranean passage to be trod in trembling, lest there be stirred the +ghost of a buried crime. + +A true son of nature was George Washington--of nature in her brightest +intelligence and noblest mold; and the difficulty, if such there be, in +comprehending him, is only that of reviewing from a single standpoint +the vast procession of those civil and military achievements which +filled nearly half a century of his life, and in realizing the magnitude +of those qualities which were requisite to their performance--the +difficulty of fashioning in our minds a pedestal broad enough to bear +the towering figure, whose greatness is diminished by nothing but the +perfection of its proportions. If his exterior--in calm, grave, and +resolute repose--ever impressed the casual observer as austere and cold, +it was only because he did not reflect that no great heart like his +could have lived unbroken unless bound by iron nerves in an iron frame. +The Commander of Armies, the Chief of a People, the Hope of Nations +could not wear his heart upon his sleeve; and yet his sternest will +could not conceal its high and warm pulsations. Under the enemy's guns +at Boston he did not forget to instruct his agent to administer +generously of charity to his needy neighbors at home. The sufferings of +women and children thrown adrift by war, and of his bleeding comrades, +pierced his soul. And the moist eye and trembling voice with which he +bade farewell to his veterans bespoke the underlying tenderness of his +nature, even as the storm-wind makes music in its undertones. + +Disinterested patriot, he would receive no pay for his military +services. Refusing gifts, he was glad to guide the benefaction of a +grateful State to educate the children of his fallen braves in the +institution at Lexington which yet bears his name. Without any of the +blemishes that mark the tyrant, he appealed so loftily to the virtuous +elements in man, that he almost created the qualities which his country +needed to exercise; and yet he was so magnanimous and forbearing to the +weaknesses of others, that he often obliterated the vices of which he +feared the consequences. But his virtue was more than this. It was of +that daring, intrepid kind that, seizing principle with a giant's grasp, +assumes responsibility at any hazard, suffers sacrifice without pretense +of martyrdom, bears calumny without reply, imposes superior will and +understanding on all around it, capitulates to no unworthy triumph, but +must carry all things at the point of clear and blameless conscience. +Scorning all manner of meanness and cowardice, his bursts of wrath at +their exhibition heighten our admiration for the noble passions which +were kindled by the aspirations and exigencies of virtue. + +Invested with the powers of a Dictator, the country bestowing them felt +no distrust of his integrity; he, receiving them, gave assurance that, +as the sword was the last support of Liberty, so it should be the first +thing laid aside when Liberty was won. And keeping the faith in all +things, he left mankind bewildered with the splendid problem whether to +admire him most for what he was or what he would not be. Over and above +all his virtues was the matchless manhood of personal honor to which +Confidence gave in safety the key of every treasure on which Temptation +dared not smile, on which Suspicion never cast a frown. And why prolong +the catalogue? "If you are presented with medals of Caesar, of Trajan, +or Alexander, on examining their features you are still led to ask what +was their stature and the forms of their persons; but if you discover in +a heap of ruins the head or the limb of an antique Apollo, be not +curious about the other parts, but rest assured that they were all +conformable to those of a god." + + * * * * * + +"Rome to America" is the eloquent inscription on one stone of your +colossal shaft--taken from the ancient Temple of Peace that once stood +hard by the Palace of the Caesars. Uprisen from the sea of Revolution, +fabricated from the ruins of bartered bastiles, and dismantled palaces +of unrighteous, unhallowed power, stood forth now the Republic of +republics, the Nation of nations, the Constitution of constitutions, to +which all lands and times and tongues had contributed of their wisdom, +and the priestess of Liberty was in her holy temple. + +When Marathon had been fought and Greece kept free, each of the +victorious generals voted himself to be first in honor, but all agreed +that Miltiades was second. When the most memorable struggle for the +rights of human nature of which time holds record was thus happily +concluded in the muniment of their preservation, whoever else was +second, unanimous acclaim declared that Washington was first. Nor in +that struggle alone does he stand foremost. In the name of the people of +the United States, their President, their Senators, their +Representatives, and their Judges do crown to-day with the grandest +crown that veneration has ever lifted to the brow of Glory, him whom +Virginia gave to America, whom America had given to the world and to the +ages, and whom mankind with universal suffrage has proclaimed the +foremost of the founders of empire in the first degree of greatness; +whom Liberty herself has anointed as the first citizen in the great +Republic of Humanity. + +Encompassed by the inviolate seas, stands to-day the American Republic, +which he founded--a freer Greater Britain--uplifted above the powers and +principalities of the earth, even as his monument is uplifted over roof +and dome and spire of the multitudinous city. + +Long live the Republic of Washington! Respected by mankind, beloved of +all its sons, long may it be the asylum of the poor and oppressed of all +lands and religions--long may it be the citadel of that Liberty which +writes beneath the eagle's folded wings, "We will sell to no man, we +will deny to no man, right and justice." + +Long live the United States of America! Filled with the free, +magnanimous spirit, crowned by the wisdom, blessed by the moderation, +hovered over by the angel of Washington's example, may they be ever +worthy in all things to be defended by the blood of the brave, who know +the rights of man and shrink not from their assertion; may they be each +a column, and all together, under the Constitution, a perpetual Temple +of Peace, unshadowed by a Caesar's palace, at whose altar may freely +commune all who seek the union of liberty and brotherhood. + +Long live our country! Oh, long through the undying ages may it stand +far removed in fact as in space from the Old World's feuds and follies; +alone in its grandeur and its glory, itself the immortal monument of him +whom Providence commissioned to teach man the power of truth and to +prove to the nations that their redeemer liveth. + + * * * * * + +THE CHARACTER OF WASHINGTON + +BY HENRY CABOT LODGE + +For many years I have studied minutely the career of Washington, and +with every step the greatness of the man has grown upon me; for analysis +has failed to discover the act of his life which, under the conditions +of the time, I could unhestitatingly pronounce to have been an error. +Such has been my experience, and, although my deductions may be wrong, +they at least have been carefully and slowly made. I see in Washington a +great soldier, who fought a trying war to a successful end impossible +without him; a great statesman, who did more than any other man to lay +the foundations of a republic which has endured in prosperity for more +than a century. I find in him a marvelous judgment which was never at +fault, a penetrating vision which beheld the future of America when it +was dim to other eyes, a great intellectual force, a will of iron, an +unyielding grasp of facts, and an unequaled strength of patriotic +purpose. I see in him, too, a pure and high-minded gentleman of +dauntless courage and stainless honor, simple and stately of manner, +kind and generous of heart. Such he was in truth. The historian and the +biographer may fail to do him justice, but the instinct of mankind will +not fail. The real hero needs not books to give him worshipers. George +Washington will always receive the love and reverence of men, because +they see embodied in him the noblest possibilities of humanity. + + + + +IX + +ANECDOTES AND STORIES + + +ANECDOTES OF WASHINGTON + +Washington's relations with children are most interesting. He always +wrote of them as the "little ones." + +Through his life he adopted or assumed the expenses of nine of the +children of his "kith and kin." + +Dumas says that he arrived at Providence with Washington at night. "The +whole population had assembled from the suburbs; we were surrounded by a +crowd of children carrying torches, all were eager to approach the +person of him whom they called their father, and pressed so closely +around us that they hindered us from proceeding. General Washington was +much affected, stopped a few moments, and, pressing my hand, said, 'We +may be beaten by the English, it is the chance of war; but behold an +army which they can never conquer.'" + + * * * * * + +In journeying through New England, Washington spent a night in a private +house where all payment was refused. Writing to his host he said: "Being +informed that you have given my name to one of your sons, and called +another after Mrs. Washington's family, and being, moreover, very much +pleased with the modest and innocent looks of your two daughters, Patty +and Polly, I do for these reasons send each of these girls a piece of +chintz; and to Patty, who bears the name of Mrs. Washington, and who +waited upon us more than Polly did, I send five guineas with which she +may buy herself any little ornament, or she may dispose of them in any +manner more agreeable to herself. As I do not give these things with a +view to have it talked of, or even its being known, the less there is +said about the matter the better you will please me; but, that I may be +sure the chintz and money have got safe to hand, let Patty, who I dare +say is equal to it, write me a line informing me thereof, directed to +the President of the United States at New York." + + * * * * * + +Once the General was engaged in earnest consultation with Colonel +Pickering until after night had fairly set in. Washington prepared to +stay with the colonel over night, provided he had a spare blanket and +straw. "Oh yes," said Primus, who was appealed to, "plenty of straw and +blankets, plenty." + +Two humble beds were spread side by side in the tent and the officers +laid themselves down, while Primus seemed to be busy with duties that +required his attention before he himself could sleep. He worked, or +appeared to work, until the breathing of the prostrate gentlemen +satisfied him that they were sleeping, and then seating himself upon a +box, he leaned his head upon his hands to obtain such repose as he +could. + +In the middle of the night Washington awoke. He looked about and +descried the negro. He gazed at him awhile and then spoke. + +"Primus," said he, "Primus!" Primus started up and rubbed his eyes. + +"What, General?" said he. Washington rose up in his bed. "Primus," said +he, "what do you mean by saying that you had straw and blankets enough? +Here you have given up your blankets and straw to me, that I may sleep +comfortably, while you are obliged to sit through the night." "It's +nothing, General," said Primus! "It's nothing! I'm well enough! Don't +trouble yourself about me, General, but go to sleep again. No matter +about me, I sleep very good!" "But it is matter, it is matter," said +Washington. "I cannot do it, Primus. If either is to sit up, I will. But +I think there is no need of either sitting up. The blanket is wide +enough for two. Come and lie down with me." + +"Oh no, General!" said Primus, starting and protesting against the +proposition. "No, let me sit here." "I say come and lie down here!" said +Washington. "There is room for both; I insist upon it." + +He threw open the blanket as he spoke, and moved to one side of the +straw. Primus professes to have been exceedingly shocked at the idea of +lying under the same covering with the commander-in-chief, but his tone +was so resolute and determined that he could not hesitate. He prepared +himself therefore and laid himself down by Washington; on the same straw +under the same blanket, the General and the negro servant slept until +morning. + + * * * * * + +An anecdote characteristic of Washington is related by Professor +McVickar, in his narrative of "The Life of Dr. Bard," who attended +Washington during a severe illness in 1789. + + It was a case of anthrax (carbuncle) so malignant as for several + days to threaten mortification. During this period Dr. Bard never + quitted him. On one occasion being left alone with him, General + Washington, looking steadily in his face, desired his candid + opinion as to the probable termination of his disease, adding with + that placid firmness which marked his address, "Do not flatter me + with vain hopes, I'm not afraid to die, and therefore can bear the + worst." Dr. Bard's answer, though it expressed hope, acknowledged + his apprehensions. + + The President replied: "Whether to-night or twenty years hence, + makes no difference; I know that I am in the hands of a good + Providence." + + * * * * * + +George Washington to his nephew, Bushrod Washington: + + Remember, that it is not the mere study of the Law, but to become + eminent in the profession of it, which is to yield honor and + profit. + + The first was your choice, let the second be your ambition; that + the company in which you will improve most, will be least expensive + to you; and yet I am not such a stoic as to suppose that you will, + or think it right that you should always be in company with + senators and philosophers; but of the young and the juvenile kind + let me advise you to be choice. It is easy to make acquaintances, + but very difficult to shake them off, however irksome and + unprofitable they are found, after we have once committed ourselves + to them. + + * * * * * + +While absent from Mount Vernon Washington wrote to his manager: + + Although it is last mentioned, it is foremost in my thoughts to + desire you will be particularly attentive to my negroes in their + sickness, and to order every overseer positively to be so likewise; + for I am sorry to observe that the generality of them view these + poor creatures in scarcely any other light than they do a draught + horse or an ox, neglecting them as much when they are unable to + work instead of comforting and nursing them when they lie in a sick + bed. + + * * * * * + +A part of each day was always set apart for meditation and devotion; nor +this in time of peace only, for we are told that one day while the +Americans were encamped at Valley Forge, the owner of the house occupied +by the General, a Quaker, strolled up the creek, and when not far from +his mill, heard a solemn voice. He walked quietly in the direction of it +and saw Washington's horse tied to a sapling. In a thicket near by was +the chief, upon his knees in prayer, his cheeks suffused with tears. + + * * * * * + +During the Revolutionary War, General Washington's army was reduced at +one time to great straits, and the people were greatly dispirited. One +of them who left his home with an anxious heart one day, as he was +passing the edge of a wood near the camp, heard the sound of a voice. He +stopped to listen, and looking between the trunks of the large trees he +saw General Washington engaged in prayer. He passed quietly on, that he +might not disturb him; and on returning home, told his family, "America +will prevail," and then related what he had heard and seen. + + * * * * * + +THE ABUSE OF WASHINGTON + +BY THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON + +On the last day in office Washington wrote to Knox comparing himself to +"the weary traveler who sees a resting-place, and is bending his body to +lean thereon. To be suffered to do this in peace," he added, "is too +much to be endured by some." Accordingly on that very day a Philadelphia +newspaper dismissed him with a final tirade, worth remembering by all +who think that political virulence is on the increase: + + "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes + have seen thy salvation" was the exclamation of a man who saw a + flood of blessedness breaking in upon mankind. If ever there was a + time that allowed this exclamation to be repeated, that time is the + present. The man who is the source of all our country's misery is + this day reduced to the rank of his fellow-citizens, and has no + longer the power to multiply the woes of these United States. Now + more than ever is the time to rejoice. Every heart which feels for + the liberty, and the happiness of the people must now beat with + rapture at the thought that this day the name of Washington ceases + to give currency to injustice and to legalize corruption.... When + we look back upon the eight years of Washington's administration, + it strikes us with astonishment that one man could thus poison the + principles of republicanism among our enlightened people, and carry + his designs against the public liberty so far as to endanger its + very existence. Yet such is the fact, and if this is apparent to + all, this day they should form a jubilee in the United States. + + * * * * * + +PROVIDENTIAL EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF WASHINGTON + +BY IRVING ALLEN + +From _The Independent_ + +At this season of the anniversary of Washington's birth, it seems +especially appropriate to recall certain singular circumstances in the +life of the greatest of Americans--events remarkable in themselves in +whatever light they may be viewed; whether, in accordance with the +tenets of modern Spiritism and, to a certain extent, in harmony with the +doctrines of Swedenborg and his followers in human affairs of departed +spirits; or if, on the other hand, we adopt the simple teachings of the +Sacred Scriptures, and acknowledge the truth with men and their +affairs. + +Authentic history records no less than six marvelous instances in which +the life of Washington was saved under circumstances seemingly little +less than miraculous. The first of these wonderful escapes from +impending peril occurred during the period of Washington's sole recorded +absence from the American continent--when he accompanied his brother +Lawrence, then fatally ill with consumption, to the Barbadoes. + +_Smallpox_ + +They sailed in September of 1751, George being then in the twentieth +year of his age. Before the brothers had been a fortnight in the island +the younger, the future hero of the Revolution, was attacked with +smallpox in its "natural" and virulent form. This disease was not then +the fangless monster with which we are familiar, but was terrific in its +assaults and almost invariably fatal; yet Washington recovered in +something less than three weeks, and retained through his life but +slight marks of the malady. + +One of General Washington's biographers well says, in reference to this +incident, in the life of the first President, that, "it may well be +doubted whether in any of his battles he was in equal danger. If the +disease entered an army, it was a foe more to be dreaded than embattled +hosts.... But it belongs to that class of diseases of which, by a +mysterious law of our nature, our frames are, generally speaking, +susceptible but once.... Thus it came to pass, that, in the morning of +his days, Washington became (humanly speaking) safe from all future +danger from this formidable disease." + +The reader of American history will remember that the smallpox appeared +among the British troops in Boston in the fall of 1775; that it ravaged +our army in Canada in the following spring; that it prevailed the same +year at Ticonderoga, and in 1777 at Morristown. Regarding this last +occasion of its appearance, Washington said, in a letter to Governor +Henry, of Virginia, where vaccination was not permitted: + + You will pardon my observation on smallpox because I know it is + more destructive to the army than the enemies' sword and because I + shudder whenever I reflect upon the difficulties of keeping it out. + +This was the tremendous peril from which Washington was comparatively +safe after his twentieth year. "If," says a very eminent writer, "to +refer this to an overruling Providence be a superstition, I desire to be +accounted superstitious." + + +_The Journey to Venango_, 1753 + +The next imminent danger to which Washington was exposed, and from which +his escape was well-nigh miraculous, was on the occasion of his historic +expedition to the headquarters of the French Governor at Venango, in +1753. The journey itself, in the winter season, of five or six hundred +miles through an unsettled country, most of it constantly traveled by +natives at enmity with the English, was one continued story of danger +and escape. It was but two years after this trip of Washington's to +Venango that English soldiers--surrendered prisoners of war--were +tortured to death by the savage natives within sight of Fort Duquesne. +On his return from the fulfillment of his mission, Washington traversed +the forest with a single companion and an Indian guide. Just at +nightfall, on one of the days of their perilous journey, their savage +attendant suddenly turned, and at a distance of but fifteen paces fired +on Washington, happily without evil result. + +After this alarming experience the two companions pursued their way +alone, footsore and weary, through the woods, with the sure knowledge +that the savages were on their trail. Reaching the Alleghany River on a +night of December, they found it encumbered with drifting ice, and only +to be crossed by means of a raft which, with only "one poor hatchet," +cost them an entire day's labor to construct. When crossing the river, +Washington, while using the setting pole, was thrown violently into the +water at a depth of ten feet, and saved his life by grasping a log. They +spent the night, in their frozen clothing, on a little island on which, +had they been forced to stay till sunrise, they would, beyond question, +have fallen into the hands of the Indians; but the intense cold which +froze the feet of Washington's companion, also sealed the river and +enabled them to escape on the ice. + +_Another Mission_ + +The year following the mission to Venango (1754) Colonel Washington was +sent in command of a small force in the same direction; but by reason of +the greatly superior strength of the enemy, the expedition resulted in a +calamitous retreat. By a singular coincidence, the compulsory evacuation +of the English stronghold--"Fort Necessity," as it was called--occurred +on the _Fourth of July_, 1754--a date afterward made forever glorious in +great measure by the inestimable services of the young commander of this +earlier and ill-fated military expedition. But such were the ability, +energy, and power evinced by its youthful commander, that the disaster +resulted in his own greatly enhanced reputation as a born leader of men. + +_Braddock and Washington_ + +In the following year (1755) a gigantic effort was made by England to +recover lost ground, and to repair the military misadventures of 1754. +The history of Braddock's disastrous expedition is familiar to every +schoolboy in the land. At this period, Colonel Washington had retired +from the army in disgust at the unjust regulations which gave undue +preference to officers holding commissions from the Crown over abler +men--some of them their seniors of the same rank--in the service of the +provinces. He was, however, at length induced--in great measure from +motives of the purest patriotism, and partly, no doubt, from his strong +leaning toward a military career--to accept a position on the staff of +the commanding General, Braddock, a soldier of courage and large +experience, but, as events afterward proved, a haughty, self-willed, and +passionate man. + +During the passage of Braddock's forces through the Alleghany Mountains, +Washington was attacked by so violent and alarming a sickness that its +result was for a time extremely uncertain; on his partial recovery the +General caused him to move with the heavy artillery and baggage. In this +position Washington remained two weeks, returning to the General's +headquarters on the eighth of July, the day preceding the fatal battle +of the Monongahela. + +On the morning of this day--forever and sadly memorable in American +annals--Washington mounted his horse, weak and worn by sickness, but +strong in hope and courage. These are his own words uttered in other and +better days: + + The most beautiful spectacle I had ever beheld was the display of + the British troops on that eventful morning.... The sun gleamed + from their burnished arms, the river flowed tranquilly on their + right, and the deep forest overshadowed them with solemn grandeur + on the left. + +_Braddock's Defeat_ + +It is needless to repeat here the tale of that day of defeat and +slaughter. Historians have recorded its events, and poets have sung its +story. Throughout the action Washington was in the thickest of the +fight. "I expected every moment to see him fall," wrote Dr. Craik, his +physician and friend. It was during this disastrous battle that +Washington escaped perhaps the most imminent peril of his life. In +company with Dr. Craik, in the year 1770, he descended the Ohio River on +a journey of observation to the Great Kanawha, and it was there that an +incident occurred, which is thus described by Irving: + + Here Washington was visited by an old sachem, who approached him + with great reverence and addressed him through Nicholson, the + interpreter. He had come, he said, a great distance to see him. On + further discourse, the sachem made known that he was one of the + warriors in the service of the French, who lay in ambush on the + banks of the Monongahela, and wrought such havoc to Braddock's + army. He declared that he and his young men had singled out + Washington, as he made himself conspicuous riding about the field + of battle with the General's orders, and fired at him repeatedly, + but without success; whence they concluded that he was under the + protection of the Great Spirit, that he had a charmed life, and + could not be slain in battle. + +Washington himself wrote thus to his brother: + + By all the powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been + protected beyond all human probability and expectations; for I had + four bullets through my coat and two horses shot under me; yet I + escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every + side. + +His marvelous preservation was the subject of general remark; Mr. +Davies, later President of Princeton College, used these words in an +address a few weeks after the Braddock defeat: + + That heroic youth, Colonel Washington, whom I cannot but hope + Providence has hitherto preserved in so signal a manner for some + important service to his country. + + +_Escape from a Marriage_ + +The next apparently providential intervention in the affairs of the hero +of the Revolution is connected with very different scenes from those of +battle and carnage; it may, perhaps, be fairly described as a narrow +escape from a marriage which, while it might have proved a happy +alliance in so far as Washington himself was concerned, would almost +certainly have resulted in the loss of his inestimable services to his +country. + +Washington's attachment to Mary Philipse is a fact beyond reasonable +question; his offer of marriage to that young lady is somewhat +traditional. It is certain, however, that during his necessary absence +on military duty, Captain Morris, his associate aide-de-camp in the +Monongahela engagement, became a successful suitor for the hand of Miss +Philipse. + +What is far less generally known is the fact that, had Washington been +successful in his early matrimonial aspirations, he would certainly +have remained a loyal adherent of the royal cause, and would thus have +been lost to his native land. Evidences of the justice of this theory +are by no means lacking. The relatives and friends of the lady were +nearly all devoted to the cause of England; Washington was the associate +of many of them; and Captain Morris, his successful rival, remained in +the British service during his life. There can be, I think, little doubt +that, in the event of his marriage with Miss Philipse, Washington, like +Captain Morris, would have returned to England and been forever lost to +America. Mrs. Morris survived her illustrious admirer twenty-five years, +dying about the year 1825. + +_Washington Unrewarded_ + +A striking historical fact,--as strange as it is authentic--is the +treatment of Washington by the English Government after the death of +Braddock. Had General Braddock survived his terrible misfortune the +result might well have been very different; for it is matter of history +that the youthful officer had the undivided confidence of his commander. +But by the British Ministry, and even by the King himself, the young +hero of the fatal battle was treated with scarcely disguised contempt +and neglect. + +In a letter to the British War Minister, Governor Dinwiddie speaks of +Colonel Washington as a man of great merit and resolution, adding: + + I am confident, that, if General Braddock had lived, he would have + recommended him to the royal favor, which I beg your interest in + recommending. + +The sole results were a half-rebuke from the King, and a malicious fling +from the lips of Horace Walpole. For more than three years Washington +labored incessantly, by personal effort and by means of influential +intercessors, to secure a royal commission. + +In view of what the world knows now of Washington's well-nigh matchless +ability as a soldier, and remembering especially the reputation he had +already acquired--amazing in so youthful an officer--his persistent +neglect by the military authorities "at home," and particularly the +stubborn and doltish determination on the part of the King to ignore the +man and his almost unexampled services, suggests the theory that the +heart of King George, of England, was as truly and providentially +"hardened" as was that of his royal prototype, Pharaoh, of ancient +times. For, finding that all his efforts were ineffectual and believing +that the chief object of the war was attained by the capture of Fort +Duquesne, and the final defeat of the French on the Ohio, the young hero +retired after five years of arduous and ill-requited service, in the +words of a great writer of our own land and time: + + The youthful idol of his countrymen, but without so much as a civil + word from the fountain of honor. And so, when after seventeen years + of private life he next appeared in arms, it was as the + "Commander-in-Chief of the Army of the United Colonies, and of all + the forces now raised, or to be raised by them." + +The same writer elsewhere remarks: + + Such was the policy by which the Horse Guards occasionally saved a + Major's commission for a fourth son of a Duke, by which the Crown + lost a continent; and the people of the United States gained a + place in the family of nations. The voice of history cries aloud to + powerful Governments, in the administration of their colonies: + "Discite justitiam moniti." + +_A Furious Conflict_ + +The last of the six marvelous escapes of our hero from impending and +fatal disaster occurred during the historic night march of Washington +and the American Army on Princeton, where, on the third of January, +1776, he compassed the entire destruction of one regiment of the enemy, +and captured or forced to ignoble retreat two others. This battle was +the subject of one of Colonel Trumbull's most famous paintings; and it +was during this engagement--as Washington himself told the illustrious +artist--that he was in greater peril than even at the time of Braddock's +defeat. + +In the height of the battle the two armies were for a brief season in +furious conflict, and Washington between them within range of both +fires. Washington Irving writes: + + His Aide, Colonel Fitzgerald, losing sight of him in the heat of + the fight when enveloped in smoke and dust, dropped the bridle on + the neck of his horse and drew his hat over his eyes, giving him up + for lost. When he saw him, however, emerging from the cloud, waving + his hat, and beheld the enemy giving way, he spurred up to his + side: "Thank God," cried he, "your Excellency is safe!" "Away, my + dear Colonel, and bring up the troops," was Washington's reply; + "the day is our own." + +Trumbull's immortal picture shows us the hero of that decisive battle +standing on the memorable day of Princeton by the side of his white +war-horse. Says an eloquent writer: + + Well might he exult in the event of the day, for it was the last of + a series of bold and skilful manoeuvres and successful actions, by + which, in three weeks, he had rescued Philadelphia, driven the + enemy from the banks of the Delaware, recovered the State of New + Jersey, and, at the close of a disastrous campaign, restored hope + and confidence to the country. + +Such are the six memorable events which it well becomes the American +people to recall with devout gratitude and awe, realizing anew the +Providence that watches alike over human beings and the affairs of +nations, and recognizing the solemn truth that ever, as, signally, in +those times that tried the souls of men, + + "God fulfills Himself in many ways." + + + * * * * * + +CHARACTERISTICS OF WASHINGTON + +_Von Braam and Washington_ + +Washington began to be a soldier in his boyhood. During the British +campaign against the West Indies, Lawrence Washington, George's +half-brother, made the acquaintance of a Dutchman, named Jacob von +Braam, who afterwards came to Virginia. These young men were great +heroes to the ten-year-old George. Von Braam took the lad in hand and +began his military education. He drilled him in the manual of arms and +sword exercise, and taught him fortification and engineering. All the +theory of war which Washington knew was gained from von Braam; the +practice he was soon to gain in the field. + +_Washington's Athletic Skill_ + +Many stories are told which show Washington's athletic skill. During a +surveying expedition he first visited the Natural Bridge, in Virginia. +Standing almost directly under it, he tossed a stone on top, a distance +of about two hundred feet. He scaled the rocks and carved his name far +above all others. He was said to be the only man who could throw a stone +across the Potomac River. Washington was never more at home than when in +the saddle. "The general is a very excellent and bold horseman," wrote a +contemporary, "leaping the highest fences and going extremely quick, +without standing on his stirrups, bearing on his bridle, or letting his +horse run wild." + +After his first battle Washington wrote to his brother, "I heard the +bullets whistle about me, and, believe me, there is something charming +in the sound." But years after, when he had learned all there was to +know of the horrors of war, he said, sadly, "I said that when I was +young." + + +_Punctuality_ + +Punctuality was one of Washington's strong points. When company was +invited to dinner, he made an allowance of only five minutes for +variation in watches. If the guests came late he would say: "We are too +punctual for you. I have a cook who does not ask if the company has +come, but if the hour has come." + +In a letter to a friend he wrote: "I begin my diurnal course with the +sun; if my hirelings are not in their places by that time I send them +messages of sorrow for their indisposition." + +A letter to his sister, Betty, shows his businesslike manner: "If your +son Howell is with you and not usefully employed in your own affairs, +and should incline to spend a few months with me in my office as a +writer (if he is fit for it), I will allow him at the rate of 300 a +year, provided he is diligent in discharging the duties of it from +breakfast till dinnertime.... I am particular in declaring beforehand +what I require, so that there may be no disappointment or false +expectations on either side." + +_His Stepchildren_ + +Washington's relations with his stepchildren show a very pleasant side +of his character. We find him ordering from London such articles as "10 +shillings' worth of toys, 6 little books for children beginning to read, +1 fashionable-dressed baby to cost 10 shillings, and a box of +gingerbread toys and sugar images, or comfits." Later he sent for "1 +very good spinet," for Patsey, as Martha Parke Custis was called. + +His niece, Hariot, who lived in the Washington home from 1785 to 1796, +was a great trial to him. "She has," he wrote, "no disposition to be +careful of her clothes, which she dabs about in every hole and corner, +and her best things always in use, so that she costs me enough." + +One of the characteristics of a truly great man is his readiness to ask +pardon. Once when Nelly Custis, Mrs. Washington's granddaughter, was +severely reprimanded for walking alone by moonlight in the grounds of +Mount Vernon, Washington tried to intercede for the girl. + +"Perhaps she was not alone; I would say no more," he said. + +"Sir," said Nelly Custis, "you have brought me up to speak the truth, +and when I told grandmamma that I was alone, I hoped that you would +believe me." + +"My child," said Washington, bowing in his courtly fashion, "I beg your +pardon." + +_His Temper_ + +Stuart, the portrait painter, once said to General Lee that Washington +had a tremendous temper, but that he had it under wonderful control. +While dining with the Washingtons, General Lee repeated the first part +of Stuart's remark. Mrs. Washington flushed and said that Mr. Stuart +took a great deal upon himself. Then General Lee said that Mr. Stuart +had added that the President had his temper under wonderful control. +Washington seemed to be thinking for a moment, then he smiled and said, +"Mr. Stuart is right." + +_His Smile_ + +The popular idea that Washington never laughed is well-nigh exploded. +Nelly Custis said, "I have sometimes made him laugh most heartily from +sympathy with my joyous and extravagant spirits." + +When the news came from Dr. Franklin in France that help was promised +from that country, General Washington broke into a laugh, waved his +cocked hat, and said to his officers, "The day is ours!" Another story +is to the effect that while present at the baptism of a child of a Mr. +Wood, he was so surprised to hear the name given as George Washington +that he smiled. Senator Maclay tells of his smiling at a state dinner, +and even toying with his fork. Various sources testify that a smile lent +an unusual beauty to his face. + +At one time, as Washington entered a shop in New York, a Scotch +nursemaid followed him, carrying her infant charge. "Please, sir, here's +a bairn was named after you." + +"What is his name?" asked the President. + +"Washington Irving, sir." + +Washington put his hand upon the child's head and gave him his blessing, +little thinking that "the bairn" would write, as a labor of love, a life +of Washington. + +While at his Newburgh headquarters the General was approached by Aaron +Burr, who stealthily crept up as he was writing, and looked over his +shoulder. Although Washington did not hear the footfall, he saw the +shadow in the mirror. He looked up, and said only, "Mr. Burr!" But the +tone was enough to make Burr quail and beat a hasty retreat. + +A man who, well for himself, is nameless, made a wager with some friends +that he could approach Washington familiarly. The President was walking +up Chestnut Street, in Philadelphia, when the would-be wag, in full view +of his companions, slapped him on the back and said, "Well, old fellow, +how are you this morning?" Washington looked at him, and in a freezing +tone asked, "Sir, what have I ever said or done which induces you to +treat me in this manner?" + +_Thoughtfulness_ + +After Washington's retirement from the Presidency, Elkanah Watson was a +guest at Mount Vernon. He had a serious cold, and after he retired he +coughed severely. Suddenly the curtains of his bed were drawn aside, +and there stood Washington with a huge bowl of steaming herb tea. "Drink +this," he said, "it will be good for that cough." + +Washington possessed in a peculiar degree the great gift of remembering +faces. Once, while visiting in Newburyport, he saw at work in the +grounds of his host an old servant whom he had not seen since the French +and Indian war, thirty years before. He knew the man at once, and +stopped and spoke kindly to him. + +_Modesty_ + +Any collection of anecdotes about Washington is sure to refer to his +extreme modesty. Upon one occasion, when the speaker of the Assembly +returned thanks in glowing terms to Colonel Washington for his services, +he rose to express his acknowledgments, but he was so embarrassed that +he could not articulate a word. "Sit down, Mr. Washington," said the +speaker, "your modesty equals your valor, and that surpasses the power +of any language which I possess." + +When Adams suggested that Congress should appoint a general, and hinted +plainly at Washington, who happened to sit near the door, the latter +rose, "and, with his usual modesty, darted into the library room." + +Washington's favorite quotation was Addison's "'Tis not in mortals to +command success," but he frequently quoted Shakespeare. + +_Taste for Literature_ + +His taste for literature is indicated by the list of books which he +ordered for his library at the close of the war: "Life of Charles the +Twelfth," "Life of Louis the Fifteenth," "Life and Reign of Peter the +Great," Robertson's "History of America," "Voltaire's Letters," Vertol's +"Revolution of Rome," "Revolution of Portugal," Goldsmith's "Natural +History," "Campaigns of Marshal Turenne," Chambaud's "French and English +Dictionary," Locke "On the Human Understanding," and Robertson's +"Charles the Fifth." "Light reading," he wrote to his step-grandson, +"(by this I mean books of little importance) may amuse for the moment, +but leaves nothing behind." + +_His Dress_ + +Although always very particular about his dress, Washington was no +dandy, as some have supposed. "Do not," he wrote to his nephew in 1783, +"conceive that fine clothes make fine men any more than fine feathers +make fine birds. A plain, genteel dress is more admired and obtains more +credit than lace or embroidery in the eyes of the judicious and +sensible." + +Sullivan thus describes Washington at a levee: "He was dressed in black +velvet, his hair full dress, powdered, and gathered behind in a large +silk bag, yellow gloves on his hands; holding a cocked hat, with a +cockade in it, and the edges adorned with a black feather about an inch +deep. He wore knee and shoe buckles, and a long sword.... The scabbard +was of white polished leather." + +After Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, Washington said to his army: +"My brave fellows, let no sensation of satisfaction for the triumphs you +have gained induce you to insult your fallen enemy. Let no shouting, no +clamorous huzzaing increase their mortification. It is sufficient for us +that we witness their humiliation. Posterity will huzza for us." + +While there are many stories which show Washington's +straightforwardness, here is one which shows much diplomacy. He was +asked by Volney, a Frenchman and a revolutionist, for a letter of +recommendation to the American people. This request put him in an +awkward position, for there were good reasons why he could not give it, +and other good reasons why he did not wish to refuse. Taking a sheet of +paper, he wrote: + +C. Volney needs no recommendation from + +Geo. Washington. + + * * * * * + +GREAT GEORGE WASHINGTON[25] + +BY KATE DOUGLAS WIGGIN AND NORA A. SMITH + +All this time while George Washington had been growing up,--first a +little boy, then a larger boy, and then a young surveyor,--all this time +the French and English and Indians were unhappy and uncomfortable in the +country north of Virginia. The French wanted all the land, so did the +English, and the Indians saw that there would be no room for them, +whichever had it, so they all began to trouble each other, and to +quarrel and fight. + +These troubles grew so bad at last that the Virginians began to be +afraid of the French and Indians, and thought they must have some +soldiers of their own ready to fight. + +George Washington was only nineteen then, but everybody knew he was wise +and brave, so they chose him to teach the soldiers near his home how to +march and to fight. + +Then the king and the people of England grew very uneasy at all this +quarreling, and they sent over soldiers and cannon and powder, and +commenced to get ready to fight in earnest. Washington was made a major, +and he had to go a thousand miles, in the middle of winter, into the +Indian and French country, to see the chiefs and the soldiers, and find +out about the troubles. + +When he came back again, all the people were so pleased with his +courage and with the wise way in which he had behaved, that they made +him lieutenant-colonel. + +Then began a long war between the French and the English, which lasted +seven years. Washington fought through all of it, and was made a +colonel, and by and by commander of all the soldiers in Virginia. He +built forts and roads, he gained and lost battles, he fought the Indians +and the French; and by all this trouble and hard work he learned to be a +great soldier. + +In many of the battles of this war, Washington and the Virginians did +not wear a uniform, like the English soldiers, but a buckskin shirt and +fringed leggings, like the Indians. + +From beginning to end of some of the battles, Washington rode about +among the men, telling them where to go and how to fight; the bullets +were whistling around him all the time, but he said he liked the music. + +By and by the war was over; the French were driven back to their own +part of the country, and Washington went home to Mount Vernon to rest, +and took with him his wife, lovely Martha Washington, whom he had met +and married while he was fighting the French and Indians. + +While he was at Mount Vernon he saw all his horses again,--"Valiant" and +"Magnolia" and "Chinkling" and "Ajax,"--and had grand gallops over the +country. + +He had some fine dogs, too, to run by his side, and help him hunt the +bushy-tailed foxes. "Vulcan" and "Ringwood" and "Music" and "Sweetlips" +were the names of some of them. You may be sure the dogs were glad when +they had their master home again. + +But Washington did not have long to rest, for another war was coming, +the great war of the Revolution. + +Little children cannot understand all the reasons for this war, but I +can tell you some of them. + +You remember in the story of Thanksgiving I told you about the Pilgrim +fathers, who came from England to this country because their king would +not let them pray to God as they liked. That king was dead now, and +there was another in his place, a king with the name of George, like our +Washington. + +Now our great-grandfathers had always loved England and Englishmen, +because many of their friends were still living there, and because it +was their old home. + +The king gave them governors to help take care of their people, and +soldiers to fight for them, and they sent to England for many things to +wear and to eat. + +But just before this Revolutionary War, the king and the great men who +helped him began to say that things should be done in this country that +our people did not think right at all. The king said they must buy +expensive stamps to put on all their newspapers and almanacs and +lawyer's papers, and that they must pay very high taxes on their tea and +paper and glass, and he sent soldiers to see that this was done. + +This made our great-grandfathers very angry. They refused to pay the +taxes, they would not buy anything from England any more, and some men +even went on board the ships, as they came into Boston Harbor, and threw +the tea over into the water. + +So fifty-one men were chosen from all over the country, and they met at +Philadelphia, to see what could be done. Washington was sent from +Virginia. And after they had talked very solemnly, they all thought +there would be great trouble soon, and Washington went home to drill the +soldiers. + +Then the war began with the battle of Lexington, in New England, and +soon Washington was made commander-in-chief of the armies. + +He rode the whole distance from Philadelphia to Boston on horseback, +with a troop of officers; and all the people on the way came to see him, +bringing bands of music and cheering him as he went by. He rode into +camp in the morning. The soldiers were drawn up in the road, and men and +women and children who had come to look at Washington were crowded all +about. They saw a tall, splendid, handsome man in a blue coat with buff +facings, and epaulets on his shoulders. As he took off his hat, drew his +shining sword, and raised it in sight of all the people, the cannon +began to thunder, and all the people hurrahed and tossed their hats in +the air. + +Of course, he looked very splendid, and they all knew how brave he was, +and thought he would soon put an end to the war. + +But it did not happen as they expected, for this was only the beginning, +and the war lasted seven long years. + +Fighting is always hard, even if you have plenty of soldiers and plenty +for them to eat; but Washington had very few soldiers, and very little +powder for the guns, and little food for the men to eat. + +The soldiers were not in uniform, as ours are to-day; but each was +dressed just as he happened to come from his shop or his farm. + +Washington ordered hunting shirts for them, such as he wore when he went +to fight the Indians, for he knew they would look more like soldiers if +all were dressed alike. + +Of course many people thought that our men would be beaten, as the war +went on; but Washington never thought so, for he was sure our side was +right. + +I hardly know what he would have done, at last, if the French people had +not promised to come over and help us, and to send us money and men and +ships. All the people in the army thanked God when they heard it, and +fired their guns for joy. + +A brave young man named Lafayette came with the French soldiers, and he +grew to be Washington's great friend, and fought for us all through the +Revolution. + +Many battles were fought in this war, and Washington lost some of them, +and a great many of his men were killed. + +You could hardly understand how much trouble he had. In the winter, when +the snow was deep on the ground, he had no houses or huts for his men to +sleep in; his soldiers were ragged and cold by day, and had not blankets +enough to keep them warm by night; their shoes were old and worn, and +they had to wrap cloths around their feet to keep them from freezing. + +When they marched to the Delaware River, one cold Christmas night, a +soldier who was sent after them, with a message for Washington, traced +them by their footprints on the snow, all reddened with the blood from +their poor cut feet. + +They must have been very brave and patient to have fought at all, when +they were so cold and ragged and hungry. + +Washington suffered a great deal in seeing his soldiers so wretched, and +I am sure that with all his strength and courage, he would sometimes +have given up hope, if he had not talked and prayed to God a great deal, +and asked Him to help him. + +In one of the hardest times of the whole war, Washington was staying at +a farmer's house. One morning he rode out very early to visit the +soldiers. The farmer went into the fields soon after, and as he was +passing a brook where a great many bushes were growing, he heard a deep +voice from the thicket. He looked through the leaves, and saw Washington +on his knees, on the ground, praying to God for his soldiers. He had +fastened his horse to a tree, and come away by himself to ask God to +help them. + +At last the war came to an end; the English were beaten, and our armies +sent up praise and thanks to God. + +Then the soldiers went quietly back to their homes, and Washington bade +all his officers good-by, and thanked them for their help and their +courage. + +The little room in New York where he said farewell is kept to show to +visitors now, and you can see it some day yourselves. + +Then Washington went home to Mount Vernon to rest; but before he had +been there long, the people found out that they must have someone to +help take care of them, as they had nothing to do with the king of +England any more; and they asked Washington to come and be the first +President of the United States. + +So he did as they wished, and was as wise and good, and as careful and +fine a President as he had been surveyor, soldier, and general. + +You know we always call Washington the Father of his Country, because he +did so much for us, and helped to make the United States so great. + +After he died, there were parks and mountains and villages and towns and +cities named for him all over the land, because people loved him so, and +prized so highly what he had done for them. + +In the city of Washington there is a building where you can see many of +the things that belonged to the first President, when he was alive. +There is his soldier's coat, his sword, and in an old camp chest are +the plates and knives and forks that he used in the Revolution. + +There is a tall, splendid monument of shining gray stone in that city, +that towers far, far, above all the highest roofs and spires. It was +built in memory of George Washington by the people of the United States, +to show that they loved and would always remember the Father of his +Country. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[25] From "The Story Hour" by Kate Douglas Wiggin and Nora A. Smith. +Houghton, Mifflin & Co., publishers. + + * * * * * + +HEADQUARTERS IN 1776[26] + +BY PAUL LEICESTER FORD + +On September 15, a group of horsemen, occupying a slight eminence of +ground on the island of Manhattan, were gazing eastward. Below and +nearer the water were spread lines of soldiers behind intrenchments, +while from three men-of-war lying in the river came a heavy cannonade +that swept the shore line and spread over the water a pall of smoke +which, as it drifted to leeward, obscured the Long Island shore from +view. + +"'Tis evidently a feint, your Excellency," presently asserted one of the +observers, "to cover a genuine attack elsewhere--most likely above the +Haarlem." + +The person addressed--a man with an anxious, care-worn face that made +him look fifty at least--lowered his glass, but did not reply for some +moments. "You may be right, sir," he remarked, "though to me it has the +air of an intended attack. What think you, Reed?" + +"I agree with Mifflin. The attack will be higher up. Hah! Look there!" + +A rift had come in the smoke, and a column of boats, moving with +well-timed oars, could for a moment be seen as it came forward. + +"They intend a landing at Kip's Bay, as I surmised," exclaimed the +general. "Gentlemen, we shall be needed below." He turned to Reed and +gave him an order concerning reinforcements, then wheeled, and, followed +by the rest, trotted over the plowed field. Once on the highway, he +spurred his horse, putting him to a sharp canter. + +"What troops hold the works on the bay, Mifflin?" asked one of the +riders. + +"Fellows' and Parsons' brigades, Brereton." + +"If they are as good at fighting as at thieving, they'll distinguish +themselves." + +"Ay," laughed Mifflin. "If the red coats were but chickens or cattle, +the New England militia would have had them all captured ere now." + +"They'll be heard from to-day," said a third officer. "They've +earthworks to git behind, and they'll give the British anuther Bunker +Hill." + +"Then you ought to be quick, General Putnam," said Brereton, "for that's +the fighting you like." + +The road lay in the hollow of the land, and not till the party reached a +slight rise were they able once more to get a glimpse of the shores of +the bay. Then it was to find the flotilla well in toward its intended +landing-place, and the American troops retreating in great disorder from +their breastworks. + +Exclamations of surprise and dismay sprang from the lips of the riders, +and their leader, turning his horse, jumped the fence and galloped +across the fields to intercept the fugitives. Five minutes brought them +up to the runaways, who, out of breath with the sharpness of their race, +had come to a halt, and were being formed by their officers into a +little less disorder. + +"General Fellows, what was the reason for this shameful retreat?" +demanded the general, when within speaking distance. + +"The men were seized with a panic on the approach of the boats, your +Excellency, and could not be held in the lines." + +Washington faced the regiments, his face blazing with scorn. "You ran +before a shot had been fired! Before you lost a man, you deserted works +that have taken weeks to build, and which could be held against any such +force." He paused for a moment, and then, drawing his sword, called with +spirit: "Who's for recovering them?" + +A faint cheer passed down the lines; but almost as it sounded, the red +coats of fifty or sixty light infantry came into view on the road, a +skirmishing party thrown forward from the landing to reconnoiter. Had +they been Howe's whole army, however, they could not have proved more +effective, for instantly the two brigades broke and dissolved once more +into squads of flying men. + +At such cowardice, Washington lost all control of himself, and, dashing +in among the fugitives, he passionately struck right and left with the +flat of his sword, thundering curses at them; while Putnam and Mifflin, +as well as the aides, followed his example. It was hopeless, however, to +stay the rush; the men took the blows and the curses unheeding, while +throwing away their guns and scattering in every direction. + +Made frantic by such conduct, Washington wheeled his horse. "Charge!" he +cried, and rode toward the enemy, waving his sword. + +If the commander-in-chief had hoped to put some of his own courage into +the troops by his example, he failed. Not a man of the runaways ceased +fleeing. None the less, as if regardless of consequences in his +desperation, Washington rode on, until one of the aides dashed his spurs +into his horse and came up beside his general at a mad gallop. + +"Your Excellency!" he cried, "'tis but hopeless, and will but end in--" +Then, as his superior did not heed him, he seized the left rein of his +horse's bridle, and, pulling on it, swung him about in a large circle, +letting go his hold only when they were riding away from the enemy. + +Washington offered no resistance, and rode the hundred yards to where +the rest of his staff were standing, with bowed head. Nothing was said +as he rejoined the group, and Blueskin, disappointed in the charge for +which he had shown as much eagerness as his rider, let his mind recur to +thoughts of oats; finding no control in the hand that held his bridle, +he set out at an easy trot toward headquarters. + +They had not ridden many yards ere Washington lifted his head, the +expression of hopelessness, which had taken the place of that of +animation, in turn succeeded by one of stern repose. He issued three +orders to as many of the riders, showing that his mind had not been +dwelling idly on the disaster, slipped his sword into its scabbard, and +gathered up his reins again. + +"There!" thought Blueskin, as a new direction was indicated by his bit, +"I'm going to have another spell of it riding all ways of a Sunday, just +as we did last night. And it's coming on to rain." + +Rain it did very quickly; but from post to post the horsemen passed, the +sternly silent commander speaking only when giving the necessary orders +to remedy so far as possible the disaster of the afternoon. Not till +eleven, and then in a thoroughly drenched condition, did they reach the +Morris House on Haarlem Heights. It was to no rest, however, that the +general arrived; for, as he dismounted, Major Gibbs of his life guards +informed him that the council of war he had called was gathered, and +only awaited his attendance. + +"Get you some supper, gentlemen," he ordered, to such of his aides as +were still of the party, "for 'tis likely that you will have more riding +when the council have deliberated." + +"'Tis advice he might take himself to proper advantage," said one of +the juniors, while they were stripping off their wet coverings in a side +room. + +"Ay," asserted Brereton. "The general uses us hard, Tilghman, but he +uses himself harder." Then aloud he called, "Billy!" + +"Yis, sah!" + +"Make a glass of rum punch and take it in to his Excellency." + +"Foh de Lord, sah, I doan dar go in, an' yar know marse neber drink no +spirits till de day's work dun." + +"Make a dish of tea, then, you old coward, and I'll take it to him so +soon as I get these slops off me. 'Fore George! How small-clothes stick +when they're wet!" + +The make-shift meal was still unfinished when the general's body-servant +appeared with the tea. Taking it, Brereton marched boldly to the council +door, and, giving a knock, he went in without awaiting a reply. + +The group of anxious-faced men about the table looked up, and +Washington, with a frown, demanded, "For what do you interrupt us, sir?" + +The young officer put the tea down on the map lying in front of the +general. "Billy didn't dare take this to your Excellency, so I made bold +to e'en bring it myself." + +"This is no time for tea, Colonel Brereton." + +"'Tis no time for the army to lose their general," replied the aide. "I +pray you drink it, sir, for our sake, if you won't for your own." + +A kindly look supplanted the sternness of the previous moment on the +general's face. "I thank you for your thoughtfulness, Brereton," he +said, raising the cup and pouring some of the steaming drink into the +saucer. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[26] From "Janice Meredith." Dodd, Mead & Co. + + + + + +X + +SELECTIONS FROM WASHINGTON'S SPEECHES AND WRITINGS + +SELECTIONS FROM THE RULES OF CIVILITY + + [Copied by Washington at the age of fourteen from an old + translation of a French book of 1595. "Washington was entirely + aware," writes Owen Wister, "of the great influence for good + exerted upon his own character by the Rules of Civility. It is a + misfortune for all American boys in all our schools to-day, that + they should be told the untrue and foolish story of the hatchet and + the cherry tree, and denied the immense benefit of instruction from + George Washington's authentic copy-book."] + +Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another, though he were your +enemy. + +When you see a crime punished you may be inwardly pleased; but always +show pity to the suffering offender. + +Superfluous compliments and all affectation of ceremony are to be +avoided, yet, where due, they are not to be neglected. + +Do not express joy before one sick or in pain, for that contrary passion +will aggravate his misery. + +When a man does all he can, though it succeed not well, blame not him +that did it. + +Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of any. + +In your apparel be modest, and endeavor to accommodate Nature, rather +than to procure admiration; keep to the fashion of your equals. + +Associate yourself with men of good quality, if you esteem your own +reputation; for 'tis better to be alone than in bad company. + +Speak not injurious words neither in jest nor in earnest; scoff at none, +although they give occasion. + +Gaze not at the marks or blemishes of others, and ask not how they came. +What you may speak in secret to your friend, deliver not before others. + +Nothing but harmony, honest industry, and frugality are necessary to +make us a great people. First impressions are generally the most +lasting. It is therefore absolutely necessary, if you mean to make any +figure upon the stage, that you should take the first steps right. + +There is a destiny which has the control of our actions not to be +resisted by the strongest efforts of Human Nature. + +Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distresses of everyone, and +let your hand give in proportion to your purse; remembering always the +widow's mite, but that it is not everyone who asketh that deserveth +charity; all, however, are worthy the inquiry, or the deserving may +suffer. + +I consider storms and victory under the direction of a wise Providence +who no doubt directs them for the best purposes, and to bring round the +greatest degree of happiness to the greatest number. + +Happiness depends more upon the internal frame of a person's mind, than +on the externals in the world. + +The thinking part of mankind do not form their judgments from events, +and that chief equity will ever attach equal glory to those actions +which deserve success, as to those which have been crowned with it. + +To see plants rise from the earth and flourish by the superior skill and +bounty of the laborer, fills a contemplative mind with ideas which are +more easy to be conceived than expressed. + +To constitute a dispute there must be two parties. To understand it +well, both parties and all the circumstances must be fully heard; and to +accommodate differences, temper and mutual forbearance are requisite. + +Idleness is disreputable under any circumstances; productive of no good, +even when unaccompanied by vicious habits. + +It is not uncommon in prosperous gales to forget that adverse winds +blow. + +Economy in all things is as commendable in the manager, as it is +beneficial and desirable to the employer. + +It is unfortunate when men cannot or will not see danger at a distance; +or seeing it, are undetermined in the means which are necessary to avert +or keep it afar off. + +Every man who is in the vigor of life ought to serve his country in +whatever line it requires, and he is fit for. + +Rise early, that by habit it may become familiar, agreeable, healthy, +and profitable. It may, for a while, be irksome to do this, but that +will wear off; and the practice will produce a rich harvest forever +thereafter, whether in public or in private walks of life. + + * * * * * + +SAID BY WASHINGTON + + +To be prepared for war is one of the most effectual means of preserving +peace. + + * * * * * + +There is a rank due to the United States among nations which will be +withheld, if not absolutely lost, by the reputation of weakness. + + * * * * * + +The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that +disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has +ordained. + + * * * * * + +The very idea of the power and right of the people to establish +government presupposes the duty of every individual to obey the +established government. + + * * * * * + +If there was the same propensity in mankind for investigating the +motives, as there is for censuring the conduct, of public characters, it +would be found that the censure so freely bestowed is oftentimes +unmerited and uncharitable. + + * * * * * + +Where is the man to be found who wishes to remain indebted for the +defense of his own person and property to the exertions, the bravery, +and the blood of others, without making one generous effort to repay the +debt of honor and gratitude? + +There is no truth more thoroughly established than that there exists in +the economy and course of nature an indissoluble union between virtue +and happiness, between duty and advantage, between the genuine maxims of +an honest and magnanimous policy and the solid rewards of public +prosperity and felicity. + + * * * * * + +Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence the jealousy of a free +people ought to be constantly awake. + + * * * * * + +It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any +portion of the foreign world. + + * * * * * + +The great rule of conduct for us in regard to foreign nations is to have +with them as little political connection as possible. + + * * * * * + +There can be no greater error than to expect or calculate upon real +favors from nation to nation. + + * * * * * + +Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of Europe, +entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of European ambition, +rivalship, interest, humor? or caprice? + + * * * * * + +The name American must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism. + + * * * * * + +To the efficacy and permanency of your union a government for the whole +is indispensable. + +Every attempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest +should be indignantly frowned upon. + + * * * * * + +Let us impart all the blessings we possess, or ask for ourselves, to the +whole family of mankind. + + * * * * * + +Let us erect a standard to which the wise and honest may repair. + + * * * * * + +'Tis substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of +popular government. + + * * * * * + +It is incumbent upon every person of every description to contribute to +his country's welfare. + + * * * * * + +It would be repugnant to the vital principles of our government +virtually to exclude from public trusts, talents and virtue, unless +accompanied by wealth. + + * * * * * + +Give such encouragements to our own navigation as will render our +commerce less dependent on foreign bottoms. + + * * * * * + +I have never made an appointment from a desire to serve a friend or +relative. + + * * * * * + +Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, +conscience. + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON BEFORE THE BATTLE OF LONG ISLAND, AUGUST, 1776 + +The time is now near at hand which must probably determine whether +Americans are to be freemen or slaves; whether they are to have any +property they can call their own; whether their houses and farms are to +be pillaged and destroyed, and themselves consigned to a state of +wretchedness from which no human effort will deliver them. The fate of +unborn millions will now depend, under God, on the courage and conduct +of this army. Our cruel and unrelenting enemy leaves us only the choice +of a brave resistance, or the most abject submission. We have, +therefore, to resolve to conquer or to die. + +Our own, our country's honor, calls upon us for a vigorous and manly +exertion; and if we now shamefully fail, we shall become infamous to the +whole world. Let us, then, rely on the goodness of our cause and the aid +of the Supreme Being, in whose hands victory is, to animate and +encourage us to great and noble actions. The eyes of all our countrymen +are now upon us; and we shall have their blessings and praises if, +happily, we are the instruments of saving them from the tyranny +meditated against them. Let us, therefore, animate and encourage each +other, and show the whole world that a freeman contending for liberty on +his own ground is superior to any slavish mercenary on earth. + +Liberty, property, life, and honor are all at stake. Upon your courage +and conduct rest the hopes of our bleeding and insulted country. Our +wives, children, and parents expect safety from us only; and they have +every reason to believe that Heaven will crown with success so just a +cause. The enemy will endeavor to intimidate by show and appearance; but +remember they have been repulsed on various occasions by a few brave +Americans. Their cause is bad,--their men are conscious of it; and, if +opposed with firmness and coolness on their first onset, with our +advantage of works and knowledge of the ground, the victory is most +assuredly ours. Every good soldier will be silent and attentive, wait +for orders, and reserve his fire until he is sure of doing execution. + + * * * * * + +FROM VARIOUS LETTERS, SPEECHES, AND ADDRESSES + + +_To the Captains of Several Independent Companies in Virginia. +Philadelphia, June, 1775_ + +"Gentlemen, + +"I am now about to bid adieu to the companies under your respective +commands, at least for a time. I have launched into a wide and extensive +field, too boundless for my abilities, and far, very far, beyond my +experience. I am called by the unanimous voice of the Colonies to the +command of the Continental army; an honor I did not aspire to, an honor +I was solicitous to avoid, upon a full conviction of my inadequacy to +the importance of the service. I have only to beg of you, therefore, +before I go, by no means to relax in the discipline of your respective +companies. + +"I cannot doubt but the asserters of freedom and the right of the +Constitution are possessed of your most favorable regards and wishes for +success. As descendants of freedom, and heirs with us of the same +glorious inheritance, we flatter ourselves that, though divided by our +situation, we are firmly united in sentiment. The cause of virtue and +liberty is confined to no continent or climate. It comprehends within +its capacious limits the wise and good, however dispersed and separated +in space and distance." + +_To the Inhabitants of the Island of Bermuda_ + +"While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious +not to violate the rights of conscience in others, ever considering that +God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to Him only they are +answerable." + +_To Colonel Benedict Arnold, 1775_ + +"The man who means to commit no wrong will never be guilty of +enormities; consequently he can never be unwilling to learn what is +ascribed to him as foibles. If they are really such, the knowledge of +them in a well-disposed mind will go half way towards a reform. If they +are not errors he can explain and justify the motives of his actions." + +_To Patrick Henry, Valley Forge, 27th March, 1778_ + +"I have ever been happy in supposing that I had a place in your esteem, +and the proof you have afforded makes me peculiarly so. The favorable +light in which you hold me is truly flattering; but I should feel much +regret, if I thought the happiness of America so intimately connected +with my personal welfare as you so obligingly seem to consider it. All I +can say is, that she has ever had, and I trust she ever will have, my +honest exertions to promote her interest. I cannot hope that my services +have been the best; but my heart tells me they have been the best that I +could render. + +"However it may be the practice of the world and those who see objects +but partially or through a false medium, to consider _that_ only as +meritorious which is attended with success, I have accustomed myself to +judge human actions very differently, and to appreciate them by the +manner in which they are conducted more than by the event; which it is +not in the power of human foresight and prudence to command. + +"My political creed is, to be wise in the choice of delegates, support +them like gentlemen while they are our representatives, give them +complete powers for all federal purposes, support them in the due +exercise thereof, and lastly, to compel them to close attendance in +Congress during their delegation. + +"We ought not to look back unless it is to derive useful lessons from +past errors, and for the purpose of profiting by dearly bought +experience. To enveigh against things that are past and irremediable is +unpleasing; but to steer clear of the shelves and rocks we have struck +upon is the part of wisdom, equally as incumbent on political as other +men who have their own little bark or that of others to navigate through +the intricate paths of life, or the trackless ocean, to the haven of +security or rest." + +_Extracts from a Circular Letter Addressed to the Governors of All the +States on Disbanding the Army, Newburgh, 8 June, 1783_ + +"Sir:--The great object for which I had the honor to hold an appointment +in the service of my country, being accomplished, I am now preparing to +resign it into the hands of Congress, and to return to that domestic +retirement which it is well known I left with the greatest reluctance; a +retirement for which I have never ceased to sigh, through a long and +painful absence, and in which I meditate to pass the remainder of life, +in a state of undisturbed repose. But before I carry this resolution +into effect, I think it a duty incumbent on me to make this, my last +official communication; to congratulate you on the glorious events which +Heaven has been pleased to produce in our favor; to offer my sentiments +respecting some important subjects which appear to me to be intimately +connected with the tranquillity of the United States, to take my leave +of your excellency as a public character, and to give my final blessing +to that country in whose service I have spent the prime of my life, for +whose sake I have consumed so many anxious days and watchful nights, and +whose happiness, being so extremely dear to me, will always constitute +no inconsiderable part of my own." + +From the same circular letter: + +"The foundation of our empire was not laid in the gloomy age of +ignorance and superstition, but at an epoch when the rights of mankind +were better understood and more clearly defined than at any former +period. The researches of the human mind after social happiness have +been carried to a great extent; the treasures of knowledge, acquired by +the labors of philosophers, sages, and legislators through a long +succession of years, are laid open for our use, and their collected +wisdom may be happily applied in the establishment of our forms of +government." + +From the same: + +"The free cultivation of letters, the unbounded extension of commerce, +the progressive refinement of manners, the growing liberality of +sentiment, and, above all, the power and benign light of revelation, +have had a meliorating influence on mankind, and increased the blessings +of society. An indissoluble union of the states under one federal +head--a sacred regard to public justice--the adoption of a proper peace +establishment, and the prevalence of that pacific and friendly +disposition among the people of the United States which will induce them +to forget their local prejudices and politics; to make those mutual +concessions which are requisite to the general prosperity, and in some +instances to sacrifice their individual advantages to the interest of +the community--these are the pillars on which the glorious fabric of our +independence and national character must be supported. Liberty is the +basis, and whoever would dare to sap the foundation or overturn the +structure, under whatever specious pretext he may attempt it, will merit +the bitterest execration, and the severest punishment which can be +inflicted by his injured country." + +From the same: + +"I now make it my earnest prayer that God would have you and the State +over which you preside in His holy protection, that He would incline the +hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and +obedience to the government; to entertain a brotherly affection and love +for one another and for their fellow-citizens of the United States at +large, and particularly for their brethren who have served in the field, +and finally that He would most graciously be pleased to dispose us all +to do justice, to love mercy, and to demean ourselves with that charity, +humility, and pacific temper of mind, which were the characteristics of +the Divine Author of our blessed religion, and without an humble +imitation of whose example in these things we can never hope to be a +happy nation." + +_Washington on Slavery_ + +"There is not a man living who wishes more sincerely than I do to see a +plan adopted for the abolition of slavery; but there is only one proper +and effectual mode by which it can be accomplished, and that is by +legislative authority, and this as far as my suffrage will go shall +never be wanting." + +_In a Letter to Lafayette, Washington Expresses His Views on Commerce_ + +"Although I pretend to no peculiar information respecting commercial +affairs, nor any foresight into the scenes of futurity, yet, as a member +of an infant empire, as a philanthropist by character, and if I may be +allowed the expression, as a citizen of the great republic of humanity +at large, I cannot help turning my attention sometimes to this subject. +I would be understood to mean I cannot avoid reflecting with pleasure on +the probable influence that commerce may hereafter have on human manners +and society in general. On these occasions I consider how mankind may be +connected like this one great family of fraternal ties. I indulge a +fond, perhaps an enthusiastic idea, that as the world is evidently much +less barbarous than it has been, its melioration must still be +progressive; that nations are becoming more humanized in their policy, +that the subjects of ambition and causes for hostility are daily +diminishing, and in fine, that the period is not very remote when the +benefits of a liberal and free commerce will pretty generally succeed to +the devastations and horrors of war. + +"Men's minds are as varied as their faces, and where the motives to +their actions are pure, the operation of the former is no more to be +imputed to them as a crime than the appearance of the latter; for both +being the work of nature, are equally unavoidable. Liberality and +charity, instead of clamor and misrepresentation, which latter only +serve to foment the passions without enlightening the understanding, +ought to govern in all disputes about matters of importance." + +_From a Letter, 1793_ + +"If it can be esteemed a happiness to live in an age productive of great +and interesting events, we of the present age are very highly favored. +The rapidity of national revolutions appears no less astonishing than +their magnitude. In what they will terminate is known only to the Great +Ruler of events; and confiding in His wisdom and goodness, we may safely +trust the issue to Him, without perplexing ourselves to seek for that +which is beyond human ken, only taking care to perform the parts +assigned to us in a way that reason and our own conscience approve." + +_From a Speech to Both Houses of Congress, 1790_ + +"To administer justice to and receive it from every power with whom they +are connected will, I hope, be always found the prominent feature in the +administration of this country; and I flatter myself that nothing short +of imperious necessity can occasion a breach with any of them. + +"Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness. In +one of which the measures of government receive their impression so +immediately from the sense of the community as in ours, it is +proportionably essential. To the security of a free constitution it +contributes in various ways; by convincing those who are entrusted with +the public administration that every valuable end of government is best +answered by the enlightened confidence of the people, and by teaching +the people themselves to know and to value their own rights; to discern +and to provide against invasions of them; to distinguish between +oppression and the necessary exercise of lawful authority; to +discriminate the spirit of liberty from that of licentiousness, +cherishing the first, avoiding the latter, and uniting a speedy but +temperate vigilance against encroachment with an inviolable respect to +the laws." + +_From a Speech to Both Houses of Congress, 1794_ + +"Let praise be given to every description of citizens. Let them +persevere in their affectionate vigilance over that precious depository +of American happiness, the Constitution of the United States. Let them +cherish it, too, for the sake of those, from every clime, daily seeking +a dwelling in our land. + +"Let us unite, therefore, in imploring the Supreme Ruler of nations to +spread His holy protection over these United States; to enable us at all +times to root out internal seditions and put invasion to flight; to +perpetuate to our country that prosperity which His goodness has already +conferred; and to verify the anticipations of this government being a +safeguard to human rights." + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL TO THE ARMY + +_Dated at Rocky Hill, near Princeton, New Jersey, November 2, 1783_ + +It is universally acknowledged that the enlarged prospects of happiness, +opened by the confirmation of our independence and sovereignty, almost +exceed the power of description. And shall not the brave men who have +contributed so essentially to these inestimable acquisitions, retiring +from the field of war to the field of agriculture, participate in all +the blessings which have been obtained? In such a republic, who will +exclude them from the rights of citizens and the fruits of their labors? + +To those hardy soldiers who are actuated by the spirit of adventure, the +fisheries will afford ample and profitable employment, and the +extensive and fertile regions of the West will yield a most happy asylum +to those who, fond of domestic employment, are seeking personal +independence. + +Little is now wanting to enable the soldier to change the military +character into that of a citizen but that steady and decent behavior +which has distinguished not only the army under this immediate command, +but the different detachments and separate armies through the course of +the war. To the various branches of the army the general takes this last +and solemn opportunity of professing his inviolable attachment and +friendship. He can only again offer in their behalf his recommendations +to their grateful country and his prayers to the God of armies. May +ample justice be done them here, and may favors, both here and +hereafter, attend those who, under the divine auspices, have secured +innumerable blessings for others! + +With these wishes and this benediction the commander-in-chief is about +to retire from service. The curtain of separation will soon be drawn, +and the military scene to him will be closed forever! + + * * * * * + +PRESIDENT WASHINGTON'S RESPONSE TO THE FRENCH AMBASSADOR ON RECEIPT OF +THE COLORS OF FRANCE, 1769 + +Born, sir, in a land of liberty, having early learned its value, having +engaged in a perilous conflict to defend it, having, in a word, devoted +the best years of my life to secure it a permanent establishment in our +own country, my anxious recollections, my sympathetic feelings, and my +best wishes are irresistibly excited whensoever, in any country, I see +an oppressed nation unfurl the banners of freedom. But above all, the +events of the French Revolution have produced the deepest solicitude as +well as the highest admiration. To call your nation brave were to +pronounce but common praise. Wonderful people! Ages to come will read +with astonishment the history of your brilliant exploits. + +I rejoice that the period of your toils and of your immense sacrifices +is approaching. I rejoice that the interesting revolutionary movements +of so many years have issued in the formation of a constitution +designated to give permanency to the great object for which you have +contended. I rejoice that liberty, which you have so long embraced with +enthusiasm, liberty, of which you have been the invincible defenders, +now finds an asylum in the bosom of a regularly organized government; a +government which, being formed to secure the happiness of the French +people, corresponds with the ardent wishes of my heart, while it +gratifies the pride of every citizen of the United States by its +resemblance to their own. On these glorious events accept, sir, my +sincere congratulations. + +In delivering to you these sentiments, I express not my own feelings +only, but those of my fellow-citizens, in relation to the commencement, +the progress, and the issue of the French Revolution; and they will +cordially join with me in purest wishes to the Supreme Being that the +citizens of our sister republic, our magnanimous allies, may soon enjoy, +in peace, that liberty which they have purchased at so great a price, +and all the happiness which liberty can bestow. + +I receive, sir, with lively sensibility, the symbol of the triumphs and +of the enfranchisements of your nation, the colors of France, which you +have now presented to the United States. The transaction will be +announced to Congress, and the colors will be deposited with those +archives of the United States which are at once the evidences and the +memorials of their freedom and independence. May these be perpetual; and +may the friendship of the two republics be commensurate with their +existence! + + * * * * * + +WASHINGTON'S FAREWELL ADDRESS + +_To the People of the United States. September 17, 1796_ + +Friends and Fellow-Citizens: + +The period for a new election of a citizen, to administer the executive +Government of the United States, being not far distant, and the time +actually arrived, when your thoughts must be employed in designating the +person, who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me +proper, especially as it may conduce to a more distinct expression of +the public voice, that I should now apprise you of the resolution I +have formed, to decline being considered among the number of those, out +of whom a choice is to be made. + +I beg you, at the same time, to do me the justice to be assured, that +this resolution has not been taken without a strict regard to all the +considerations appertaining to the relation which binds a dutiful +citizen to his country; and that, in withdrawing the tender of service +which silence in my situation might imply, I am influenced by no +diminution of zeal for your future interest; no deficiency of grateful +respect for your past kindness; but am supported by a full conviction +that the step is compatible with both. + +The acceptance of, and continuance hitherto in the office to which your +suffrages have twice called me, have been a uniform sacrifice of +inclination to the opinion of duty, and to a deference for what appeared +to be your desire. I constantly hoped, that it would have been much +earlier in my power, consistently with motives, which I was not at +liberty to disregard, to return to that retirement, from which I had +been reluctantly drawn. The strength of my inclination to do this, +previous to the last election, had even led to the preparation of an +address to declare it to you; but mature reflection on the then +perplexed and critical posture of our affairs with foreign nations, and +the unanimous advice of persons entitled to my confidence, impelled me +to abandon the idea. + +I rejoice that the state of your concerns, external as well as internal, +no longer renders the pursuit of inclination incompatible with the +sentiment of duty, or propriety; and am persuaded, whatever partiality +may be retained for my services, that, in the present circumstances of +our country, you will not disapprove my determination to retire. + +The impressions, with which I first undertook the arduous trust, were +explained on the proper occasion. In the discharge of this trust, I will +only say, that I have, with good intentions, contributed towards the +organization and administration of the government the best exertions of +which a very fallible judgment was capable. Not unconscious, in the +outset, of the inferiority of my qualifications, experience in my own +eyes, perhaps still more in the eyes of others, has strengthened the +motives to diffidence of myself; and every day the increasing weight of +years admonishes me more and more, that the shade of retirement is as +necessary to me as it will be welcome. Satisfied, that, if any +circumstances have given peculiar value to my services, they were +temporary, I have the consolation to believe, that, while choice and +prudence invite me to quit the political scene, patriotism does not +forbid it. + +In looking forward to the moment, which is intended to terminate the +career of my public life, my feelings do not permit me to suspend the +deep acknowledgment of that debt of gratitude, which I owe to my beloved +country for the many honors it has conferred upon me; still more for the +steadfast confidence with which it has supported me; and for the +opportunities I have thence enjoyed of manifesting my inviolable +attachment, by services faithful and persevering, though in usefulness +unequal to my zeal. If benefits have resulted to our country from these +services, let it always be remembered to your praise, and as an +instructive example in our annals, that under circumstances in which the +passions, agitated in every direction, were liable to mislead, amidst +appearances sometimes dubious, vicissitudes of fortune often +discouraging, in situations in which not unfrequently want of success +has countenanced the spirit of criticism, the constancy of your support +was the essential prop of the efforts, and a guarantee of the plans by +which they were effected. Profoundly penetrated with this idea, I shall +carry it with me to my grave, as a strong incitement to unceasing vows +that Heaven may continue to you the choicest tokens of its beneficence; +that your union and brotherly affection may be perpetual; that the free +Constitution, which is the work of your hands, may be sacredly +maintained; that its administration in every department may be stamped +with wisdom and virtue; that, in fine, the happiness of the people of +these States, under the auspices of liberty, may be made complete, by so +careful a preservation and so prudent a use of this blessing, as will +acquire for them the glory of recommending it to the applause, the +affection and adoption of every nation, which is yet a stranger to it. + +Here, perhaps, I ought to stop. But a solicitude for your welfare, which +cannot end but with my life, and the apprehension of danger, natural to +that solicitude, urge me, on an occasion like the present, to offer to +your solemn contemplation, and to recommend to your frequent review, +some sentiments, which are the result of much reflection, of no +inconsiderable observation, and which appear to me all important to the +permanency of your felicity as a People. These will be offered to you +with the more freedom, as you can only see in them the disinterested +warnings of a parting friend, who can possibly have no personal motive +to bias his counsel. Nor can I forget, as an encouragement to it, your +indulgent reception of my sentiments on a former and not dissimilar +occasion. + +Interwoven as is the love of liberty with every ligament of your hearts, +no recommendation of mine is necessary to fortify or confirm the +attachment. + +The unity of Government, which constitutes you one people, is also now +dear to you. It is justly so: for it is a main pillar in the edifice of +your real independence, the support of your tranquillity at home, your +peace abroad; of your safety; of your prosperity; of that very liberty, +which you so highly prize. But as it is easy to foresee, that, from +different causes and from different quarters, much pains will be taken, +many artifices employed, to weaken in your minds the conviction of this +truth; as this is the point in your political fortress against which the +batteries of internal and external enemies will be most constantly and +actively (though often covertly and insidiously) directed, it is of +infinite moment, that you should properly estimate the immense value of +your national Union to your collective and individual happiness; that +you should cherish a cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment to it; +accustoming yourself to think and speak of it as of the Palladium of +your political safety and prosperity; watching for its preservation with +jealous anxiety; discountenancing whatever may suggest even a suspicion, +that it can in any event be abandoned; and indignantly frowning upon the +first dawning of every attempt to alienate any portion of our country +from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which now link together +the various parts. + +For this you have every inducement of sympathy and interest. Citizens, +by birth or choice, of a common country, that country has a right to +concentrate your affections. The name of AMERICAN, which belongs to you, +in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of +Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local +discriminations. With slight shades of difference, you have the same +religion, manners, habits, and political principles. You have in a +common cause fought and triumphed together; the Independence and Liberty +you possess are the work of joint counsels, and joint efforts, of common +dangers, sufferings, and successes. + +But these considerations, however powerfully they address themselves to +your sensibility, are greatly outweighed by those, which apply more +immediately to your interest. Here, every portion of our country finds +the most commanding motives for carefully guarding and preserving the +Union of the whole. + +The _North_, in an unrestrained intercourse with the _South_ protected +by the equal laws of a common Government, finds, in the productions of +the latter, great additional resources of maritime and commercial +enterprise and precious materials of manufacturing industry. The +_South_, in the same intercourse, benefiting by the agency of the +_North_, sees its agriculture grow and its commerce expand. Turning +partly into its own channels the seamen of the _North_, it finds its +particular navigation invigorated; and, while it contributes in +different ways, to nourish and increase the general mass of the national +navigation, it looks forward to the protection of a maritime strength, +to which itself is unequally adapted. The _East_, in a like intercourse +with the _West_, already finds, and in the progressive improvement of +interior communications by land and water, will more and more find, a +valuable vent for the commodities which it brings from abroad, or +manufactures at home. The _West_ derives from the _East_ supplies +requisite to its growth and comfort, and, what is perhaps of still +greater consequence, it must of necessity owe the _secure_ enjoyment of +indispensable _outlets_ for its own productions to the weight, +influences, and the future maritime strength of the Atlantic side of the +Union, directed by an indissoluble community of interest as _one_ +nation. Any other tenure by which the _West_ can hold this essential +advantage, whether derived from its own separate strength, or from an +apostate and unnatural connection with any foreign power, must be +intrinsically precarious. + +While, then, every part of our country thus feels an immediate and +particular interest in Union, all the parts combined cannot fail to find +in the united mass of means and efforts greater strength, greater +resource, proportionally greater security from external danger, a less +frequent interruption of their peace by foreign nations; and, what is of +inestimable value, they must derive from Union an exemption from those +broils and wars between themselves, which so frequently afflict +neighboring countries not tied together by the same Governments, which +their own rivalships alone would be sufficient to produce, but which +opposite foreign alliances, attachments, and intrigues would stimulate +and embitter. Hence, likewise, they will avoid the necessity of those +overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, +are inauspicious to liberty, and which are to be regarded as +particularly hostile to Republican Liberty. In this sense it is, that +your Union ought to be considered as a main prop of your liberty, and +that the love of the one ought to endear to you the preservation of the +other. + +These considerations speak a persuasive language to every reflecting and +virtuous mind, and exhibit the continuance of the UNION as a primary +object of Patriotic desire. Is there a doubt, whether a common +government can embrace so large a sphere? Let experience solve it. To +listen to mere speculation in such a case were criminal. We are +authorized to hope, that a proper organization of the whole, with the +auxiliary agency of governments for the respective subdivisions, will +afford a happy issue to the experiment. It is well worth a fair and full +experiment. With such powerful and obvious motives to Union, affecting +all parts of our country, while experience shall not have demonstrated +its impracticability, there will always be reason to distrust the +patriotism of those who, in any quarter, may endeavor to weaken its +bands. + +In contemplating the causes, which may disturb our Union, it occurs as +matter of serious concern, that any ground should have been furnished +for characterizing parties by _Geographical_ discriminations, _Northern_ +and _Southern_, _Atlantic_ and _Western_; whence designing men may +endeavor to excite a belief, that there is a real difference of local +interests and views. One of the expedients of party to acquire +influence, within particular districts, is to misrepresent the opinions +and aims of other districts. You cannot shield yourselves too much +against the jealousies and heart-burnings, which spring from these +misrepresentations; they tend to render alien to each other those who +ought to be bound together by fraternal affection. The inhabitants of +our western country have lately had a useful lesson on this head; they +have seen, in the negotiation by the Executive, and in the unanimous +ratification by the Senate, of the treaty with Spain, and in the +universal satisfaction at that event, throughout the United States, a +decisive proof how unfounded were the suspicions propagated among them +of a policy in the General Government and in the Atlantic States +unfriendly to their interests in regard to the MISSISSIPPI; they have +been witnesses to the formation of two treaties, that with Great +Britain, and that with Spain, which secure to them everything they could +desire, in respect to our foreign relations, towards confirming their +prosperity. Will it not be their wisdom to rely for the preservation of +these advantages on the UNION by which they were procured? Will they not +henceforth be deaf to those advisers, if such there are, who would sever +them from their brethren, and connect them with aliens? + +To the efficacy and permanency of your Union, a Government for the whole +is indispensable. No alliances, however strict, between the parts can be +an adequate substitute, they must inevitably experience the infractions +and interruptions, which all alliances tn all times have experienced. +Sensible of this momentous truth, you have improved upon your first +essay, by the adoption of a Constitution of Government better calculated +than your former for an intimate Union and for the efficacious +management of your common concerns. This Government, the offspring of +our own choice, uninfluenced and unawed, adopted upon full investigation +and mature deliberation, completely free in its principles, in the +distribution of its powers, uniting security with energy, and containing +within itself a provision for its own amendment, has a just claim to +your confidence and your support. Respect for its authority, compliance +with its laws, acquiescence in its measures, are duties enjoined by the +fundamental maxims of true Liberty. The basis of our political systems +is the right of the people to make and to alter their Constitutions of +Government. But the Constitution which at any time exists, till changed +by an explicit and authentic act of the whole people, is sacredly +obligatory upon all. The very idea of the power and the right of the +people to establish Government presupposes the duty of every individual +to obey the established Government. + +All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and +associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design +to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and +action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this +fundamental principle and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize +faction, to give an artificial and extraordinary force; to put in the +place of the delegated will of the nation, the will of a party, often a +small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, +according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the +public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous +projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome +plans digested by common counsels, and modified by mutual interests. + +However combinations or associations of the above descriptions may now +and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and +things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and +unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people, and +to usurp for themselves the reins of Government; destroying afterwards +the very engines, which have lifted them to unjust dominion. + +Towards the preservation of your Government, and the permanency of your +present happy state, it is requisite, not only that you steadily +discountenance irregular opposition to its acknowledged authority, but +also that you resist with care the spirit of innovation upon its +principles, however specious the pretext. One method of assault may be +to effect, in the forms of the Constitution, alterations, which will +impair the energy of the system, and thus to undermine what cannot be +directly overthrown. In all the changes to which you may be invited, +remember that time and habit are at least as necessary to fix the true +character of governments, as of other human institutions; that +experience is the surest standard, by which to test the real tendency of +the existing constitution of a country; that facility in changes, upon +the credit of mere hypothesis and opinion, exposes to perpetual change, +from the endless variety of hypothesis and opinion; and remember, +especially, that, for the efficient management of your common interests, +in a country so extensive as ours, a Government of as much vigor as is +consistent with the perfect security of liberty is indispensable. +Liberty itself will find in such a government, with powers properly +distributed and adjusted, its surest guardian. It is, indeed, little +else than a name, where the Government is too feeble to withstand the +enterprise of faction, to confine each member of the society within the +limits prescribed by the laws, and to maintain all in the secure and +tranquil enjoyment of the rights of person and property. + +I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the state, with +particular reference to the founding of them on geographical +discriminations. Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you +in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of +party, generally. + +This spirit, unfortunately, is inseparable, from our nature, having its +root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under +different shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, +or repressed; but, in those of the popular form, it is seen in its +greatest rankness, and is truly their worst enemy. + +The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the +spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages +and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a +frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and +permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually +incline the minds of men to seek security, and repose in the absolute +power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing +faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this +disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public +Liberty. + +Without looking forward to an extremity of this kind (which nevertheless +ought not to be entirely out of sight), the common and continual +mischiefs of the spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest +and duty of a wise people to discourage and restrain it. + +It serves always to distract the Public Councils, and enfeeble the +Public Administration. It agitates the Community with ill-founded +jealousies and false alarms; kindles the animosity of one party against +another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection. It opens the door +to foreign influence and corruption which find a facilitated access to +the Government itself through the channels of party passions. Thus the +policy and the will of one country are subjected to the policy and will +of another. + +There is an opinion, that parties in free countries are useful checks +upon the administration of the Government, and serve to keep alive the +spirit of Liberty. This within certain limits is probably true; and in +Governments of a Monarchical cast, Patriotism may look with indulgence, +if not with favor, upon the spirit of party. But in those of a popular +character, in Governments purely elective, it is a spirit not to be +encouraged. From their natural tendency, it is certain there will always +be enough of that spirit for every salutary purpose. And, there being +constant danger of excess, the effort ought to be, by force of public +opinion, to mitigate and assuage it. A fire not to be quenched, it +demands a uniform vigilance to prevent its bursting into a flame, lest, +instead of warming, it should consume. + +It is important, likewise, that the habits of thinking in a free country +should inspire caution in those intrusted with its administrations, to +confine themselves within their respective constitutional spheres, +avoiding in the exercise of the powers of one department to encroach +upon another. The spirit of encroachment tends to consolidate the powers +of all the departments in one, and thus to create, whatever the form of +Government, a real despotism. A just estimate of that love of power, and +proneness to abuse it, which predominates in the human heart, is +sufficient to satisfy us of the truth of the position. The necessity of +reciprocal checks in the exercise of political power, by dividing and +distributing it into different depositories, and constituting each the +Guardian of the Public Weal against invasions by the others, has been +evinced by experiments ancient and modern; some of them in our country +and under our own eyes. To preserve them must be as necessary as to +institute them. If, in the opinion of the people, the distribution or +modification of the constitutional powers be in any particular wrong, +let it be corrected by an amendment in the way which the Constitution +designates. But let there be no change by usurpation; for, though this +in one instance may be the instrument of good, it is the customary +weapon by which free Governments are destroyed. The precedent must +always greatly overbalance in permanent evil any partial or transient +benefit, which the use can at any time yield. + +Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, +Religion and Morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man +claim the tribute of Patriotism, who should labor to subvert these +great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of +Men and Citizens. The mere Politician, equally with the pious men, ought +to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their +connections with private and public felcity. Let it simply be asked, +Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the +sense of religious obligation _desert_ the oaths, which are the +instruments of investigation in Courts of Justice? And let us with +caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without +religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education +on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to +expect, that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious +principle. + +It is substantially true, that virtue or morality is a necessary spring +of a popular Government. The rule, indeed, extends with more or less +force to every species of free Government. Who that is a sincere friend +to it, can look with indifference upon attempts to shake the foundation +of the fabric? + +Promote, then, as an object of primary importance, institutions for the +general diffusion of knowledge. In proportion as the structure of a +Government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public +opinion should be enlightened. + +As a very important source of strength and security, cherish public +credit. One method of preserving it is to use it as sparingly as +possible; avoiding occasions of expense by cultivating peace, but +remembering also that timely disbursements to prepare for danger +frequently prevent much greater disbursements to repel it; avoiding +likewise the accumulation of debt, not only by shunning occasions of +expense, but by vigorous exertions in time of peace to discharge the +debts, which unavoidable wars may have occasioned, not ungenerously +throwing upon posterity the burden, which we ourselves ought to bear. +The execution of these maxims belongs to your representatives, but it is +necessary that the public opinion should co-operate. To facilitate to +them the performance of their duty, it is essential that you should +practically bear in mind, that towards the payment of debts there must +be Revenue; that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can +be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant, that +the intrinsic embarrassment, inseparable from this selection of the +proper objects (which is always a choice of difficulties), ought to be a +decisive motive for a candid construction of the conduct of the +Government in making it, and for a spirit of acquiescence in the +measures for obtaining revenue, which the public exigencies may at any +time dictate. + +Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and +harmony with all. Religion and Morality enjoin this conduct; and can it +be, that good policy does not equally enjoin it? It will be worthy of a +free, enlightened, and, at no distant period, a great Nation, to give to +mankind the magnanimous and too novel example of a people always guided +by an exalted justice and benevolence. Who can doubt, that, in the +course of time and things, the fruits of such a plan would richly repay +any temporary advantages which might be lost by a steady adherence to +it? Can it be that Providence has not connected the permanent felicity +of a Nation with its Virtue? The experiment, at least, is recommended by +every sentiment which ennobles human nature. Alas! is it rendered +impossible by its vices? + +In the execution of such a plan, nothing is more essential than that +permanent, inveterate antipathies against particular Nations, and +passionate attachments for others, should be excluded; and that, in +place of them, just and amicable feelings towards all should be +cultivated. The Nation, which indulges towards another an habitual +hatred, or an habitual fondness, is in some degree a slave to its +animosity or to its affection, either of which is sufficient to lead it +astray from its duty and its interest. Antipathy in one nation against +another disposes each more readily to offer insult and injury, to lay +hold of slight causes of umbrage, and to be haughty and intractable, +when accidental or trifling occasions of dispute occur. Hence frequent +collisions, obstinate, venomed, and bloody contests. The Nation prompted +by ill-will and resentment, sometimes impels to war the Government, +contrary to the best calculations of policy. The Government sometimes +participates in the national propensity and adopts through passion what +reason would reject; at other times, it makes the animosity of the +nation subservient to projects of hostility instigated by pride, +ambition, and other sinister and pernicious motives. The peace often, +sometimes perhaps the liberty, of Nations has been the victim. + +So likewise, a passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces +a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favorite Nation, facilitating the +illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common +interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, +betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels and wars of the +latter, without adequate inducement or justification. It leads also to +concessions to the favorite Nation of privileges denied to others, which +is apt doubly to injure the Nation making the concessions; by +unnecessarily parting with what ought to have been retained; and by +exciting jealousy, ill-will, and a disposition to retaliate, in the +parties from whom equal privileges are withheld. And it gives to +ambitious, corrupted, or deluded citizens (who devote themselves to the +favorite Nation), facility to betray or sacrifice the interests of their +own country, without odium, sometimes even with popularity; gilding, +with the appearance of a virtuous sense of obligation, a commendable +deference for public opinion, or a laudable zeal for public good, the +base of foolish compliances of ambition, corruption, or infatuation. + +As avenues to foreign influence in innumerable ways, such attachments +are particularly alarming to the truly enlightened and independent +Patriot. How many opportunities do they afford to tamper with domestic +factions, to practice the arts of seduction, to mislead public opinion, +to influence or awe the Public Councils! Such an attachment of a small +or weak, towards a great and powerful Nation, dooms the former to be the +satellite of the latter. + +Against the insidious wiles of foreign influence (I conjure you to +believe me, fellow-citizens), the jealousy of a free people ought to be +constantly awake; since history and experience prove that foreign +influence is one of the most baneful foes of Republican Government. But +that jealousy to be useful, must be impartial; else it becomes the +instrument of the very influence to be avoided, instead of a defense +against it. Excessive partiality for one foreign Nation, and excessive +dislike of another, cause those whom they actuate to see danger only on +one side, and serve to veil and even second the arts of influence on the +other. Real patriots, who may resist the intrigues of the favorite, are +liable to become suspected and odious; while its tools and dupes usurp +the applause and confidence of the people, to surrender their interests. + +The great rule of conduct for us, in regard to foreign nations, is, in +extending our commercial relations, to have with them as little +_political_ connection as possible. So far as we have already formed +engagements, let them be fulfilled with perfect good faith. Here let us +stop. + +Europe has a set of primary interests, which to us have none, or a very +remote relation. Hence she must be engaged in frequent controversies, +the causes of which are essentially foreign to our concerns. Hence, +therefore, it must be unwise in us to implicate ourselves, by artificial +ties, in the ordinary vicissitudes of her politics, or the ordinary +combinations and collisions of her friendships or enmities. + +Our detached and distant situation invites and enables us to pursue a +different course. If we remain one people, under an efficient +Government, the period is not far off when we may defy material injury +from external annoyance; when we may take such an attitude as will cause +the neutrality we may at any time resolve upon to be scrupulously +respected; when belligerent nations, under the impossibility of making +acquisitions upon us, will not lightly hazard the giving us provocation; +when we may choose peace or war, as our interest, guided by justice, +shall counsel. + +Why forego the advantages of so peculiar a situation? Why quit our own +to stand upon foreign ground? Why, by interweaving our destiny with that +of any part of Europe, entangle our peace and prosperity in the toils of +European ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? + +It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any +portion of the foreign world; so far, I mean, as we are now at liberty +to do it; for let me not be understood as capable of patronizing +infidelity to existing engagements. I hold the maxim no less applicable +to public than to private affairs, that honesty is always the best +policy. I repeat it, therefore, let those engagements be observed in +their genuine sense. But, in my opinion, it is unnecessary and would be +unwise to extend them. + +Taking care always to keep ourselves, by suitable establishments, in a +respectable defensive posture, we may safely trust to temporary +alliances for extraordinary emergencies. + +Harmony, liberal intercourse with all nations, are recommended by +policy, humanity, and interest. But even our commercial policy should +hold an equal and impartial hand; neither seeking nor granting exclusive +favors or preferences; consulting the natural course of things; +diffusing and diversifying by gentle means the streams of commerce, but +forcing nothing; establishing, with powers so disposed, in order to give +trade a stable course, to define the rights of our merchants, and to +enable the Government to support them, conventional rules of +intercourse, the best that present circumstances and mutual opinion will +permit, but temporary, and liable to be from time to time abandoned or +varied, as experience and circumstances shall dictate; constantly +keeping in view that it is folly in one nation to look for disinterested +favors from another; that it must pay with a portion of its independence +for whatever it may accept under that character; that, by such +acceptance, it may place itself in the condition of having given +equivalents for nominal favors, and yet of being reproached with +ingratitude for not giving more. There can be no greater error than to +expect or calculate upon real favors from nation to nation. It is an +illusion which experience must cure, which a just pride ought to +discard. + +In offering to you, my countrymen, these counsels of an old and +affectionate friend, I dare not hope they will make the strong and +lasting impression I could wish; that they will control the usual +current of the passions or prevent our Nation from running the course +which has hitherto marked the destiny of Nations. But, if I may even +flatter myself, that they may be productive of some partial benefit, +some occasional good; that they may now and then recur to moderate the +fury of party spirit, to warn against the mischiefs of foreign intrigue, +to guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism; this hope will +be a full recompense for the solicitude for your welfare, by which they +have been dictated. + +How far in the discharge of my official duties I have been guided by the +principles which have been delineated, the public records and other +evidences of my conduct must witness to you and to the world. To myself, +the assurance of my own conscience is, that I have at least believed +myself to be guided by them. + +In relation to the still subsisting war in Europe, my Proclamation of +the 22d of April, 1793, is the index of my Plan. Sanctioned by your +approving voice, and by that of your Representatives of both Houses of +Congress, the spirit of that measure has continually governed me +uninfluenced by any attempts to deter or divert me from it. + +After deliberate examination, with the aid of the best lights I could +obtain, I was well satisfied that our country, under all the +circumstances of the case, had a right to take, and was bound in duty +and interest to take, a neutral position. Having taken it, I +determined, as far as should depend upon me, to maintain it, with +moderation, perseverance, and firmness. + +The considerations, which respect the right to hold this conduct, it is +not necessary on this occasion to detail. I will only observe, that, +according to my understanding of the matter, that right, so far from +being denied by any of the Belligerent Powers, has been virtually +admitted by all. + +The duty of holding a neutral conduct may be inferred, without anything +more, from the obligation which justice and humanity impose on every +Nation, in cases in which it is free to act, to maintain inviolate the +relations of peace and amity towards other Nations. + +The inducements of interest for observing that conduct will best be +referred to your own reflections and experience. With me, a predominant +motive has been to endeavor to gain time to our country to settle and +mature its yet recent institutions, and to progress without interruption +to that degree of strength and consistency, which is necessary to give +it, humanly speaking, the command of its own fortunes. + +Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration, I am +unconscious of intentional error, I am nevertheless too sensible of my +defects not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors. +Whatever they may be, I fervently beseech the Almighty to avert or +mitigate the evils to which they may tend. I shall also carry with me +the hope, that my Country will never cease to view them with +indulgence; and that, after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its +service with an upright zeal, the faults of incompetent abilities will +be consigned to oblivion, as myself must soon be to the mansions of +rest. + +Relying on its kindness in this as in other things, and actuated by that +fervent love towards it, which is so natural to a man, who views in it +the native soil of himself and his progenitors for several generations, +I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat, in which I promise +myself to realize, without alloy, the sweet enjoyment of partaking, in +the midst of my fellow-citizens, the benign influence of good laws under +a free Government, the ever favorite object of my heart, and the happy +reward, as I trust, of our mutual cares, labors, and dangers. + + + + +XI + +EXERCISES + + +DECORATIONS FOR WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY EXERCISES + +The hall in which the exercises in celebration of Washington's Birthday +are held should be decorated with all the patriotic emblems +obtainable,--flags, banners, flowers, etc.; including a portrait of +Washington centrally and prominently exhibited, with the motto, "First +in war, etc.," and the figures 1732 and 1799, the dates of his birth and +death; the former trimmed with flowers, the latter with crepe. Nothing +available should be omitted to render the hall as bright and attractive +as possible. + +The orations should be delivered by boys, but the other portions of the +exercises may be rendered by girls, or by both girls and boys, as may be +found most suitable to the text and the occasion. + + * * * * * + +SOME YEARS IN WASHINGTON'S LIFE + +BY M. LIZZIE STANLEY + +An Exercise for Boys From "_The Popular Educator_" + +_Let the scholars who represent the ghosts of the vanished years stand +in the background and come forth as they are called. Each should bear in +his hand a standard with the date of his year in large letters upon it, +or wear a badge with the same. Hang a large picture of Washington on the +wall; above it place the motto, "First in war, first in peace, first in +the hearts of his countrymen," and beneath it the dates of his birth and +death_. + + +SCHOLAR. + +This wintry month of storm and cold +Doth in its rough old heart enfold +A memory bright as burnished gold, +Which still lives on while years grow old. +It pales not with the lapse of time, +But burns with steady glow sublime-- +Through all the years from age to age, +A light upon our history's page-- +The name and memory of one, +Our country's hero--Washington. + +SCHOOL. + +Go, ring the bells and fire each gun +In honor of George Washington. + +SCHOLAR. + +Come, boys, let's have some historic fun, +Its theme to be grand Washington, +'Tis better far than simple play, +So range yourselves in close array, +While each in turn his deeds do cite, +And thus we'll keep his memory bright. + +SCHOLAR. + +Call up the ghosts of the vanished years, +And question each as he appears. + +SCHOOL. + +Aha! ye years that thought ye were gone, +We'll call you back with your faces wan. + +(SIX OR MORE VOICES IN CONCERT.) + +Arise, thou ghost of seventeen thirty-two, +And to our questions give us answers true. +What knowest thou of Washington, the grave? +What canst thou tell of Washington, the brave? + +(_Arise 1732_.) + +In February of my year, +Unto my mind 'tis very clear, +Upon the twenty-second day, +In old Virginia far away, +Was born a sweet and gentle child, +On whom the heavens looked down and smiled. + +VOICES. + +Is that all thou canst tell? + +(_1732 speaks again_.) + +Ah! there's another thing, just one: +They called the child George Washington. +On all things else I am but dumb; +Ask of the years that after come. + [_Retire._ + +VOICES. + +Arise, ye ghosts of his youthful days, +And tell us of his acts and ways. + +(_Arise 1733, 1735, 1738, 1741, 1743, and 1752. Each speaks in turn_.) + +1733. In seventeen hundred thirty-three +He was a baby, full of glee. + +1735. In seventeen hundred thirty-five +He was a child, all wide-awake, alive. + +1738. I speak for seventeen thirty-eight, +He told no falsehood, small or great. + +1741. Thus speak the lips of seventeen forty-one: +His work in copybooks was nearly done. + +1743. In seventeen hundred forty-three +He loved in military sports to be. + +1752. My days of seventeen fifty-two +No finer form could bring to view. + +VOICES. + +Away, ye years! No more, no more! + [_They retire_. +Arise, thou ghost of fifty-four. + +(_Arise 1754._) + +The French and Indian War this year begun, +Its first gun fired by youthful Washington; +The shots flew fast from hidden foe, +And many a one was then laid low, +Yet never a wound that grand form felt, +Though shots like rain at him were dealt. +Old Indian chiefs declared a charm +Preserved his life from every harm. + [_Retire._ + +VOICES. + +Come forth, ye vanished seventeen seventy-five. +No man methinks that knew thee is alive. + +(_Arise 1775._) + +I proudly rise from the vanished past, +Behold a dark cloud gathering fast! +At first no bigger than a hand, +'Tis spreading over all the land, +And men are hurrying here and there, +Their brows all grave with anxious care. +Upon the green at Cambridge gaze, +List to the shouts the people raise, +As on his war-horse, proud and calm, +Sits he, the nation's strong right arm; +Beneath the spreading elm-tree's shade, +Commander-in-chief he there is made +Of young America's armies all. +Who is it thus the people call? +'Tis Washington, the star of light, +That shone through all the country's night. + [_Retire._ + +VOICES. + +Come back, ye years that now are o'er, +And tell us of this man yet more. + +(_Arise 1776 and 1777. In concert_.) + +Together we rise to speak his fame, +Who won a grand, immortal name +At Trenton and at Princeton too. +More brilliant deeds where can we view? +On History's page they brightly gleam. +Him "first in war" we rightly deem. + [_Retire._ + +VOICES. + +Behold a shadow dark and weighty! +Stand forth, thou ghost of seventeen eighty. + +(_Arise 1780_.) + +Hunger and cold, and suffering great +In my last days was the sad fate +Of Washington and his soldiers brave. +The name "hard winter" to me clave. +But still the grand old patriot fire +Within one breast did ne'er expire. +In cause so grand he placed a faith sublime, +That far outweighed the sorrows of the time. + [_Retire._ + +VOICES. + +What canst thou tell us, seventeen eighty-one, +Of this far-famed, immortal Washington? + +(_Arise 1781_.) + +I see the British soldiers, one by one, +Surrendering their arms to Washington. +The war of revolution now is o'er, +And joyful shouts from every hillside pour. +As soon as war's black flag is furled, +The admiration of the world, +Bearing the love of countless grateful hearts, +George Washington unto his home departs. +The "first in war," and "first in peace," +His memory shall never cease. + [_Retire._ + +VOICES. + +Once more we call. Come forth and shine, +Spirit of seventeen eighty-nine. + +(_Arise 1789_.) + +My year beheld George Washington +Above all men the ruling one, +Of the United States first President, +His name a glory to our country lent. + [_Retire._ + +VOICES. + +Come forth, thou ghost, the last in line; +Come back, oh seventeen ninety-nine. + +(_Arise 1799_.) + +I rise with sorrow in my face, +Which time can never quite efface. +In the last month of the Last year +Of the LAST century (dost thou hear?) +There passed away a kingly soul, +And sadly all the bells did toll; +The people mourned their leader much; +Their feelings in one mighty rush! +Swept back o'er all the years gone by, +And heartfelt was the nation's cry +O'er Washington whom tongue and pen +Proclaim the first in hearts of countrymen. + [_Retire._ + +SCHOOL. + +"First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts +of his countrymen." + +VOICES. + +Who would have thought the vanished years +Could come back thus with smiles and tears! + +(_The years come back in procession, 1732 in advance, and recite +together_.) + +Together we come farewell to say, +Ere in our graves we hide away. +Till another year hath passed its round, +Our voices shall utter forth no sound. +Our lips have only told a part +About this great and noble heart; +But go and study history's page, +You'll find him there from age to age. +Before we go a challenge brave we send +Unto this year, and on till time shall end, +To e'er produce a greater one +Than _our_ immortal Washington. + [_Pass out in order, repeating_ + "_Farewell, farewell!_" + +_If there is a bell on the school-building, have some boy at this point +ring it with bright, quick strokes_. + +SCHOLAR. + +List! I hear the bells a-ringing, +High within their steeples swinging. +Loud let them ring, and ring, and ring, +And all abroad their music fling, +For honor doth belong to him +Whose memory ages cannot dim. + +SCHOOL. + +Ay, ring the bells, and raise the shout, +And drag the massive cannon out, +Let all unite as though in one +To praise immortal Washington. + +_School sing in closing "Speed Our Republic" +etc., or some other patriotic hymn_. + + * * * * * + +SOMETHING BETTER + +BY CLARA J. DENTON + +_For a Very Little Girl_ + + I cannot be a Washington, + However hard I try, + But into something I must grow + As fast the days go by. + + The world needs women, good and true, + I'm glad I can be one, + For that is even better than + To be a Washington. + + * * * * * + +THE STATES CROWNING WASHINGTON + +BY KATE BOWLES SHERWOOD + +_For Forty-five Children_ + +This exercise will require forty-five children, boys or girls, or both, +as most convenient. Where a stage and curtain are obtainable, have the +speakers grouped upon the stage at rise of curtain. If a stage and +curtain are impossible let the speakers sit near the platform, each +coming forward quickly, as the predecessor retires. A bust or framed +portrait of Washington must occupy the center of the stage or platform; +surrounding it must be an arch containing forty-five nails. Each speaker +at the close of speech hangs upon a nail the wreath he or she carries. +Where flowers cannot be obtained in the winter time, use wreaths of +evergreen. If a stage is possible, but not a curtain, the States may +form at back of schoolroom and march upon the stage in time to martial +or patriotic music. Each State may wear a badge with name if convenient. + + 1. Maine comes marching on as one + To crown immortal Washington. + + 2. New Hampshire brings him honor, too, + In offerings both sweet and true. + + 3. Vermont here comes to take her stand + To crown him with a lavish hand. + + 4. Massachusetts, Pilgrim state, + Proclaims him hero grand and great. + + 5. Rhode Island comes with willing feet + To place a garland fair and sweet. + + 6. Connecticut, with laurel's light, + Would keep our hero's honor bright. + + 7. New York, a mighty empire now, + Still crowns her gallant leader's brow. + + 8. Pennsylvania holds him great, + Who spurned a crown to make a state. + + 9. New Jersey, Trenton can't forget, + Her hero claims her honor yet. + + 10. Delaware will wreathe her bays + To tell our hero's matchless praise. + + 11. Maryland crowns the peaceful heart + Unspoiled by cruel deed or art. + + 12. Virginia hails her first-born son, + The proud and peerless Washington. + + 13. West Virginia will proclaim + The splendors of a patriot's name. + + 14. North Carolina's wreath is brought + To him who independence wrought. + + 15. South Carolina follows on + To twine a wreath for Washington. + + 16. Georgia exalts him high + Who made the flag of freedom fly. + + 17. Alabama's lore is pure, + For him whose fame shall aye endure. + + 18. Florida a tribute brings + To him exalted over kings. + + 19. Ohio twines with generous hand + The garlands of a goodly land. + + 20. Indiana's wreath is green + For him of grave and gentle mien. + + 21. Illinois cannot forget + That Washington is speaking yet. + + 22. Michigan with love is stirred + For him who always kept his word. + + 23. Wisconsin hangs the victor's palm + For him, in peace or tumult calm. + + 24. Kentucky would his praise prolong, + For fortitude and valor strong. + + 25. Missouri comes with gifts of love + For Washington's all men above. + + 26. Iowa exalts the man + Who shaped his life on honor's plan. + + 27. Minnesota will revere + The name that all the world holds dear. + + 28. Nebraska brings from summits high + Immortal gifts that cannot die. + + 29. Kansas speaks of duties done, + Of battles fought and victories won. + + 30. Mississippi tells the tale + Of glorious acts that never pale. + + 31. Louisiana counts the deeds + By duty done where valor leads. + + 32. Arkansas brings an offering bright + To him who struggled for the right + + 33. Texas will her honor show + To faithful friend and generous foe. + + 34. Tennessee exultant bears + The crown a conquering hero wears. + + 35. Nevada from her mountain height + Has plucked this garland kissed with light. + + 36. California's thousand flowers + Will crown this patriot of ours. + + 37. Oregon brings offerings rare + For him she holds in loving care. + + 38 Montana, from the mountains blue, + Has brought him love, and honor, too. + + 39. North Dakota loves him well, + And comes his valiant deeds to tell. + + 40. South Dakota follows on + To crown the patriot Washington. + + 41. Washington is proud to claim + The glory of his noble name. + + 42. Colorado ever true + Will bring him loving garlands, too. + + 43. Wyoming from her mountain height + Would crown the man who stood for right. + + 44. Idaho brings garlands fair + For him whose life's beyond compare. + + 45. Utah comes with fadeless pine + In his immortal crown to shine. + + _Chorus of States_ + + We all will honor Washington, + His fame will ever lead us on + To better lives and nobler deeds, + To guard our land in all her needs, + To keep us ever kind and true + To friends, and home, and country, too, + In virtue strong, in honor bright, + The foe of wrong, the friend of right. + + We all will honor Washington, + The first in war when wrong was done. + The first in peace when freedom came + To crown him with immortal fame, + The first in all our hearts to-day, + To bind us all as one for aye, + While battle and freedom lead us on + We all will honor Washington. + +(_Issued under the auspices of the George Washington Memorial +Association. Used by permission of the New England Publishing Co_.) + + * * * * * + +THE NEW GEORGE WASHINGTON + +ANONYMOUS + +_To Be Recited by a Small Boy_ + + I am six years old, + And like play and fun. + I mean to grow up + Like George Washington. + + So, when mother said, + "Who ate all the pie?" + I, spoke like a man, + And said, "It was I." + + But she didn't say + She'd rather lose the pie, + And know that her boy + Would not tell a lie. + + She just shut me up + Where I couldn't see, + Then sent me to bed + Without any tea. + + * * * * * + +IN PRAISE OF WASHINGTON + +_For Nine Pupils_ + +FIRST PUPIL.--To the historian few characters appear so little to have +shared the common frailties and imperfections of human nature as that of +Washington. +_William Smyth_. + +SECOND PUPIL.--No matter what may have been the immediate birthplace of +such a man as Washington! No clime can claim, no country can appropriate +him; the boon of Providence to the human race, his fame is eternity, his +residence creation. +_Charles Phillips_. + +THIRD PUPIL.--As a ruler of mankind, he may be proposed as a model. +Deeply impressed with the original rights of human nature, he never +forgot that the end, and meaning, and aim of all just government was the +happiness of the people. +_William Smyth_. + +FOURTH PUPIL.--As a general, he marshaled the peasant into a veteran, +and supplied by discipline the absence of experience. As a statesman, he +enlarged the policy of the cabinet into the most comprehensive system of +general advantage; and such was the wisdom of his views and the +philosophy of his counsels that to the soldier and the statesman he +almost added the character of the sage. +_Charles Phillips_. + +FIFTH PUPIL.--Immortal man! He took from the battle its crime, and from +the conquest its chains; he left the victorious the glory of his +self-denial, and turned upon the vanquished only the retribution of his +mercy. Happy, proud America! The lightnings of heaven yielded to your +philosophy! The temptations of earth could not seduce your patriotism! +_Charles Phillips_. + +SIXTH PUPIL.--It is the happy combination of rare talents and qualities, +the harmonious union of the intellectual and moral powers, rather than +the dazzling splendor of any one trait which constitutes the grandeur of +his character. +_Jared Sparks_. + +SEVENTH PUPIL.--Washington did the two greatest things which, in +politics, man can have the privilege of attempting. He maintained, by +peace, that independence of his country which he had acquired by war. He +founded a free government, in the name of the principles of order, and +by re-establishing their sway. +_Guizot_. + +EIGHTH PUPIL.--Greater soldiers, more intellectual statesmen, and +profounder sages have doubtless existed in the history of the English +race, perhaps in our own country, but not one who to great excellence in +the threefold composition of man--the physical, intellectual, and +moral--has added such exalted integrity, such unaffected piety, such +unsullied purity of soul, and such wondrous control of his own spirit. +He illustrated and adorned the civilization of Christianity, and +furnished an example of the wisdom and perfection of its teachings which +the subtlest arguments of its enemies cannot impeach. +_Vance_. + +NINTH PUPIL.-- +He fought, but not with love of strife; he struck but to defend; +And, ere he turned a people's foe, he sought to be a friend. +He strove to keep his country's right by Reason's gentle word +And sighed when fell injustice threw the challenge sword to sword. +He stood, the firm, the calm, the wise, the patriot and sage; +He showed no deep, avenging hate, no burst of despot rage; +He stood for liberty and truth, and dauntlessly led on, +Till shouts of victory gave forth the name of Washington. +_Eliza Cook_. + +IN CONCERT.-- +Washington, the brave, the wise, the good. +Supreme in war, in council, and in peace. +Valiant without ambition, discreet without fear, confident without + presumption. +In disaster, calm; in success, moderate; in all, himself. +The hero, the patriot, the Christian. +The father of nations, the friend of mankind, +Who, when he had won all, renounced all, and sought in the bosom of + his family and of nature, retirement, and in the hope of religion, + immortality. +_Inscription at Mount Vernon_. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WASHINGTON'S BIRTHDAY*** + + +******* This file should be named 15140.txt or 15140.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/5/1/4/15140 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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