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.
* * * * *