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 Cæsar'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 Cæsar, 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 preëminent 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 Cæsar, 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.