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Show WASHINGTON. X O118 Irandrod and el&nty-two years ago today there w&a born in Wcat-' Wcat-' moreland county, Virginia, a child ptvho was destined by an allwieo Frovi- " dence to reach the highest pinnacle of i .fame both as a soldier and a. ruler and . . to set an example for his countrymon for all time. One hundred and flftoon years bavo passed since all that was ! mortal of George Washington was laid ttin the tomb, yet the people of the United States havo not forgotten, nor Hj nwill they ever forget, the services of T The first, the last, the best, The Clnclnnatus of tho went. Every schoolboy knows tho history a. of the man of whom it was said that "Providence left him childless that his country might call him father." That p he was of fine physique, athletically in- clined and mado a notable flgoro on horseback; that whilo his education was C limited he was thoughtful and studious Vy nature; that he acquired a knowl-edge knowl-edge of mathematics by self-study and became public survc3'or at tho age of , Iti; that he wanted to enter tho British 'navy hut relinquished the idea when his widorred mother asked him to re-main re-main by her side. The mother, Mary Washington, bv tho way, had much to do with molding the character of the first president. At the ago of in Washington en- lered upon u 'military career, being up-pointed up-pointed adjutant general of one of tho military districts of Virginia. Whilo it vr:i5 evident oven nt this timo that lie possessed tho elements of a great commander, his first important ventures were not successful, for in 1754 he was compelled to surrender Port Necessity " to a superior forco of French and In-" In-" diaus and the very next year he was with liraddoel; when that Eritish of-ficer, of-ficer, who had a grea't contempt for the colonials as soldiers, set out upon his ill-fated oxpeditioii against Port Du-qtiesne, Du-qtiesne, where ihe great manufacturing city of Pittsburg now, stands. That tho combined forces of British and Virginians were not annihilated was due to the presence of mind of . Washington and his hnowlcdge of In-o In-o dinn warfare. After Braddock had paid the penalty of disregarding the younc Virginian's advice with his life, A Washington and his men' fought tho '' ononiy in thojr own stylo and succeeded in malting their way back to civiliza-fimi. civiliza-fimi. Hi 17oS Wabhington had the, sat- isfactiou of playing an iniporlaut part Jin snothor e.-cpedition against Fort Du-((tiesne Du-((tiesne and was present when that strougbId of the French fell into tho hands of tho .British. All this was but preliminary to the great part the Virginian was to play in tho long struggle for iudopendence. lu 1759 he married Martha Custis, a -rich young widow, sat iu the Virginia assembly for some years and passed a great deal of his time in the inanage-moot inanage-moot of lii estate, which had been doubled by reason of his marriage. When the first rumblings of the rev-olutiouary rev-olutiouary war were heard Washington, although an aristocrat by birth, sym-piit.hized sym-piit.hized with the patriots, but coun-sclcd coun-sclcd war as a last retort. When iho crash finally catno and the ( ontinental congress assembled to take measures to separate from the mother country, Washington made a notable npearaiic(i in that galaxy of men who in point of intellect, courago and pa-triotism pa-triotism havo never been equaled in the lu story of the world. When it became apparent that the disputo must be set-tied set-tied by Iho sword all eyes- turned to t hn Virgiuiau and be was chosen com-mauder-iu-chief. In the long years that followed before the treaty of peace was signed Washington never faltered or lost faith. His belief in the morcy and goodness of God, his lofty courage and indomitable will safely' carried him through the dark days of Valley Forgo io tho eurl-euder of Coruwallis, and at the end of the war he was known all over tho world as one of the great cap-tains, cap-tains, Tanking with Alexander of Macedon and the other conquerors who achieved undying fame on the field of But Washington was more than a soldier. Culled to the presidency of the now republic, he soou exhibited those traits of character which endeared him to mankind and shed imperishable lus-ter lus-ter upon his name. Ho was not mean-ly mean-ly ambitious; he had no desire to rulo and reign over his fellow meu; he had already refused to seize tho reins of Hr. power and become a lung at the end of ' the war, and ho had no thought of pcr-petnating pcr-petnating himself in the presidency. All he wanted was to start the infant re- I public on its way to become one of tho great nations of tho earth and thon retire re-tire to spend the romainder of his days at his beloved Mount Vernon, which he did after Bcrving his country eight years as chief magistrate. Tho years that have passed have added to his fame. On each succeeding 22d of February his countrymen pay homago to tho man who waB "first in peaco, first in war and first in tho hcartB of his countrymen." His "Faro-well "Faro-well Address," In which ho sounded a warning against foreign entanglements, is annually read and more often ro-verted ro-verted to in the halls of congress. The reoord of his unsullied life is placed bo-fore bo-fore tho children in tho public schools as an Inspiration and an example. Above and boyond all, it is said that whenever the people of any other country coun-try havo rison against their oppressors and thrown off tho yoko, tho example of the first president in laying aside tho sword and all thoughts of becoming a rulor and returning to the life of a simple country gentleman is brought to tho attention of tho world in Bharp contrast with tho ambition of other men who havo boen in command of an army at tho closo of a war. The career of Napoleon Bonaparte ia often cited in this connection. Soon after France emerged from tho most terrible and bloody revolution recorded in tho annals of time Napoleon becamo first consul. With tho army behind him it was comparatively easy for him to or cat an empire and wear a crown. He ravaged Europe and became powerful power-ful enough to place orowns upon the heads of othors, but he died in exile on the lonely isle of St. Helena, guarded by foroign soldiers. Bonaparte is justly just-ly regardod as a great soldior, but there is nothing in his career to inspire the French youth of tho present day. Ho was exocratod and feared whilo ho lived, and ho died a broken man. When George Washington was called from tho earth tho whole civilized world mourned. Englishmen aB well as Amer-! Amer-! icans claimed him as their oountryman, and ho was followed to the grave with genuine sorrow, instead of tho hollow-hearted hollow-hearted exhibitions of grief do often noticoablo when those who wear crowns aro summoned boforo their Maker. It is impossible not to make tho comparison. compari-son. On this Sabbath morn, when the good people of tho United States and its dependencies de-pendencies gather in tho churches for the worship of God, thanks will bo returned re-turned to the Giver of all good that Washington was born; that ho livod to command tho continentals in the strug-glo strug-glo for freodom, and that he refused to exalt himself at tho oxponso of his country. This is tho highost earthly praiso that can bo bestowed- |