| Show by ELMO SCOTT WATSON JV did it happen that ceorge washington came to be by the name of the rather of ills Countr yr the obvious answer to tant question Is of course tant a new nation grite ful to the man who had led it safely through the dinners of a revolution its former rulers looked upon him as its parent and elected him for its first but lie fact that washing ton ia known bv that title two years before the struggle for liberty had been won and at least ten years he tore he was called to the highest executive office to a pennsylvania german aim fmc published in t an caster ia by killcy in 1770 belongs the lionor of first that title to washington llie fron of this was a crude woodcut of a scene in which appeared sercial symbolic figures in the upper left hand comer of the drawing Is rame as in angel beiring in one hand a medallion of with a laurel wreath upon his bend and in the other a trumpet from which comes the words des I 1 indes vater alie rather of the country just how widespread became alie use of that title ns the result of alie publication of this allanic Is un known but in 1781 it was ngali by count damas a french officer in 8 army in that scar george washington nd gone to new port R I 1 to confer with general although the stants of that colony had suffered er rubly from the ravages of the war and were desperately poor desired to give the commander in chief of the continental army an appropriate reception to help those alio had been too impoverished by the war to pur chase candles with which to light their wlm lovia in his lionor the coun ell ordered that those be glien to them free the in honor of washington la described by a con temporary writer as follows the pro cealon wi led off by thirty boys bearing candle axed on by general washington count de and the other officers their a dea and the procession of catt tens the night waa clear and there wax not a breath to an the torches the brilliant procession marched through he principal streets and him returned to headquarters on reach ing th door washington waited on h step until all the officers and their friend had entered the house then turning to the boy who bad acted n he thanked them for lan athla was glory enough tor tb young patr lota after bis conference with bocham beau prepared to return to his near vest point and count dunias was appointed by rochambeau to escort the general newport to in hla memoirs count dumas tella of the incident and the use of th term father ot his country as fol lotts we arrived there at night on march 13 ane whole of the population hart assembled from the suburbs we were surrounded by a crowd of children carrying torches reiterating the ac of the citizens all were eager to approach the person of him whom they called their father and pressed BO closely around us that they hindered i from proceeding general washington wis much affected plopped a few moments and pressing my hand slid we may be beaten by the rna it la the chance of war but he hold an army which they can never conquer in connection with the use of that term in referring to washington it Is interesting to note hint a recent blon phy of ashington ins been published by the bobbs merrill corn piny under the title of the rather of alg country it la written by C birton noted as a biographer of I 1 lincoln and in ats the influence of washing on parton anake some interesting comparisons between these two great men as follows he loved his country and be wa capable of loving every part of it he was born in the south but we do not think of him as a southerner lie spent bis life in the east but few men of aln generation had eo much faith in the west or strove more earnest iv and intelligently to bind fast anil west together by roads and canals hallways of course he did not know about but he would have been inter ested in them there Is something of close kinship in washington s eager ness to see a great national highway from the coast to the interior and I 1 lincoln e arat hope of seeing the of the union pacific rail way indeed there are many fine ties which these two men had in c amnion washington believed in education and to secure a large american university this country as he believed needed intelligent citizens find well trained leaders ie believed in peace with all nations and he sought to secure hit peace by lustica and honor cut he was a roan of courage and when national existence or integrity was at slake he risked his life and his fortune for his country lincoln was born in poverty and spent nearly all his life a poor boy and man washington was born in comfort and became a man of great wealth lincoln overcame the handl cap of poverty washington overcame the greater peril of wealth while none of the detailed di scalp alons of washington describes him as a man the details of whose appearance could be accounted marks of beauty he was a man of striking physique and bad a certain symmetry that made him nothing less than handsome in his washington and lincoln were nearly of a height we do not know blat measured in his and be was proud to add the height of hl boot heels ri whit would have been a possible gymnasium stature tie called six feet and tour inches in height and probably lo 10 bis stockings wax a little over six feet and two inches concerning washington we anve no precise measurements and a somewhat widely varying series ol 01 he probably was busl about lincoln 8 height lincoln at hii heaviest weighed about one hundred eighty washington was about two hundred washington waa spare and lincoln always thin both ha 3 narrow chests neither had a large head in proportion to hl body and that ot washington while about the size of the average head seemed mall because his body was BO large both men carried their heads well on finely poised necks washington had enormous feet and hands lincoln a feet were about the size of washington s but hl hands were much smaller wash largeness showed itself in the bulk of his bonea and tbt prominence of his joints lincoln s joints were not unusually prominent but bis bonea were very long in proportion to their bulk goth men were powerful physically and retained their strength into later tears each of these men called to nigh and perilous responsibility in an hour nf national peril faced dangers mis understandings and misrepresentation cach of them remained true to hie convictions and unfalteringly loyal to to his country cach of them was loyal to conscience sincere religious sympathetic courageous patriotic and pub lie spirited of the influence of this father of his country the nation which ha founded and as a final tribute to the greatness of the man himself darton writes in the same chapter as fol lows american education was certainly not established by washington nor Is he the foremost example of it but his was an early and emphatic influence in favor of the development of education in america that should train cur national aal enable every american citizen to think and act intelligently in all his transactions with the ROV as private citizen ss elidier el Idler and official no act of washington fell below the high standard of benoi which was inherent in ills his personal integrity and his public probity were of the highest the influence of washington Is still to be found in the traditions that be long to the presidential domce with modifications cuch as have come naturally rally through the years the dig alty and influence of the domce of the president Is what it Is in no email part because washington its precedents and wisely thought out customs the relation of the united state walh other nations are very what they are because of the wisdom of washington in his definition of the amerlan amerl an attitude the united states after long strut agles with sectionalism and alv lve ib sues have come to ee more and mor that washington a not a great and complexly united republic la america a true ideal it Is interesting to realize the high esteem of george washington in other lands than ours in great britain be s honored almost as highly as be in america in europe and throughout the world his name Is known aej newer republics have found inspiration in bis character and wisdom america has other and more recent heroes and there will be more in gen rations tj come but he stands na will ever stand as a boble embodiment of all that in hl generation wac worthiest in american character HI honor ts undimmed and his name afke on added luster with the 0 the years frew hav name to stand at the bead of theli lists of national heroes amorfia ana th world will ever venerate ane gorge washington the father 0 his country |
