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Show 1 . Stuart's Famous Painting of the Great Patriot. I THE GREAT VIRGINIAN k JJ The eighteenth century history of our country groups ltsulf about ono central llguro. Wo nover cscapo from tho presenco of the great Virginian, i and yot It was a tlmo rich In human 'I product. It Is not easy to comprehend . tho causes which produced this amazing amaz-ing frultago of ability. Among tho men who caused and carried car-ried tho Revolution wcro many who In brilliant qualities far surpassed George Washington. Seen through the mist of years, they rise In our Imagination and Room grouped nbout the gravo Virgin-In's Virgin-In's sturdy figure, as In the church at Innsbruck the bronzo statues of friends and allies surround tho tomb wltero tho great Kaiser, Maximilian, kneels In prayer. Among these makers of an empire wore great orators, and Washington was nono; grave Jurists, and ho had llttlo learning. There, too, wor statesmen of moro original Intellect H than was over his. Generals thcro 9 wero who had been "better had ho bron 1 froo to choose. Hut, by tho grace of U God, and sorao strango skill of nature, 1 this Imperial man was tho master of 1 thorn all, and used them, as ho used I hlmseir, with but ono ambition how I best to servo tho land ho loved. I What was there In tho man which 1 still makes him stand for us a larger I human figure than Hamilton, or John I Adams, or Jefferson. In some ways I tho difference seems clear. His unsclf- I ishncsa was without a flaw.- His sonRO of duty was like a religion. Ho had In I perfection both moral and physical I 3 courage; ho who Is without foar Is I " rarely without hope, and It may havo I been this which gavo him such unfalt- I erlng hopefulness ns seemed to havo tho forco of Inspiration, tho self-sustaining power of prophetic Insight. No doubt other men also possessed these characteristics, but nono had thorn In so high a degree. This does holp us to comprohond him, but does not adequately ade-quately describo a groat historic per-sonago per-sonago who has becomo for us to-day no moro than a splendid lay figure. And yet wo know of him all that wo need to know: almost to much, Indeed. when the Inqulslttvo spirit of tho reporter re-porter Intruslvo In history glvos us details which are common to many men nnd do not help us to understand tho ono man. His slow, Btiro mind, his heroic pa-tlenco, pa-tlenco, hlH strong passions, his splendid splen-did physlcnl manhood, nowhoro, on any pago, express themselves In terms of life. la this becauso the lives of tho greatest nlways leavo something of tho cuujos of greatness unrovealod? It may bo so. Or 1b this statoly flguro still waiting for tho revealing biographer biog-rapher who will glvo us such a llfo-llko llfo-llko presentment as Cnrlylo has loft of I Frederick nnd of Cromwoll? It I would seem to bo easy, for what llfo I report Itself moro simply! What moro I rich In Interest and In Incident! What I personality was ever moro clearly built Kup. by elTorts which rnlso, stone on stone, tho masonry of charactorl Its valuo to tho thoughtful Ilos less In tho nttalned serenity of tho statuesquo Bj Washington, present to tho common I mind, thnn In ii concct npprohenslon of tho process by which tho crude Vlr-I Vlr-I glnla boy grew Into tho maturity of the official years of our first president. I Thorn rlsos before mo, as I write, tho flguro of -the hnlf educr.teu, over- serious, country brod lad. Forcod to depend ou his own exertions, ho learns to survey land and accepts dally wnges a thing not fancied by tho Virginia Vir-ginia gentleman of that day. Wo boo him at tho camp fires of tho trader nnd tho Indian, and In tho stillness of tho Ohio forests, plotting surveys and measuring trees. At nineteen ho Is sent ns qnvoy to tho nggresslvo French ou tho frontier; next, ns a mllttla major, ma-jor, ho strikes tho first blow In the Seven Years' War, llttlo thinking what It was to bring forth, and what to teach. At tho ngo of twenty-three ho comes out of the defeat with Uraddock, ono of .tho fow who won praise nnd honor. Tho long border strugglo which followed Is n record of exasperating struggles with ignorant governors, Inefficient In-efficient legislators, drunken mllltla nnd untrained officers. Wo como next to tho fox hunting squire, tho accomplished accom-plished farmer, a master of slaves, Rtlll longing for war tho profession of arms. Did ho dream that ho should soo too much of. It, nnd would somo day write that ho hoped for a great republic of mankind, whoro tho growth of commerce would becomo tho most certain peacemaker and all war would bo at an end? At forty-four ho was In command at Cambridge. Last of all, ho Is twice President Then como two happy years at Mount Vernon, and on a December night tho tired man flnds In death that which earth donled the peace which Is paBt understanding. understand-ing. My purpose to-day Is to speak to you of Washington as I find him In his written words, whero roost ho seems to bo alive. I want you to sharo with mo what I got out of months of patient pa-tient study of Mr. Ford's collection of his letters. Those aro In fourteen volumes-eight volumes-eight thousand pages In all. Ho was tho most productlvo of Amorlcan writers, writ-ers, Thcro aro three thousand documents, docu-ments, somo two thousand ontlroly from his own hand. Mr. Ford tells me that, In nil, this untiring man has loft -"us about ten thousand lottors. None nro moro notes, and tho Icttor of that day was no trifle. Tho handwriting demands a word of enmmont. How clear It Is! How stoadlly tho same, with nover n sign oi haste! I havo seen tho lotter ho wrote to announco Arnold's treason. It betrays no sign of tho emotion that awful hour must havo caused an hour which, Informed with tho sad lonolluess of tho great, wrung from this tranquil soldier, "Who Is there now I can trust?" Like most great rulers, George Washington was a silent man. To bo called upon for public speech ombnr-rasBOd ombnr-rasBOd him. Ho was shy, reserved, undemonstrative and. Do I.auzun says, dltlldont. John Adams said, "Half his reputation was duo to his talent for Bileuce." Well had It been for his critic" had ho had that vlrtuo for both tonguo and pen. This reserved gentleman gen-tleman confessed himself readily to papor. Ho who In talk and diaries said nothing personal of his vlows, or of what ho seemed to himself to bo, In his letters gives us freely to know what ho thought ho was, morally nui montally. It is an autobiography qulto Innocently revealed. "With all his lovo of ceremony .and his personal dignity a man with whom no ono took liberties it Is In teresting to boo, as wo havo already soen, how humbly and how simply ho writes of his defects. Ho says, "I havo no genius for war." Ho finds It hard to learn this business warfare-1-nnd at the same tlmo to practtco It. Ho excuses Sullivan's defeat. "All of us," ho says, "want experlcnco In moving mov-ing men upon a largo scale; our knowledgo of military matters Is limited." lim-ited." As a critic of wnr ho was tho first to Insist again and ngaln that tho command com-mand of tho sea was all-Important. What tho British fleet will do puzzles him, but not tho plans of his adversaries adver-saries on land. Ho predicts Hur-goyno's Hur-goyno's disaster, and tolls Greono that such defeats as his are vlctorlos. Wo havo been told that ho was no great general. If, with half-fed, ill-clad ill-clad men, with constant lack of arms nnd powder, and at InBt with inertia overy whoro and n country In ruins; If, with such means ho baflled a foo rich In mon, money and sea power; If with little ho accomplished all he set out to do, thcro .must at least bo n label for this form of greatness. Turning from his llery courago and reckless cxposuro In war, thero are In these letters many evidences of ten-dorness ten-dorness and humanity. Thoy aro shown early In llfo, when ho says that ho would readily die In torturo to save tho frontier pcoplo from Indian cruelty. Thoy appear In his oxtromo unwillingness to mako reprisals on Innocont men. Ho steadily refused, as ho says, "to avengo cruelty by cruelty." cruel-ty." Ho reproaches a general for Btich conduct, and pleads mercy for tho Tories whllo Sir Henry Clinton Is carrying car-rying on a savage warfaro of murder and rapine. This man had no children. He wns tho ancestor of a, nation. Lot ny repetition repe-tition of his pralso loso for you tho truo valuo of tho mun. Ho loft to us tho holrs of his renown, a record of unfailing courage, a story of heroic conduct, nn oxnmplo of' lifelong duty tho unequalled llfo of an unequalled day. From an address by Dr. S. Wolr Mitchell. |