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Show "ontuira The sormon upon "The Desire for Fame as That Desire Is Illustrated In the Life of Washington," given in the First Presbyterian church last evening, eve-ning, was preceded by musical numbers num-bers rendered by Mr. A. II. Saunders, Miss Hauiill and Mrs. C. II. Stevens. Mr. Saunders' rendition of his solo was exceptionally flno and called forth many words of warm approval. In the portion of the sermon pertaining per-taining to the life of Washington, Rev. Carver said, In part: "Whole-hearted appreciation is rare al any time, and It la exceptionally rare to find a historic character separated sepa-rated from ub by long time, even' partially par-tially appreciated today. This is too truo with the character of Washington. Washing-ton. The general trend of thought considers him as n rather ordinary or priggish goody-goody man made prominent prom-inent by the circumstance's of the hour. Why this Is tre it is hnrd to tell Wc do know that if you gather the five rcatQct men of all time, one of them will be Washington. Perchance Per-chance we live too near the time of Washington and Lincoln to rightly estimate es-timate either or to worthily pralso thoni- A Caesar or Charlemagne or Alexander surrounded by tbe myths of ages 8061113 to have been greater. Then, too, Washington, like Alfred and Epamlnondas, Is one of the few well-, balanced or we'1-rounded characters of history. He was supremely great in 6,0 many ways that no one trait Is pre-eminent. He has so many sided a range of talent that none Is most prominent, and hla moral character, his tenderness, his mercy and forgiveness forgive-ness are in keeping with his gifts. Withal he Is the plain farmer of Mount Vernon, faulty In hla grammar and olUptlcal In his sperVng. His education educa-tion was somethljig Hko Abraham Lincoln's, an old Illiterate sexton was his teacher of the threo R's. His brother broth-er gavo hlm Ihe rudiments of survey-In? survey-In? and y6t from this humble beginning begin-ning ho arose, at tho age of 10, to be Iho accredited surveyor of Lord Fairfax's Fair-fax's vast estates. That he was able to survey large tracts of mountain land at this age Is due to the fact that from his 11th to lGth year he had studied only surveying. At the age of 19 ho was appointed adjutant general to lalso and drill tho troops of u large Virginia area' and load them against tho aggressive Indians. At the ace of 21 he was sent on his mission to the French in tho northwest, and the next year led an array against them. Ho was a political leader of Als state at the ae of 27. and held a seat in the hom"o of tho Burgoss"?. Thus, his schooling had hoen a varied one when, at tho ago of 13, he wa; chosen to command tho army. This was tho training of the man who, as Fisher Ames tolls us. by his life of true greatness great-ness 'changed the world's Ideas of political po-litical groatness.' This was tho schooling of tho ono whose farewell address is today a second constitution and which was for years printed with tho statutes of most of the colonies and slates, for, said they, it Is a vital part of every stale in law and government. govern-ment. Such was the war training of the ono who as Napoleon said, was tho uieate3t general and master of strat-ogy strat-ogy since Julius" Caesar, -and who by his historians Is said to be ranked with Epamlnondas, the greatest gon-pral gon-pral of Greece f 'nnln! of Wellington Is ii- premelv the -vlus of the character l Rnd hearL NQte hls strange thing about IiIb life whSh you "tudy him you feel Instinctively that the man Is greater than the deed. You forget the tragedy of Valley Forgo in the calm, exalted patriot who Is there with the sohlleis. You forget Arnold's damnable damn-able and blnck treachery and General Lee's murderous Jealousy In the largeness large-ness of the commander who arose abovo hate and spite and bitterness. 'Tls true he had a very strong temner which, when aroused, would drive him furlohs at the army's head, but temper Is only another word for strength, and from Moses down, every leader of strength has, like him, had n temper under -control. "Many a man has boon called a savior of a nation or people. Washington Wash-ington three times Is accredited with this honor, once as commander of the Continental troops: once as president In tho long eight years of struggle during tho formative period of our nation, na-tion, and when the danger was as great and the leadership as needed as during the war; once when France, seeking to embroil America in war with England by forcing America to recognize and aid tho French revolution, revolu-tion, sent ministers here to form Jacobin Jac-obin clubs and so arouse the people that America must revolutionize again and war again. Only the personal confi dence in Washington, his firmness and foroslght saved young America that day. Many have had hlch honors offered of-fered them. None higher tan when, In Novomber, 1782. tho Unpaid army sought to make Washington king. They could and would livo done It if he would have consented. He never was more 'turhufenf and 'expressive' In temper, wc arc told,- thin then. How superbly ho arises above the men of his time, and there wore giants then, ton, as one knows when tho names of Madison, Jefferson. Adams, Hamilton. Jay, Hancock and others arc recalled. Hamilton in his raph-noss, raph-noss, and oplnlonntod Jefferson wore far from his altruistic breadth. Madison Madi-son could be easily led by Jofferson and tho Adainses were narrow. All of them great, hut ho the greatest of them all. "As a general ho is worthy of your study, if you love to study a great man in action. His troops wcro untrained, un-trained, unequipped militia; rr bluffed Gates one whole winter, when his men had not enough powder for 10 rounds apiece. Frederick tho Great said the Tronton campaign was tho greatest In history. Read again of tbe Fort Duquesne and Monmouth Plains and think or William the Conqueror. Con-queror. Professor Trout says: 'I see Washington cross tho Delaware. I seo him at Valley Forge, and I recall Hannibal Han-nibal upon the Alps. I see him turn a ragged body of men Into soldiers and I think of Caesar. I see him put down tho Conwav cabal and master congress and I th Inkof Marlborough. I seo him master LgFand I think of Cromwell." Statesman and general In one, like the best of the par,t, the Alexanders. CaosarsTliinibals, Napoleons, Napo-leons, CharlemagnSs'aHd equal to tho best jifc c. "And. above oUh his matchless ic-llglous ic-llglous character.vhlch adds lustre to It all. Oh, men dfjtodur, read the lesson les-son well. No riches, favpe or victory can make tin for Godless living. Above all, bettor than all, is what you yourself your-self are. and here Washington was supremely greats You mav search In vain for such another balance of great ability, grat character and groat industry in-dustry and zeal as jyou find in him. Fortunate, indeed, Is. America, In having hav-ing so great anddnspInUig a personage for tlie First American. Tho lesson is a plain one to those who would follow. fol-low. Strive to be as famous for moral and roll? Ions worth as for your chosen Ideal's highest attainments." |
