The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1857-07-16

she has hitherto moved Send educated power into the
workshop and the farm send IL through your sraths
and your valleys to the mountains top send IL from the
mountains 10 the plains and over the plains To the
shores of the let ii direct every branch of human
industry and you shall behold this dear mother OF
with renovated air smile upon her lace, light with
in her eve and stronger than OF old She need longer
be the nursing mother of States and behold perhaps
grateful children in those that ave deserted her She
viii be able to provide for them all at home. And why
should any of them now What unused ca
pactes in the soil upon which tread What neglect
ed power in the fall OF rivers they bound along in
nntmed energy like the wild conrser over the plains TO
the sea- waiting only for the hand of man TO subdue them
to its uses Over what mines of secret wealth do the
gnomes of mountains keep guard in the dark ecesses
where they dwell The genii of the earth the air and
the sea may be made the obedient slaves OF the spell
of mans genius and yet how often the possesors of
this charm unconscious of its power until some happy
accident shall reveal il to then
know that am proclaiming very different doctrine
from that which prevailed with the philosophers OF anti
putty, who rejected all idea of union between science
and the useful arts Plato condemned even the appca
ton OF geometry to mechanics, ms being beneath the dig
nifty OF high philosophy and thenceiorth according TO
PlutaIch this branch of knowledge could form Its
conncxon only with the art of But the public opn
ion of the world has made great progress on this subject
at least Science seeks union with all the useful
arts, and has profted by the alliance. And yet,
with strange inconsistency even in ancient times this
art of war; which was deemed not unequal to alliance
with the mechanic arts constituted the fvorite path to
glory, military honors being those which We're most es-
teemed
1t is true that the great captain requires Of the
highest moral qualities of nature to enable him to
exercise command and mastery over men, but 1t also
tne that the trade Of is for the most part mcchai
cal in its nature ii is mechanical in most OF its means
and appances is contest Of physical force and phys
teal weapons and machinery mainly employed to de-
cdeit In modern times the nation which possesses the
largest means Of providing the munitions OF war, and
of tranporting, provisioning. and paying armies, MS
general rule must prove the victor and Of the
plos upon which military commanders pride themselves
most strictly mechanical in their nature. Upon which
of his military achievements does Caesar himself dwell
with more sefcomplacency than upon the wonderful
bridge which, within ten days, he threw over the Rhine
and which enabled him to surprise and chase those Ger
mans through their native forests who had been the
terror OF Gaull OF what avail would have been the
great sategetic combinations by which Napoleon
centrated almost simultaneously upon Vienna vast masses
of men which he had summoned from the most distant
parts of Europe if it had not been for that bridge OF
boats which he constructed with much skill in the
presence and without the knowledge Of the enemy to
able him to pass and fight the battle OF Wagran
What were Yauban and Cohorn, and Todleben but mas
ter worken in trade which draws large aids it is true
from the natural and exact sciences Chemistry furnishes
the knowledge by which the engineer prepares his am
munon and mathematics gives him the rules by which
he calculates the range of his proectles constructs his
places of strength and and applies the natural
powers which he calls to his aid; but to which Of the
useful arts may not science be called upon to make con-
tributions great and as yaluabel
Do not understand me, young gentlemen, as dispar-
countries have united with an almost universal as
sent to pay the highest honors to military glory The
soldier fame is that which they have most priced and
admired and the fact that opinion is uniy has
always been considered aiording ut least probable
evidence of its truth. The man who honestly risks for
tune and life to defend the rights of his country and to
sustain the government under whose shelter and proec
ton the whole machinery Of society conducted is enti
tied to the grateful respect of his fellow The strong
handed man. who uses his might to maintain the right,
has always been regarded by the mass OF mankind with
the highest admiration and praise. Lord Burcigh, il
is true, has disparaged the profession of arms, and
said that soldier in peace like chimney in the
but this remark is no longer true, even OF
the soldier by profession, and never could have been
applied with justice to him who united the citizen to
the military character. The citizen soldier consti-
tutcs the surcst and cheapest defence Of State.
Competent to the full discharge of his duties either
citizen a soldier, he performs his whole part in
the operations of society, whether in peace or in
living amidst the of the people he constitutes
part Of class separate in interests and affections from
the community at large but thinks and feels with them
and ready and willing to strike for thcm If the occa
sion shall demand it, The highest character the page
of human history is that of citizen soldier and the
State with wise Providence has set up the etgy Of that
immortal man within your view, as the great exemplar
and model upon which you ought to form yourselves
Take him for all and ALL where will you find such
bnation of wisdom without presumption, OF courage with
out sness of serespcct without arrogance of patriot
ism without seshncss, and of love of virtue nearly
superior to all temptation, exhibited through
long life of trial and difficulty by that great Vrgnin
If he had lived amongst ancient nations in the days OF
hero worship and apotheoses what niche in their temple
would have been deemed elevated enough for that image
which your good old mother State has sought to for
far higher moral purpose by preserving il perpetual
memorial Of that example, to which she wishes TO give
constant and immortal influence in the educatiosnd dis
ciplinc of her youth
But do not suppose that the whole force of that great
example is to be found in those high qualities which
have already enumerated there is yet another moral
to be derived from that character which yon
der image symbozcs in It's mute expression if it
speakand that is noble spirit of sclf-reance Do not
understand as.meaning by this vain selfconfdencc
apresunpuous egotis which dares because it is yourself
and from consciousness of internal strength this is the
rashness of the fool who rushes where anges
fear to tread But mean rather, that faith in your
self which rests upon the conscious possession of powers
and which just appreciation teaches you
sufficient for the emergency that you called upon to
meet and without which should have had none of
those great examples Of heroic perseverance which here
and there adom the page Of human history.
No man had more innate modcsty OF character than
Washington appreciated more justly than himself
the want of military education or the immense advan
tgcs which his antagonists possessed in their superior
discipline and preparations for and yet he
dcspaired when he turned upon his enemies who
pursuing him. with the remains of his shattered army to
sweep them in detail at Trenton and Princeton he struck
with the energy not of great despair but of deep faith
in himself and his countrymen He knew how to cs
mate the true value Of high moral resources either in
a nation conscious of possessing them in stint
ed measure and knowing that neither he his country
were yet touched in them, he felt that in this
struggle he was ndomitabc Nor did he lose heart OF
hope under the sterncr trials of Valley Forge for al
though he knew that both he and his people poorly
n, uI.vs pf he fhnt