Western sentinel. [volume] (Winston [i.e. Winston-Salem], N.C.) 1856-1886, 1858-03-19
WASHINGTON.
ED1ToRs AND PROPRIETOR

An Extract from the Orot;on Of Hon. r.
II. T. Hunter at Richmond, Ia.
But pass from Washington the soldier
TO Washington the statesman, from the
rude scenes and bloody strife of war to
scarcely less trying difficulties in peace
[ follow him as he passes from the ankle
ties of the hot pursuit, the heady fight, the
Iong-crowned march, the night alarm, to
the not less painful task of harmonizing
conflicting elements in society, and con-
structing oUt Of the old q new political sys-
tenn, which might suit the peculiar circum-
stances Of the case, and satisfy the aspira
tions Of a people So anxious for free lnstl-
fHtiens- It - n1st common TO find among est
great military men the capacity to destroy
old social systems and the organizing &c
Mus which CAR create order out of chaos,
and devise institutions which are adapted
TO wants and national character OF peo-
ple There have been none who SO thor
oughly completed this great round of
human achievement as George Washing
ton.
During the war i,e himself had formed
the great central point Of union, in whom
were reposed a common love and conf
dence, which enabled him to command and
direct the common cxertions for the equal
berefit Of all During that period there
had been for all essential purposes unity
of will because it was his will which gov
erned, not by force Or law, but through the
rare and exalted virtues OF his character.
When he resigned his commission that
bond Of union was gone and the work of
disinte9ratlon commenced. A loose Con
federacv, whose Government wanted the
power to secure even those interests which
were common, called in vain for the means
IL,
sacred obligations of the Revolution. The
separate States each acted upon its indi-
vidual policy without Just regard to the
interests of its neighbors. The elements Of
great social strength and happiness were
wasting around them, and the best hopes for
human freedom and progress which the
world as vet had seen were threatened with
annihitation.
Of all the public men Of
the day, he alone had moral influence
enough to rule in such crisis; and by a
rare coincidence, if not by Providential
direction of events, his of all the characters
known to history was best adapted most
admirably constituted to encounter sue
cessfully the difficulties over which he tri-
umped. But to- do this, although more
sensitive by nature than most men, he sac
rificed all his sensibilities upon the altar
or MS country gooQ. FOf their own sakeS
he submitted like man of iron to the buf-
fets of those he loved, and, inexorable to
all but the calls of duty and patriotism,
he moved like some minister Of fate, in ali
the patient fortitrde Of mighty spirit, to
to the accomplishment of his own high
purposes which he fulfilled by laying
broad and deep the foundations of fabric
combining more of social strength and hu-
man happiness than any which had been
conceived before Oh, rare spectacle =
Oh, most wonderful mani Who before,
through long career of unparalleled diff
fcalties and trials, has ever presented so
sublime or so constant an example of pa
tient fortitude and of imperturbable mag
nanimity Superior to all misfortune and
quailing under no reverse, he was the mas
ter of every occasion.
The very constitution of his Cabinet
gave evidence of his peculiar genius and
his own consciousness of power. He
sought no unit Cabinet according to the
set phrase of succeeding times. He asked
no suppression of sentiment; no conceal
nent of opinion; he exhibited no mean
jealousy of high talent seeking for inferior