The Washington union., 1858-02-23
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viii, the Nete and the Spos must have lain IN uneasy
,yi,b ,bose Of the freedman and the para
sites whose monuments r out topped ana ouishohe
their own.
..,t.rmoreo tuuauo Ilcinus jacet ate parso
Pon,peus nullo quis paiet esse y
.,, m as this creation Of Csesars genius, il attcss
the fc at either be unequal 10 the task OF making
popular government consistent with extensive enifc,
or % that he wanted the elevation OF soul 10 prefer the
GOOD Of the Roman people and the glory Of his and
his country the possession of imperial power wash
;ngtons memory lies under no such reProaeh Is his
great achievement 10 have contributed mainly To ho or
ganizaon of social system which has developer inc
capacity of popular government for extensive empire
and ii is his glory to have proved that he wished .e
TO place power where it would be best administered ta
TO keep it in his hands, or to use 1t for seihs pur
poses II chose might run the parallels between
Washington and the great Frederick, OF the still greater
Napoleon and show, by comparing their achievements
with their means that the proportional success OF wash
ington was perhaps, greater than either Ihey made
war on larger scale their manWuvres grander,
their battles mightier and far imposing yet neither
of them produced results from their military operations
30 important in their probable effects upon the future
destiny of man. likely TO be permanent and endur
ing Both of them possessed large means and neither
respected moral restraints BARRIERS if it necessary
free them for military and the same may be
said of nearly all the great captains OF tho world with
the exception of Washington Upon his military escuch
there rests neither taint blot. Amongst the
shields Of all the great military chiefs Washingtons
neither motto to identify it, for 1t Is to
be known by its spotless brightness,
But pass from Washington the soldier to Washington
the statesman from the rude and bloody strife OF
to scarcely less trying difficulties in peace follow
him he from the nxctes OF the hot pursuit. the
heady fight the long drawn march, the night ALARM TO
the less painful task of harmonzng conflicting ele
ents society and constructing out OF the ruins OF the
old new political system which might suit the peculiar
circumstances of the case and satisfy the aspirations OF
people anxious for ee institutions his country
men 1t s far to find amongst great mill
tary the capacity to destroy old social systems than
the organizing genius which create order out OF chaos
and devise institutions which adapted to the wants
and national character of people. There have been
none who thoroughly completed this great round of
human achievement as George Washington
During the war he himself had formed the great
trail point of union In whom reposed common love
and confidence, which enabled him to command and di
rect the exertions for the equal benefit of all
During that period there had been for all essential
poses unity Of WILL because it was his will which gov
crned by force by law, but through the and
exalted virtues of his character When he resigned his
commission that bond of union gone and the work of
disntcgration commenced loose confederacy, whose
government wanted the to even those inter
ests which common called in vain for the of
sustaining its credit and redeemng the sacred obligations
of the revolution The separate States each acted upon
its individual policy and without Just regard to the in
forests Of its neighbos The elements of great social
strength and happiness wasting around cn and the
best hopes for human freedom and progress which the
world yet had threatened with
initiation Had he conducted his countymcn through
long years Of anxious toll and bloody strife in vain
were the proud hopes and noble aspirations which
had borne him and them tiumphanty through the dark
est night Of the revolution to be disappointed Mt last
should the rights and liberties which he had painfully
succeeded in wrestling from the reluctant grasp of British
power be lost from want of ability to them
against violence and the effects Of dssension at home
The and the sceptre emblems Of sovereignty
had cast far away upon the because people
believed themselves be capable of self government and
to convict ourselves of presumptuous boast
ing by exhibiting the spectacle of the most pitiable of all
imbecy-that of the strong who is incapable of
ruling his own spiriti No la thousand times no! The
great and calm spirit of Washington amongst them
commanding in peace az 1t had been in Every
where his voice heard exposulating with his
trymen the condition Of affairs and exhorting them
to union. His appeals were to their pride of coun-
try, their love of liberty, their hopes of happ-
and mighty future, and they made in the
of common traditions, and all the associations of
a common peril and a common glory. Nor were they
made in vain great State the first to
by calling convention at Annapolis and the work
prosecuted from time to ne until it resulted in the
adoption of present form of government. Ii it be
true that it is to Washington than any other
that the existence of this government it is still
undoubted fact that to him chiefly is due the credit
of its successful commencement and the foundation of
great principles Of public policy Who else could have
steered the ship of State consistently and successfully
amidst the divisions of party who able rcsoIute to
take issue with popular prejudice when the public good
required it! and who else capable, through the n
people when evil spirit possessed 1t OF all the pub
lie men of the day, he alone had moral influence
enough to rule in such q crisis, and by q rare
coincidence, If not by Provdential direction Of
events, his, of all the characters known to histo-
Ty, best adapted and most admirably constituted
to encounter successfully the difficulties over which
he triumphed But to do this although more sensitive
by nature than most men, he sacrificed all his scnsib-
ties upon the altar of his countys good For their own
sakes he submitted like of iron to the Bullets of
those he loved, and nexorablo to all but the calls of
duty and patriotism, he moved like minister of
fate, In all the patient fortitude of mighty spirit to
fulfilled by laying broad and deep the foundations of
fabric combining Of social strength and human
happiness than any which had been conceived before
Oh, rare spectacle! Oh, most wonderful man Who
BEFORE through long of unparalleled difficult
ties and trials, has presented sublime or so
constant example of patient fortitude and of inn
perturbabe magnanimty Superior TO all misfortune
and quailing under reverse, he the master
of every occasion The very constitution of his cab
net gave evidence of his peculiar genius and his
sciousness Of power He cought unit cabinet accord
ing to the set phrase of succeeding times He asked no
suppression of sentiment, concealment of opinion he
exhibited moan jealousy of high talent in Others seek
ing for inferior instruments because snch only he could
expect to command But he gathered around him the
greatest public of their day. some of them to be
Jefferson and Hamilton without the cabinet to shake per
haps the whole fabric Of government in their fierce wars
and rvalres but he took them Within where he himself
might arbitate their disputes they arose and turn to
the best account for the country their suggestions as they
were made Either OF these great minds was perhaps
more inventive than hs own but he had the arer and
higher faculty OF Judgment which enabled him to per