The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-02-22
e II e DISPATCH.


sYHE DI1PATUH.
MONDAY MoRNIxo...-..--..sEBRuARY "a, 1855
Gen. WasAigten.
We annex some dates Of tho chief occurrences
ot Interest In the career Of the sRather Of his
Country.s He wss bern February 22d, 1872. In
GINA, with the rank Of Major. Not long after.
wards, - colonel Of Virginia Regiment, he
greatly distinguishsd himself by his defence Of
Port Nscssstty against Z very superior French
force. In 1885, he vas invited by Gen. Braddock,
to eater HE family - volunteer aidde-eamp, In
his sxpsdition 70 the Ohio. In the battle with
The Indians, he had two horses killed under him,
snd fonr balls passed through his coat. lie was
ahsrwArds appointed eommsnderin chief OF ell
the forces In the Virginia colony. During 1855
1s6S, he vas engaged In protecting the frontier
from the Excursions Of the French and Indians
Asr the Successful discharge OF this duty, he re-
aligned his commission, and soon afterwards mar.
risd Mrs. cus,ls. Previously to his resignation,
hi had taken his seat In the General Assembly, Of
which he had been elected member by the eoun
~ of Frederick, and In which he afterwards to ok
an early and decided part against the claims of
supremacy asserted by the British Parliament
~ hostiiities approached, he was chosen by the
Independent companies formed through the North
srn psrts OF Virginia to command them, and was
also elected member Of the first Congress which
met at Philadelphia. On the 14th of June, 1875,
on motion OF John Adams, he was unanimously
chosen General and commauder-in-ehief OF the
armies Of the United Colonies, and all the forces
nov raised or to be raised by them"
We cannot, in a brief sketch like this. dwell
upou the grand and solid military and moral quail
ftjes which WASHINGTON displayed in the war OF
Independence, and TO which the country and man
kind are indebted for the successful termsation
Of that war. Judge Marshall says Of him. "He has
been termed the American Fabius, bnt those who
seompare his actions with his means, will perceive
at least Is much OF Marcelius as Of Fabius In his
character. He could not have been more enter
prising without endsngering the cause he defend
ed, nor have put more TO hazard without mourning
Justly the imputation Of rsshness. Not relying
upon those chances which sometimes give o favor
able Issue to attempts apparently desperate his
conduct was regulated by calculations made upon
the capacities Of his army, and the real sitna-
ton OF his country. When called second 1me
TO command the armies OF the United states, a
change of circumstances had taken place, and be
meditated q corresponding change Of conduct
In modelling the army of 1898, he sought for
men distin gushed for their boldness of execution
not less than for their prudence In counsel ana
contem plated q system OF continued attack. "The
enemy" said the General in his private letters
..must never be permitted to gain foothod on our
shores" endowed by nature with sound 1udg
neut. and an accurate, discriminating mind' ne
feared not that Iaborious attention which made
him perfectly master Of those subjects. in oil their
relations, on which he was to decide; and this es
Ira al bv UnYarFiUE sense |
OF moral right, which would tolerate only the en-
plovment OF those means that would bear the |
most rigid examination; by fairness OF intention
which neither sought nor required disguise; and
bv n purity of virtue which was not only I'M |
tainted, but unsupported" On the 4th December, |
l7s3 peace and Independence having been de-
clared Con Washington took his solemn farewell
of the principal officers Of the American Navy, as
sembled In a hotel at New York. On the 18th OF
that month, at Annapolis, where Congress was then
in session. he resigned, in form, to that body, his
commission. After peace was proclaimed Congress
unanimously passed resolution for the erection of
an equestrian statue of Washington at the place
which should be established for the seat of govern
ment. and the Virginia Legislature decreed to him
90 statue of the finest marble and best wo rkman-
ship with an appropriate inscription. The
statue is now In the capital, but that ordered by
Congress has never been made. In 1877, the Leg
tslature elected him delegate to the Convention at
Philadelphia for the revisal of the federal system.
OF which Convention he was unanimously chosen
President. He was elected, without opposition,
first President of the United States, February !,
1882 He delivered his inaugural address, Both
April, Of same year. At the expiration of eight
years, having served two terms, he retired from
tho Presidency. The Farewell Address of Gen.
WASHINGTON, which will be found in to days "Dis
PATCH" was delivered on the eth of December,
1885, He retired to Mount Vernon, bnt when
war with France became probable, 1898, President
Adams nominated him commander in-chef of the
Army, which position he accepted, but the occa-
sion for his services, which was anticipated, did
nor happen. On Friday, the 18th of December,
1899, exposure to rain produced an infammatory
affection of his throat and he expired on the night
Of Saturday, having been early aware of the Ger
tanty of his fate.
Az an illustration of the and solictude ofGen
WASHINGTON for those under his command, occur
red after the French war, when the British crown
made grants of land to the soldiers engaged in that
struggle, Gen. Washington gave his personal at
tsntion TO the partition of this land, surveying it
himself, floating down the Ohio river in canoe,
selecting the best lands and with pegs stuck down
by his own hands, marking off the grounds intend
ed for them. His habits In all things were method
ical and careful. There are some twenty volumes
Of correspondence, public and private, and, among
other records q private journal kept by him, in
which his official acts were daily noted down. lie
was the best and most systematic farmer 10 Amer
lea. He built the first foar manufacturing mill
ever constructed In the United States, and put up
the FIRST barrel Of -four in this country.
Such 10 an outline of the life of Washington. To.
day the grand picture of his glorious character and
career will be drawn by the master hand of Hun
TER. But no tongue of orator, no sculptor's magic
chisel can reach the mighty summit Of his fame
Like the sun In the natural world, il rradistes and
warns the universe, awakening images of gran
dear. beauty aud life wherever its rays descend
but IL itself alone, unapproached, indescribable,
oysrpowering with its lustre the eye that would
too curiuusly scan it, and finding its best eulogy
in the innumerable blessings which 1t daily dis
penses to the world.
Mr.. LoveJ0y, of IIlineis.
The Washington correspondent of that excel