The Washington union., 1858-02-23
THE WASHINGTON UNION.

shall be worthy of the prize He who claims the place
of Ulysses must be able TO bend his bow. Did he de
mand field for his labos and place which 10 found
his family, il pointed him TO the Wilderness and giving
him an axe and rifle bade him to conquer il with the
sweat OF his brow from the unwilling hold of Nature
and to Keep IT when conquered by the strength of his
heart and the cunning Of his hand Does he sigh for
maritime adventure il bids him to spread his sails to the
breeze in whatever direction his fancy may take him,
and guarantees to him that the harvest which he may
gather shall be his own, and shall not be wrested from
him by the hand of force ut home abroad Does he
ooye the seats OF power OF the honors OF c IL says
80! there they are prove yourself worthy and you
shall have them measure yourself, and If you feel
strong enough for contest in which you will find 40
many rivals enter upon it, for the prizes belong to the
strongest Stimulated by such impulses progress
has presented spectacle of human energy uncquacd in
the history of the past The march of the restless col
linn ID onward. FORWARD s the cry which still re-
sounds along the line and if those who head the column
halt again IL must be in the grave. Nothing can
stay that column in its mighty march for moment
stops neither to bury its dead TO for its wounded
it pases at obstacle; It cares for odds which IT may
have to encounter its steady tramp and its hum of men
have already Scared the silence of the remotes sotdcs of
the wilderness and the shout of its warcy will soon be
heard the What resstless tide of human
energy thus sweeping continent to fulfil the
decrees of its destiny What an embodiment Of moral
power is thus organizing it may be- to take the supreme
objection of the affairs Of Tell not of Alarc or
of Atta OF Tamerlae OF Ghengis Khan tell me not of
Goth, of Hun, or of Tartar of whatever other de
stroyers of have yexed the earth for awhile and
who like tempests come, and depart tell You that
the greatest destroyer of all is abroad before whom
shall fall more of the old organizations OF human govern
ment of the traditionary institutions which ctter
the onward march of and more too of the feebler
races of the earth, unless in some way they be
brought within the shadow of its protection than have
ever been rmpcd beneath the conqueors heel before
But its conquess will be such shall leave ruins be-
hind them 1t will destroy the time-wom organizations
Of old civilization to rebuild from their materials 9TH
which shall be suitable TO tho wants of the
Of he sha
that glorious column it advances pulling down the old
and putting up the new, until humanity shall find in the
institutions of sociey the Of fulfilling all Its asbi
rons and appropriate aid for the development Of all its
faculties
So far human agency is concerned there is
who than all Others may be said to have organ
lied and directed this great movement of human society;
there is which, above all Others represents
this mighty epoch in history, and thnt is the name of
George Washington the of Virginia. the father of his
country the best and perhaps the wisest of all who have
ruled the destinies of name which represents
more OF human fame because it has deeply afcsted
human destiny than any other which figures in the
nails Of man.
1t is duty then which Virginia owes to him. to her
SELF and to poscrity to tell the great story Of his life in
all the forms In which IL can reach the hearts and minds
of men. Lot it bc told in the graceful numbers of the
poet let II be carried down In the everlasting traditions
of history let it be imaged forth i'm the highest mperso
nations Of tho painter and the scupors genius There
great moral in that story which ought to be felt by
every human heart for it the story of who alone,
OF all the great rulers of men, has proved by consistent
example that in the midst Of temptations and the most
scducng opportunities for the qualification of selfish
bon he preferred the duties of life to its pleasures its
power, and to life itself Let then Virginia
this his natal day raise the egy of her nobes before
the eyes of admlring and who shall blame her fsome
touch of maternal pride should be mingled with the tears of
pious regard which she may shed for him who was the
worlds great paragon for all that is sublime public
virtue and all that is patient and brave in the human
soul She raises this image not to refresh the fountains
~c &n xat,
for tho souls deep wound to express the sad
bereavement in whatever form of utteancc may be most
enduring but she this day ecvatcs il in the face Of the
world to consccrate his memory in the hest affections of
heart and to dedicate his to the great
of humanity, and common possession to all man
kind This Is idle ceremonial of grief which cee-
brae to-day but State is nauguratDg with the
cntal which such greatness may inspire in
mothers heart the influence of perhaps the highest hu
example, which is to be wide the world in its
operation and to command love and sympathy from
ovcry human heart Long, then, may yonder expressive
bronze continue to speak its lessons of virtue and wisdom
to each succeeding generation of Let the mother
bring her boy hthcr that she may teach him in this
presence his earliest lesson much of the great story
of Washington he may be able to appreciate and
prchend Let the aspiring youth whose ambition, like
Caesars may have been fired by the study of examples of
early successes much greater than his pause to be-
hold that calm face and consider it's associated story of
patient ortude and noble perseverance, Or should he,
i'll his cagorness for fame, find that he is in danger to
prefer the prizes of ambition to goodness let him pursue
that story to its conclusion and learn that il Wash
ngons unalterng loyalty to duty and fifth in virtue
which endowed him with almost superhumam strength
and made his name immortal among men.
Is it man of maturcr years who disappointed in his
aspirations and misconstrucd in his best and nobest ef
forts for his begins to grow in the struggle
and TO despair OF achieving anything great good,
let him consider how sternly the great soul of which that
statue speaks was tried and with what courage and faith
passed through the fires of consuming strife until
every difficulty snrmounted and it stood purified and
anncaled by the fierce ordeal to which it had been ex
posed Who amongst us oil might not gather from his
mcdatios in this calm presence for the
guidance aud direction of his future conducts Here them
the genius loci which should invite the universal
pilgrimage OF man, for all its influences are sacred to the
great of humanity itself Touched ly the inspired
hand of human genius that mute bronze pours forth It's
full tide OF living associations which, like water from the
rock of Horeb may refresh tho soul of him whose hopes
and strength failing under the tosome and it may
be- the sad experience of his devious Journey through
life.
This statue is not merely monument TO Washington
but altar erected to Heroic Virtue itself before which
the human heart may purify it, aspirations under the
Christening influences of the great example of the Father
of his Country and upon which it may sacrifice every
wild mad desire that may be adverse to the countrys
good.
And yet this monument itself will pass away when time,
with slow corroing TOOTH shall have dsspated atom
by atom its consecatcd dust But when all its particles
fugitive on the winds, shall have disappeared human
view there will still survive the which WASH
ingtons own genins has erected for ITSELF for there
promise IN which we all confie that the good which men
DO shall live after them How much of all that adj
n're IN human achievement must lose its influence in the
end, because II is founded In i'll The very process of its
nj