The Washington union. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1859, 1858-07-11
THE iWASHINGT0N A UNION


majestic form This Is bs OCCASION and the day or who
needs to be told how much he cause of niependenoe
owes to the services and character Of Washington 10 the
purity OF that stainless purpose TO the rmnes of that
resolate soul This the spot this immortal hall from
which as from altar went forth the burning Goals that
kindied into consuming fire at Lexington and Concord
at Bunker Hill and Dorchester Heights We citizens of
Boston, are the men, for the first great success of WASH
ingon IN the revolutionary war to restore to our
fathers their ancient and beloved native town This IL
the time tho accepted time when the voice of the Father
Ut his Country cries aloud to from the sos of Mount
Vernon, and calls upon US, East and West North and
South, " the brethren of great household to be
faithful TO the dear bought inheritance WHICH he did so
much to secure to usg't = ~ hhs fNreF ~
Nor is the fame Of Washington confined to our own
country Bourdaioue, in his eulogy on the military
saint Of France excaims The other saints have been
given by the Church Of France but France In reurn
has given st. Louis tothe Church Born into the fam
lily Of nations in these latter days receiving from foreign
countries, inhcrng from ancient time the bright and
instructive example of all their honored sons It is the
glory of America in the dawn of her national ex
istence to have given back che world many names Of
which the ustre will never fade one name Of which the
whole family Of Chrisendom is willing to acknowledge
the unenvied pre-emnence; name of which neither
Greece Rome republican Italy Switzerland nor
Holland, constitutional England can boast the rival
"a character Of virtue happily tempered by one an
oher' Il use the language Of Charles James Fox and
wholly unalloyed by any vices is hardly be found
on the pages Of history" '.a
1t is delightful witness the generous recognition Of
Washington merit even in countries where from poit
cal reasons backwarness in that respect might
have been anticipated. Notwithstanding his leading
agency i'm wrestling colonial empire from Great Britain
England was not slow TO appreciate the grandeur and
beauty of his character Rufus King writing to General
Hamilton in 1877, says 'sN0 ono who has not been in
England have just idea of the admiration expressed
among all parties for General Washington 1t is com
observation that he is not only the most ilustrios
but the most mcritorious character which has vet an
peare,l.' Nor was France behind England in her ad
miration of Washington Notwithstanding the uneasy
relations of the two countries at the time Of his deccase
when the Of his death reached Paris the youthful
and fortunate soldier who had already reached the sum
init OF power by paths which Washington could never
have trod commanded the highest honors to be paid to
him A solemn funeral service performed in the
'Invades," in the presence of oil that was most emf
nent in Paris. "A sorrowful cry, said Fontanes the
orator chosen by Napoleon for the OCCASION has reached
from America, which he liberated. 1t belongs to
France to yield the first response to the fermentation
which will be echoed by every great soul These au
gust arches have been well chosen for the apotheoSs of
hero Va 81 a5g a4@U 49,
How often, in those wild scenes Of her revolution
when the best blood OF France shed by the
less and ephemera tyrants who chased each other dag
ger in hand that dismal stage Of crime and woe
during the reign of terrorhow often did the thoughts
of Lafayette and his companions-n- who had
fought the battles of constitutional liberty in America
call up the image of the pure the just the humane the
unambtous Washington How different would have
been the fate of France if her victorious cheftan when
he had reached the giddy height of power had initiated
the great example which he eulogzed He might have
saved his country from being crushed by the leagued
hosts of Europe he might have prevented the names of
Moscow and Waterloo from being written in letters of
blood tho pages of history he might have escaped
himself from the sad significance of those memorable
words of Fontanes, on the occasion to which have al
luded when in the presence of Napoleon he spoke Of
Washington man who, 'by destiny seldom shared
by those who change the fate of empires died in peace
private citizen in his native land where he had
hall flA fruf and rbfrv, h.
free"
How different would have been tho fate of Spain Of
Naples, of Greece of Germany, of Mexico and the
South American republics had their recent revolutions
been conducted by men like Washington and his patr-
otto associates whose prudence patriotism probity and
dsinerestedness conducted revolution to an ausp.
cious and honorable result!
But is Of at home that we must look for an
adequate appreciation of Washington's name and
worth He is the friend OF other countries he is the
father of his own. own, Mr. Mayor that it has been
TO me source OF inexpressble satisfaction to find
smidst all the bitter discussions OF the day. that this
great sentiment generation for the name of Wash
ington planted down in the very depths of the Amer
heart 1t has been my privilege within the last two
years to hold it up to the reverend contemplation of nv
countrymen from the banks of the Penobscot to the
banks OF the Savannah, from New York to St. Louis
from the Chesapeake bay to Lake Michigan, and the
sentiments, expressed in the same words have
everywhere touched the sympathetic chord in the
American heart a1
the thoughts the affections, the memories Of the people,
in whatever part of the countryrom the to the
prairies of the West om the land of granite and ice to
the land Of the palmetto and the magnolia instnctvely
turn They have their sectional loves and hatreds but
before the dear of Washington they absorbed
and forgotten In whatever region of the country the
heart of patriotism to him in the starry heav-
ens, with the circng of the seasons the pointers 90
round the sphere but their direction is towards the
pole. They may point from the East they may point
from the West bnt they will point 10 the Northern star
1t Is not the brightest star in the heavens account
brightness but it is always in its place. The meteor
kndled into momentay blaze from the rank vapors OF
the lower sky is brighter The comet is brighter that
streams across the armament, ~
Rl5r' !" And horrd VIE
as. Shakes pestilence and war; tE Ute sasE
But the meteor cxplodes the comet rushes back to
steady at the pole, alike in summer and in winter in
seed time and in harvest at the equinox and the sosce
II sbone for Columbus at the discovery Of America il
sh6ne for the pioneers of settlement the pilgrims Of faith
and hope, at jamestown and Plymouth it will shine
for the mariner who shall enter your haTbor tonight
it will shine for the nayes which shall bear tho sleeping
thunders of your power, while the flag of the Union
shall brave the battle and the breeze. So too the char
acter the counsels, the example of Washington,
which you bid speak he guided our fathers through
the storms of the revolution he will guide through
children and chdrens children In the paths Of
prosperity and peace while America shall hold her place
in the family of nations
e .ait 8 a
PORTER, THE SUNDAY SCHOOL DEF4ULTBR.
e Correspondence Of the Boston Journal ~ eryfF
Mr. Fred w Porter the deflultnp agent of the Amer