Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1860-02-22

uny, 70 govern them. He was impulsve, but his
| inpulses were curbed. To overcome the peculiar
olmcuities which were to be encountered In the
commander-in.chief were requisite. A clear,
s'uho Judgment and a frm will; an ability to
nnoeIgo hardships, and sympathy with the suffer
skin In preserving as well as in managing men;
| .uese were among the requisites, hut, above all
| thefe was needed a strong sense Of duty to COM
mana confidence, and great patience and faith to
enable him to sustain reverses, bear up under
sno"sny prospects, and serenely bide the time for
| an effective blow.
But his browning act Of glory was his moral
nerolsm displayed after the glorious result Of the
| american Revolution had been achieved. With
| laurel crowned and confding army at his back;
| WIN the praises Of grateful nation ringing in
had already provoked discomfort when ambition
| might we'll have fired his heart and glory beck
oned him on to those higher reaches Of power,
| which most men SO much desire to attain be
| noby went forward and surrendered his commits
sion into the hands Of Congress. Nations looked
on In wonder: those who doubted the integrity Of
mankind, and felt sure that he aimed at the impe-
| rial purple. Were struck dumb with establishment
Inc orator then proceeded to review the subse-
9uent civil career Of the father of his country.
throughout all, however, Washington, by his
great weight OF character his sound, clear Judge
nent, and his manifest dsinterestedness managed
70 retain the confidence and regard Of the country
| In an, he manifested the same devotion to duty,
and the same modest reliance on an everything
Providence, which he SO much displayed in his
mlntary career. Here, again. soon as his sense
OF public duty would allow he withdrew from
public position
NOW, though withdrawn from public position
MS controlling sense Of duty made Washington
still anxious for his country, and ready to render
any service which might appear incumbent on
him So. when 1t seemed that a war with France
was inevitable, old man as he was. enshrined as
he was In the hearts Of his countrymen with moth
Ing more of fame to attain, and nothing more of
glory to covet from pure sense Of duty he agreed
to take charge Of the armies Of the nation aud to
imPeril life, reputation everything, for his coun-
trys good
compare the purity Of Washing toms patriotism
with that Of eminent statesmen Of other countries
and characterized 1t as a strange decree Of fate
tnat In this western world, but recently known to
civilization, and only partially reclaimed from
the savages; over which the dull oblivion Of I'M
numbered centuries had not yet ceased to brood;
without literature. without polite arts, without
settled social organization without position among
nations-that in such a land, almost unknown
and utterly uncared for there should have arisen
| man who was destined to equal, In the estims-
glory and all modern fame.
He was at once the offspring and the type of
American civilization at his time He was our
great forestbred Cavalier with all the high honor
Of his ancestral stock Of De Wessingtons with all
the hardy firmness of pioneer. and with ali the
kindly courtesy Of his native State. Among the
ADAMS and Hancocks, the Lees and Henrys, the
Sumpters and Rutedges Of that day, he stood
forth prominently as the representative man and
the exemplar Of our Revolution lust as that pex
monstrosity Of Danton, Murat, and Robespierre,
was the exemplar Of the French.
Could he have lived in ancient DAYS the strains
| Of immortal verse would have told his deeds and
| fond adherents would have numbered him among
| the gods.
Those days are past: but we have vet hearts to
admire, and pens to record and tongues to praise
| his private virtues and his public worth And
when century after century shall have rolled by,
bearing its fruits into the bosom of the past; even
when men shall look back to this time. through
the haze and mist Of remote and far off ANTIQUITY
If this shall be land of freemen this day shall
still be fondly cherished the ami versay of the
birth of Washington; increased reverence shall
attend his character, and thickening honors shall
cluster around his name.
Upon this representative and similitude of the
great and honored dead, which we this dav mt
forth before the world, the winds shall blow the
rains shall fall and the storms shall beat; but il
shall stand unhurt amid them all. So shall it be
with the fame Of him whose image it is The
breath of unfriendly criticism may blow upon it,
| the storms that betoken moral or social change
may break upon it; but it shall stand firmly hyed
in the hearts and memories Of every true and hon.
est and Ii berty-lovng man who inhaEits our land
or cherishes our institutions
The inhabitants OF this city, as they behold this
statue, day after day, will look upon it the Pal
| ladium of their privileges, and the silent guar
dian OF their prosperity. And the thousands and
| tens Of thousands, that from every nation, king
dom, ana tongue, yearly 60 forth to gaze upon
and admire the wonders of the earth, when thew
shall come up to this 'Mecca Of the mind ~ shalt
pause with reverentia awe, as they gaze upon this
similitude of the mighty Washington.
Year after year shall that dumb image tell its
eloquent story Of patriotism. devotion and self
sacrifice year after year shall it teach its holy les
| sons Of duty and Of faith with generation after
generation shall it plead for institutions founded
| In wisdom and country bought with blood To
the clouds and storms that gather over and break
| upon it, 1t will tell Of tue clouds and storms
through which its great antitype did pass, in his
devoted course on earth; and when the great In.
| minary Of the heavens, descending with his
| golden shower Of beams like imperial Jove shall
wrap 1t In Its warm embrace, it shall tell the sur
| that He who gave his beams and babe him shine
has decreed that one day the darkness of eternal
night shall settle on his face; but then the spirit
of the mighty Washington, baskiny in an eternal
| sunlight above, shall still
| "A darkening universe defy
| To queEsl his immortality,
| Or shake bis trust in God -
| THR DEDICATION AND UNWILLING
The ceremonies will conclude with the dedica-
ton Of the Statue by the President (when he will
| wear the Masonic apron and use the Masonic
| gavel once worn and used by Washington;) and
the unwilling of the Statue, followed by national
| salute by the artillery in honor Of the occasion
| The procession on its return march will pa.s in
review at the Presidents nj ans on before the Pres
| ident Of the United States, and. continuing it's
march to an inappropriate posit On will be dismiss ID
by the officer In command.
| INCIDENTAL
| number Of New York and Washington CITY
detectives have been service today at the rail
road station, the hotels and other points to spot
| strong force We're noticeable in every direction
| their promiueat red badges upon the hat des o.
| mating them at once. No little merriment was
| created by the appearance upon the avenue Of a
savage-looking bulldog whose mug was of in
| describable ugliness, and who bore about his
| neck one Of these red badpea hearing in Iarra