Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1872-02-28
w aShinGtOn.

IIpISI WIeu u tls dlttr q }lclm go
Aun, rtb.tlt'I t..l me st never al ,,t
Washington.
Nations are very much like boys in th e
matter Of education; reason or preach to
them, and the truth disgusts or nauseates
OF story or picture, and they take II
nome straight to their cOusciences. The
nero of the drama, if be happens to be one
ot themselves, becomes a patron saint or
demon, and they follow him pell-mell, up
or down-wherever he goes. The French
argumentatively knew the value OF mill
tary glory before Napoleon but it needed
the Little Corporal with his dramatic
story to lead them individually after it
over burning sands or eternal SHOWS In
the gray coat. the star he was said to fol-
low, tle red rly ne hung IN their button
holes lay halt the power OF that magician.
We all knew for generations back that
Slavery was "a curse to black and
white; that it stained our national honor
crippled our strength, ate like eanker
IntO every source OF the country's life.
Yet it was not reason, religion, nor policy.
bIt the black mother killing her children
ia Cincinnati to save them from their mas
ter; the slave hauled back through Bos
tol streets Uncle Tom the old farmer
dyIn. in his grand insanity on the gaIlo9s
while the terrified chiyairy in hosts stood
around that showed Us how uneiean and
t0u. was the garment we had tooIishlY
wrapped about US aul forced Us to throw
.t off, Lincoln, as an exponent OF a GER
tain policy, was the best abused man In
America. when the tragic stage effect OF
his i-4tl set forth his virtues 10 q bewil-
le-.u- la.o, aud homes, old Abe passed
through ,le gate Of marryriom into the
number o. t1l nations idols.
Tae moral Of all this Is, that ii coaspic-
U3Is and heroic lives are among the most
effective means Of educating the people,
we oI.a, ID secp sIea lives before Us in
their original nigh AMI lofty meaning, and
not suffer them TO fail into stale subjects
tor bad Jokes and tires3me truisms. The
Jewish law showed Its divine knowledge
Of human nature nowhere more torcibly
than in the establishment OF certain impos-
Ing ana mysterious anniversaries to com
meuoratc the great significant points OF
their history; that when the children
should say WHAT mean you by this ?''
the old men should instruct them. The
killing of a lamb month hence will bring
back to every Jewish boy or girl the
meaning OF the fact Of the Passover, three
thousand years ago, more freshly than any
event OF the late war Is to an American
child
No nation, says s5Ia one, can afford to
leave its household gods behind It. Our
gods are few. but we take delight in late
year, In pelting them with brick bats and
piasrer.n- them with mud in proving
FraukIjn "a mjser aud Washington a
hypocrite. Small wits no doubt will
rejoice ia the hatchet aud cherry tree as
the only salient point for comment which
the recurrence OF the anniversary brings
To them. We suggest thatnever before could
the character Of this man, 50 long foremost
OF Americans. be studied by his country
men with more profit. He had precisely
those qualities which, either from climatic
or digestive or religious reasons, have
grown exceedingly scarce among Us. Of
brilliant men we have had fair share,
but Washington was not brilliant; Of
nervous, headlong desperate chiefs who
offered their lives and that OF their men as
freely as water; Washington knew the |
value of private's life and Of his own, |
and took care of both We have had no |
lack Of rulers who used the Government |
ls mere machinery to lift themselves into
more lasting notoriety, or who sat like a |
polypus in its cave stretching out its feel |
ers on every side to draw food into its
NAV; Washington was not enriched one
penny oy the chances which his position
gave him, a more creditable fact as he
valued money, and acquired it by every
honorable means In short, we have be-
come a dyspeptic, uncertain, ambitious
race Of politicians our brains work in
flashes of stuPor and intoxication, we read
4 sensational literature, eat, drink, act in
4 white heat Of struggle for place in party
Or society, our patriotism covers city or
State, the country has outgrown it.
1t is worth our while, therefore, to look
back at this man whose body was six feet
.wo and sound in proportion to its size
Who was sober, honest, and pure in his
everyday lfe-had common sense instead
IF genius, and who, in plain, practical
way, served his country, and not himself,
% the end. This day, when he came into
he world. Is the best time to consider
What capabilities there are in life en-
lowed with those virtues which we class as
mediocre, and the use which he made of
.hem.-Nelc York Tribune, February %.