National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-02-22

past one hundred years We haze made more and
better history than any other nation on the face
of the earth. 1t has been formulating one too,
in its beauty and splendor. The great picture
representing the purposes Of our nationality is
not marred by defects. Every detail stands out
in bold relief and has its own natural and pow
erful cOlorfng and the true American believes that
his Government will endure for generations and
for centuries to come, and that in its career OF
glory there will be no backward step. God
planted the garden of our free institutions, and
Inspiration has nOurished all its strong and
beautiful plants. So remarkable has been our
growth, so wonderful our development, that
late writer in the Encyclopedia Brittauica"
saws alt follows that if the natural resources Of
America were fully developed it would afford
sustenRnce to 5000, 900 600 inhRbitants-a number
nearly four times as great as the entire mass Of
what is even more surprising it is not improbable
that this UrOcigiOus population will be in exist
enee within three or, at most, four centuries"
This prophetic thought, even in its fulhllment,
will DO 30 mTe sublime than our past history,
and = no shall dare to say that American power
and energy is not equal to such an enlarge
But to-day VIC turn from the contemplation of
the future 10 Look with aGect!onate pride, ppol
the past. 1t is
wAsHIEGTON's BIRTHDAY,
the occasion one nations grandest festivals
day sacredly yet jOyOusly celebrated throughout
the length ana breadth Of the land. As the re-
TOlving years add age to the date OF February
p, 1852, il shines with increasing lustre; It is
buried deeper in the estimation OF every Ameri-
can heart; it controls an increasing share of
American admiration, and as we ascend higher to-
ward the summit of our national glory We see
through a clearer atmosphere the majesty,
grandeur and power of the Father Of his Country.
THE STORY OF WASHINGTON
is familiar; how his ancestry is traced back to the
early days OF the Plantagenets, when the family
was known in military history as the De Wess-
yngtODs; how they were loyal to the crown when
Cromwell fOurished: how the two brothers, John
and Lawrence, established themselves In Vir-
ginia in 1867; how the grandehild Of John, Angus
tine married Mary Ball who became the mother
of George Washington. and lived to see him the
first President. Familiar, too, as "household
words is all the record Of his early life the lin
tied nature Of his early education, the quick IN
folding Of his self-denial, prObity aud love Of
justice; how by his mothers interference he was
lost as q recruit to the English navy; how he
assisted Lord Fairfax as a surveyor, and at sew
enteen was Injured to all the Viesstudes of camp
life at nineteen q commissioned major, and how
at tHenty-One he was intrusted with a most i'm
portant message to the French commander on the
Ohio.
His military career Immediately following this
WAS with General BraddOck, and at tWenty-three
he was in command Of all the forces for tine defence
Of Virginia. AS we shall have occasion to refer
to the fact further Oh, 1t is here stated that the
glory his name had already acquired made him
the object Of envy and SANDER, and the newspaper
references to him abound in harsh Judgment and
censure, and but for the unWaTering friendship Of
the best men OF the colony he would have taken
the advice of the New York Herald of that day
and resigned, for they had as little conception OF
true patriotism and wisdom as has the New York
Herald Of to-day in giving to another powerful
defender Of his cOuntrys interests similar advice
Washington was twenty-seVen when he was
married to Martha Gusts, and soon after this
event he took his seat as a member of the House
OF Burgesses, and for fifteen years he enjoyed at
Mount Vernon all the ease and luxury of a
wealthy gentleman; and then, as member Of the
FIRST CONTINENTAL CONGRESS,
he went up to philadelphia with Patrick Henry
and Edmund Pendleton.
He was also q member of the Second Con.
tnental Congress- and on the 18th Of June, I775 he
was elected by ballot commRnder-in-chief Of all
the Ameriean'forc MOdestly accepting the great
trust, Washington at once proceeded to Cam
bridge, Massachusetts, and on the 18th of the
following March he compelled General Howe to
eVacuate the city OF Boston and to sail away to
Halifax. During that memorable campaign he
was assRiled by prominent Tories as q coward"
q ''Grunkard," and as an incompetent general"
The great victory siIenced the tongues OF traitors
and reVileTs for awhile Just the as the great
victory over PembeTtOn and his surrender at
Nicksburg, the 4th Of July, 1868. stopped for
awhile the poisonous expressions Of traitors con-
corning The victorious commander on that field
another illustration Of the truth that history re.
peats itself" Here We leave the memory Of the
reader to follow the illustrious career OF wash
ington from Boston to New York, past the
great battle of Long Island, on the 9th Of
Washington, and his retreat through the Jerseys,
the brilliant battle of Trenton which greatly re-
vived the spirit and hope Of the people; the
crossing Of the Delaware, the defeat OF the Hes
SLAMS, the reception at Germantown Of Lafayette
his directions to General Gates which led 10 the
surrender Of BurgOyne at Saratoga, the sublime
and heroic scenes in the
ENCAMPNENT AT VALLEY FORGE
the battle at Monmouth Courthouse, Stony
Point the battles of the South and OF his glorious
termination Of the war at Yorktown, where on
the 18th Of June, 1881, CORVALLIS surren-
dered the entire British force. Washington was
at Newberg in the spring Of 1883. when the final
news Of peace was received. Then, greater in
peace than in war, he proceeded to Annapolis to
resign his commission. Then follows the story of
his Presidency, and his death at Mount Vernon,
December Il 1879.
1t is painful thing to do to quote unkind words
said Of Washington but to illustrate how his SER
vices to his country were estimated by some and
printed:
Iron the Philadelphia Aurora, March l. I7H.l
Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in
peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation
was the pious ejaculation Of q man who beheld a
food OF happiness rushing upon mankind. If
ever there was a time that would license the re-
iteration Of the exclamation, that time is now
arrived; for the man who is the source OF all the
misfOrtunes Of our country is this day reduced to
level with his tellOW-citizens, and is no longer
possessed Of power to multiply evils upon the
United states. If ever there was period for re-
jOicing, this is the moment. Every heart in uni
son with the freedom and happiness Of the people
ought to beat high with exultation that the name
Of Washington from this day ceases to give a cur
rency to political iniquity, and to legaliZe cor
Tuption. A new era is now opening upon us-an
era which promises much to the people; for public
measures must now stand upon their own merits
and netaTiOus projects can no longer be supported
by a name. When a retrospect ls taken Of the
Washington Administration for eight years. 1t is
a subject Of the greatest establishment that a
single individual should have clnkered the prin-
eiples OF republicanism in an enlightened people
just emerged from the gulf Of despotism, and
should have carried his designs against the pub
lie liberty so far as to have put in jeopardy its
very existence. Such, however, are the facts,
and with these staring us in the face, this day
Ile above article gOundE az mil n
been written by Charles Dana, or MHntOn Mar
BILE, or Wilbur +. Story, or by Brick Pomeroy, in
his palmtest days; for II is lust the way these
patriots would have written had the country
been bhgbted by their presence in 1877. The
writer OF the editorial quoted above was inspired
Dy Just such love OF country, Just such wisdom and
justice, just such want Of decency and selEre-
speet, Just such a disposition to lie and traduce
lnst such an incomprehensible meanness, and
JUST sueh disregard for virtue and honor as
pertains to the maligners of
PRESIDENT GRANT TO-DAY;
and nifty years hence their wicked inventions
VIII De Iead with as much establishment as we
read the above now. 1t is an amazing thing, but
every day we hear eX-rebel statesmen and sol.
diers Of the late COnfederacy in the Congress OF
the United States impuRn with Vituberative
tongue the services and patriotism Of the Presi.
dent, and prate about loyalty TO law and the
Constitution, neither Of which would now exist
could they have had their way. Gordon, whose
sword has slain ten thousand Union soldiers lee
lures Logan on his duty to his country and
Young, who opened the graves for ten thousand
more OF the defenders Of American liberty, i'm.
proves grace, mercy and peace" to bIacken the
name and fame Of Butler. The counterparts Of
Goruon and Young did the same for Washington
as II does now Washington, the time will come
nneh the world will regard the name and fame of
Grant with universal reverence. 1t will be in
proof w -
OF THAT TRUE GLORY
which Seneca said follows yirtue like its shadow
the glcry which is the goal OF an Iofty ambi,
tons which is the guiding star Ia nations and
which while Illuminating the memorIes ~ ne
winners, renders countries, localities and dates
venerable forever" Useful, lust honesti, T1Ist
be the motives and the efforts whose rss1ItS SSs
crowned by Times unerTing reward Of gIorv
GLORY! "a tongue of brass and an unWeaSyjn1.
voice" only could tell the list Of its manygrsdad
claimants. TRcitus truly says that i'to desniSa
glory Is to despise the virtues that win it, Win
the first great victory Of Vieksburg the name Of
Grant ~
COMMENCED ITS FLIGHT TO FAMK
and steadily on since the surrender o! Lea Mt An
pomRttox, il has continued to rise in the estims.
zion Of historians; in the estimation Of statesmen
and soldiers, and in the estimation of every true
American.
It well, on this I'D day of February, this dies
aba, this fete day for our nstion, to stop and
think OF these things. While the unfading oak
and laurel Of glory and fame are to-day re-
woven throughout the land which owes to Wash
1ngton the debt Of Immortality, the splendid SER
vices Of Its latest savior will be likewise remem-
bered.