Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1882-12-14
THOMAS, THE DOUBTER.
Townsend's Life of the Presidents,
from Washington to Buchanan.

| IHOMASg ~
Townsend's Life Of the Presidents,
from Washington to Buchanan.
st. Louis Republican
| MIR. George Alfred Townsend, well known
to all newspaper readers as Gath" de-
iYered his very entertaining and character
| istic lecture, Thomas, the Doubter," at the
Memorial Hall last evening, before an audi
| ence which, by its quality, amply atoned
for what it lacked in quantity.
In opening, he gave picturesque descrip-
| ton of Mt Vernon, its site and surround
ings, explaining the spirit in which he
would treat of the men counted great in the
republic by reference to the title of his
lecture and to the character of Thomas,
who, to be convinced, must place his hand
on his Masters side. After describing the
early
LIFE OF WASHINGTON,
his marriage and more mature habits, he
read letter which he had written to his
wife on setting out for the war, and then
reading one written by Cromwell to his wife
| from the field of Dunbar, he drew a par
allel between the two great men TO the
| Americans advantage. Washington he did
/ nOt view Do ltV ID oou1AJ fACWOA3 q OA4olehS-
| ter expressed by no other term so well as
''goody-goody." He thought him every
| inch a mana man with little nonsense
about him, squaring his own life by rule;
not expecting from others high standard
of sentimental morality, but demanding
| that they should keep their engagements
! His idea of the man was well summed in
| the phrase, "grand old mastif," which he
| applied to him. He was at neither loves
or war like the cavalier, nor like the Puri-
| tan. He had served two British kings, but
| he made no ado about upsetting one. He
| demanded rather than that all men should
| be good in the abstract, that they should
| fulfill their agreements. At the age of
| ffty-fve we find him entering into cove
nant and agreement with one Phillip Bar
bour, gardner, to-wit: That the said Phil
| lip should abstain from becoming intoxi-
| Gated and from spending money for liquors,
| except at the times hereinafter mentioned;
and the contract allowed him to dispose of
| 81 worth of rum at Christmas, 50 worth at
Easter, 81 worth at Whitesuntide, with one
| drink daily at breakfast. In his presenceino
one was allowed to be drunk, to swear or to
| be familiar, but he did not fall into Crom-
wells mistakes of trying to make these
| virtues national ones by
| SPANISH INQUIsITION METHODS.
| Washington did not adopt new philosoph-
| ical notions; liberty to him was not an agita-
ton, but possession, and his own coun-
| try the model of propriety and the whole
end in view. He was not seized with the
| taste to go abroad after his fame brought
homage from every prince and people. He
took his wife from the camp back to their
home and there he prepared it to give re-
spect to his country in the eyes of visitors,
| and never talked of his battles and set his
papers in order for the use of history and
went forth only to preside over the making
| of the constitution and promote communi-
cation with the West. He allowed the
events to arise without and not within him,
and he dealt with them after they came. He
set every formal thing down and lived up to
| it and waited for NOBODY and let nobody
wait for him. He respected needy officers,
| but did not bend his government away
from talent to get the soldier to vote nor re-
venge himself on military rivals as Presi-
dent Of all nations he had the least re-
| spect at last for was France, though La
| fayette was his dearest alien friend. He
| hoped that politicians never would exist In
| America; that men would serve their coun-
| try without classification, and he kept down
parties in his Administration until those
restless, smart, secondhand men, Hamilton
and Jefferson, eaten up with literary conse-
quence and jealousy, preeipitated the
country into two self seeking factions. The
last act of the grand old mastiff's life was to
resent the overthrow of his Government by
men like Jefferson and Burr, and he wrote
to Patrick Henry and Henry Lee like old
friends to come forth again and close with
the little political bosses of that day.
Death, fearing he might mistake his way
into third term of Office, killed him with
little dew, and saved him perfect to al
time-a man who governed his passions tc
the end.
Happily he left no children-none but the
mule.
The audience was rather slow to see the
point, and the lecturer went on to eluci
date, telling how Washington had imported
jacks and jennets, from whom proceeded
these animals which have made the South tt
blossom like the rose. Often, when in tht
last war, he had sat on his horse miret
i nearly TO the saddle girtn, he had almos
despaired of rescuing himself or his coun-
try, till the night-wind bore to him
CLARION VOICE,
drowning the notes of the whippoorwill-
the unsentimental, unmelodious voice of tn,
faithful understanding him that Their
was great hope of pulling the country ou
kof the ditch. And so died Washington
Father of his Country, and the mule.
On John Adams the lecturer dwelt a
some length, bringing in much of his his
tory, making him inferior to Washington
but better than Jefferson. His parallel be-
tween Washington and jefferson was
happy one Jefferson, he said, did not oni,
produce change of party, but change o
sex in his country. The masculine feature
of Washington and John Adams faded from
the god and there came instead the sof
auburn hair and light brown eyes, tn
flexible limbs and feline tread, the warmtl
and waywardness of the lover and tn
woman.
-Four years ago, the lecturer said, he ha
visited Montpelier, the home of Madison
Not brick now stands in the house wher
he was born, and in the mansion where b
lived there was sheep herder, boy and
dog, anxious to move away to some plac
where people did not come when the please
and stay as long as they pleased. Madiso
, was
BETTER STUDENT
than Jefferson. with milder character. e
: never lad child; he had a taste for tht
2 ology a nd his hair turned white like a goo
old yew's. His wife was the better soldier
and once when the British were coming sh
l cut the portrait of Washington from j
frame and determined to fly with maj
r, Had he been associated with Washingto
instead of Jefferson, he would have been
, constructive spirit instead of being the slaV
j of Jefferson. His wife was not unusual
attractive. She had been his boarding mi
tress, and she was well described as Dolly
: From Madison the lecturer came to Nor
a roe to whom he did not devote much attel
. ton. After telling how he was obliged I
leave Virginia to avoid arrest for debt,
: left Monroe for the younger Adams. E
J. recalled the unpopularity of this President
the West-a country which then did n
$ like ''biled shirts" and had no use for
= man who had sent delegates to '.nigg
q congress" With Andrew jackson the We
came into power-Jackson,
AS RUDE AND AS ROYAL