Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-02-22

cateu ana fTltICaf auatIs. ofAttsohc
and honor wait ever on their persons
and their names But we do not csti-
mate Miltiadcs at Marathon, or Pau
sanias at Plataa. or Themistoclcs
at Salamis, or Rpaminondas at Man
tinea OF Leuctra, or Leonidas at Their
mopyle, by the number Of the forces
which they led on land or on sea. Nor
do we gauge the glory Of Columbus by
the size Of the little feet with which he
ventured so heroically upon the perils
Of mighty unknown deep. There
are some circumstances which can
not occur twice some occasions
Of which there can be no rope
titiOn; some names which will
always assert their individual pre-
eminence, and will admit Of no rivalry
or comparison. The glory Of Column
bus can never be eclipscd, never ap-
preached, till our New World shall re-
quire fresh discovery and the glory
of Washington will remain unique and
peerless until American independence
shall require to be again achieved or
the foundations Of constitutional liberty
to be laid anew.
Think not that am claiming an i'm
maculate perfection for any mortal man.
One Being only has ever walked this
earth of ours without sin. Washing
ton had his infirmities and his passions
like the rest of us he would have been
more, or less, than human had he never
been overcome by them. There were
young officers around him, in camp
and elsewhere, not unlikely to have
thrown temptations in his path,
whether he ever yielded TO them
or not. There were treacherous
men, too, whose words in council, or
conduct in battle, or secret plottings
behind his back, aroused his righteous
indignation, and gave occasion for mem
orable bursts of anger. Now and then
there was disaster, like that of St.
Glars expedition against the Indians
in 1871, the first tidings of which stirred
the very depths of his soul and be-
trayed him into a momentary outbreak
Of mingled grief and rage, which proved
how violent were the emotions he was
so generally able to control.
MADE NO BOASTS.
He made no boast Of virtue or of
yalor, and no amount Of tlattery ever
led him TO be otherwise than diStrust-
full of his own ability and merits. As
early as 1857, when only twenty-five
years of age, he wrote to Governor
Dmwidde THAT | have foibles, and
perhaps many Of them, | shall not
deny; | should esteem myself, as
the world also would, vain and
empty were to arrogatc per-
fiction" On accepting the COM
mand of the army of the Revolution.
in l77j, he said to Congress: Il
beg it may be remembered by every
gentleman in the room that | this day
declare, with the utmost sincerity, do
not think myself equal to the command
| am honored with" And, in HI
when informed that anonymous accu-
sations against him had been sent to
Laurcns, then President of Congress. he
wrote privately to beg that the paper
might at once he submitted TO the body
to which it was addressed. adding these
f,,,,l or,l ,nl,l. ,..,v.l.s " Ia. .1,,ttI.l
! be exempt from ccnsure-thc mtail-
ing lot Of an elevated station. Merit
and talents whicc ! cannot pretend to
riyalhayc been subjected toit My hearts
tell me it has been my unrcmitted aim
to do the best which circumstances
would permit; yet ! may have been
very often mistaken in my Judgment
Of the means, and may, in many IN
stances. deserve the imputatlon of
error" And when, at last. he was
contemplating a final retirement from
the presidency. and, in one Of the
drafts Of his Farewell Address. had
written that he withdrew with
pure heart and undeliled hands," or
words to that effect, he suppressed the
passage and all other similar express
SionS. lest. as he suggested. he should
claim for himself a measure of periec-
ton which all the world now uniteS in
according to him. For | hazard little
in asserting that all the world does now
accord TO Washington a tribute. which
has the Endorsement Of the Encyclo-
pndia Britannica. that of all men that
have ever lived, he was the greatest Of
good men and the best Of great men,
Or. let me borrow the same idea from a
great English poet. who gave his young
life and brilliant genius to the cause OF
Liberty in modern Greece. Where.
wrote Byron
Where may the wearied eye repOse
when gazing on the great.
Where neither guilty glory glOWs,
Nor dekpicable state!
Yes. one-the first. the last. the best
The Cincinnntus OF the West.
whom envy dared not hate
Reuueathpd the name Of Wash mgion.
To make men blush there was but one
TO what other name have such tn
butes ever been paid by great and good
men. abroad as well a. AT home: fou
have not forgotten the language Of Lord
Erskine, in his inscription of one Of his
productions to Washington himself
- You are the only being for whom |
have an awful reverence " You have
not forgotten the language Of Charles
James Fox in the House Of Commons
" IlluStriOuS man, before whom all Dor
rowed greatness sinks into inSigniti-
canoe" You have not forgotten the LAM
guagc Of Lord BrOugham, twice uttered.
at long intervals, and with purpose. a.
Broueham himself once told me. to I'M
press and enforce those emphatic words
a. his fixed and final judgment
=. Until time shall be no more will
test of the progress which our race has
made in wisdom and virtue be- derived
from the vcneration paid 10 the lmmOr-
tai name Of Washington
Nor can fail to welcome the crown
ing tribute, perhaps, from our mother
Undertaking me. aS It has, at the
last moment OF revising what | had
prepared for this OccaSion--in a pub
lshed letter from Gladstone. her great
Prime Minister. who, after saying. IN
casual conversation. that Washington
was 1.-THE pure.t figure in history,