Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-02-22
rnE RICHMOND DIsPATCH-sUNDAY. FEBRUARY %. 1885

| peace alike gave opportunity for the dis
| play Of those incompatible innate quail
ties which no mere circumstances could
create or destroy.
But his sword was not quite yet
ready TO rest quietly in its scabbard.
Need i recall him once more, after his
retirement from the second term OF the
Chief Magistracy, accepting subordi-
nate position under his successor in the
presidency, as Leutenant-Genera Of
the American armies, in view OF an
impending foreign war, which, thank
God, was so happily ayerted?
Nor can any one who hears me re-
quire to be reminded Of that last scene
Of all, when, in his eight-and-sixtieth
year, having been oyertaken by fatal
shower of sleet and snow, in the midst
of those agricultural pursuits in which
he so much delighted at Mount Vernon, he
laid himself calmly down to die" not
afraid to CO." as he whispered to his
| physiciaL-and left his whole country
in tears such as had never flowed be-
fore, MARK the perfect man and be-
hold the upright, for the end Of that
man is peace ~
Eighty-fve years ago to-morrow-his
sixty-eighth birthday-was solemnly
assigned by Congress for general mani
festation of that overwhelming national
sorrow, and for the commemoration,
by eulogies, addresses, sermons, and
religious rites, of the great life which
had thus been closed. But long before
that anniversary arrived, and one day
only after the sad tidings had reached
the seat Of Government in Phila-
delphia, President John Adams, in
reply to message Of the House of
Representatives had anticipated all
panegyrics by a declaration, as true
to-day as it was then, that he was I" the
most illustrious and beloved parsonage
which this country ever produced y"
while Henry Lee, Of Virginia, through
the lips of John Marshall, had summed
up and condensed all that was felt, and
all that could be or ever can be said
in those imperishable words which will
go ringing down the centuries, in every
cline, in every tongue, till time shall
be no more, " First in War, First in
Peace, and First in the Hearts of his
Countrymen
But there are other imperishable
words which will resound through the
ages-words of his own, not less mem
Orable than his acts-sOme of them in
| private letters. some of them in official
| correspondence. some Of them in inau-
gural addresses. and some Of them. |
need not say, in that immortal Farewell
Address which an eminent English his
toran has pronounced unequalled by
any composition of uninSpred WISDOM"
and which ought to be learned by heart
by the children of our schools. like the
Laws of the Twelve Tables in the
schools of ancient Rome. and never for
gotten when those children grow mp to
the privileges and responsibilities Of
manhood.
1t was custom Of the ancient
/ Egyptians, from whom the idea of our
monument has been borrowed should
! rather say evolycd-tO cover their
obelisks with hieroglyphcal inscrip-
tons. some of which have to this day
perplexed and baiilcd all efforts to
decirhcr them. Neither Champollion.
nor the later Lepsius, nor any Of the
most skilful Psychologists. have sue
ceedcd in giving an altogether satiSfac-
tory reading Of the legends on
Pompcy's Pillaran Cleopatra s Needle.
And those inscriptions, at their best.
engraved. as they were. on the granite
or porphyry. with the letters enameled
with gold. and boosted of as illumni-
mating the world with their rays. tell MS
little except the dates and doingS of
some dcspotic Pharoah. whom We will
ingly would have seen drowned in the
ocean Of oblivion, as one of them so de-
servedly was in the depths of the Red sea.
One row of the inscriptions on Cleo
patra's needle. as it so strangely SreetS
us in the fashionable promenade Of our
commercial capital. informs Us. in mag
niloquent terms, OF Thothmes H.. who
lived in the age in which Moses was
born. the age which saw the exodus of
the IsraeliteS. lie is set down as "a
Child of the Sun. endowed with power,
life. and stability" Other inscriptions
STYLE him. or some other PharOah to
whom they relate, the "ChaStiSer Of
Foreign Nations The Conqucror.
The Strong Bull -!
SUCCEEDING GENERATIONS.
Our Washington Needle, while it has
all of the severe simplicity. and far
more than all of the massive grandeur.
which were the characteristics of Egyp-
tian architecture. bears no Inscriptions
whatever, and none are likely ever to
be carved on it. Around its base baS-
reiefs in bronze may possibly one day
be placed, illustrative of some Of the
great events of Washington'S life while
on the terrace beneath may, perhaps,
he arranged cmblematic figures ofJustice
and Patriotism, Of Peace. Liberty. and
Union. All this, however. NAV well he
left for future years, or even for future
generations. Each succeeding genera
ton. indeed. will take it, own pride IN
doing whatever may be wisely done IN
adjoining the surroundings Of thi, ma
jesic pile, and in thus testiiying its own
homage to the memory Of the Father OF
his Country. Yet to the minds eye Of
all American patriot those marble faces
will never seem yacant-neycr seem
void or yoiceleSS. No mystic figures
or hieroglyphical signs will, indeed
be deserted on them. No such vain
glorious words rs COnqueror. or
.Chastiser of Foreign Nations. nor
any such naughty assumption or hca-
then ascription a. Child of the sun"
will be deciphered on them. But ever
and anon as he gazcS there will come
flashing forth in letters of living light
some Of the great words. and grand
precepts, and noble lessons of principle
and duty which are the matchleSs be-
quest Of Washington TO his country
and to mankind.
Can We not all read there already, As
| if ora,eu nv some invisible finger or