Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1894-02-21
WASHINGTON TRAITS.
JOHN CLARK RiDPATH'S ESTIMATE OF
HIS PERSON AND CHARACTER.

Personal Appearance. Physical Strength
and Intellectual Powers of the Father OF
His Country-His Honesty and Sincerity.
His MatcIless Dignity Illustrated.
copyright, 1894, by American Press Associa-
toni
It is difficult to realize such man as
the Father of His Country. He was SO
greatly mythologized by the admiration
of his own times and the worship of the
times following that the real man is OBJ
scured i'll the halo. The nimbus round
about Washington is greater and more
luminous than that of any other figure
in modern history. He has been Tie
idol of poets, philosophers and statesmen
in all the continents. Byron summed it
up i'll the concluding stanza of the "Ode
to Napoleon Bonaparte:''
Where can the weary eye repose
When gazing on the great,
Where neither guilty glory glows
Nor despicabe state?
Yes, one-the first the last, the best
The Cincinnatus of the west,
Bequeathed the name of. Washington.
To make men blush there was but one.
But Washington was real. bike other
men, he had bodily and personal life.
He possessed peculiar mental faculties
and a remarkable character All of these
may be weighed and estimated, not in
the spirit of the myth, but in actual de-
HneatiOn.
In person the man Washington was
strongly individual. Once seen, he was
never forgotten. He was so shaped as to
be distinguished from the common type.
Heswas tall, even to majesty. His stat
ure, however, was attributable to great
length of body and not, as in the case of
Lincoln, to long limbs. Lincoln's body
was hardly beyond the average in length,
but his legs were extraordinary. These
features were reversed in Washington.
His limbs were not greatly beyond the
usual measure, but his body was very
long, so that when he sat he lowered
above his cabinet. When he arose his
height was still conspicuous, but not so
strikingly shown as when he was sitting.
In his boyhood and youth Washington
had extraordinary strength. Westmore-
kdlu COuIlUy uLl ullC Olu OtOludC lOW
still preserve traditions of the young
mans feats. He was the greatest jump
er in all the countryside. His strength
Of arm when in his vigor was tremen-
dous. He is said to have thrown a stone
across the Potomac opposite George
town, but the story may well be doubt
ed. He was the best rider among all the
young men in his part of Virginia. He
mastered the horse with a skill and
strength unmatched in his times. Even
after the Revolution, on certain occa-
sion he took from his groom refractory
and cavorting horse that had thrown
him, seized the animal, mastered him,
mounted him and rode him, laughing
immoderately at the discontinue of the
groom. His great strength was fire.
quently exhibited when he as youth
was surveying or the upper Potomac,
and particularly when he was sent by
Dinwiddie to Fort LIE DHuf L had
great endurance in early life. Nothing
could fatigue or exhaust him.
Washipgton's bodily vigor remained
with him until the Revolution. He was
43 years old when he was appointed
commander in chief. He was past so
when relieved of responsibility. 1t was
in this epoch that his constitution was
shaken and undermined. 1t is probable
that the responsibility of his situation
preyed heavily upon him-at least he
was broken by it. He became prema-
turely gray and partially bald. His elas-
ITCHY of step and manner disappeared.
He lost his teeth. The lines in his face
were always deeply drawn, but during
the Revolution they We're furrowed still
deeper, as if plowed into cutters with
the share Of sorrow. There was often a
painful expression on his face, particu-
larly about the mouth. This feature was
intensified by the bungling attempt of
dentist to fit him with set of artificial
teeth. The work was not successful,
and the dignifed Washington was an
noyed through the rest of his life with
the deformity of his features.
In mind the young Washington, as
well as the aged hero, was sedate and
severe. 1t appears from diary which
he kept when a boy that he never was
boy in instinct or manners. He was
born a man. While still in his teens he
was as sober and saturnine as most men
are at so. Only on occasion did he show
some sign of humor. He never did or
said humorous things himself 1t might
be difficult to discover single joke that
he ever perpetrated, but he was capable
of appreciating humorous situation
and of laughing at it. The CLEAN, how
ever, was only momentary; then the
somber hue returned and settled on his
visage and manner.
On the whole Washington was not
smart man. In his boyhood, though as
siduous, he was not quick to learn. His
intellect was rather strong, but at the