The evening times., 1896-02-22

| sas spoke upon Washington as First in
War;" 1--WE should not forget" he said.
that war has Its lessons. 1t Is doubtless
true. that as humanity now exists, war Is
frequently a necessity. In the brief period
OF Our national life we have been in vOlvcd
In four great conflicts-the Revolution, the
war of 1912, the war with Mexico and
our great civil conflict. =
"The character of Washington stands as
an eternal and enduring monument on the
borders between two historic feds. Be-
hind him are all the bloody successes OF
the leaders of antiquity: in front OF him is
mingling of force and persuasion of in
tclligence and power Illuminated with the
light of all ages and the experience of the
past. 1t was given to him to read as in an
open book the Unreasonable possibilities
of this western hemisphere. 1t was grant
ell to him perhaps in q greater degree
than to any other man OF his generation
or time to fully appreciate this the great
est of republics and its manifest destiny.
'As a military leader he was an anomaly
among men of military fame. He has been
accorded high place among military chief
tains, and with common consent is first
in war among his countrymen. And yet
HS hchNi Voh u PitSuNu ''"'NAS va 'OsSe'
quence. His successes In military way
were upon the lines of the Fa bian policy
of fighting and retreating. Of harassing
and crippling. OF annoying and destroying
the opposing antagonists.
''He cxcelIed all other men OF his genera
tion. unless perhaps II was Alexander
Hamilton, in constructive force and power.
His campaigns and public affairs were
conducted upon the most scrupuious bust
ness principles. The careful and detailed
management exhibited In private affairs
were carried with the utmost scrupuiOus-
ness and conscientious patriotism into
his military life. He saw with the vision or
a Seer the shapely fabric OF the coming
republic"
MR.. SwANsON's ADDRESS.
Hon. Claude A. Swanson. in response to
toast to virginia. said
"Thcse exercises could not fittingly con-
clude without tribute Ia the State that
gave Washington Ia the republic. America
gave him to the whole world and to allages.
"Greater than Napoleon was the French
nation that followed his fortune and made
possible his career; greater than the tri-
umphant Caesar was the stern brave. self
sacrificing, self-denying Roman nation:
greater than Alexander was the iagnificeut
Greek nation, whose loyalty and bravery
won his victories. I can but carry the COM
parison further and say that greater than
the immortal Washington himself is the
splendid common w ealth tnat gave him
birth, and whose loyal. patriotic heart and
strong arm made possible his achieve
ments for his country and for ma ankind.
IF Virginia had only furnished Wash
ington to the world her fame would have
been eternal and her obligation fully ao-
quilted. but she has additional claims for
distinction. Her House OF Burgess was the
first TO pass resolutions against the stamp
act and utter opposition to British oppres-
sion and tyranny. Her House OF Burgess
was the first to recommend a general con-
gress Of the colonies. and IL wasthematch-
less eioquence of Patrick Henry that stirred
the American heart to resistance and CON
denscd the creed OF the Revolution into
the electric sentence, Liberty or DEATH
1t was her Jefferson who penned the Decla
ration of Independence. her Richard Henry
Lee who, in the Continental Congress.
moved the adoption of the resolutions OF
freedom and equality: II was the patience
and genius of her Washington that dis
years hung over the country, and it was
the generous sacrifice and patriotic ac-
tivlty of Virginia that started the influ-
cnces that resulted In the Union and the
Constitution.
Her Madison was the author OF the Con-
situation, the most splendid piece OF con-
structive government the world has ever
known. Five great and prosperous States
L. Toll nal tow
tory. when the Constitution was paper
parchment. lifeless and underlined, she fur
nished her Marshall as its great expounder.
"As the receding years shall destroy all
sectional and partisan passions and they
shall be swallowed in a common love for
reunited country people OF all sections and
States viii be proud to claim kinship and be |
of the race OF Stuart, Jackson and Lee"
DIR. sTAFFoRD'S GRAFTON.
Rev. DR.. d. ]. Stafford. to whom was |
given the second topic, said:
In the act that appealed to humanity, |
proclaimed confidence In man, and launched |
the ship OF stat in the tidesoftine. Washing |
ton took a prominent part. He had led the !
armies OF his country, and amid battles, |
sieges. fortunes. all the varying vicissitudes |
of war displayed that dauntless courage, |
that un yielding spirit. that readiness of re-
source. that supreme love or liberty, which
insure victory. And we may be proud OF
lis record as a soldier.
when the war was over. when the
,eriod began that TO the mere soldier
would have been the piping times of.
,eace,' when the mere soldier, or the self
ecker, or the glory-Iover would have sought
,ersonal advancement. personal dominion,
nd personal power as result of service
n the field, this man, Washington, with a
ublime patriotism, handed his sword to
lis country, which he had served without
and asked as his only re-
ward that he might be permitted to re-
member, amidst the sylvan beauty of Mount
rernon, that he had once served his country
nd merited her gratitude.
But his country would not have 1t so
Ind. placed at the head of the government,
le found himself confronted by greater
difficulties than he had ever met on the
icld of battle. A government was to be
established; constitution elaborated; a
,olicy started; commerce extended; national
redit secured. All this could not have
,cen done, and was n OF done, without op'
position.
lie iHduSuTdteu poiicy WHICH Is yet
he best American policy. A century, in
which there have been some wise men and
ONE great statesmen, has not improved
pom it. 1t remains today the best, the
My American policy. and Congress said
vell to him. when he was leaving public
fe, that his example would be forever
he greatest Inheritance Of the American
cople.
What was the policy of Washington?