The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1896-02-21

been greater generals, there have been
as great statesmen. there have been
men who combined both capacities per-
haps in as high degree in their acts
done in the broad light of publicity.
But no one comes to mind who during
his lifetime exercised so great an in
| fluence upon his country. OF him it
was true that he can best govern others
who has learned to govern himself.
There is scarcely another parsonage
in history who was at once as patriotic
as the enthusiast, yielding nothing in
fervor for country to the impulsive Pat
rick Henry, and yet preserving that
tranquility which kept his mental vi
sion unobscured by passion and I'M
clouded by the dreams of zealots, equal
in wisdom and calmness of Judgment
as an architect of states to his illustri-
Gus associate. James Madison.
Aspiring to the loftiest ideas of free
dom, independence, prosperity, prog
ress and happiness, his was neverthe-
less moderation which kept in view
that which was attainabIe practically,
and he never reached for the will-o-the-
wisps which dazzle the imagination of
well-meaning, but Impractical enthu-
siasts. He seldom failed in what he I'M
dertook because he tool care not to at
tempt tkatwhich was beyond his means
and never to proceed until his clear
reason saw at every step of the enter
prise the manner of carrying it out.
That this moderation did not lead to
timidity, that the native hue Of resolu-
ton" was not 'sicklied DER with the
pale cast of thought so as to lose its
strength is shown by such bold enter
prises as his incursion into New Jer-
sey across the ice-swollen Delaware and
the successful assault on the British in
vaders.
1t was this dignified moderation
which caused him to estimate Justly
both the resources at his DISPOSE and
the difficulties to be overcome, that
gave him not pride, but confidence, and
thus not only invited, but compelled the
confidence of others. No man differ
emily constituted could have held the
continental army together in the terri
bic winter of Valley Forge and under
the trials and distress caused by jeal-
OusieS in congress and insuf1iciency of
means. Nor could any other type CT
man, on the other hand, have restrained
the impetuosity of his officers and men
who would have used their power for
their own benefit against their coun-
trymen if only to the extent of eXactirg
their just dues.
But more remarkable, because en-
forced by no civil or military author
ity, but only by the weight of his per-
sonality, was his influence during the
time preceding the adoption of the con-
stitution. During the most critical
period of American history, when an
archy threatened to overwhelm the
people, when the various interests of
producer and carrier, of south and
north, of stakeholder and anti-slavery
zealot, local differences of tradition and
descent. and the individual pride of the
states were all pulling in different di-
rectiOns and the body which had been
held together, apparently with re-
luctance, under the pressure of
foreign invasion, bid fair TO be
dissolved into its original units,
it was the personal influence of
Washington that contributed more
than any one cause to happy solution
of the serious difficulties. When the |
state of Virginia, after her heroic con-
duct in the beginning of the revolution |
and throughout the war and her noble |
sacrifice in yielding TO the confedera- !
ton her vast northwest territory, was
on the point of frustrating all that had |