The times., 1896-02-14

low, the Revolution would have failed
before it began. Had he fallen at Tren-
ton or Princeton or Monmouth or White
Plains or Germantown, the struggle
would havo stopped, the colonies would
have been conquered, and, though the
separation from the mother country
must have come, for it was SO writ in
the book of fate, yet it would have been
deferred for a long time, for there was
none among the patriot leaders who
could measure up to Washington. In
him was embodied the cause of Amer
lean independence, and he was the in
carnation Of duty, of self sacrifice and
of the loftiest patriotism.
The late humorist, Artemus Ward,
once referred to Washington as the only
great man who never stopped over" I"
There is much in the homely expression.
How many Of the worlds heroes have
"slopped overP' How many have posed
before the world and said and done
things for which their friends blushed
and because Of which even they in after
years hung their heads with shame
And yet rarely did Washington lose that
majestic self possession, his matchless
poise, and not once did he fail in dis
playing good, hard, common sense. Who
ever heard of foolish expression that
fell from his lips or Of a silly thing done
by him?
He vivified and pervaded the Revolu-
tion from its birth to the end. y 1t was
his spirit which breathed the breath of
life into it's nostrils. Amid all discour-
apemants. when the skies We're the dark
est, when corruption prevailed in high
places, when base men conspired to ruin
him, when the tongue of slander was ac-
tive, when the warmest of friends doubt
ed and faltered, he was never swayed
a hairbreadth from the line of duty.
He saw as if with the eye Of omnis-
cience the end from the beginning, and
nothing could shake that abiding faith
in heaven and in the triumph Of the
cause of liberty.
He could be stern, as when he refused
the prayer Of Andre, and it is easy to be-
lieve that had he been able to lay his
hands ON Arnold he would, in his con-
suming wrath, have smitten him dead
to the earth. He could be tender, as
when at Trenton he stood with sympa-
thetic words beside the bed of the dying
Hessian commander, but the one all
swaying, all controlling motive of his
life was his love for his native land. He
recoiled from the offer of the crown of
his country as he would have recoiled
from the rattle of snake in his path
He was good, he was unselfish, and he
was great in the highest acceptance of
the term.
And yet Washington must not be del
fed, for he had his failings. There is no
doubt that when he confronted the
treacherous Lee at Monmouth he cursed
him roundly, as he deserved to be ours
ed, but the recording angel blotted out
the words with tear" Henry Ward
Beecher declared that when he learned
that Washington swore at Monmouth he
heaved sigh of relief and said: "Good |!
Now know he was one of usl' He
could exchange shady joke with Knox
when crossing the Delaware; he could
not but know that he possessed one of
the handsomest figures in America, and
who shall find fault il he occasionally
posed for his countrymen to admire
him?
To our mind the sweetest picture in
which Washington appears is when, on
his way to become the first president,
he turned aside to bid his aged mother
goodby. The massive man, in the prime
of his magnificent powers, with the
strength Of giant, picked up that frail,
wasted form as if it were that of an in
FAINT, and, holding her to his vast chest,
kissed her again and again and mingled
his tears with hers. What greater crown
Of glory could woman crave than to be
the mother of George Washington?
Let us thank heaven that he died when
he did. He had rounded out to the full
his matchless life's work. There was
nothing left for him to do. He escaped
the quicksands into which other feet
have been tempted, and, folding his
hands, lay down and passed away in the
fullness Of years with his fame at its
zenith, and, like the star set in the heav-
ems, too firmly placed for anght to draw
It aside from its marvellous orbit.
EDWARD s. ELLIS.