The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1897-02-23


quality of his Americanism, when he
said, II want an American character,
that the powers of Europe may be con-
WINGED that We act for ourselves, and
not for Others" and still more when
he made provision in his win for the
founding of a national university, eX-
planning that he desired the establish
ment of an institution where American
youth might be educated without i'm
billing principles unfriendly to repub-
ican government, and to the true and
genuine liberties of mankind Those
words We're conceived in the spirit of
that larger Americanism in which we
all believe, but do not find in all our
leaders-the spirit which is not content
with parading a chip upon it's shoulder
and declaiming of our greatness and
glories, but with steadfast faith in
our possibilities sets itself to the task
of making this the best country under
heaven for the nurture of ideas and
the development of men.
That is the Americanism which
Washington taught us; it is the Amer
icanism of jefferson, and Clay, and
Webster, and Lincoln; it is the Ameri-
canism which is to save us from polit-
ical charlatanism and all the silly mas
querade of bumptiousness under the
name of patriotism.
The second teaching of that early
period is that he learned how to handle
himself. You remember the story of
the rules for behavior which he copied
from an old English book and wove in
to his thinking. What was the final
meaning of those rules? Self-control;
and that was the saving grace of his
character; he could not be, discourag-
ed; he could not be stampeded; he had
himself in hand. 1t was that les
son, learned in his boyhood, that
put the calm, strong figure of Wash
ington in the forefront of his time: In
those perilous days just preceding the
Revolution, at the head of the undiscl-
plined, ill-equipped "embattled farm
ers," through the reverses, the suffer-
ings, the cabals, and the temptations
Of those dreary years. in the dangerous
moment of victory, during the con-
federation when conflicting interests
and mutual jealousies threatened to
sacrifice everything they had bought
with blood, amid the difficulties of an
office that was without precedents or
traditions it was this saving grace of
self control that held him steady,
strong, and serene, and made him the
support of a perplexed and sore-tried
people That is the quality we need as
a nation to cultivate:
1.-THE self-control that makes and keeps
a people free"
Without it free institutions cannot
survive and union of sovereign states
is but a rope of sand. The hysterical
patriots who shrek their praise or
blame at every passing change; the jim
goes and blatant fools whose antics a
wise providence sometimes uses for our
correction; the partisans whose greedy
hands are always clutching spoils; the
dema gogues who foment discomfort,
and precipitate panics, and buster in
the ears of Europe; all the boisterous
restless crew, who know not how to
rule themselves, are shamed and 81
fenced by this first Americas calm
grave strength, so patient and so
pure" He began early because it was
in him to begin early, and the need
was. At sixteen he bursts upon the
world 6 feet 2 inches in height, mus
cular, courageous, a surveyors chain
in his hand, ready for duty; from that
hour his hands were never empty of
the symbols of service. AT nineteen he
is soldier and a leader of men. You
do not need that I should follow him
through those years Of his splendid SER
vice in the war with France; his re-
peated successes in business, in war and
in love, are a glorious revelation of
genuine American characteristics. I
ask the young men of the time to look
at him as he stands there at the close
of that period, twenty-seven years ago,
with magnificent physique, in perfect
health, happy in his domestic relations,
honored by his state, the foremost SOL
der on the continent, most widely and
favorably known, and one of the richest
men in the country. Where in all our
records do you find a more impressive
figure? But he does not count himself
hero, or claim reward; without sor-
did ambition, sober-minded, conscien-
tious he quietly turns to the care of his
estate and the faithful discharge of
civic duties. When, on his first ap-
pearance as a delegate in the Virginia
house of burgesses, the speaker pre-
scented him the hearty thanks of the
body, he was so overcome with embar-
rassment that he could not utter a
syllable in reply: "Sit down, Mr..
Washington" said the speaker, your
modesty equals your valor, and that
surpasses the power of any language
I possess" But the years of quiet with
dignity are few: the storm of revolu-
ton, long threatened, bursts upon the
land; the shot is fired at Concord that
was 'heard round the world Where
but to Mount Vernon should the Col
onies look for the leader in whom they
could safely trust? His qualities of
mind and heart, the impression he had
created as a surveyor and a soldier, his
conspicuous services in the Virginia
house of burgesses and in the CONT
mental congress united to mark him the
man of destiny. If any testimony were
needed to the impression he had made,
it may be found in those words of Mrs.
Washington to a Tory friend who had
criticised his attitude, George is right,
he is always right" Great men are not
always great at home, no man is a
hero to his valet" but Washington had
inspired the woman who loved him with
unshakable confidence in his Judgment
and his devotion to the cause of truth.
He was not raised up untitled, leaders
are born and made; he had had long