The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1897-06-11

to survey star In the heavens. 1t is a
favorite symbol with men who are rhe-
torically inclined to liken our elevated
characters to something belonging to
stellar glory. All can say, in brief, is
that George Washington was a star of
the first magnitude, with an orbit which
is'not circumscribed according to human
intelligence. Whether as soldier or ci-
william, he is ''pinnacled dim in the in
tense inane'' and has no companion in
glory.
Hjalmer Hjorth Boyesen.-I know
no historic character concerning whom
the verdict of humanity is so unan-
imous as it is concerning George
Washington. With the exception of
Thomas Carlyle, l cannot recall the name
Of any writer of consequence who has
dissented from this verdict. AS far as /
am able to judge, Washington's great
ness did not consist in All abnormal de-
velopment of one great faculty at the
expense of others equally essential, but
in an even and equable development of
all faculties required for leadership both
in peace and in war. 1t was the admira-
BILE poise and balance of his character,
its happy equilibrium, which gave him
his predominance in his own day and
has secured for him an equally domi-
nant position in the worlds history. He
seems at this distance the ideal Ameri-
can, possessing in an eminent degree all
the qualities which constitute the
strength and greatness of this great ma
ton.
Elizabeth Stuart Phelps Ward.-To
give an opinion about Washington seems
to me about like giving an opinion on
truth or honor or patriotism. Robert
Southey's three great lines touch better
than a later poem those early, eager
days:
Where Washington hath left
His awful memory
A light for after timeN
Professor Goodwin Smith. Il can only
say that, seen from my special point of
view, Washington was a great English
man, who fought for English rights
against the government of the king of
England, not against the English ma
tion. Hatred of the English nation he
never betrayed, nor could he be foster
ing It now.
Rev. William H. Ward. D. D.-The
American nation is the gift of no one
man, but of a people to whom no one
man was essential, and whose combined
purpose gave US liberty and nationality.
By vast predominance Of moral force
New England nodded our history, but
it was allowed to Virginia to provide
the military leader, whose skill in the
arts Of war, whose patience in adverse
fortune and whose sublime devotion to
the cause of the people made him our
natural leader. Washington success
depended as much or his character as
OIL his genius And it was this charao-
ter, Ear above all jealous ambition, that
made him the one necessary choice rs
the first administrator Of q new govern
ment, which required in the first head
rather the gifts of faithful administra-
tion than of theOretic political inven-
ton. Ills marked superiority to all 9th
or men of his time and nation consisted
in his unselfish and unambitious readi-
ness and ability to do faithful and adj
mirable rather than brilliant service in
both military and civil affairs.
Philip Sckoff, d. D., LII. D.-Wash- !
ington is one of the greatest gifts of God |
to the American people. The Almighty
Ruler of Nations placed at the head of |
our history man of singular purity of |
private and public life that he might |
command the respect and affection of all |
subsequent generations and bless them
by his example as gentleman, citi
zen, a patriot, general and a president.
The power of WashingtOn's example |
is simply incalculabIe. 1t is said that he
died childless that he might be the Fa-
Their of His Country. He is the child
less father of 100000 of children,
with the prospect of an ever increasing
posterity. Washington combined num-
Der of the noblest qualities in even har-
mony. His greatness consists in his
goodness, and this is the best because it
is the most solid, the most beneficent
and the most enduring kind of greatness.
He succeeded where great men would
have failed. He was the right man in
the right place. Without approaching
the military genius and ambition of an
a Caesar, Charlemagne,
without reaching as a states
man the height of a Pericles, Richie
lieu, Chatham, Bismarck, without
being an orator, as Burke or Webster or
Clay, he surpasses them all by the COM
bination of virtues and the absence of
faults. He made no mistakes. There are
no black spots on his reputation. For
sound judgment, integrity, symmetry
and commanding dignity of character he
has no superior among great men. He
feared God and loved righteousness. His
sole ambition, his highest happiness,
was to do his duty and to serve his coun-
try. He gained the respect of all ma
TONS Some of the strongest tributes to
his name are from Englishmen who for
get the defeat of their country in the ad-
of his unselfish patriotism.
Even Washington in his lifetime had
his revilers and slanderers. Tom Paine,