The record-union., 1898-02-22
THE TRUE THOUGHT OF TO-DAY.

The anniversary of the birth of Wash
ington is an occasion when the American
people should turn from their usual vo
cations to give time to reflection con-
cerning their country, to the establish
ment of which the nlustrious patriot
gave the best years Of his life, offered
freely his liberties and sacrificed his
personal comforts and ambitions. that a
free people might be made secure in
the blessings Of liberty.
No man can turn to such patriotic
duty and privilege and not find reward
in the judgment of his soul, and the con-
xiction that he owes to the forefathers
of the nation the common respect and
profound veneration due to those who
have distinguished themselves by self
sacrifice in the interests Of the human
race. We observe the day which gave
George Washington to the world, not in
man worship, nor alone in exaltation Of
personal prowess or heroic achievement,
but out OF regard for the principle he
represented and the example he gave to
the world.
If we find in the present some discon-
tent and friction, some doubling and
halting, some fainting by the way and
some gloom upon the national sky, we
should remember that no country has
been listed among the nations of earth,
that has not experienced the same. Nor
sndeed. should we forget that even in the
time Of Washington and his colleagues,
there was far more Of pessimistic fore
casting and speculation, of doubling and
complaining than there Is to-day. While
conditions We're not then such as we ex
perience there We're more and darker
clouds IN the national sky, grayer prob
zems to solve in national councils. and
far more of menacing enmity and dis
trust
Washington himself was not free from
assault. The American system was re-
viled and the struggles Of the patriot
fathers were made In the face of violent
opposition, and secret and avowed ene-
mics. The privileged classes were
powerful and shrewd, and brought TO
bear against the scheme Of free govern
znent all the arts Of sophistry and the
Vaccinations of autocratic power. social
and commercial. to crush the budding
thought of a republican establishment
and to hold the struggling colonies in
a condition Of ignoble dependence.
Against all these, against poverty. III
equipment, a wild and but partially set
tied country; against foes from over the
sea, savages from forests and traitors
within; against the diplomacy of an all
powerful monarchy and the devices OF
the most masterful nation upon the face
Of the globe; against treaehery at home
and the assault Of trained and hardened
troops from without: against the then
prevailing sentiment of the righteous
ness Of the cause of princes. and the con-
temptuous scoffing OF the old world at
the idea of government and the
declaration that true government
springs only from the consent of the
governed, washington and his compeers
prevailed. Not because Of their per-
sonal valor. heroic devotion and unex-
amplea courge and persistence alone.
but because that for which they did bat
tie was grounded in eternal justice and
could not fail, and the cause of human
advancement and uplifting still proceed.
That such achievement and founding
after this brief lapse Of time should still