The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1899-12-18

ihS power among the udllouS VI tiaS
earth.
Washington is remembered and hon
cred not SO much for his genius as for
his goodness. He was an eminently
sane man, intellectually and morally.
He was well balanced. He was utterly
unselfish. He had no private ends to
scheme for. His ambitions were all for
the nation. He was willing to sacrifice
everything for the sake of the country
that he SO passionately and intelligent
ly loved. He won the confidence of
his contemporaries by reason of his high
moral character and uniform good
judgment. It was his sublime moral
qualities that sustained him and kept
the nation intact through those years
| OF stress and strain. His wisdom in
seeing what ought to be done, his cour-
age in undertaking to do the thing that
ought to be done, his answering per-
!. sistence in the chosen path of duty were
under God, the chief means of Great
ing this republic. 1t is right to call
nun the Father of his country, for with
out him the republic would not have
been born. He was the brain and soul
OF that great moral and political move
ment
1
causes. The great movements in the
worlds history are the achievements OF
great men. You cannot have great
thought without great thinker. For
the great epic you must have a Milton.
For the great drama you must have
Shakespeare. For the great painting
you must have a Raphael. At the back
OF every great movement that has
blessed the world and lifted it sunward
stands some one great, strong man
The part played by personality in great
world movements cannot be overesti-
mated. The main factors in the worlds
progress have been and are great,
strong, Godordained, God-inspired
men, When God would do some great
thing for mankind he capitalizes the
forces of reform in some one person.
This one man stands out as the brain
and conscience of the movement. He
becomes the leader of the movement.
He sees the end from the beginning.
| He sees victory where others see only
defeat His courage becomes conta-
gious His faith heartens others Men
follow him because they believe in him.
They believe in him because he believes
in his cause. He believes in his causa
because he believes in God. This is the
philosophy of history. This is the mean
ing of all great movements. Back of
| the movement stands the man, and
back of the man stands God. 1t is i'm
possible to overestimate the place and
power of the individual man and leader.
To lead a band Of slaves out of Egypt
and mold them into a nation you must
have a Moses. To awaken a nation
from moral stupor and death you must
have a Wesley. To find a continent
you must first find a Columbus. Eng
land will crouch at the feet of despot
until a Cromwell arises. Napoleon will
| continue to curse all Europe until
Wellington confronts him at Waterloo
| and stays his march of ruin. To call
a republic into existence God must
first call a Washington into existence.
When you have a Washington you can
have a republic, but not before and
not without. All great movements turn
on men. The quality Of the man is
the great determinative factor in any
great movement.
i There is a passage in the book of
Exodus that often comes to my mind
when 1 think of political movements
and men. 1t is especially appropriate
in considering the life of Washington.
and in considering our duty to the Re
public he created and bequeathed to
US. The children of Israel had just
emerged from the tyrannous rule of
Pharoah and were being organized into
a separate, independent nationality. At
this critical juncture there was given
to them by divine inspiration this wise
faTshn11 ~ ont Of
all the people able men, such as fear
God; men of truth, hating covetousness,
and place such over them to be rulers
Modern political economy has no wiser
word to say to US to-day than this
same message that came to Moses in
the early days of the republic he was
called to form.
You will notice that the form of gov
eminent is to be democratic. 1t is to
be republic, and not a monarchy.
The rulers are to be chosen ''out of all
the people," 1t is true that the people
| afterward adopted a monarchical form
of government in order to be like the
nations round about them, but it was
clearly against the divine will that
they did so. They were warned against
monarchy, but they persisted, and God
finally permitted them to have their
way.
In the counsel given to Moses, not
only is the form of government indi-
Gated, but emphasis is laid on the char
acter of the men who are to be put liz
trust with the nations affairs. Thou
shalt provide able men, such as fear
God; men Of truth, hating covetous-
ness" Happy is the nation that has for
its leaders and counselors men of this
type of character. Such man was
| Washington.
I He was an able man. He discerned
the needs of the day in which he lived
He had understanding of the times and
knew better than anyone else what the
nation ought to do He was wise in
counsel and prompt in action. He
combined the wisdom of the statesman
with the courage of the soldier Guizot
said he did the two greatest lilings in
politics that man can be called on to
do. He maintained in peace the in
dependence of the country which he
had acquired by war" Cromwell broke
up monarchy, but was not able to
form republic. Washington uprooted
a monarchy, and in it's place planted
a republic. He had ability to create as
we'll as destroy. His talents were con
structive, not destructive. He was