Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1899-12-14
THE FATHER or MS COUNTRY.

Measured by the eternity of which the
life-work of man forms but a part, it was
yesterday when Washington died. 1t
seems but the down going of a sun and
father of his country passed away. Yet
as time is chronicled for the convenience
of man a hundred years have swept over
the world, freighted with history, since
the master mind of Americas travail re-
turned to God.
Today the anniversary of the death of
Washington is being observed through
out the republic that was made possible
by the genius of his head and heart. A
century has dried the tears of the ma
ton, and replaced the grief for his leave
taking with a profound respect for his
memory and national gratitude for the
undimmed glory of his achievements.
Washington filled the place in the
worlds economy to which the unfathom-
able tide of human affairs assigned him,
and in the evolutions of life Went peace
AttiIy ~ AIS II iIii'SipIi VI lie
nation is not the dedication of his name,
but the commemoration of the noble vir-
tues that embellished his public life with
faithfulness to every trust and the cour-
ageous performance of every duty. The
conditions that reared him to leadership.
when a weaker mind would have defect
ed the history of the new world into other
channels, and made our republic an i'm
possibility, we're in themselves prophetic
of the work which the subtle hand Of
destiny had outlined for the birth of a
mighty nation.
Washington was an instrument in the
trend Of events for the fatherhood of a
great cause-an instrument responsive to
every duty and faithful to every trust.
To cherish his memory is to keep alive
within the human heart an appreciation
of the public virtues that characterized
his career and made possible the great
ness of his name. To forget the self-sac-
rifices of the nations noble dead, and
the forces they set in motion for the pub
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of faithful service and lessen the honor
of doing right.
1t is a grand work for good citizenship
hat the Masonic order is doing in OBJ
serving with proper ceremonials the
anniversary of the death of Washing
ton. 1t prevents the sordid cares of the
work-a-day world from eclipsing the
Of the achievements that made
possible the liberties we now enjoy. It
revives national interest in the founder
of the republic and the character of the
work he performed, 1t creates anew the
pictures of his struggles and triumphs
I'M camp and field-and points to the
splendid mental equilibrium of the man.
The courage and calmness which char
acterlzed the activities of his life made
peaceful the approach of death. Nc
truly great man, who has rounded out his
career of duty with a clear conscience,
has ever feared the on-coming of the
silent messenger from the other shore.
No man who can courageously face the
duties Of life need fear the inevitable duty
of dying, when the appointed hour is
reached on the dial plate of time. In
life and in death Washington was a hero.
He founded a nation of heroes, and in
stituted an heroic age.
The American republic, which lay
coiled as a latent possibility in the am
bition Of Columbus to discover an UNI
known world, was nurtured into a seed
ling by the Pilgrim Fathers and bios
somed into fruit under the guiding hand
of Washington. 1t has put forth sturdy
branches and grown to gigantic pro-
portions since the ashes of our first great
hero were entombed at Mount Vernon.
With the memor of Washington before
us, and the value of his work analysed
in the laboratory of human reason, let it
become the duty Of every citizen to
carefully nurture the tree of free gov
eminent and preserve it from the blight
OF ages in the flight of time. Let the
jealous sIove of national loyalty protect
it from the storms that gather in the