The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-03-01

NA-+A 1E appropriate to the patriotic character of the day, the preacher extols the patriot ism, the statesmanship and the Christian ity of "the Father of His Country as worthy of the emulation of all good Americans. The text is Genesis xvii. I. ''Thou shalt be a father of many nations. ]"
 Among the monarchs of Europe there is only one whose lot consider enviable. Justin Mccarthy once wrote that the princes who were born to thrones ought to be the most pitied or all men. The kings and queens of Europe. as a rule, are doomed to lives of oppressive and cir cumscribed servitude. The would-be as- sassins are always skulking around, ready to dig their graves. Kings cannot marry those with whom they fall in love, as other men are allowed to do. When they wed, considerations of state policy and of international alliance govern the choice of partner, and they must not marry simply to satisfy the cravings of their own hearts. They must breathe. for the most part, the tainted atmosphere of sy- cophantal praise and insincere adulation. Royalty has its drawbacks as we'll as It's dangers; but there is one conspicuous ex- ample of their being overcome. Even q freeborn American citizen can afford to admire the domestic relations of the Ger man emperor. The six bright healthy intelligent boys and the lovely little girl who compose his family circle are a group to make fathers heart glad. To be the head of such a family Is more gratifying than to be the head of the German empire.
 It was so that the beautiful Cornelia felt that she declared that no wealth was comparable to being mother of the Gracchi. What, then, must be the joy of that man who Is told that he is to be the father of many nations!' For that reason the Hebrew people honor the name of Father Abraham; for that reason the American people ought to honor the name of George Washington. As the Hebrews to this day venerate the man from whom their race sprang, so we have in the lead CT and founder of our commonwealth a man whose character is worthy of all our honor and veneration. Thousands upon thousands of pilgrims have journeyed to the shrines of Machpelah, in which are supposed to be buried Father Abraham and Sarah, his wife. On this national hol- iday in imagination we should be willing to journey to the Mount Vernon tomb ifl which slumber the mouldering bodies of Father Washington and Martha, his wife. We should on this Washington's birthday be glad to give up at least one service to the study of the life and the character of this great and good man, whose name not only towers above all other names ifl American history, but whose life has won the admiration of other nations as we'll as of our own.
 A We'll Rounded Man.
 George Washington was a well-rounded man. His was not the brilliant genius or a Napoleon or a Richelieu or a Mazarin or a Cardinal Wolsey. His military ca- reer was not spectacular, like that of the Arnold or Green or Morgan or Light Horse" Harry Lee or Mad" Anthony Wayne. His pen was not facile, like that of Hamilton or Jefferson. He had no ora torical gifts, like those of Henry or Adams or William Pinckney; but, as he had not the dazzling talents of such men, neither did he have the mortal weak nesses which marred their characters.
 Whenever we touch the life and char acter of Washington there we find that if he had any genius, his" as David Gregg wrote, was the genius of character and of character alone. As a boy he was not brilliant boy, but a good boy, a noble, high principled boy. We do not have to refer to the fabled hatchet story to prove this. There are still pre- served In his own boyish handwriting the famous rules he made to govern his future life, which he wrote out at thirteen. Among those rules are these words: "En- deavor to keep alive in your bosom that little divine spark called conscience" As a young man we do not find him a bril- liant young man, but conscientious and painstaking young man. He was ap- pointed public surveyor by Lord Fairfax Why? Because Lord Fairfax knew thar when the plodder, George Washington, recorded a measurement there would never be a doubt of the one fact thar that measurement was right. As a ma tured man we can not portray the well roundedness of Washington's life better than by quoting these words written by MT. Lear, his private secretary, who lived with him as a member of his family in Mount Vernon: General Washington Is. l believe, almost the only man of exalted character who does not lose some part ot his responsibility by an intimate &C., quaintance. I have never found single thing that could lessen my respect for him. A complete knowledge of his hon. esty, uprightness and candcr in all his private transactions has sometimes lea me to think him more than a man."
 Washington's character was not the grandeur of snow capped mountain, full of crevasses and fatal precipices It was that of well chiseled piece of marble. over which the scuptor's hand has gone over again and again. His character was not developed in an instant as a comet leaps into existence and then disappears But his character growth can aptly be compared to the sunrise, which grows brighter and brighter and sheds forth a more refulgent light until at last that