The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-02-22

NoWhere does this familiar truth need
 more often to be rehearsed than in the
 ears of those who stand where men
 look to them for leadership. When a
 man assumes a public trust" said Jef-
 ferson, he should consider himself as public property" Every clamorous private interest, every hampering per
 sonal ambition, every merely partisan purpose, must bravely be set aside, and duty to the whole public must be taken as the final standard by which every
 word and every measure shall be judg- ed. And such men are always taken care of. The Almighty never forgets the souls that keep step with Him. The future is theirs; history will vindicate their motives and their conduct, and they will be enrolled among the immor- tals. This clear-eyed leader. who stands so strong and serene in the background or our history, has an undying word for every man who hesitates between pri- vate interest and public duty, and he says, Love myself last," He calls
 upon every man to believe that the public need is his commission, that the
 public business is his business, and that
 he cannot neglect his public responsi-
 bilities and go unwhipped of justice When this word duty has once been enthroned in the soul as the determi- nant of relations and conduct two re- suits will follow. There will first fol- low sacrificial devotion to truth and liberty and every cause that lifts man into the light. That was Washington s answer to the call of his time. To a soul like his, in which the sense of oughtness has become regnant, no times are too strenuous, no sacrifice is too great; the calm, clear answer to every high demand is, T can!" And through the strident cries of the braggart and the knave and the selfish that thrilling answer rings to the ear of God and to the heart of the waiting people, and eager hands push the man who makes it to the front Follow him through the swift chapters of his great career in all that splendid record you will not find a moment when he swerves from his splendid devotion to the cause of liberty and man.
 And the second result that follows the enthronement of this word duty in the soul is unconquerable courage and sublime self-control. There are few examples in history that are more in- spring at this point than the example of Washington. His was the courage that mounteth with occasion" so that each new emergency found him ready to face and conquer it, the "cuorage never to submit nor yield" the .'cour- age to endure and to obey Condi- tions whose bare recital daunts little fnettle and waken in him that divine obstinacy which turns a forlorn hope into glorious victory. Swarming red coats and the plans of British generals were not the worst difficulties he had to face. Jealousies and cabals were all about him; assertions and treacheries were a daily menace; equipments and supplies were refused or grudgingly granted; his ragged, hungry little army was responding to the discomfort pre- vailing in the colonies, but through all these hardships he moved with quiet front and steadfast heart. Whatever you may claim for other heroes, there is nothing more majestic in American history than the figure of Washington in those dark days of the struggle. Let the hysterical patriots who are ever shrieking their fears and parading their emotions in the pained ears of a long suffering public study that figure; let them wait in his presence till his divine calm his sanity. his ability to see clear and think straight shame them into si- fence and teach them how to be brave without bluster ard to meet the exigen- cies of the time with unwavering faith. The leaders Of men must have the self control whose source is unconquerable courage and whose expression is calm ness and patience; then the people will follow them with reverent gladness, and promised lands will open at their approach.
 These are some of the lofty declara- tions in Washingtons message to the men of the twentieth century. And the sum of the message is: Be one of the helpers and filters of the time; take hold of some great cause and let some great truth take hold of you; open your eyes to the higher truths of life and testify to what you have discovered.