The Grit-advocate., 1904-02-19

The eighteenth century history Of
our country groups itself about one
central figure. We never escape from
the presence of the great Virginian,
and yet it was a time rich in human
product. 1t is not easy to comprehend
tho causes which produced this amaz-
ing fruitage of ability.
Among the men who caused and car
ried the Revolution were many who in
brilliant qualities far surpassed George
Washington. Seen through the mist of
years they rise in our imagination and
seem grouped about the grave Virgin
ms sturdy figure, as in the church at
Innsbruck the bronze statues of
friends and allies surround the tomb
where the great Kaiser, Macmillan,
kneels in prayer.
Among these makers of an empire
were great orators, and Washington
was none; grave jurists, and he had
little learning. There, too, were
statesmen of more original intellect
than was ever his. Generals there
were who had been better had he been
free to choose. But, by the grace of
God, and some strange skill of nature,
this imperial man was the master OF
them all, and used them, as he used
himself, with but one ambition-how
best to serve the land he loved.
What was there in the man which
still makes him stand for us larger
human figure than Hamilton, or John
Adams, or Jefferson. In some ways
the difference seems clear. His unself-
ishness was without flaw. His sense
of duty was like religion. He had in
perfection both moral and physical
courage; he who is without fear is
rarely without hope, and it may have
been this which gave him such unfalt-
ering hopefulness as seemed to have
the force Of inspiration, the self-sus-
tanning power of prophetic insight. No
doubt other men also possessed these
characteristics, but none had them in
so high a degree. This does nelp us
to comprehend him, but does not ade-
quately describe great historic per-
sonage who has become for US to-day
no more than a splendid lay figure.
And yet we know OF him all that we
need to know; almost to much, indeed,
when the inquisitive spirit of the re-
porter intrusive in history gives us
details which are common to many
men and do not help us to understand
the one man.
His slow, sure mind. his heroic pa
tience, his strong passions, his splen-
did physical manhood. nowhere on any
page, express themselves in terms of
life. Is this because the lives of the
| greatest always leave something of the
causes Of greatness unrevealed? 1t
may be so. Or is this stately figure
| still waiting for the revealing biog-
| rapher who will give us such a life
| like presentment as Carlyle has left of
| Frederick and Of Cromwell? 1t
| would seem to be easy, for what life
reports itself more simply! What more
rich in interest and in incident! What
personality was ever more clearly built
| up by efforts which raise, stone on
stone. the masonry of character. Its
value to the thoughtful lies less in the
| attained serenity of the statuesque
Washington, present to the common
mind. than in correct apprehension
Of the process by which the crude Vir-
II ginia boy grew into the maturity of the
| official years OF our first president.
h There rises before me. as I write,
the figure of the half educated, over
I serious. country bred lad. Forced to