River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1904-02-18
GEORGE WASHINGTON

our agony of glory, the war of inde-
pendence-our great victory OF peace,
the formation of the union, and the es-
Establishment of the constitution-he is
all. all our own. Washington is ours"
The foregoing was written by Daniel
Webster in regard to the Father Of His
Country. the anniversary of whose
birth occurs February %, an occasion
that is ever freshly remembered by
American hearts. "He was the first
man of the time in which he grew"
wrote Rufus Choate. His memory is
first and most sacred in our love; and
ever. hereafter, till the last drop of
blood shall freeze in the last American
heart, his name shall be spell of power
and might. There is one personal, one
vast, felicity which no man can share
with him. 1t was the daily beauty and
towering and matchless glory of his life
which enabled him to create his cOun-
try. and at the same time secure an I'M
diving love and regard from the whole
American people. Undoubtedly there
were brave and wise and good men be-
fore his day in every colony. But the
American nation. as nation, do not
reckon to have begun before 1774, and
the first love of that young America
was Washington. The first word she
lisped was his name. Her earliest
breath spoke it, 1t is still her proud
ejaculation. 1t will be the last gasp
of her expiring life. About and around
him we call up no dissentient, discord-
ant and dissatisfied elements, no Sec
tional prejudice or bias, no party, no
creed, no dogma of politics. None of
these shall assail him. Yes, when the
storm of battle grows darkest and RACES
highest, the memory of Washington
shall nerve every American arm and
cheer every American heart. 1t shall
reillume that Promethean fire, that sub
lime flame of patriotism, that devoted
love of country which his words have
commended, which his example has
consecrated.
The story of George Washington's
life is an old one, but the salient facts
will bear repeating. He was born at
Wakefield, Westmoreland county, Va.
February %, 1882, lived from 1885 to
1879 at what is now Mount Vernon, and
when he was seven years old he was
taken to an estate on the Rappahannock,
almost opposite Fredericksburg. The
father was one of the prosperous plant
ers of Virginia able to give his children
what education the times could afford.
The first teacher of George is reputed to
of WI h &c fof
bought for the purpose All of Washing
toms schooling ended before he was 16.
His long and brilliant career as SOL
der and statesman has given to history
some of its most interesting pages.
ct was strange" wrote Thackeray,
chat in a savage forest of Pennsylvania
a young Virginia officer should fire
shot, and waken up war that was to
last for 60 years, which was to cover
his own country, and pass into Europe,
to cost France her American colonies, to
sever ours from us and create the great
western republic; to rage over the old
world when extinguished in the new;
and, of all the myriads engaged in the
vast contest, to leave the prize OF the
greatest fame with him who struck the
first blow"
AS to the esteem and affection in
which the name and character of Wash
ington were held one cannot do better
than quote Lafayette, who wrote from
France as follows:
"Were you but such man as julius
Caesar, or the king of Prussia, should
almost be sorry. for you at the end OF
the great tragedy where you are acting
such a part. But, with my dear gen.
eral, rejoice at the blessings of peace
when our noble ends have been secured.
Remember our Valley Forge times; and,
from a recollection of past dangers and
Iabors, we shall be still more pleased at
our present comfortable situation!
cannot but envy the happiness of my
grandchildren, when they will be about
celebrating and worshiping your name.
To have one of their ancestors among
your soldiers, to know he had the good
fortune to be the friend of your heart,
will be the eternal honor in which they
shall glory
The poet Shelley, aboard an Ameri-
can ship, drinking to the health OF
Washington and the prosperity of the
American commonwealth, remarked:
LAS a warrior and statesman he was
righteous in all he did, unlike all who
lived before or since; he never used his
power but for the benefit of his fellow
creatures"