The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1909-02-26

MS temperament. lie was by nature
silent and reserved, while Lincoln was
spontaneous and sympathetic to an
unwonted degree. Both were patriots
of the sincerest kind and of the high
est order and each demonstrated that
pre-emineut craftsmanship I'm his day
and generation which is the direct
manifestation of large and noble
vision
George Washington was not reared
In poverty. He'grew to manhood as
heir to large plantations and was called
into public life because of his known
qualities of leadership which had been
proven in campaigns against the In
dians and i'm the making of surveys
over large tracts of new country to
the west He had a burning love of
liberty and when summoned to take
command of the Continental army he
promptly accepted the position. 1t
was no easy task to organize and guide
the men of the colonies against tie
power and the skill of the British en-
pre. The story of those seven long
years of conflict between the impOvcr.
ished and disheartened men of the
revolution and the very flower of the
British army, well drilled, well fed
and well clothed is a remarkable one.
But the victory is not always to the
OF
Napoleon said that God was on the
side of the heaviest battalions.' But
Washington disproved it and York
town saw CORVALLIS surrender to an
army which had been strong only in
it's masterful retreats under it's great
leader
1t was to Washington above all
others that this victory was due. At
no time did his faith in the righteous
waver as others did in confidence of
ultimate victory.
But Washington's greatness of
character does not rest upon his mill
tary record, creditable as that was.
After the revolution was over and he
had voluntarily retired to private life
he began at once to argue in favor of
union of the states. No other man
in the colonies had such tremendous
personal following. His soldiers fairly
worshiped him while the people lis
tended to him as to no one else.
1t was the distinguishing feature of
his career that at no time when other
men were eXalting their petty state or
section, George Washington, the Vir-
ginia gentleman, was carrying on a
very large correspondence urging the
necessity of a more perfect bond Of
union among the state.
The United States of America owes
its birth as a nation more definitely
to Washington than to any other man
of his times. He was the first
American.
This great nation of eighty millions
of people is the realized dream of its
promoter, George Washington. AS
the first president of the new nation he
guided the ship of state with great
wisdom and caution out from the
troubled waters where the rocks of
jealousy, nOrrowness, and local sell
fishness threatened to dash it to
pieces out into the open sea of peace
and safety and prosperity.
AS President Mckinley said in a
speech delivered at Philadelphia in
1897, the nation and the name of
Washington are inseparable. One is
linked indissolubly with the other.
Both are gorio"s and triumphant.
Washington loves and will live be-
cause what he did was for the eXalta-
tiOn of man, the enthronement of con
science and the establishment of a
government which recognizes all the
governed. And so, too, will the ma
tion live victorious over all obstacles
adhering to the immortal principles
which Washington taught and Lincoln
sustained"