Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-02-22

! Washington, ilIustrious alike in The
achievements of war, the councils of
government and the pursuits OF private
| life. that scant opportunity now remains
| for the historian to lend the charm or
novelty to his page or for the orator to
enrich his tribute with tales of unrecord-
ed merit or the successes OF unknown
| heroisms. Each passing year brings the
| tribute of its praise, and grateful re-
| public will never leave him unwept. UNI
honored and unsung.' but is and will be
| increasingly jealous for his fame
| Not only has the realm of fact been
exhausted in doing him honor, but the
realm of romance has been invaded for a
may have been to delicate f1attery, his
truthful nature would have abhorred
| the fabrications that have been inter
woven in his legend. He justly demanded
his office: but the incense of adulation
| was repugnant to his democratic spirit
and alien to his noble mind. He desired
neither the honors paid to royalty nor
the homage associated with demigod.
Honor, Not Homage.
In accordance, therefore, with what
We know to have been his worth and
sentiments we come to render him hon.
or. not omage-the honor due noble
| minded man rather than .the homage of
flattery, which would dshonor while it
pretended to do him honor. He was
neither improbable nor lnfalhble, but,
like his brethren, was subject to 1imita-
lions of mind. passions of heart and fall
ings of disposition. He was a great SOL
dier. but not a military genius, like Bona
parte: he was competent public man,
but not "A pubicist. like Hamilton; he was
careful reader, but not a scholar, like
Jefferson; he was an impressive speaker,
but not orator. like Henry. His SUI
perior excellence lay in the combination
of his gifts and traits and their complete
devotion to the public good. He achieved
memorable successes. often under disad-
yantages which would have appalled, a
weaker man, and these successes were
due. not to brilliant daring, but rather
10 answering rectitude, purity of pur
pose. ungrudging self-denial and honor
able fidelity i'll all positions of private
trust and public responsibility. Delhi
crate in war. difffdent in council and
painstaking in office, he deserves all hon.
or for the complete and unwavering devo-
ton of his powers, prestige and purse to
his country, with which truth can per-
potuate his memory"
The speaker likened Roger Williams TO
Abraham. George Washington to Moses
and Abraham Lincoln to Moses those
three having secured to the American
people the heritage of liberty. He briefly
sketched the personal appearance of
Washington. and outlined his career.
Passing to the present, he paid attention
to the city of Washington as the nations
tribute to the first President and to the
Oldest Inhabitants Association as an ex-
preston of the patriotic sentiment in
spired by the name of Washington. He
continued:
Washington City.
This city ought to be and will
be 1.-The center of our great coun-
try. not only in government, but
in patriotism education, art and religion
Our country now a world power of
whoes expansion, influence and incalcu-
liable resources our forefathers could
scarce have dreamed, is a diversified
unity. Nature has given us a distinct
north. south. east and west. not only
tribution, but also in industrial. temper
amental and social conditions as we'll
Some years ago our congressional
guardians, for what seemed wise and
JudiciouS reasons, took away the rights
of manhood and put us on the footing OF
repeatedly warned that governmental
children should be seen and not heard,
and that in the national anthem the notes
in the staff belong to the states. while
the rest belong TO the District of Column
bia.
I'VE have become choice and fastidious
audience, for We have heard and seen so
much that We have become competent
judges of what is meritorious and what
is meretriciOus in civic. social and national
life And though deprived Of any active
participation in government we have not
been and cannot be deprived of the spirit
of democracy, the love of fair play, and
the desire to promote the common good
of our united country. Through the al
ways effective operation of public opin-
ion, reinforced by blameless private life,
We shall yet make ourselves felt and our
city shall become a worthy memorial to
a worthy man
Oldest Inhabitants Association.
This association, which preserves both
civic memories and civic hopes. barely
escaped being Graded in a cannon, hav-
ing been born but few months after the
close of the civil war. It's honored pres
ident, the worthy son and successor of
worthy father, perpetuates in his presi-
Dental Office and in his editorial chair
the high sense of civic duty cherished by
his lamented father. to whom this asso-
citation and this city are greatly indebted
1t is the primary function of this or
ganization to preserve. through proper
archives and fitting celebrations, the ira
ditions of the past, and to transmute
those traditions into inspirations for the
future.
You have seen some of the most mag
niticent buildings in the world, the grace
of art and the loneliness of nature min
Cling in their materials and structure,
| slowly rise from the ground to compile
ton. among the rarest achievements of
modern architecture.
You have seen three great universities
open their doors, with a fourth in proc
ess of organization, for the youth of
America, not only for their instruction
in the classics of other days. but also
for their instruction in the highest ideals
and greatest discoveries of modern
thought.
You have seen laid the corner stone
of great cathedral which shall one day
religious communion. while in our rapidly
expanding city you have beheld the con-
Struction of over two hundred churches
their spires pointing heavenward. indi-
eating at once their origin and their
ideals.
Queen of Cities.
These things and more you have seen
during the last half century, and they are
blu. the beginning of even greater things
for America and for Washington city.
Coming of race which believes it pos