The Lexington intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1901-1949, 1911-03-04
CONTINUED from Page y

"a
And who will deny that the
hand that welded the sword of
righteous revolution, that forced
the tyrant from our shores, that
signed the American Constitution
and guided the mightiest Repub-
lie of all history into secure and
glorious being, was ever greater
than when it trained the roses in
the gardens of Mount Vernon?
Loud applause. There is a
wonderful significance in the
fact that Washington persisted
practically at the close of the
eighteenth century. That cen
tury marked the permanent adj
vent of liberty in human institu-
tons; it witnessed the birth and
rise of Washington, without
whom this advent might have
been delayed indefinitely. Thus
an ideal century and an ideal ma
died almost together. As sculp-
ture finds its most beautiful ex-
preston in the marbles of Phidias
painting its lOftiest era in the
frescoes of Raphael, dramatic
poetry its ~superbest notes in the
plays of Shakespeare, philosophy
It's p~rOfoundeSt embodiment in the
mductions of Aristotle. music its
most perfect utterance in the
oratOriOs of Handel, the operas of
Mozart, the sonatas of Beethoven.
SO human conduct finds it's
brightest mirror in the life and
deeds of Washington. ZAP
plause.
VI such world import is his
name that it looms larger through
the gathering years. Today.
more than a century after his
death, the interest and the love
OF earth's increasing millions
are conferred in his memory. Let
me refer here to the modest cere-
mony of his burial, an episode
that has not received the atten-
ton it deserves. His funeral was
IN keeping with the quiet and SIM
pie majesty that had marked his
whole existence. Under the
stately portico of his home ON
one of the lovelist eminence of
the Potomac rested his coffined
form on a cloudleSs December af-
ternoon nearly 112 years ago.
The peace of an ndulgent God
was on his brow; the affection of
a liberated people at his feet.
The profound impression of Sc
renity and repose his motionless
frame impaired gave evidence
that in death he had but added
another victory to the long list of
his renowned achievements. No
pomp, no decoration, no pride
and circumstance of state en-
blazoned these final hours. From
the countryside and from neigh
boring Alexandria poured his
friends and fellow citizens in
informal array. A few compan-
les of artillery and cavalry with a
single band Of music gave the on
ly martial touch to the proceed
ings. The firing of solemn min
ute guns from a little vessel in
the Potomac; the sad procession
across the wooded lawns and
slopes to the family vault upon
the rivers edge; the dirge that
quavered in the December winds
and sobbed upon the waters; the
chanting Of the Episcopal orders
of the dead the death service Of
the Masonic ritual, with the weird
response, 80 mote it be-" from
the brotherhood he loved and
honored; the commanding figures
of the pail bearers, all colonies
of the Revolution, his comrades in
war, his friends in peace; the UNI
usual luster of the declining sun
with which his soul went down
that evening to rise again upon
the shores of endless morning,
comprise a picture that will
never vanish from the lengthen-
inc galleries IF Immortality.