The Colorado statesman., 1914-02-21

tury, there has come a tendency to depreciate the
ability of the one man who, more than any other,
would naturally be exalted For long time it
held that his fame was tarnished because he swore
real oaths at the battle of Monmouth That
succeeded by the present epoch, which has chosen
to regard him lovable gentleman, with enough
horse sense not to make fool of himself and, by
a series of events which he had no control.
to become the father of his country
And yet it is doubtful if another character of
the age is more to be admired for it's many-sided
excellencies. AS man, warrior and statesman.
Washington yields to figure of his time.
What place Washington held in his day.
must now become matter of interest Shortly
after his death, Felix Faucon voiced the opinion
of the French parliamentarans when he ad-
dressed the Legislative assembly follows:
THE tomb has claimed him who the model
of republican perfection. This is not the time to
trace all this truly great has accomplished
for the liberties of America the generous nspira-
tons which he impaired to the French who were
attracted to his school of arms the sublime act
which will ever add luster to his memory when,
after having exerted his talents in giving liberty
to his country, he voluntarily relinquished
preme power to conceal his glory in the obscurity
of private life"
Naturally, Napoleon attracted to the great
general who led army of ragamufins to VIC
tory after a long campaign of almost unparalleled
vicisstudes, and whose power was attested by
the fact that of his general, except Wayne.
accomplished much after they left him When
the of his death reached France. the first
consul issued the following order:
Washington is more! That great man
fought against tyranny. He firmly established the
liberty of his country His memory will ever be
dear to the French people, as it must be to every
friend of freedom in two worlds, and especially
to the French soldiers, who, like him and the
Americans bravely fight for liberty and equality.
The first consul in consequence, orders that for
ten days black crepe shall be suspended to all the
standards and flags of the republic.
At almost the same the Gazette de France said;
Washington is dead! The news in the time
,1ar,t
to announce. Now, the heart may with cont-
dence abandon itself to all the generous emotions
of the soul, and we may dare to weep at the tomb
of a great man. general funeral service has
been ordered in America, and this will be OBJ
served by the citizens of every nation NO period
has sustained loss rreparahe the end of
the eighteenth century"
This concluding sentence may be taken gen
orally expressing the estimation in which the
father of his country" then held. Since
then with that flash tendency to appreciate high
sounding phrases rather than sound statesman
ship it has become the fashion rather to exalt
the orators and the writer's who had secondary
roles than to accept the verdict OF colonial Tunes
1t is doubly strange, too. that In country
whose citizenship is rapidly altering, because OF
the large and continuous additions from foreign
lands should have one great work. not even
an essay which vitaly and vigorously presents
the character of it's first great general, statesman
and citizen.
When reading the first presidents letters II
seems strange that his correspondence shouo
never have excited attention or study. by
comparison they almost unknown when one
considers for example how much attention ana
controversy has been directed of late years 10
lives and writings of Hamilton and Burr
Very strange it is, indeed, that the corre
spondence of so commanding character as
Washington should be little known TO the
ninety and more millions of people who owe tnelr
liberty and prosperity to him. And to the iaet