Omaha daily bee., 1915-02-22
Washington and Weems
Msnry cabot lodges BiOrraphy Of washington

Aenry cabot Lodges biography OF Nashinetoh'
Many the myths. and depiorably few the facts
that have come down in regard to Washington
boyhood For the former indebted TO the Illus
trious weems and to that parsonage few more
words must be devoted. weems has been held up 10
the present In various usually II must be
confessed OF unfiattering nature and ''menda-
cous' IL the adjective most COMMONLY applied to him
BY profession clergyman or preacher, by nature an
sdventurer Weems loved notorety. money and
wandering life So he wrote books which he correctly
believed would be popular. and sold them not only
through the regular channels. but by 2eddling them
himself nc Travelled about the country, Chance
brought him Washington In the closing days and
his commercial instinct told him that here was the
subject Of all others for his and HE market He
accordingly produced the biography which had 30
much Judged solely literature. the book IL
beneath contempt The style IL turgd. overloaded
and at times silly The statements are loose the mode
OF narration confused and ncoherent. and the moral
izing flat and commonplace to the degree Yet
there certain sincerity OF feeling underneath
all the bombast and patitudes, and this saved the
book. The biography old not and was not intended
to into the hands OF the polite society Of the great
eastern towns. II meant for the farmers the
pioneers and the backwoodsmen OF the country. To
them It's heavy tawdry style. its staring morals.
and its real patriotism all seemed emnenty befittng
the national hero. thus Weems created the wash
ngton OF the popular fancy. The idea grew up with
the country and became 30 ngrained with the popular
thought that finally everybody was affected by II.
and even the most stately and solemn Of the WASH
ngton biogrsphers adopted the unsupported tales Of
the tnerant parson and book peddIer
weems was not cold-bIooded liar. mere forger
OF anecdotes. He simply a man destitute Of his
torical sense training. morals ready take the
senderest fact and work IL up for the purposes Of
the market.
weems, Of course. had difficulty with the public
life but in describing the boyhood he thrown
his own resources, and out OF them he evolved the
cherry tree, the refusal to fight permit fighting
among the boys at school, and the initials in the
garden This last story is the effect that Augustine
Washington planted seeds in such manner that when
ID NhnN ~. .orkn tsN.I.
of the boys name and the boy being much delighted
thereby the father explained TO him that II the
work OF the Creator, and thus incucated profound
belief In God This tale is taken bodily from Dr.
Beatties biographical sketch OF his son. published in
England in 1799, and may be dismissed at once. As
to the other two familiar anecdotes there not
scntilia OF evidence that they had any foundation
and with them may be included the colt story told
by Mr. Custis simple variation Of the cherry tree
theme which Is washington's early love OF truth
How Mr. Gusts, usually accurate, came to be so
far infected with the Weens myth tell the colt
story after the Weems manner, now be deter
mined There can be doubt that Washington, like
most healthy boys, got into good deal Of mischief
and 1t IL not at all impossible that he injured fruit
trees and confessed that he had done So II may be
accepted certain that he rode and mastered many
unbroken thoroughbred colts and it possible that
one OF them burst blood-vesse in the process ana
died, and that the boy promptly told his mother OF
the accident But this is the utmost credit which these
two anecdotes claim. Even much as this can
not be said of certain other improving tales Of like
the wickedness Of fighting and the year 754 allowed
himself TO be knocked down in the presence OF his
soldiers and thereupon begged his assaants pardon
for having spoken roughly to him. stories silly
and so foolishly impossible that they not deserve
an instants consideration
There is nothing intrnsicaly impossible in either
the cherry tree the colt incident nor would there
be In a hundred others which might oe readily in
vented The real point is that these stories as told
by weems and Mr.. custs their face hopeiessiy
and rdiculously false.
So much as this has been said only because these
wretched fables have gone throughout the world and
II is time that they we're swept away into the dust
heaps Of history They represent Mr.. and Mrs wash
ingten az affected and priggsh people, given to cheap
moralzing; and. what is worse they have served 20
place Washington himself In a ridiculous light to an
age which has outgrown the educational foibles az
seventy'five years ago WASHINGTON 10 whom the
greatest wrong has been done, not only never din
anything common mean. but from the beginning TO
the end Of his life he for an instant ridcu
lous or affected, and he utterly removed from
canting and prgeishness any human being could
well be- Let us therefore conslgn Weems stories
and their offspring to the limbo historical rubbish