The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1915-02-22
THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY,

To the appointment of Washington.
far more thaa S6hny other single cir
cumstance. il due the ultimate sue
cess of the American revolution.
Punctual. methodical. and exact In the
highest degree. he excelled in manag-
ing those minute details which are SO
essential to the efficiency of an army.
and he possessed to an eminent de-
gree not only the common courage of
a soldier, but also that much rarer
form Of courage which can endure
long-continued suspense. bear the
weight OF great responsibility. and en-
counter the risks OF Misrepresentation
and unpopularity. For several years.
and usually in the neighborhood Of SUI
perior forces, he commanded a perpet-
ually fuctuating army, almost wholly
destitute of discipline and respect for
authority, torn by the most violent
personal and provincial jealousies.
wretchedly armed. wretchedly clothed
and sometimes in imminent danger of
starvation. Unsupported for the most
part by the population among whom
he was quartered. and necessarily
thwarted by the jealousy Of congress.
he kept his army together by a COM
bination Of skill. firmness. patience
and judgment which has rarely been
surpassed, and he led it at last to q
signal triumph. In civil az in military
life he was pre-eminent among his
contemporaries for the clearness and
soundness Of his judgment, for his
perfect moderation and self-control,
for the quiet dignity and the indomi-
table firmness with which he pursued
every path which he had deliberately
chosen. OF all the great men in his
tory he was the most Invariably judi
cious. and there Is scarcely a rash
word or action or judgment recorded
Of him. Those who knew him well
noticed that he had keen sensibilities
and strong passions: but his power of
self-command never failed him, and
no act of his public life can be traced
to personal caprice. ambition or re-
sentiment.
In the dependency of long-contin-
ued failure. in the elation of sudden
success, at times when his soldiers
were deserving by hundreds and when
malignant plots were formed against
his reputation. amid the constant
Quarrels, rivalries and jealousies of his
subordinates, in the dark hour of ma
tional ingratitude. and in the midst
Of the most universal and Intoxicating
flattery, he was always the same calm,
wise. just and single-minded man, pur-
suing the course which he believed to
be right without fear or favor or ia
naticism; equally free from the pas
sions that spring from interest and
from the passions that spring from
Imagination. He never acted on the
impulse of an absorbing or uncalcu-
lating enthusiasm. and he valued very
highly fortune, position and reputa-
ton; but at the command Of duty he
was ready to. risk and sacrifice them
all. He was. In the highest sense Of
the words, a gentleman and a man of
honor, and he carried into public life
the severest standard of private
morals. 1t was at first the constant
dread of large sections of the Amerf-
can people that If the old government
were overthrown they would fall into
the hands of military adventures and
undergo the yoke of military despot-
ism. 1t was mainly the transparent
integrity Of the character of Wash
| ington that dispelled the fear. 1t was
always known by his friends, and it
was soon acknowledged by the whole
nation. and by the English themselves.
that in Washington America had
found a leader who could be induced
by no earthly motive to tell a false
hood or to break an engagement or to
commit any dishonorable act. Men Of
this moral type are happily not rare.
and we have all met them In our ex-
perience. but there Is scarcely anoth-
or instance in history of such a man
having reached and maintained the
highest position in the commissions OF
civil war and of a great popular agi-
tation.
The description printed above was
written in the fullness Of his powers
by one of the most impartial OF mod
ern historians in the huge masterwork
to which he gave the best years Of his
| life, says Golfers. The reference is
to the eleventh chapter of w. E. H
Lecky's History of England During
the Eighteenth Century" or to pages
209 and 211 to 213 of "Lecky's Amer
lean Revolution" edited by Professor
WOODBURY. of Indiana university
This is doubly worth reading now. a,
Golfers continues. because acme Of
our more hasty-spirited radicals have
for the last few years been attempting
to further their projects for the fu-
ture by depriving us of all pride in the
past. 1t has become a kind Of shibbo.
leth among these partial thinkers thai
the Revolutionary war was an aristo
cratic intrigue to control both liberty
and land (the latter being the more
importantly in the narrow interests o.
a dominant privileged class. 1t is use
less to attempt reasoning with sucl
fanatics, since any evidence or author
ity must, to them. be subordinated t,
their creed: but the rest of us cal
find inopira finv IN tho rnhla vrnr6