Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1916-02-22
WASHINGTON AND WEEMs.

c9c o. N4r Et-TJ-1 S-sg-2 92LG L-SR4Ec-
o. rc6ay's observance o: Washing
ions Birthday. which is legal hol5-
day in I'll the states Of 1he Union and
in PORTO Rico. Hawaii and Alaska
Is the tact that the Father OF His
Country Is gradually taking on The
Se- blancs OF q human being Through
the mists and clouds Of myth and
legend which 50 long O5scurad his
memory the light Of trnrh X Il last
breaking. Washington vas scarcely
cold in MS grave before the well
meaning but foolish admirers OF The
illusr-ious dead began their selt-ap-
pointed task OF Transforming him !2T0
demi-god. They succeeded only in
giving him the aspect OF plaster
saint. So thorough was ih- coat Ot
whirewash they applied. in their Fl
forts TO make Washington mode
fo- the youth OF the republic 10 TO-
low. that they only succeeded in max
ing him out hopeless. utterly IN
lovely prig.
Happily, Washington the real Is
now rapidly taking the place Of the
fictitious creation OF pious imagina-
ton. Teh first President is no longer
a plaster saint. a steel engraving. bur
a real man who was as human as any
OF Us, although possessed o: much
more than average ability as soldier
and statesman
Ii was "Parson" Wesms-Mason
Locke Weems-a Eirginian, who was
chiefly Irresponsible for the fctionS
so long associated with Washington
II was Weems who originated The
story Of the cherry tree. which We
now know TO have been. al the very
least. greatly exaggerated Wsems,
in writing his biography OF Washing
ton, prepared the reader for what was
TO follow by describing himself, on
the title page. as formerly Rector OF
Mount Vernon PariSh''-a statement
on par with-fnany OF those which
followed. Nobody heads Weems now.
adays. but the fictions he fathered
still exist, although given less and
less credibility. AS an example 0.
his literary style, the following ex-
ample may suffice Little George was
ended by his father Because ne hat
failed to divide an apple with his
brothers and sisters
George looked in silence On the
wide wilderness OF fruit. He marked
the busy hunlming bees, and heard
the gay notes Of birds; then, lifting
his eyes, filled with shining moisture.
TO his father, he softly said. Wen.
Pa. only forgive me this time. and
see if ever De so stingy any more -
Weems was born in Virginia in
1850, and, after studying theology in
London, returned to America and BE-
came book agent, travelling eyten-
sively in the South. He preached oc-
casionally, but was most often heard
al public gatherings OF various kinds.
| addressing the crowds on the subject
OF the merits OF the books he had for
sale One of these was pamphiet
written by himself. entitled. The
Drunkard's Lookingglass." He eked
out his income by acting a. fiddler Al
| dances. Often he entered taverns
and gave limitations Of a drunken
man. afterward offering his books for
sale. Later in life he wrote biogra.
plies of Washington, Franklin. Gen
eral Marion and William Penn. his
Life of Washington going through
two-score editions. Weems died in
Beaufort, S. c.. in 1925.
That Washington was man OF
stern morality has never been denied
He was frequent attendant al
church. but in his later years he al
WAYS absented himself on communion
| days. Governeur Morris is authority
for the statement that Washington
believed no more in Christianity than
! he did but was deist, and Thomas