Connecticut western news., 1919-02-20
The Fa.> of His Co -.Airy"

he first at Amer. n states :. Il of woc1 renown .3 George '. ".hington, nan wh;u. ais coan-
 men offer o make A.ng bat
 Il chose r, h to work ln the in- | .ascs of fire .u5m. Amo..g the m1l-
 . de who i7 .ii1eren, ,-.M 5 and t.a:es have . fame ia V ing de-
 IT, as. few nd o..t as ,is,iact, so hove fnn aA, tho h27- mark the eras of the worlds progress. By
 .. m Q CT ~I .n; by them we test OUT advance or decline.
 :. no longet ~ge th2m, b t rather judge ourselves by them, by the ex- tent to which we can appreciate and 1n .erstand them. An age in which they are honored is glorious; generation by which they are not esteemed is contemptible. Among the few thus truly great is Washing ton. A tho sand times has the story of his noble life been told, yet never were men so eager to hear it a.. now. His character has endured every test; his fame is sec~re.
 From earliest childhood, Washing ten developed very noble charac- ter. He had a vigorous constitution, fine farm, and great bodily strength. In childhood he was noted for frankness, fearlessness, and moral courage He left school at , sixteen years of age having excelled in mathematical studies and having become familiar with the principles Of geometry, trigonometry and of practical surveying.
 Lord Fairfax, man of large for 1 trne and romantic tastes, was charmed with young Washington, his frankness, his intelligence, his manliness, his gentlemanly bearing,
 "a boy in years, man in maturity j of wisdom and character. He en- gagged this lad to explore and survey
 the painless wilds of his vast estate
 hich extended far over the Blue
 Mountains. It may be doubted
 whether boy of his age ever before
 undertook a task so arduous. With
 a few attendants the boy entered
 the wilderness and did the work
 very successfully. He returned
 from this tramp with all his energies
 consolidated by toll, peril and hard
 ship. Tho but seventeen years of age he was responsible, self reliant
 man.
 The State of Virginia now en-
 ployed him as public surveyor. Three : years later he was chosen adjutant-
 general, with the rank of major,
 over portion of the militia whose duty it was to repel the encroach- roonts of the French and Indians. When twenty-one years of age he
 was sent as commissioner by Gov. - Dinwiddie to demand of the French l commander why he had invaded the kings colonies. In November, Washington and his half-dozen com panions set out on horseback from . Virginia. They had a dreary and = dangerous winter journey of several l weeks. They found the French at a : stout log stockade called Fort le l Boeuf. The commander curtly told Washington that he would not leave , and the latter hastened home with this defiant message.
 Washington did much for the Eng fish in the French and Indian Wars which followed. The part he played in Braddock's expedition is probably } best known. Tho this ended in de, feat, the few regulars who escaped f owed their lives to the coolness and bravery of Washington.
 In 1759, Washington married , Miss Martha Curtiss, lady of great worth and beauty. Washington was , already wealthy. He spent the next - fifteen years on his lovely Mt. Yer. non estate.
 = During these serene years of peace l and prosperity an appalling storm g was gathering which soon burst witf !. fearful desolation over all the colo. r, nies. The British ministry, denying
 the rights of British subjects to ths < colonies, insisted upon exercising ' the despotic power of imposing taxe;
 upon the colonies while withholding
 the right of representation. The
 Americans sprang to arms wher
 troops were sent to enforce the q mandates of the British crown anc ' George Washington was chosen com ', mander-in-chief of the continenta Il army.
 d Little use for me to recite in de l. rail the valient work of this wonder S full leader during the dark days o5 t the Revolution. One needs but men f tion the elm tree at Cambridge un Q der which Washington took command of the army July 2, 1775; the un . successful but splendid fought battle l. from Dorchester Heights; the re n treat across New Jersey and tht
 crossing of the Delaware whicl $ ended in the brilliant victory o: d Trenton; the dark days of the wa. O which resulted in the loss of Phila l. 3elrhia and the terrible winter a " Valley Forge; the surrender of tn, # British at Yorktown which brough '' to close the Revolution and prove, to the world that we were an inde u nnnHer1t nation noclc lN1,t 1Y,1