Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-11-21
TIA YER FINDS WASHINGTON CREAT z
Mature Made Washington
One of the Lords of Truth

AST week I considered David Lloyd
AGeorge and r. +. Raymond's excel
lent book about him. This week II
Is opportune to consider George Wash
ington as exhibited In William Roscoe
Thnyer's excellent book about him, Just
published by Houghton MifHin Com
pany.
If one wishes to know how great 4
man Washington was all that is ncces.
sary is to read these two books in sue.
cession. Lloyd George, until the over
whelming defeat of his party faction
Inst week. was regarded as one of the
greatest, il not the greatest, Briton of
his generation. His defects were ad-
mitted. No one disputed the charge
that he had been demagogue or that
he had made many mistakes, but he led
his country to victory In great war.
Yet for all that Lloyd George will never
occupy the place in history that Wash
ington fills.
No biographer of the fallen Premier
would dare challenge the sarcastic com.
inents that would be made if he should
put on the title page OF his book the
lines from John Webster's THE Duchess
of Malti' that Mr.. Thayer quotes with
the confident knowledge that their apt.
ness will be universally recognized
Nature doth nothing SO great for great
men
A. when she's pleased to make them
lords OF truth.
Washington was a great man when
judged by the highest standards: great
in his hold on high principles and great
in his achievements. Lloyd Georges
greatness, such ms il Is. lies in his
disregard for principles and in his sue.
cessful opportun!sm.
Lloyd Georges public utter
ances niu be examined in vain for
any exhibition of the moral grandeur
that manifested itself in almost
everything that Washington said or
did.
MIR. THAYER did not set out to
AVA write an elaborate life Of Wash
!ngton. but, rs he explains in his pre-.
face. he sought ito discover, If I could.
the human residue which I felt must
persist in Washington after all Is
said" The reader who expects
to find the book another one about "the
true George Washington" will be dis
appointed. There is a marked absence
Of petty and trifling details about the
personal appearance and daily habits OF
the man. which one might think were
necessary in an exhibition Of the "hu-
man residue" Instead Of these exter.
nails. Mr.. Thayer has given to his read. l.
ers q glimpse into character and i'm.
pelling motives, assuming evidently
that these are Of greater Importance
than anything else.
The book does, however, tell IN bold
outlines the story Of Washington's life.
and It contains enough Of the history OF
the American Revolution to show how
large a part Washington had in Il. OF
course, there Is nothing new In It. All
the facts were long ago collated BY other
men. Mr.. Thayer has selected such
facts as are essential to bis purpose and
| has ignored the others.
He tells Us that when washington
was sixteen years old he was regarded
as Trustworthy enough to survey thS
large estate Of Lord Fairfax, in Vir.
ginia, and that before he was twenty he
was sent on an important mission to the
French at Fort Duquesne, and when
he was about twenty he had q commits
sion with the forces Of General Braddock