Evening star., 1925-11-01
A New ''Father of His Country
Is Discovered Through Diaries
Library of Congress Official Complies and
Publishes Four Volumes From the
Papers of George Washington.

through bITlIS the war NdSh1nE-
! ton kept from four TO six aides busy
taking his official correspondence.
every item of which. whether dictated
| by him or not. was brought to him
| for correction and then for signature.
! lie kept accurate records OF his doingSI
t All this besides the actual direction of
the Army. He found time TO keep
| records during his terms of Office
There Is practical evidence" con
cludes Mr.. Fitzpa trick. that the man
| never spared himself in his work and
the eight strenuous years of the war
probably had much 10 do with his
| rather sudden collapse in the end"
x
! "A LII of Washington's papers prac-
tically are personal papers. The
new government of which he was
| President then had no vlace for off.
| cial records. But Washington knew
the need and the value of records He
had experienced the ingratitude and
the attacks of political opponents dur
ing his official life, when he could at
least come to his own defense. He did
not suppose these attacks would cease
after his death. His defense in the
eyes of posterity could be only care
ful reports of events as they had aCtu-
ally happened
And speaking of political attacks,
Mr.. titzpa trick told this story. attrib-
uted to Jefferson, of Washington 8
! rage over the utterances of one Ere
neau, none too scrupuluus news
paper writer: Washington had not
wanted TO take the presidency. But
he had felt it his duty. He was en-
ragged over the petty attacks upon
him. Losing his temper once, he
said. only once have I regretted TAX
ing the presidency. And that, by God,
has been every day since"
Mr.. Fitzpatrick finds that Washing
ton was a devoted son to a not over
gentle mother: she seems to have be-
come petulant with advancing years
and her temper was not always under
control. Perhaps her famous son in
herited her temper. but he knew how
to keep il in leash.
Most people" said Mr.. Fitzpatrick.
think Washington had no sense of
humor. / think he did. 1t is a vein
OF humorous satire somewhat like
that of the early Mark Twain. He
certainly saw the funny side of things
His humorous comments are no differ
ent from the humor of others of his
| day. Washington was certainly not
behind them
A little ancedote describing an event
on one of Washington's trips as a
surveyor in the Blue Ridge Mountains
and taken from the diaries is proof
positive that the man who was later
to assume the leadership of new
country in the portentous times of its
beginnings had a mental uuirk ap-
preciative of the unexpected and the
humorous even when it involved
physical discomfort to himself. Wash
ington and his party having work.
ed all day in the mountains retired
for the night TO little log cabin they
had found in the woods. There was
in it a bed of fir boughs. The men
fell upon it with a sigh of relief. They
sighed with dismay when II was den}-
onstrated to them by unmista ka BILE
signs that the bed was completely
infested with fleaS. Washington de-
sCribes the activities of the next dav
in this manner: We worked and We
cleaned ourselves all morning of the
game We had catched the night be-
fore"
About the manuscripts themselves,
and how they came into the possession
of the Government, Mr.. Fitzpatrick
tells some interesting facts. The ma jor
part of the papers were purchased
from the Washington family during
the middle of the last century for
| fifty thousand dollars, appropriated
by Congress for that purpose. This
collection was kept in the State De.
partment until the Roosevelt admin
istration, when it was transferred to
| the Library of Congress, but there
are still some Washington papers re.
tanned in the State Department which
that department considers To- be a part
, of it's departmental files.
Judging from the prices auto
graphs bring now, and not allowing
! for the fact that dumping SO many
on the market would depress the
| price. the fifty-t -thousa nd dollar in
vestment of the Government is now
worth several Millions said Mr.. Fitz-
patrick, thus checking the interview.
er's gasp of astonishmert at the orig
| inal purchase price of the manu-
| scripts. They include, besides the
! diaries, personal letters, rough drafts
! of letters Washington sent as COM
mander of the Army or as President
of the United States, with corrections
| written in, so that the whole process
of the making Of the letter can be
seen.
! THE papers are perfectly preserv-
ed, states Mr.. Fitzpatrick, explain
| ing that it is due as much to the eX-
! cellence of the materials used, the
! quality of the stock and of the ink.
as it is to the careful attention they
| receive at the hands of the Library
attendants THE stock is handmade
| linen paper" says Mr.. Fitzpatrick
| (which with care will last forever.
! The ink was also made at home in
! those days, and from a recipe to
which modern record keepers in
search of a lasting ink have returned,
curiously enough. The writing it.
self is perfectly distinct"
The four-volume work which makes
it's bow in the book stalls this month