Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-02-23

Ladies and Gentlemen
1t Is doubtful If any one outside o
certain great religious teachers evel
so thoroughly impressed himself or
the heart Of humanity as has George
Washington. No figure in America
has been the subject of more memo
rial tributes and more unstinted praise
And yet the subject never seems te
he exhausted and the public interes,
never seems to be decreased. The
larger our experience with affairs OF
the world, the more familiar we be
come with his life and teachings, the
more our admiration enlarges. and
the greater grows our estimation OF
his wisdom. He represented the mar
Vicious combination of the soldier, the
patriot and the statesman. In the
character of each he stands supreme
AS brave soldier he won the Rev.
dictionary War. AS an unselfish pa
triot he refused to use the results OF
that victory for his own benefit, but
bestowed them all on his fellow coun.
trymen. AS a wise statesman, gather.
ing around him the best talent of his
time, he created the American Repub.
lie. All the increasing years only re-
veal to us how universally great he
was. If to set mark upon the minds
OF men which changes the whole
course of human events is teaching,
then washington ranks as a prince
of teachers.
World Better Today.
The world is not the same as that
into which he was born on that Feb.
ruary day in 1892. 1t is a better
world. The stately march Of civiliza.
VI ciy,n CO p,v
has proceeded in a course which he
marked out. The imposing edifice of
human progress which has since been
raised so high rests to large extent
upon the foundations which he
wrought. To those who wish more
civilization and more progress there
must be a continuing determination
to hold to that course and to maintain
those foundations. If any doubt what
benefit these have been. they have
but to compare the present state OF
America especially, or even Of the rest
Of the world, with what it was when
Washington was born.
History seems to indicate that he
led and directed transformation that
was growing with an increasing
strength over western civilization
The fires Of the Middle Ages had
days of Cromwell had run its course
in England. The glory Of the old re
gime in France was declining. The
power Of Spain was shifting to other
hands. But while the old was passing
the new had not yet begun. Material
ly and spiritually, things were at 8
low ebb In the Old World. 1t has
been described as time when poetry
sank into dull prose; when philosophy
rarely scared above the material or
the purely logical; when the only
earnestness existing took the direction
of greed or self-indulgence; wheT
the public service was corrupt; when
public morals were licentious and
when common language was profane.
Finances Disordered.
The finances of the people were in
tinctly a transition period in America
The early settlers who had come from
the old country had passed away. A
very large proportion Of the inhab
itants Of the Colonies, estimated by
some as nearly 80 per cent, were ma
tive born. The pioneer crusading
fervor was gone. The new awakening
had not come. The attachment to
those institutions that are represented
by an order of nobility was breaking
down. Both in the Old World and In
the New the ancient aristocracy was
crumbling: but the modern democracy
had not yet arisen. An era was ap
preaching which was to give less and
less attention to kings and more and
more attention to the people. In that
era Washington was to be the heroic
figure.
No doubt the most powerful infiu.
ence which was working to establish
the new order was the revival of re-
ligion. This movement had been
started in England by John Wesley
and George Whitefield in 1929. 1t was
distinctly an effort to reach the com
mon people. They went down among
those who were not otherwise reached
preaching the gospel. In America
Jonathan Edwards led two revival
movements. eliminating in 1742
Whitefield came to this country and
preached to great congregations dur
ing this period, and the followers of
Wesley sent Bishop Asbury here In
1911. These religious activities were
distinctly popular movements. They
rested on the theory that every human
soul was precious. They resulted in q
leveling process; but it was not a
leveling down, 1t was a leveling up.
They raised every person that came
under their influence to a higher con-
ception Of life. A new recognition of
spiritual worth gave to all humanity
an increased importance.
Education Takes Stage.
Another very predominating inf1u.
ence. supplementing religion and flow.
ting from it, was education. This
movement was not new in the Colonies
but 1t increased in volume after 1882
It has been claimed that the Reformed
Dutch Church Of New York founded
an academy in 1888 and that the
Boston Latin School was established
in 1886. In the same year Boston
took action in q town meeting to sup
port a school. and in Connecticut and
Rhode Island schools were opened
New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia and
South Carolina, and other Colonies,
early action was taken to provide
schools, but the effort was not fol.
lowed up SO assiduously as 1t was in
New England, where the clergy were
very active in its promotion. This In.
fiuence was seen in the first compul.
sorry school law in America, which
was passed in Massachusetts in 1647
"s it being one chief prof
ect Of the old deluder Satan to keeI
men from the knowledge of the Scrip
lures" the preamble recited, the Gen.
eral Court ordered that each township
latter the Lord hath increased them
to the number of SO householders shall
then forthwith appoint one within
every town to teach all such children
to write and read"
Towns of 100 families were required
to have a grammar school and a
teacher able to prepare youths for
the university. Penalties were fixed
for the violation of this law.
In 1882 there were already three
colleges in. America-Harvard. VIII
liam and Mary. and Yale-with a com