The Washington times., 1937-02-20
When Crises
Arise
By J. T. Williams, Jr.

yICub USbH 41G puLS CIL6 CHCUHts
stances of the tUorld and the
HueS of lesser men under trib-
ute. He does not fling His
hero. out of the sky. He bids
him grow like an oak out of
the earth. All earnest, pure,
unSeltiSh, faithful men uIlo
haze HUed their obscure IiUes
DeH haze helped to make him.
God has let none of them be
tDGSted.
PHILLIPS BROOKS.
It has been truly said that "a
thousand unrecorded patriots
helped to make Washington"
Doubtless it is the realization Of
this truth, sunk deep in the hearts
of the people, that enables them
to see embodied in him, as did his
most widely-read biographer, "the
possibilities of humanity"
All Of this Abraham Lincoln
saw with the eyes Of the great hui
manist that he was when he left
to the people this estimate Of the
Father of His Country:
IN SOLEMN AWE
"WaShingtOn'S is the mightiest
name on earth-lOng since
mightieSt in the cause Of civil
liberty; still mightiest in moral
reformation. On that name no
euIOgy is expected. 1t cannt be.
To add brightness to the sun, or
glory to the name Of Washing
ton, is alike impossible. Let none
attempt it. In solemn awe we
pronounce the name, and in its
naked deathly splendOr leave 1t
shining on"
It has long been the custom for
the Senate of the United States
to pause long enough in its delib-
on Washington's Birth
day for a Senator to read to the
Senate from The Farewell Address.
This custom demonstrates the
enduring truth Of Lincoln'S state
ment that the people expect from
no man a eulogy of washington.
This custom demonstrates the
realization by the Congress that
while it is impossible to add glory
to the name Of Washington 1t Is
both possible and needful year by
year for the Government and
people to turn for guidance and
inspiration to the wisdom Of Wash
ington's words as handed down in
The Farewell Address.
Nobody has better expressed this
continuance Of the dependence Of
the people on the spiritual leader
ship of Washington than Daniel
Webster of Massachusetts when
he said:
WEBSTER'S TRIBUTE
"Great Father Of your
Country! We need your words:
we feel their force, as II you
now uttered them with lips Of
flesh and blood. Your example
teaches us, your affectiOnate 8
addresses teach u.s. your public
life teaches US, your sense Of the
value of the blessing Of the
Union. Those blessings our
fathers have tasted, and we have
tasted, and still taste. Nor do
we intend that those who come
after us shall be denied the
same high function"
Especially is this true In times
of national crises, whether they
arise in peace or war, whatever
the arena in which the household
Of the nation must meet the chal-
lenge that every crisis brings.
Then it is that the wise words Of
The Farewell Address, the
"counsels of an old and affection
ate friend" again serve the mighty
purpose which Washington hoped
they would.
He was not attempting, as he
said, to control the usual current
passions" He did not dream that
this legacy from his great mind
and heart would prevent the
Nation from running
the course which has hitherto
marked the destiny of nations"
It was only that his counse1s
might produce "Some partial bene-
fit" and produce "some occasional
good" that he summed them up
in the address which he issued on
September 10, 1796.
WORDS APPLY TODAY
And that there might be no
doubt in the minds of those who
were to come after him as to what
he hoped the nature Of their
service would be, he enumerated
the dangers against which he was
striving to warn and arm the Ma
ton.
These dangers still beset the
people. And in the
midst Of them to the people
throughout the Union will again
recur the advice and admonitions
of the Farewell Address "to mod
crate the fury Of party spirit, to
warn against the miSchiefs of for
eign intrigue, to guard against
the impoStures of pretended pa
triotism."
To read the Farewell Address,
or to listen to its reading, in these
times is to find it hard to believe
that it was not issued last Sep
tember instead of that never-to-
be-forgotten September more than
one hundred and forty years ago.