Chapter 8
And now, if this vision were a reality; if Washington now were actually amongst us, and if he could draw around him the shades of the great public men of his own day, patriots and warriors, orators and statesmen, and were to address us in their presence, would he not say to us:
"Ye men of this generation, I rejoice and thank God for being able to see that our labors, and toils, and sacrifices, were not in vain. You are prosperous, you are happy, you are grateful. The fire of liberty burns brightly and steadily in your hearts, while duty and the law restrain it from bursting forth in wild and destructive conflagration. Cherish liberty, as you love it; cherish its securities, as you wish to preserve it. Maintain the Constitution which we labored so painfully to establish, and which has been to you such a source of inestimable blessings. Preserve the Union of the States, cemented as it was by our prayers, our tears, and our blood. Be true to God, to your country, and to your duty. So shall the whole Eastern world follow the morning sun, so contemplate you as a nation; so shall all generations honor you, as they honor us; and so shall that Almighty power which so graciously protected us, and which now protects you, shower its everlasting blessings upon you and your posterity!"
Great Father of your Country! We need your words; we feel their force, as if you now uttered them with lips of flesh and blood. Your example teaches us, your affectionate addresses teach us, your public life teaches us, your sense of the value of the blessings 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. Our honor, as well as our happiness, is concerned. We cannot, we dare not, we will not, betray our sacred trust. We will not filch from posterity the treasure placed in our hands to be transmitted to other generations. The bow that gilds the clouds in the heavens, the pillars that uphold the firmament, may disappear and fall away in the hour appointed by the will of God; but, until that day comes, or so long as our lives may last, no ruthless hand shall undermine that bright arch of Union and Liberty which spans the continent from Washington to California!
VI
TRIBUTES
MEMORIALS OF WASHINGTON[19]
BY HENRY B. CARRINGTON
Modern history, oratory, and poetry are so replete with tributes to the memory of Washington, that the entire progress of the civilized world for more than a century has been shaped by the influence of his life and precepts. The memorial shaft at the national capital, which is the loftiest of human structures, and is inner-faced by typical expressions of honor from nearly all nations, is a fit type of his surmounting merit. The ceremonies which attended the cornerstone consecration and signalized its completion are no less an honor to the distinguished historian and statesman who voiced the acclamations of the American people than a perpetual testimonial worthy of the subject honored by the occasion and by the monument. When the world pays willing tribute, and the most ambitious monarch on earth would covet no higher plaudit than that he served his people as faithfully as Washington served America, it is difficult to fathom the depths of memorial sentiment and place in public view those which are the most worthy of study and appreciative respect. The national life itself throbs through his transmitted life, and the aroma of his grace is as consciously breathed by statesmen and citizens to-day as the invisible atmosphere which secures physical vitality and force. Senator Vance of North Carolina, thus earnestly commends to the youth of America the brightness and beauty of the great example:
Greater soldiers, more intellectual statesmen, and profounder sages have doubtless existed in the history of the English race, perhaps in our own country, but not one who to great excellence in the threefold composition of man, the physical, intellectual, and moral, has added such exalted integrity, such unaffected piety, such unsullied purity of soul, and such wondrous control of his own spirit. He illustrated and adorned the civilization of Christianity, and furnished an example of the wisdom and perfection of its teachings which the subtlest arguments of its enemies cannot impeach. That one grand, rounded life, full-orbed with intellectual and moral glory, is worth, as the product of Christianity, more than all the dogmas of all the teachers. The youth of America who aspire to promote their own and their country's welfare should never cease to gaze upon his great example, or to remember that the brightest gems in the crown of his immortality, the qualities which uphold his fame on earth and plead for him in heaven, were those which characterized him as the patient, brave, Christian gentleman. In this respect he was a blessing to the whole human race no less than to his own countrymen, to the many millions who annually celebrate the day of his birth.
Such sentiments fitly illustrate the controlling element of character which made the conduct of Washington so peerless in the field and in the chair of state. His first utterances upon assuming command of the American army before Boston, on the 2d of July, 1775, were a rebuke of religious bigotry and an impressive protest against gaming, swearing, and all immoral practices, which might forfeit divine aid in the great struggle for national independence. Succeeding orders, preparatory to the battle of Long Island, in August, 1776, breathe the same spirit,--that which transfused all his activities, as with celestial fire, until he surrendered his commission with a devout and public recognition of Almighty God as the author of his success.
FOOTNOTES:
[19] From the "Patriotic Reader." Lippincott Co.
* * * * *
FROM THE "COMMEMORATION ODE"
_World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, October 21, 1892_
BY HARRIET MONROE
WASHINGTON
When dreaming kings, at odds with swift-paced time, Would strike that banner down, A nobler knight than ever writ or rhyme With fame's bright wreath did crown Through armed hosts bore it till it floated high Beyond the clouds, a light that cannot die! Ah, hero of our younger race! Great builder of a temple new! Ruler, who sought no lordly place! Warrior, who sheathed the sword he drew! Lover of men, who saw afar A world unmarred by want or war, Who knew the path, and yet forbore To tread, till all men should implore; Who saw the light, and led the way Where the gray world might greet the day; Father and leader, prophet sure, Whose will in vast works shall endure, How shall we praise him on this day of days, Great son of fame who has no need of praise?
How shall we praise him? Open wide the doors Of the fair temple whose broad base he laid. Through its white halls a shadowy cavalcade Of heroes moves o'er unresounding floors-- Men whose brawned arms upraised these columns high, And reared the towers that vanish in the sky,-- The strong who, having wrought, can never die.
* * * * *
WASHINGTON'S STATUE
BY HENRY THEODORE TUCKERMAN
The quarry whence thy form majestic sprung Has peopled earth with grace, Heroes and gods that elder bards have sung, A bright and peerless race; But from its sleeping veins ne'er rose before A shape of loftier name Than his, who Glory's wreath with meekness wore, The noblest son of Fame. Sheathed is the sword that Passion never stained; His gaze around is cast, As if the joys of Freedom, newly gained, Before his vision passed; As if a nation's shout of love and pride With music filled the air, And his calm soul was lifted on the tide Of deep and grateful prayer; As if the crystal mirror of his life To fancy sweetly came, With scenes of patient toil and noble strife, Undimmed by doubt or shame; As if the lofty purpose of his soul Expression would betray-- The high resolve Ambition to control, And thrust her crown away! O, it was well in marble firm and white To carve our hero's form, Whose angel guidance was our strength in fight, Our star amid the storm! Whose matchless truth has made his name divine And human freedom sure, His country great, his tomb earth's dearest shrine. While man and time endure! And it is well to place his image there Upon the soil he blest: Let meaner spirits, who its councils share, Revere that silent guest! Let us go up with high and sacred love To look on his pure brow, And as, with solemn grace, he points above, Renew the patriot's vow!
TRIBUTES
_Extract from an address by President Gary of the Union League Club, at the celebration of Washington's Birthday at the Auditorium, Chicago, February 22, 1900_
It is needless to dispute with others as to Washington's rank in minor things. We know that for us and for our country his is the greatest name that lives; that in the grand struggle and march for freedom he was humanity's greatest leader, and that through us as a nation he gave to the world its chiefest example of republican self-government And now that his greatness is acknowledged and his praises sung the world round, our hearts swell with pride and gratitude that he is ours; our countryman; our great American; our Washington. Not the safe and invincible general merely, not the wise first President, but George Washington, the sublime personality, greatest seen when all props and scaffoldings of rank and station are torn away.
* * * * *
From Green's "_History of the English People_":
No nobler figure ever stood in the forefront of a nation's life. Washington was grave and courteous in address; his manners were simple and unpretending; his silence and the serene calmness of his temper spoke of a perfect self-mastery; but little there was in his outer bearing to reveal the grandeur of soul which lifts his figure with all the simple majesty of an ancient statue, out of the smaller passions, the meaner impulses of the world around him.
It was only as the weary fight went on that the colonists learned, little by little, the greatness of their leader--his clear judgment, his calmness in the hour of danger or defeat; the patience with which he waited, the quickness and hardness with which he struck, the lofty and serene sense of duty that never swerved from its task through resentment or jealousy, that never, through war or peace, felt the touch of a meaner ambition; that knew no aim save that of guarding the freedom of his fellow-countrymen; and no personal longing save that of returning to his own fireside when their freedom was secured.
It was almost unconsciously that men learned to cling to Washington with a trust and faith such as few other men have won, and to regard him with reverence which still hushes us in presence of his memory.
* * * * *
Washington's is the mightiest name of earth--long since mightiest in the cause of civil liberty; still mightiest in moral reformation. On that name no eulogy is expected. It cannot be. To add brightness to the sun, or glory to the name of Washington, is alike impossible. Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name, and in its naked deathless splendor leave it shining on.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
* * * * *
Washington cannot be stripped of any part of his credit for patriotism, wisdom, and courage; for the union of enterprise with prudence; for integrity and truthfulness; for simply dignity of character; for tact and forbearance in dealing with men; above all for serene fortitude in the darkest hour of his cause, and under trials from the perversity, insubordination, jealousy, and perfidy of those around him, severer than any defeat.
GOLDWIN SMITH.
* * * * *
The life of our Washington cannot suffer by a comparison with those of other countries who have been most celebrated and exalted by fame. The attributes and decorations of royalty could have only served to eclipse the majesty of those virtues which made him, from being a modest citizen, a more resplendent luminary.
Malice could never blast his honor, and envy made him a single exception to her universal rule. For himself he had lived enough to life and to glory. For his fellow-citizens, if their prayers could have been answered, he would have been immortal. His example is complete, and it will teach wisdom and virtue to magistrates, citizens, and men, not only in the present age, but in future generations, as long as our history shall be read.
JOHN ADAMS.
* * * * *
His character, though regular and uniform, possessed none of the littleness which may sometimes belong to these descriptions of men. It formed a majestic pile, the effect of which was not inspired, but improved, by order and symmetry. There was nothing in it to dazzle by wildness, and surprise by eccentricity. It was of a higher species of moral beauty. It contained everything great and elevated, but it had no false or trivial ornament. It was not the model cried up by fashion and circumstance: its excellence was adapted to the true and just moral taste, incapable of change from the varying accidents of manners, of opinions, and times. General Washington is not the idol of a day, but the hero of ages.
ANONYMOUS.
* * * * *
Washington stands alone and unapproachable like a snow peak rising above its fellows into the clear air of morning, with a dignity, constancy, and purity which have made him the ideal type of civic virtue to succeeding generations.
JAMES BRYCE.
* * * * *
Pale is the February sky, And brief the midday's sunny hours; The wind-swept forest seems to sigh For the sweet time of leaves and flowers.
Yet has no month a prouder day, Not even when the Summer broods O'er meadows in their fresh array, Or Autumn tints the glowing woods.
For this chill season now again Brings, in its annual round, the morn When, greatest of the sons of men, Our glorious Washington was born!
* * * * *
Amid the wreck of thrones shall live Unmarred, undimmed, our hero's fame, And years succeeding years shall give Increase of honors to his name.
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT.
* * * * *
Washington, the warrior and legislator! In war contending, by the wager of battle, for the independence of his country, and for the freedom of the human race; ever manifesting amidst its horrors, by precept and example, his reverence for the laws of peace and the tenderest sympathies of humanity: in peace soothing the ferocious spirit of discord among his countrymen into harmony and union; and giving to that very sword, now presented to his country, a charm more potent than that attributed in ancient times to the lyre of Orpheus.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
* * * * *
George Washington may justly be pronounced one of the greatest men whom the world has produced. Greater soldiers, more intellectual statesmen, and profounder sages have doubtlessly existed in the history of the English race--perhaps in our own country--but no one who to great excellence in each of these fields has added such exalted integrity, such unaffected piety, such unsullied purity of soul, and such wondrous control of his own spirit. That one grand rounded life, full-orbed with intellectual and moral glory, is worth, as the product of Christianity, more than all the dogmas of all the teachers. He was a blessing to the whole human race, no less than to his own countrymen--to the many millions who celebrate the day of his birth.
ZEBULON B. VANCE.
* * * * *
First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen, he was second to none in the humble and endearing scenes of private life; pious, just, humane, temperate, and sincere, uniform, dignified, and commanding, his example was as edifying to all around him, as were the effects of that example lasting.
HENRY LEE.
* * * * *
Happy was it for America, happy for the world, that a great name, a guardian genius, presided over her destinies in war. The hero of America was the conqueror only of his country's foes, and the hearts of his countrymen. To the one he was a terror, and in the other he gained an ascendency, supreme, unrivaled, the triumph of admiring gratitude, the reward of a nation's love.
JARED SPARKS.
* * * * *
The sword of Washington! The staff of Franklin! Oh sir, what associations are linked in adamant with these names! Washington, whose sword, as my friend has said, was never drawn but in the cause of his country, and never sheathed when wielded in his country's cause. Franklin, the philosopher of the thunderbolt, the printing-press, and the plowshare.
JOHN QUINCY ADAMS.
* * * * *
Others of our great men have been appreciated,--many admired by all. But him we love. Him we all love. About and around him we call up no dissentient and discordant and dissatisfied elements, no sectional prejudice nor bias, no party, no creed, no dogma of politics. None of these shall assail him. When the storm of battle blows darkest and rages highest, the memory of Washington shall nerve every American arm and cheer every American heart. It shall relume that Promethean fire, that sublime flame of patriotism, that devoted love of country, which his words have commended, which his example has consecrated.
RUFUS CHOATE.
* * * * *
Where may the wearied eyes repose When gazing on the great, Where neither guilty glory glows Nor despicable state? Yes,--one, the first, the last, the best, The Cincinnatus of the West, Whom envy dared not hate, Bequeathed the name of Washington To make men blush there was but one.
LORD BYRON.
* * * * *
_From "Washington's Vow," by John Greenleaf Whittier, read at the dedication of the Washington Arch, at New York City, 1889_
How felt the land in every part The strong throb of a nation's heart? As its great leader gave, with reverent awe, His pledge to Union, Liberty, and Law!
That pledge the heavens above him heard, That vow the sleep of centuries stirred. In world-wide wonder listening peoples bent Their gaze on Freedom's great experiment.
* * * * *
Thank God! the people's choice was just! The one man equal to his trust. Wise without lore, and without weakness good, Calm in the strength of flawless rectitude.
* * * * *
Our first and Best--his ashes lie Beneath his own Virginia sky. Forgive, forget, oh! true and just and brave, The storm that swept above thy sacred grave.
* * * * *
Then let the sovereign millions where Our banner floats in sun and air, From the warm palm-lands to Alaska's cold, Repeat with us the pledge, a century old!
Let a man fasten himself to some great idea, some large truth, some noble cause, even in the affairs of this world, and it will send him forward with energy, with steadfastness, with confidence. This is what Emerson meant when he said: "Hitch your wagon to a star." These are the potent, the commanding, the enduring men,--in our own history, men like Washington and Lincoln. They may fail, they may be defeated, they may perish; but onward moves the cause, and their souls go marching on with it, for they are part of it, they have believed in it.
HENRY VAN DYKE.
* * * * *
O name forever to thy country dear! Still wreath'd with pride, "still uttered with a tear!" Thou that could'st rouse a nation's host to arms, Could'st calm the spreading tumult of alarms, Of civil discord, awe the threatening force And check even Anarchy's licentious course! Long as exalted worth commands applause, Long as the virtuous bow to virtue's laws, Long as thy reverence and honor join'd, Long as the hero's glory warms the mind, Long as the flame of gratitude shall burn, Or human tears bedew the patriot's urn, Thy sound shall dwell on each Columbian tongue And live lamented in elegiac song! Till some bold bard, inspired with Delphic rage! Shall with thy lusters fire his epic page!
In Fate's vast chronicle of future time, The mystic mirror of events sublime Where deeds of virtue gild each pregnant page And some grand epoch makes each coming age, Where germs of future history strike the eye And empires' rise and fall in embryo lie, Though statesmen, heroes, sages, chiefs abound Yet none of worth like Washington's are found!
* * * * *
Rear to his name a monument sublime! Bid art and genius all their powers bestow, And let the pile with life and grandeur glow. High on the top let Fame with trumpet's sound, Announce his god-like deeds to worlds around! Let Pallas lead her hero to the field, In Wisdom's train, and cover with her shield. A sword present to dazzle from afar And flash bright terrors through the ranks of war. With port august let oak-wreath'd Freedom stand And hail him father of the chosen land; With laurels deck him, with due honors greet, And crowns and scepters place beneath his feet; Let Peace, her olive blooming like the morn, And kindred Plenty with her teeming horn, With Commerce, child, and regent of the main, While Arts and Agriculture join the train, Rear a sad altar, bend around his urn, And to their guardian, grateful incense burn! Let History calm, in thoughtful mood reclin'd, Record his actions to enrich mankind, And Poesy divine his deeds rehearse In all the energy of epic verse!
To future ages there let Mercy own He never from her bosom forc'd a groan; Here let a statesman, there a reverend sage To mark and emulate his steps engage, Columbia widow'd, count his virtues o'er, Around his tomb her pearly sorrows pour, And mild Religion of celestial mien Point to her patron's place, in realms unseen! Then stamp in gold the monument above The mournful tribute of a nation's love! But not alone in scenes where glory fir'd, He mov'd, no less, in civic walks admir'd! Though long a warrior, choice of human blood, As Brutus noble, and as Titus good! To all that formed the hero of the age, He joined the patriot and the peaceful sage, The statesman powerful and the ruler just, No less illustrious than the chief august; And to condense his characters in one, The god-like Father of his Country shone!
_From an old Magazine_.
* * * * *
Hail, brightest banner that floats on the gale, Flag of the country of Washington, hail! Red are thy stripes with the blood of the brave; Bright are thy stars as the sun on the wave; Wrapt in thy folds are the hopes of the free. Banner of Washington!--blessings on thee!
Traitors shall perish and treason shall fail; Kingdoms and thrones in thy glory grow pale! Thou shalt live on, and thy people shall own Loyalty's sweet, when each heart is thy throne; Union and Freedom thine heritage be. Country of Washington!--blessings on thee!
WILLIAM S. ROBINSON.
* * * * *
Point of that pyramid whose solid base Rests firmly founded on a nation's trust, Which, While the gorgeous palace sinks in dust, Shall stand sublime, and fill its ample space.