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the victory was achieved.  At the time when the army was in revolt, when there was dissatisfaction in Congress, and consternation and distress throughout the colonies, it was proposed that the original plan of government be abandoned and that Washington be chosen as the military ruler or dictator.  Washington’s strong reproval of such proposals and his insistence upon the stronger government, showed his unselfish regard for the country.  A weaker man might have weakened, a bad one would, but Washington was determined to embody into the government all that had been achieved by the war.  Washington in what he did had no precedents.  He and his associates made the chart which assisted them in guiding the new government.  He established credit, put the army and navy on a permanent basis, fostered commerce, and was ever on the side of education.

Everything that he did demonstrates his marvelous foresight.  We cannot afford to spare the inspiration that comes from Washington.  It promotes patriotism and gives vigor to national life.  Washington’s views on slavery were characterized by a high sense of justice and an exalted conscience.  He was the owner of slaves by inheritance, all his interests were affected by slavery, yet he was opposed to it, and in his will he provided for the liberation of his slaves.  He set the example for emancipation.  He hoped for, prayed for, and was willing to vote for what Lincoln afterward accomplished.





  This was the man God gave us when the hour
  Proclaimed the dawn of Liberty begun;
  Who dared a deed, and died when it was done,
  Patient in triumph, temperate in power,—­
  Not striving like the Corsican to tower
  To heaven, nor like great Philip’s greater son
  To win the world and weep for worlds unwon,
  Or lose the star to revel in the flower. 
  The lives that serve the eternal verities
  Alone do mold mankind.  Pleasure and pride
  Sparkle awhile and perish, as the spray
  Smoking across the crests of cavernous seas
  Is impotent to hasten or delay
  The everlasting surges of the tide.

* * * * *



1732.  February 22 (February 11, O.S.), born. 1748.  Surveyor of lands at sixteen years of age. 1751.  Military inspector and major at nineteen years of age. 1752.  Adjutant-general of Virginia. 1753.  Commissioner to the French. 1754.  Colonel, and commanding the Virginia militia. 1755.  Aide-de-camp to Braddock in his campaign. 1755.  Again commands the Virginia troops. 1758.  Resigns his commission. 1759.  January 6.  Married. 1759.  Elected member of Virginia House of Burgesses.

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