behind every bayonet carried at the order
of Kaiser or Czar; men, who, in doing their own thinking, will one day
decide for themselves the problems of peace and war.
The scenes of the fifth act of the grand drama are changing, but all
attention remains riveted upon one majestic figure. He stands the
noblest leader who ever was intrusted with his country's life. His
patience under provocation, his calmness in danger, and lofty courage
when all others despaired, his prudent delays when delay was best, and
his quick and resistless blows when action was possible, his magnanimity
to defamers and generosity to his foes, his ambition for his country and
unselfishness for himself, his sole desire of freedom and independence
for America, and his only wish to return after victory to private life,
have all combined to make him, by the unanimous judgment of the world,
the foremost figure of history.
* * * * *
FOR A LITTLE PUPIL
ANONYMOUS
"Napoleon was great, I know,
And Julius Caesar, and all the rest,
But they didn't belong to us, and so
I like George Washington the best."
* * * * *
WASHINGTON'S FAME
BY ASHER ROBBINS
It is the peculiar good fortune of this country to have given birth to a
citizen whose name everywhere produces a sentiment of regard for his
country itself. In other countries, whenever and wherever this is
spoken of to be praised, it is called the country of Washington. I
believe there is no people, civilized or savage, in any place however
remote, where the name of Washington has not been heard, and where it is
not respected with the fondest admiration. We are told that the Arab of
the desert talks of Washington in his tent, and that his name is
familiar to the wandering Scythian. He seems, indeed, to be the delight
of humankind, as their beau-ideal of human nature. No American, in any
part of the world, but has found the regard for himself increased by his
connection with Washington, as his fellow-countryman; and who has not
felt a pride, and has occasion to exult, in the fortunate connection?
A century and more has now passed away since he came upon the stage, and
his fame first broke upon the world; for it broke like the blaze of day
from the rising sun--almost as sudden, and seemingly as universal. The
eventful period since that era has teemed with great men, who have
crossed the scene and passed off. Some of them
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