self and his compatriots, the work of their hands and our union, strength and prosperity, the fruits of that work, best attest. This great work remained to be done; and America, steadfast in her preference, with one voice summoned her beloved Washington, unpracticed as he was in the duties of civil administration, to execute this last act in the completion of the national felicity. Obedient to her call, he assumed the high office with that self-distrust peculiar to his innate modesty, the constant attendant of pre-eminent virtue. What was the burst of joy through our anxious land, on this exhilarating event, is known to us all. The aged, the young, the brave, the fair, rivaled each other in demonstrations of their gratitude; and this high-wrought, delightful scene was heightened in its effect by the singular contest between the zeal of the bestowers and the avoidance of the receiver of the honors bestowed. The presidential term expiring, his solicitude to exchange exaltation for humility returned with a force increased with increase of age; and he had prepared his farewell address to his countrymen, proclaiming his intention, when the united interposition of all around him, enforced by the eventful prospects of the epoch, produced a further sacrifice of inclination to duty. The election of President followed, and Washington, by the unanimous vote of the nation, was called to resume the chief magistracy. What a wonderful fixture of confidence! Which attracts most our admiration, a people so correct, or a citizen combining an assemblage of talents forbidding rivalry, and stifling even envy itself? Such a nation ought to be happy; such a chief must be forever revered. First in war, first in peace, and 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. To his equals he was condescending; to his inferiors kind; and to the dear object of his affections exemplarily tender. Correct throughout, vice shuddered in his presence, and virtue always felt his fostering hand; the purity of his private character gave effulgence to his public virtues. His last scene comported with the whole tenor of his life: although in extreme pain, not a sigh, not a groan escaped him; and with undisturbed serenity he closed his well-spent life. Such was the man America has lost! Such was the man for whom our nation mourns! Methinks I see his august image, and hear falling from his venerable lips these deep-sinking words: "Cease, sons of America, lamenting our separation: go on, and confirm by your wisdom the fruits of our joint counsels, joint efforts, and common dangers. Reverence religion; diffuse knowledge throughout your land; patronize the arts and sciences; let liberty and order be inseparable companions; control party spirit, the bane of free government; observe good faith to, and cultivate peace with, all nations; shut up every avenue to foreign influence; contract rather than extend national connections; rely on yourselves only; be American in thought and deed. Thus will you give immortality to that Union, which was the constant object of my terrestrial labors. Thus will you preserve, undisturbed to the latest posterity, the felicity of a people to me most dear; and thus will you supply (if my happiness is now aught to you) the only vacancy in the round of pure bliss high heaven bestows." NOTES 1. Be able to give a brief sketch of the life of Washington. 2. Ill-fated Braddock. Look up Washington's part in Braddock's defeat. 3. Look up the references to Boston, Long Island, York Island, New Jersey, Trenton, Delaware, Princeton, Morristown, Heights of Abraham, and tell important historical incidents connected with each. 4. If possible, read Ford's "The True George Washington" to get a clear idea of the human side of Washington. 5. Be prepared to pronounce and give the meanings of the following words as here used: posterity, consummate, habituated, interposition, yeomanry, precarious, unappalled, aggrandizement, sedition, arduous, august, solicitude, exemplarily, effulgence, tenor, bane, terrestrial, felicity. SUGGESTIVE EXERCISES 1. Why should Henry Lee be the one to pronounce the eulogy on Washington? 2. Tell briefly of the times in which Washington lived. 3. When and where was this eulogy delivered? 4. In what sense was Lee executing only "a part of the system of public mourning"? 5. Explain "Oh, that this were but questionable! 6. What was the cause of Washington's death? 7. Explain "bounded only by the limits of earth, and the extent of the human mind." 8. What events in the life of Washington are given by suggestion in the oration? 9. What was accomplished by his presence at Boston? 10. How did Washington take apparent defeat? Explain. 11. Explain "self-collected," "unappalled by surrounding dangers," ," "Our country rose on the event." 12. How did his genius and skill compare with rival leaders? 13. What was the effect of his "resistless example"? 14. What is meant by "converted his sword into a plowshare"? 15. In what way did he attempt to teach the world that "to be truly great, you must be truly good"? 16. What great responsibility was he next called to face? 17. What showed the boundless confidence of the people in his integrity? 18. What is the strongest eulogy given in this oration? 19. Make a list of Washington's strong traits of character as reccg nized by the speaker. 20. What did Lee conceive to be Washington's message for the future of the country? 21. How only did Washington feel that the Union could be made permanent? 22. How many of these characteristics do we still ascribe to Wash ington after more than a hundred years? REFERENCES IRVING: Life of Washington. SCUDDER: Life of Washington. FORD: The True George Washington. DWIGHT: Columbia, Columbia, To Glory Arise. LONGFELLOw: Paul Revere's Ride. PATRICK HENRY: A Call to Arms. LOWELL: Centennial Hymn. SCOTT: Patriotism. FINCH: Nathan Hale. GILDER: The Celestial Passion. THE RIGHT WORD Others shall sing the song, What matter I or they, John Greenleaf Whittier. HOME THEY BROUGHT HER WARRIOR DEAD ALFRED TENNYSON HE pale, tearless face of a grief-stricken woman as THE she beholds her loved hero dead tells of unutterable agony and of burning tears trickling down within the soul. Her watchers see that relief must come, or grief will consume her being the relief of tears. The poem sets forth delicately the three experiments which sought to reach the tender well-spring of the sufferer's tears. Generous praise of her hero by his comrades left her silent and motionless. The sight of his face heroic and beautiful in death did not move her. But the warm touch of his little child awakened the impulses of her mother-soul, and through a tempest of tears came relief in the high resolve, "Sweet my child, I live for thee." HOME THEY BROUGHT HER WARRIOR DEAD Home they brought her warrior dead; She nor swoon'd nor utter'd cry; All her maidens, watching, said, Then they praised him, soft and low, Stole a maiden from her place, |