all the pedestals supplied by history for public characters of
extraordinary nobility and purity, I saw one higher than all the rest,
and if I were required at a moment's notice to name the fittest occupant
for it, I think my choice at any time during the last forty-five years
would have lighted, as it would now light, upon Washington.

* * * * *

WASHINGTON IN HISTORY

BY CHAUNCEY M. DEPEW

No man ever stood for so much to his country and to mankind as George
Washington. Hamilton, Jefferson, Adams, Madison, and Jay each
represented some of the elements which formed the Union. Washington
embodied them all.

The superiority of Washington's character and genius were more
conspicuous in the formation of our government and in putting it on
indestructible foundations than leading armies to victory and conquering
the independence of his country. "The Union in any event" is the central
thought of the "Farewell Address," and all the years of his grand life
were devoted to its formation and preservation.

Do his countrymen exaggerate his virtues? Listen to Guizot, the
historian of civilization: "Washington did the two greatest things which
in politics it is permitted to man to attempt. He maintained by peace
the independence of his country, which he conquered by war. He founded a
free government in the name of the principles of order, and by
re-establishing their sway."