Excerpt from The Summons of Washington and Lincoln, to the American of Today: A Discourse One weekago last Friday was the anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lihcoln; tomorrow'is the anniversary of the birth of George Washington. It is a felicitous circumstance which thus easily associates these two names in our thought. Washington has been called the Father of his Country; Lincoln its Saviour. That is saying too much because there Were individual men with greater formative power in both eras than these. Samuel Adams, the master mind of the revolution-nje'fferson, the philosopher of'liberty; Franklin, the ideal Democrat, were such men. So at the later period was Sumner and the band of great agitators who under the Anti-slavery flag made the sentiment which Lincoln used. But going deeper than that, it is proper to say that the masses of men, the intelligence and virtue of the people, were the potent forceout of which the country sprang, and by means of in its hour of peril, it was saved. Still it is true, that our attitude toward Washington does somewhat justify the application to him of the phrase, Father of his Country; still it is true, that our attitude toward Lincoln does somewhat justify the application to him of the phrase, Saviour of his Country. Both men hold exalted places in our hearts: be'cause they were exalted men; exalted by'the' services to which they were called, in war and peace; exalted by the suffering they endured; exalted by the characters they developed; and Lincoln exalted by the crowning glory of martyrdom. I have said it is a felicitous circumstance which associates the names of these two men. Unlike in origin, unlike in endowment, unlike in many of their native instincts, theyare forever comrades in the spirit, in the supreme services rendered their fellow-countrymen. The citizen who looks for the most exalted examples of patriotic fervor and loyalty; the visitor from foreign shores who wants to see the personal embodiment of American principles, and the evolving American spirit turns naturally, I may say inevitably, to the great Virginian, and to the consummate product of the West. It is good for us to recall occasionally the lofty devotion of these two men in the consecrated careers to which they were summoned. N o intellectual differences, no consideration of locality can blind any true American to their pre-eminent greatness in thismespect. How touching and pathetic is the story of Washington's efforts to recruit and maintain an. Army; his unflagging courage and fortitude when everything seemed going against him; his measureless faith when-others were in despair; his refusal of compensation for services; his willingness to lay down the sceptre of power the moment his labors were done; his, answer to the call of his fellow-citizens to assume the highest civil duties; the humility, moderation and strength with which be discharged those duties; and again the utter absence of the self-seeking qualities with which at the end of eight years in the presidency he retired to private life, First in War, First in Peace, and First in the hearts of his countrymen. Were I trying to give you his complete picture, I should need to Speak at length upon what one has aptly called his great understanding; his good judgment; his organizing capacity. He met at Cambridge a mixed multitude of people, under very little discipline, order or government; hardly any two of them alike in dress or equipment; and largely without ammunition. Fhe made offthem the nucleus of an army with which he conquered one, of the most powerful nations on earth. Confronted with the task of setting on its feet the new government, be summoned to his counsels a Cabinet of. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com