Great without pomp, without ambition brave,
Proud, not to conquer fellow-men, but save;
Friend to the weak, a foe to none but those
Who plan their greatness on their brethrens' woes;
Aw'd by no titles—undefil'd by lust—
Free without faction—obstinately just;
Warm'd by religion's sacred, genuine ray,
That points to future bliss the unerring way;
Yet ne'er control'd by superstition's laws,
That worst of tyrants in the noblest cause.
—From a London Newspaper.
Extract from a translation of a Dutch Ode to Washington.
Dr. O'Calla has made a literal translation;
Alfred B. Street, of Albany, the poetical translation.
No lofty monument thy greatness needs;
The freedom which America from thee
Received, and happiness of thy great deeds
The everlasting monument shall be.
Thy proud foot trampled on the British chain;
But O! beware lest some false foreign power
Rivet his fetters on thy land again,
For despots smile while waiting for their hour.
How deeply touched, Humanity! your soul,
When you beheld the grateful tears that rained
Down a glad Nation's cheek, as Freedom's goal
Was by that Nation's might in triumph gained.
O, Fatherland, whoever loves thy fame,
Sighing shall mourn thy glory lost, when won;
Freedom, when leaving thee, lit up her flame
Within the patriot heart of Washington.
When Time shall sink in everlasting gloom,
And Death with Time shall cease for evermore;
When the dead burst the cerements of the tomb,
As the last trumpet breaks in thunder o'er;
Then as it feels its pulses once more free,
Let every heart Columbia claims as son
Beat first for God, but let its next throb be
For the eternal bliss of Washington.
The character of Washington! Who can delineate it worthily? Modest, disinterested, generous, just, of clean hands and a pure heart, self-denying and self-sacrificing, seeking nothing for himself, declining all remuneration beyond the reimbursement of his outlays, scrupulous to a farthing in keeping his accounts, of spotless integrity, scorning gifts, charitable to the needy, forgiving injuries and injustices, brave, fearless, heroic, with a prudence ever governing his impulses, a wisdom ever guiding his valor, true to his friends, true to his country, true to himself, fearing God, no stranger to private devotion or public worship, but ever recognizing a divine aid and direction in all that he accomplished. His magnetism was that of merit, superior, surpassing merit; the merit of spotless integrity, of recognized ability, and of unwearied willingness to spend and be spent in the service of his country.
Robert C. Winthrop.
One of the best of modern Americans, James Russell Lowell, who was born on the same day of the month as Washington, February 22d, 1819, wrote shortly before his death, to a schoolgirl, whose class proposed noticing his own birthday: "Whatever else you do on the twenty-second of February, recollect, first of all, that on that day a really great man was born, and do not fail to warm your hearts with the memory of his service, and to brace your minds with the contemplation of his character. The rest of us must wait uncovered till he be served."