Any one seeing a crowd of men in which Washington is one of the
number will at once ask, "Whose is the distinguished form
towering above the throng, a figure of superb strength and
perfect symmetry? He at once receives that hearty admiration
which youth and age alike bestow on a man who so forcibly
illustrates and embellishes manhood. No one finds cause of
regret for lavishing it, for that finely formed intellectual
head held a clear, vigorous brain; those fine blue eyes look
from the depths of a nature at once frank and noble; and in that
broad chest beat a heart filled with the love of freedom,
country and his fellow man."
The spirit of the boy pulsating with youth's warm blood who
carved his name on the west side of the Natural Bridge, where it
remained alone for nearly three-fourths of a century - that same
indomitable spirit rose high above the treacherous rocks of
fear, where it shone on the troubled sea of political injustice,
a beacon light to the venturesome mariners, until they were
landed safely upon the shore of Freedom.
Never did a family bear such an appropriate coat of arms: Exitus
Acta Probat, "The end justifies the means." Here we have a man
whose noble life of self-sacrifice and true devotion to his
country accomplished the "greatest end by the most justifiable
means." He had an Alpine grandeur of mind that towered far above
the sordid lowlands of selfish ambitions to those sublime
heights of whole-souled devotion to public duty and
incorruptible integrity, where the great soul of the man shone
forth like the lovely Pleiades on a winter night. In this
"Cincinnatus of the West" resided a liberal mind, broad as his
sunny acres that led far back from the river; his clearness of
thought was like that of his native springs which gush in
crystal clearness, leaving a path of verdure along their course;
his loftiness of purpose towered sublimely above average life,
like the glorious outlines of the Blue Ridge mountains.
"Skill, prudence, sagacity, energy, and wisdom marked all his
acts." That wonderful trinity - candor, sincerity and simplicity -
were the striking features of his character and "an air of noble
dignity never left his manly features, in either defeat or
battle." On following his brilliant career as a commander one
realizes as never before, that "intellect and not numbers rule
the world; liberty-loving ideals and not force overmaster
bigness; and that truth and right, when supported by strong and
worthy purposes, always prevail in the end."
Among the many interesting relics to be seen at Mount Vernon are
the Sword of Washington and Franklin's staff. While gazing at
these mementoes of the past we recalled these significant words
of the poet:
"The sword of the Hero,
The staff of the Sage,
Whose valor and wisdom
Are stamped on the age.
Time hallowed mementoes
Of those who have riven
The sceptre from tyrants,
The lightning from heaven.
