FEBRUARY 22: Father of His Country
We all know the old answer to the question of “Who was George Washington?”
Many a time have we gaily answered the question as we’ve pounded fists on the table:
“First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen.” And at the end of that we’ve had a nice little winding up of pounding.
There is hardly a place, it seems, that in some way is not connected with Washington. Perhaps at one time or another he had made his headquarters there, or a chair is preserved carefully because Washington sat in it!
At Mount Vernon, where Washington lived, one can see the very rooms through which Washington walked, his bed-room, and the very four-poster bed in which he slept. And around the house are the grounds which Washington loved and through which he wandered, down to the banks of the Potomac River.
Time and time again George Washington faced difficulties of a bitterly hard nature. But he never flinched.
Time and time again Washington saw his men suffering or deserting. But Washington suffered with them and he never lost courage.
Time and time again Washington was doubted; jealous groups tried to work against him. But Washington went straight on, doing as he should and not stooping to “play favorites” or to be a “favorite.”
There was the time, too, when the country he loved doubted him, and showed him cruel ingratitude. But Washington did not turn from his course. It was the hardest of all to bear but he was the Father of his Country and—his children did come back to him.
And then—when everywhere people were singing his praises, shouting them, exclaiming them, Washington never lost his head.
He never let his own little inner feelings of likes and dislikes keep him from being fair.
Always fair, always just, always true to the country whose government he really made, he is the Father of his Country in truth.
After the Revolutionary War, as after all wars, the country was in a frightfully upset state and the people were the same. Then it was that Washington held together the country, made its government, and slowly but steadily brought order out of the most frightful disorder.
In those days people traveled by stage-coach; cities were small and far apart, the country was spread out and rumors and prejudices were hard to overcome.
But all of these tangled threads and oh, so tangled were they, Washington unraveled!
His Christmas Days, too—often how unlike Christmas they were! One was spent at Valley Forge when everything was frozen and the men went forth seeking food. Another was spent at New Windsor where the suffering from the cold had been intense, but there was brightness that day because of the arrival of a great wagon filled with shirts and warm clothing for Washington and his men. And yet another Christmas was that when the famous crossing of the Delaware River took place.
Washington—whom historians all call very great.
Washington—the Father of his Country!