dentially Washington was childless. So great a man-the greatest of his time, if not of all time- could not have perpetuated as great a progeny. Great men rarely have great children. Genius is rare and not hereditary. The nation could not have shared its love and honor of the Father of the Country with any son or daughter. And so, when he died, the current remark among the people for a long time was, Washington was the Father only of his Country. Collateral branches of his family have given the Lees, the Custises, the Lewises, and other families a claim to an association with his name or infusion of the blood; but no direct descendants of Washington can claim his honors, and fortunately, for we know not what might have happened; there have been no direct descendants to disgrace his name. has been spared the humiliation, and we the sorrow, that so often attaches to the names of great men's sons.

He

If you consider carefully what have been the elements of this nation's conceded success and present greatness, I think you will agree with me that. they are chiefly two; and that these two things, without which our country could not have achieved its power, are the Constitution, of which Gladstone once said, "It is the most perfect instrument which the wit of man has ever devised," and the happy choice of our first President, who appeared at a critical moment, with great sagacity, far-seeing wisdom, and a wonderful gentleness in dealing with men and winning his way with opponents, put this mechanism of a constitution into practical and efficient operation. His training had singularly fitted him for this work. He was well born. He was well-to-do. He was at one time most likely the richest man in this whole country. He studied engineering. He was a military man with rank of major, at a very early age commanding troops in Virginia. He exercised his profession and speculated in property in what is now West Virginia and Ohio. This gave him acquaintance and experience with the plain, the common people. He was a patriotic man, and proved it by taking part in the border conflicts; and in the French and Indian wars of 1754 he was the agent sent by Governor Dinwiddie to warn the French away from the new forts in western Pennsylvania, and here the command of the Virginia forces fell to him. He served in Braddock's campaign, and in the final defeat showed for the first time the fiery energy which always lay hidden beneath his calm exterior. He defended the frontier for a year or two, covering some four hundred miles with seven hundred men. When the war in Virginia was at an end, in 1758 he married Mrs. Custis, a widow, settled at Mount Vernon, and though living there but a very short time continuously, the exigencies of public service demanding his absence from home much of the time, as head of a household, enjoying family life, he further equipped himself for his delicate task of first making and then ruling nation.

All of the prophets are not enumerated in the Old Testament books. Once in a while somebody is gifted with extraordinary foresight and becomes a seer. Washington's extraordinary escape in Braddock's defeat, when he ranged the whole field on horseback, making himself the most conspicuous mark for the bullets of the Indians, and, in spite of what he called the "dastardly behavior" of the regular troops, brought the little remnant of his Virginians out of action in fair order, gave occasion to a colonial minister to declare in a sermon "that this young man had been preserved to be the savior of bis country." Years passed by, some twenty, during which time Washington was a typical planter, well to-do; a large slaveholder, though never believing that this system could continue, and prophesying trouble from it; a consistent member of the established Church; a strict but considerate landholder, and a largely trusted man of affairs. It was no wonder that such a man was sent to the Continental Congress; that then his national career began; that he was the first to foresee trouble with the mother country; that when the time came for the blow for liberty to be struck, this

man.

who combined the dignity of theCavalier with the rugged simplicity of the Puritan, who was soldier as well as citizen, statesman as well as patriot, reverent as well as courageous, should be the one unanimously chosen on motion of John Adams to be commander-in-chief of the armed forces of the United Colonies. The worker was well prepared and ready for the work. The colonists were mostly poor, especially in New England. Washington was rich and not mean. He refused any salary, and modestly accepted the command. You know his difficulties-many, and most of them seemingly insurmountable. He had to organize an army. It took him a year to do it. How he ever did it. with colonial poverty staring him everywhere in the face; with exasperating annoyances; overcoming the selfishness, stupidity, and at times the fierce opposition, of his coadjutors, it is difficult to tell. But he was Washington; and when, with such an army, he drove the British out of Boston in 1776, he established his fame as the foremost man of the continent. And from that time until his death, notwithstanding retreat through the Jerseys, reversal on Long Island, sufferings at Valley Forge, misery of his men, clamors of the people, impatience of Congress, jealousy of his officers, treachery of Benedict Arnold, he held his foremost place until Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, when the war ended. Seeking private life, he tendered his commission to Congress in 1783, and retired to Mount Vernon. But private life was his no more. He had forfeited this by his success. The public would have him. His canonization had already begun. Putting him upon the Pope's calendar would not have added anything to his renown. As a matter of fact, it would not have been possible to persuade the Pope to add his illustrious name to the calendar of the saints. I do not suppose it would be possible to do so now. But what matter! Those not saints are on that calendar, while our George Washington is canonized by the vox populi, and is a saint to every true child of America. With all this enthusiastic admiration of him, the people almost worshiping him, he was never spoiled. He was a modest man, a marvelous combination of greatness and simplicity. The army, when he left it, was at once for making him king. One even proposed the title. Washington was angry, and put a stop at once to the foolish proceeding. At Mount Vernon he conducted an enormous correspondence with public men in every part of the country. Many of his letters are preserved. They are models of neatness, examples of modesty and reserve, and illustrations of courtesy and politeness which almost rebuke our present type-written, off-hand, and anything but a polished, cultured, courteous correspondence. When the Federal Convention met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, to frame the present Constitution, much against his inclination Washington went as a delegate from Virginia. Of course he was elected its presiding officer by a unanimous vote. He took no part in debates, but he influenced every man's speech. When the Constitution was ratified, nobody thought of any other man for President of these United States but George Washington. Again, in 1792, he was unanimously reëlected by the electors. Again, in 1796, though he positively refused a third term, two electors persistently declared that they could not vote for any one else.

It goes without saying that in those stormy times Washington did not escape calumny from politicians and vituperation from some newspapers. No doubt these things made him miserable, but they never injured him, however much they may have hurt his feelings. The people never wavered in their devotion. He was their saint, and they would not have him smirched. Time brought all men, even his enemies, to his feet in adoration. If ever one was the exception, he is forgotten-unknown!

There was a man sent from God-whose name was George Washington. The Father of our Country seemed really to have been "sent of God" at a time when he was needed to do a work which nobody else could do. And when God chose this man of a century-yes, I do not hesitate to say this

man of the ages-He gave him a face and physical bearing as credentials of his mission. Six feet three inches in his prime, with hands which Lafayette says were the largest he ever saw on a man," and though we are to remember a Frenchman's extremities are petite, we accept the testimony as corroborative of our idea of Washington's ruggedness; he was large-handed in more than one respect. With complexion fair and considerably florid, weighing about 225 pounds, of benign countenance, calm expression, winning eyes, determined lips, nobody could say that he was beautiful-nobody ever ought to say that of a man-but everybody deemed him handsome; all thought he was the embodiment of stately dignity, and, when he died, all were unanimous in saying, "We shall never look upon his like again." It sometimes happens that even the most honestly inclined man will overestimate the goodness and the greatness of a dead man. Say nothing but good of those who are dead, reads an old Latin proverb-" De mortuis nil nisi bonum." But it never happens that any such overestimation endures with the lapse of time. One hundred years have gone since Washington was buried. He is greater, grander, more glorious to-day than ever. has not tarnished his fame nor dimmed his greatness. Our Grand Master has well said in his encyclical letter, "Poets have sung his praise. Historians have made him the central figure in the world's history. All nations respect his memory. No other land has produced his equal. Wherever civilization extends, in every clime and in every tongue, the name Washington is the synonym of all that is great and good and true. The immortality of Washington's name does not depend upon the homage succeeding generations shall pay to his memory. The fidelity of his unswerving patriotism, the unsullied integrity of his personal character, and the unquestioned force of his military genius, have written that name first, in living characters, upon the brightest page of the Immortal Record."

We

Time

My dear Friends and Brethren, we best honor Washington by trying to be like him and doing our utmost to make this great country what he designed it to be. Little could he foresee what this country now is, though he was gifted with foresight rare and marvelous. His idea of entangling alliances never could have anticipated conditions which now confront us. Yet his are the words of wisdom, his the counsels of perfection. We may not slavishly follow his literal admonitions, we must accommodate his warnings to present complications; but as surely as he is the Father of this Country so surely will we his children prosper by taking heed to his commandments and honoring him all we can. Bless God for the life and the character of George Washington! His was a good example-so near perfect that its little lack proves him a man. He is numbered with God's saints in glory everlasting. pray that he may enjoy the felicity of saints in paradise; that angels may tell him what a wonderful nation this one which he planted has become, sending its roots deep into the earth and its branches beyond the seas; we trust and believe he remembers us aud prays for our peace and prosperity. We are reasonably proud that this good and great man was a native of this country, a born American; that so good and great a man was a devoted member of this oid Church, which, through its unbroken succession of bishops, is easily traced to the Apostles, and through them to Christ. We are glad to say the prayers Washington said, to hear the lessons he heard read, and to receive the Sacrament with the same use of the blessed service with which he was familiar. We are proud, too, that such a good, great man as Washington found pleasure and profit in the teachings and the work of that traditional society which we call Freemasonry, which is as old, certainly, as the time of King Solomon's Temple building, and which ives and thrives to-day because every one of is tenets and doctrines is beautiful and true-as loyal to the needs of man as they are faithful to the com

mandments of God.

In compliance with the encyclical letter of the Grand Master, lodges in the several Masonic Districts attended divine service on Sunday, the 31st day of December, 1899, as follows:

FIRST MASONIC DISTRICT.

COUNTIES OF SUFFOLK, NASSAU, AND QUEENS.

Morton Lodge, No. 63, Hempstead.

Methodist Episcopal Church. Sermon by Brother the Rev. James E. Holmes.

Jephtha Lodge, No. 494, Huntington.

Presbyterian Church. Sermon by Brother the Rev. Charles W. Tomlinson, pastor and a member of the Lodge. Text, I. Samuel, ix. 6: “ A man of God, and he is an honorable man."

Jamaica Lodge, No. 546, Jamaica.

First Reformed Church. Brother the Rev. R. K. Wick, of Lodge of the Temple, Jersey City, and pastor of the church, officiating.

Cornucopia Lodge, No. 563, Flushing.

St. George's Church. Sermon by Brother the Rev. Isaac Peck, a member of the Lodge; a delegation of Anchor Lodge, No. 729, of College Point, being present.

Glen Cove Lodge, No. 580, Glen Cove.

St. Paul's Church. Brother the Rev. John W. Gammack, rector, and Chaplain of the Lodge, officiating. Address by Brother the Rev. J. Avery Morris, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Glen Cove, member of Margaretville Lodge, No. 389, F. & A. M., and an honorary member of Glen Cove Lodge, No. 580.

My Christian Friends, and Brethren of the Lodge of Glen Core:

We are called together here to-night to honor the memory of a great statesman and soldier, as well as a loyal Mason. I realize, as do you, that here in a Christian church, at one of the regular services for the worship of God, my remarks must be somewhat different from what they would be if I were talking in the seclusion of the lodge-room and to my brethren only. There are many here who do not know the tenets of Masonry. There are none who do not know and revere the name of Washington. If I speak of him as a man, I will best express our sense of his great worth as a Mason. There is no good Mason who is not first of all a good man. There is no good Christian who is not at the same time a good man.

In arranging the thoughts which I wish to present to you, it appeared to me that I could do no better than to follow the motto, outlining his character, that was inscribed on one of the banners borne in the Masonic procession when our illustrious Brother was thus honored one hundred years ago to-day:

"George Washington-The Great, the Wise, the Virtuous."

That banner bore a truth that won the solemn assent of whoever beheld it. Great and wise and virtuous he was by any test by which you may try him.

He was great. That may seem an indefinite term, but it is really a comprehensive one. It means such a combining and blending of the powers and virtues of manhood, such enlargement of them, that that manhood is lifted far above the level of the humanity surrounding it. When you say a great man, you mean more than a great general, or great statesman, or great scholar. There was a rounded completeness to the manhood of Washington, an even balance to his character, that easily distinguishes him, and sets him apart from those whom the world calls great.

One of the evidences of his greatness-a quality that helped to make him what he afterwards became-was his power of self-control. The Bible says, "He that ruleth his own spirit is better than he that taketh a city." Centuries of experience have confirmed the truth of the statement. No man is fit to command who is not first master of himself. That Washington was. He was possessed of a high and explosive temper, but had it under perfect control. Stuart, who painted his portrait, and saw him, of course, with the fine discrimination of an artist's eye, says that "all of his features were indicative of the strongest and most ungovernable passions." Yet everywhere, in public and in private, in battle and in debate, he bore himself with that sure and even poise of temper that ever gave him the best use of his powers. This was a trait of his character that was early developed. When a boy, he had a strong liking for the navy. Says one historian, "With all the intensity of a high aspiration, and all the vigor of his earnest and passionate will, he sought to win his mother's consent to enlist. When that consent was not given, he surrendered his choice, in deference to his mother's wishes, and gave the first striking instance of that self-command that became one of the secrets of his imperial success." And there, let me say, he gained one of his noblest victories. But a great soldier must win three victoriesthe first, over himself; the second, over his followers; and the third, over his enemies. The first two are in order to the last. He must win the approval of the people to his plans. He must gain an ascendency over their hearts. He must command the respect and devotion of the soldiers whom he leads. The wisdom and justice of Washington, his courage and administrative capacity and the nobility of his demeanor, had given him supremacy over the people before they made him victor over the British. Having mastered himself, and won the devotion and confidence of his countrymen, he crowned these preliminary conquests by a victory that opened the gates of liberty to the nation.

One of the great lessons that his life teaches is the necessity, the advantage, and the fruit of self-control. In this quality of true greatness, Washington was an instructive example to American youth. What marvelous patience it gave him! When the country was heaping abuse on him for those dilatory tactics, which he, as a consummate soldier, knew was the only road to success, any other man almost would have yielded to their clamor. But Washington had a mastery of will that enabled him to follow his judg

ment.

To self-control he added an indomitable courage. This is an indispensable quality in a leader. Ability, however great, can accomplish little without it. But in this, Washington was the ideal soldier. Physically and