CHAPTER IV

TWO GREAT CHARACTERS IN HISTORY: WASHINGTON AND

LINCOLN.

Should a citizen of the United States of America be asked to name three of its greatest possessions, he would be compelled to answer the memory of GEORGE WASHINGTON and ABRAHAM LINCOLN, and THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. As the creator is greater than the thing created, so the lives of the two great statesmen, above mentioned, who made possible the Constitution, in its present shape, are superior to that important libertybreathing document. Their personalities, and exalted characters, stand out in the history of the nation they established and preserved, like brilliant stars in the firmament of the heavens.

It will interest those who cherish the memory of these two loyal and patriotic leaders who severally carried our nation through impending dangers successfully, to trace, in outline, the similarity of their lives in many respects.

Washington was born February 22nd, 1732, and Abraham Lincoln February 12th, 1809, only ten years after the former had passed away, December 14th, 1799.

"George was a large, vigorous, healthy youth, and excelled in athletic exercises, manly sports, bold horsemanship, and was noted for his love of wrestling, leaping, throwing the bar, etc. He was strong in arm, and in manhood he had one of the largest hands known at the time;-his height was six feet and two inches."

"He gained the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic at a country school, taught by the parish sexton, one of his father's tenants. Then, when living with his brother, who owned the beautiful estate of Mount Vernon, he attended Williams College, which was much more advanced, where he learned the cominon English branches, and also surveying and the preparation of legal documents."

Young Lincoln was a strong athletic boy, like young Washington-good natured, kind hearted, and always ready to out-run, outjump, out-wrestle, or out-lift anybody in the vicinity of his home whom he chanced to meet. He grew to be six feet, four inches tall, and probably had as large a hand as Washington.

Although the boyhood home of Lincoln was much more primitive and humble than that of Washington at his mother's home in Fredericksburg, being only a log cabin, built by his father in the woods of Kentucky, still he was surrounded by beautiful native forests, in which he hunted game of all kinds, and engaged in outdoor

WASHINGTON AND LINCOLN-THE TWO GREAT CHARACTERS OF AMERICAN HISTORY

sports, which he enjoyed fully as well as did Washington his amusements. He breathed the same fresh air of independence in a new country, and bathed and swam in waters as invigorating as those of the Rappahannock.

Directly across the Rappahannock River from Fredericksburg is the farm where George Washington spent a part of his boyhood. Later he moved with his mother to this town, living in a house that now is known as the "Mary Washington House." The Society for the Preservation of Virginia Antiquities owns and keeps in repair this house and the "Rising Sun Tavern," a hostelry of colonial days and the stopping place of noted men, including Washington and Lafayette. These buildings are furnished in true colonial style, some of the rooms being used as museums, open to visitors.

When young Abraham Lincoln was old enough to be sent to school there was no elaborate free school system to assist him, so that the best that could be done for him, was to start him in a school in a little log cabin in the neighborhood, and this he attended for a very brief period. This proved to be the extent of his school education. Here and in various other ways, assisted by his mother and step-mother, he learned to read, and this enabled him to devour with keen relish such books as he could get, including Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress," Mason L. Ween's "Life of Washington" 1800) and his "Life of General Meriam," the Bible, and Shakespeare, with which he became very familiar.

Washington had the advantage of Lincoln in many respects when growing to manhood. His half-brother, who was his senior, and his guardian, was a highly educated man, having attended the best college and university in England, and also became a soldier of marked distinction. He was captain of the Virginia regiment, which fought in the West Indies under Admiral Vernon and General Westworth. He married the daughter of Lord William Fairfax, with whom he served at Carthagenia, and lived at West Moreland. At Mount Vernon, his brother's house, George met many distinguished personages, among whom was Lord Fairfax, who became greatly attached to the young Virginian, and finally intrusted him with the responsible, as well as dangerous undertaking of surveying his vast estates. They had often hunted together, and Lord Fairfax admired the horsemanship, skill, and good sense of young Washington. Washington was instructed in the details of military tactics and science by Adjutant Muse and Jacob VanBraem, who became his masterin-fence.

Washington spent nearly a year in the Valley of the Shenandoah, where many of the estates were situated, and where many battles—

never anticipated by Washington-were fought subsequently during the Civil War. It took three years to complete all these surveys, ending 1747. This experience in border-life was of great benefit to him in after life, during the War of the Revolution.

Washington, undoubtedly possessed many characteristics similar to those possessed by Lincoln, who displayed many of the high and noble qualities exemplified in Washington.

Members of the Lincoln family in England were prominent for many generations, as noted in history, and Abraham Lincoln was undoubtedly descended from this family, although all connection has been lost. Washington was connected with the Washington family which lived in Sulgrave, Dundury, England. Many members of this family were distinguished citizens of England.

The birth of a great character in a log cabin instead of a grand palace, does not lower the real power and native superiority of the man. A lion is a lion wherever born. The foal of a fine Arabian steed develops into a fine horse, no matter wherever foaled.

Lincoln had to borrow the books which were necessary for him to study in order to gain a knowledge of mathematics and surveying, and he was his own instructor. Later, when he returned from the Black Hawk War, he was employed in the County Surveyor's office of Sangamon County, and was finally engaged in surveying land in that county.

Washington was elected a member of the Virginia House of Burggesses, which gave him an opportunity of learning parliamentary proceedings, and of taking part in debates, in important government matters; he was also elected a member of Congress, and held this position when war was declared against England. He was chosen Commander-in-chief of the American forces.

Lincoln was elected a member of the legislature of the State of Illinois several times, and was also sent to Congress as representative from Illinois, in 1846. Here, like Washington, he received his training in governmental and political affairs; he became accustomed to debate, and public speaking; subsequently, as a lawyer, he became familiar with the laws of the country and the Constitution, which he so ably defended.

Washington had great experience in Indian warfare, while Lincoln had merely a glimpse of it in the Black Hawk War. Washington was a well trained soldier, and a great general, and personally commanded the army for eight years during the Revolution for which he refused all compensation.