g
interests which more than once made any result seem well-nigh hopeless.
When the Constitution formed at Philadelphia had been ratified by the
States, all men turned to Washington to stand at the head of the new
government. As he had borne the burden of the Revolution, so he now
took up the task of bringing the government of the Constitution into
existence. For eight years he served as president. He came into
office with a paper constitution, the heir of a bankrupt, broken-down
confederation. He left the United States, when he went out of office,
an effective and vigorous government. When he was inaugurated, we
had nothing but the clauses of the Constitution as agreed to by the
Convention. When he laid down the presidency, we had an organized
government, an established revenue, a funded debt, a high credit, an
efficient system of banking, a strong judiciary, and an army. We had a
vigorous and well-defined foreign policy; we had recovered the western
posts, which, in the hands of the British, had fettered our march to the
west; and we had proved our power to maintain order at home, to repress
insurrection, to collect the national taxes, and to enforce the laws
made by Congress. Thus Washington had shown that rare combination of the
leader who could first destroy by revolution, and who, having led his
country through a great civil war, was then able to build up a new and
lasting fabric upon the ruins of a system which had been overthrown.
At the close of his official service he returned again to Mount Vernon,
and, after a few years of quiet retirement, died just as the century in
which he had played so great a part was closing.

Washington stands among the greatest men of human history, and those in
the same rank with him are very few. Whether measured by what he did, or
what he was, or by the effect of his work upon the history of mankind,
in every aspect he is entitled to the place he holds among the greatest
of his race. Few men in all time have such a record of achievement.
Still fewer can show at the end of a career so crowded with high
deeds and memorable victories a life so free from spot, a character
so unselfish and so pure, a fame so void of doubtful points demanding
either defense or explanation. Eulogy of such a life is needless, but it
is always important to recall and to freshly remember just what manner
of man he was. In the first place he was physically a striking figure.
He was very tall, powerfully made