PATER PATRIAE

It is unfair to judge a man by a legend that has grown up around his life; yet in the case of George Washington the legend; however unfair, has its significance. Besides the misty notions of an heroic figure this legend drags with it to the present the picture of a great man and a wise man with a comparatively unexciting personality. Such is the unfortunate lot of a hero who does not happen to be an eccentric.

Great men are of two different kinds: those whose tremendous genius sweeps them through the world and those who rise to equal heights through the perfect fusion of more ordinary talents. Washington was the second kind, and his legend suffers in consequence; for we demand spectacular superlatives today before we call a man a giant. Yet Washington was a giant; the perfect harmony and balance of his character may go unheralded today, but it is as important now as it was one hundred and fifty years ago.