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The defender of his country--the founder of liberty,
The friend of man,
History and tradition are explored in vain
For a parallel to his character.
In the annals of modern greatness
He stands alone;
And the noblest names of antiquity
Lose their lustre in his presence.
Born the benefactor of mankind,
He united all the greatness necessary
To an illustrious career.
Nature made him great,
He made himself virtuous.
Author: Unattributed Author
Source: part of an epitaph found on the back of a portrait of Washington sent to his family from England, se
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Every countenance seeked to say, "Long live George Washington,
the Father of the People."
Author: Unattributed Author
Source: Pennsylvania Packet, Apr. 21, 1789, after the election of Washington
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Our common Father and Deliverer, to whose prudence, wisdom and
valour we owe our Peace, Liberty and Safety, now leads and
directs in the great councils of the nation . . . and now we
celebrate an independent Government--an original Constitution!
an independent Legislature, at the head of which we this day
celebrate, The Father of his Country--We celebrate Washington!
We celebrate an independent Empire!
Author: Unattributed Author
Source: Pennsylvania Packet, July 9, 1789, p. 284
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Simple and brave, his faith awoke
Ploughmen to struggle with their fate;
Armies won battles when he spoke,
And out of Chaos sprang the state.
Author: Robert Bridges ("Droch")
Source: Washington
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While Washington's a watchword, such as ne'er
Shall sink while there's an echo left to air.
Author: Lord Byron (George Gordon Noel Byron)
Source: Age of Bronze (st. 5)
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Where may the wearied eye repose,
When gazing on the Great;
Where neither guilty glory glows,
Nor despicable state?
Yes--one the first, the last, the best,
The Cincinnatus of the West
Whom envy dared not hate,
Bequeathed the name of Washington
To make man blush; there was but one.
Author: Lord Byron (George Gordon Noel Byron)
Source: Ode to Napoleon Buonaparte, referring to George Washington
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There's a star in the West that shall never go down
Till the records of Valour decay,
We must worship its light though it is not our own,
For liberty burst in its ray.
Shall the name of a Washington ever be heard
By a freeman, and thrill not his breast?
Is there one out of bondage that hails not the word,
As a Bethlehem Star of the West?
Author: Eliza Cook
Source: There's a Star in the West
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The character, the counsels, and example of our
Washington . . . they will guide us through the doubts and
difficulties that beset us; they will guide our children and our
children's children in the paths of prosperity and peace, while
America shall hold her place in the family of nations.
Author: Edward Everett
Source: Speech--Washington Abroad and at Home
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Here you would know, and enjoy, what prosperity will way of
Washington. For a thousand leagues have nearly the same effect
with a thousand years.
Author: Benjamin Franklin
Source: Letter to Washington
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O Washington! thrice glorious name,
What due rewards can man decree--
Empires are far below thy aim,
And scepters have no charms for thee;
Virtue alone has your regards,
And she must be your great reward.
Author: Philip Freneau
Source: Washington's Arrival in Philadelphia
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Since ancient Time began,
Ever on some great soul God laid an infinite burden--
The weight of all this world, the hopes of man,
Conflict and pain, and fame immortal are his guerdon.
Author: Richard Watson Gilder
Source: Washington, speech at Trenton
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Were an energetic and judicious system to be proposed with your
signature it would be a circumstance highly honorable to your
fame . . . and doubly entitle you to the glorious republican
epithet,
The Father of your Country.
Author: Henry Knox
Source: Letter to Washington, urging Washington to attend the Philadelphia Convention
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A nobleness to try for,
A name to live and die for.
Author: George Parsons Lathrop
Source: Name of Washington
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First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his fellow
citizens.
Author: Gen. Henry Lee
Source: resolution on Washington's death prepared by Lee and offered in the House of Representatives by John
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First in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his
countrymen.
Author: Gen. Henry Lee
Source: Funeral Oration on Washington
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This is the one hundred and tenth anniversary of the birthday of
Washington. We are met to celebrate this day. Washington is the
mightiest name on earth--long since mightiest in the cause of
civil liberty; still mightiest in moral reformation. On that
name an eulogy is expected. It can not be. To add brightness to
the sun or glory to the name of Washington is alike impossible.
Let none attempt it. In solemn awe pronounce the name and in its
naked, deathless splendor leave it shining on.
Author: Abraham Lincoln
Source: closing words of a speech
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The purely Great
Whose soul no siren passion could unsphere,
Thou nameless, now a power and mixed with fate.
Author: James Russell Lowell
Source: Under the old Elm
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Oh, Washington! thou hero, patriot sage,
Friend of all climes, and pride of every age!
Author: James Russell Lowell
Source: Under the old Elm
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His work well done, the leader stepped aside
Spurning a crown with more than kingly pride.
Content to wear the higher crown of worth,
While time endures, "First citizen of earth."
Author: James Jeffrey Roche
Source: Washington
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'Twas his ambition, generous and great
A life to life's great end to consecrate.
Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Source: Washington
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While Washington hath left
His awful memory,
A light for after times.
Author: Robert Southey
Source: Ode written during the War with America
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That name descending with all time, spreading over the whole
earth, and uttered in all the languages belonging to all tribes
and races of men, will forever be pronounced with affectionate
gratitude by everyone in whose breast there shall arise an
aspiration for human rights and liberty.
Author: Daniel Webster
Source: in a speech at the Centennial Anniversary of Washington
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That name was a power to rally a nation in the hour of
thick-thronging public disasters and calamities; that name shone
amid the storm of war, a beacon light to cheer and guide the
country's friends; it flamed too like a meteor to repel her foes.
Author: Daniel Webster
Source: in a speech at a public grant
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Washington--a fixed star in the firmament of great names, shining
without twinkling or obscuration, with clear, beneficent light.
Author: Daniel Webster
Source: in a speech at a public grant
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America has furnished to the world the character of Washington!
And if our American institutions had done nothing else, that
alone would have entitled them to the respect of mankind.
Author: Daniel Webster
Source: Completion of Bunker Hill Monument, June 17, 1843, vol. I, p. 105
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