Burr and Burton Academy - Burtonian Yearbook (Manchester, VT)

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THE BURTONIAN WASHINGTON THE GREAT LEADER By Ever1tt Sheldon 32 It seems to me there IS no more 1nterest1ng drama than that of our cforefathers the EDg1lSh colomsts m Amerlea as they tolled under tl1e bu1den of tyranny then finally but lnevltably threw off ltS Clll01 yoke struggled for and gamed thexr mdependence and then as a glormus clmmax cemented the COIOHICS together and started them down the path vxlnch was to lead to the great magnlhcent natlon that we know today By far tl1e most outstandmg actor 1n that drama IS the great leader and father George Washmffton And as we cannot lmaglne a drama wlthout ltS ma1n character so we cannot lmaglne what would have been the struggle to set up the m'1cl11nery of our government w1thout Washmgton What other m1l1tary commando could have performed the marvelous feats he dxd when he had to not only fight w1th an untra1ned poorly equlpped and fed body of men lbut also to satlsfy popular demand of the colonles toll constantly w1th a slow Consrr to make them see the necess1ty of hls measures and even to persuade h1 sold1ers aga1n and aga1n by sheer force of h1S personallty to serve lbeyond the tlme of the1r enl1stments To really apprecxate and understand a man we must look 1nto h1s per sonalxty Therefore let us brxefly look 1nto the l1fe of Washmgton and see if we cannot dxscern some of the more marked charactenstzcs and xnfluences WhlCh molded h1s l1fe He grew up vsh1le our country was under the pov er of England a com to do that whxch he thought 1was rlght and d1d h1s best to develop hs natural powers to thelr fullest extent Then when trouble came to h1s country he was ready to do hls b1t to help what he consldered a worthy cause And when people saw hlS worth and made h1m leader he accep ed the pos1t1on a 11ttle surpr1sed and doubtful perhaps but he put everythmg he had mto the work and dld whatever was humanly possxble for 1tS success In everythmg he undertook he followed the pollcy of 'Whatever IS worth domg at all IS worth domg well ThlS was one of the cl aracterlstxcs that made h1m the great leader ITIS actual sehoollng was rather l1m1ted and mostly confined to tl1e 1nstruct1on of prlvate tutors at dlfferent tlmes Yet he came mto a great apprec1at1on of the value of knowledge and was a student all hlS l1fe Wh1le he was st1ll a boy people were lmpressed by hlS des1re for self educat1on He loved books and sought to lnform h1mself along all llnes by which he hoped to advance h1mself Part of hlS early schoohng was to copy the 110 Rules of C1v1l1ty and 1Decent Behavlor These rules had a profound lnfluence upon h1m not to the extent however of mak1ng h1m a prlg He was a perfectly normal healthy lad who loved athlet1es the outdoors and adventure He merely possessed a dxgnlty and statellness of bearmg that served to make h1m appear super1or to others an external manner that d1d not 1n hxs case 1mply conce1t It IS well known that he formed a great nurnlber of 1r1t1mate frxendshxps and that almost everyone who knew h1m vsell such as hzs sold1ers came to love h1m How could thls be true of a cold unresponswe man? Even dur1ng the darkest days of the Revolutxon he always gathered a ! ' Y 1 - . . . A C i A Y . . . . Y . i ' ' 1 , ' A ' 1 1 ' 1 y ' 1 ' y . . V . ' L . O u . . u . . N F of . . y - . 1 v L . I . v . . G ess 1 ' ' , . . . . Y . .5 - . . L Y A .... . ' l Y' y - mon, hard-working, public-spirited citizen. As he grew up, he strove always . . , . . 4 i V . I . K. A Y . . t . , . L Y ' 1 Y ' . . U . I I 1 . . . . . G 4 ld . Y K X . . - . . Y . . . . . I X y Y . . . ' 1 V ' , , . 1 1 , 1 I 1 1 y l . y . ' . X Y .

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THE BUPTONIAN Ae 1f I could forget her I baud rathe1 1nd1gnantly and IS thit lovely flower garden all hers? ' All here, Mother Goose answered and 111 the uppe1 ,tory Jack 1nd .1111 have 1he1r home And what 1 then' occ11p111on'7 I 21111911 evffo ly In the vx1n1e1 Jack and .l1ll t11wel xs1111 BIOVJII , 11rt111 They 1110 p1ole, s1onz1l tumblexe VN hy IS th 5 1f' 1.151 1101150 ln town 11 lied 1 1 r gl 1 1 11 no means f111s o not the 11 I ff 1 1 fl 31111 now Mo1l1e1 Goose .m wered me As lwe retrdced o11r steps eW1ft1y through the town lVo'11f-1 Goo r 1111 1111 th lt Alwddm the owner of the M1010 Lamp was now 21 xery expevfrlwtd e1eetr1c1an Sh 11110 to d of sc-ve1111 0the1 111111121115 1nc1f111111 of I rllly L1L11fl Vie finally reeched 1he lmttle auport, and hoppmg 1nto tne v1h11e f11rp11ne we flew q111ckly over the 11695 11,951.11 A I Jumped from 1h1 coflclnt on '11 e WIHLIKDXV 511 I t11e11 o h111k hfmher Goose le t x 11 1 ,1 1 1111 '1deq111te phrw es to ecprees my 1 1'1t11fI Suddenly the snowy auplane f1nd 115 c'111m1nff ocf'11p1nt d1np1ef11e11 fro: 'Tom Jones told me 110 K3 W one 1 111te gooee acres, the moon 11 1 n my father 1em1r11e,l at the 11 eakfdst table e1gn of cold 11.0111 A GLIMPSE AT W1NI'E1' fa TALL L11 LVCIIIZL F bheldon 32 T19 xx 1n1er Sfwree tv o d me ago All 111to11.m1111x he my fvll of mow came nfl 111ned Eve1y1h1nff o111doo111 1nto 5o1ne1h1n'f 1t was no For miny lone 11111115 we VYBIC kept 111110013 B th f111y 111 the bl nd ng owt r 11, 5 o Ani x hen 71.110111 e IV Pro ectfd by our warrn S ltlg beds The wmd came, and 5 J1.1e.l 'md ro11ed S1I3.K1I1f the ve y 11011 0 1n haff ed 1 Ur- Antl heap1nO' 11 v 1he mon 8.1011 fl 1 19 do Then fW1l1'1ff to Rnd any 1e'11 d1m?1f'fe to do to min Ile S ood tmfl l11ce an z1'1'f'y 011111 A1TY11E5 ly hanged a Shu 111 gtunwt the 12111110 1 I+ 1nd1ng a pan that had been tmelew ,ly 1 11 out 1 H h1111ed 11 hwl1 w my acrows the gzuden And h1d 11 Death the snow The nmplee too cl d not eecrme h1 venoeance Nor the elms and 1n the mornmn As we stood lookmg at the q111et tl n For'nefl world XVe aw dead 11111115 and branch b1o11en by the etozm, Now 1a1d strewn acloss the lawn I y, IA ' YY ,, ' , ' ' ll ' P A I Y Y C 11 , 11 4 11 - , C I Y 1 ' if at 1,511 '. 11 .' 1, . A- ' -M V -' , 'i. .' 1 if. yy f - . ' L.- ' , 11' 11, H: ' r A ' I '14, 1 -. t11 e et 11111 'Voss by .' .'e. N , , rss, l1o11:1.. in town, 111111 1t'ss the 1:1141 we'1l 11'1ve 111111 to :Que ' 1 ' 1. ' . ' 1, ,11 V sae f A 1 1. ', e - ' 'sb' ' 1, 1' 'lg ' 1. ' 1 ' A ' ' ' ' f , 1 1 ' N ' 11 . 1 ss ' 1 1 ' 3 .2 1' , th ' ' ei', 'Z 1 t '1 ,11 ll'L1'C o 1' 1 1 1 1 1 gran' . e J ' 1 2' 611 fl my sight, leaving me with mouth wide open in wonder. lg in K1 :iz :iz ' e . ' .Q V' '- , . .1 . 'S' , . 1, Psa ight, ' A ' ' , ,r ' - , H ' f 'ICl'. I I 1 I to 1 41 K J. . 7 '-1 v' Q , -1 J eg? 'zine o ',,11'.. .1 1 , . , ' D I-A ..,. ' ., V ' in A H t. y e ' , 1 1 E , b 112 :' 'L rm: g 1 1 1:5 1 ls l 1 1 X , f fv 1 - . 11 - , .1 ., ' - ff, we f v- . 'ND' 1 fs' 1, 'noe , ' 4 Y . ,, 1 ,wr D I .. 11 .1 . , Q1 , 1 5 1 1 V 12 D 7 , N- , '1 . ,, 1 1 1 ,, 1 . 51 1 . ' ' ' ' 1 '1 ' Ss' C side, S A 1 'H r C,-yi A :v A . I I ' A 1, A 1. .' . . 1, , i U 1 L 1 'S ' 1, 1 , . . N , - - 1 -4 ' 1. A nf. v y - 1 Z. ', 1 , 145, I ,,

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THE BURTONIAN 23 group of his oflicers about a. table for a prolonged dinner where there was much gaxety Indeed lt seems quite unreasonable to think that a man who knew as much sorrow and trouble as Washington did could have ever recovered from it had he not :been alble to let go completely at times in an unrestrained peal of laughter This Slde of his character has been neglected and almost forgotten He was not of course and did not try to be a clown or a humorist But lf one looks carefully in his writings he w1ll und many very lngenxus sudden and amuslng comments reactions and characterlza tions And in other people s writings We find many more instances which show his love of a good time There are instances too which show the presence ovf the opposite emotion 1n h1s life There were tlmes when h1s over burdened spxrlt gave way and he broke down and wept Once when his dearly loved little niece died and again when Arnold his loved and trusted officer tumed traitor A letter which Lord Fairfax wrote to Washxngtons mother while he was still a boy mentions several traits which he had at that time and which we may see he bore all his life He says the boy was unusually serlous for his age and was not a great talker He had an intellectual conscience he was very exact and method1cal and he was rather quick tempered which how ever the old gentleman said he believed George would learn to control As we never hear it spoken of later we may imply that Fairfax s prediction was well grounded He says also that the Hooy was a rather slow thinker but generally arrlved at Just conclusions As we see him in later life we see that he developed himself in this line to a high degree of perfection His president have withstood the test of tlme and appear as sound and unques tlonable now as ever and during the Revolution he worked out remarkable strategic tactics and though forced to make many qulck decisions lt appears that he made scarcely any mistakes in Judgment Then too his wonderful albxhty to control people must have come from a. careful most minute study of human nature There are other characterlstlcs of his which are so well known as to make lt unnecessary to descrnbe them again In ubattles h1s personal bravery and disregard of danger caused his friends much worry for his life Then there is his very rellgxous nature and deep rooted belief in God which pulled him through many try1ng times and bolstered up his spirits in hours of trouble His ability to reason clearly when all the odds were against hlm shows strength of the rarest and most magnificent type His magnamlnlty to a defeated enemy IS a trait of character perhaps not as widely realized although Just as much a part of him as any This IS probably one of the truest marks of a great leader In the same way he was always generous and gave away conslderalble money without expecting anything in return A man with the natural talents and physical albxlity of George Washington could scarcely fall to stand out among his fellows as unusual But to ralse himself to the leadershlp of a nation took good hard work He was not merely a leader in one field but in many fields in which he was interested We all know that he was leader of the American forces during the Revolu tion yet thls in itself necessitated that he be chxeff in many lines He had to be chief engineer chief of intelligence sanitary head an exceptional soldier a wlse Judge and a skillful statesman He had to advise Congress and then take Congress orders In clvilian life also he excelled in different ways As . , ' b . . Y , . y . y . - - J . i . , . I u' ' .an - , ' Q ' , ' , - , . . m 1 ' Y 4 ' v decisions and opinions as one of the founders of our government and as first . : . . . . 1 l . . . V . . . .V . , , . , , , . . . . . . .