To it we owe the grotesque and wholly imaginary stories of young Washington and the cherry tree, the planting of lettuce by his father to prove to the boy the designs of Providence, and other anecdotes that make that intensely human founder of the American Nation an impossible and intolerable prig.
Beveridge critiques the fictional anecdotes popularized by Weems in his portrayal of Washington.
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These had power To charm through life and cheer his dying hour.
No man ever bore public honors with so meek a dignity ...
To Marshall reared--the great, the good, the wise; Born for all ages, honored in all skies; His was the fame to mortals rarely given, Begun on earth, but fixed in aim on heaven.
There can be little doubt that a majority of the people did not favor the Constitution when adopted by the Convention and ratified by the States.
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