Philip and his more warlike son, Alexander, are names familiar to the
learned and illiterate, alike; while those who adorned the walks of
civil life with virtues, and godlike abilities, are only known to those
who burrow in musty old books, and search out the root of civilization
enjoyed by modern nations. They who fought at Cannae and Marathon, at
Troy and at Carthage, are household names; while those who invented the
plough and the spade, and first taught the cultivation of the earth,
the very base of civilization, are unknown--never thought of. Such is
human nature.
The war of 1812 had developed one or two men only of high military
genius, and the furor for military men had not then become a mania.
Abilities for civil government were considered essential in him who was
to be elevated to the Presidency. Indeed, it was not so much a
warrior's fame which had controlled in the election of the previous
Presidents, as their high intellectual reputations. Washington had
rendered such services to the country, both as a military man and a
civilian, that his name was the nation.
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