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SPEECH OF SENATOR HARRY S. TRUMAN OF MISSOURI, DELIVERED OVER THE COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM ON SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1941, AT 10:15 P. M. and TO BE RELEASED ON DELIVERY. AND : ARCHIVES SERVICE* REGORDE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN OF THE RADIO AUDIENCE:- It is my privilege to discuss with you for a few minutes George Washington, the Man and the Freemason. Fause On the back of a picture at Mount Vernon is one of the greatest tributes ever paid to the+Father of his Country. I shall quote a few sentences from that tribute: Washington, 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 luster in his presence. Born the benefactor of mankind, he united all the qualities necessary to an illustrious career. Nature made him great; he made himself virtuous. Called by his country to the defense of her liberties, he triumphantly vindicated the rights of humanity, and on the pillars of national independence laid the foundations of a great Republic. Magnanimous in youth, glorious through life, great in death, his highest ambition, the happiness of mankind; his noblest victory, the con- quest of himself; bequeathing to posterity the inheritance of his fame, and building his monument in the hearts of his countrymen, he lived, the ornament of the eighteenth century, and died, regretted by a mourning world."