National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1874-11-23

tOIayit The capital Of the nation bears his
name. Each State has its county and its town Of
Warrington. But IL is meet and seeming-nay,
u y anty, as the century Of our national lie is
ing TO his memory should be completed, so that
the sun which rises on July 4, Isle, may crown
with golden beams the cap-stone Of the lOftiest
and nOblest monument ever reared 70 man.
The PharOahs reared the Pyramids as tokens
Of their peoples slavery, and Of their own I'M
Babylon and NiHeyeb, now only ruins, covered by
heaps,
'EWherc very desoIatiOn dwells,''
were but the signs Of autocrstie and imperial
pride. The pillar Of Najan, and the arch Of HR-
drian were not a peoples tribute, spontaneous
and glad, but were reared by unwilling hands to
commemorate despot's name. Westminster
Abbey and the Cathedral of st. Pauls are noble
mansoleums, guarding the dust Of England's
mighty dead, but their gates are watched by
Deans and Chapters, Bishops and Houses Of Par
lament. The
NATIONAL MONUMENT
at the capital, or its crude beginning rather,
stands on the very spot designated by W ashing-
ton himself for the location Of an equestrian
amidst the acclaim Of the nation, and has gained
its present height by the tree-Will offerings Of
mankind. Not as Legislatures arches, pillars and
pyramids Of old is this structure to be reared.
The civilizations which they Symbolic have
passed or are passing away. The world grows
out Of leading strings, and the sutocrat must
give way to the beRefsctOr. The sands Of the
desert cover many symbols Of princely power and
pomps and arrogance as the Hoods Of time have
swept away the political and social institutions
which they represent
" I met a traveller from an antique land,
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs OF
stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the SAND,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose froWn,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these hieless
The hand that Knocked them and the heart that
And on the pedestal these words appear:
my name is OEymandrias, king Of kings;
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair"
Nothing besides remains, Round the decay
or that colossal wreck, bOundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away"
Thus have the memory and the works Of MINI
rods. and mighty hunters, and founders Of en-
pires, returned TO the dust But the world can
not afiOre TO let the fame and example of the
FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY
die. He must ever hold the first place in the
hearts Of his cOuntrymen. We owe it ourselves
and to our children that our munifcence shall
show us mindful OF the glorious legacy he left Us
in his character, and worthy TO be sharers in the
benediction Of his fame. The simple planter by
patriotism reared himself to the Hottest station
gained by man. The titles which he Stunned
and the power which he relnquished could not
have added to his greatness, and God lett him
without family, that we all might be in his
household and countless generations his pos
terity. [Applause.l The Influence Of his life
the life of every genuine American, and our
country is to day the home, and more Wfse we'll
educated, selLgoverned and happy people than
are to be found in any land on earth. because Of
his inspiration. Should our love and admiration
for his patriotism fade into forgetfulness there is
no hope for that OF lesser men.
DR.. Tiffany here explained the purposes the
National Monument Association, and the form
and size of the shaft, how subscriptions are re-
ceived, and, in fervid elOquence, claimed that all
the people should have share in building it, and
closed as follows:
the hundredth anniversary Of our birth. We
have hidden the world to cur banquet. They will
come from all races and all chimes to study our
institutions, to marvel at our progress, to seru-
tinize our bOasted achievements, and it may be TO
cavil and to carp at our defects. Shall they, re-
turning to their homes, have cause to say that
our first debt Of gratitude is unpaid? that while
a single city can build monument to Washing
ton Unaided, the whole people of the United
States had left the National Monument unfin-
ished? Shall we, failing IN natural piety, merit
the fault-fnding and the scorn of mankind? Not
so. my cOuntrymen. l am persuaded that the
matches generosity Of the people will proclaim
monument, simple. severe, sublime, be completed,
so that the world, pointing to the unequaled
shalt, may say:
''SEE HOW THEY LOVED HIM.
And on that glad day when shall be gathered
here the representatiY es Of all other lands let
Swans and artists, stand the people of the land,
gazing upon pure white shan which, towering
ET6eJs the morning sun anu becomes
radiant with his earliest beams, but bears no
statue on its lofty height, for the worlds heart
cannot mistake the name which it commentaries,
while the worlds skill cannot work out q fitting
semblance of the hero thus enshrined and reye-
renced.
II a tribute to Washington was to be reared on
foreign soil, would have our cOuutrymen watch
the building as its walls rose and its Rrehed dome
was rounded in, but would have them accept no
niche, receive no pedestal, bat when the COM
pleted structure pierced the clouds and its lof-
test point stood serene in constant sunlight, /
would have them claim that as the only Just spot
for a statue of our Washington. But this monu-
ment stands on American soil, is reared by Amer
lean hands, cheered by American hearts. loud
and prolonged applause.l
AZ the close Of the grafton cheer after cheer, OF
the most enthusiastic Sort was given for the
President, and in obedience to general call the
President stepped forward and bowed his &C
acknowledgements to the audience. Then, while
the band played patriotic airs, the audience dis