Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-02-22
THE WINTHROP GRAFTON.
SxSsAcausErrss orrrRINe,


ssstss~tss. Read be- ~ Goverwss sena. en-
sssarissles or IN. wa.a,asse, s,easmsn,.
Ex-Governor Long read the Grafton
sf Hon. Robert c. Winthrop as follows
President Arthur, Senator's and Rep
fessniatises OF the United States: ny
. JOINT resolution Of Congress you have
called upon me TO address you in this
hall to-day on the completion Of ycndcr
colossal monument 10 the Father Of his
Country. Nothing less imperative than
yonr call conld have brought me before
yeu for such an effort. Nearly seven
and thirty years have passed away since
u was my privilege TO perform a similar
service at the laying Of the cornerstone
Of that monument. In the prime OF
manhood. and in the pride of official
station. II was not difficult for me to
sneak 10 assembled thousands, in the
epen air without notes under the scorch-
ing rays Of midsummer sun. But what
was easy for rue then is impossible for
me now. am here to-day, as need
not tell you, in FAR other condition for
the service You have assigned me
changed. changed in almost everything
except an inextinguishablc love for my
country and its Union, and an undying
reverence for the memory Of Washing
ten. On these alone ! rest for imspira-
ton, assured that, with your indul-
sence and the blessing Of God, which |
aeyoutly invoke. they will be sufficient
70 sustain me in serving as a medium
for keeping up the continuity between
the hearts and hands which laid the
foundation Of this gigantic structure
and those younger hearts and hands
which have at last brought forth the cap
stsne with shoutings. II is for this
you have summoned me. II is for this
alone I have obeyed your call.
Meantime, / cannot wholly forget
that the venerable ex-Prcsident, John
Quincy Adams--at whose death-oed,
in nv official chamber beneath this
roof, was privileged watcher thirty
seven years ago this very day-had
been originally designated to pronounce
the cornerstone Grafton, as one who
lad received his first commission, in
the long and brilliant career at home
and abroad which awaited him, from
the hands of Washington himself. In
that enviable distinction ] certainly
have no share; but may be
psrdoncd for remembering that,
IN calling upon me to supply
the place of Mr.. Adams, it
was borne in mind that had bat lately
taken the oath as Speaker at his hands
and from his lips, and that thus. as was
suggested at the time, the electric
cham. though heightened by single
link. was still unbroken. let me hope
that the magnetism Of that cham may
not even yet be entirely exhausted, and
that may sill catch something of its
viyifying and quickenmg power while
| attempt TO bring TO the memory of
Washington the remnants Of voice
which is failing and Of vigor which
am conscious.is ebbing away.
Ii is now, Mr.. President. Senators,
and Representatives more than half
century since voluntary association
Of patriotic citizens initiated the pro-
jet of erecting a national monument
to Washington in the city which bears
his name. More than a whole century
age-indecd. in that great year Of our
Lord which witnessed the treaty of
peace and independence, l7S3-Con-
grcsS had ordered an equestrian statue
OF him TO be executed, "tO testify the
love, admiration. and gratitude of his
countrymen"; and again, Immediately
after his death in 1899, Congress had
solemnly voted marble monument to
him at the capital, $50 designed as
TO commemorate the great events of
his military and political life" But
e,n beloved country, while yet in its
infancy, and, may add, in its indigency,
with no experience in matters of art,
and heavily weighed down by the great
debt Of the Revolutionary War, knew
better how to vote monuments than how
10 build them. or, still more, how to
pay for them. Yorktown monuments
and Washington monuments, and the
statues Of ! don't know how many he
roes Of our struggle for independence,
made fine show on paper in our early
records, and were creditsble to those
who ordered them; but their practical
execution seems TO have been inde6-
nitely postponed,
The Washington Monument Associa-
ton, instituted in 1888, resolved that
no such postponement should longer be
endured, and proceeded to organize
themselves for the work which has at
length been completed. They had for
their first president the great Chief-Jus-
tice John Marshall, the personal friend
and chosen biographer Of Washington,
whose impressive image you have so
recently aud so worthily unveiled on
Wonder western terrace. They had for
their second president the notices. illus
trious James Madison, the father of the
Constitution of which Marshall was the
interpreter. and whose statue might
well have no inferior place on the same
terrace. Among the other officers
and managers of that Association |
cannot forget the names OF William W.
Seaton, whose memory is deservedly
cherished by all who knew him; of that
grand old soldier and patriot. Winfield
Scott of Generals Archibald Hender-
son and Nathan Towson; Of Walter
Jones, and Peter Force, and Phillip
fendall; together with that Of its indie
iaiieablc general agent, honest old
Elisha Whittlesey. To that Associa-
ton our earliest and most grateful
Acknowledgements are due on this occs-
sion. But Of those whom ! have
named, and of many others whom |
might name, so long among the hon
cred and familiar figures Of this
metropolis, not one Is left TO be the sub
.ject OF our congratulations. We all re-
joice. however, TO welcome the presence
Of one OF their contemporaries and
friends, whose munifcent endowments
for art, education, religion, and charity
entitle him TO so enviable a place on
The roll Of American philanthropists,
4 A