New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-09-27
an AMERICAN WESTMINSTER ABBEY.

Fired withthe ambition of participatingi and,
if possible, stimulating the discussion of pop
ular topic, The Brooklyn Magazine has obtained
expressions of opinion from number of we'll
known citizens on the dssirability cf an Amcri-
can Westminster Abbey. These expressions are
from Secretary of State T. +. Bayard, Julian
Hawthorne, Hamilton Fish, George T. Ed
munds, David ID. Porter, Francis Parknan,
Erastus Brooks, Z. p. Roe, Joaquin Mil
ler Charles w. Eliot, j. Z. New
man, James Freeman Clarke. w. T. Sher-
man, John Sherman, Benson j. Loss
ing, Edward Everett Hale. David Dudley
Field, Frederick Douglass, and DR.. Hammond.
Perhaps it would have been difficult to bring
together more oddly assorted list of names,
but many of them are unquestiOnably repre-
sentative, and though none of them appear to
have given much thought to the subject, what
they say may probably be regarded as con-
tributing tolcrably fair expression Of pu bic
opinion mt the present stage of the discussion.
Taking the average of the replies the weight
of judgment seems to be against the
proposition. A few approve ii unrcseryedly;
few more would like to see 1t accomplished,
but doubt its practicablity; the remainder
think it both needless and impractical
bic. DR.. Hammond thinks there
are strong sanitary reasons against the
project, but would apparently compromise
on cremation. Some suggest the limitation of
the design to the collection of statues and busts
of great men. But the more practical point
out the difficulty, in the first place. of deter
mining who the greatest men Of the period really
are, and, second, of overcoming the objections
r. 4 L.. Of Il al aaf
men to have the remains removed from their
natural resting-places. The prevailing scnti-
ment 10 one Of strong doubt as TO the wisdom
and feasibility of the enterprise. and this
probably is the general state of the public mind
on the question. The idea of a Westminster
Abbey Pantheon or Walhalla is indeed not
little obscure. In its essence there turks that
partly Pagan line of thought regarding the
Hereafter which has thus far bailcd the ele-
waiting influences Of Christianity. But ii the
theory relied upon be sound, namely,
that contemplation of dead mems mOnu-
ments will ennoble the living it is
obvious that more good will result from
having our great dead scattered through
the States than by bringing them all together
in one place. The end which seems most con-
spicuous here is neither honor to the dead nor
the desire of benefit to the living, but rather
the qualification of a vanity none the less vul-
gar because collective.
But it remains to be pointed out that West
minister Abbey is not and never has been
what the advocates OF the new idea
seem to believe. 1t is true that many
illustrious dead are there buried but ii is not
true that the Abbey has ever been consciously
dedicated to the functions Of national maus0-
leum, and the best proof of this lies in the fact
that many of England's greatest heroes lie
elsewhere. What is proposed therefore is the
adoption of n system such as no other nation
possesses, and to do this in a country where all
the conditions are peculiarly unfavorable
to it. Ii is not from DEATH but from life,
that we and our successors must learn. The
monuments which inspire pOsterity most
sensibly are not mortuary ones, but such as
mould mems minds by their active influence on
government, legislation, education, literature
and art. The names that are immortal owe
nothing to statues or cGn0taphs. The graves
Of the worlds greatest are unknown, and the
very sense of personality has passed
from many whose imperishable teach
ings still sway the spirits Of whole
races. Washington, Lincoln, Grant and the
long line of patriots and statesmen whose
names are familiar in our mouths as household
words require no sensuous reminders to keep
their memories green. So long as history en-
dures, 80 long will they be with us, and the
utmost achievements of ecclesiastical architec-
ture can add nothing to the dignity or the inn
pressiveness of that simple tomb at Mount
Vernon.