Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-02-22

however, elapsed before the plans OF the
funds OF THIS association were IN state OF
/ sufficient fOTWardness TO warrant them even
in fixing day for laying the first foundation
stone OF the contemplated structure. That day
/ arrived at last-July 1, lS+s. And a great
! day il was in this capital OF the nation.
/ 1 recall. among the varied features of the
( long procession, FreemasOns Of every order,
I with their richest regaia. including the pre-
/ ci0us gavel and apron of Washington himself;
! Flrcmen, with taer Old-fa hlOned engines;
! Ola Fellows from thousand Lodges; TEN
pCrance Societies, and ether Associations.
lnnumeraD,e; thc caldren OF the Schools.
long ago grown 20 mature manhood: the
+ military e-cOrt If regulars, marines. and vol
{ untcer militia from all parts Of the Ountry
( commanded by Gems Quitman and CadWala-
der and Col. May, then crowned with laurels
WOa in Mexico, which long ago were laid
/ upon their graves. l recall. too, the masses of
the people, of all classes and sexes and ages
I and cOiOrs. gazing from the windows. or
/ throngiI the sidewalks, or grouped in count
. less thousands upon the Monument grounds.
dare not venture on any detailed descrip-
ton OF the long intervening agony between
/ the laying Of the first stone and the lifting OF
the last. 1t would fill q volume, and will be
sure hereafter to furnish material for elab
I crate monograph, whose author will literally
/ find sermons in stones" for almost every
I stone has its story, if not its sermon. Every
year Of the first decade, certainly, had its
4 eventful and noteworthy experiences.
Later on came the long, long dsheartening
! pause, when-partly owing TO the financial
/ embarrassments of the times. partly owing to
the political contentious and commissions of
! the country, and partly owing to the unhappy
/ dssensiOns in the Association itself-any fur
| ther contributions failed to be forthcoming,
/ all interest in the Monument seemed to flag
| and die away, and all work on it was sus-
/ pended and practically abandoned. A de-
| plOrable Civil War soon fol owed. and all ef-
forts to renew popular interest in Its compile
/ tiOn We're palsled.
/ How shall depict the sorry spectacle which
4 those first one hundred and seventy -four feet,
/ in their ming hopeless, helpless condition,
vi az 4 ~
/ mockCry upon their summit, presented to the
/ eye OF every conner to the Capital for nearly
! a quarter OF century No wonder the uu
| slightly pile became the subject Of pity or de-
/ risiOn. No wonder there were periodical
! panics about the security OF its foundation,
and chronic condemnation OF the original
/ design. No wonder that suggestions for tear
| ing il all down began to bU entertained in
many minds, and were advocated by many
/ pens and tongues, Th3t truncated shaft,
/ with its uCtlIy surroundings, looked only
/ like an insult to the memory Of Washington.
/ 1t symbOlized nothing but an ungratefdl cOun-
/ try, not destinei-as. God he thanked. it sJill
I waste growth and grandeur, and imperlsh-
TO discord, strife, ant ultimate disunioa.
And well mi. ut that crude and undisested
/ mass have stood 80 forever, or until the hand
/ of man or the operation of the elements
. should have crushed and crunbled it. into
dust, if our Union had then persisted. An
! unfinished, fTagmcntaIy, crumbling mOnu-
inent 10 Washington world have been fit
/ emblem OF a divided and ruined country.
And how cheering and how inspiring the
| reflection. how grauS and glorious the fact,
| that no sooner were cur unhappy cOnten-
( tiOns at an end, no sooner were Union and
| Liberty, one and inseparable once more, and,
as we trust and believe, forever reasserted
| and reassured, than this monument to W ash
| ington gave signs of fresh life. began to at
| tract new interest and new effort, and soon
was seen rising again slowly but steadily to-
wards the skles-stOne after stone, course
! upon course, piled up in peace, with fOunda-
! tiOns extended to the full demand of the
enormous weight to be placed upon them,
! until we can now hail II as complete. Hence
( forth and forever it shall be lovingly asSo.
ciatcd, not only with the memory of him in
whose honor it has been erected, but
with an era of assured peace, unity.
and concord. which would have been dearer
! to his heart than the cOstliest personal memo
! rial which the toll ana treasure of his COun-
I trvmen could have constructed. The Union
Is itself the all sufficient and the only suticl-
| cnt monument to Washing on. The Union
/ was nearest and dearest TO his great heart.
The Union in any aFeDt," were the most
( emphatic words Of his immortal Farewell
/ Address. Nothing less than the Union would
I yer have been accepted OrrecOgnlZed by hlm
, as a monument commensurate with his SER
/ vices and his fame. Nothing less ought ever
/ to be accepted or recognized as such by US, or
4 by those who shall rise up, generation after
/ generation, to 10 homage TO his memory!
Oar W ashingtOn Necdie, while it has all Of
] the severe simplicity, and far more than all of
/ the massive grandeur, which were the char
] actcristtcs of Egyptian architecture. bears no
,
/ ever to be carved on 1t. But can we not all
read there already, as if craven by some in
/ visible finger, or inscribed with some sympa-
! thetic ink--which II requires no learning Of
/ scholars. no lore of Egypt, nothing but love of
! our own land, to draw out and make legible-
| those mastery words of WashngtOn's Letter
! to the Governors Of the States, in 1888:
There are tour things whlcn, ! humbly
conceive, are essential to the well being-I
/ may even venture 10 say, to the eXistenCe-of
/ the United states as an independent Power:
/ First an indissoluble Union Of the states un-
| der one Federal head: Second a sacred regard
I to Public Justice; Third, the adoption of q
proper Peace Establishment; and Fourth, the
| prevalence of that pacific and friendly dispO-
! sitiOn among the People of the United States
1 which Will induce them TO forget their local
! pretudlces and policies, to make those mutual
/ concessions which are requisite to the general
/ prosperity and. in some instances, to sacrifice
| their individual advantages to the interest of
| the community. These are the Pillars on
! which the glorious fabric of our lndepcndenCy
and National Character must be supported -
Can we not read, again, on another of those
] seemingly vacant sides, thaC familiar passage
/ in his Farewell Address--a jewel Of thought
| and phraseology, often initiated, but never
| matched-"Ihe name of American, which
| belongs to you in your National capacity,
must always eXalt the iust pride of patriot
ism more than any appellatien derived from
/ local determinations and, not far below it,
/ his memorable warning against Party Spirit
/ "a fire not to be QuencAe ed, it demands q
1 uniform vigilance to y event its bursting into
a flame, lest, instead Of warming. it should
A. COnsumef
Still again. terser LEGENDS from the same
/ prolific source salute our eager gaze: "Cher-
] lsh Public Credit :'-"ObserVe good faith and
justice toward all nations; cultivate peace
! amt harmony with all;'-"PrOmote, as an OBJ
| iect of primary importance, institutions for
the general diffusion OF knowledge. In pro-
/ portion as the structure of government gives
! force to public opinion, 1t IS essential that
| public opinion should be enlightened"
And, above ala thousand-fold more pre-
/ cious than all the rest-there viii come
"a In
! an eager and longing eye, from the very point
/ where its tiny alum mum apex reaches near
! est to the skies-and shining forth with ra-
/ dance which no vision of Constantine, no La
barum for his legiOns could ever have ecllpsed
some of those sOemnly reiterated declara-
/ tiOns and cOupseis, which might almost be
/ called the Confession and Creed of Washing
| ton, and which can never be forgotten by any
/ Christian Patriot
/ ''Wheu / contemplate the interposition of
! Providence, as it was yisibly manifest in
! guiding rs through the Revolution, in pre-
| pairing us for the reception OF the General
| Government, and IN cODclllatlng the good
| will of the people Of America toward one an
/ other after its adoption, feel myself Op
! pressed and almost overwhelmed with a sense
! Of Divine munificence. feel that nothing
! is due to my personal agency in all
! those wonderful and complicated events,
except what can be attributed to
4 honest zeal for the good OF my country"
! ''NO people can be bound to acknowledge and
/ adore an Invisible Hand which conducts the
/ affairs OF men, more than the people of the
! United Stat $ Every step by which they
have advanced 10 the character of an Inde-
/ pendent Nation seems to have been distin-
guished by some token of PrOvidental
4 4 Ageucv"-"Of all the dispositions and habits
/ which lead to political prosperity, Religion
and Morality are indlspeusaD e supports. In
/ vain would thGt man claim the tribute of
patriotism. VINO should labor TO subvert these
/ great pillars Of human happiness, these firm
! est props of the duties Of men and OfcitiZens.7
And thus GA all those seemingly blank and
/ empty sides viii be seen, from time to time
/ in mis- own uncqualled language, the grand
/ preCepts and principles of Peace Justice
Education. Morality. and Religion, which he
I strOve to lnculcatc, while enclrclIng and illu-
monument, from cornerstone to cap stone,
! will be read with rapture by every patriotic
! eye, and be echoed by every patriotic heart,
! " The Union, the niOn in any event."
Our matchless Obeisk stands proudly be-
fore us to-day, and we han il with the eXul-
tatOns of united ana glorious Nation. II
may, or may not, be proof against the cavils
| of critics, but nothing OF human construction
/ is against the casualties OF time. The storms
of winter must blow and beat upon it. The
action of the elements must soil and discOlOr
1t. The lightnings of Heaven may scar and
| blacken 1t. An earthquake may shake its
foundations. Some mighty tornado, or re-
sistless cyclone, may rend its massive blocks
asunder and hurl huge fragments to the
ground. But the character which it COM
memOrates and illustrates is secure. II will
Its consummate purity and splendor, and Will
more and more command the homage of sue
ceeding ages in all regions of the earth.
AS Mr. Long read this perOration the
multitude broke into a storm of applause.
I IN tho RIGHT Of tho kar Hr-o1s