The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-02-13
WASHINGTON FOR SALE.
PElLE,s PORTRAIT OF THE GREAT
9EORGE IN n OURI0 sROP.

Fer seventy Years n Hung en- the wall nc
lAusaune ana There Lafayette saiutea IT
Aluest 1estroyea NJ . Soldiers nag onet.
Everything lin the room 10 old. The article
Of furpituro or bric-A-brao that can date back
only forty or fifty years Is q mere b%antling, q
baby compared with the rest. Nothing short Of
q hundred or Of two hundred years counts, un.
less, indeed, the article has n history tackled
onto Il. A history literally dashed with dates
and distinguished names and sprinklcd in with
illusions to momentous events, is an Offset to
at least q quarter Of q century. A blurred and
yellowed autograph OF q bit Of mellow manu-
script stands In good stead also, both In regard
to pecuniary and to intrinsic value.
Although old, nothing in the room is musty or
decrepit, or down at the heel in any way. The
pepper pots, ranged in long rows on the mould
ing shelf, shine with tho lustre OF recent WHIP
ing and the consciousness Of years Of honorable
service, No speck of dust or ~incipient moth
germ turks on cabinet or tankard. Even the
modest, old.time silhouette frames have been
rubbed up as bright az they will come. As for
tho veteran clock, the one that is 800 years old,
with the face of q seer and the long weights
hanging down like q beard. It shines with un.
dimmed youthfulness and ticks away rs Justify
as though only yesterday It had started to ros
The mon who made these things and the fami.
llob WHO ubou EuBnut thblE CnlIuEtn anu even
their children's children. no longer exist. but tho
things themselves are as fresh and available as
when first turned out new. Doubtless many of
them have been mended; man can cobble and
patch up mans hapdlwork and make It last for
ages. The old clocks and paintings and rare
china and silver ornaments long outlast both the
brain that willed and the hand that wrought
them.
With all these sober furnishings and despite
It's orderliness and tidyness OF keeping, tho
place is far from quiet. "Tick tack. tick tack,
tick tack" go more than . dozen clocks of as
many sorts and conditions; from the tall old
timer in the corner case, swinging its pendulum
with measured ease. 10 tho brisk little china
and gilt clocks, with their works all showing
and running at breakneck speed, rs II trying to
trip up time. After listening awhile the ticking
takes on nav shades Of sound and meaning.
and grows 80 tense and i~nsistent that It seems
the portrait over the mantel must start from
It's frame In o nervous fdget. OF all the tumble
Of things in tho room this is tho only portrait.
A portrait Of an old man In old-time dress,
with an expression of, mild benignity and
s semS %hs snf IN % gSash n'7 Th S' Siot strSp 9Go isd out asn Of
eight-day licking clocks Il seems to look over
as II trying to mako out something-anything
rather than suceumb to the droning tick tack.
portrait. painted for = conservative old gentle
man 6y an artist ANXIOUS to please MIN. and
e ear.1 Iop SM bcfo &e t dboTn w epss any years rsiIsoa ana Years Saw
1t has found Its way back to New York, to hob
mob with old mortars. pepper pots, and pewter
begun in tho BEGINNINGS Of the nation, for
the walls Of a Southern homestead, only to be
ousted when the family itself sought another
roof and ways to mend its fortunes. The portrait
n hAh nnvantnrna md annnna and IN thu
listen. it might tell them. It was always said
Thirty or more Years. aed in reality but a
vesy, little while In the portraits reckoning.
W. %at eHsSH RITsr. a ie s0 soatE c esas aEwf fell on up 5oe
evil days. or. rather evil days fell upon 1t. A
company of impetuous and war-hardened sol
place, and stuck their b~ayonets through such
articles OF furniture or ornament as could BIO
There were o number of good pictures on the
walls. some ideal paintings. some portraits.
a among Sld Them ssn'le 4 sold Ti1h w the S Sas iGlf Tf iSnE Tas
at everything on his side OF tho house. and had
let the daylight through two Or three framed
dered head and r rnhn.as shi Eta f %@a "''o inc pow
that isf' exclaimed Q comrade. The vandal
looked up at the portrait and his arm dropped
by 1ove." he said, eff I wasn't going to
slash old George. / beg your pardon. mister"
and, making q feigned obeisance, he passed on.
South Carolina, the homo Of the De Ssussure
whom Wsshington appointed Director Of the
came Chancellor. Under his directorshlp and
aurisdiction the first gold coins used in the United
States were minteS; The two men were warm
and was about to return to the practice Of hf;
ness of Washington to take with him, and per-
suaded the great General to cit to Rembrandt
assntly TS s.r e Salc WIFE him nhi e RRiistss Gsth he oa sS o
no might find new patrons in Charleston. the
years before. w~ashinston'S death. that hung
and narrowly escaped a bsyonet stab seventy
years later. Among the yellow documents that
the sitter at tho time it was painted. az told BY
him In q series Of lectures which no delivered in
Various cities of the country in the winter of
~. "Wseh m sat to n, ny father Ter. an. s, ne TO- to
from 7 to 10 in the morning. and by shat means
! had the opportunity OF seeing him With his
sftsr t tse bsrbar II had e % apTsn natp e In n fssbIsp than thsn
in the day. Washington shaved himself before
coming to me, and when the powder was washed
dark brown showed beneath.
The younger Peale goes on to say that there
was something in tho upper part OF the original
face painted by his father that he preferred asa
likeness, and an expression about the lower
part, the, mouth and chin. as expressed in his
own work, that no judged the bost. Some years
after he took the two, and worked out a blended
likeness with the conception he had kept for
years in his own mind as something to aspire
TO, he having always felt that the first like.
ness which he painted was not as perfect as he
could make IL.
But to get back to tho De Saussure picture.
perfect likeness or not. Lausanne. tho family
homestead. was just outside OF Camdentown,
tho site of the famous battle Of the Revolution
whore Lords CORVALLIS and Rawdon led the
English forces and the gallant De Kalb stuck
to his guns until outnumbered and killed. Those
were stirring times for Camden, and years after.
when the country was getting prosperous, the
town elected to put up u monument TO the fallen
hero. When the unwilling, of the monument
came of, Lafayette was in the country and was
invited to attend the ceremonies. Lausanne
was tho show place of the neiKhborhood. More
over. 1t had sheltered tho most distinguished
Chancellor and was as famous for its hospital.
magnolia trees. Lafayette was entertained at
Lausanne. and a certain yellow thumbed man
uscript that now goes along with the picture
has Il that the aide.de-camp was 30 struck with
the likeness TO his dead chief that he exclaimed
In French:
my friend. God guard you." It is memory
Of thia facAfO-fac8 Draiao of itR merit nprhana