The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1902-08-16
THE DEAD PRESIDENTS.
Proposition to Remove Remains to
Arlington.
washington Starr

FropoS1t1on TO Remove remains &c
Arlington.
washington Starr
| Twenty men have in turn been elect
ed president of the United States. Five
men who were elected vice president
have come into the highest office
through the death of the head of the
nation. OF these twenty-five men SC
honored twenty-three have responded
to the final summons. A bill is now
before congress looking to the gather
ing into Arlington cemetery Of the dust
of these presidents of the United
States Not everybody can name the
| twenty-three or tell where the honored
dead lie sleeping. Most of them are in
TERED at their old homes. among the
friends of their youth.
The tomb of Washington has beer
the mecca of the patriot for many
years. The at resting places of Lin
coin, the liberator: of Grant, the sol
der president, and of Harrison and
Mckinley are probably known to all
but the world little notes nor long
remembers" the going of its great men
Their deeds remain embalmed in his
tory, but their dust might have been
scattered to the four winds of HEAVIER
for aught the great world knows.
The resolution before congress, in its
provisions for the removal to the ma
tlonal capital OF the remains of those
who once presided over the destinies
of the country, excerpts the name OF
Washington, who, it is well known
sleeps in the spot of his own selection
at Mt. Vernon. Even if Washington
| mad not expressly and explicitly di-
! rected where his body should lie in
death, it is not at all likely that Vir-
ginia would ever consent to give VI
the sacred dust of her distinguished
son. Nor is it any more probable that
Illinois would yield to the request foI
the dust of Lincoln, Ohio of Garfield
or Mckinley. or Indiana her Harrisons
So it is with the other states. They
feel a proprietary right in their hon
ored dead, and would not yield these
up to other keeping.
Many attempts have beer made tC
have the remains of Washington placed
in the gloomy mausoleum under the
dome of the capitol. but these have al
ways failed. and probably the matter
will never be preached.
Mount Vernon, which Washington
loved, is one CT the most beautiful
spots in the United States. In great
| marble sarcophagus, bearing the coat
| of-arms of the United States and fes-
TONED flags in exquisite sculpture, is
the dust of the first president of the
United States. Inaugurated April 80
| 1889, Washington served two terms
dying two years later, Dec. ii, 1899, a.
Mount Vernon. This great marble cot
fin bears the single deeply cut word
! Washington" BY its side is another
| marble coffin, where Martha Wash
| ington'' also sleeps.
A single block of Pennsylvania mar
bic. eight feet in length and two feet ii
| height, is followed out for each sar-
cophagus. They were made from a de.
sign by William Strickland, the sculp
tor being John Strickland of Philadel-
phia, and were presented to the rela
tives of Washington by Mr.. Strick
| land.
! As ordered by Washington in his will
his body was taken from the old vaul
at Mount Vernon and placed in the new
one upon its completion. This oc
Cured Oct. Z, 1887. On the archway i!
| plain marble slab, on which is in
scribed: within this Enclosure res
the remains of General George Wash
| ington," and that is all, except a linz
or two of Scripture on tablet within
| In remarkable contrast to this sim
| pie epitaph is that of John Adams, thu
second president of the United States
and that of his son, John Quinc!
| Adams. In Quincy, Mass, under th'
| portico of the "Stone Temple" or Uni
! tartan church, are the tombs of thu
/ Adamses,. father and son. the SECOND
and the sixth presidents of the United
| States.
The tomb is in the cellar under thu
| portico. which forms the. entrance t.
the church. and is an apartment walled
1xrit1, of oh ~ hny
granite. Over it is granite slab
which has great iron hinges of rust
eaten wrought iron, and a huge pad
| lock in its clasp. Within the rock
ribbed home the body of John Adam:
lies in a lead lcasket incased in a sin
gle block of hewn-out granite. Owe
this tomb an odd Gothic structure ha!
been built It has a tower and a peaked
roof supported by four pillars. In the
church a big memorial tablet, at thu
right of the pulpit, recites the honor!
of Adams, his Nirth and death, ant
above it is a fine bust executed b!
Greenough.
The epitaph on this tablet tells of al
era in history that it is meet to remem
J Der today. Beneath these walls" i
| says, "are deposited the mortal re
mains of John Adams. son of John anC
Susanna (Boylston) Adams, SECOND
president of the United States. Bor1
| Get 80, 1875. On the 4th day of July
| 1875, he pledged his life, fortune anC
sacred honor to the independence of hi
country. On the Sd of September, 1888
! he affixed his seal to the Definite treat!
with Great Britain, which acknowl
! edged that independence, and consum
mated the redemption of his pledge. Or
! the Fourth of July, 1926, he was sum
moned to the independence of immor
| tally and to the judgment of his God
This house will bear witness to hi
piety; this town, his birthplace, to hi
munificence; history to his patriotism
| posterity to the depth and compass o
! his mind"
Then follows a long Inscription t.
| his wife, Abigail Adams.
This memorial was erected by Johl
! Quincy Adams, who only a few year,
| later was laid to rest in the sam
| vault, with his wife at his side. Il
| turn, his son, Rev. c. F. Adams, erect
! ed marble tablet in the stone Tenn
! ple,'' which occupies a position at tn
! left of the pulpit. 1t recites that Johl
! Quincy Adams was the son OF Johl
and Abigail Smith Adams; that h
was the sixth president of the Unite'
| States, born July II. 1857, and that OIL
| the Z4In OF december, 1914, ne SlSne'
the second treaty with Great Britain
which restored peace within her Dor
ders. It relates, in conclusion, that FOL
| the 23d of February, 1S4S, he closed six
| tee nyears of eloquent defense of tn
! lessons of his youth by dying at hi
post in her great national council
This last has reference to his being
stricken with death while in his sea
in the old house of representatives
brass plate, bearing his name, mark
the spot where he fell.
Thomas Jefferson, the third presi
dent of the United States, sleeps unde
the trees at Monticello, his old home
near Charlottesville, Va. Aliens owl
! the old place, but reverence the hon
ored dead The family cemetery il