The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1906-07-21

Bishop Potter has reason to be
proud of the deep interest he has
awakened in England in his efforts to
restore the historic Washington relics
which were removed fifty years ago
from the Garsdon church, in Wiltshire,
an hours ride directly south from
Stratford-on-Avon. The relics were
on the point of being shipped to Amer
lea at the time the old church was be-
ing renovated. aF
An American persuaded an official
to sell him the monument and memoir
ial tablet erected to Lawrence Wash
ington in the chancel in the year 1645.
Parts of the monument were taken out
of the parish without a faculty from
the proper authorities and were about
to be shipped to America when they
were detained at Southampton and
stored in an outbuilding near the
church, where they have remained all
these years.
THIS and recent attempts to bring
over the ancestral home of the Wash
ingtons, in Northamptonshire, at the
time Of the st. Louis fair and recon
struct it as a show place on the
grounds have awakened Englishmen
to the priceless value of all that per-
tains to George Washington and his
ancestors.
Garsdon should not be COMPOUNDED
with Sulgrave Manor, another home
of the English Washington, near the
town of Banbury, in Northampton
shire, which the st. Louis fair syndi-
cate wanted to buy when it was put
up for sale with 204 acres of farming
land.
Garsdon, quite another place, is only
hamlet, perhaps fifty miles further
toward the southwest
Money was needed to restore the
Garsdon monument, and a friend of
Bishop Potter called his attention to
the matter. He at once set about in
teresting himself in completing the
work. He promised to bear the neces-
sary expense, and during his recent
trip abroad he visited Garsdon and had
the pleasure of seeing the spot where
the enterprise is to be carried out He
was warmly received, and his sermon
there was greatly admired
Garsdon is small village of per-
haps hundred inhabitants Nesting in
the center of rural Wiltshire, with it's
magnificent meadows, parks and forest
land. The nearest town is Malmes-
bury, two miles distant. The Garsdon
church is small and plain and of con-
siderable antiquity, although removal
ton has given it fresh and some
what modern atmosphere.
The interior is, in conformity with
the outside, extremely simple in fur
nlture and ornaments, with a record
on the south wall of all the rectors
since 1897.
The old manor house once occupied
by the Garsdon Washingtons has in
dergone many vicissitudes, and toward
the end of last century was occupied
as a farmhouse. 1t is now in ruins, but
portions of the original structure re-
main. THE stones composing the
church monument and the memorial"
says the North Willis Herald, "have
been very carelessly preserved. Still
there are enough for the purposes OF
reconstruction.
"Originally the monument was of
great beauty, and although now much
dilapidated, it is not difficult to see
that when first placed in Garsdon
church 1t consisted of freestone very
richly gilded and painted, with marble
columns of the Corinthian order. The
inscription was placed on an oval
slab of black marble enclosed in a
wreath. The latter is now detached,
while the slab has evidently been sub
mitted to much ruthless handling, to
which crack from side to side bears
witness.
1T is a consoling fact, however, that
the remnants Of such historic relic
are capable of renovation and re-erec-