The Washington herald., 1907-09-11

/ Huguenot ohurchyard are in English
The daughters of the French naval com
mander, Comte de Grasse, who aided
| Washington in the victory at Yorktown,
are buried In St Mary's
/ Charleston has had practically no i'm
| migration for a hundred years. Yet the
various societies still keep alive the ira
| ditions Of the fathers. One of the most
interesting of these is the French Benevo-
lent Society. 1t has kept up its organiza-
ticn for years, although now it has but
| few members. It is society for helping
| INDECENT OF stranded French people and
for pensioning widows and orphans OF
! French people. There are now but four
| or five pensioners. and few Frenchmen
/ ever call on the society for aid. But the
| organization will live on as long as there
is a Frenchman in Charleston TO perpet-
| uate H.
That church to which a great number
Of the Huguenot families removed years
ago, and which has held its position as
! the most prominent and influential church
/ in Charleston for a century, IS St. Mich
aels Protestant Episcopal Church. The
church building Is itself one Of the most
: interesting religious ediices In America.
/ II was opened for worship In 1851. The
/ red cedar pews and the pillars which sup
4 port the galleries are just as they were
I put IN 80 years ago. Despite the fact
4 that the church has suffered greatly
under the bombardment Of the English
/ In the Revolution, and the Federals In
! the civil war. that it has been wrecked
/ by cyclone and wrecked by earthquake,
there are more than 100 OF the original
window panes still in service IN the win
dows. ST. Michaers has the oldest large
/ pipe organ IN America, having been built
| in London In 1867 and is still in constant
use. 1t was taken away for safety dur
! ing the war, or ii would have been de-
molished by shell which tore through
the roof over the organ loft
The clock. which may be seen high in
the steeple. facing four ways, has been
keeping time for Charleston since 1764.
and the quarters. halves. and hours are
struck on the famous bells which were
first hung in the same year. These bells
We're captured during the Revolution and
sent back to England, were returned after
the war was ended and again hung with
great public rejoicing. Two Of them were
cracked by accident and were sent to
England IN the '30s TO be recast. During
the civil war the bells were taken 20
Columbia where Il vas thought they
would be safe. When Gen. Sherman
burned Columbia the bells were ruined
The metal was again taken 10 England
and there recast. IN the original mOulds.
and the bells came back to their old
home. having crossed the Atlantic seven
times.
Hero and at St. Phillips. the nelghbor-
ing Episcopal parish, are buried the great
men Of Charleston and South Carolina
whose names We're mighty all over the
country IN the earlier days Of the republic
and until the civil war. John c. Calhoun
lies in the Western churchyard. across
from st. Philips. At St. AIichaeTs is
buried John Rutledge, sometime presi-
dent and dictator OF South Carolina, and
sometime chief justice OF the Supreme
Court OF the United States. Here is the
grave OF Charles C0tesworth Pinckney,
soldier and patriot OF the Revolution. and
statesman OF the young republic Under
a magnolia tree lie the bodies Of Robert
Y. Hayne. Arthur Peronneau Hayne and
James L Petigru. giants Of the days
when notification and secession were the
burning issues.
As the dominant church OF Charleston
since its foundation. the Church OF Eng
land and its American successor must be
accorded the greatest importance. but the
HuguenOt families have reigned and ruled
and still do reign and rule Few OF them
as there were, their influence has been
such that the lmpassiOned negro orator
Of Richmond need not be Judged too
harshly for his famous utterance: 'Dey
has been but four great nations-de Hot
tentots, de Assyrians, de Huguenots an
de Virginians"
TO-mOrrOW-An Ancient American
AFIstocrncy.