Evening star., 1909-04-28

there shall be, L'Enfant had written, "a
column proposed to be erected to cele-
brate the first rise of a navy, and to
stand ready monument to perpetuate
it's progress and achievements This part
of L'Enfant's plan has not been full
filled, though there Is much now to per-
petuate. Other points in his plan have
been discarded. but it turns out that,
greatly to his credit, in more than one
case there is tendency now to go back
to what he had proposed.
Ridicule and Criticism.
1.-THE plan fitted so well future times.
and so badly present ones, that for many
and many years criticisms were cease
less; as late as 1851 Jean Jacques Am
pere. visiting Washington. heard jokes
on that strange city, made up Of houses
houses Now that the excellence of the
plan has become obvious, poor l. Enfant
has had to experience another sort of
criticism; his no longer ridiculed ideas
tical, that some wonder whether they can
really have been his. Not that there is
any doubt as to the authenticity of his
plan of 1891. which still exists. and
where we can all recognize the site of
our own houses. But Is it Likely. some
say, that foreigner can so well have
foreseen the future of the country? Is
it not more probable that the plan Is
nothing but Washington's or Jefferson
ideas put on paper? What probability is
there that the President would have &C
cepted the views Of young man OF
limited experience
ITO which it is easy to answer that
the passing Of years had had on LEnfant
the effect they usually have. and that he
had ceased, by that time, to be young
man, being then thirty-seven; that SO
far as experience goes he had much
wider one than Washington himself; that
a Frenchman was not quite a foreigner
then in the United States and does not
quite feel one even now; that the in
tuition l. Enfant had of the future of
his adopted country was nothing very
extraordinary; all French people had the
same. From the frsS, France thought
that the United States would be, and
should be, great nation: the first diplo-
mat ever sent here came from France,
and he brought to the struggling colonies
letters of credence as an ambassador, the
erful republic of ninety million inhabi-
tants; when the United States asked for
New Orleans, France offered Louisiana;
that Is to say. more territory than was
covered by the thirteen original states.
When Talleyrand came as an exile in
1874 he wrote that he had decided to do
so, being anxious to know this great
country, whose history begins
Credit Is L'Enfant's Alone.
~ "Oulu AdSO DCCl q "OAuCi IL IL Ell.
FAINT had not felt likewise. That he act
ually did we have positive proof, for
there exists letter Of his, written be-
fore even the act of July 16, 1890. had
been passed. In this letter, addressed to
Washington lSmself he takes the initia-
tive of Offering his services and of ex-
planning. as clearly as can be, what sort
Of city he would plan If allowed to.
The concurrence of his spontaneously
formed suggestions with what must have
been Washington's own views was un-
doubtedly one Of the considerations which
decided the selection of L'Enfant. The
letter is dated September 1h 1883. The
major explains in 1t that his ambition
and desire of becoming a useful citi-
zen' of America have led him to wish to
share in the intended foundation of a
city which Is to become the capital of
this vast empire No nation. he said,
had ever before had such an opportunity;
and, although the means now within the
power Of the country are not such as to
pursue the design to any great extent 1t
will be obvious that the plan should be
drawn on such scale as to leave room
ment which the increase of the wealth
of the nation will permit 1t to pursue at
any period. however remote.
Remote enough Is now this period
from the time when L'Enfant wrote and
worked: remote enough for us to appre-
ciate whether or not his heart was that
Of a true citizen. with justified faith in
the future Of the country which he had
tried to serve. What followed for the city
and him Is known to all: while the city
slowly grew. his own fortunes dwindled.
or undoubted probity. but of naughty
and imperious temper. of 'untoward dis
position said Washington. he displeased
many, was found intractable and was
dismissed. He grew old. poor, discomfort
ed and lonely. befriended however, to the
last by a few. insisting on the redress Of
wrongs. some real. some not; described
by those who knew him as a tall. erect
figure, closely wrapped in a blue military
coat buttoned up to the chin, carrying a
silver-topped cane, and usually escorted
by five or six of his best friends. these
particular ones happening to be dogs.
To Sleep With the Great.
What he had foreseen for the city
only has now come to pass for him,
too; day when all would unite in SYM
pathy and admiration. At ceremony