Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-04-29
Exercises in Honor Of
Late Major L'Enfant.
Distinguished French Officer
Who Planned Our Capital.
vico.pTes, Sherman and Ambassa-
dor Jusserand Speakers.
UAl4.E4

ors touay were paid to the memory OF
Major Pierre Charles LEnfant, the
famous French engineer, who. under
the authority of George Washington,
laid out the city of Washington.
His body, which was disinterred from
it's resting place on Digges farm, in
MARYLAND, near Washington, where he
was buried in 1926, was taken 10 the
Capitol under military escort today and
in the rotunda where it lay in state,
ceremonies were held at which Vice
President Sherman and Ambassador
.Jusserand Of France, paid tribute to
the noted. Frenchman.
The body was taken this afternoon
to the Arlington National cemetery
under military and civic escort and
religious services held there. Rev. Will
liam T. Russell, rector of st. Patrick's
church of this city. which Major LEN
FAINT attended, officiated at the cere-
mony in Arlington cemetery.
Long before the hour set for the be-
ginning of the ceremony at the Capt.
toll a notable assemblage had gather
cd in the great rotunda where the dis
tinguished engineers body occupied a
catafalque. President Taft. Vice orrsl-
dent Sherman and numerous senators
ard representatives were among the
early arrivals. The PrcSiden: was
there as spectator, but Mr.. sherman
was one of the orators of the day.
Vice President Sherman praised the
deeds Of Major L'Enfant, who. he said,
served America with distinguished
bravery in arms and with rare ability
rf,,I in. .;xril ifn
Vice President asserted that there vas
no reason to doubt that LEnfanfs
mind evolved the general plan of the
present city of Washington and he
spoke of his genius as exceptional.
At the outset Ambassador Jusserand
called attention to the primitive con-
dition of the land upon which the flu
ture capital of the nation was to be
erected and to the great TRANSFORMED
'ion which had taken place in a little
more than century. and said that
the will of Congress, the choice made
by the great man whose name the city
was TO bear. the talents of Il French
officer, the one whose memory was be-
ing commemorated today, had caused
the change"
Washington. he said, quickly made
up his mind as to the location of the
federal city. but the question arose as
to what sort of city would it bc-a
residential one for statesmen, legisla-
tors and judges. commercial one with
the splendid possibilities afforded by
the Potomac river, or miXtlre of
both: would it be planned in view of
the present or the future, and what
sort sort of future?
Major Pierre L'Enfant. said the am
basSador, had been selected by Wash
ingtoi because during - years of as
ISOLATION he had MANY occasions to
appreciate his qualities of character
and his abilities. The Frerch officer,
however. he said. although gifted.
plucky and energetic, was difficult to
handle. L'Enfant had been one of the
earliest enthusiasts of the American
cause. served throughout the War of
Indepe ndence and had been left on the
battle field severely wounded at Savan-
nah. where he had led the vanguard Of
one of the columns of attack and lost
two-thirds of his men. Later he was
taken prisoner and afterwards ex-
changed for Captain Won Haiden,
Hessian.
For Major L'Enfant, said the ambas-
sador. the planning of the city of
w Washington was work of love. "a
mere glance at that work. he said,
showed that the officer had decided
not to work for nation of 10 states.
but for one of SO. the streets were I'M
exampied anywhere; gardens, parks.
fountains. statutes to famous men-al
were devised in view of great and
powerful nation. the nation of today"
LEnfant, he declared, had foreseen
present greatness in all its aspects, even
the last acquired one. the one of which
the American nation is so Justly proud
her navy
The ambassador declared that the plan
fitted so well future times and so badly
present ones that as late as 1851 Jean
Jacques Ampere heard jokes ION that
strange city, made up of houses without
streets and streets without houses" The
intuition L'Enfant had of the future of
his adopted country was nothing very ex-
traordnary. the ambassador continued
IAN French people had the same. From
the first France thought that the United
States would be and should be a great
nation. The first diplomat ever sent here
came from France" In conclusion the
ambassador said
And now Pierre Charles L'Enfant will
sleep his last sleep in that Arlington Gem
etery where so many are buried who
fought as he did and fell as he did for
the nation: near that General Sheridan
who left such examples of heroism; he
will rest on slopes from which can be
seen the growth of the federal city now
called Washington: a revered name.
wrote another Frenchman. Chastellux
when visiting in 17S2 another and earlier
town Of the same name in Connecticut: "a |
revered name whose memory will I'M
last longer than the very city |
called upon to perpetuate it. May the !
fame of both continue increasing for
ever"
Mrs. Taft. Mime. Jusserand and rep |
of the Society of the Cincin- /
natl. Sons of the American Revolution. |
Daughters of the Revolution and other |
patriotic and civic organizations. were
present at the ceremonies in the rotunda.
Senator Wagner Tuesday at Albany.
n. ". called up his Coney Island 5-cent
fare bill which was defeated in the
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