The Washington herald., 1911-05-23

ington desired in the plans after rEn-
FAINT had drafted and completed them;
but the evidence goes to show that the
great originality in the plan was rEn-
fant's; that where the ideas in the de-
sign were original they were rEnfants S.
1t was those original ideas that the
board Of artists who have designed the
future development of Washington have
taken. and do not claim even to have
improved upon.
IAN Americans who take pride in the
Capital and its development. therefore.
must feel deep gratitude TO rEnfant for
what he did and must rejoice that now,
eighty-six years after his death, the time
has come when We are paying him just
tribute IN sight of the city that he de-
signed, in a place full of tender mem
ories for the nation, a beautiful estate
dedicated to the patriotic dead, furnish
ing a terminal-and q proper terminal
for the design of the future for the city
OF Washington.
''LEnfant will now lie here appropri-
ately in state and In rest, with the graft
tude of the nation that he served SO
we'll"
Senator Roots Speech.
Following President Taft came Sena-
tor Root.
Few men can afford to wait a hun
dred years to be remembered" were the
opening remarks Of the New Yorker.
1T is not a change in rEnfant that
brings us here 1t is we who have
changed-who are just become able to
appreciate his work. And our tribute
to him should be to continue his work"
Pointing toward the shining city across
the broad river. he said:
There is rEnfant's monument. A
mans work is his monument. known or
whether it be forever forgotten or
brought to light again. And here let
us testify to our faith by our works.
Let US continue the work of rEnfant
in the enlargement of the Capital with
a thought of his spirit
Tribute by Jusserand.
Then Ambassador Jusserand spoke He
said:
Speech by the French Ambassador.
by the million every year, on ships
moro and more numerous. loaded to the
brim with human cargoes, immigrants,
travellers, tourists. men of business, men
of leisure, visit the United States. The
majority of them see this land for the
first time Without exception they are
struck by its immensity, its resources,
tho number of its inhabitants, nearing
now a hundred million. All of those who
visit the Federal city are unanimous in
their praise OF its beauty and its exact
adaptation to the needs of great nation.
with the mind of a poet, with the
soul Of a prophet, perceiving future ages
as clearly as II they were the present,
a man foresaw, over a century ago, what
we now see with our eyes; and that man
is the one who lies under the monument
which a generous vote of Congress allows
US to dedicate to-day. Maj. Pierre Charles
rEnfant
"A Partisan born, the son Of a royal
painter at the mandatory of the Gobe-
Inns, having grown up among artistic
surroundings. FEnfant embraced at
twenty-three the cause of the United
States. and could, as justly as Lafay-
cite, say: When I heard of American
independence my heart enlisted He
came in fact being then a lieutenant Of
engineers on one of those ships belonging
to Beaumarchais' mythical firm of Hor-
talez & Co.. a firm whose cargoes con-
sisted in soldiers and ammunition for the
insurgents, and which was as much
product Of his brain as Figaro himself.
Figaro, 1t Is said has had a great in
fluence in this world; Hortalez & Co. had
not a small one either.
Sailing on the vessel named after that
great friend of the American cause, Count
Vergennes, the French foreign minister
rEnfant crossed the ocean q month be-
fore another ship with another an.
propriate name reached these shores,
that other ship was called La Victoire,
and It bore Lafayette.
Built Fort Washington,
zone of his works was the building of
whet is now called Fort Washington.
Another and Of more import, that for
which he has become famous, the one
owing to which his remains were trans
ferred here after having lain in state
under the dome Of the Capitol, and his
merits celebrated by Vice President Sher-
now enjoys the supreme honor of the
presence at this ceremony of the respect
ed successor OF George Washington, Pres.