Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-02-22

liberty, and for such Others as may
hereafter be decreed by grateful
nation"
Evidently the intention OF the found
ers or Washington was that half way
between the White House and the Capt.
tol this church should stand, equally
accessible to the President and to the
members of the judicial and legisla-
i've branches of the government.
Washington. IS he paused to considsr
TINS proposed church on the map ee-
FORE him, may have remembered read
ing somewhere of the great service at
81. PauIs in London to celebrate the
peace OF Ryswick, or of Queen Anne
going time after time to the same
cathedral to attend public services Of
thanksgiving after English victories
OF Tor the union, Of England and Scot
land He must have felt that even in
those early days the people of his own
country had already had reasons for
solemn services of THANKSGIVING as a
nation. and this idea of great central
nnu.ch: caiied In one of L'Enfant's re-
ports Grand Church." should have
Appeared strongly to a man of WASH
ihston's character and temperament
~
NOT long before, in 177s, when Will
nam Pitt. the famous Earl of Chat
man, died, his attitude of opposition to
the English governments American
policy must have made his name 80
"eii known In America that the news
papers doubtless gave accounts of his
remarkable obsequies held at West
minister Abbey and of the monument
erected by the government to his mem
Dry.
westminster Abbey was then, and still
Is, rich in memorials, not only to British
monafchs, but to statesmen, soldiers.
men OF letters and those who in one wav
or another have contributed to the great
ness OF England and Of the British en-
pire 1t is not impossible-indeed, 1t is
hlghiy probable-that Washington may
have contemplated in connection with
the national church provided for in the
plan winch he accepted, similar series
OF traditlons of the great men of the
nation toward the foundation of which
he SO materially contributed
Approaching the wisdom of the sen..
ration Of church and state in our govern
ment. the President himself NAV have
been responsible for the expression. ..and
assigned to the special use Of no particu-
such provision the building of tbs
church became practically impossible
Congress could not appropriate the neces
sary funds and to attempt to create some
special body or organization to secure the
amount by public contributions would
have proved futile.
The reasons for such a great national
church in the capital Of this country
vious.
y u
When one Of our great statesmen,
soldiers ar an American otherwise emf
nent in the service Of the nation dies
there is in Washington no place of wor-
ship in any way comparable In size or
beauty to the great cathedrals Of Eng
land and Of other European countries in
which a funeral or memorial service can
be held worthy of our country and Of
the man whom it wishes thus to honor.
What place have we in the National
Capital in which to lay the ashes of our
mighty dead, and over which may hover
the Inspiration Of their memories as Eng
land has in Westminster Abbey and st.
Paul's Cathedral? Nor is there any great
place of worship in the National Capital
to which the President. with those emil
nent in the councils Of the nation and
the public at large. may repair for Q
national THANKSGIVING service upon the