The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1918-10-19


the monument, and bearing appropri-
ate inscriptions, had been contributed
by cities, territories, and states of the
Union, and by many foreign govern
ments." The American consul at
Rome and several of the American
bishops invited Pope Plus TX to con.
tribute, and he sent stone from the
Temple of Concord It's finely-veined
marble had been squared in the time
OF Camillus, while Rome rejoiced over
the final retreat of the Gauls under
Brennus, and over the peace brought
about between the Patricians and the
Plebeians after the long strife of the
two orders. Its history filled twenty
four centuries. Camillus deemed the
concord that he brought about be-
tween the rival orders the greatest of
his achievements; and after he had
passed fourscore years he built upon
the Formum the Temple of Concord.
Tiberius Caesar and Septimus SIEVE
rus, in centuries following, each re-
stored what time and change had
spoiled and in it's halls the choicest
gifts of art were deposited. Eleven
Grecian masterpieces; four elephants
cut in obsidian; the horse, modelled
by Lysippus, that had once borne the
figure of Alexander the Great; a
Venus by Arkesilaos, whose breast
was covered with pearls, the spoil of
Britain; the sardonyx set in the le-
gendary ring of Polycrates-all these,
and much more, were there.
Years upon years passed away
mere centuries of spoliation. The
Popes found it a ruin and restored it
as the Church of IS. Sergio and Bac-
clio. War and the barbarian again
desolated the fame, leaving on it's site
only great mound, one of the
Forums titanic graves. The memory
of the temple was not lost, and in 1917
Pope Plus VII caused excavations to
be made, and drew from the mound
superb marbles, platform, an entab-
lature, and other fine stones. One of
these, in 1853, Plus TX sent as his con-
tribution to the Washington National
Monument. The delicate-veined mar
BILE bore the simple words, Rome to
America" 1t crossed the ocean. The
ages came with it to do honor to the
memory of Washington. 1t was in
deed like footstep that echoed down
the corridors of Time. 1t was given
in the spirit that Whittier afterward
voiced in his Centennial hymn, in the
expectation that the precious stone
would
Beneath our Western skies fulfill
The Orient's mission of goodwill;
And, freighted with loves Golden
Fleece,
Send back it's Argonauts of peace.
The stone never reached the monu-
ment. 1t lies with all its associations
at some unknown spot in the bed of
the Potomac. The circumstances of
it's taking off were so despicable that
few of the newspapers mentioned the
outrage, and no notice can be found
in the files of the Washington Even.
ing Star, the Baltimore Sun, or the
Alexandria Gazette published in the
vicinity of the outrage. 1t is fortu.
nate for the truth of history that the
calm and conservative National Intel.
ligencer of Wednesday, March s, 1854,
gave the account which we produce
herewith:
"a deed of barbarism took place on
Monday morning last" said that jour.
nal, between one and two o'clock, by
several persons number not known
but supposed to be from five to tenn
which will be considered as belonging
rather to some of the centuries con,
siderably in the rear of the better half
of the boasted nineteenth. We refer
to the forcible seizure from it's place
of deposit in shed at the Washing.
ton Monument of a block of marble
sent hither from Rome as tribute to
the memory of Washington by the
Pontiff, and intended to become part
of the edifice now erecting to signalize
his name and glory. 1t originally
stood in the Temple of Concord at
Rome, was of beautiful texture, and
had for it's dimensions length OF
three feet, height of eighteen inches,
and thickness of ten.
"The account we heard of the mat
ter is this: At about the time afore.
mentioned several men suddenly sur
rounded the Matchbox of the night
Waterman, and passed cord such as
is used for clotheslines around the
box, and piled several stones against
the door, calling to the man within
that if he kept quiet he would not be
injured. At the same time they pasted
pieces of newspaper on two or three
window openings that commanded the
particular shed containing the fated
block, SO as to prevent the Waterman
from seeing their operations, They
then removed one of the strips in
front of the place where the block
stood, and, passing in and out by an
opening, carried it off by placing il
on a hand-cart used about the prem
ises. There is no doubt they
took the block to the riverside, not
less than quarter of mile off, and
pitched it over a steep bank upon the
river beach, where they enjoyed a ia
vorable opportunity of breaking it ur
under cover and boating it off into
the river; which they probably did
after defacing it"