On the proposed new park, and between the Smithsonian Institute and the
president’s house, has been commenced a colossal monument to the memory
of Washington, to be erected by the voluntary contributions of the
people. A view of it, as it will appear when completed, is given in the
cut.
[Illustration: THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.]
The plan contemplates, as a base, a circular temple, two hundred and
fifty feet in diameter, and one hundred feet high, from the center of
which is to rise a shaft, seventy feet square, to the hight of six
hundred feet above the ground, and to be cased in marble. The base is
intended to be the Westminster Abbey of the United States, to contain
the statues of the revolutionary worthies, and in the center, (if his
family approve,) are to be placed the remains of Washington. The temple,
at the base, will be entirely surrounded by a colonnade of thirty
pillars, in the Doric style, forty-five feet high by twelve in diameter,
surmounted by an entablature of twenty feet, which, in turn, is to be
surmounted by a balustrade of fifteen feet in hight. Each state in the
union is invited to furnish a block of native stone or other material,
with an inscription, which will be inserted in the interior, where the
block may be seen and the inscription read in coming ages. A triumphal
car, with a statue of Washington, is to stand over the grand entrance,
as seen in the engraving. The column, at present, has reached the hight
of less than two hundred feet; but if completed according to the
original plan, it will form the most magnificent monument ever erected.
It is said that there is not a column, either ancient or modern, in
Europe, as high as the Bunker-hill monument. And yet, such are the
gigantic proportions of the Washington monument, that Bunker-hill
monument could be placed inside of it without much impeding the
operations of the workmen; and when it is finished, any two of the
monuments of Europe could be stowed away within its walls without being
noticed from the exterior. The design has been severely criticised; and
the great hight of the column, receding so suddenly from so wide a base,
has been strongly objected to. But the plan was deliberately adopted
after much consideration, and when the work is finished, it will
doubtless be approved by the great mass of beholders. Certainly it will
attract the gaze of thousands as a monument not merely to a _man_, but
to _principles_ which should be dear to every American. The endowments
of the great man whom it commemorates, were peculiarly adapted to the
exigency which called them into action. He was brave, but cautious;
earnest, yet calm; resolved, yet guarded against rash adventure; a
patriot, in whose heart the love of country predominated; a statesman,
in whose conduct every public virtue was exemplified; a citizen, whose
intercourse with his fellow-men was without reproach. Placed in a
position at once responsible and perilous, he felt and was ever ready to
acknowledge the overruling providence of God, by whose blessing alone he
could succeed. It was not one great quality which formed the character
of Washington, but a rare union of many great qualities. These, with
unfeigned devotion, he laid on the altar of his country, and for the
promotion of her interests he was ready to sacrifice his personal
comfort and his life. Wonderfully was he sustained in his self-denying
and eventful career, and remarkable was the success which accompanied
his efforts. The most formidable obstacles were surmounted, the most
powerful opposition subdued; his country was liberated; the battle of
free institutions was fought and won; and he, superior to the impulses
of mere personal ambition, nevertheless achieved a fame which has no
parallel in the world’s history. If he was “first in war,” he was “first
too in peace,” and he still remains “first in the hearts of his
countrymen.” Such a name should never be forgotten; such an example
should never lose its influence.