[Illustration:
Photo by Pach Bros., New York
PRESIDENT TAFT
]
_Washington_
_ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS_
BY
MRS. HARRIET EARHART MONROE
_Author of "The Art of Conversation," "The Heroine of the Mining
Camp," "Historical Lutheranism," etc._
_NEW AND REVISED EDITION_
[Illustration]
FUNK & WAGNALLS COMPANY
NEW YORK AND LONDON
1909
COPYRIGHT, 1903 AND 1909, BY
HARRIET EARHART MONROE
[_Printed in the United States of America_]
Revised Edition Published September, 1909
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. The City of Washington 1
II. A Genius from France 4
III. The Capitol Building 12
IV. Interior of the Capitol 17
V. The Rotunda 21
VI. Concerning Some of the Art at the Capitol 26
VII. The Senate Chamber 33
VIII. The House of Representatives 40
IX. Concerning Representatives 46
X. The Supreme Court Room 53
XI. Incidents Concerning Members of the Supreme Court of the 58
United States
XII. Teaching Patriotism in the Capitol 67
XIII. People in the Departments 73
XIV. Incidents In and Out of the Departments 80
XV. Treasury Department 84
XVI. Secret Service Department of the Treasury of the United 92
States
XVII. Post-Office Department 100
XVIII. Department of Agriculture 105
XIX. Department of Chemistry on Pure Foods 109
XX. Department of the Interior 114
XXI. Branches of the Department of the Interior 121
XXII. Bureau of Indian Affairs 126
XXIII. The Library of Congress 131
XXIV. The Pension Office 138
XXV. State, War, and Navy Departments 146
XXVI. State, War, and Navy Departments (_Cont'd_) 155
XXVII. Department of Commerce 161
XXVIII. The Executive Mansion 166
XXIX. Interests in Washington Which Can Not Here be Fully 179
Described
ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
President Taft _Frontispiece_
Bird's-eye View of Washington, Looking East _Between_ 4 _and_ 5
from the Monument
Bird's-eye View of Washington, Looking Down _Between_ 8 _and_ 9
the Potomac from the Monument
The Capitol _Between_ 12 _and_ 13
Plan of the Principal Floor of the Capitol 15
Brumidi Frieze in Rotunda 22
Brumidi Frieze in Rotunda 23
The First Reading of the Emancipation 27
Proclamation
The Mace 41
The Speaker's Room 42
GROUP I _Between_ 48 _and_ 49
Statuary Hall
"Westward Ho!"
Washington Declining Overtures from
Cornwallis
The Senate Chamber
Some Prominent Senators
The House of Representatives in Session
Some Prominent Representatives
New House Office Building
Seating Plan of the Supreme Court Chamber 54
GROUP II _Between_ 80 _and_ 81
Justices of the Supreme Court
The Supreme Court Room
The Treasury Building
New Municipal Building
Government Printing Office
New Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, Union
Station
The Smithsonian Institution
The New National Museum
Macerating $10,000,000 of Money 88
The Patent Office 114
GROUP III _Between_ 128 _and_ 129
The Bureau of Indian Affairs
The Congressional Library
Grand Stairway of the Congressional
Library
The Rotunda (Reading-room) of the
Congressional Library
The Pension Office
The State, War, and Navy Departments
The German Embassy
The British Embassy
The New French Embassy
The Russian Embassy
One of the Bronze Doors of the Congressional 133
Library
The Declaration of Independence 148
Fish Commission Building 163
Mrs William H. Taft 166
GROUP IV _Between_ 176 _and_ 177
The President and Cabinet
Entrance to the White House
New Wing of the White House
South Front of the White House
North Front of the White House
Grand Corridor—White House
State Dining-room—White House
Mount Vernon—From South Lawn
Tomb of Washington—Mount Vernon
Home of General Lee
Monument to the Unknown Dead, Arlington
National Cemetery
The Washington Monument
Charlotte Corday 181
WASHINGTON
_ITS SIGHTS AND INSIGHTS_
I
THE CITY OF WASHINGTON
THE CITY OF WASHINGTON is the central point of interest of that stage on
which is being performed the second century act in the great drama of
self-government.
The actors here are the representatives of 85,000,000 of people. The
spectators are all the peoples of the world, to be succeeded by those of
all future ages.
If this experiment in self-government should fail, all other republics
will surely perish; but we believe that the Republic of the United
States of America has taken its place as a fixed star in the galaxy of
great nations, and that the stars on its flag will not be dimmed till
dimmed in the blaze of humanity's millennium. Therefore, the actors and
the buildings of this great city, which are parts of the _dramatis
personæ_ and the furniture of the stage, can not fail to be interesting
to any child of the republic.
* * * * *
Baron Humboldt, in 1804, when standing on the west balcony of the
Capitol building, said: "This point gives the most beautiful view of its
type in the world."
Senator Sumner said: "The City of Washington is more beautiful than
ancient Rome."
Besides what one can behold of the great city from that point, across
the Potomac can be seen the heights of Arlington, where sleep so many of
the sacred dead of the nation.
The place is also famed as having been the home of Robert E. Lee, noted
in early days for a generous Southern hospitality. If walls could speak,
what thrilling stories of chivalrous men and fair women could be there
heard!
On the south of Washington, in plain view, lies the quaint old town of
Alexandria, where Ellsworth was killed, while far to the north is Howard
University, used chiefly for the education of colored people—the one the
type of the departing past, the other the emblem of the possibilities of
a coming hopeful future.
Washington is the only city in the world built exclusively to serve as a
capital. Just after the Revolution, Congress, sitting in Philadelphia,
was grossly insulted by the unpaid returning troops, against whom the
city offered no adequate protection. Congress then adjourned to the
collegiate halls of Princeton, where resolutions were offered to erect
buildings for the exclusive use of Congress, either on the Delaware
River or on the Potomac River.
Several States were applicants for the permanent seat of government, but
diplomacy and a good dinner settled the question in favor of its present
site.
We are apt to think everything was done in _that_ day on the high plane
of patriotism, but prejudice, provincialism, and avarice each played its
part.
Hamilton was desirous of having his treasury policy adopted. The North
favored this policy, but the representatives from that section,
accustomed to the comforts of New York and Philadelphia, had no
inclination to establish the Capitol on a swampy Southern plantation,
away from the usual lines of travel.
Washington was with the South. Jefferson gave a great dinner, where,
under the influence of rare old wine and the witching words of Hamilton,
Northern ease, in exchange for Southern consent to the treasury policy,
gave way to the Southern desire that the nation's Capitol should be
located in its present position.
The land was purchased from four planters—Young, Carroll, Davidson, and
David Burns. Mr. Burns was not willing to part with his land at the
rates offered. When Washington remonstrated, the old Scotchman said: "I
suppose, Mr. Washington, you think that people are going to take every
grist that comes from you as pure grain; but who would you have been if
you had not married the widow Custis?"
Posterity is apt to inquire, Who would ever have heard of the widow
Custis if she had not married George Washington?
But government had ways, then as now, of bringing about conclusions when
property was wanted for public purposes.
II
A GENIUS FROM FRANCE
AMONG the pathetic figures of the early days of the Capitol City is that
of Major Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who was selected by Washington to
draft plans for the new city.
L'Enfant was a skilful engineer who had come to America with Lafayette
in 1777. He did not go back to France with his countrymen in 1783, but
remained in this country, and was employed by Washington as an engineer
in several places.
He devoted the summer of 1791 to planning, not the capital of a small
nation, but a city which could be sufficiently enlarged should this
continent be densely populated from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
There was no other man in this country at that time who had such
knowledge of art and engineering as Major L'Enfant. Plans of
Frankfort-on-the-Main, Carlsruhe, Amsterdam, Paris, Orleans, Turin,
Milan, and other European cities were sent to him from Philadelphia by
Washington, who had obtained the plan of each of these cities by his own
personal effort.
[Illustration:
Photo by Clinedinst
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF WASHINGTON, LOOKING EAST FROM THE MONUMENT
]
Washington himself desired the new city planned somewhat like
Philadelphia, a plain checkerboard, but L'Enfant, while making the
checkerboard style the basis, diversified, beautified, and complicated
the whole by a system of avenues radiating from the Capitol as the
centre and starting-point of the whole system. The streets running east
and west are designated by letters. They are divided into two classes or
sets—those north of the Capitol and those south of it. Thus, the first
street north of the Capitol is A Street North, and the first street
south of it is A Street South, the next is B Street, North or South, as
the case may be, and so on. These distinctions of North, South, East,
and West are most important, as forgetfulness of them is apt to lead to
very great inconvenience.
The streets are laid off at regular distances from each other, but for
convenience other thoroughfares not laid down in the original plan have
been cut through some of the blocks. These are called "half streets," as
they occur between, and are parallel with, the numbered streets. Thus,
Four-and-a-half Street is between Fourth and Fifth streets, and runs
parallel with them.
The avenues run diagonally across the city. New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Maryland, and Delaware avenues intersect at the Capitol, and
Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and Connecticut avenues intersect at
the President's house. Pennsylvania Avenue is the main thoroughfare. It
is one hundred and sixty feet wide, and extends the entire length of the
city, from the Eastern Branch to Rock Creek, which latter stream
separates Washington from Georgetown. It was originally a swampy
thicket. The bushes were cut away to the desired width soon after the
city was laid off, but few persons cared to settle in the swamp. Through
the exertions of President Jefferson, it was planted with four rows of
fine Lombardy poplars—one on each side and two in the middle—with the
hope of making it equal to the famous Unter den Linden, in Berlin. The
poplars did not grow as well as was hoped, however, and when the avenue
was graded and paved by order of Congress in 1832 and 1833 these trees
were removed. Pennsylvania Avenue is handsomely built up, and contains
some buildings that would do credit to any city. The distance from the
Capitol to the President's house is one mile, and the view from either
point along the avenue is very fine.
Every circle, triangle, and square dedicated to monuments bears
testimony to the taste of the original design. So little respect,
however, was held for Major L'Enfant's plans that Daniel Carroll, one of
the original owners of the land, was in the act of building a handsome
house right across New Jersey Avenue. L'Enfant ordered it torn down.
This was done, much to the disgust of Carroll and to the indignation of
the commissioners. The government rebuilt the house for Carroll, but was
careful to place it in a more suitable location. The old Duddington
House, on Capitol Hill, was long a landmark of the early Washington
architecture.
There were some other acts of irritability on the part of L'Enfant, acts
which now show his just appreciation of his own great work. He was paid
$2,500 for his services and dismissed. He believed he should have been
pensioned, as would have been done in Europe.
Afterward he saw the city expand as the nation grew strong, while he, a
disappointed, poverty-stricken man, wandered, a pathetic figure, about
the Capitol until 1825, when he died. He had lived for years on the
Diggs farm, about eight miles from Washington, and was buried in the
family cemetery in the Diggs garden, and when the dead of that family
were removed his dust was left in an unmarked grave.
Mr. Corcoran, the great banker of Washington, who died in 1888, said he
remembered L'Enfant as "a rather seedy, stylish old man, with a long
green coat buttoned up to his throat, a bell-crowned hat, a little moody
and lonely, like one wronged." The heart of a stranger in a strange,
ungrateful land.
The City of Washington is his monument. No one can now rob him of that
honor. Let us hope that he has awakened in His likeness and is
satisfied.
Could the Colonial Dames or the Daughters of the Revolution do a more
beneficent and popular act than to mark the resting-place of Peter
Charles L'Enfant, who drew the original plans of that city which is to
become the most beautiful city in the world?[1]
Footnote 1:
On April 28, 1909, the body of Major L'Enfant was moved to the
National Cemetery, at Arlington, where a suitable memorial will soon
be erected.
The letters of General Washington abound in references to the difficulty
of obtaining money to fit the new city for capital purposes. Virginia
made a donation of $120,000 and the State of Maryland gave $72,000.
Afterward the latter State was induced to loan $100,000 toward fitting
the city for a capital.
The City of Washington was officially occupied in June, 1800. Since then
it has been the ward of Congress. Strangers, even at this late day,
often comment on the long distance between the Capitol building and the
Executive Mansion; but Washington strongly impressed upon the mind of
Major L'Enfant that the latter must be at a considerable distance, so
that members of Congress should not fall into the habit of coming too
frequently to call upon the President, and thus waste the time of the
executive head of the nation.
It is not the purpose in these sketches to dwell too much on the history
of Washington, but rather to make a picture of the city as it is in the
first decade of the twentieth century. A glimpse of it, however, in the
summer of 1814 is really necessary to complete our references to the
early days of the nation's capital.
In 1814 the city was captured by a small British force under General
Ross, and both wings of the Capitol building, with its library and
almost all the records of the government up to that date, were destroyed
by fire, also the White House, as the Executive Mansion was even then
called, and most of the departments, including the Navy-yard.
Mrs. Madison, in a letter to her sister, gives a graphic picture of the
time:
"DEAR SISTER,—My husband left me yesterday morning to join General
Winder. He inquired anxiously whether I had courage or firmness to
remain in the President's house until his return on the morrow or
succeeding day, and on my assurance that I had no fear but for him
and the success of our army, he left me, beseeching me to take care
of myself and of the Cabinet papers, public and private. I have
since received two despatches from him, written with a pencil; the
last is alarming, because he desires that I should be ready at a
moment's warning to enter my carriage and leave the city; that the
enemy seemed stronger than had been reported, and that it might
happen that they would reach the city with intention to destroy it.
[Illustration:
Photo by Clinedinst
BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF WASHINGTON LOOKING DOWN THE POTOMAC FROM THE
MONUMENT
]
"... I am accordingly ready; I have pressed as many Cabinet papers
into trunks as to fill one carriage; our private property must be
sacrificed, as it is impossible to procure wagons for its
transportation. I am determined not to go myself until I see Mr.
Madison safe and he can accompany me, as I hear of much hostility
toward him.... Disaffection stalks around us.... My friends and
acquaintances are all gone, even Colonel C., with his hundred men,
who were stationed as a guard in this enclosure.... French John (a
faithful domestic), with his usual activity and resolution, offers
to spike the cannon at the gate and lay a train of powder which
would blow up the British should they enter the house. To the last
proposition I positively object, without being able, however, to
make him understand why all advantages in war may not be taken.
"Wednesday morning (twelve o'clock).—Since sunrise I have been
turning my spyglass in every direction and watching with unwearied
anxiety, hoping to discover the approach of my dear husband and his
friends; but, alas! I can descry only groups of military wandering
in all directions, as if there was a lack of arms, or of spirit, to
fight for their own firesides.
"Three o'clock.—Will you believe it, my sister? We have had a
battle, or skirmish, near Bladensburg, and I am still here within
sound of the cannon. Mr. Madison comes not—may God protect him! Two
messengers, covered with dust, come to bid me fly; but I wait for
him.... At this late hour a wagon has been procured; I have had it
filled with the plate and most valuable portable articles belonging
to the house; whether it will reach its destination, the Bank of
Maryland, or fall into the hands of British soldiery, events must
determine. Our kind friend, Mr. Carroll, has come to hasten my
departure, and is in a very bad humor with me because I insist on
waiting until the large picture of General Washington is secured,
and it requires to be unscrewed from the wall. This process was
found too tedious for these perilous moments. I have ordered the
frame to be broken and the canvas taken out; it is done, and the
precious portrait placed in the hands of two gentlemen of New York
for safe-keeping. And now, my dear sister, I must leave this house,
or the retreating army will make me a prisoner in it by filling up
the road I am directed to take. When I shall again write to you, or
where I shall be to-morrow, I can not tell."
We all know the story of Mrs. Madison's flight, of her return in
disguise to a desolated, burned, ruined home. She would have been
without shelter except for the open door of Mrs. Cutts, her sister, who
lived in the city. From that point she visited the ruins of all the
public buildings while she awaited her husband's return.
We are apt to think of the White House as a place of teas, receptions,
gayly dressed people, light, music, flowers, and laughter; but it, too,
has seen its tragedies.
Fifty years after the burning of the city the famous Stuart picture of
Washington, referred to in Mrs. Madison's letter, was retouched and hung
in the East Room, and still constitutes one of the few ornaments of the
Executive Mansion.
During Mr. Roosevelt's administration (1902-1903) extensive alterations
and additions were made to the Executive building.
The conservatory, so long an object of enjoyment to the public, was
removed to give place for a long white esplanade on the west, forming
the approach to the Executive offices, while on the east side a white
colonnade now provides a most desirable entrance for large crowds on
public occasions.
It has been a matter of regret to D. A. R. women, and to all the
patriotic women of the nation, that the portraits of the ladies of the
White House have been remanded to the basement corridors. Here are now
the portraits of Mrs. Van Buren, Mrs. Tyler, Mrs. Polk (presented by
ladies of Tennessee during Mr. Arthur's administration), Mrs. Hayes
(presented by the National Woman's Christian Temperance Union during Mr.
Hayes's term), and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison (presented by the D. A. R.),
and the portrait of Mrs. Roosevelt, by Chartran.
III
THE CAPITOL BUILDING
THE corner-stone of the old Capitol, which constitutes the central
portion of the new edifice, was laid the 18th of September, 1793, by
General Washington, in the presence of a great concourse of people and
with imposing ceremonies.
The corner-stones of the wings were laid by President Fillmore, July 4,
1851. Webster delivered the oration of the occasion.
The old building is of yellow sandstone, kept painted white to beautify
and preserve it; the wings are of white marble. On its central portico
all our Presidents, from Andrew Jackson to President McKinley, have
taken the oath of office. President Roosevelt took the oath of office at
Buffalo. This building, which fronts the east, was set in accordance
with the astronomical observations of Andrew Ellicott, an engineer from
Bucks County, Pennsylvania, who succeeded Major L'Enfant as general
surveyor and engineer in the new city.
Ellicott is described as bearing a marked resemblance to Benjamin
Franklin, except that he was more of a Quaker in appearance, wearing a
long, fine gray broadcloth coat and a Quaker hat. He awaits the
resurrection in an unmarked grave at Ellicott City, Maryland.
[Illustration:
Photo by Clinedinst
THE CAPITOL
]
The original building was constructed from plans submitted by Stephen
Hallet, the work undergoing some modifications from the plans of Dr.
William Thornton.
The great wings were added during Fillmore's administration from designs
submitted by Thomas N. Walter, architect, who not only superintended the
building of the additions, but also managed to harmonize them with the
original design.
Years ago it was quite the fashion for Americans returning from Europe
to make disparaging remarks concerning the Capitol building, but that
spirit seems to have passed away, and the dignity, grace, and beauty of
its architecture now receive universal commendation.
Prince Henry of Germany remarked of this noble structure: "For Capitol
purposes it surpasses every other building in the world. Its
architectural beauty is most impressive."
It is not our purpose to give a minute description of the building. We
have said that it faces east, for the founders of the Capitol believed
the city would grow in that direction, but the landholders of early days
asked such high prices that the city began to stretch toward the
northwest, which is to this day the fashionable part for residences,
although Capitol Hill is much more beautiful as to situation.
The base of the building is ninety-seven feet above the river. The
central structure is of Virginia yellow sandstone, which is kept painted
white. The wings are of Massachusetts marble, and the one hundred
columns of the extension porticoes are of Maryland marble.
The building covers three and one-half acres. It is seven hundred and
fifty-one feet long and three hundred and fifty feet wide.
The height of the dome above the rest of the building is two hundred and
fifty-seven feet, and its weight is eight million pounds. This dome is
surmounted by Crawford's statue of Freedom, nineteen and one-half feet
high, and weighing fifteen thousand pounds. The entire edifice
constitutes the highest public building in America not located on a
mountain, being sixty-eight feet higher than Bunker Hill monument, and
twenty-three feet higher than the steeple of Trinity Church, in New York
City.
Thomas G. Walker resigned his place as architect in 1865, and was
succeeded by the late architect of the Capitol, Mr. Edward Clark, who
died early in 1902. His great work had been to finish the west front
facing the city, and to harmonize the conflicting and foreign tastes of
the many decorators of the building.
Mr. Elliott Wood, the successor of Mr. Clark, had been the latter's
chief assistant. Mr. Wood had long been virtually in charge of the
Capitol.
The architects had a candidate ready because Mr. Wood was practically an
engineer; to meet this and yet give a faithful man his due, the name of
the position was changed to that of Superintendent of the Capitol. He,
like his predecessor, has much to do in getting rid of the foreign
artists' effects and in Americanizing the whole.
[Illustration:
PLAN OF THE PRINCIPAL FLOOR OF THE CAPITOL
(Rooms numbered are for committees, etc.)
]
Mrs. Mary Clemmer Ames says of the Capitol: "It not only borrowed its
face from the buildings of antiquity, but it was built by men strangers
in thought and spirit to the genius of the new republic, and to the
unwrought and unembodied poetry of its virgin soil. Its earlier
decorators, all Italians, overlaid its walls with their florid colors
and foreign symbols; within the American Capitol they have set the
Loggia of Raphael, the voluptuous anterooms of Pompeii, and the baths of
Titus. The American plants, birds, and animals, representing prodigal
nature at home, are buried in twilight passages, while mythological
barmaids, misnamed goddesses, dance in the most conspicuous and
preposterous places."
An office building for the use of members of the House has been
constructed (1909) on the block on B Street, between New Jersey Avenue
and First Street, southeast of the Capitol. A similar building has been
erected northeast of the Capitol, for the use of Senators. The two
buildings are connected by an underground road, on which swift
automobile-like cars run for the convenience of legislators. The House
offices contain 410 rooms, the Senate offices 99 rooms. The
appropriation for each building was $2,500,000. There is a general
feeling in Washington that too much luxury pervades these buildings.
IV
INTERIOR OF THE CAPITOL
IN 1808 Jefferson made Benjamin Henry Latrobe supervising architect of
what we now call the old Capitol, being the central portion of the
present building.
He constructed the original Senate Chamber, now the Supreme Court Room,
on the plan of the old Greek theater, the general outline of which it
yet retains. The House (now Statuary Hall) also had a decidedly Grecian
aspect. It was finished in 1811. Statuary Hall is semicircular in shape,
and has a vaulted roof. Its ornamentation is not yet completed. This is
right. It would not be well to occupy all the space in one generation.
We need the perspective of time to know that which will be of permanent
interest to the world.
Here Clay presided, here Webster spoke, and here Adams stood for the
right of petition and for the abolition of human slavery. What pictures
these scenes would make! A plate in the floor southwest of the center
marks the spot in the House where John Quincy Adams fell stricken with
paralysis. In a room opening from the Hall is a memorial bust, whose
inscription reads: "John Quincy Adams, who, after fifty years of public
service, the last sixteen in yonder Hall, was summoned to die in this
room February 23 1848."
The room has special acoustic qualities which in early days occasioned
much trouble. A whisper scarcely audible to the ear into which it is
breathed is distinctly heard in another part of the hall. It is one of
the most remarkable whispering galleries in the world, and its peculiar
properties, accidentally discovered, produced no end of disturbances
before they were fully understood. Their effect has been much modified
by a recent change in the ceiling.
Each State is now permitted to place in Statuary Hall two statues of its
most renowned sons.
Virginia has Washington and Jefferson. Think of that! New Hampshire has
Daniel Webster, who made these walls echo with his thrilling, patriotic
sentences, and John Stark, of Bunker Hill fame, who cried: "See those
men? They are the redcoats! Before night they are ours, or Molly Stark
will be a widow!"
Pennsylvania has Robert Fulton, the inventor, and John Peter Gabriel
Muhlenberg, the preacher, Major-General in the Revolution. He was also
Senator and Member of Congress. New York has Robert R. Livingston, of
the Continental Congress, and Alexander Hamilton. The latter was
Washington's Secretary of the Treasury during both of his Presidential
terms. He had much to do with securing a good financial system for the
new government. His pathetic death enhanced his fame and ruined Burr;
but under the search-light of history one can not help wondering had
Burr been killed and Hamilton survived that duel, would the halo of the
latter have faded? The statue of Hamilton is one of the best in the
Hall. It was made in Rome by Horatio Stone.
The Illinois memorial is the famous Vinnie Ream statue of Lincoln. I
wish, because it was done by a woman, that I could like it, but it is
weak and unworthy. In every line of his strong, patriotic face lived the
gospel of everlasting hope. This figure might well stand for one
vanquished in the race. (Was Jesus vanquished? Was Paul? Was Luther? Was
Lincoln?)
There is a small bust of Lincoln, by Mrs. Ames, which approaches nearer
the true ideal of the great apostle of Liberty.
Illinois is further represented by James Shields, Senator. It would seem
that men like Washington and Lincoln, who were the product of national
influences, should be venerated as representatives of the nation rather
than of individual States.
Missouri is represented by Frank Blair and Thomas H. Benton; Vermont, by
Jacob Collamer and Ethan Allen, the hero of Ticonderoga; Oregon, by
Edward Dickinson Baker, whose fine statue is by Horatio Stone.
Jacques Marquette (by G. Trentanore), in the garb of a Catholic priest,
represents Wisconsin. Ohio has President Garfield and William Allen.
Roger Sherman and John Trumbull represent Connecticut, and Rhode Island
memorializes Roger Williams and General Nathanael Greene, of
Revolutionary fame—the former, in his quaint sixteenth century garb,
standing as well for religious freedom as for the State which he
founded.
Massachusetts presents Samuel Adams's statue, by Annie Whitney, and John
Winthrop's, by R. S. Greenough. What a goodly company they are, those
New England heroes![2]
Footnote 2:
Since the above was written a statue of John James Ingalls, of Kansas,
has been placed in Statuary Hall; as well as a statue of Frances
Willard, of Illinois, who is the first woman in the United States to
be so honored.
Will Kansas have the courage to place there the statue of John Brown, of
Osawatomie? He yet is a type of that unconventional State, which regards
no precedent, follows no pattern; that State which, in a blind way, is
striving to put the Ten Commandments on top and to uphold the principles
of the Sermon on the Mount, no difference what man or what party goes
down in the strife; that State of which Whittier truthfully said:
We cross the prairie as of old
The pilgrims crossed the sea,
To make the West, as they the East,
The homestead of the free.
Upbearing, like the ark of old,
The Bible in our van,
We go to test the truth of God
Against the fraud of man.
A brave fight the State has made against fraud. The fight is yet on; but
who doubts that the truth of God "shall yet prevail," and who would
better stand for such a people than one who went down in that fight with
the "martyr's aureole" around his grizzled head?
Much, of course, must be left untold here; but it is hoped that what has
been said will create a desire to see and learn more of those whom the
State and the nation has here honored.
V
THE ROTUNDA
IT is not the purpose in these sketches to go into any minute
descriptions of places or things in Washington. To do that volumes would
be needed, and then much left untold.
The Rotunda is the central part of the old building of the Capitol, and
lies beneath the dome. It is circular in form, with a diameter of
ninety-five feet, and with a height to the canopy above of a little over
one hundred and eighty feet.
The panels of the Rotunda are set with life-size pictures, illustrating
important scenes in American history. There are "The Surrender of
Burgoyne, October 17, 1777"; "The Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown,
Virginia, October 19, 1781" and "The Resignation of Washington, December
23, 1783." These are by Trumbull. They may not be perfect, considered as
works of art, but they commemorate events whose memory should never die.
The surrender of Burgoyne was the greatest triumph of American over
British arms up to that date (October 17, 1777). Had his twelve hundred
Hessians been English patriots the result might have been different.
When the British officer was sent to inquire their condition for a
fight, the answer of the British was, "We will fight to a man." But the
Hessians replied, "Nix the money, nix the rum, nix fighten."
[Illustration:
BRUMIDI FRIEZE IN ROTUNDA
]
It was in a cold, drizzling rain that Lord Cornwallis made his
surrender. He sat on his horse with his head uncovered. General
Washington said, "Put on your hat, my lord; you will take cold." He
replied, "It matters not what happens to this head now." In our
exultation we are apt to forget his side.
No writer that I know of praises the scene of Washington's resignation,
yet the faces are so clear-cut that you recognize every face which other
pictures have made familiar. The costumes are correct historical
studies, and I would not wish a line of them changed.
Another picture of the Rotunda is "The Declaration of Independence." How
familiar, how dear each face has become, from Lee, Jefferson, Franklin,
John Adams, Roger Sherman, and Livingston, to the plain Quaker who
stands by the door! Adams afterward wrote: "Several signed with regret,
and several others with many doubts and much lukewarmness." That shows
in the picture, and contrasts with the enthusiasm of the few, who with
clear vision felt the dawn of a larger liberty for the race.
We are so apt to enjoy the music and forget the singer, to enjoy the
painting and forget the artist, that we venture a reminder concerning
Colonel John Trumbull, the artist aide-de-camp of General Washington. He
studied art in this country and in Europe. In London he painted John
Adams, our first Minister to England, and, in Paris, Thomas Jefferson,
our Minister to France. General Washington gave him sittings, and he
traveled through the entire thirteen colonies securing portraits. It was
not until 1816, after thirty years of careful preparation, that Congress
gave him the commission to paint the four great historical paintings now
in the Rotunda. They are the best authentic likenesses now in existence
of the persons represented.
[Illustration:
BRUMIDI FRIEZE IN ROTUNDA
]
"The Embarkation of the Pilgrims," by Wier, is considered the best
picture of the Rotunda. All the self-sacrifice of leaving country, home,
and friends is in the women's faces, "All for God" is in the men's
faces. It is the little leaven of Puritanism which yet keeps this
country sweet.
It is amusing to see the bands of Indians who are sent here to meet the
"Great Father" stop before "The Baptism of Pocahontas," painted by
Chapman. Evidently neither the faces nor the costumes suit them, for
they hoot and laugh, while they grunt with evident approval at the
picture of Boone's conflict with the savages and that of William Penn's
conference with the Indians of Pennsylvania.
At a height of sixty-five feet above the floor, and encircling the wall
at that point, about three hundred feet in circumference, runs a fresco,
by Brumidi and Castigni, in imitation high relief, which well depicts
periods of American history, illustrating from the days of barbarism to
civilization. It is incomplete at this time.
Brumidi was, while yet a very young man, banished from Italy for
participating in an insurrection. He went to Mexico, and finally was
brought to Washington through the instrumentality of General Meigs. His
first work is in the room of the Committee of Agriculture of the House,
where he represented Cincinnatus leaving the plow to receive the
dictatorship of Rome; General Putnam, in a similar situation, receiving
the announcement of the outbreak of the Revolution, and other fine works
are scarcely appreciated by the clerks who daily work beneath them. For
eight dollars a day, the compensation he first received, Brumidi did
work which thousands of dollars could not now duplicate. Almost every
one knows that Brumidi began the decoration of the frieze around the
Rotunda of the Capitol. He had completed in charcoal the cartoons for
the remainder of the decoration, and these drawings he left to his son,
supposing that the designs would be purchased from him by the successor
selected to complete the work. This man, however, obtained in some
unknown way an idea of the sketches Brumidi had made, and attempted to
carry them out without the aid of the originals.
At the east door of the Rotunda are the famous bronze doors designed by
Randolph Rogers at Rome in 1858, and cast at Munich. The high reliefs
illustrate leading events in the life of Columbus.
From near the Rotunda one can ascend to the dome and overlook the entire
District of Columbia.
VI
CONCERNING SOME OF THE ART AT THE CAPITOL
AMONG the interesting pictures in the Capitol is Frank B. Carpenter's
picture, "The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation, September
22, 1862." Mr. Lincoln was accustomed to speak of the act which this
picture represents as the central act of his administration. Historians
have recorded it the leading event of the nineteenth century.
It changed the policy of the war, and was received by the army and the
people as a necessary war measure. According to Mr. Carpenter, he takes
the moment when Mr. Lincoln has just said: "Gentlemen, I now propose to
issue this Emancipation Proclamation."
Montgomery Blair said: "If you do, Mr. President, we shall lose the fall
elections." To this no one offered a reply. Mr. Seward, who sits in
front of the table, said: "Mr. President, should we not wait for a more
decisive victory, so that the rebels may know we are able to enforce the
Proclamation?" Mr. Lincoln leaned forward and said, in a low voice: "I
promised my God, if Lee were driven back from Maryland, to issue the
Proclamation." Mr. Seward said: "Mr. President, I withdraw every
objection." Chase, who stands back of the President in the picture, and
who was not always in sympathy with Mr. Lincoln, laid his hand
affectionately on Mr. Lincoln's shoulder, to show the President that in
_this_ matter they were in perfect accord.
[Illustration:
THE FIRST READING OF THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION
]
The Proclamation came just after the battle of Antietam, which was far
from being a decisive victory. The Proclamation set forth that, unless
rebellion ceased by January 1, 1863, the slaves at that time would be
declared free. It was a case of "man's extremity is God's opportunity."
Another picture which well merits a full description (which we have not
space to give) is W. H. Powell's spirited picture, "The Battle of Lake
Erie, September 13, 1813." It represents Commodore Perry transferring
his colors from the disabled flagship _Lawrence_ to the _Niagara_ in the
midst of a fire from the enemy. Perry deserved all the glory he so
richly won.
Mary Clemmer Ames thus beautifully describes that great picture,
"Westward the Star of the Empire Takes its Way." The picture is in the
stairway of the south wing:
"At the first glance it presents a scene of inextricable confusion. It
is an emigrant train caught and tangled in one of the highest passes of
the Rocky Mountains. Far backward spread the eastern plains, far onward
stretches the Beulah of promise, fading at last in the far horizon. The
great wagons struggling upward, tumbling downward from mountain
precipice into mountain gorge, hold under their shaking covers every
type of westward moving human life. Here is the mother sitting in the
wagon front, her blue eyes gazing outward, wistfully and far, the baby
lying on her lap; one wants to touch the baby's head, it looks so alive
and tender and shelterless in all that dust and turmoil of travel. A man
on horseback carries his wife, her head upon his shoulder. Who that has
ever seen it will forget her sick look and the mute appeal in the
suffering eyes? Here is the bold hunter with his raccoon cap, the
pioneer boy on horseback, a coffeepot and cup dangling at his saddle,
and oxen—such oxen! it seems as if their friendly noses must touch us;
they seem to be feeling out for our hand as we pass up the gallery. Here
is the young man, the old man, and far aloft stands the advance-guard
fastening on the highest and farthest pinnacle the flag of the United
States.
"Confusing—disappointing, perhaps—at first glance, this painting asserts
itself more and more in the soul the oftener and the longer you gaze.
Already the swift, smooth wheels of the railway, the shriek of the
whistle, and the rush of the engine have made its story history. But it
is the history of our past—the story of the heroic West."
There are pictures and busts, or full-length statues, of almost every
great man of our nation. Some of them, within one hundred years, will be
turned over to the man's native State or town, with complimentary notes
and speeches the inner meaning of which is: "We need the room for bigger
men."
Before leaving the Capitol plaza a word must be said of Horatio
Greenough's statue of Washington, which sits in lonely grandeur before
the Capitol. Greenough was much in Rome, and the antique became his
model. The statue represents Washington sitting in a large chair,
holding aloft a Roman sword, the upper part of his body naked, the lower
part draped as Jupiter Tonans.[3]
Footnote 3:
On May 27, 1908, Congress appropriated $5,000 to move Greenough's
statue of Washington to the Smithsonian Institute. The removal was
made November 21, 1908.
This conception brings out the majestic benignity of the face of
Washington, and shows to the life every muscle and vein of his
magnificent form. Greenough said of his own work: "It is the birth of my
thoughts; I have sacrificed to it the flower of my days and the
freshness of my strength; its every lineament has been moistened with
the sweat of my toil and the tears of my exile. I would not barter its
association with my name for the proudest fortune that avarice ever
dreamed of."
The work, however, has met with more of criticism than of praise. A
statue should represent a man in the costume of his time. Washington
should have been shown either in the knee-breeches or in the full
military costume of his period. We want no foreign effects in our
statues. Washington had no aspiration to be either Jupiter or Mars, but
he earnestly desired to be a good and useful man.
In this connection a few words in relation to the character of future
paintings that shall be selected for the adornment of the Capitol may
not be amiss.
In Paris, at the Exposition in 1900, the writer was greatly impressed by
the manner in which France perpetuates historic events. The best picture
of the commission which settled the Spanish-American War was painted by
a Frenchman, the best picture of the Peace Commission at the Hague was
also French. One picture, which will ever be valuable, represented
President Carnot and his Cabinet in the Exposition of 1889 receiving the
representatives of all the colonies of France.
Our country should have pictures of the inauguration of the President,
with his leading men about him; also of the receptions on New-year's
day, showing faces of foreign Ministers, the Cabinet, Members of the
Supreme Court, and our naval and military commanders.
I remember one brilliant company at Secretary Endicott's, during the
first Cleveland administration. The Ministers of various foreign
nations, in court costumes and with all their decorations, were present.
General Sheridan, full of life and repartee, was there. General Sherman
had come over from New York to grace with his presence the reception
given by the Secretary of War. General Greely, of Arctic fame, wore for
the first time the uniform of a brigadier-general. All the leading army
officers, in brilliant uniforms, were present. Senators Edmonds,
Sherman, Logan, Evarts, Ingalls, Wade Hampton, Leland Stanford, Vance,
Voorhees, Allison, with many others, were part of that memorable
company. Mrs. Stanford wore the famous Isabella diamonds. Among the
guests were Secretaries Vilas, Whitney, Bayard, and their accomplished
wives; Mr. Carlisle, then Speaker of the House, and his stately, genial
wife; and President and Miss Cleveland, who made an exception to the
Presidential rule of non-attendance at such functions, and by their
presence added to the pleasure of the occasion. Chief Justice Waite and
Justices Field, Miller, Blatchford, Gray, and Strong were present.
What a picture for history that representative company would now be! We
need an art fund—perhaps the Carnegie University beneficence may provide
it. Concerning the Capitol building, Charles Sumner said: "Surely this
edifice, so beautiful, should not be open to the rude experiment of
untried talent."
The Commission of Artists said: "The erection of a great National
Capitol occurs but once in the life of a nation. The opportunity such an
event affords is an important one for the expression of patriotic
elevation, and the perpetuation, through the arts of painting and
sculpture, of that which is high and noble and held in reverence by the
people; and it becomes them as patriots to see to it that no taint of
falsity is suffered to be transmitted to the future upon the escutcheon
of our national honor in its artistic record. A theme so noble and
worthy should interest the heart of the whole country, and whether
patriot, statesman, or artist, one impulse should govern the whole in
dedicating these buildings and grounds to the national honor."
VII
THE SENATE CHAMBER
IN visiting the Capitol building most people desire first to see the
Senate Chamber, possibly from the fact that the names of the Senators
are more familiar, because, as a usual thing, men have been long in
public life before they have become Senators.
The Senate Chamber is 112 feet in length, 82 feet wide, and 30 feet
high. The floor rises like that of an amphitheater; the walls are white,
buff, and gold in color, and the ceiling consists of panels of glass,
each one bearing the coat of arms of a State. Opposite the main
entrance, on a platform of dark mahogany, are the desk and chair of the
President of the Senate, who is the Vice-President of the United States,
or, as in the present administration, a Senator elected by his
colleagues to preside over them when the office of Vice-President has
become vacant. Below the President is a larger desk for the use of the
Secretary of the Senate and his assistants.
The heating and ventilating of the Senate Chamber is said to be very
good. In winter, however, the room seems to be too warm. After an
absence of fifteen years, I find men who have been in the Senate during
that time have aged much more in appearance than their contemporaries
outside.
The mahogany desks of the Senators stand on a moss green carpet, making
a good color combination. The room is surrounded by a gallery which
seats about a thousand persons. This gallery is divided. There is a
private gallery for Senators' families and friends, one part of which is
set apart for the family of the President. It is seldom occupied by the
dwellers in the White House, but often by visiting friends. The
reporters' gallery is over the Vice-President's desk. There sit those
busy, bright men who keep you informed of what the Senate is doing. The
gallery opposite is for the diplomats. It is always interesting to watch
the faces of these distinguished foreigners as they scan this body of
lawmakers. Besides these there are the gallery for ladies, or for
gentlemen accompanied by ladies, and the public gallery for men.
The Senate is the citadel of American liberty. Its great debates have
defined our constitutional rights and duties, and prevented many
violations of fundamental law. Here Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Benton,
Chase, Sumner, Seward, Harrison, Edmunds, Evarts, Ingalls, Logan, and
Wade Hampton, with hundreds of others equally eloquent and equally
patriotic, have stood for the right as they saw it, or sold their souls
for the mess of pottage.
The Republicans sit on the Vice-President's left and the Democrats on
the right. Although differing in ideas of governmental policy, we must
believe both sides are actuated by a love of country.