100

LET US NOT BE VANDALS

Mrs. Peattie Asks That Historic Buildings Be Preserved for the Future.

Old Landmarks in the Life of the Republic Which Deserve a Tender Care in Their Day of Decay.

There used to be an idea that a republic should not indulge in reminiscence. It was supposed to be the duty of citizens of a republic to look forward and not back. But there never yet was an arbitrary rule made for the regulation of man's emotions, which was not speedily broken. And thus it has come about in 200 years of hot history that we are as fond and proud of old associations as any other country.

In some ways we have a great advantage over other countries when it comes to dealing with historic persons. And that is that our distinguished personages are honest in their distinction. They are not noticed because they are Stuarts, Howards or Guelphs, but because they have individually done something heroic, or brilliant, or sacrificial. And the lives of such are bound together in a bundle--as David would have said--with the history of this republic. In short, the history of this republic is the history of individuals, and little by little this intensely interesting fact is coming to be appreciated.

A number of gentlemen at the city of Washington have been laboring recently to promulgate this idea, and they have formed themselves, or been formed, into the Memorial Association of the District of Columbia. This association has been formed for a threefold purpose:

First-- of preserving the most noteworthy houses at the capital of this country, that have been made historic by the residence of the nation's greatest men.

Secon--of suitably marking, by tablets or otherwise, the houses and places throughout the city of chief interest to the multitudes of Americans and foreigners who annually visit the capital.

Third--Of thus cultivating that historic spirit and that reverence for the memories of the founders and leaders of the republic upon which an intelligent and abiding patriotism so largely depends.

The membership of this association is interesting. It is composed of Chief Justice Melvill W. Fuller, General John M. Schofield, ex-Secretary of State John W. Foster, B. W. Warder, S. P. Langley, the astronomer; A. B. Hagner, J. O. Bancroft Davis, once assistant secretary of state, and the nephew of the historian Bancroft; Walter S. Cox, a judge of the district court; S. H. Kauffmann, A. R. Spofford, the librarian of congress; John Hay, the poet, J. W. Douglass, Myron M. Parker, Gardiner G. Hubbard, W. D. Davidge, S. R. Franklin, Charles C. Glover, and the Rev. Tennis S. Halin of the Church of the Covenant at Washington.

The little circular sent about the country by the association contains the following:

"The rapid growth of the city of Washington and the transformation of residence streets into business conters are already obliterating many of our historic buildings. Few people know that where even the very greatest of our statesmen had their homes while they were making, or interpreting, or executing the laws of the republic. We have names that the civilized world honors; their chief work was done in this city, yet the visitor here has no means of satisfying his praiseworthy desire to look upon the places they made memorable. The vast work of building up a young nation has left us little time for cultivating the historic spirit. But we have now reached a period when we need no longer bend every energy to subdue nature and to insure material prosperity. We may pause a little to secure the higher refinements of a splendid civilization. And among these refinements, none is more precious than that worthy pride in our best national traits and achievements which cannot exist apart from some intimate acquaintance with the life and work of our greatest men.

"Moved by such considerations, we have formed the Memorial Association of the District of Columbia, and have secured incorporation under the laws of the district. Pursuant to a joint resolution of the two houses of congress, approved June 14, 1892, we have been appointed, six each by the president of the United States, the president of the senate, and the speaker of house of representatives, as members of the association. The term of service is three years, one-third of the members being appointed annually. We have adopted by-laws, elected officers, and chosen a board of five directors to manage the details of our work under the instruction of our association. We are prohibited by our charter from receiving any compensation for our labors. We have recently issued a small pamphlet of twenty-seven pages, giving careful information as to a few of the historic houses and places within the district. We desire as soon as may be, to mark with suitable tablets the most notable houses still standing, in which the greatest men of our nation's earlier years have lived and labored. And we especially wish to purchase the house on Tenth street in which President Lincoln died. It is the only building at the capital distinctly associated with him. We wish to restore it to the condition it was then, both externally and internally to gather in it such mementos of Mr. Lincoln as can be procured, and to make it a perpetual shrine of patriotic pilgrimage for the millions that venerate his memory. The title to this and to any other historic houses or places preserved by the labors of the association will, by our charter, vest in the United States, and remain under the control and management of the association at the will of congress.

"We look to the congress to enable this work to be speedily entered upon, and these patriotic designs carried out, which we believe will greatly inure to the benefits of the whole nation, which takes a worthy pride in its magnificent capital. No time could be more appropriate for the inception of such an undertaking than this historic and memorial year."

This sets forth succinctly the plan which this company of gentlemen, with Justice Fuller as their president have laid out. It is one in which every American must feel an interest, and which the romance regards with affection. For he knows that pressed like leaves in books, the rich colors faded, but still apparent, the histories of fascinating men and women lie impressed in the personality of these old places.

In the current number of Scribner's Magazine is an article by the Rev. Tennis S. Hamlin on the "Historic House of Washinton." It is rich with the stories of the men and women who have made Washington the "Paris of America," and one is perplexed at the idea of making selections from it, for its stories have suggested one another in a way to form a happy sequence, which isolated quotations cannot but destroy.

In the article are the descriptions of famous houses--houses renowned for hospitality, for brilliant company for [adroitest?] lobbying--and the article is agreeably illustrated with views from these historic mansions.

But if one would be glad to see the home where the fascinating and benevolent Mrs. Van Ness lived, and to walk in the room where Decatur dined with his guests, and see the room where Colonel Taylore danced, it would still very much more like to have reverently preserved the house associated with Lincoln, and to have it filled with all the mementos of him which can be procured and authenticated.

Apropos of mementos of Lincoln, there is a little story told of Richard Harding Davis, which it is not particularly pleasant to associate with that brilliant young writer. He was to be presented to Edwin Booth at the Actor's club, and wishing to impress the occasion in some way upon the mind of the venerable actor, and to give him some token of his respect, Mr. Davis met him with this speech:

"This is a very great pleasure, indeed, Mr. Booth, and was of so much import to me, that anticipating it, I looked among my theatrical curios to select some souvenir. Will you let me give you the one I consider most interesting! It is a copy of the program of the play at Ford's theater the night that Abraham Lincoln was shot."

Poor Davis! He had the pain of seeing Booth reel and nearly full. Someone hurried him away. And then, for the first time, Mr. Davis learned how closely associated with the assassin was Edwin Booth. How he ever escaped acquiring that knowledge before is one of those things which no man can explain.

It is a fact as certain as that smoke flies upward, that if there were a museum of Lincoln souvenirs at Washington, that not an American or foreigner of intelligence would visit Washington without looking at these relics. For beloved as Lincoln was in his life, it is only now, with the focus that time gives, that the true proportions of the man became apparent. There is not, in history, a man so revered. About him there is the halo of martyrdom. And stronger than that is the luster cast by a character which stands for the American ideal. He is what all Americans would like to be, and in searching for a man who seems the best result of our republican institutions, we point to Lincoln.

Let his homely, familiar, restful face but appear in the transformation of a stereopticon display, or in the extravaganza or in a play; and the audience cannot get enough of it. They look upon it as if it still had the power to protect, guide and encourage. And the flag itself cannot inspire them to equal demonstrations.

Yes, decidedly, the house associated with him, and many another mansion of the beautiful capital, ought to be preserved. How numerous the associations are in connection with certain of these houses, it needs an article with the space and scope of the one referred to in Scribner's to set forth. They are filled with illustrious associations.

And we have reached another rung in our evolution when we perceive the educating influence that a preservation of such memorial has.

ELIA W. PEATTIE

LET US NOT BE VANDALS

Mrs. Peattie Asks That Historic Buildings Be Preserved for the Future.

Old Landmarks in the Life of the Republic Which Deserve a Tender Care in Their Day of Decay.

There used to be an idea that a republic should not indulge in reminiscence. It was supposed to be the duty of citizens of a republic to look forward and not back. But there never yet was an arbitrary rule made for the regulation of man's emotions, which was not speedily broken. And thus it has come about in 200 years of hot history that we are as fond and proud of old associations as any other country.

In some ways we have a great advantage over other countries when it comes to dealing with historic persons. And that is that our distinguished personages are honest in their distinction. They are not noticed because they are Stuarts, Howards or Guelphs, but because they have individually done something heroic, or brilliant, or sacrificial. And the lives of such are bound together in a bundle--as David would have said--with the history of this republic. In short, the history of this republic is the history of individuals, and little by little this intensely interesting fact is coming to be appreciated.

A number of gentlemen at the city of Washington have been laboring recently to promulgate this idea, and they have formed themselves, or been formed, into the Memorial Association of the District of Columbia. This association has been formed for a threefold purpose:

First-- of preserving the most noteworthy houses at the capital of this country, that have been made historic by the residence of the nation's greatest men.

Secon--of suitably marking, by tablets or otherwise, the houses and places throughout the city of chief interest to the multitudes of Americans and foreigners who annually visit the capital.

Third--Of thus cultivating that historic spirit and that reverence for the memories of the founders and leaders of the republic upon which an intelligent and abiding patriotism so largely depends.

The membership of this association is interesting. It is composed of Chief Justice Melvill W. Fuller, General John M. Schofield, ex-Secretary of State John W. Foster, B. W. Warder, S. P. Langley, the astronomer; A. B. Hagner, J. O. Bancroft Davis, once assistant secretary of state, and the nephew of the historian Bancroft; Walter S. Cox, a judge of the district court; S. H. Kauffmann, A. R. Spofford, the librarian of congress; John Hay, the poet, J. W. Douglass, Myron M. Parker, Gardiner G. Hubbard, W. D. Davidge, S. R. Franklin, Charles C. Glover, and the Rev. Tennis S. Halin of the Church of the Covenant at Washington.

The little circular sent about the country by the association contains the following:

"The rapid growth of the city of Washington and the transformation of residence streets into business conters are already obliterating many of our historic buildings. Few people know that where even the very greatest of our statesmen had their homes while they were making, or interpreting, or executing the laws of the republic. We have names that the civilized world honors; their chief work was done in this city, yet the visitor here has no means of satisfying his praiseworthy desire to look upon the places they made memorable. The vast work of building up a young nation has left us little time for cultivating the historic spirit. But we have now reached a period when we need no longer bend every energy to subdue nature and to insure material prosperity. We may pause a little to secure the higher refinements of a splendid civilization. And among these refinements, none is more precious than that worthy pride in our best national traits and achievements which cannot exist apart from some intimate acquaintance with the life and work of our greatest men.

"Moved by such considerations, we have formed the Memorial Association of the District of Columbia, and have secured incorporation under the laws of the district. Pursuant to a joint resolution of the two houses of congress, approved June 14, 1892, we have been appointed, six each by the president of the United States, the president of the senate, and the speaker of house of representatives, as members of the association. The term of service is three years, one-third of the members being appointed annually. We have adopted by-laws, elected officers, and chosen a board of five directors to manage the details of our work under the instruction of our association. We are prohibited by our charter from receiving any compensation for our labors. We have recently issued a small pamphlet of twenty-seven pages, giving careful information as to a few of the historic houses and places within the district. We desire as soon as may be, to mark with suitable tablets the most notable houses still standing, in which the greatest men of our nation's earlier years have lived and labored. And we especially wish to purchase the house on Tenth street in which President Lincoln died. It is the only building at the capital distinctly associated with him. We wish to restore it to the condition it was then, both externally and internally to gather in it such mementos of Mr. Lincoln as can be procured, and to make it a perpetual shrine of patriotic pilgrimage for the millions that venerate his memory. The title to this and to any other historic houses or places preserved by the labors of the association will, by our charter, vest in the United States, and remain under the control and management of the association at the will of congress.

"We look to the congress to enable this work to be speedily entered upon, and these patriotic designs carried out, which we believe will greatly inure to the benefits of the whole nation, which takes a worthy pride in its magnificent capital. No time could be more appropriate for the inception of such an undertaking than this historic and memorial year."

This sets forth succinctly the plan which this company of gentlemen, with Justice Fuller as their president have laid out. It is one in which every American must feel an interest, and which the romance regards with affection. For he knows that pressed like leaves in books, the rich colors faded, but still apparent, the histories of fascinating men and women lie impressed in the personality of these old places.

In the current number of Scribner's Magazine is an article by the Rev. Tennis S. Hamlin on the "Historic House of Washinton." It is rich with the stories of the men and women who have made Washington the "Paris of America," and one is perplexed at the idea of making selections from it, for its stories have suggested one another in a way to form a happy sequence, which isolated quotations cannot but destroy.

NOT FINISHED