Frederick L. Harvey

“ Let it go forth—publish it wherever in this broad land, those born beneath the stars and stripes, the glorious banner of our Union, have met, or shall meet, to resolve that Americans must and shall govern America. Ring it in the ear of the slothful—breathe it into the heart of the earnest—the native Americans in Council, in the District of Columbia, have resolved to contribute a dollar for each member toward the completion of the work; and they have already begun their contributions.
"Brethren, it is a national work—it is the heaped-up offering of mighty people—it is the work of the age. ”

“ The pilgrim to Mount Vernon, the spot consecrated by Washington's hallowed remains, is often shocked when he looks upon the humble sepulchre which contains his dust, and laments that no monument has yet reared its lofty head to mark a Nation's gratitude. ”

“ I am aware that what is called "advanced art" looks with scorn on anything so simple and bald as an obelisk, more especially when it is made up of a thousand pieces, instead of being a monolith shaft. Yet the Bunker Hill Monument, of which the design was furnished by one of our earliest and best artists, Horatio Greenough, is one of these complete obelisks, and Webster was proud to apostrophize it as "the true orator of the day," when he was pronouncing his own incomparable oration. ”

“ We do not come alone. Our brethren in the District of Columbia, beneath the walls of the Presidential Mansion, from which a frowning brow is ever turned upon us—these brethren, moved by the sacred fire that ever burns in their hearts, the altars of patriotism, defying the scorn and contumely and lust of those temporarily in power, have come up freely to our aid. ”

“ The New York "Jewish Messenger," of its own account, undertook to raise the necessary funds, and appealed to the Jewish people, and especially the Jewish ladies, to complete the National Washington Monument; "that the Israelites in America should be Americans in every relation of life, and distinct only in their fealty to the faith of their fathers. The Jewesses of America will earn the kindest and most-enduring acknowledgements of America's sons; they will rear a proud monument for themselves in working together for the accomplishment of this national duty." ”

“ He remained as Secretary of the Society from its beginning to his death, in February, 1854, conducting its extensive correspondence, preparing its numerous addresses and publications, and it appears, in every branch of the Society's business, he devoted his whole time and energies to its object with constant, ardent, and effective zeal. To no one name does the country owe more in the labor and effort to rear a monument to the memory of Washington than to that of the Society's first Secretary. ”

“ In reviewing the course of measures pursued, the Board of Managers have satisfaction in perceiving no neglect or omission on their part in discharging the duties assigned them. If an assiduity proportioned to the dignity of the object, a devotion seeking no reward but in the gratification of honest feelings, and an economy attested by the small expenditures for contingent expenses, are the truest evidences of fidelity, they trust that they may, without unworthy imputations, lay claim to this humble virtue. ”

“ I hope and trust if there are any States which have not yet contributed and placed their pledges in that Monument of the Union bearing their inscription, it will go on until all the States have done so. I will here remark, it will continue to go on notwithstanding we have disturbed relations of some of the States to the Federal Government; that it will continue to go on until those relations are harmonized and our Union again be complete. Let us restore the Union, and let us proceed with the Monument as its symbol until it shall contain the pledge of all the States of the Union. ”

“ The posthumous honors bestowed by a grateful nation on its distinguished citizens serve the further purpose of stimulating those who survive them to similar acts of greatness and of virtue, while the respect and admiration of the country which confers them upon its children are mere deeply and ardently felt. The character of Washington is identified with the glory and greatness of his country. ”

“ Mr. Duffie opposed the removal of the remains, saying: "As to a monument, rear it; spend upon it what you will; make it durable as the pyramids, eternal as the mountains; you shall have my co-operation. Erect, if you please, a mausoleum to the memory of Washington in the Capitol, and let it be as splendid as art can make it."
The refusal of Mr. John A. Washington to permit the removal of the remains of Washington seems to have prompted Mr. Clay to urge the adoption of the pending resolution to erect a statue of Washington at the Capitol. ”

“ The matter was noticed in a daily paper in an article which, after referring to the former dispossession of the Society and the long "silence" at the base of the Monument, said:
"It was not till this state of things unhappily took place that the popular enthusiasm drooped and cooled, and it is hardly fair to expect a resuscitation in an hour or a day. We trust, however, that the night is far spent; that the day is at hand, and even the tribute of the voters of Washington on Monday last, small as it was, is an evidence of new life and returning vigor. ”

“ As to the form and proportion of the pyramidion, the existing obelisks are more uniform than in the measurements of the shaft, and I think that, not merely on the ground of precedent but on that of taste, it would be by all means advisable to give to the pyramidion of the Washington obelisk a height of not less than fifty feet. In any case, if the height of the pyramidion is not greater than the side of its base, the summit will have a truncated shape quite out of harmony with the soaring character of the structure. ”

“ For every contribution of one dollar, a certificate of membership is to be issued to the person in whose name the subscription is made. It is therefore proposed that collections shall be made in each Council throughout the Nation in such manner as each may deem most expedient, and the money remitted to John M. McCalla, Esq., Treasurer of the National Monument, accompanied by a letter addressed to Charles C. Tucker, Secretary of the National Monument, stating the amount thus forwarded, and transmitting a list of the names to whom a certificate for each dollar thus paid in is to be sent. ”

“ It presents a verdant oasis on the dreary waste of the world, on which the mind loves to repose, and the patriot and philosopher delights to dwell. Such a being but seldom appears to illustrate and give splendor to the annals of mankind, and the country which gave him birth should take a pride in bestowing posthumous honors on his name. ”

“ The Board of Managers of the Washington National Monument Society, having seen in the public prints a statement that representations have been made in your body derogatory to their character, consider it their duty to lay before you an official account of their receipts and expenditures. They hope that the alleged statement is erroneous in ascribing to honorable members of your body imputations on private character which would not, without proof of their correctness, have been hazarded. ”

“ We have pledged the American party to this work. We have taken the great step of overthrowing, on this pledge, the administration which has preceded us, and which not only failed but went as beggars to Congress to ask legislative aid for that which loses all merit, unless it be the free-will offering of grateful hearts. ”

“ Whatever may be said to excuse or explain the delay which has been suffered in redeeming the pledge, the contributions of nearly a quarter of a million of dollars which individual citizens have already made towards erecting a monument to the father of his country, abundantly shows that its completion is an object dear to the hearts of the people. ”

“ But the Society was not organized on sectarian or political lines, and to the opposition and protests no heed was given. The Society was composed of men of different political beliefs and church affiliations.
The immediate effect of the destruction of the "Pope's stone" was to anger a large body of the citizens of the country, members of the Catholic Church, and then, and for a long time afterward, to estrange any interest they had had in the building of the Monument, and to this extent to impair the field for the collection of funds for the Monument. ”

“ I am agreeably surprised to learn from General Casey's interesting letter that the normal proportions have been so early observed hitherto in the construction of the obelisk. In fact, it being difficult to obtain such vast masses of granite rock, even in the quarries of Syene, entirely free from flaws, the Egyptians were very often obliged to depart more or less from the proportions most satisfactory to the eye, and the Washington obelisk conforms so nearly to those proportions, except in two points, that it is hardly subject to criticism. ”

“ It may well be questioned if any Society executing a plan for collecting money so extensively has met with equal success in justifying the integrity of its agents, and it is pleasing to state that not one cent of the funds received by the Society has at any time been lost by investment or otherwise. ”

“ In 1846 the Society issued a further address "to the American people," announcing that it had "appointed the Hon. Elisha Whittlesey, of Ohio, the General Agent of the Society, whose office will be held in Washington. To him has been delegated the power of appointing subagents, who will receive a commission on the funds they may collect as a compensation for their services. * * * It is scarcely necessary to remark that the character of the General Agent appointed by the Board of Managers to make additional collections for the Monument is such as to insure success and produce entire confidence. ”

“ The names of all persons, corporations, or societies contributing the sum of $2,500 or more and less than $5,000 shall be included in a list, and such list shall be inscribed on a block or blocks in the Monument, to be prepared by the Society for that purpose. The names of all persons, corporations, or societies contributing $1,000 or more and less than $2,500 to be inscribed on a tablet to be erected in the Monument. Any person or body contributing $100 and less than $1,000 to be recorded on a list, and such list kept perpetually in the archives of the Society. ”

“ The change in the national administration and changes in the reorganization of the Post-Office Department demoralized the plan to secure collections through the medium of local post-offices, and it was shortly discontinued.
The funds of the Society were now but little augmented for a number of years, the only moneys received being deposits of small amounts in boxes placed for the purpose at the Monument grounds, in the United States Patent Office, and in the Smithsonian Institute. At no time did the sums thus received aggregate more than $700 per annum (1867) , the average being far less. ”

“ The scholars and pupils, male and female, of all the institutions of learning, and the public and private schools in this country, are requested to make such monthly contributions as may be convenient towards the erection of the Monument till it shall be completed. It is estimated that there are about 3,000,000 of pupils of all ages in the United States, and the monthly contribution of even one cent by each would alone, in a few years, complete the structure now in progress. ”

“ We, the undersigned, citizens of ——, in the State of New Jersey, believing the proffer of a block of marble recently made by the Pope of Rome to this country for the Washington Monument to be totally inconsistent with the known principles of that despotic system of government of which he is the head ”

“ Besides the means of the Society were very insignificant compared with the object in view, for as they had agents all over the United States collecting simultaneously it was to be presumed they had collected all they were to get.
[23] Mr. Norvell was satisfied that they (the Society) were incapable of meriting the imputation impliedly, he hoped not intentionally, cast upon them by the Senator from Ohio. He presumed extensive subscriptions had been made to the work, but not yet collected, and that considerable expense must have been incurred in the employment of agents. ”

“ Every effort was now put forth to revive public interest in the Monument, and to obtain substantial aid for its completion, the Society exercising great patience, forbearance, and industry to restore matters to their former condition.
The plan now proposed and to be carried into execution was the securing of contributions from voters at all municipal and general elections, and appropriations by State Legislatures and the invoking by circular letter of aid from all political, corporate, or voluntary bodies, the Army and Navy, all [74] associations, societies, churches, and individuals. ”

“ The walks enclosing the cella, or gallery within, are fretted with 30 massive antæ (pilasters) 10 feet wide, 45 feet high, and 7-1/2 feet projection, answering to the columns in front, surmounted by their appropriate architrave. The deep recesses formed by the projection of the antæ provide suitable niches for the reception of statues.
A tetrastyle portico (4 columns in front) in triple rows of the same proportions and order with the columns of the colonnade, distinguishes the entrance to the Monument, and serves as a pedestal for the triumphal car and statue of the illustrious Chief ”