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FEB. 13, 1832.]

Washington's Remains.

[H. of R.

The committee was charged by the gentleman from of the joint committee that made the report, he desired Virginia [Mr. GORDON] with having proposed a measure to submit some few remarks. The resolution, said Mr. which directed Congress "to invade the sanctuary of the H., contemplates the erection of no marble monument, dead, and with sacrilegious hands drag its sacred deposite it authorizes no violation of the sepulchre, nor the rights from its native soil. Sir, did the honorable member re- of Virginia, or any individual State, which some gentleflect that this charge reached back upon the Congress of men so feelingly deprecate; but it simply proposes a 1799-that it fell with its intended force upon those tribute of grateful respect to the memory of the great who had prepared this measure--at the head of whom benefactor of our common country. I am well aware, stands that distinguished son of Virginia, the present sir, that no ceremony which we can perform will contriChief Justice of the United States? bute any thing to the fame of Washington, or endear him

To the execution of this measure in 1799 had been more to the hearts of his countrymen. There is, howyielded the assent of Mrs. Washington, the person above ever, a debt of national respect and gratitude to be paid, all others most competent to decide upon its propriety: and a solemn pledge to be redeemed, by carrying into still it was proposed to act only by the consent of those execution the resolve of Congress, unanimously adopted upon whom the care of the remains of Washington had in 1799, soon after his decease, and in accordance, too, devolved. Are we then to be charged with invading the with the general sentiments of the nation, of removing sanctuary of the dead, and with sacrilegious hands wrest- his remains, by the express consent of his bereaved widow, ing a sacred deposite from its native soil' given upon the request of Congress, and of depositing Mr. Speaker, the gentleman from Georgia [Mr. them within the capitol of this great empire, of which THOMPSON] had spoken of the possibility, nay, the pro- it may be said that he himself was the illustrious founder. bability of the disunion of these States. Sir, the sacred No act can be done by the Government that would have so name of Washington should never in debate or in thought deep and permanent a moral influence in uniting the be connected with the idea of a dissolution of this happy people and cementing the union of this confederacy, as Union. Disunion of these States, sir! I will not permit the placing of these sacred remains at the base of this my mind to dwell on so dire a calamity; it never can hap- durable edifice, so that it may serve not only as the seat pen while the name of Washington is spoken and his of national legislation, but as the mausoleum of the famemory revered. ther of his country. The same pure feelings of veneraSir, the gentleman from Virginia, [Mr. COKE,] in the tion which dictated and responded to the resolutions of ardor of his feelings, has been pleased to introduce the '99, still continue alive and unabated throughout the same unhappy idea. He has, in all the fire of his ima- country, and a more propitious time for executing_the gination, called upon us to contemplate the day when duties of that resolve will never hereafter occur. these twenty-four States shall or may become twenty-four twenty-second of this month numbers one hundred years independent Governments engaged in all the horrors of since the birth of George Washington, and the intelliwar. Leave to us Virginians, says the gentleman, the gence from all parts of the country informs us that prepasacred remains of her beloved Washington, that we may rations are making to commemorate this anniversary with visit the tomb and do reverence to his name in peace-all the solemnities and festivities which the occasion must do not compel us to travel through hostile territory to naturally inspire. Congress seems now to be invoked, by visit the sacred spot where lies the father of his country. the impulse of public feeling, to execute the sacred trust If, sir, that sad, sad catastrophe should befall this peo- especially committed to its care, and to manifest the triple, (which God in his mercy forbid,) then I say here is bute of a nation's gratitude, too long neglected, to that the spot, in this city bearing his own name, beneath this great and good man to whom we are so signally indebted capitol, the first stone of which was placed by his own for our liberties, and for the free and happy Government hands, in this ten miles square, which would be neutral under which we live. He fervently hoped the resolution territory, his sacred remains should be deposited, that we would be adopted. all might come in peace and pour out our griefs over the ruins of this fair republic, created by his valor, and, while he lived, maintained by his wisdom.

I have no such gloomy forebodings as seem to possess the minds of the honorable gentlemen upon this subject. I turn my hopes to brighter prospects, and look to the consummation of the resolve of the Congress of 1799, as presenting an era in our political existence which will be looked to in after ages, in this and in other countries, as furnishing the best evidence that the spirit of patriotism and the principles of Washington will long abide in this his beloved and grateful country.

The

Mr. McDUFFIE, of South Carolina, said that this was one of those occasions on which he would make his judgment take counsel from his feelings. Adopting this criterion, he could not approve of the proposition which had been made, but contemplated it with shuddering and abhorrence. He could not but regard the proposed removal as a species of sacrilege. He differed entirely from the honorable gentleman from Virginia, [Mr. MERCER,] in regard to the interpretation of General Washington's will: while the gentleman himself admitted that he differed from one who ought to be the best expositor of the will, the late lamented Judge Washington. Judge's interpretation of that instrument was, in Mr. McD.'s opinion, the true one. He would call the attention of the House to the terms of that clause which related to the interment.

The

I did not rise, Mr. Speaker, to do more than to explain the motives by which the committee were influenced. The name and character of Washington shall not suffer by any clumsy eulogium of mine. I must be allowed, however, to deny to Virginia that exclusive claim she as- [Here Mr. McD. quoted General Washington's will.] serts to the father of his country. True he was born in Such, said he, is the will of Washington. This is the Virginia. As a son of that ancient and venerated com- will of that most illustrious but modest man, with regard monwealth, I am proud that she enjoys so distinguished to the disposition of his own remains. Those remains an honor as having given birth to Washington; but Ge- had been deposited in strict conformity with it, and there neral Washington belonged not to Virginia alone, he be- they still remained peaceably reposing in the family burylonged to his country-I might say to the world. Let ing ground. Yet, in open defiance of this express provithat country, then, by adopting the resolution on your table, honof itself by redeeming the promise which stands on your statute book, and place his remains beneath this temple of liberty, and let the constitution be the only inscription on his tomb.

Mr. HUNT, of Vermont, observed that, as he was one
VOL. VIII.-113

sion of the will of the deceased, the House was called upon to disturb his "canonized bones," and tear them from the cemetery which they had consecrated, for the mere purpose of ostentation. God forbid that these hallowed relics, now lying in a spot which-do what gentlemen might--would be consecrated through all time, should be

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Washington's Remains.

[FEB. 13, 1832.

Orn from those of his beloved consort, and exhibited at other nations, in which power is assumed and exercised this place as a mere pageant, for the idle to gaze upon. for the benefit of the rulers, not of the ruled. Whatever Let us have no pageantry-no empty show, on such a may be our fate hereafter, we ought to perform our dusubject. He was sure he spoke for all who heard him, ties now. when he said "I have that within which passeth show." Sir, the individual to whom this resolution relates, is As to a monument, cried Mr. McD., rear it. Spend upon insensible of what passes among us. His spirit can neither it what you will. Make it durable as the pyramids--be gratified by our praises, nor pained by our neglect. eternal as the mountains-you shall have my co-operation. Wherever it rests, it will be occupied with higher and Erect, if you please, a mausoleum to the memory of holier aspirations than those which are mingled with the Washington in the capitol, and let it be as splendid as art feverish cares and vanities of a transitory world. The can make it; but, in the name of all the christian charities, honors which we pay to Washington are in discharge of do not violate his tomb. a debt which we owe to ourselves and to our posterity.

Mr. DRAYTON, of South Carolina, said: I entirely His bones will not rattle in their monument, at the sound concur with my colleague, [Mr. MCDUFFIE,] that we of his name, though shouted from the lips of assembled ought not to interfere with the will of General Washing-millions.

ton.

When he directed that his body should be buried at Whatever we may do, or whatever we may leave undone, Mount Vernon, he acted in conformity with his character, in future ages it will be inquired, where are the remains which was as distinguished for retiring modesty as for of Washington? May the American to whom this appeal higher and loftier endowments. He would not, living or is made, be able to reply, with the flush of not unbecomdying, obtrude himself upon the public notice. He there-ing pride on his cheek, that they are deposited at the base fore provided for his interment, in the manner which is of that capitol in which are convened the representatives customary. His will, in this respect, has been fulfilled; of these States, which, more owing to his achievements and his remains were attended to the grave by his family, than to those of any other individual, were raised from trihis friends, and his neighbors, with the unostentatious cere-butary colonies, to free, sovereign, and independent monies of a private funeral. Had he foreseen that the States; taking their rank among the civilized_nations of Federal Legislature would desire to dispose of his relics the globe; and renowned for having produced a personin a mode more suitable to his name and his fame, the age, possessing so rare a combination of good and great whole tenor of his life forbids the presumption that he qualities, that the annals of history may in vain be searched would have opposed their wishes, even though they might to find his superior--perhaps to find his equal. This is have been at variance with his own. In obeying the dic-not the language of senseless eulogy; for even in regions tates of gratitude for his services, and of veneration for far distant from our shores, the fame of Washington is his memory, we cannot, then, be justly charged with proclaimed in terms as panegyrical as in the country indecently violating the sanctuary of the grave, and dis- which claims him as her own. regarding the injunctions of the deceased.

I trust, sir, that the resolution will be passed: whilst the strongest reasons exist for its adoption, I cannot discover any solidity, or even plausibility, in those. which have been urged against it.

The delegates from Virginia, who object to the removal of the bones of their illustrious fellow-citizen, however natural and honorable may be their motives, appear to be influenced rather by their feelings than by their judg Mr. ALEXANDER, of Virginia, said he was opposed to ments. Whilst Washington, doubtless, was sincerely and the resolution under consideration, and concurred entirely strongly attached to the soil of his nativity, his great moral with the gentleman from South Carolina, [Mr. McDurand intellectual faculties, his achievements in war, and his FIE,] on his right, in the views submitted by him, that it counsels in peace, were dedicated to the advancement of is against the will of Washington himself, and we are the interests and to the increase of the glory of his entire therefore inhibited from acting. Such is also the will of country. As the Union received the benefit of his labors Jefferson in regard to his remains, and should be the will and his talents, the representatives of the Union ought to of every man whose good fortune should elevate him to express their sense of them, in the most solemn manner the first place within the gift of a free people. Had the of which they are capable. Virginia will not be wronged committee, under the resolution of this House, recommendby our reverential tribute to her son. Wherever his ashes ed a cessation of all business by a deep, silent, and solemn may repose, it will be remembered that to her we are adjournment of the two Houses, in commemoration of indebted for a Washington; and whenever his virtues and him who is justly styled "the first in war, the first in his exploits shall be celebrated by the orator and the bard, peace, and the first in the hearts of his countrymen,' they will not be unmindful that Virginia, the fruitful mo- I should have had no objection to it. But the comther of illustrious men, was also the parent of Washington. mittee have gone further, and propose to connect it with The adoption of this resolution has been opposed, be-all the pride, the pomp, and circumstance of war," not cause, should the Union be dissolved, which some gentle-belonging to his character, and unworthy the occasion. They men apprehend to be neither an improbable nor a distant did not stop here, but proceeded a step further, and, in event, the tomb of Washington may then be in a territory the language of my colleague on my right, [Mr. GORDON,] hostile to Virginia. These gentlemen, from their remarks, purpose to invade the soil of Virginia which gave him seem to infer, that as the Union may be destroyed, there- birth, and where he now reposes in the silent tomb by the fore, that it must be. Sir, the preservation of our consti- side of his beloved consort, bedewed with the tears of all tution and of our Union are inseparable. The disappointed who have paid a pilgrimage to his shrine, and to disinter hopes, the crooked policy, the reckless ambition of selfish and remove his remains here, over which it is designed to demagogues, or the narrow prejudices, the infuriated pas-erect a mausoleum. The State of Virginia has a fund sions, or the clashing interests of different sections of our raised by individual subscriptions, now bearing interest, confederacy, may gradually undermine, and ultimately and it may be her pleasure to erect a monument over the prostrate our constitution. Though hitherto we have place where he lies, and it would be incumbent upon her flourished under it beyond example, we possess no charter to contend to the last for the body, like that of Patroclus, which exempts the work of man from the imperfections not in the struggle of blood, but of affection, to keep it of mortality; yet, as our constitution affords the first where it is inurned. instance, not of a constructive, not of a theoretic, but of an actual contract between the people, and those who are entrusted with their government, we may reasonably conclude that it stands upon a more durable basis than that of

I shall not stop to inquire where this step is to lead, any more than the gentleman from Massachusetts, [Mr. EVERETT,] but, unlike him, I will stop to inquire where it is to begin, without being led away by the alarum bell he has

FEB. 13, 1832.]

Washington's Remains.

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sounded, that "now's the day, and now's the hour." present silent seat of repose. It is most earnestly protestI understand all this.

ed against by his native State. The representation of Mr. CLAYTON, of Georgia, said, with deference to Virginia, with uplifted hands, deprecate such a violation the House, it appears to me the discussion of this resolu- of her rights. They claim him as hers. And to take tion has been unnecessarily heated, and in a temper calcu- him from the land of his birth and death would be to outlated to destroy the unanimity which, above all other rage all those affections which bind a country to her galquestions, should have prevailed in this case. This is lant sons, and a shock to the pride of character which the neither the season nor the occasion for the eulogy of memory of their deeds is calculated to inspire. Ought Washington. On this point, all must agree it is a name we not to respect the feelings of that State, and the force that titles cannot enlarge, and a fame that epithets dimi- of the appeal which has just been made by her members? nish. The praise of Washington is an exhausted subject, We are bound to believe it is the whole voice of the State; and all future efforts to that effect must fall back upon and unless there is unanimity in this matter, unless it is the taste, as either failing in its aim, or strongly tainted performed with an undivided heart, it is enough for me to with affectation. It is my belief we should view this mat- let those sacred ashes rest. Mr. Speaker, imagine to ter as one of sober calculation, and as though we were yourself, when this idle pageant shall move to Mount master workmen assembled for the first time around the Vernon to accomplish the work of this resolution, it should body of Washington for the purpose of erecting over it a meet all Virginia arrayed on the banks of the Potomac, suitable tomb. The first consideration that presents itself is, exclaiming with one wide, deep tone to touch not the what are the materials best fitted for such a solemn service? bones of their hero, who is there could consent to tear . There are but two kinds, moral and physical. Physical him from such parental feelings? And if, in despite of monuments perish, but it is the grand moral association all remonstrance, he could be borne from their shores, that perpetuates events to the latest age, and occasions what would be the anguish of that look which should them to endure, with increasing effect, through all future behold him, for the last time, moving from his native to time. Among these great moral recollections associated another land? Mr. Speaker, the birth and burial place of with the character of Washington, is the place of his birth all countries is venerated, the very savages regret to be and the home of his childhood. What country so fitted separated from the bones of their fathers, and this sentifor his sepulchre as Virginia, the State that gave him ment has but lately flashed like lightning through this being? That State so distinguished for every noble daring, country, kindling up a sensibility, either real or pretendand where Washington commenced and ended his military ed, greatly in their favor; and shall we deny to Virginia career-a career so signally famed for its masterly valor the indulgence of a similar feeling ten thousand times the in the very outset, and the crowning victory of York at greater from the greatness of the subject? I, for one, its close. But, Mr. Speaker, when you add to this, the am not prepared to do it. recollection of that spot, in his native State--the one, Mr. SUTHERLAND, of Pennsylvania, said, allusions above all others, which he selected for his home--where had been frequently made in the course of the debate to he spent a long life-to which every day of that long life the claims of the State of Virginia to the remains of Washwas devoted in works of taste, and around which he had ington. Virginia had no stronger claims than Pennsylthrown his great mind in the most imperishable evidences vania or any other State. It did not follow, because he of genius and industry—that had attracted the visits of was born there, and his remains had been there deposited, thousands from every part of the world, and those, too, of that any right had accrued in favor of that State. It had the most distinguished foreigners, at the head of whom been said, the will of Washington was against the transfer stands the immortal Lafayette-which, in life, was open to this place. He was of a different opinion. How hapto every stranger, the curious as well as the grateful, and pened it, that in 1799, soon after his decease, the entire since his death has become the shrine of the patriot's pil- voice of Virginia was expressed in favor of the measure? grimage-what site on earth so suited for a monument as Had not this decision been made, doubts might have arisen. that, thus consecrated by such undying recollections! Yes, But with the unanimous voice of the Congress of that day Mr. Speaker, and with the greatest possible reverence I before us—a Congress composed of men personally intispeak it, Mount Vernon and Mount Calvary will descend mate with that illustrious man-who were better acquaintto posterity with coextensive remembrance. This, then, ed with his wishes and feeling than any other men-there should be the grave of Washington. But, Mr. Speaker, was no room for hesitation. None could now pretend to there is another strong consideration why these remains be better acquainted with his wishes than those fathers of should not be disturbed. It was the last request record- the republic. Allusion had been made by the gentleman ed in his will, that there he should rest, and that no pomp from South Carolina, [Mr. MCDUFFIE,] to the separation or show attend his funeral, nor splendid monument mark of the remains of Washington from those of his consort. his grave. This was truly in character with his republi- As she had made no difficulty in her lifetime in assenting can simplicity. And when it is remembered that his unri- to that proposition, he would now make none. At the valled fame is far above the reach of artificial glories to time of her decease, the whole country was in favor of adorn, and beggars all the efforts of marble structures the measure now proposed. Who now objects to it? It and towering edifices to perpetuate, it is better secured, is said the State of Virginia is opposed to it. Would not and more illustriously commemorated in the unostenta. Virginia have taken away those remains, and carried them tious manner in which, at Mount Vernon, his remains are to Richmond, if she could have obtained the consent of entombed, than it would be, if they were deposited under Judge Washington? May we not, then, with the consent this gaudy dome, where, torn from the shade of his con- of his successor, bring them here? As was properly resort, they would become, in the language of the gentle- marked by the gentleman from Kentucky, [Mr. WICKman from South Carolina, a mere spectacle for the " gaze LIFFE,] let this spot be consecrated as neutral ground, to of the idler," and where, I would add, all reverence for which the devotees of liberty in all succeeding ages may them would be lost in the same reckless levity that is wit-come. Let us here erect an altar, around which our counnessed every day at the pictures in the rotundo. The trymen may assemble together, and mutually swear to perimmeasurable distance between the greatness of his life petuate the institutions established by the services and and the simplicity of his death and burial, forms of itself patriotism of Washington. If our population is to reach a monument of moral grandeur, that utterly contemns all the Western Ocean, and the seat of Government is to be the splendors of art. removed, when we carry away the ensigns of power from

I would add another reason, Mr. Speaker, why we this place, we will carry with us the sacred bones of should not remove the bones of Washington from their Washington,

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Mr. JOHNSTON, of Virginia, could not, he said, avoid tlemen at least to leave to Virginia her pride, and not to expressing to the House his deep regret, as well on ac- rifle from her arms the dust of her dearest, noblest son. count of the introduction of the proposed resolution, as Mr. J. cordially thanked the honorable gentleman from of the debate which it had occasioned. The solemnities to Georgia, [Mr. THOMPSON,] for the aid he had afforded in be observed at the approaching centennial birthday of resisting this resolution: he was sorry, however, to hear Washington ought to be of a character to unite all hearts. one expression fall from the gentleman's lips, "that a seFeeling, as he did, the sincerest respect for the members paration of these States might soon occur, and, in that of the committee to whom the arrangement of the cere- event, it would not be proper that the bones of Washington monies of that day had been entrusted, he could not but should lie out of his own country." Mr. J. was not willing repeat his unfeigned regret at their choice of measures, to acknowledge this danger; we ought not to allow our which had produced so much division in the House. minds to glance that way for a moment, particularly on Since, however, these measures had been so variously the present occasion. As to himself, he would preserve discussed, and since some of the gentlemen who had al- this Union, give up the bones of Washington, and every ready addressed the House had founded their arguments thing dear to himself, except the rights of his people. He in part on the wishes of the representatives from Vir- begged gentlemen not to press this resolution further; ginia, he felt it to be his duty, as one of those representa- they should not permit, when, heretofore, every resolution tives, frankly to express his feelings on the proposed re-ever passed in relation to Washington had passed unanisolution. mously, that now, above all other times, a measure should be harshly urged to mar the good feelings which ought every where to prevail. He urged gentlemen to propose some measure that should unite every one in its favor. If they would only suffer the remains of Washington to remain where they were, he pledged himself to unite in any proposition which should be offered.

Various as the arguments of those gentlemen who had already spoken had been, there was, as he trusted, only one sentiment pervading the House--a wish to adopt observances of the deepest reverence for the memory of Washington. Surely, since his will had been read, and was known to the House, one measure of respect was, not to violate that will, but to do it.

He concluded by saying that, if the resolution passed, he would go to the grave, and he would return from it as one mourning a second time the loss of a father.

Permit

He could not forbear remarking, on hearing that will, what a fine illustration it afforded of one of the rare beauties of his character, in uniting the nobler, sterner virtues Mr. BURGES, of Rhode Island, next rose. of the patriot with the plain simplicity of the bumbler and me, Mr. Speaker, said he, to join my voice to that of the more domestic virtues. He who guided the rising desti- many who have already mingled in this discussion. There nies of a young continent, felt, in his retreat from power, is a kind of immortality associated with what may be all the common sympathies of his fellow-men; he felt all deemed the perishable part of this mighty theme; and he those affections for the familiar scenes of his household who speaks of the venerated remains of Washington must life, which are so amiable even in the greatest minds. In catch something of inspiration, and feel himself elevated the full force of these feelings, he chose the spot where to the loftiest purposes of our nature. Twice has this he wished his remains to lie, he directed that they should question come before this House; twice without a dissentbe buried without parade, and asked for the company of his kindred dust.

ing voice. Once, soon after the death of the illustrious
father of his country covered the nation with mourning;
and once, when, a few years ago, inquiry was made here
concerning the most appropriate method of carrying into
effect the arrangement originally made between the be-
reaved family and the National Government.
If that ar-

est and best feelings.

These wishes have all been piously observed: the bones of Washington have canonized even the dust that covers them, and his tomb has been the fane to which pilgrims of liberty from both worlds have crowded for thirty years. No one can visit Mount Vernon, without feeling that spot rangement of piety and patriotism cannot now be consacred to him. There, every foot of ground has been summated with equal unanimity, nothing surely need fall hallowed by his tread; there, he has rested in every shade; in the way of performing it under the exercise of our purthere, every tree, perhaps, has been planted by his hand; there, is the household hearth warmed by his hospitality, which dispensed the modest charities of him who, having ceased to be the ruler of nations, was pleased to be the patriarch of a country fireside; there, every stalk, every stone, is instinct with the memory of the man. And what is it now proposed to do? To violate the tomb; to desecrate this true temple of liberty, not by removing the divine spirit that animates the place, for that you cannot do, but by robbing it of its sacred ashes.

In this controversy of patriotism among great States, concerning their respective interests in this question, it may be thought, concerning one, geographically so inconsiderable as Rhode Island, that silence might more become her representatives in this House, than any the most perfect form of speech. Sir, in any arduous passage of arms, in any intricate question of council, Washington himself, in his time, did not so decide. Nor will one man in this Hall very severely censure my wish to be heard on Mr. J. begged the House to allow him to add a sugges- this occasion; if he call to mind that he, who, in the darktion, which he could not but hope would weigh some- est hour of revolutionary conflict, stood, in the estimation thing against the proposed resolution. The Legislature of the nation, and of that illustrious man, next to himof Virginia, after waiting sixteen years the action of Con- self, was a native of that State. There was a time, sir, gress on this subject, had, some years ago, taken the mat- when this man was the property of his whole country. If ter into their hands. They had passed resolutions for I look back towards the beginning of life, memory is in raising a monument to Washington, and the people of the a moment filled with bright and joyous recollections of State had contributed a fund for that purpose, which that time when, even in the distant and humble neighboramounted at this time to nearly twenty thousand dollars. hood of my birth, the lessons of youth and of childhood, Ought not Congress to show some little respect to the when the very songs of the cradle, were the deeds, the rights and to the wishes of the State of Virginia? Is it glory, the praises of Washington. proper that the remains of Washington should be removed from the State that gave him birth, without even the decent ceremony of asking her consent? Gentlemen had been pleased to call Virginia the fruitful mother of great men; upon other occasions it had been remarked that she has little left her but the pride of by-gone days; if this is true, (Mr. J. added, he hoped it was not,) he begged gen

Think you, sir, that these feelings have ceased in the land; that these feelings are dead in our country? What, then, do we hear from the gentleman from South Carolina? [Mr. McDUFFIE.] Cannot we, who regard the buried remains of the great father of our country, so as the earthly remains of no other mortal man are, or can be, regarded; cannot we, awed, and subdued, as we are, with gratitude,

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[H. OF R.

with more than filial piety, cannot we approach the hal- him, the nation was their family; the whole people were lowed repository, and roll back the stone from the door their children. What man in the nation can believe that of the sepulchre, without the guilt of sacrilege? Cannot this distinguished woman, alike beloved and honored by a his country remove the remains of this great founder of it, whole people, would have given her consent to the remoand carry them in solemn procession, accompanied by all val requested by the whole Congress in 1799, if she had the rites of religion, and all the sanctity of its ministers; believed, what the gentleman from South Carolina now and, finally, deposite them in the national cemetery, pro- tells us, that such removal would have violated his last will, y ded for that purpose, under the foundation of this build- and been a sacrilege committed against the sanctuary of irg, which, thenceforth, shall be not only the temple of the tomb? freedom, legislation, and justice, but also the august mauso- Sir, how often has the attention of the nation been called leum of Washington? Who, sir, who of the civilized to this great consummation, so devoutly wished by all the world, will, while these reverential movements are per-people! How often has the arrangement of 1799 come to forming, who will point his finger at these solemnities, and the public ear, from that estimable man, the grandson of call them a mere pageant? that illustrious matron! How often have we heard from

It is the feeling, sir, the purpose of the persons, and him, not in the words of rebuke, which were merited; no, not the place, or the subject, which renders their deed nor of complaint, which he might justly utter; but in pious or profane. Can we never again, without sacri-language of deep and heartfelt regret, that the bones of lege, look into the dark house of those so dear to us, Washington were mouldering into dust, at a distance from until they, bursting the cerements of the tomb, are cloth- that mausoleum which the gratitude of his country had ed with immortality! How often does the piety of child- already prepared for them! It cannot, then, be said that ren, how often the anxious affection of parents, induce the consent of the family will be wanted for us to do what them to remove the remains of endeared relatives, to places seems to have been so long and earnestly desired by them. of more appropriate sepulture? How often do nations I cannot, sir, join in the pious incantation of some genremove to their own countries, from distant foreign lands, tlemen, who would, in imagination, call up the mighty the bones of their illustrious dead? Was it sacrilege in the dead, and put them to inquisition, concerning these obseHebrews, when migrating from Egypt, to take from the quies. Who, if he might, would bring back from the consecrated catacomb, or pyramid, where for centuries blessedness of heaven, to the cares of earth, one purified they had been deposited, the bones of the illustrious foun- spirit; or, for a moment, interrupt the felicities of those der of one of their families, and the preserver of them all; realms of reality, by any thing of all that which agitates and bearing them from the populous valley of the Nile, human feelings in this region of dust and shadows? Perthe learned and luxurious realm of the Pharoahs, the mit me to learn from his life what his country may, with scene of all his glory, that they might carry them to a propriety, do with his remains after his death. When land of rocks and mountains, and render his burial place that immortal soul, now as we trust in beatitude, inhabitone of the eternal monuments of their country? So it has ed and animated his mortal part, where was the place, continued; and at this day it is, by the dwellers on the hill what was the service, to which the voice of his country or the plain, pointed out to the traveller as the tomb of called him, and he was not there? In the toils of war, in Joseph the patriarch. the councils of peace, he was, soul and body, devoted to that people whom he labored, through life, to unite and build up into one great nation. Should that body, think you, sir, at this time be less at the service of his country, than when, alive with the imperishable soul, it was Washington, and walked the world for human welfare? If his whole life does tell us that he placed himself at the call of his country, then truly where should all that remains of him be finally found, but there, where the same voice would place them?

Sir, what man is there, who does not shudder with horror, when he is told that, not many years ago, a felonious gardener of the late proprietor of Mount Vernon conceived the sacrilegious project of plundering the family cemetery of those sacred remains, and of transporting to Europe the bones of Washington, and there offering them for sale, as relics, to the disciples or the fanatics of freedom in the Old World. Procuring a false, or purloining the true key, he entered the tomb; but, in the darkness of the night, and under the excitement of a horror natural to the deed, he bore away those of another, by mistake, and left the hallowed bones of him whose country would now with filial piety place these sacred remains, perfectly secured, in a great national mausoleum, under the eye and in the safe keeping of all future generations.

We would not, in the language of the gentleman from South Carolina, raise over him a pyramid, a monument, like the eternal mountains." No, sir, the folly of ancient ambition has perished from the earth, while these monuments of it still stand unshaken upon its surface. This House, we trust, will endure as long as this nation endures. Let this be the mausoleum of Washington. We would place his remains in the cemetery, built for that purpose, under the centre of that dome which covers the rotundo. Directly over this, on that floor, according to the resolution two years ago submitted to this House, we would erect a pedestrian statue of that man, sufficiently colossal, and placed on a pedestal so high and massy as might be required to fill, and satisfy the eye, in the centre of that broad and lofty room, which, probably, has no equal in the architecture of the world.

We are told that the last will and testament of Washington points out the place, and directs the manner of his interment; and if we remove his bones from their present repository, we shall violate that will, and set at defiance principles held sacred by all civilized nations. Did, indeed, then, this great man by his will prohibit this nation from doing honor to his remains, by placing them in a mausoleum, more suitable to his illustrious life, and to the gratitude of the American people? He, like all christian men, directed, by his last will, that his body should have christian burial; and prescribed the manner, and named The ever-during marble will give to coming generations the place selected for that purpose. How shall we ex- the form and features of Washington; and the traveller of pound that will? It has been expounded for us; and that, future ages shall learn where he may find his tomb. This too, by one who was the partner of his perils and triumphs, House, this mausoleum of one who prospered by Divine his labors and councils. One, who shared with him all assistance, performed more for his country, for the human which life could give, and stood by him in the hour of race, than any other mere mortal, shall be a place of pildissolution. Think you that she would have violated his grimage for all nations. Hither will come the brave, the will, and that, too, in the beginning of her bereavement, wise, the good, from every part of our country; not to in the first dark hours of her earthly desolation? "Taught worship, but to gaze on the form, to stand by the sepulby his great example," she gave up those endeared re- chre, and to relume the light of patriotism at the monumains at the call of her country. For to her, as in life to ments of Washington.

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