: History of the Washington National Monument and of the Washington National Monument Society by Harvey Frederick L Frederick Loviad - Washington National Monument Society; Washington Monument (Washington D.C.)

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legislature when the transaction by it took place in 1816, and "he felt entirely satisfied that the resolution for removing the remains to Richmond would never have passed the Assembly of Virginia but for the loss of all hope that Congress would act in the matter."

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. "An image," he said, "a testimonial of this great man, the Father of his Country, should exist in every part of the Union as a memorial of his patriotism and of the services rendered his country; but of all places, it was required in this Capitol, the center of the Union, the offspring, the creation, of his mind and of his labors."

The resolution for the statue of Washington by Greenough was adopted, and it was ordered. The statue was made and was placed in the rotunda in 1841, but subsequently removed into the east park of the Capitol, where it now rests.

In 1853, Congress appropriated ,000 for the erection of an equestrian statue of George Washington by Clark Mills.

This statue, in bronze, representing Washington on the line at the battle of Princeton, was placed in its present location in the public circle at Pennsylvania avenue and Twenty-third street, in the City of Washington.

THE WASHINGTON NATIONAL MONUMENT SOCIETY.

The resolutions and proceedings of Congress which have been referred to having remained unexecuted as late as 1833, certain citizens of the City of Washington, whose names were a passport to public confidence, took steps in that year to form a voluntary association for erecting "a great National Monument to the memory of Washington at the seat of the Federal Government."

In September, 1833, a paragraph appeared in the "National Intelligencer," leading paper of the City of Washington, calling for a public meeting of the citizens of Washington to take up the matter and redeem the pledges of Congress. In response to this call a meeting of citizens was held in the aldermen's chamber, in the City Hall, on the 26th of September, 1833. There was great interest and earnestness manifested on the part of those present in the object of the meeting. The oft-repeated failure of Congress to finally act in the matter of erecting a monument to Washington was reviewed, and it was deemed almost hopeless to expect that body to provide for such a monument in the near future.

The meeting resulted in the organization of the Washington National Monument Society. Committees were appointed to draft a constitution and by-laws, and to report at a future meeting of the citizens and to devise a practical plan for the collection of funds and to prepare an address to the country.

On October 31 following the second meeting was had, Constitution and By-Laws were adopted, and officers were chosen, being nominated by a committee and elected by ballot:

John Marshall, the great Chief Justice, then seventy-eight years of age, was chosen the first President of the Society, and Judge William Cranch, eminent as a learned jurist, as a just and impartial magistrate and for the uprightness of his life, was selected as the first Vice-President.

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