Everybody was willing at the time of the celebration to sit for two entire days on rude seats under the April sun while the evidences of the power and achievements of our great country passed in review before us.
We remember the military pomp of the first day, the dignified3 carriage of the governors of our United States as they bared their heads in gracious acknowledgment of the cheers of the people, the triumphant4 blare of trumpets5, the stirring strains of martial6 music, the glitter of bayonets, the long, living line, which was only a small part of the nation's bulwark7 against its possible foes8.
Then the schools and colleges, then the gorgeous civic9 parade and the illustrations and representatives of the trades, occupations, and nationalities that have found a home in our broad land.
All this passed before us and is but dimly remembered. No permanent impression was made by the great display. Little remains10 except the recollection that there were millions and millions of people lining11 our pavements, that the show was hardly adequate to the expectation of these people, that it was a time of many mistakes and much discomfort12. 419 But this pageant13 was not all of the Centennial. A number of men of taste and feeling had conceived the happy idea of collecting revolutionary relics14, papers, and portraits, and exhibiting them in the Metropolitan15 Opera House.
We expected to be interested in these, and some of us gave time and thought to the task of making the collection as choice as possible. But we were unprepared for the effect of the exhibition upon the minds of the beholders. We filed along the galleries of the Metropolitan Opera House and mused16 over the papers of "The Cincinnati"; the books, few and well worn; pocket dictionaries with bookplates, candlesticks that had held the tallow dips in difficult times; silver caddies that had done duty in the "tea-cup times"; pewter platters that had served many a frugal17 meal at Valley Forge; the curtains that had shaded the bed of Lafayette; the piano-cover embroidered18 by sweet Nellie Custis; pathetic empty garments, the silken coat of George Washington, the brown silk gown of Martha Washington. We remembered at what price the glories of the preceding days had been purchased. We lived over the early times of anxiety, privation, and danger. Raising our eyes to the walls, we encountered the pictured eyes of the men and women whose spirit, behind our little army, had compelled events and given dignity and importance to our Revolutionary history.
It was difficult to associate thought, learning, courage, foresight19, and statesmanship with those placid20 faces. Artists of that day presented only the 420calm, impassive features of their sitters. There was George Washington, serene21 in every pose, dress, and age; Alexander Hamilton, Richard Henry Lee, keen-eyed Patrick Henry, Martha Washington, Elizabeth Washington, fair Nelly Custis, dark-eyed Frances Bland22, whose patriot2 brother fills a lost grave in Trinity churchyard. These and scores of others looked down upon us from the walls of our great opera-house.
And yet it is this, and this only, of all the pageant that made a living and lasting23 impression upon the minds of the people. Pondering upon the associations connected with these relics and portraits of the Revolutionary time, and rereading the histories connected with them, an impulse was given which is now thrilling our people to the extremest bounds of our country, and which will result in our taking proper steps to acquire and preserve all the localities connected with the struggle for our independence.
I was keenly interested in the celebration. I knew the president, Mr. Henry Marquand, and took upon myself the duty of collecting portraits from Virginia—of Patrick Henry, members of the Washington family, Nelly Custis, Frances Bland, and others. I cherish an engraved24 resolution of thanks adopted by the committee, stating that such thanks were "especially due" for my "valuable cooperation in the work of the Loan Exhibition of portraits."
The influence of the feeling inspired at the time of the Centennial at once expressed itself in the formation of the societies of patriotic men and women now so 421numerous in this country. I assisted in the foundation of these societies—the Preservation25 of the Virginia Antiquities26, the association owning Jamestown; the Mary Washington Memorial Association; the Daughters of the American Revolution; and the National Society of the Colonial Dames27 of America. The duty of organizing a chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was assigned to me, and I named it "The New York City Chapter." Mrs. Vincenzo Botta was my first member, and Mrs. Martha Lamb, honorary life member. I was much in conference with Mrs. Martha Lamb when she was helping28 to organize the Colonial Dames—and I was early, heart and soul, interested in the Daughters of the American Revolution. Of Jamestown and the noble society which owns it—everybody knows. I managed a great ball at the White Sulphur Springs to help build a monument over Mary Washington's grave. The governors of New York and of Virginia each sent flags—from the state of my birth and the state of my adoption29. General Lee conducted the Mary Washington of the hour. The Virginia beauties wore their great grandmother's gowns of quilted petticoat and brocade, and I received a large sum for the monument.
For the Mary Washington monument Mrs. Charles Avery Doremus, with Mrs. Wilbur Bloodgood, gave a beautiful play, for which the Secretary of the Navy lent me colors enough to drape the entire house. I cherish the permit I received to use these colors. It was signed "George Dewey"! Patti, the guest of Mrs. Ogden Doremus, occupied 422one of the boxes. The orchestra played "Home, Sweet Home," and she rose and bowed as only Patti can bow. I talked with her between acts and told her what a naughty, candy-loving little ten-year-old maid she had been when she would stay in Petersburg with Ellen Glasgow's mother, and Strakosch had to pay her to sing with a hatful of candy! All this she received with her own merry, rippling30 laughter. It was a kind deed—the great singer to give an afternoon of her time to encourage me in my enterprise, and charm my amiable31 amateurs by her hearty32 applause. Authorized33 by my chief, the widow of Chief Justice Waite, I made the Princess Eulalia and the Duchess of Veragua members of the Mary Washington Memorial Association, and conferred upon them the Golden Star of the order. This was a pleasant souvenir for them of the Columbian Exposition.
The societies based upon Colonial and Revolutionary descent deprecate the idea that anything tending to the creation of an aristocracy is intended by their action,—that they attach any other significance to the accident of birth than the presumption34 that it insures interest and perpetuity;—that there is any motive35 underlying36 their movement less noble than the pure principle of patriotism37. Americans, notwithstanding their adulation of foreign titles, have been until lately somewhat sensitive lest they should be thought to assume a right to aristocracy. When Bishop38 Meade was collecting material for his "History of Old Families and Churches in Virginia," he found the owners of hereditary39 arms 423and crests40 actually ashamed to confess the fact! They felt with Napoleon a desire to create rather than inherit nobility.
The spirit of the times now seems to tend to the American aristocracy of birth, but on the republican foundation of merit, character and service done; not an aristocracy which assumes the right to social rule because of birth, but an aristocracy which recognizes birth as a bond and an obligation. "There can be," said Bishop Potter, "only one true aristocracy in all the world—that of character enriched by learning."
It is interesting to observe the laws that govern enthusiasm. It is like "the wind that bloweth where it listeth"—and no man can discover its source. Once in a hundred years a great wave of patriotic ardor41 has surged over this continent. Nathaniel Bacon lived a hundred years too soon when he struck the first blow against the tyranny of England. A hundred years later his spirit possessed42 our revolutionary fathers. Another hundred years passed, and the whole country responded to a similar instinct of patriotism. It is sure to go on and on, and be renewed and invigorated at every centennial celebration; and who will be able to number the ranks, or estimate the strength or compute43 the riches, or rightly value the influence of the sons and daughters of the American Revolution?
In addition to this and other patriotic societies, a very important national society was formed of the Colonial Dames of America, in which I was interested. No state leads in this association—all are 424upon an equal footing. The applicant44 cannot apply, paradoxical as this appears! Her own place in the world, however noble her lineage, must also be considered. She must be gentle of manner as well as gentle of blood.
It is distinctly understood that this society is a firm, though silent, protest against that aristocracy which considers itself best because it is highest on the tax list and bank list. There is not the remotest suggestion of an aggressive spirit, but the steady trend is against plutocracy45, arrogance46, and that impertinent assumption of place notable in this country in those who have no foundation for pride beneath the surface of the earth, and no aspiration47 above it.
One of the sure prophecies of our future prosperity and honor may be found in the number and importance of the patriotic societies of women. For, however individuals may sully them by personal pride and ambition, or restrict them by a spirit of exclusiveness antagonistic48 to the fundamental principles upon which they are based, their very existence proves the decided49 reaction from certain grave evils which are well known and which certainly will be, unchecked, a source of peril50 to our beloved country.
I believe in the true-hearted American woman. I have known her in every phase of human experience: in poverty, in suffering, in disaster, in prosperity. I proudly rank myself beside her! Whatever fickle51 fashion or wayward fancy may decree for her, I know if there be one passionate52 desire above all others which inspires her heart, it is to leave this 425world better and happier for her having been born into it,—to become herself a bright exemplar of the beauty of goodness, so that all may be won by the loveliness of lovely lives; to let the whole trend of her life be forward, not backward; upward, not downward; to borrow from the fires of the heroic past to kindle53 the fires of the future; to preserve to that end the memory of the deeds of those whose lives have set them apart in the history of our country.
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1
patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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patriot
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| n.爱国者，爱国主义者 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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civic
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| adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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lining
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| n.衬里，衬料 | |
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discomfort
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| n.不舒服，不安，难过，困难，不方便 | |
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pageant
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| n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧 | |
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relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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metropolitan
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| adj.大城市的，大都会的 | |
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mused
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| v.沉思，冥想( muse的过去式和过去分词 )；沉思自语说（某事） | |
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frugal
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| adj.节俭的，节约的，少量的，微量的 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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foresight
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| n.先见之明，深谋远虑 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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bland
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| adj.淡而无味的，温和的，无刺激性的 | |
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lasting
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| adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持 | |
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engraved
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| v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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antiquities
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| n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯 | |
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dames
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| n.（在英国）夫人（一种封号），夫人（爵士妻子的称号）( dame的名词复数 )；女人 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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adoption
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| n.采用，采纳，通过；收养 | |
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rippling
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| 起涟漪的，潺潺流水般声音的 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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authorized
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| a.委任的，许可的 | |
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presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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underlying
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| adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的 | |
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patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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hereditary
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| adj.遗传的，遗传性的，可继承的，世袭的 | |
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crests
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| v.到达山顶（或浪峰）( crest的第三人称单数 )；到达洪峰，达到顶点 | |
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ardor
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| n.热情，狂热 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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compute
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| v./n.计算，估计 | |
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applicant
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| n.申请人，求职者，请求者 | |
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plutocracy
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| n.富豪统治 | |
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arrogance
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| n.傲慢，自大 | |
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aspiration
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| n.志向，志趣抱负；渴望；(语)送气音；吸出 | |
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antagonistic
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| adj.敌对的 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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fickle
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| adj.(爱情或友谊上)易变的，不坚定的 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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53
kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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