Arlington Cemetery should be visited by the pilgrim to Washington. There sleep many of the sacred dead of the nation, and there is the home of Robert E. Lee, where he was called to decide between his country as a whole or his native state.
Around Lafayette Square, which faces the White House, history, poetry, romance, and chivalry have twined an immortal wreath. Every monument commemorates a hero. Here, too, is the old private residence of Dolly Madison, the old home of the British Embassy, where Owen Meredith wrote "Lucile"; also the Webster home, where once lived the French Embassy; and St. John's Episcopal Church, where many Presidents have worshiped. Here Webster, Sumner, and Slidell lived at different periods. The old Decatur house stands on this square. The Admiral had a window cut through, so that he could signal the President in the White House. They missed the telephone. On this square lived Diaz, of Mexico; here Don Cameron and Blaine each lived in the same house, afterward occupied by Senator Hanna. On the north side is the handsome residence where lived Secretary of State John Hay.
Georgetown, named after George III. of England, is much older than Washington City. The stories of its former grandeur and its distinctively Southern tone make it a quaint object of interest. Its most interesting literary shrine is the home of Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth, the novelist, who wrote one novel for each year of her long life.
The Corcoran Art Gallery, on Seventeenth Street, extending from New York Avenue to E Street, just southwest of the White House, has many objects of interest both in painting and sculpture.
No traveler should fail to visit Mount Vernon, the home of George and Martha Washington. The house was built in 1783 by Lawrence, half-brother of General Washington. The rooms seem small and cramped, according to our modern ideas, but they were the stage upon which lived and loved two names of sacred memory. The buildings are in the custody of the ladies of the Mount Vernon Association, and the care of each room is in charge of some one State.
The United States Naval Observatory, north of Georgetown, will interest lovers of astronomy, while every square, circle, and triangle of Washington City has some reminder of those whose heroic deeds, spiritual devotion, or literary and scientific achievement have beautified, ennobled, and glorified the world, and made it more beautiful because of their lives.
Continental Hall, the home of the Daughters of the American Revolution, situated on Seventeenth Street, south of the Corcoran Art Gallery, ranks with the most beautiful of the white marble buildings. It was begun in 1903, and will be finished in 1909, at a cost of $500,000.
The National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution was organized October 12, 1890, in Washington, and holds a charter from Congress. It reports annually to the Smithsonian Institute, and its reports are printed by Congress. It is the only society of women in the world organized for strictly patriotic purposes.
Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, wife of the President of the United States; Mrs. Adlai E. Stevenson, wife of the Vice-President of the United States and President of the Senate; Mrs. Daniel Manning, wife of former Secretary of the Treasury of the United States; Mrs. Charles W. Fairbanks, wife of the Vice-President of the United States; Mrs. Donald MacLean and Mrs. Scott, of Illinois, have been the presidents-general since its organization.
The chief work of the society is to mark historic spots in all parts of the country, to perpetuate the memories of the heroic dead, and to make patriotism a passion instead of a sentiment. Another object is to make good citizens of all boys and girls of the land. It does much good in bringing together people from different sections, thereby curing provincialism, and bringing about friendly relations between different parts of this great country.