Page images
PDF
EPUB

14

PARK SYSTEM OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

tleman, without further competition. His lamented death, however, will require that the work shall be completed by other hands, and it is understood that under a new contract lately made it will be carried out by Messrs. Henry K. Bush Brown, of New York, and Henry Kitson, of Boston, both sculptors of large experience and high standing, acting in conjunction.

The Sheridan group is to be executed by Mr. J. Q. A. Ward, the sculptor who fashioned the Thomas, already noticed; but when it will be put in place can only be conjectured, since, up to this time, so far as is known outside of the artist's studio, but little progress has been made with it.

Mr. Franklin Simmons, the artist who executed the Peace Monument group in Pennsylvania avenue at the foot of the Capitol grounds, was awarded the commission for the Logan statue. This group, with its elaborate pedestal of bronze, is finished and now in place in Iowa circle, but not shown, and will, it is announced, be formally unveiled on the 9th of April, coming, with suitable ceremonies. It is stated that President McKinley will preside at the exercises and will make a short opening address; that the oration will be delivered by Senator Depew, of New York; that Rev. Dr. Bristol, pastor of the Metropolitan M. E. Church, will have charge of the religious part of the ceremonies, and that the actual act of unveiling the group will be performed by Master George Tucker, a grandson of General Logan.

It is more than likely that at no distant day four more statues of this class will be added to those here already mentioned. At the session of Congress which closed on the 4th of March an appropriation of $250,000 was made for the erection of a statue or memorial of General Grant, which, it is understood, will be placed on the grounds south of the Executive Mansion. Just what form this memorial will take is as yet a matter of conjecture, but from the very liberal amount appropriated for the purpose it may be assumed that it will fitly be the most imposing monument in the national capital, the towering shaft to General Washington alone excepted; and it is not unreasonable to suppose that an equestrian statue will be included as one of its features, if it does not prove to be the dominant note of the structure,

At the same session the sum of $50,000 was appropriated by Congress for the pedestal of an equestrian effigy of General McClellan, soon to be erected here by the Society of the Army of the Potomac, with a proviso that any portion of the appropriated amount not required for the site and pedestal might be expended for the completion of the statue itself.

In addition to these two a movement has been started to secure for the Federal city a replica of two equestrian statues set up in Paris last summer—the first that of Washington, by the sculptors French and Potter, which was presented to the French nation by the Washington

PARK SYSTEM OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

15

Statue Association, composed of patriotic American women; the other that of Lafayette, by Bartlett, paid for by the contributions of patriotic American school children, and presented in their name to the people of France. As yet these two projects have not reached a point that insures their consummation, but it can hardly be doubted that the hopes of those engaged in forwarding them will be fully realized at no distant day.

When the three groups now under contract and finished or partly finished, together with those contemplated, shall have been added to those now in position here, Washington will possess a greater number of equestrian statues than can be find in any other city in the world. Whether this is a matter of which a peace-loving people living under a republican form of government may justly pride itself may be an open question, and also whether or not some of our military heroes have been unduly honored in the matter of monuments and statues. But however that may be it can hardly be claimed that the Republic has adequately recognized and properly honored in this way her sons. who by their achievements in the arts, in letters, in science, and in statesmanship, in the pulpit, at the bar and on the bench, in the various fields of useful invention, in works of philanthropy and in other quiet walks of civil life have conferred luster on their country and illumined the age in which they lived. Let it therefore be the work of this society to urge that the national capital shall in future be adorned not so much by statues and memorials of those who have won fame by the shedding of blood as of those whose lives have been devoted to the nobler work of promoting the welfare and securing the happiness of mankind.

In conclusion, I trust a few words germane to the subject under notice will be pardoned, though it may not be expected that the domain of art criticism shall be entered in a hurriedly written résumé like this, which has already passed the limits of reasonable length. But so much has been said and is still being said in derogation of American art, and especially of American sculpture, that simple justice seems to call for a word or two on this point.

I do not hold myself to be a competent authority on the subject. It is, however, one in which I have for a long time been interested, and the result of such observation and study as I have been able to give to it is the well-settled conviction that the equestrian statuary of the United States will not, on the whole, suffer greatly by comparison with that of any other country in the world. Certainly it may be said that if we have nothing quite equal to two or three of the best groups to be found in other lands, we have, with one or two exceptions, nothing less artistic or less pleasing than some of their worst; and that at least is something to be thankful for.

But not that alone. It may safely be added that, putting good and

16

PARK SYSTEM OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

bad together, and taking all things into account, the American people have reason to be proud rather than ashamed of what both their sculptors and their painters have achieved in their respective fields of effort. It may properly be added, furthermore, that in the opinion of thoroughly capable judges who were present, the American display of both graphic and plastic art at the Paris Exposition of 1900, though less perhaps in quantity than some, was not in artistic quality behind the contributions of any other country represented there-France, the acknowledged home of modern art, not excepted. This is at once a gratifying fact, and a good omen. It abundantly justifies the faith largely and firmly held that there is yet a more brilliant future for American art-of which, let us hope and believe, the national capital shall ultimately be the acknowledged center and chief repository.

[ocr errors][merged small]

SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

PARK IMPROVEMENT PAPERS. NO. 9.

ESSAY ON THE CITY OF WASHINGTON. [From the Washington Gazette for November 19, 23, 26, and December 7, 1796.]

NOVEMBER 8, 1901.-Printed for the use of the committee.

To found a city in the center of the United States, for the purpose of making it the depository of the acts of the Union, and the sanctuary of the laws which must one day rule all North America, is a grand and comprehensive idea, which has already become with propriety the object of public respect.

In reflecting on the importance of the Union, and on the advantage which it secures to all the inhabitants of the United States, collectively or individually, where is there an American who does not see, in the establishment of a Federal town, a natural means of confirming forever that valuable connection to which the nation is indebted for its liberation from the British yoke-that union which assures to every individual mutual aid against the efforts of any who may dare to disturb public order and tranquillity-that union, the shield of the wise laws under the protection of which we shall all enjoy a life of peace, a freedom of opinion and moral equality, in a degree hitherto unknown to any people on earth-that connection, in short, to which the United States owe the extent and the flourishing condition of their commerce, the respectable station they occupy among the nations of the earth, and which, under such a variety of aspects, ought to be the object of the veneration of every reflecting man.

The Federal city, situate in the center of the United States, is a temple erected to liberty, and toward this edifice will the wishes and expectations of all true friends of their country be incessantly directed.

The city of Washington, considered under such important points of view, could not be calculated on a small scale. Its extent, the disposition of its avenues and public squares, should all correspond with the magnitude of the object for which it was intended, and we need only cast our eyes upon the situation and the plan of the city to rec

2

PARK SYSTEM OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

ognize in them the comprehensive genius of the President, to whom the direction of the business has been intrusted by Congress.

Washington is situated in 38° 50′ north latitude, at the confluence of the Potomac and the Eastern Branch. Its limit extends over a part of Maryland and a part of Virginia, which are separated by the river Potomac.

The ground on which the city is laid out is healthy and fertile, and so disposed that more than half its circumference has the benefit of navigable water, and although its distance from the capes of Chesapeake Bay is almost 300 miles, yet the tide rises there 4 feet and the water readily admits of vessels of four and five hundred tons burden. The river above the city is on the point of being rendered navigable for boats of 150 or 200 barrels to the extent of five or six hundred miles.

The city will cover a surface of nearly 4,000 acres. The ground is not perfectly level, but declivities may be so managed as not only to be rendered almost insensible, but very useful in carrying off the water and preserving the cleanliness of the city.

This description would perhaps be sufficient to give the reader a high idea of the city in general, but the details are of a nature to interest and command the attention of men of all ages and in all situations.

Washington, as the metropolis of the Union, as a commercial town, and a pleasurable situation, may, in every point of view, present the resources that are rarely united. It is sufficient to attend to this establishment under all its aspects to inspire ardent wishes for its success, and to induce one to assign it a distinguished rank among the most celebrated capitals of the world.

When Major L'Enfant conceived the vast and magnificent plan, the execution of which must unite true elegance to utility and agreeableness, his attention was first directed to the situation now occupied by the Capitol. Here he fixed the center of the city, as the city is the center of the American Empire, and he rendered the edifice accessible by more than twenty streets which terminate at this point. Each street is an emblem of the rays of light which, issuing from the Capitol, are directed toward every part of America, to enlighten its inhabitants respecting their true interests. Each street is also an emblem of the facility with which the Capitol may be approached, in every respect and at all times, by every individual who shall live under the protection of the Union. This ingenious allusion has been happily favored by the ground. The Capitol has an elevation of 72 feet above the level of high water, and overlooks the city in such a manner that its horizon will be bounded only by the small mountains at several miles distance.

This situation is well calculated to elevate the mind of the legislator. It will continually remind him that if from this Capitol are to proceed

« PreviousContinue »