Martinsburg gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1833-1855, 1841-08-26
THURSDAY MORNING., AUGUST &c, 1s4l.
srArIlE - WASHINGTON.

The following description Of Mr. Green
ouell's statue Of WASHINGTON, about to
be placed in the Ro,unda Of the Capitol al
Washington, IS copied by The phlladel-
lphia Natiopal Gazette from a recent
foreign journal.
"Truly may it be said, blessed are
They who do not expect; for where
expected TO be disappointed | was more
than delighted. had heard much, 50
much, Of Green6ugh's colossal statue OF
Washington, that thought il utterly i'm
possible that it could produce an effect
upon me proporiionaie TO the praises had
heard bestowed upon 1t, especially as /
remembered the almost disgust with which
| had looked at Thorwalsdcn's modern
statue-lhat is, modcfnly dressed statue
! Of Lord Byron; and, to say the least OF IT.,
Washington, particularly when magnifi
ed, was a more unpoetical, therefore a
MORE difficult subject. But the manner
il. which Greenough has executed his al
most impossible task is only another proof
that genius can inluse magic into the
! conmonest and mpsi commonplace things,
/ lust as a man was a mass OF inanimate
clay 'of the earihthy,' till Cod brenthed
Immortality into him, and SO formed him
after his own image.
Nothing can be more human, and al
the same time more godllke, than this co.
Iossal statue Of Washington. Ii is sort
OF domestic Jupiter-the sublime repose
and simplicity Of the whole figure, united,
as it is, with exceeding energy OF express
sion, is perfectly classical, without the
| slightest abstract imitation, for the artist
seems to have embodied Seneca's admira-
Bile advice rs to sly Ie--. simj}em eSSc te rcto,
qaomodo Giium non qHomodo imagiaem, as
there is no mistnking the pure lineage OF this
statue. Being intended to fill the CEN
trail position in the capitol of the United
States, he has addressed his statue OF
| Washington to a distant posterity, and
made il rather Il poetlcal abstract OF his
whole career, than the chronlcier OF any
deed, or any leading feature OF his life.
He is therefore, seated as first magistrate,
ard extends with his left hand a sword,
the emblem Of his military command, to-
wards the people; as the sovereign, he
points hcayenward with his right hand /;
by this double gesture is conveyed the idea
of an entire nb.ogaton OF sell and max
| ing the patriot conductor, as It were,
between God and man.
The chair in which he is seated, being
100 large to be left mute, tells also lis his
tory. The superior part is richly orna-
mented with dcauihus, and gatlands OF
/ ~ / .t. 10
and massive, which plainly indicates that
/ high cultivation is tie proper result OF
sound government and that nations,
when planted and well titled, must flour
ish as well as grow. BY the figure OF
! Columbus, which leans against the back
of the chair on the left side, is connected
the history Of America with that of Eu-
rope, " lille that Of the Indian chief on the
right is emblematc OF the state Amer
lea was in when civilization first dawred
upon it. The bas-reiief on the right
side of the chair, which was the first crest
of American Arms, is the rising sun I'M
der which is Inscribed Magma a5 'ategro
s0scu7orum HaSciiar Ordo. The relvo on
the left side represents the genii OF North
and SCUM Amrflca, unuef INC luItts OF tnc
infants Hercules and lghiclus, the latter
shrinking in dread, whilst the former
struggles successfully with the obstacles
and dangers of IN incipient political ex-
stence. The motto Of this bas.rc is,
Iacjpe posse paer out non rjsere Pdrantss.
In this static, Greeuough, has achieved a
glorious work, and one that canno: fail
to reach its destinution--n namely, the dis
tant pos,erity to which il is addressed"