Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-07-15
Encouragement to American Poetic Talent:
$500 Premium --.r-

IMPRESSED as am with the controlling in
L fuenee which is exercised by the fine arts
arts upon the direction and destiny of human
| affairs, it has given me infinite pleasure to
| witness the bountifu manner in which from
time TO time, painting and statuary have been
| encouraged and rewarded by the Councils of
| the Nation N..... 1-0 -.
But, while this acknowledgement is due TO
the discerning and worthy patrons of these
| noble. it is an equal source of humiliati and
sorrow to behold the apparent apathy and in
difference with which they seem to regard the
incomparably more valuable creations of
| poetry.
To see them adorn the walls of the Capitol
with the glowing revelations of the pencil, and
decorate the public grounds with the costly
chef d Puvres of the chiSel, is an omen of
| good which will be hailed and applauded by
| all as a cheering pledge of the progress of re-
! fnement. But. whilst they lavish their thou
| sands upon those immobile products of canvass
| and marble and bronze, they offer no reward
| for the more exalted, more enduring and re-
| newned ovations of the pen. No fostering
hand from these high places has ever yet in
vited the Promethean fire of poetry to animal
| the history Of our country, which, with all its
harmony Of form and wonder of proportion,
| lies asleep around the humble vault of Mount
Vernon. ready to spring into life and beauty
! at the first kindling touch of this genial in
! spiraton.
1t surely were work of supererogation to
introduce the proofs that crowd the records of
| the past to shcw how far above all other stands
| the * divine art of poesy. What are all the
paintings statues. and regalia of Versailles
of Fonts,nbleau and the Tuilleries. compared
with the &" Marseilles Hymn p" What the
kinsly panoply of gold and gems heaped up
in the Tower of London what the collections
| Of the Royal Academy, or even the time hal
| lowed shrines of Westminster Abbey, when
| compared with the songs of Burns, and Dib
| den, and Campbell! Or what has the world
| that we would take in exchange for 9 Hail
I Columbia and the = Star-Spang!ed Banner?"
| Well might the British statesman exclaim
let me but write the ballads of a nation:
| and l care not who makes its laws. =
| AS far as the living. breathing man is above
| the cold inSensate marble that is made to
I present him far the radiant skies of
| summer are above the perishable canvass to
| which the painter has transferred their feeble
; resemblance. so FAR is poetry above all other
| arts that have their mission to console and
| elevate and inspire the immortal mind Of
! man.
| In view of these facts ard considering the
'amentable paucity of patriotic songs in my
| distinguished ard beloved country, and with
! the hope of being the humble means of pro-
per public feeling upon this interesting sub
! 'ect, | have becn induced to offer and do
| hereby offer. the sum of FIVE hundred dollars
| rs a prize for the bet National Poem, Ode or
/ Epic ~
| The rules which will govern the payment
| Of this sum. follows
list. | have selected without consulting
| them the following persons to act as judges
| or arbters Of the prize thus offered namely
| The PreSidentof the United States
! Hon A o. p. Nicholson, Of Tennessee.
Hon. Chas. Sumner of L 5. Senate.
| Hon r. NJ. T. Hunt r, do
| Hon. jas =. Jones do
Hon j r. Chandler, of L S. H Reps
Hon. Addison White, DO do
Hon. Thos. H. Bayly, do do
Hon D. T Disney do do
Hon. J. p Kennedy, Secretary of the Navy.
D. J. w C. Evans of New Jersey
u, Thos. Saunders
S Ssn. R, ' Armstrong. Of III. Pres,
DR.. g. Bailey u 'n' ie's'
w. w. Seaton.
Prof Henry, of the Smithsonian Institution
VIM Seldom. late Treasurer of the T. s.
Rev. c. NJ. Butler, Episcopal Church.
Rev. r. R. Gurley. Presbyterian Church.
! Rev. S. S. Roszell, NJ. E. Church.
| Rev Mr.. Donelan, Catholic Church
I'd. These gentlemen. or any three of them.
| are hereby authorized to meet at the Smith
| sonian Institutute. on the second Monday of
| December next, at such hour they NAV ap-
/ point. and there proceed to read and examine
| the various poems which may have been re-
| ceived. and to determine which of them is
most meritorious and deserving of the prize
| And I hereby bind myself to pay the sum
aforementioned forthwith, to whoever they
i,shall present to me as the person who has
written, within the time prescribed. the best
National Patriotic Poem, and upon the repre-
4 A. L
Sd. All communications must be sent to me
| at Washington post paid) before the frs,
Monday in December next, with full and
| complete conveyance of the copyright to me
! and my heirs and assigns forever.
| 4th. | hereby bind and obligate myself to
| sell the poems thus sent TO me as soon as prac.
ticable for the highest price, and to give the
proceeds to the poor of the city of Wash
| ington.
! 9Th No poem will be considered as subject
| to this prize which shall not have been writ
/ ten subsequent to this date, and received be.
! fore the first Monday in December next
| R. W. LATHAM.
| WASHINGTON, FEB. TO- 1853. feb IL
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