Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-07-14
Encouragement to American Poetic Talent !!
$500 Premium.


f $500 Premium.
| IMPRESSED as am with the controlling in
l. fuence 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 bountiful manner in which, from
time to time, painting and statuary have been
Encouraged and rewarded by the Councils of
| the Nation.
But, while this acknowledgment is due to
| the discerning and worthy patrons of these
| noble, 1t Is an equal source of humiliation and
sorrow to behold the apparent apathy and in
difference with which they seem to regard the
incomparably more valuable creations of
poetry. ii .aH .a. 49, Hf.
l. 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'Guvres of the chisel, is an omen of
good which will be hailed and applauded by
alias cheering pledge of the progress of re-
fnement. But, whilst they lavish their thou
sands upon thoseimmobile products of canvass
and marble and bronze, they offer no reward
| for the more exalted, more enduring and re-
nowned 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
Spiration.
1t surely we're work of supererogation to
Introduce the proofs that crowd the records of
the past to show how far above all other stands
| the divine art Of poesy. What are all the
paintings statues, and regalia of Versailles,
of FOn tainbleau and the Tuilleries, compared
with the Marseilles Hymn What the
kirg,y panoply of gold and gems heaped up
in tine 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 - Hail
Columbia" and the = tar-Spangled Banner"
Well might the British statesman exclaim
9 let me but write the ballads of nation
| and care not who makes its laws
As far as the living. breathing man is above
| the cold inSensate marble that is made TORE.
present him; as far as the radiant sfnanSf
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, and considering the
lamentabie paucity of patriotic songs in my
distinguished and beloved country, and with
| the hope of being the humble means of a pro-
! per public feeling upon this interesting sub
| iecs, | have been induced to offer, and do
hereby Offer. the sum of five hundred dollars
Is prize for the best National Poem, Ode or
Epic.
The rules which will govern the payment
! of tins sum, as follows: III s...
LIST. I have selected without consulting
them) the following persons to act as Judges
or arbiters of the prize thus offered. namely:
The President of the United States.
Hon A. o. p Nicholson. of Tennessee.
Hon. Chas Sumner, Of Z. S. Senate.
Hon. r, NJ. T. Hunter, do
Hon. Jas. G. Jones. do
Hon. J r. Chandler. of U. S. II. Reps
Hon. Addison White. do do
Hon. Thos H. Bayly do do
Hon. D. 7. Disney, do do
Hon. J. P Kennedy. Secretary of the Navy
D. J. W. c. Evans, of New Jersey.
D. 1hos Saunders
Cen R. Arm Armstrong,
DR.. G. Bailey, u 'n' 'e>S
W. W. Seaton 81
Prof. Henry, Of the Smithsonian Institution
VIM Seldom, late Treasurer of the L s
Rev. c. NJ. Butler. Episcopal Church
Rev. R. r. Gurley, Presbyterian Church
Rev. S. S. RoSzell, NJ E. Church
Rev. Mr.. Denelan, 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 ms they may 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 mertorious and deserving of the prize
And I hereby bind myself to pay the sum
aforementioned forthwith. to whoever they
shall present to me the person who has
written, within the time prescribed. the best
National Patriotic Poem, and upon the repre-
sentation that he or she is an American citizen.
Sd. All communications must be sent to me
at Washington post paid before the first
Monday in December next, with n 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 rrac-
ticable,. for the highest price, and to give the
proceeds to the poor of the city of Wash
ington
5th. No poem will be considered az 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. 10, 1858. feb IL