The republic. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1849-1853, 1853-06-28
Statues Of Public Men.
From the Ne.oark nv. ~ advertiser. June 25

From the Ne,oark (N. ~ Aduertiser, June rs.
The bronze statue lof Dewitt Clinton. the pro.
iector Of the Erie canal, the work of Brown, now
graces the Park of the city of New York. 1t diff
fuses an air IF refinement, and awakens the mem
CRY of ancient times, when great men commended
for statues well as Offices Here, in this Repub-
lie. should that generous ambition be revived
Place and pecuniary rewards may be conferred
upon the active politician, the greedy partisan;
but statue, never. That is earned by benevolent
or patriotic deeds, signal public service. dis
plays of lofty talent and genius, which exalt our
common humanity, and make the beholder proud
that he also is a man. 1t would not be possible to
put the efigy OF an individual wanting in the at
tributes of high intellectual gifts, or undistn.
guished By great performance, sufficient to make
his name historic, in the most conspicuous position
in great city, where the statue of Clinton sta nds
Such presumption would be simply ridiculous.
Posterity cannot purchase fame for any man: it
must be won by himsefin his lifetime. Generations
to come can merely declare and preserve it 1t
would require miracle to give posthumous repu
| tation to him who never earned one for himself
| Now, with the halo of his name around his head
the ina gination is gratied, and one feels that the
statue of Clinton, though by no means perfect
piece OF art, is OF the most tasteful embellish-
| ments of New York.
1t has faults, as we have hin ted; the most strik
ing of which is perhaps its ungainly posture. But
| the counenance is noble; its gigantic dimensions
| communicate grandeur to the whole which fills
| the eye and satisfies the SOUL The age of statues
trust is approaching, if it is not already come
| For four score years we have had among us men
| who have been performing actions worthy of them,
| and race has now arisen whose glory it will be
to celebrate and perpetuate that of their sres and
| grandsires in immortal bronze and marble A
spirited equestrian statue of General jackson has
already been erected at the seat of Government bv
the genius of Mills; and another has been pro-
ected of Washington, to cost fifty thousand dol
lars. The Massachusetts Legislature have meanly
| denied memorial of the mighty shade of Web
ster; but this ignoble contemporary hatred can no
more strike him from the catalogue of America .
immortals, than England could impair the lustre
of the name of Cromwell by refusing him statue
in the new Parliament Houses Many years will
not pass away before Massachusetts Legislature
| will dispute with that of New Hampshire the
honor of raising some enduring testimony to the
worth and greatness of the man who helped il la y
| the foundations of Bunker Hill, and who was
worthy of such a service. In the mean time Web
ster is to have his statue executed for the Bosto.
mans by Hiram Powers.
For one, we do not care how soon the classic
| times shall return again, when patriots legisa
| tors, orators, benefaCtors, and men of genius and
renown, shall struggle once more for statues, and
feel themselves sufficiently rewarded by obtaining
! them After all, it is never to be doubted that a
nation on comforting merited honor receives itself
the greater share OF pleasure The object of them
is, IN most cases, in the grave alike insensbe to
| the gratitude and I'M ustice Of the world And
should they happen to survive long enough to be
partakers in person of the praises Of their country
men, their chief satisfaction has been Anticipated
In the very consciousness of what they have per-
formed Greatness, as well as goodness, is capa-
BILE OF being it's own reward, and it ia fortunate
they are SO, for they neither of them sometimes
have any other.