Washington sentinel. [volume] (City of Washington [D.C.]) 1853-1856, 1856-05-13
From the Washington Spectator.
some thoughts uDOn Art,

| grows up to manhood with all the viIeness OF
the locality impressed upon his character; in
rascality he finds the means of livelihood in
ribaldry and drunkenness he passes his days
He has no soul to lead him out of the depths
Of sin to which he has been accustomed, and
his ambition is to dig deeper and grovel lower,
into the very dregs of pollution.
I The child born within the influence of a
christian home, and reared by the hands OF
kindness, arrives at mans estate with the no.
| blity of human nature patent upon his brow.
| His pursuits have noble ends in view, he seeks
associations which will guide his footsteps in
the right path towards the goal of the earthly
race-happiness Love actuates him in his
intercourse with his fellows; and the ambition
of good name guarantees that at the end OF
wellspent life he shall attain to an eternal joy
| The successive generations of people gov
erned by the ,ciU Of the passions, and untaught,
except in the rude uses of the weapons of the
chase and war, will sink lower and lower in
their ignorance and barbarism, and, wasting
| away, will pass from earth, leaving no page OF
history inscribed with worthier record than a
mere name.
But the people who are ruled by the aoM Of
the intellect and who love and encourage the
peaceful arts, do not pass away. As years roll
by, they increase in numbers, strength, and
wisdom; they gild proud names upon the scroll
of fame; and history's brightest pages will be
the record of their high aims and great accom-
plishments. a
We have always believed it to be entirely
within the constitutional province of our ma
tional Government to encourage the arts of
sculpture and painting; ifnot for the extended
benefits their cultivation would confer upon the
people, at least for the decoration of The public
buildings and grounds; for the recording of the
important events which are the landmarks Of
our national history; and for the perpetuation
of the memory of the men who have led the
nation through the adverse storms of later
years, as well as of those who guided and sus-
tanned us in our earliest and darkest hours of need
If to the worded record on the library Shelf
we add the eolored illustration Of the glowing
canvass, we have all that we need for the pre-
servaton of the scenes of our early history, for
our own remembrance, and for the information
of posterity. If, in -our groves and Senate
halls, we erect, in the living marble, and the
massive bronze, the forms of the noble men
who gave US strength and greatness we perpet-
uate that outward semblance of frmness of pur-
pose, consciousness of right, grandeur of char
acter, and dignity Of mien, which distinguished
all of them, and which will lead those who are
TO come after US, to emulate their example. If
upon the entablatures and pediments of our
public buildings we carve the symbolic express
sions of the purposes we seek to fulfill as a
people, and the justice, righteousness and inde-
pendence of our course among the nations of
the world, we do that which has been sanction
ed by the customs of oil time, and which, read
in the true spirit of high art, leaves an impress
for great good on the mind ofthc beholdcr
Leaving this exalted sphere OF the commem-
orative, we come down to the merely decorative
arts, and show how extended are their inAu-
cnces for good, and why they should be cult
waited by an intellectual people striving for a
world mastery in intelligence, happiness, and
power. The accomplishments Of ornamental
art-from the simple painting of window
shutter, or the design OF wall paper, up TO the
finest Of deliberately carved vines and flowers
upon corniees and capitals, have effects which
charm in some degree the senses of all who
look upon them. The vases in our gardens,
the quaint dragons and lions which guard the
gates, the fences cf fancifully twisted iron; the
grotesque gurgoyle les and bracketsin the churches
the funny-looking mermen, and beautiful naiads
who do the mopotonous work of holding up
strangely devised shells, into which huge dol
phins spurt the sparkling water all the things
which initiate nature in the shapes she assumes
beyond our ordinary walks, or represent forms
not found in heaven nor Garth, are agreeable 10
the outward sense of sight, and, through it, sat
isfy the conceptions Of the quality we call taste;
and by breaking of the monotony OF primitive
or commonplace forms, afford a relief and re.
creation TO the overworked and weary mind.
Some works 20 further, and awaken the finer
sensibilites Of our nature; souls are aroused,
as by magnetic influence, to closer sympa-
thy with human kind; as we are impressed by
the design OF the work before us, we feel glad
with the joyful, we laugh with the humorous;
weep with the sorrowing, aud share the griefs
of those who suffer. Who ever saw a Jolly
griffin, with big eyes and huge mouth, who did
not feel merry with all his fellows? a man
no matter how stern and prosaic a look his fea-
lures may assume, cannot spend an hour with
marble group Of revellng Bacchanals, without
shaking of his stoicism and forgiving his ene7
mics. Look at yonder group, gazing with rapt
wonder upon that image Of the ideal which was
in the mind Of Hiram Powers No loud words
is spoken there is no shutting OF the feet there
is no careless laughter, and no hypocritical
blush upon the maindens brow; or upon the
same group, now weeping over the whitened
forms Of Brackets Shipwrecked Mother and
Child; they speak not they breathe low and
long; they move away slowly, silently, sadly,
and it is not until the shock Of a sudden change
Of circumstance breaks the influence Of the
holy atmosphere which surrounds these Gre
ations, that they give an expression to opinion,
and resume an ordinary mood. See the stran-
ger passing by the wonderful achievement Of
Clark Mlls-the statue Of Old Hickory. He
pauses; the iron sternness in the features Of
the hero; the firm lip, the erect form, com.
mand his attention, and he removes his hat as
in the presence Of king. He looks upon the
horse and to his thoughts come Gods words
to job:
Hast thou given the horse strength"
lie paweth in the valley, and re-
ioiceth in his strength he goeth on to meet the
armed men.
He nocketh at fear, and is not affrighted,
neither turneth he back from the sword
"The quiver rattleth against him, the glitter
ing spear and the shield
lie swalloweth the ground with 6erccness
and rage; neither believeth he that it is the
sound Of the trumpet.
"He saith among the trumpets, ha, hal and
i 4 4. y A -