New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1863-12-04
FREEDOM At THE TOP.

pletcd work now crowns the capital. OF the
artistic merits of this image We do not propose
10 speak. II is enough to know, that baptized
aSit has been. by name which shouldb dear to
Us all. it stands there. in its huge proportions,
and will be. rs we please to make 1t, mentor
/ a censor. a Scoficr. or a satirst II may ndl-
cate the living present, full of great ideas re-
duced to palpable social concretcs, or II may be
no more than the hooking memorial OF fading
/ traditions and of virtues which have grown
antique: 80 that. in the fitness of things, IT
would have been better for Us to have left 1t
there, unfinished. uncrowned, fragment a
torso, an indicative beginning of an impossible
conclusion. Ii we are 10 achieve no more, may
the mcrciiul Muse of History forget what We
have already done If Freedom be only
lalse-tongucd prophecies, leading US merely
into the quagnires of anarchy, it would have
! been wiser to have symbolized the mel
ancholy fact by counterfeit present
men, which should represent not our yirile
power but our incapaciiy to live up to the light
youchsaied TO us-not our moral strength bui
our moral dreams Bat the time for this pru-
den, disposition of The question has passed. If
We must be- rcncGaics We can no longer be con-
si,tcnt ones. With this enthusiastic eye fixed
upon the lofty lady. while the other trayer>cs
the ground for things pleasant, profitable, and
pcr,hallc We shall be in danger not alone Of a
physical squin, but Of a wrench in our moral
nature. which Will be fatal to all integrity and
intensity Of purpose. A, people. We have not
been rcinis- in the erection of statue, To our
lead great. The rho,, Of George Washington
might upbra.d IL. but it would be for the quail
iy and not the quantity Of BIZ personal monu-
mcn;.. We have Franklins, and Clays, and
Webster. IN stone. in bras, and In plaster.
Now. a. q Kind Of aggregate and plastic com
pendulum of what they did and taught, We solid
is the central and informing idea of all their
toll. and confess once more our faith that Free
dom alone can give to political institutions
justice. permancncc and consistency. BY our
command the artist has put The formulas OF the
Republic into visible shape, aud sought to
tgpiy the religion Of politics. II he ha, done
Ms work we'll, Il Is vs. alone who can make It
/ laughable
! l. mu+ bcalmt;ed tia; while Freedom has
charms enough 10 attract u. We have been
but t'morou, wooer', and just little afraid
of the deity IN her ,tcmer and more exact
} ing mood. We have sworn big OATH but
1e have been too ap, to mitigate them by mem
tai reservation. W. have been afraid to accep,
grand, original stand point and have muddlcd
Ourselves with modify models, cooking TO be-
come 10, what men should Dee IN thi, nineteenth
century, but what men were IN Athens, IN
+ Carthage. or In Rome. H. wc succeeded in our
parody of historic ,riue- We took our success
for license 20 indulge IN historic vices, ana
called Greeks, and Roman, ana Jews from
their grave, to speah 10 our good character. II
.as, however IN the n,eholling south That
,hls silly nccromancy Wa, most IN vogue; u
was there that, I'm dcienc for they di.dalncd
,implc cXtcuuaton of giant wrong lhe custom
of the worlds spmwllng infancy va, pleaded
a, a precedent, for the plumbers of the
worlds maturity; il was there that prop
crty IN man was yindicated by nm appeal,
now to The sizes, and anon To the
Holy Scripture. Alas what drcary and dry
pamphlet, have We read, the productions of
Divine Doctors or Diaholical Lawyers, ia which
/ the writers a, once fiery aud fogy." stumbled
from their conclusions up o. their premises, and
stuck between tie two IN drcadiuly dubious
and bcm.rcd condition. II the Coulcdcraics
merely took up arms, to rid themselves of this
comic Inconsistency, aud the neyer-cnding
necessity OF making bricks OF the logical dcscrip-
ton without straw, We have hardly the heart to
blame them. Standing face 10 face and foot
TO foot with the Free North, child-stcaling
chyalry has thrown away its historic mask, and
challenges the world 10 admire It's native Satanic
features. We arc really much obliged to it,
Ii u man tells ms that he is Stakeholder be-
cause he cannot help himsclf-that he inherited
bis human goods from his grandmothcr-lha
the laws of his State deny him the privilege of
cmancipailng his scris-lhat he continues 10
hold them from motives of bcucyolcncc-that he
loves them a. he does his own chdrcn-that
he keeps their backs warm and their bellies
full-that he trcs 10 be- as nearly like
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as possibe--if
man uses language like this, YOU see
at once that if hc is not ashamed Of him elf,
he feels that he should be, and YOU are some
what inclined 30 hall pity him. but the Con-
icdcracy comes to It's conclusions by n shorter
and less tolcrablc cut II contents itself with
logged assertion. Freedom is humbug.
, Equality is dclusion. Liberty is IL snare.