Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1864-08-23
Mr.. Carpenters Picture or the PreSI.
dent and hfs Cabinef-
B. F. Taylor thus describes il in tbe Chi

dent and HIS Cabinet.
B. F. Taylor thus describes it in the Chi
cago Journal: g. 20,
1t does not seem precisely the time fol
the fne arts here in America, but thai
depends very much upon what YOU paint
what you sing, whom you bring out Of the
marble. This country has little to show In
the way eff historical painting; pretty much
the best of it, and the most ofit-Mr. Hea-
ly'S EWebster's reply to Haynen IS one OF
the few splendid exeeptions-is in the Cap
itol. People will pay so mich for face if
1t happens to be their own; so much for
vanity and so little for higher art, that
really history done in colors stands a poor
chance. Now, Mr.. Carpenters picture is
piece of history that will be imperisha-
BILE. 1t is President Lincolns Proelama-
| ton of Emancipation the sort of thing
that wants q second Miriam 10 sing it. His
subject is splendid; how he has handled
and mastered it, the canvas tells for itself
1 am no eritic--hsve no necklace of artistic
terms to jingle as a baby does its beads I
can only tell you think it a brilliant sue
cess; that it is the utteranee of. poets
thought with painters hand No doubt
it viii be picked at and family damned
and warmly applauded, and every i'll that
artistic flesh is heir to will aflict it but
then the question returns, Is it a happy
selection of subject? However men may
view the act all must agree that outside
the field of battle it is tie act of the age;
bolder, grander, farther reaching than any
other
And how has the painter handled it ? It
must be a difficult thing to do-thkt group
ing of figures in dull room; that it shall
not be formal and awkward and make you
think of wires and the wax-work tragedy of |
the Babes in the Woods. Mr.. Carpenter |
has selected the moment when the Presi- |
dent has ended his reading Of the PROCLAIM |
alton to the Cabinet. The artist has been
fortunate and favored; one after another, /
they have told him the whole story; where |
everybody stood or sat; how everybody |
looked; what everybody said. He has
watched the faces of every one of them,
now animated and now in repose. His pic |
turO of the room is as much portrait as
the faces of the Cabinet. 1t is the Presi-
dents room in the "White House" where
the Cabinet meetings are held. In thecsn-
tire a great heavy table and sturdy chairs,
the same that "the old Roman ordered in |
his day; Just as they were trimmed then, |
with green, so they remain. Dimly seen
hanging upon the opposite wall, beyond
the chandelier, is a picture Of General
jackson, lending its shRdowy presence to
the scene. At the left, is a case of books;
beside it the painter has introduced por-
trait of Simon Cameron. They two are
the only portraits in the picture the rest
are living men. The map Of Virginia is
spread upon the table; maps lie half open
upon the floor, and books Of law, and in
the left-hand corner next you, a newspa-
per, emblsmatiesl of that power in the
land, glittering as it nOg is with bayOnels
and roaring with guns-the prets. am
not taking an inventory for an auction
this is outline enough of the room and
its furniture. Whatever Mr.. Carpenter
found there be left there; whatever he
has introduced, is rich in meaning, You
see his picture and you see the room In
mirror.
And now for the men: the table stands
to you, and tho President sits at
It's left end facing the observer; he has /
Just ended the reading, the manuscript rests
upon the table, his hand upon the manu-
cript. The old lines Of humor are all
gone from his face, and in their stead a
trange blending Of frmness and anxiety.
His attitude Is a listening one. Mr.
Seward sits midway st this side
If the table, and the President is listening
o him You have asplendid profile view I
of the first Statesman of the age. His :
lair that,I remember FURNISHED, is toucl ed !
With gray. The forefnger of his right I
land rests upon the table, as If he were
.ouching the point Of an argument, and he
5. His face is calm and thoughtful, and {
be is isst saying that he thinks the putting
forth Of the Proclamation had better be
deferred, and issued upon the tidings of a
Federal victory that it might look other
wise, like cry for help; the Government
forth its hands to Ethiopia, in
,tead of Ethiopia stretching forth its hands
10 the Government. That substantially; |
md as it was suggested, 50 it was done.-- s
The President bided his time, and when
.he gosple of Union triumph at Antietam
again thrilled the land, he hastened in
from the Soldiers Home put the last
Douch 70 the deathless pages, and issued
the Proclamation to the world. 1t was
like the ringing Of that bell over the Sign
ers at Philadelphia, on which was inscrib-
ed, aproclRim liberty to the land and to
the inhabitants thereof
At the Presidents right sits the Secre-
sary of War, with that firm, positive face
Of his, his eyes resting at the instant upon
Mr.. Seward. Next to Mr.. Stanton and
little TO the rear and the right of Mr. Lin
coin, stands the late Secretary of the
Treasury with folded arms, large, stately,
assured, satisfied. st the Presidents left,
seated at the table, looking straight at the
of State, as if he was one of
his own men-of-war about to deliver a
is the Secretary of the Navy,
but with his gray heir and great white
the most peacefully looking man
about the board; ho might figure in Wig
nette of the Millennium. Standing back,
beyond the table, is the calm old-fashioned
face of the late Secretary Smith. Next
him, at his right, the tall form of the Post
master General; there is an expression on
his face a little like that we imagine in
Thomas the Debtor, and he seems looking
at an object not there possibly something
away on in November. At the end Of the
table, and iarthest from the President, set
tied there upon his arms across, as if he
we're making up an "opiniOn," his straight
gray hair bristled like Jackson's, his face
looking old and oolorless, is the Attorney
General. Never shall forget that man,
Edward Bates as he presided over the
River and Harbor Convention, at Chicago,
seventeen years ago, nor the mastery
speech with which he electrified the multi
tude. Time has not forgotten him; it has
ripened his wisdom, but it has lessened his
elasticity if it has not diminished his
vigor
So much briefly and imperfectly for Mr..
Carpenters picture; the work Of half
wear disposed of in a half hour. But I be-
lieye the picture viii survive, will win the
artist golden opinions from all sorts of
people" ThepOrtraits are most admirable,
: l n, fe y,oo1ac,ad Nth fba bopd oF