New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1867-03-01

Froa Our Special Correspondent ~, q, ,ss7
.hov. the muddy waste Of Washington tho CaIlloi
.tands firm on a ledge of higher ground h'"ho "a
marble columns walls, corridors ana enoalSuo 'Ie'
Il ia An anachronism Of splcndor IN the must VI
world OF squalor. II domineers over inc Guy,
..rt of nile that the abiectness and poverty oil lts
go ,bose of the seryile class in an absolute
'.,'.,oTv n j. immense Going through the long
,.aoront massage running from the door OF the north
&c undsr the Senate Chamber TO the door
=, an. south wing under the House "a
1,.,ra.e,<atiyes Won face One-seyenth OF a mieo %
,oIoreJ tiles dim passages, vauited cnahDeIs, WIN
,bs chill and the gloom Of death upon them Never
tbeleS. a person of sensitive nature CHOOSES Vne
Lower thoronghfare rather than the grander avenue
on tho level of the two chambers that nc may oe
spanod that blow to his faith III the wisdom Oh o'E
80. b;cb falls ruthlessly upon him with his first
lup.e of tue pictures in the Rotunda and the statu
srv IN the old House The Senators and Representa-
Gya. can hear il, for they are what Miss Nipper
,,o,Id cali "teInporaries7 and not "permanencieS"
long but tenures of office are, happily brief
NeSida. one can see how, if these fantastic tricks
~ painter and mOdeler did not, Gorgon-hke'
tnrn them into q stony despair at the OUT
set they might thereafter only ossfy their senSOl
49, a. hammer used for tho first time bsteTs ones
hands, but afterward hardens them. Yet, wheh the
last member who voted for Miss Reams statue Vi
Lincoln. or Powelrs De Soto,' who means TO vole
for Rosdter's Washington at Mount Vernon shaI
have been elected to higher service by that powe1ui
constituent Death, these tTayeSheS OF art must to-
main barf legacy to the American people TILL that
beroic Congress is assembled which Will order them
al horned IN the public square costly sacrifice to
that better spirit of intelligent longing for the Beau
tiful which shall one day possess us. In tins same
Rotnnda hangs a mysterious picture called " LaShed
to tina Mast We took il to be Casabianca IN q
most uncomfortable and awkward attitude, only TO
s hardened on the suppostion that the burning deck
whence all but him have fled, Singed his feet beyond
endurance and as All expression OF the agohieS Oh
suffering. the picture seemed a good thng enough
But it il not safe TO trust ones munitions The Work
j. bisorc indeed but il turns out 10 be Farragut at
Mobile aud as honest Dogberry would hayelt IL
is proved vllanOus and will go nigh to be thought so
.bortly" On the left of the old House, you pass
though to the new Hail. sits the gigantic apparlton
called Il 5bcrtyD and designed by Mr Crawford Tor
the adornment of the dome. This mOnstrOus shape
if shape it may be called, that shape has none
disinguisiable in member, joint, or limbs so
prsternaturally hideOus that the portrait buSts
ON the other side of the chamber do not
obta,o their need of disprase. Here are Reyerdy
Johnson Thaddeus Stevens Gov. Morehead, Horace
Greeley aud Schuyler Cofax, each of which Is more
unnatural and uncomfortable than the other. In
deed tho only cheerful not to say rolhcking, Object
in the chamber is the Dying TecumSeh, who Ill the
momeut of dissolution may be supposed to be I'M
conscious Of the execrable shapes around him, con-
ISOLATION moi permitted to the other images nor to
tho boholders (By-the-by perhaps gazing upon each
other has petrified them all into such Gorgon-hke
Vhasliness 1t was wise in Congress to fence these
ill., that they might never escape into the world
and though tho railing IL very shabby, 1t has
the merit OF fitness But the notices over
the doors have been postponed. Above one Is TO
he written. WHO enters here leaves hope behind.
Over the other. " Hail. Horrors; hailw They were
selected by the Committee on Frauds, which naturally
has charge Of this chamber and by the Committee OH
Rl Public instruction in the District of Columbia.
" 1t is not pleasant to stick pins into people. II
would be great deal nicer to take little toiletpuf
of rosy down. and sprinkle delicate frost of flattey
over these artists, and say, How perfect you are
PraIiteles and Michael Angelo breathe again I.
"Ffb." says the fend Conscience says, "No.
Beg these factors of you, the people" say
conscience. "tO remember that Art is not
bad copy of Nature, nor even clever cop
OF Nature" IL is the translation of Nature into endur
ing forns 1t is the incarnation of soul SO that
picture Of the mountains must not seem to yOI
merely TO look like the mountains you have
SEEN but must lift you toward the clouds Will
a sense ii the majesty that is in these peak.
and chill you with the free winds that blow
through their passes from tho unknown world
beyond so that a statue of your beloved
martyr must have more than angular outlines, and
gaunt features and unkempt hair and huge, kind
hands IL must have the genius of goodness, the
heroisn Of patience, the grace of tenderness, the
slow certainty of rectitude which were the man.
and shone over behind the mask which was
called his face and figure. None of these modeers
il "a haf fle Iafa
commissioned ncophyte viii not. 90 good and wise
Congress" adds conscience, speaking through me-
let carry him in our hearts until something bet
ter than these empty casts and do not dsplace
noble memory for most paltry visible presence.
Because Miss Ream is a young woman struggling for
position aud livelihood, one could be glad that
you helped her. Because she cannot model, has
neither the terrible power Of truth-telling nor the
tender power of ideaization which true art
will have of her children, one must be
sorry. IL there is hope that practice will teach
her. good; VIC will sing paans. But Con-
gress ought not to pay her school bills, nor the
Capitol to DO the mausOleum of her failures. Aud
what is true of this young lady whose courage, at
least. may admire is true of such q catalogue of
Others-Leutze and ROssiter aud Powell and alas ,
Page. If he viii insist on judgment by his Faragt-
and the rest-that this protest will become ere-
miad if it is not stopped"
lTRwUNE. if You knew how little conscience is
heard here you would not groan the space have
wasted for this flourish of mine assure you you
could have nothing so rare from Washington and if
you will let this feeble voice be heard you shall
be troubled no more with that self-opnioned entity
in this series of letters. Does anybody ask You who
wrote them u
Tie Capitol is a stately, costly and imposinp
building 1t was desi gned to be such National
Palace of Justice as Americans need not be ashamed