Daily national Republican. (Washington City [D.C.]) 1870-1872, 1870-05-18

General Mlchlcr, tho present incumbent for
Information and an examination Of tho rec
orts OF his ofilce We regret 10 report that we
have made them In vain. We have not beon
that Office, though IN every other department
Of the Government We have received prompt
attention and every facility In the power Of
the officials In charge extended 10 aid us IN
prescribing our object.
9Th. Tho "0cnlus OF America" 70 called,
ns represented on the cast front tytnpnnum,
and represented In a female figure Of colossal
size, y another work Of art which attracts the
attention Of the spectator. The female figure
Il drawn with great strength and fidelity ~
nature, and the details arc very dclicatoly
worked out. II Is said that this very expires
slye work was designed by John q. Adams,
who was friend and patron Of the nrtlst, II
certainly dcyelopcs more than ordinary lnyen-
tion, and more Than artists In general arc ac-
credited for by the public. The figure IL
scmi-colOssal; n shield Is IN her right hand.
and poised and Inscribed ON Il are the letters
U. s, A., emblazoncd In ray Of glory. Tho
shield rests on an altar or tablet, on tic front
Of which wreath Of oak leaves L. ingcnloutly
worked, aud In which Is the lnscfictlui,
"July 4, ITO" There Is broad spear be-
hind her, and her head IL crowned With q starr
aud she turns hnxlously towards the figure Of
"Hopc," with her anchor 10 whose pruplic-
sizes she seems 10 be listening with marked at
tentlon. The design Of this Is certainly very
fino, better, indeed, than the execution
u poetry, thought flrc, and prophecy. II ID
were due TO the Inventive genius Of John q.
Adams we arc glad TO record II rs another
laurel In the flower Of his fame. But VIC may
here be permitted 10 state that we have mot
been able to nnd, by record evidence, That
Mr.. Adams had anything to do with design
Ing this work or who the artist was that exc
cuted H. The Commissioner Of Public Build
iuUa ha nllq IN afford tho nnNfNiU
light on this subject.
9Th. The bronze statue Of jefferson, In front
Of the Presidents House, piece Of work that
would do credit 20 any artist for its simplicity
and naturalncss was the gift Of Captain Levy,
Of the navy, an admircr Of Jefferson, who
subsequently purchased his old homestead,
from which he was driven by the enemies o.
the Government ut the outbreak n the lnto
war. There was something beautiful, ovcn
touching In this genuine old sailora love for
Jefferson, 10 whose memory he raised this
statue. No one lias yet been able 10 find out
how much wns paid for Il, or who tic artist
was who executed the work. II IL reported
aud believed by many that the work was done
In Genoa, by mn Italian artist.
No. 0. In the appropriation blu, passed.
March 3, 1922, there Il clause "tO enable tho
President 10 contract with Luigi Pcrslco 10 cx-
ccutc two statues for the east front Of tho
Capitol, and TO enable the President to carry
Ouh lit uthiHl NhsNNu uIN NIllOIIliANNs lHNHH
arc the statues Of peace" and "War' 10
beautiful In their design ind execution, which
now stand In inches on the cast front Of tic
Capitol. The design, however, Il merely q
copy. PcISico has here shown that In single
figure he was capable OF doing something
-eally good. PcTSiscO was q iayorite with
Americans at that time, no one believing that
an American could ever do anything In sculp-
ture that would be even respectable. Pcr'lsco,
however, must have progressed very slowly
with his work, for on referring to the records
we find that an appropriation for hlches for
these statues was not made by Congress until
1895, six years after. Those statues cost
sl2,0O0 each, the last payment being made
In 1888.
No. T. The first instance VIC have Of an
American bclag employed TO do anything In
marble for the Government Il IN 1850 In
that year Hiram Powers, we fipd, was paid,
through an appropriation by Congress, $50
for an ornamental fountain In marble, 10
decorate tho west 'front.' of the Capitol. The
whole cost Of this fountain was sl,Ol3, ~
which Mr.. Powers got only $500. The work
was so satisfactory, however, rs 90 surprise
and even enlist the admiration uf those who
had before held that VIC never could cNpoci
anything good In sculpture from an American.
Indeed, Il was confessed on all aides that no
American might do something good IN art
and In time be appreciated by his own coun-
trynlen. In short, the success OF Mr., Powers
In this early effort Of his was a now event Ia
the history Of American sculpture. Aud YET,
Notwithstanding he had here given an unmls-
taxable proof Of his genius, and needed en-
couragemcnt from his Government 10 do
something better, Congress turned deaf ear
70 him, continued 10 bcstow Its fayOrr on fUr-
elgners, and seemed 10 forget that there wns
such thing as native talent.
No. .. In tic appropriation bill passed
March ., 1881, john Frazeo Il awarded 800
for bust Of John jay for the Supreme Court
room. Il was not good, however, and oblec-
ton was afterwards made 10 receiving IT, :.
No. o. On Mays, 1872, an amendment wut
introduced Into the appropriation bin glyinl.
1900, "if 30 much shall be decinod necessary
hY tho Cuuuniltcc on this Library, for the puf,
chase OF the bust Of Thomas jefferson exc.
cuted by Ceracci, and now In the posscsslon
Oi MT. Jeherson's cxecutOrs the same to 10
placed In some conspicuous place"