New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1872-12-18
THE STATUE OF MIR. GREELEY.

THE STATUE OF MR. GREELEY.
The proposal to erect O bronze statue OF
Horace Greeley is now, it will be seen by an
announcement in another column, brought
before the public in definite form. Com
mittee of highly respectable gentlemen In
several States of the Union, with the Hon.
Andrew II. Green, Controller of the City Of
New York, as Treasurer of the Fund, invites
contributions from the whole country toward
the expense of the contemplated testimonial
gentlemen whose names and character afford
ample guaranty that the proposed work Will
be brought to completion as rapidly as circum-
stances will warrant.
That the memory of Mr.. Greeley is worthy
of this generous effort to preserve II, VIII
hardly be questioned by any intelligent ana
unpreiudiced man. At time when party pas
sions ran high, and when party distinctions
were more ENORMOUSLY insisted upon than they
now are, even the death OF Mr.. Greeley
might not have evoked so general an approval
of his personal character and public career
After q lifetime spent in partisan controver-
sizes. IL was the fortune of this always c0nscl-
entious man to exhibit to the country an
example of moderation, forbearance and whole
some comfy at the critical moment when the
Republic needed them most sorely. His many
friends-what man ever had more or better
ones9-wlll be compelled to admit, however
grievous may be their loss, that our leader
was called away, by kind of historical felicity,
at an hour when his demise could make only
| most wholesome impression upon the country.
After series of wise and arduous efforts to rec
| 4. Of iC after
the most touching and impressive appeals to his
| fellow citizens to return to the good-feuow-
ship of the past after q gallant fight for the
| Union in fact as well az in form, Mr.. Gree
| ley, by his death, gave special solemnity to
! the later days of his career, and so inevitably
| turned the hearts Of men from temporary and
pestilential disputes to the higher truths which
constitute craftsmanship, and without which
politics are but venal struggle, unmeaning
or full of the most discouraging significance.
To whom shall we, Christian people, build
| monuments if not to the peacemakersf III
we set I'D the statues of those who, through
fire and slaughter, cOerccd by terrible ne
cessity, the perturbed elements of our
society to something nearer order, may
we not erect also his efligy who demanded
upon sincere forgiveness and perpetuated by
wise forgetfulness Shall we not pay this
honor to one who 30 well illustrated the arts
of peace 7--whO, with rare and chiyalrous
persistence, made his way from obscurity to
worthy celebrity, and demo nstrated the SUI
periority of an undaunted nature over all the
accidents Of life and all the caprices of for
tune 7-whO was in his own person an exam
ME of our fundamental democratic doctrines,
or our national energy or Character, anu or
the indomitable perseverance which demands
and receives the plaudits of all true Ameri-
cansq We are nation of self-made men,
and of all these who was ever more truly the
architect of his own fortunes than Mr. Gree
levi We honor ourselves when we thus pro-
pose to honor him. We set the seal of our
approval upon an important, useful, and sub
stantially successful life. We take care that
our children shall understand that, many and
grievous as the faults and mistakes OF their an
cestors may have been, they were not wholly
blind to single-hearted patriotism, nor wholly
unmindful of public services rare, many, and
various.
So, in time, the statue of the great American
Journalist will be placed upon its pedestal. 1t
will stand there, we hope, i'll worthy simplicity,
unspoiled by the conventionalities of an out
worn classical taste, but showing to those who
shall come after us what manner Of man our
leader really was. 1t will stand there. we
trust, in it's natural honesty, with something
of the character of the man repeated in the
sculptured lines, with something of his energy
of purpose, rapidity and precision of intellect,
h. Ill
work Of the artist.
CHRISTMAS GIFTS.