The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-08-08
Shall We Have Statue OF DIR. Liv-
tngst0ne in the Central Parlk2

Shall We Have q Statue of DIR. Liv.
ingstone in the Central Parks
1t has been suggested by some of our leading
citizens that a statue of Livingstone, the great
modern explorer and Christian missionary,
ought to grace our Central Park. The idea
has met with general favor, and we give it our
hearty en- lors m mt. We have bust of Hum
boldt in the Park and statue of Morse, and
it is eminently fitting that Livingstone, with
whose history America is now so closely and
pleasingly identified, should take his place by
the side Of the renowned naturalist and the
famous electrician. To the genius of Morse
we are indebted for the wonderful medium
through which the letters of Livingstone were
recently transmitted through three thousand
miles of ocean and read simultaneously by the
people Of Europe and America. It is fit that
the statue of the man who is now striv-
ing not alone to make scientific explorations,
but to force civilization and Christianity into
the heart of Africa, should stand beside that of
the father Of the electric telegraph, the great
agent Of civilization and progress oil over the
world. The statue of Sir Walter Scott, by
Steele, the well known Scottish sculptor, from
the original model which adorns the Scott
Monument in Edinburg, will in few months
be placed in position, and the idea of the
original projectors of the Park, who desired
that it should in time be gallery of art as
well as place Of natural beauty is in fair
way of being realized.
The statue of DR.. Livingstone is already
made. 1t is the work of Mrs. Amelia R. Hill,
the widow of David 0. Hill, member of
the Royal Scottish Academy, famous as
landscape painter, and especially as the de-
voted illustrator of the Gland of Burns and
the scenes associated with the writings of Sir
Walter Scott. No person who has seen the CO.
lossa statue of the great explorer by Mrs. Steele
would think of tempting art to another effort
1t is simply perfect. 1t is to be erected in
England in honor Of Livingstone as soon as
he returns home Why should we not have
the same model erected here at once? A pho
tograph Of the statue is in New York, and is
sufficient to prove that the high praise be-
slowed upon the work when exhibited at the
Royal Academy in London was not unmerited.
Sir Noel Patton, the celebrated artist famous
for his two pictures, the Quarrel and ere
Cancellation" of Oberon and Ttania, and
for his later and more ambitious work,
entitled ''The Pursuit Of Pleasure" pro-
nounces the statue "a singularly faith
full portrait of the man as whole, en-
bodying with remarkable power that indomita-
BILE but undemonstrative Anglo-Saxon self
reliance and energy which characterize the
great explorer" The same authority says
''the work has been carried ON with strong
naturalistic feeling, remote from vulgarity
on the one hand and on the other from the
emasculate pseudo-idealism by which so many
modern statues Of men professedly in their
habit as they lived are rendered insipid as
works of art and worthless as historical rec
ords, and impresses one, like the original, as
at once familiar and heroic"
DR.. Livingstone gave Mrs. Hill sittings for
the statue Immediately before he left on his
present expedition, and hence the likeness is
sign is admirable. The figure Of the adven-
turous explorer stands, with outstretched arm,
grasping Bible, as ct once the pioneer
which is to point the way and guide him
through oil difficulties and the gift, more valu-
able than gold, which he offers to the heather.
A revolver tells of the dangers through
which the lonely traveller expects to pass.
The execution is equal to the design, and the
details, all of which have reference to the
mission of civilization and Christianity in
which DR.. Livingstone is engaged have been
studied and wrought out without sacrificing
the simplicity and breadth Of the statue as o
whole. The Commissioners should secure n
model Of this great work and place it in the
| Central Park ct once, SO that it may be first
seen here by DIR. Livingstone when, as we hope
and expect, he visits New York before his re-
| turn to his native land.