The Fremont weekly journal. [volume] (Fremont, Sandusky County, Ohio) 1867-1877, 1873-02-28
THE JOURNAL.
Art at washington-A RacY Lettei
From Grace Gre enwood.

The artists are making a grand
charge on the Capitol. There is a
squad of Fa1raguts in the corridor, |
under the Senate, being inspected
and Judged. I will not say that they |
are what poor Burns called an "awk-
ward squad" but none of them are
too good for us, sinners against art |
as we are. l shall almost be sur
prised if Congress does not take the
whole LOT. Randolph Rogers mod
ell betrays the practiced hand, but it
is melodramatic to degree. The
attitude is of that violent character
that always fatigues one. The very |
idea of the good old man being lash
ed to broken mast for "an age Of
bronze" gesticulating in that wild
way, exposed to the wind and the
weather, and he sufferer from the
asthma too, is really distressing.
Mr.. Ezekiels model of an entire
monument is generally liked, but
there are too many mermaids and
mermen in it for me. 1t is q design
like to the visions Of the Ezekiel Of
old, in that it contains strange,
monstrous cresteres. One Of the
smaller models-perhaps the small
est, certainly the most modest and
quiet of them ALL am much pleas
ed with. Said a friend, at is the
AdmiraI!-on the whole, / think I'll
90 two letters better, and say it is
admirable" This is by Mr.. Diesch-
Ter.
Mr.. Carpenter is also exhibiting,
in one of General Babcock's rooms,
his picture Of the signing of the
Proclamation of Emancipation. This
painting is not to be judged as a
work of art, merely, nor as some
thing that is to preserve the likeness
es of Abraham Lincoln and his great
Cabinet. The subject is of profound
and of transcendent interest-the
scene was grandly historic, and
something more; it was heroic-it
was sacred. There is, however, no
apparent consciousness of the grand
eur Of the hour, Of what Kossuth
would call the pivotal importance
of the deed, about these men-not
even about Lincoln, though in his
deep, weary eyes can be seen the
look we best remember him by-a
certain, far away look of moral sad
ness, too fixed and resolved to be
simply pathetic-an unspoken for
boding of his martyrdom. 1t is the
everyday air and attire eff each fig
ure of that group of freedoms con
spirators that we find them preserv-
ed. Even Mr.. Chase's imposing and
somewhat set attitude is natural.
He was to the manner Senatorial
born. Nothing fine, or foreign is
thrown into the picture; even the
furniture is portraiture of the sever
est sort. In the faces and figures
nothingis extenuated, and "naught
set down in malice The sharp
aquiline of Mr.. Stewards nose is
sternly preserved, and the stage
property character of the wig and
beard of Gideon Welles. The lank-
! ness and loose -joIntedness of Mr..
Lincoln's frame, the craggy income
liness of his face, and the generous
size Of his hands and feet are all
truthfully reproduced. tits the man
sin his habit, as he lived" To me,
an old friend, the likeness of Mr..
Stanton is the most satisfactory
the coloring ofthe strong face seems
particularly true to life.
Painted as this picture was in
love and reyeTence-where it was, on
the very scene of the great event,
in the house Of the great President
when it was near the close
of the great war, as the day of peace
was drawing near to US, and the day
of release to him, there can, 1 think
be no question but that it should be-
long to the government. 1t ought
to form the companion piece to the
Declaration of Independence.
l thought of this picture, and yet
more of its gracious, ungraceful,
grand, ungainly central figure, the
other night, when 1 heard the jul
bilee singers, of Nashville, delight
ting a vast audience with their wild,
quaint hymns, and joyous lyrics of
freedom Then it seemed to me
that that momentous scroll in Lin
coins hand was not the thunderbolt
it has been called, but more like the
rod of the great leader of Israel, and
that it had cleft the rock of bondage,
and let forth an exultant food of
song.-Ne1U York Times.