National Republican., 1874-05-12
THE TRIUMPHs OF ART.

Roratio Stone, esq.,, the distinguished sculptor,
was greeted last night at Willard hall by large
aad brilliant assemblage Of ladies and gentlemen
4 10 hear his mastery lecture on the arts. Among
his audience were many Of the artists and lovers
Of art, both permanently resident and soIournIng
| temporarily in Washington.
4 At $40 O'Clock the lecturer appeared upon the
| platform, and without formal introduction, pro.
ceeded in pleasing manner to entertain his hcsr-
| ers on the beautiful subject of his lecture. Mr.
\ Stone is gentlelnan apparently about fftt years
of age, with sharp, well-dehned intellectual fea-
| lures, hair slightly tinged with gray, and beard
| little more frosted. His mapners are quick and
easy, and his style Of elocutioh Conversational.
The lecturer commenced by saying that he was
glad to meet SO many friends after an absence of
twelve or fourteen years. His subject was the
| arts in their progress from the barbarous to the
civilized state As marked by the passage Of
time, life was but point Of light, which dark
ness in moment could obscure; bat life In its in.
tellec;ual development was mmeasureable. 1t
expand the Life OF man.
Art In its comprehensive sense, achieves the
manifestation Of tho ideal or essential life Of ali
oelng, from the supreme to the lowest. Human
art reveals the spirit Of the beautiful in lie and
is the ladder on which man ascends to perfection.
There were seven rounds of the ladder-letters,
mathematics, music, poetry, painting architecture
and sculpture-in like manner as Hight compre.
hended seven distinct colors.
dence Of his wisdom and power and goodness
We, too, have thoughts and aspirations which we
fashion after the Divine image. A mere word
thought In form. All that was bright and beau
tifal was represented by art. Aristotle had said
the sncets called the bsaut he EOod Tss
so called useful was supposed to be superior to
the beautiful; but 1t should be borne in mind that
the useful always entered by the gateway of the
beautiful. The beautiful and the useful should
be combined, for the one developed the other
BY these application was given to the diversified
. Vulcan had formed the endless golden chain of
harmony that linked the soul Of man to his Crea-
tor. Homer had made his countrymen immortal
by linking them to his songs All exeellence was
represented by Homer, the conQuering emperor Of
all the poets. Socrates declared that the artists
delighted only In association with them. Marcus
Aurelius said that he had been taught by these
artists TO distinguish truth from falSehood. Hal.
Vinci, had anticipated Galiiio IN lis Wondrous
discoveries. Michael Angelo was not only .
Reer. Reubens Was not only painter ain but but e.
Htical philosopher.
In our own day Fulton and Morse had advanced
6oep done in thousand years without such aqen.
cies: Daguerres invention had also promoted the
welfare and comfort Of mankind. AnnihilatS
iIOns beaeAted BY them What they would give for
ss "a ,ss sssS 4 t. HsI. SssS Il:
%IaS sdi SShiShS3ls ss hs Ef bsiss si S
museum as well as Svocsbulary. So through the |
ssSRs Of MhisS ons tns more asHnls San
the psh Of history Soald accohpilER. '
read tbs art history q the anciepts. Fortunately
the written history OF Greece has been preserved;
but If this were otherwise, her art ruins would |
ssST ssS sss sgh degree Of attannea her people
All progress all harvest, has Its roots in the
past. Let US so plant that the inhertors Of our
The Intellectual achievements or the Greeks
under Perlcles are we'll known. During his reign |
he lifted up tho nation to the summit Of grandeur
In art. He caused four grand marble galleries to |
ho erected-two for statuary and two for paint
ings. They were embellshed with the most mag
vara also caused the most liberal Contributions to
be made in promotion Of the fine arts.
Our Government had done nothing for the pro-
motion Of art, although 1t had made liberal dona-
tions Of land for other purposes. From the begin
ming OF our national career some of our wisest
statesmen had asserted that q cultivated people
were necessary for the maintenance of our ll6er-
ties. Then It was strange that the idea OF WASH
ington, who suggested grand national uniyer-
q dhe cepgrsssiqnsi library, Which had "s grown own
S R gsf4aeE iaa ,ha L VI bRisSRa'sS
an Wren tRs sSsalsF isa9ted to had sesn
in the art galleries of Europe-even in the small
kingdom 81 Baveria-he feft humiliated when be
oSYy ty Yeats old had done ssf 50 much @ moro tSsS
We, through the influence OF one man. Louis l.
WeaIar2w passing into the second century Of
"Upon the eentury's verge, oh, man, how fair
Thou stahdest, stately as silent palm.o
Upon the century's verge we were now standing.
Pennsylvania now proposes to commemorate the /
great events that gave US birth as nation, and
tonal capital the central authorities Of the coun-
try had q duty to perform. What was 1T The
essential thought was that tho man who shall |
hold tho Office Of President In 1875 should look
over his auditors from the eastern portico upon
grand arch illustrative Of the triumphs or the
century, with Liberty and Justice surmounting
the arch. Tho avenue passing this arch to the
steps Of the Capitol should be lined with the fg-
ures OF the great mothers Of the republic.
There was now one statue near by-that Of
Washington, by Greenough. 1t had been sug-
protected by temple to guard II against expo
sure. Another winter should not be permitted to
pass until this was done. Nor should other heroes
be forgotten.
Of all the social actions Of mankind, reverence
was the sentiment that recognized divinity and
gave pledge OF continuity to society. Art IN this
respect was an indlsputable guaranty OF the i'm
mortality Of nations. oh cons OF art, sons Of
liberty in all your relations Of life ever bear in
mind the glories Of your position; for In art the
individual and the State were fully developed.
the beautiful ideal was opened up to humanity.
The lecturer occupied an hour and . half In de-
livery, and at the close was warmly congratulated
upon his beautiful contribution to the lterature |
OF art.