Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-09-04

NOM NfNl~--i tI--.~~lNft Suggests iI.r NA-
pclieucy of some general rulc in rc-lrl 10
oar monument Everybody admits t.at
nine oat of ten of them, We speak within
bounds. are @ disgrace u oar artistic taste.
and rather an insult than am honor tl the
persons commcmortcj And Yet every
body rci0iyc- over the erection ot q new one.
and declares that now at last We have some
thing worth OF q great metropolis. Tie
phenomenon might perhaps hc easily eX-
planned, hut We need only infer that me
restraint is de>irhle upon tie tendency.
whatever may he It's origin. which las LED
90 the mulutudinous growth OF ugly images.
The most obvious rule for adoption might he
suggested by the Roman Catholic system oi
canonimtion. Nobody should have statue
erected to him till he has been dead seventy
years, and till it has been proved that he
has done some permanent work. y man
whose memory is fresh when all his rontc,n-
poraric> have finally departed may be- cru-
sidered to have fairly escaped oblivion. Il
may. perhaps. he doubted whether tins pc
Rod is quite long enough. 4 poet can
scarcely hc said to have established ms claim
to immortality until q century after his
death. His fame ba> then undergone
regularly graduated series Of tests. lis
contemporaries may have been impressed by
some accidental circumstances. or by his
knowing how to hit the fashionable taste oI
the day. The next generation probably he
gins n reaction. but Is still more or less i'm
pressed by the judgments of its fathers
The prestige, for example, which still sur
rounds the names Of WadSworth. Scott and
Byron Is strong enough To awe any dis
sentient, if such diSsentients exist. into 81
lence. But in the third generation the
smouidering elements OF revolt break out.
Nobody i afraid of saying that his grand
father was 4 fool, though he may have
some little dclicacy in making the same re-
mark about his father. Il IS probable, how
ever, that during this period the reaction
may be carried little too far, and though
some regulations may be permanently cx-
tinguishcd, others will only be subject to
temporary eclipse. 1t is in the succeeding
period that people finally recover their
equilibrium, and are able to pronounce up
ON their ancestors without too much preju-
dice. Shakespeare's reputation first began
to stand out prominently and unmistakably
about a century after his death. although
| his idolators would not be quite satisfied with
the terms on which he was then exalted.
| The fame of Pope and his contemporaries I'M
posed upon the world for a generation or
| two. was then trampled under foot too un-
| sparingly. and is now at last being judged
| bv discriminating criticism. OF course
there are regulations in regard TO which we
can decide more rapidly The men who
make discoveries in the natural sciences have
the advantage that their fame is susceptible
of kind of mathematical measurement.
They can show definite and appreciable re-
suit No one could dispute Newton's claims
to be n first-rate mathematician. or deny
that Watt did great deal for the steam
engine On the other hand, of course,
there are regulations which are the subjects
of an eager controversy for much longer
period, and indeed some in regard to which
discussion only seems to increase uncertainty
London Rerier.