The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1884-11-29
Monument Buffers.

III nations, we believe. savage and
civilized, in all ages, have been monu-
Lsnt builders, that is. they have all
practced the custom OF erecting struc-
tures, whether mounds, or cairns, or
tombs, or tunnels, or pillars. or col
umns, or pyramids, or obelisks, or
guacas, as IN Peru, in COMMUNICATION
oil important events, or for the purpose
con'ecratlng and perpetuating the
lame OF great men. or of those who had
exercised, for the veal or zoe of their
country, great authority At first these
structures must have been rude. inso-
nihcant and perishabie. Even the
memorial erected to so great hero as
Hector was but very modest one, a
mere heap Of stones, loosely thrown to-
gether, according to Homer's descrip-
ton OF it.
Among the ancients, the Greeks and
Romans were in architecture. sculpture
and painting, far ahead of all other
nations not in antiquity, but in merit
Leaving out OF view the Chinese and
other ASialics, of whose marvellous ar
chit ctual creations some rather indi-
ge>tIble stories have been told. and
coming west to the countries BORDERING.
on the Mediterranean, the Fovptians
Il first in order in the constructive
arts. They were the masters of the
Cheeks in art, and in civilization itself;
an yet, not many ages had elapsed be-
fore the Greeks were greatly in advance
o! their teachers in the very arts. the
rudiments OF which they had borrowed
iro.s the country of the Pharoahs. Be
Tore architecture or sculpture had been
attempted by the Greeks, the pyramids
and the obelisks had been standing,
per, APPS. III their solitary and useless
maguIflcehce, some thousands of years.
But soon after their erection, E9Ypti2n
art seems to have exhausted itself, and
then TO have stopped, or rather, retro
graded. To the Egyptian mind, in the
constructive arts excellence consisted
IN magnitude and height, and those be-
ing attained, they haG reached, they
supposed, the ne plus ultra But, al
though the pyramids are stupendous
and sublime, they have nothing of the
era tcful and the beautiful, in which the
surviving specimens of GrecIan art so
abound, and there is more elegance and
good asre, more of the quintessence OF
art in single Grecian temple or statue,
y
france has cXcclled all the modern
nations of Europe in the magnili ence
OF her monuments, among which the
'Arch OF Triumph and the Column
in the Place Nendome' are consp Gu
Gus. The only trouble with the French
monuments i that they have 10 be re-
dedicated as the BourbOns, the Repub-
lie or the Bonapartes come successively
i.
with monuments to Wellington. Nelson
and Prince Albert, but none of them
are remarkable.
The monument on Bunker Hill was
the first memorial pile of any size in the
United States, and it, far proportions
have always been admired by peopl oil
taste. Now the monument to the
memory of Wash ngton is being finished
in the city which bears his name, and,
like him, it is distinguished for gran
deur and simplicity. Five hundred feet
in helght-more than double the height
or any other mOnument-it is chaSte,
imposing and majestic in appearance.
We are glad to learn t at the Ancient
and Honorable Artillery Company, the
oldest military organization in the
Tn ted States, contemplate taking part
in the dedication OF the Washington
monument. The Hon. Robert c. Win
throp, who spoke eloquently when tho
+ corner ston was lad, is to be e ora
tor when the monument is dedicated,
and it will be fitting to have the
Aucients head the column which vii
escort the prs ession from The monu
mcnt to the Capitol, where the exer
cjses viii take place. osto1s Budget.