Alpena weekly argus. [volume] (Alpena, Mich.) 1871-1893, 1885-02-04
Monument Builders.

All nations, we believe, savage and
civilized, in all ages, have been monn-
ment builders, that Is, they have all
practiced the custom of erecting struc-
lures, whether mounds, or cairns, or
tombs, on tunnels, or pillars, or col
umns, or pyramids, or obelisks, or
guacas, as in Peru, in commemoratDn
of important events, or for the purpose
OF consecrating and perpetuating the
fame of great men, or of those who had
exercised, for the veal or woe of their
country, great authority. At first these
structures must havo been rude. ipsig-
nificant and perishable. Even the
memorial erected to so great hero as
Hector was but very modest ono, q
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 Asiaeics, of whose marvellous ar
chitectual creations some rather ihdi-
gcstible stories hayo been told. and
coming west to the countries bordering
on the Mediterranean, the Egyptians
are first in order in the constructive
arts. They were the masters OF the
Greeks in art, andsin civilization itself;
and yet, not many ages had elapsed be-
fore the Greeks wore greatly in advance
of their teachers in the very arts, the
rudiments of which they had borrowed
from the country Of the Pharoahs. Be-
fore architecture, OF sculpture had been
attempted by the Greeks, the pyramids
and the obelisks had been standing,
perhaps, in their solitary and useless
magnitcence, some thousands of years.
But soon after thei. erection, Egyptian
art seems TO have exhausted itself, and
then to have stopped, or rather. retro.
graded. To thea Egyptian mind in the
constructive arts excellence consisted
in magnitude andheight, and those be-
ing attained, they had reached, they
supposed, the ne plus ultra. But, al
though the pyramids are stupendous
and sublime, they have nothing, OF the
graceful and the beautiful, In which the
surviving specimens of Grecian art SO
abound, and there is more elegance and
| good taste, more of the quintcssenco OF
art in single Grecian temple or statue,
than in all the pyramids together.
| France has excelled all the modern
nations of Europe IN tho magnificence
of her monuments, among which the
"Arch of Triumph" and the Column
in the Place Vendome' are consp:cu-
Gus. The only trouble with the French
monuments r that they have TO BIO re-
dedicated rs the Bourbons, the Repub-
lie or the Bonapartes come successfully
into power England is now studded
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 its fair proportions
have always been admired by pcopl Of
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
dcur and simplicity. Five hundred feet
in height-more than double the height
| of any other monument---it is chastc,
imposing and majestic in appearance.
We are glad to learn that the Ancient
and Honorable Artillery Company, the
oldest military organization in the
| United States, contemplate taking part
in the dedication OF the Washington
monument. The Hon. Robert G. Win
throp, who spoke eloquenuy when the
corner stonn was laid, Is to be tie ora
tor when the monument is dedicated,
and il will be hitting to have the
Ancients head the column which vii
escort the procession from the monu-
.ment to tho Capitol, where the exer-
c;ses will take place. = 'oSton Budget
| s-a--'-- - -----
II was an illustration Of Irish pluck
when William Irish. brakeman al
San Jose, CAL. recently held up his
hand. crushed in coupling cars, and
Submitted To amputatlon without taking
an nethctfc