The Republican journal., 1885-09-17

but not as part Of it, should be placed
statues of generals, naval commanders
and others, identified with Grant during
the war.
WILSON MCDONALD.
Take the Parthenon or Temple of
Diana for our model of the building,
which would at once be tomb, shrine,
memorial, and monument. Its size and
dimensions could be governed by the
amount Of funds contributed. The Par
thenon is the flower OF thousand years
OF Greek culture-it is simply perfection.
Time, the elements, and the barbarian,
all have for centuries crumbled its entab-
latures, destroyed its columns, and torn
down its frezes, and although it is but
''the ghost of the godlike thing it was of
yore,' it still leaves upon the mind of the
spectator a fadeless vision of beauty If
such monument should be erected in
the place selected for General Grants
memorial, its beautiful proportions and
imposing appearance would lend an ad-
dltlonal charm to the lofty and pictur-
esque banks of the river, made classic by
the inimltable pen of Irving, the poems
of Poe, Drake and Halleck. The roof
should be partially constructed of bronze
frames with heavy ground glass for light
and ventilation. Nothing but granite.
glass and bronze should enter into the
construction of the wOrk-these are prac-
tically indestructible. No queer, gro
tesQue or eccentric stuff should be admit
ted, no matter by whom proposed no
hybridous architecture or nondescript
figures or shapes intended to catch the
eye and excite applause OF the vulgar
Everything should be left out and avoid
ed except that which would give dignity,
beauty, grandeur and indestructibility to
the work.
CLARENCE COOK.
The height and size Of the monument
would make it plainly seen and an i'm
presslye object when viewed from the
river. Grandeur of line ought to be more
studied than a softer grace and the in
dOmltable will, the large heart and the
unadorneQ manners of the dead should
be written in imperishahlt lines of for
tressed strength far seen against the sky.
But the monument should not serve
merely as beacon to catch the eye
iSt,biNo CIV IL Ia ~ Z tlti ttllI tlIllbi
for those who visit it close at hand. To
meet this, finer art should be called in,
and hence the statue Of bronze on its
pedestal, seen on all sides through the
buttreSSed arches of marble that uphold
the tower, standing under a yaulted
dome, where the art of the mosaic worker
shall portray in symbol sombre-rich in
hue the virtues that made the life Of
Grant what it Was. A tower of the size
proposed would easily admit Of stairs in
the buttressed angles by which the build
ing could be assembled, and the main floor
would give an area large enough to enable
visitors 10 walk about the statue and
survey it from all sides. But nothing
should be added to the monument in the
way Of decoration beyond what has been
suggested and it may be, that, to some
persons, even the proposed mOsaiCS on
the roof or the vault would dGtract from
the dignity of the impression. Still, the
need is always felt in such memorials of
something serving as an interpreter be-
tween the work of the artist and the
spectator, and these for symbolic figures.
Endurance, Selt-restraint, Strength and
Magnanmity. depicted by that art which
Michel Angelo called ''painting for eter-
nifty would speak to the foaming heart
of youth most eloquently through the
eye.