Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1886-12-02
AS A WORK OF ART.
Julian Hawthorne's Impressions Of the
Bartholdi Statue.

rial than when, on the afternoon of
Oct. %, the great ilotilla of steamships
drew near, through the hazy rain, to
The statue on Liberty Island. A dusky
film reared itself against the pallid sky,
like a shadow cast upon transparency.
1t seemed as unsubstantial as vision,
though its outlines were full of gran
deur and repose. Approached more
closely, the great form slowly solidiiied
and lowered higher and higher aloft,
as If it were drifting towards us
through the sea-fog, a mysterious
daughter of the ocean, becoming incar.
nate while we gazed upon her. And
when, at length, we lay within the
sweep, as it were, of her uplifted arm,
and could distinguish the folds and
fall Of her garments, and apprehend
the pose of her majestic figure, the
spell of wonder and silence descended
upon us, children of Liberty as we
were, standing for the first time in the
presence of our mighty mother.
This statue is certainly the outcome
of a sublime imagination, working for
noble ends. There is, it is true,
brutal sort of impressiveness in gigan-
tic size alone; but in this work the
design is of such quality that even the
miniature models, which have become
so familiar to New Workers, arrest the
attention by their dignity. There is
nothing small in the treatment: the
lines and composition are vast in their
quality, as well as in their dimensions
vast and simple. The conception is
as great as the accomplished reality.
1t is a thing which takes its place
quietly and naturally in the midst of
tine broad scene of which it is the cul-
mination; it is at once at home there;
though it awes, it does not astonish;
once in its place, it seems to have stood
there since the dawn of time. The rain
and mists were its friends and familars;
and the sunshine will rest upon it rs
iittingly as upon the peak of a noun
tain, and the clouds, at noon and sun
set, will form part of its grandeur, or
glorify it with their crimson and gold
When the thunder rolls across the bay,
those lofty lips will seem to have
spoken, and the snow of winter will
drift around it like drifting veil.
Though the bronze goddess stands
motionless and firm, she seems but a
moment ago to have assumed the at
titude which she will retain through
centuries to come. She has stepped
forward, and halted, and raised her
torch into the sky. There is energy
without effort and movement COM
bined with repose. Her aspect is grave
almost to sternnessi yet her faultless
features wear the serenity of power
and confidence. Her message is the
sublimest ever brought to man, but she
is adequate to its delivery. In her left
hand she holds tablet inscribed with
the most glorious of our memories, the
birthday of the Republic. No words
are needed to interpret her meaning
for her gesture and her countensnce
speak the universal language, and
their utterance reaches to the purest
depths Of the human soul.
The crowd tlronged around her pedes-
tai and looked up as against the front of
mountain cliff The steaming vapors
drifted around her crowned head she
appeared part of the heavens, divine,
and yet human, founded upon a rock.
She filled the eyes and satisfied the
Imagination. Antiquity never gave
birth to anything so great, either in
spirit or in substance. She Is the
genius of America, because America is
herself the symbol of whatever is
noblest and of greatest hope in the
world.--Julian Hawthorne in the New
York World.