The record-union., 1892-10-07
ga PRETTY sIGHT.,,

-hr. cleveland mas been posing to Miss
kuhne Beyeredge while she modelled his
bust in clay. The San Francisco Erdm-
aaer takes column of matter and pic
ture to say as much and pronounce it "a
pretty sight" 1t looks very much like
man worship, however, and if any thing
is more distasteful to Americans than
that we have no knowledge of it.
That Miss Beveredge should turn an
honest penny by modelling Grover Cleve-
lands head and bust in clay is all right
enough; she'd do as much for Sullivan or
Corbett or Tom Jones or Bill Smith. But
trumpeted abroad as something very gra
cious on his part TO pose, and something
wonderful that an artist should make
his bust in clay, is sycophantic,, sickly,
sentimental and repugnant to everyday
sturdy Americanism.
To the credit of General Harrison be it
said, he has never been even charged
with these petty yanities, and has not in
vited or encouraged man worship. He is
high-minded American, quite proud of
his family name, every inch patriot,
who took up arms and fought for the
Union with no thought of ambition, and
one who despises sham and man worship
thoroughly and abhors sycophancy. He
is the kind of a man who would feel
keen sense of shame to have it blown
abroad through partisan papers, as cam
paign document or otherwise. that he had
condescended to permit sculptor to
come to his rooms and in the presence of
considerable company model his feat
ures, while he so far unbent as to pose for
the artist.
We take it that if General Harrison
concluded to have his bust made he would
take his way to the artists studio and do
as other sitters do, in business way, and
make no fuss about it. But here we have
Mr.. Cleveland in his own apartments and
permitting his carpets TO be spread over
with canvas to save them from the spat-
ter of the clay and water, condescend-
ingly posing in the presence and before
the rapt attention of ex-Secretary Whit
ney, Don f. Dickinson, Isidore Strauss,
George f. Parker and other support to
this dramatic picture. Just why the re-
Inainder of the Democratic party was not
invited to witness the imposing spectacle
is not related.
Really, if Mr.. Cleveland would start on
the road with Adlai, Convert Hill, Lieu
tenant Whitney, Don and other worship
full support, and give campaign exhibi-
tions of posing after the Greek models
and Spartan and Athenian examples that
have come down to us in cold marble, it
might prove a drawing card, Of course,
it would not shed any light upon that re-
markable paragraph in Mr.. Cleveland's
letter concerning State banks and cur
rency, which is driving the great mass of
Democratic interpreters insane. Yet, as
Examiners lucid headline writer de-
scribes the posing in the Cleveland apart
ments, it would be ''a pretty sight" to see
this new dramatic troupe that rehearsed
in Mr.. Cleveland's rooms do the classical
in public.
Seriously, it is not at all to American
credit, or that of any candidate, that col
umns Of blather should be spewed out
about the common affairs of nominees.
The disposition TO magnify our candi-
dates and scrape and bow before their
ambitions is distasteful and smacks of
sort of hero worship that is unmanly. It
is proper enough for Mr.. Cleveland to be
modelled in clay, for Mr.. Harrison to be
painted in oil and General Bidwell in
water colors, but when the partisan press
gets upon its marrow-bones to describe
the condescension of these gentlemen in
permitting art to perpetuate their features
and to detail how these political favorites
behaved and were supported in the "or-
deal' is flabby and codfshy.