Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-03-23

near the British lines that his horse re-
fused to go further. but stood In terror
while the balls from the enemy's guns tore
up the earth around him. The heroic rider
Is, however, shown serene and dignifed,
as behtted his character and temperament
The Sculptors original conception for this
monument contemplated q much more
elaborate and pretentious group than We
see. 1t portrayed Washington as now rep
resented and 1t may fifty be mentioned
here that his face was modelled from the
well-known Houdon head; that the uni
form was copied from one actually worn
by him, and that the trappings of the horse
were taken from those represented by
Trumbull, the painter. who had been his
atd-de-camp. But instead of the compare
lively low and severely plain pedestal upon
which the figure now stands, the artist had
contemplated massive and richly deco
rated structure, some thirty feet in height,
divided into three stories, or sections, in
tended, as he said, to represent the three
great epochs in the history of our country.
The high reliefs on the first or lower sec
ton were to symbolic the country as 1t
appeared when first discovered inhab ited
by Indians; the second was to represent
the dawn of its civilization; the third was
to tell the story of the great revolutionary
period. with Washngton's generals repre-
scented in life size, on either side, and a
n1e-SlZe equestrian group was to stand at
each of the four corners Of the pedestal.
somewhat after the style of the splendid
statue OF Frederick the Great in Berlin,
the Maria Theresa, in Vienna and the war
adequate appropriation the ambitious orig
mai design was (perhaps fortunately never
carried out.
In connection with this particular group
1T may be of interest to note here the his
torical fact that the first action ever had
looking to an equestrian statue of Wash
lngton was taken by the Continental Con-
gress on the 18th of August, 1888, when
On motion Of Mr.. Lee, seconded by Mr.
Bland, 1t was resolved That an equestrian
statue Of Washington be erected at the
place where the residence of Congress shall
be established Another resolution offered
In connection with this provided that the
statue should be of bronze. the General to
be represented in Roman dress, holding a
truncheon in his right hand, and his head
encircled with a laurel wreath. The statue
was to be supported by a marble pedestal,
on which, 1t was provided were to be
represented in bas-relief the following prin-
Gipai events In the war in which General
Washington commanded in person, viz: The
evacuation of Boston, the capture Of the
Hessians at Trenton, the battle of Princeton,
the action Of Monmouth and the surrender
OF YORK. On the upper part of the front of
the pedestal was to be engraved this legend:
The United States in Congress assembled
ordered this statue to be erected in the
year of our Lord 1888, in honor of
mander-in-chief of the armies of the
United States of America, during the war
which Vindicated and secured their liberty,
sovereignty and independence
- was luIlHeT PROVIDED JndC a statue
conformable to the above plan should be
executed by the best artist in Europe, UNI
der the superintendent of the minister of
the United States at the court of Versailles
and that the money to defray the expense
of the same should be furnished from the
treasury Of the United States. Further,
the secretary Of Congress was directed to
transmit to the minister to France the hest
resemblance of General Washington that
could be procured. together with the fttest
description of the events which were to be
the subject Of the bas-relief.
1t is needless to add that this elaborate
and well-meant- scheme came to naught
Indeed, it does not appear that any further
action was taken in regard to it or upon
the subject to which it referred until after
the death Of Washington, when, on the
18th and 9th of December. 1888, respective
ly. the two houses of Congress passed a
resolution providing THAT marble monu-
ment be erected by the United States in the
Capitol at the city OF Washington; that
quested to permit his body to be deposited
under it, and that the monument be so de-
signed as to commemorate the great events
of his military and political life"
Subsequently, on the Sth of May, 1900, a
resolution was offered In the House of Rep
reSentatives providing that the statue con-
templated by the act of 1888 should be car
ried into immediate execution and that the
group should be placed in the center Of an
area formed in front of the Capitol. An
other resolution offered at the same time
provided that marble monument should
be erected by the United States in the
Capitol at the city of Washington in honor
of General Washington, to commemorate
his services and to express the regret OF
the American people for their irreparable
loss. To carry these resolutions into effect
the sum of 100000 was proposed. When
they came up for final consideration the
first resolution was amended by substitute
ing mausoleum for the statue, and the
second was rejected. No further action
t11yr hat h,,f
sion, in December and January following
the matter was discussed at length, and
after various amendments had been offered
and rejected a resolution was finally passed
by both houses providing for the proposed
mausoleum and appropriating 100000 for
it's erection. These resolutions were, how
ever. never carried into effect, and. as we
all know the remains of the great General
still repose at Mt. Vernon.
Il X
1t does not appear that either the statue
of General Scott which stands in Scott
Circle, at the intersection of Massachusetts,
and Rhode Island avenues and 10th and N
streets northwest, or that Of General
Greene in Greene Square. at the intersec-
tion of Massachusetts, and Maryland ave-
nues and c and 9Th streets northeast, were
inaugurated or unveiled with any formal
ceremonies. Both were executed on a COM
mission from the United States government
to the distinguished sculptor, Henry K.
Brown; and, so far as my researches throw
any light on the subject it would seem that
when completed they were turned over to
and accepted by the proper authority or
representative Of the government, much as
a public building or any other work exc
cuted under a government contract would
be, the first named in 1874, the other in 1877.
X
OF the statue Of Scott It may justly be
said that while some parts Of the group
are exceedingly fine. 1t Is not as whole
generally considered entirely successful as
a work Of art. The horse. although a beau
tifully modelled figure, does not possess the
points usually looked for in commanders
charger, and this might well be expected
when 1t is understood that it was modelled
flom a thoroughbred mare. Furthermore,
1t may be said that the horse is not only
of type too light and delicate for the
purpose intimated, but also too slight in
form and size for the ponderous figure
that surmounts It. The general Impression
likewise prevails that the artist made q
mistake in representing General Scott at
80 late a period In life. when his form had