The Washington herald., 1908-05-11
The Soul of Lincoln.

Editor The Washington Herald:
In the Rotunda of our Capitol may
soon he seen the soul Of our great war
President shining out from cold marble
in the gigantic head as conceived by Mr..
Borglum
Il is interesting always TO set glimpse
Of the working of genius and the ire
sistible force 1t wields in seizing talent
and manual fitness to do its will.
4 personal friend OF Mr. Borglum. and
a firm believer in his genius, was enjoy
ing the hospitality of his studio in New
York some time late In the autumn Of
1867. Some article In the morning paper
in reference to a proposed statue Of Lin
coin caused the friend 10 remark: Dor
gle, I hope the time may come in your
career when you will be compelled and
impeHed to give to the world the
grandeur of the character, the soul Of
LincOln-as. so far We have only the
gaunt figure. the rough face the stove
pipe hat. and awkward pose. which only
the history Of the man, what he accom-
plished. and what he said, can redeem
from the grotesque'
TFe only reply was, Yes, maybe; I
hope so. I have had il in mind for
years" and the cIink Of his hammer on
totally different subject went on unin-
teTruptedly. A month later, in looking
over his stock of marble in his store
room and workshop, he noticed a block
Of fine quality, some three feet square.
and a flash! Why not a head of Lin
coin. He saw il there; and, with that
strong characteristic of his mind TO fol
low the gleam." he went to work with
tools to dig out what he saw: while
other duties and important commissions
waited he worked on. And when il was
done, he knew IT, and would no more
have dared change a line In that grand
soulful sad, kindly face than TO commit
any conventional sacrilege. 1t was
shown, and the discriminating saw COM
plete what the artist saw in the block,
that is. the reflected, Ideal Lincoln. resi-
dent in the artist-soul
The head was brought 10 washington.
that Mr. Roosevelt might have a GOOD
opportunity TO judge Of it, Later. it
was shown in the Sculptors' Exhibition
in Baltimore. He refused TO price il for
any private collection, saying: This is
either for me, or for the whole people of
this country. / would rather give il than
sell it for any other purpose.
At this point came the way: Mr. Eu-
gene Meyer a young man of New York
City, said: why not let me contribute?
have power: you have genius. Let us
jointly give the country the benefit of
this thing A price was agreed upon.
the two men made a hurried trip 90
Washington saw the President, the Ii
brary Committee was convinced. the
magnificent gift was received. and Will.
while the Capitol stands give dignity
and solemnity 20 the somewhat incon-
gruous ornamentation of that grand
space.
Patriotism is not dead. The love of
greatness lives, The worship Of the great
Of heart is the salt that never loses !ts
SAVIOR
In the long, uncertain future Of the
country, this portrayal OF the soul of
Lincoln will live as an inspiration 70 real
greatness and our sons, far removed, /
viii gladly claim this head, this rugged
face. as the typical American-the man
VINO can live and die for his country and
humanity by the daily doing Of the right /
as the power is given him TO see it.
ROYAL f. WHITMAN. |
Captain L. S. A.. Retired.