Omaha daily bee., 1910-01-17

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insignificant statue there. Secondly. with
out malice a~forethought, he was placed in
a position which gave the effect Of his
peeping out from behind the skirts Of Miss
Willard like a bashful boy hiding behind
his mother.
This little statue Of washington Is moth
ing but a plaster of paris replica Of the
Houdon statue In the Virginia capitol.
That It is a magnificent likeness is shown
by the fact that Jefferson observed tha
beholding II suddenly gave the effect Of
Washington himself standing there. The
new statue OF Washington is also a replica
Of the Houdon masterpiece, but IL is In
bronze, on a befitting pedestal. and makes
a splendid appearance.
It Is said to have been the ambition Of
Valentine, the sculptor, to make as ex-
cslleht a portrayal OF Lee as Houdoh's
statue is OF washington. That he has
failed to do 50 Is asserted by many who
were acquainted with the dead commander.
In speaking of the matter recently a mem
Der Of the Virginia delegation In congress
stated that the statue could hardly have
looked less heroic and less like the gallant
commander than It does. To him the polse
seems totally unlike that Of Lee, and one
arm appears shorter than the other.
Another adverse criticism came from a
camp of confederate veterans whose mem
bers made a pilgrimage to statuary hall
TO see the new likeness Of their leader.
Not one Of them thought the statue did
Lee full Justice.
In behalf of the sculptor II is urged that
no one could expect fully TO catch all the
subtle shades of bearing that made Lee
one Of the most gallant and commanding
figures ever apQn IN a floId 81 Rattta IL
is also said In defense Of the sculptor that
his work in designing the celebrated re-
cumbent statue OF Lee at Lexington, In
which the great soldier had gathered the
drapesies OF his couch about him, is suf-
f!clent assurance that he has come as near
20 catching the noble mein of General Lee
as 1t can be done In impassive bronze.
Valentine was a follower of Lee, and no
man In all the southland was more an
xious to have the work a fitting memorial.
The commission created by the state
Of Virginia to look after the casting Of the
statues was composed mainly Of young
men, but one or two of whom had ever
seen General Lee. The author of the bill
providing for the work was Don p. Halsey.
nephew OF Senator John w. Daniel. He
and Senator Daniel supervised the placing
of the bronzes. which were given con
spieuous places in the hall.
With each state the sole Judge of the
statues II presents, including subjects. size
and material, there can be little continuity
of purpose in the filling OF the hall. The
result is that some are life size, and some
heroic In proportion, some are on low
pedestals and some on high ones, some are
made of weathered bronze and others of
bright new bronze, some of polished mar
BILE and some Of unpublished, some extern
giyely Inscribed and some without extern
than the name of tine author stated upon
them. In short, it represents q patriotic
tumble Of characters, materials and de-
signs. Withal, understanding the lack OF
conformity in the system by which this
statues are assembled, the effect is not SC
~incohgruous as it might be.
While Robert E. Lace lives in every
southern heart as the very personificatio
OF everything good that was, is, and will
be sacred to the south, holding a foremost
place among the defeated. COMMANDERS Of
all history. there are comparatively few
monuments to his memory in the south
New Orleans, Charleston, Richmond ant
Lexington are the places where the prln
eipal monuments Of Lee may be found
and Of these the recumbent statue over hi
ANSIHb ph~SN Of AoAlHBbOn u the mos
famous.
If the presentation of the statues o.
Washington and Lee takes place on tn,
I'D of February, another coincidence O
history will relate them. Born in the ad
|, jacent counties of Westmoriand and stat
ford. related through the ties of marriag
so direct that Lee inherited the hom
where Washington wooed and won hi
wife, each led a cause which was sacre,
to his people. Later Lee became the pres
ident of the college through tn patronag
Of Washington, and his name was adde,
to the title of the Institution. Then Vir
> ginia selected them as her most distin
, guished sons, not more for their splendi
military records than for the great ex
, amples OF pure, honorable and self-sacri
!, ficing manhood which they bequeathed I
= posterity.
t Bx FREDEE1C !. HAsKN.
n Tomorrow-THE SPREAD or VAC
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