The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1921-02-10

or oppose with Madness"
1--WE build monuments to the dead, but no monu-
ments of victory
Preserved in the Congressional Library with
these quotations is the verse from an old hymn
which Lincoln so often quoted
!. Supreme in wisdom and in power
Cans't thou not search His mind 49,
And trace the working of His hands?'
The great Memorial Monument to Lincoln has
Just been completed IL Is monument as Ban
croft said it would be, TO the dead and not
monument of victory. In way does it even
suggest anything but love for the vanquished. The
South has gladly helped to pay for it and the
men and women in that section of the country
have watched it rise with increasing pride. One
may well say that its completion marks the final
union Of the North and the South-erases the
last remnants of hate or mstrust that had con-
tinued to find an abiding place.
1t reflects the thought that through the
second inaugural address of Lincoln and was
summed up in the peroration of that address:
'"Wth malice toward none; with charity for
oil with firmness in the right God gives us TO
see the right, let us strive on to finish the work
we are in, to bind up the nations wounds, to
care for him who shall have borne the battle, and
for his widow and his orphan-to do all which
may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations"
The nation will dedicate this monument when
the cherry trees in the park surrounding 1t are
blooming The date has not been fixed, but IL
will be in early spring. 1t will undoubtedly be
one of the notable events in the history OF the
nations capital
Plan Of Memorial.
Henry Bacon, architect of New York city, who
designed the memorial, says that from the be-
ginning of his study Of what memorial to Lin
coin should be he believed that 1t should be
composed of four events IA statue OF the man, a
memorial of his Gettysburg speech memorial
of his second inaugural address, and the symbol
of the union of the United States, which Lincoln
said 1t was his paramount object to save-and
which he did save. This idea has beer strictly
carried out. Each feature is related to the
other by means of It's design and position, and
each is so arranged that 1t becomes an integral
part of the whole, In order to attain unity and
simplicity In the appearance OF the monument.
Each feature impresses the beholder with It's
greatest force and by means of Isolation this Is
accomplished though this isolation was not
planned to the extent of impairing the relation
of each feature to the others
The most important object is the statue OF
Lincoln, which is placed In the center OF the
memorial This position of the memorial where
the statue Is placed Is not occupied by any other
object that might detract from it's effectiveness,
and the visitor finds himself alone with the
statue.
Each OF the smaller halls opening on OF the
center space contains a memorial-one OF the
second inaugural address, and the other OF the
Gettysburg address. These speeches are
shown In incised letters on monumental
tablet and adjacent low reliefs. or decorations.
relate in allegory Lincolns great qualities evident
In those speeches. While these memorials can
be seen from any part of the hall they are par
TALLY screened from the central portion where
the statue is placed by means OF row Of Ionic
columns giving a certain isolation to the space
they occupy and augmenting thereby their Inn
portance. Architect Bacon believes that these
two great speeches made by Lincoln will always
have a far greater meaning to the citizens 81 the
United States and visitors from other countries
than a portrayal Of periods OF events By means
OF decoration. In this connection. however. he