The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1921-02-04


men Is certain as any truth OF
physical science On the great moving power
which is from the beginning hangs the world
Of results and the result Of thought and action.
Eternal wisdom marshals the great procession OF
the nations working In patient continuity through
the ages, never halting and never abrupt encom-
passing all events In its oversight, and ever enect
ing Its will though nations may slumber In apathy
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 30 often quoted:
.suprems In wisdom and In power
The Rock Of Aees stsnd9i ,,.
nns Ana sr.cs ae shs nv %orkins Of His nandsr
The great Memorial Monument to Lincoln has
Just been completed 1t is a monument Ban
croft said 1t would be. to the dead and not
monument Of victory. In way does 1t even
miggest anything but love for the vanquished. The
South has gladly helped to pay for 1t 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 mistrust that had
tinued to find abiding place.
1t reflects the thought that through the
second inaugural address of Lincoln and was
summed up in the peroration of that address:
with malice toward none; with charity for
all with frmness in the right as 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 just and lasting peace
among ourselves and with all nations"
The nation viii dedicate this monument when
the cherry trees In the park surrounding II
blooming. The date has not been fxed but 1t
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 a memorial to Lin
coin should be he believed that It should be
composed Of four events: 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 his paramount object to save-and
which he did save. This idea has been strictly
carried out. Each feature Is related to the
other by means Of its design and position and
each is so arranged that 1t becomes integral
part of the whole. in order to attain unity and
simplicity in the appearance of the monument.
Each feature impresses the beholder with Its
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 its effectiveness
aand the visitor finds himself alone with the
statue.
Each of the smaller halls opening Off 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 a monumental
tablet, and adjacent low reliefs or decorations
relate in alegory Lincons great qualities evident
In those speeches. While these memorials can
t,e Tr.u
tally screened from the central norton where
the statue Is placed by of row of Ionic
columns giving certain isolation to the space
they occupy and augmentng thereby their i'm
portanee. Architect Bacon believes that these
two great speeches made by Lincoln will always
have a far greater meaning to the citizens Of the
United States and visitors from other countries
than portrayal of periods OF events by means
of decoration In this connection however, he
carried out the view that some reliefs and deco