Evening star., 1925-10-18

less dediCatOr hymn that set apart
che field of Gettysburg as "a sacred
memory in the Nations heart. So
uorous, rhythmiCal, exalted, the words
aLe Iiks the strains of some majestic
theme in music, kind of largo whose
marching cadenCeS sweep on under
the beauty of banners beneath the
sun To the steady, measured beat OF
the tread pf unnumbered hosts Of
men.
1T is for us, the living. rather to
be here dedicated To the unfinished
work they have thus far so nobly
carried on. 1t is rather for us to he
here dedicated to the great task re-
manning before us, that from these
honored dead we take increased de-
votion TO the cause for which they
gave the last fun measure of devotion;
that we here highly resolve that these
dead shall not have died in vain, that
the nation shall. under God. have
new birth of freedom, and that the
government of the people. by the peo-
pie, and for the people. shall not
perish from the earth.
With what beauty of holiness
those words sing themselves from
Liucolns shrine. and wing their con
SecratinG WAY past the monu ent to
Washington. L" the solid halls of Con
Grcss, crowned with their ethereal
dome. their echo caught and held,
NiSualiZed for the eyes Of men. in
bronze and in marble under the shad-
oW Of that same spring dome. For
in the Botanic Gardens Gen. Grant
stands thanked with groups OF artillery
and cavalry. imperturhahle. aggressive,
determined. in the ageless loyalty of
bronze. his steady. patient glance
sweeping past a new memorial whose
flushed white marble group commem-
crates the achievement of general
who made ii possible for the Conqueror
of NiCkSburg to defeat the greatest
general of the age. so that the govern
ment should not perish from the earth.
one cannot but wonder whether
Charles Crafty, the sculptor of the
new memorial. caught the throhbinG
melody, of the Gettysburg ADDRESS
when he conceived the plan for the
group whose COmmemuration Is that
of Gen. George Gordon Meade. the
first commander to turn the hitherto
lndomitable forces of Lee, the gallant
veterans of the famed Army of North
ern Virginia. in organized retreat,
under the hottest fighting and in the
most important battle of the Civil
War. For Dorothy Graphly, whose
Interpretation of the symbolic fig
Ures In the group we are using. ends
her description and explanation with
The singular words. The command is
hpiWard
lincoln said "the unfinished work
key have thus far so nobly carried on
Nd the great task remaining before
us The group of figures but echoes
those words of progress. that moving
forward from the wreckage of war
into future of constructive achieve
ments in the very essence of civiliZa-
lion in law. in government, in
that obligatory effort of the enliehten-
cd to her ,fh ha,,
piness to the greatest number of peo-
pie. that Periclean definition Of good
government that has never been, can
never he. improved upon.
x
WHETHER by accident or design
w the sculptor gave his group the
full and exquisite harmony of Lin
coins sonorous hymn, we do not know.
but this we do know his group might
be II variation on the theme so flaw
less is il in its concord. And To change
the figure of speech. IL fits into Its
niche in The temple To the Union with
the utter nicely of a joining in marble
made by the Piccarilli brothers. who
did its carving. than which nothing
could have greater perfection.
on a round pedestal of two modulat-
ing members above a fiftyfoot square
platform, there stands the new memo
rial in rare blending of the sym
holiCal with the obvious. Gen.
Meade is the dominating figure in the
monument. uniformed and barehead-
cd. the cloak of war slipping from his
shoulders into the hands of those who
see in him the embodiment of their
own virtues. He is valiant figure,
but he seems. somehow. done with war.
II is as though he We're putting it
aside for something larger. something
nobler, for he is stepping out from
beneath its shadow as he steps ont
from his cloak. facing the future in
serious hopefulness, as though sum
moned by the spirit of progress away
from the power that destroys. He
is booted. and uniformed. and cloved
hut he is hatleSS: - his interest
now is in peace and not in war
his splendid courage written in
every line of his strong. almost hand
some. face; the gIoved hands are in
deep contact with the cloak of war,
As though they realize that they must
build the new structure out Of the
fragments of the old for nothing is
quite SO vital as the past, nothing
quite so determining Of the present.
1t is a mastery portrait of Meade,
Its literalneSS 50 combined with the
sNmbolical that it is inherently Il part
Of the imaginary group that sweeps
in a complete circle from his right
hand to his left.
Diametrically oDpos:t" Meade * a
grim figure whose dark and Ominous
wings in mighty strength sweep re-
lcntlCSSlY above tn" heads Of those
who link with Meade this symbol of
war. There is Il superb grandeur in
this huge architectural figure. whose
grim and brutal face has known no
surfct in ali the ages of his deStruc-
ton. although his strong hands are
not wholly merCilcss as they mold in
their unShaken grasp two memorial
tablets that his two edged sword hang
ing between them like Il symbol of
death itself seems to claim for its own.
If there is brutality in the ugly
mouth. in the low bridge of the nose,
in the cr:Icl eyes and in the low brow,
there is sheer brute power in the thick
short neck that sweeps into The great
shoulder uusces with the sure
strength of lying buttresses against 4
wall. ImmL table. aGelesS. grim. it is
looking into he past with the same
intensity tina. Meade looks into the
future. It's massive grandeur is the
grandeur of an archaneel cast onI OF
high Heaven ta the bottOmleSs pit
below. Time ant times tide Will heat
against its impn,gnable strength in
vain, for War is il.trenched in formid-
able security behind the veritable wall
Of his armor and h:; giant sword
The artistry of Hhe sculptor has
found a theme b., which he bin
this massive image of war with the
portrait statue of r!en. Meade. The
union is not palpably construed; it
| a as natural "a bond as though all
the figures We're likenesses of men
whom Meade gathered into his coun-