The American Goliah

by Anonymous

The objections to the theory that the figure in question is a statue, may be briefly described as follows:

1st. This figure, if made by human hand, was intended to be exhibited; otherwise there can be no motive for making it. If it was intended to be exhibited, it was also designed to assume some position, either an erect or recumbent one. The reasons for keeping it in that position would have been provided by the sculptor, by either making a pedestal for it to stand upon, a tablet for it to lie on, or forming the body on the stone out of which it was cut, so that it would lie upon a flat surface. Nothing of this kind is visible. There is nothing about the figure remaining except what belongs to a man who has lain down alone in solitude and agony to die and has died, and the story of whose death has been preserved by the miraculous agencies of nature.

Second, if designed by man as the representation of man, the head would have been covered with hair, the most beautiful ornament of the human body, yet no trace of hair is found on this subject.

Third, it has been claimed that the material of this figure is gypsum taken from the hills of Onondaga county. The evidence of our most experienced quarrymen is that a block of gypsum of sufficient size to make this figure was never found in this region.

Fourth, if this figure was sculptured from marble or stone, its body, head and limbs would be solid. Yet the orifices in its wasted rectum and other parts of its body, and the resounding noise occasioned by striking upon it proves that it is hollow internally.

Fifth, No statue was ever sculptured in this or a similar position. The position is precisely that which a person would assume who was suffering an agony which was to result in death. The hands pressing opposite sides of the lower part of the body and one leg drawn up and pressed against the other is the effort of expiring humanity to relieve itself from pain. The sculptor's chisel and the painter's brush have often been called upon to represent scenes of death in all its various forms and manifestations. Yet have they never attained the simplicity, the impressiveness, the vivid naturalness of the story told by the figure which lies in yonder clay.

Sixth, It should also be observed that a sculptor who had the genius to form such a figure would naturally keep a proper and harmonious proportion in the different parts of the body, but it will be noticed in this subject that the feet are unusually broad, projecting far beyond the natural lines of the leg, and giving evidence of usage which has caused what is almost a deformity.

Seventh, If a statue, why should one of the eyes differ so much from the other, one of them being open, and one nearly or quite shut?

Eighth, If this figure is a statue, explain how it has been transported and handled to place it in its present position. It is estimated by the best judges that the figure weighs from a ton and a half to two tons. This immense weight could not have been transported by any known means of transportation in the neighborhood of the figure, and it could not have been handled without the aid of machinery.

Ninth, Perhaps the greatest objection to the statue theory is the last on which I shall mention, and that is the majestic simplicity and grandeur of the figure itself. It is not unsafe to affirm that ninety-nine out of every hundred persons who have seen this would have become immediately and instantly impressed with the idea that they were in the presence of an object not made by mortal hand, and that the figure before them once lived and had its being like those who stood around it. This feeling arises from the awful naturalness of the figure and its position. No piece of sculpture of which we have any account ever produced the awe inspired by this blackened form lying among the common and every-day surroundings of a country farm yard.