"Confusing—disappointing, perhaps—at first glance, this painting asserts itself more and more in the soul the oftener and the longer you gaze. Already the swift, smooth wheels of the railway, the shriek of the whistle, and the rush of the engine have made its story history. But it is the history of our past—the story of the heroic West."
There are pictures and busts, or full-length statues, of almost every great man of our nation. Some of them, within one hundred years, will be turned over to the man's native State or town, with complimentary notes and speeches the inner meaning of which is: "We need the room for bigger men."
Before leaving the Capitol plaza a word must be said of Horatio Greenough's statue of Washington, which sits in lonely grandeur before the Capitol. Greenough was much in Rome, and the antique became his model. The statue represents Washington sitting in a large chair, holding aloft a Roman sword, the upper part of his body naked, the lower part draped as Jupiter Tonans.[[3]]
[3]. On May 27, 1908, Congress appropriated $5,000 to move Greenough's statue of Washington to the Smithsonian Institute. The removal was made November 21, 1908.
This conception brings out the majestic benignity of the face of Washington, and shows to the life every muscle and vein of his magnificent form. Greenough said of his own work: "It is the birth of my thoughts; I have sacrificed to it the flower of my days and the freshness of my strength; its every lineament has been moistened with the sweat of my toil and the tears of my exile. I would not barter its association with my name for the proudest fortune that avarice ever dreamed of."
The work, however, has met with more of criticism than of praise. A statue should represent a man in the costume of his time. Washington should have been shown either in the knee-breeches or in the full military costume of his period. We want no foreign effects in our statues. Washington had no aspiration to be either Jupiter or Mars, but he earnestly desired to be a good and useful man.
In this connection a few words in relation to the character of future paintings that shall be selected for the adornment of the Capitol may not be amiss.
In Paris, at the Exposition in 1900, the writer was greatly impressed by the manner in which France perpetuates historic events. The best picture of the commission which settled the Spanish-American War was painted by a Frenchman, the best picture of the Peace Commission at the Hague was also French. One picture, which will ever be valuable, represented President Carnot and his Cabinet in the Exposition of 1889 receiving the representatives of all the colonies of France.
Our country should have pictures of the inauguration of the President, with his leading men about him; also of the receptions on New-year's day, showing faces of foreign Ministers, the Cabinet, Members of the Supreme Court, and our naval and military commanders.
I remember one brilliant company at Secretary Endicott's, during the first Cleveland administration. The Ministers of various foreign nations, in court costumes and with all their decorations, were present. General Sheridan, full of life and repartee, was there. General Sherman had come over from New York to grace with his presence the reception given by the Secretary of War. General Greely, of Arctic fame, wore for the first time the uniform of a brigadier-general. All the leading army officers, in brilliant uniforms, were present. Senators Edmonds, Sherman, Logan, Evarts, Ingalls, Wade Hampton, Leland Stanford, Vance, Voorhees, Allison, with many others, were part of that memorable company. Mrs. Stanford wore the famous Isabella diamonds. Among the guests were Secretaries Vilas, Whitney, Bayard, and their accomplished wives; Mr. Carlisle, then Speaker of the House, and his stately, genial wife; and President and Miss Cleveland, who made an exception to the Presidential rule of non-attendance at such functions, and by their presence added to the pleasure of the occasion. Chief Justice Waite and Justices Field, Miller, Blatchford, Gray, and Strong were present.