What a picture for history that representative company would now be! We need an art fund—perhaps the Carnegie University beneficence may provide it. Concerning the Capitol building, Charles Sumner said: "Surely this edifice, so beautiful, should not be open to the rude experiment of untried talent."
The Commission of Artists said: "The erection of a great National Capitol occurs but once in the life of a nation. The opportunity such an event affords is an important one for the expression of patriotic elevation, and the perpetuation, through the arts of painting and sculpture, of that which is high and noble and held in reverence by the people; and it becomes them as patriots to see to it that no taint of falsity is suffered to be transmitted to the future upon the escutcheon of our national honor in its artistic record. A theme so noble and worthy should interest the heart of the whole country, and whether patriot, statesman, or artist, one impulse should govern the whole in dedicating these buildings and grounds to the national honor."
VII
THE SENATE CHAMBER
In visiting the Capitol building most people desire first to see the Senate Chamber, possibly from the fact that the names of the Senators are more familiar, because, as a usual thing, men have been long in public life before they have become Senators.
The Senate Chamber is 112 feet in length, 82 feet wide, and 30 feet high. The floor rises like that of an amphitheater; the walls are white, buff, and gold in color, and the ceiling consists of panels of glass, each one bearing the coat of arms of a State. Opposite the main entrance, on a platform of dark mahogany, are the desk and chair of the President of the Senate, who is the Vice-President of the United States, or, as in the present administration, a Senator elected by his colleagues to preside over them when the office of Vice-President has become vacant. Below the President is a larger desk for the use of the Secretary of the Senate and his assistants.
The heating and ventilating of the Senate Chamber is said to be very good. In winter, however, the room seems to be too warm. After an absence of fifteen years, I find men who have been in the Senate during that time have aged much more in appearance than their contemporaries outside.
The mahogany desks of the Senators stand on a moss green carpet, making a good color combination. The room is surrounded by a gallery which seats about a thousand persons. This gallery is divided. There is a private gallery for Senators' families and friends, one part of which is set apart for the family of the President. It is seldom occupied by the dwellers in the White House, but often by visiting friends. The reporters' gallery is over the Vice-President's desk. There sit those busy, bright men who keep you informed of what the Senate is doing. The gallery opposite is for the diplomats. It is always interesting to watch the faces of these distinguished foreigners as they scan this body of lawmakers. Besides these there are the gallery for ladies, or for gentlemen accompanied by ladies, and the public gallery for men.
The Senate is the citadel of American liberty. Its great debates have defined our constitutional rights and duties, and prevented many violations of fundamental law. Here Clay, Calhoun, Webster, Benton, Chase, Sumner, Seward, Harrison, Edmunds, Evarts, Ingalls, Logan, and Wade Hampton, with hundreds of others equally eloquent and equally patriotic, have stood for the right as they saw it, or sold their souls for the mess of pottage.
The Republicans sit on the Vice-President's left and the Democrats on the right. Although differing in ideas of governmental policy, we must believe both sides are actuated by a love of country.