JnattJjitratijjn Statue of Horace Mann. INAUGURATION STATUE OF HORACE MANN, IN THE STATE-HOUSE GROUNDS, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, JULY 4, 1865: THE ADDEESSES OF GOV. ANDREW, JOHN D. PHILBRICK, PRESIDENT HILL, DR. S. G. HOWE, AND OTHERS. BOSTON: WALKER, FULLER, AND COMPANY. 1865. Only Fifty copies printed on large papier. ^•^-^ -X^ ' -5, o Boston : Printed by John Wilson and Son. THE MANN STATUE. The death of Horace Mann called forth many public expressions of esteem and admiration from people in various parts of the United States, who regarded him as a great and good man, and a public benefactor." This pamphlet is merely a record of the events con- nected with the erection of the bronze statue in front of the State House in Boston. Soon after the news of Mr. Mann's death reached Massachusetts, a call was issued for a public meeting, to take appropriate measures upon the sad event. A large number of persons assembled, and deep feeling was manifested. A strong wish was expressed that some suitable and permanent memorial of Mr. Mann should be procui-ed, and placed in public view. The following persons Avere named as a Committee to carry out the views of the meeting : Samuel G. Howe, George Boutwell, Josiah Quincy, George B. Emerson, Alpheus Crosby, Ezra S. Gannett, Gideon F. Thayer, Kobert C. Waterston, and Edward Edmunds. Dr. Howe Avas afterwards chosen Chairman, and R. C. Waterston, Secretary. Meetings of the Committee were held, from time to time, as occasion required ; but the management of the business principally devolved upon the Chairman. Subscription papers were circulated through the State, but especially among the teachers; and a fund was raised, mainly in very small sums. A petition was presented to the Legislature, during the following winter, for leave to erect a bronze statue in the Capitol grounds. The Legislature not only granted the leave, but appropriated the sum of one thousand five hundred dollars to erect a suitable pedestal ; the same to be expended under the direction of the Committee on State House Grounds. This was an unusual and very striking proof of the high regard in which Mr. Mann was held by persons in all parts of the State. After negotiations with several artists, a commission for the statue was given to Miss Emma Stebbins. THE INAUGURATION. The statue was received in Boston in the spring of 1865, and was inaugurated early on the morning of the 4th of July. The ceremonies were simple and impres- sive. The statue was covered with a cloth. There was a gathering of eminent and earnest men and women on the platform in the rear. The green was filled with school-children, and a throng of people closed in on both sides. After appropriate music by the Germania Band, the . Chairman spoke as follows : — Friends and Fellow-Citizens, — Human instincts lead men, in all ages, to build monuments of some kind in memory of those individuals who manifest in a striking degree the qualities which are held iii the highest es- teem in their generation. Savages raise a pile of stones over the bodies of their strongest and most cunning chiefs ; barbarians erect monuments to the great con- querors ; military people, to great generals ; democracies, to great orators ; aristocracies, to the " purple born," and the like. Given the monuments which any people or any set of men build, and you may know the character of the builders. In all ages, the great artists have been called upon to illustrate and to perpetuate on canvas, in marble, or in bronze, the viitues and excellences of those whom the people held in high esteem. Hitherto, for the most part, these honors of art have been monopolized by the great fighters, by the great writers, or by the great talk- ers. We, to-day, dedicate a monument to the memory of a man whose greatness grew out of his love for his fellow-men, his belief in their innate goodness and capacity for improvement, and his burning zeal to elevate and to improve them. He loved the people ; he lived for and labored for the people ; nay, he died for the people, inasmuch as his premature death was brought on by over-zeal and over-work in the cause of popular educa- tion. Fellow-citizens, it is proper that such a State as Massachusetts should rear a monument to such a man ; for it is alike the proof of his greatness and goodness, and of their virtue and intelligence. And the people of Massachusetts have indeed built one, since the means for erecting this statue were given by the people at larg^ and not by the rich. A few rich gave of their abun- dance ; but many poor gave of their poverty. The school-master, who could spare but a dollar ; the school- mistress, who could spare but fifty cents ; the little boys and girls who could give but a dime, — have all contributed to this work ; and the State of Massachu- setts herself, as if to stamp her approval upon it, by the vote of the Legislature, contributed the money to build the pedestal. The monument stands, therefore, a token of the people's love and reverence for a man who loved and respected them. The work itself has been done by an American woman ; by a Avoman of genius and of heart; by a woman who, inspired by the nobleness of her subject, has wrought out with cunning hand the monument which we now unveil to your eyes, — the Statue of Horace Ma^n. As he pronounced the last words, the knot which confined the covering was loosed, and the cloth slipping slowly down revealed the statue to sight, amid much applause and congratulation ; for it was evident to all, at first glance, that the artist had caught the likeness, and that, as a whole, her work was a great success. In a moment, a sweet little girl* of six years old tripped up a light ladder behind the Statue, and placed upon the head a crown of fresh laurel leaves. The effect of this was very touching. * JIaggie W. Walker ; daugliter of Mr. James P. Walker, of Boston. ^ ^ f Eev. R. C. Waterston then offered the following Prayer : — ' T Almighty God, Source of infinite Avisdom ! on this great day of the nation's rejoicing, — this hirthday of freedom, dear to all our hearts, associated with so many inspiring thoughts and principles, — we would invoke thy blessing upon the occasion which has brought us together. The friends of education would consecrate before thee, and to the best interests of hu- manity, this memorial of a great and good man. Holy Father, thou who hast never left the world without a witness, who hast raised up through the succeeding generations guiding spirits to be the light of their day, we thank thee for the long line of martyrs and reformers, for the men, true and magnanimous, who, in past time, have been the benefactors of mankind. On this day, we would thank thee for all who have dedicated their powers to the cause of goodness, and the advancement of their race in our Commonwealth, and throughout the country. Especially, Almighty God, would we thank thee, that in this land, where the institutions of learning ai-e reverenced, thou didst raise up thy servant to be a Leader among the people, and to promote with such marked success the welfare of his country. We thank thee. Holy Father, for those remarkable gifts with which thou didst endow him, — which he zeal- ously devoted to the public service. We thank thee, that in thy providence he was called from his private studies and pursuits, to a work so intimately connected with the elevation of the Commonwealth ; and are re- joiced that we have among us the enduring monuments of his wise zeal and self-sacrificing fidelity, — the Hos- pitals which have been erected for the benefit of the unfortunate, and those seminaries of learning, the Nor- mal-schools, — the fii"st established upon this Continent, — consecrated by his toil, — Centres of light and benefi- cence. We thank thee for all that he accomplished through succeeding years of judicious labor : and now, Almighty God, that we behold the wide-spread results of his efforts, we have here met that we may pay a grateful tribute to his memory ; bowmg in heart-felt adoration before thee that such a man has lived, and that we are permitted to see a portion of the ingather- ing harvests from the seeds which he scattered abroad. The old and the young, the wise and the unlearned, the head of the Commonwealth, the teachers of our schools, our legislators, our philanthropists, the little cliildren of the land, have come together, that they may pour forth their grateful thanksgiving to thee, and that they may be quickened by the memory of his deeds and his character. O God ! in thy presence we have seen the innocent hand of childhood laying its wreath upon this lofty brow, in reverential affection. We now ded- icate this statue to all that is truest and best m the Commonwealth : we pray. Heavenly Father, that it may stand here in the public place, — before the halls of legislation, to guide, to quicken, and to cheer ; to kindle a pure patriotism, a love of truth, of virtue, and of mankind. On this day of freedom, when our victo- rious armies are returning to their peaceful homes, the integrity of the nation preserved ; — in this wonderful period of our history, when every fetter has fallen or is falling, and slavery is to exist no longer, we have assem- bled, amid great rejoicings, to consecrate this statue in a land of Universal Freedom. Holy Father, we recognize thee in thy marvellous workings ; and we pray that this monument may stand, from generation to genera- tion, a memorial of self-devoted toil, wisdom, and phi- lanthropy, inspiring the young to renewed effort. We pray for thy blessing upon the Commonwealth and the whole country, our universities and schools, and upon all for whom we should pray throughout the world. To thee. Source of Supreme Intelligence, we consecrate this work of art. May it accelerate the progress of Truth, and herald the coming of thy Kingdom ; and unto Thee, through the blessed Redeemer, who went about doing good, we will return praise and thanks- giving and homage, for ever and ever. Amen. The Chairman then introduced His Excellency Gov- ernor Andrew, who spoke as follows : — Friends and Fellow-citizens, — On the 17th of June, the anniversary of the battle of Bunker Hill, we dedi- cated, on the banks of the Merrimac, a votive column, reared to the memory of those Avho fell as the first mar- tyrs in the great rebellion. To-day, the 4th of July, near the shore of the Bay of Massachusetts, we inaugu- rate this statue of enduring bronze, to preserve in mem- ory, and to hand down to the generations, the form and features of a sage, whose life helped to make those simple citizens heroic soldiers, and to render possible the triumph of liberty and manhood, of which the 10 demonstrations signalizing this anniversary are a joyful and continental celebration. They were young, and bore the weapons of war Avhen they fell. He was mature in age, and knew no weapon but his voice and pen. They obeyed their country, and marched the moment they heard her call. He was elect from his early manhood to his high vocation, when, at his graduation from college, he discoursed on " The Progressive Character of the Human Race." Theirs was a brief, sharp conflict. His was the struggle and the toil of many manly years. AVorn out by excessive devotion to his work, he — not less than they who were slain in fight — seemed to the vision of man to have died before his time. In May, 1796, Horace Mann was born, a native of Massachusetts. Graduated at Brown University in Rhode Island, where he was afterwards a tutor of Latin and Greek, he became, in 1823, a member of the bar of Norfolk. The next year, forty-one years ago this day, he delivered at Uedham an oration commemorative of American Independence. Three years after that, he was chosen to represent the town of Dedham in the General Court of the Commonwealth. In 1836 he was President of the Senate, to which he had been elected from the County of Suffolk, having changed his resi- dence, and become a citizen of Boston. It was in his chair as the presiding officer of the Sen- ate that I first saw this most impressive and truly emi- nent person, who, though already ripe in age, mature in thought, and of much experience in aff"airs, had then scarcely laid the visible foundation of his subsequent 11 great and enduring fame. It was one year later than that when he became Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. And in that new position, Avhich he created rather than filled, he rose, by a rare genius for a work in which he could become the benefactor of mankind, to lasting and acknowledged greatness. He proved how lofty thought, how grand ideas, exact and precise learning, combined with poetic conception, with careful and toilsome elaboration of the humblest details, and Avith energy and undying faith, could be united and made visibly manifest in the life of a single man. It is hardly too much to affu-m, that the eleven years of his service as the head of the system of popular edu- cation in Massachusetts lifted the cause itself into a prominence and value in the public thought, not known before, reformed and vitalized the system itself, and thus. far, until this hour, has given to all other men their sufficient task in trying to hold up the standard he reared almost alone. The death of John Quincy Adams, in his place in Con- gress, turned the people toward Horace Mann for his successor. He obeyed their call. In 1848 he ascended the steps of the Capitol, to wear the mantle of that wonderful old man, who, after his own public career had once apparently ended, had contributed more to the lasting fame of Massachusetts and to American liberty than had been done by all his contemporaries in the public service from his native Commonwealth. In Congress, on the stump, or in the court-room when he defended Drayton and Sayres under a ferocious slave code, Horace Mann may be truly declared to have 12 achieved, by means of his marvellous dialectics, his absolute devotion, his endurance of labor, his ingenious and fertile versatility of intellect, all that could have been expected of a person whose previous life had been that of uninterrupted political or professional employ- ment. And yet he, for a dozen years, had laid aside the law, for which he was educated, and had abandoned political life, for which he had exhibited so much adaptation, and had given his heart and brain and hand to the single task, with undivided effort, of elevating the district school, and of bettering the system by which children were taught the common rudiments of common knowledge. In 1853 he accepted the Presidency of Antioch Col- lege, in Ohio ; and there he expended the last six years of a most active, devoted, and memorable life of duty and high example. On every work he undertook, he stamped himself. Thenceforth it bore the image of his powerful will, his lofty conceptions, his singular inde- pendence, his faithful integi'ity ; and these works, the amelioration of man's estate by which he made posterity his debtors, ai'e the true monuments commemorative of such a character and such a life. Not for his sake, therefore, but for ours, and for our children's, in the name of Massachusetts, and in behalf of her people, of the sacred cause of learning and the not less holy cause of liberty, I inaugurate this monu- mental effigy of Horace Mann. Here shall it stand, mute but eloquent, in sunshine and in storm. On the brow of Beacon Hill, in front of the Capitol of the Com- monwealth, side by side, the statues of Webster and of 13 Mann will attract the gaze of coming generations, defy- ing the decays of time, long after these living men and women who assist in this day's ceremonies shall have slept in the dust with their fathers. On the one hand is the statue of Daniel Webster, the great Jurist, the great Statesman, the great Ameri- can. On the other hand is the statue of Horace Mann, the teacher of Philosophy in its application both to politics and to popular learning, — whose constituency was mankind. The rising sun of the morning will turn from the purple east to salute his brow ; and when his golden orb ascends to the zenith, shining down from on high in the heavens, he will wrap and warm them both with generous embrace in his lambent love and glory. The following hymn was sung by a choir of children to the tune of " Old Hundred: " — O Thou at whose dread name we bend. To whom our purest vows we pay, God over all, in love descend, And bless the service of this day. Our fathers here, a pilgrim band, Fixed the proud empire of the free ; Art moved in gladness o'er the land, And Faith her altars reared to thee. Here, too, to guard, through every age. The sacred rights their valor won, They bade Instruction spread her page, And send down Truth from sire to son. Here still, through all succeeding time, Their stores may truth and learning bring. And still the anthem-note sublime To thee from children's children sing. 14 Dr. Howe then introduced John D. Philbrick, Esq., Superintendent of the Public Schools of Boston, who would represent the city in the necessary absence of the Mayor. Mr. Philbrick spoke as follows : — Mr. Chairman, — I am happy to participate with you on this occasion, in doing honor to the greatest advocate of popular education, by inaugurating this monumental statue to his memory, here beneath the walls of the Capitol, on this most auspicious morning of our national anniversary. I feel that it is good for me to be here ; not indeed to make any eulogy concerning this great man, since the arrangements contemplate no such ser- vice, but to unite with the friends of humanity who have caused this memorial to be erected, in dedicating it, with these simple ceremonies, to that honored name which is destined to help keep the name of this Com- monwealth respectable for ages to come. It was not my fortune to enjoy the privilege of an intimate ac- quaintance with Mr. Mann ; but I learned long ago to venerate his character, and to be grateful for his self- sacrificing labors in the cause of education. Not but that he had other titles to our admiration and regard. He was a philanthropist and a statesman. But he will be known and honored hereafter chiefly as the great educationist. His great toils and his great triumphs were in the educational field, as the foremost champion in all the world to this day, of the true doctrine of pub- lic instruction. All his other labors and services, whether in earlier or later life, were but preparatory or supplementary to this grand mission of his life. This 15 is, and is to be, the crown of his glory. The way he took was his choice, because he thought it led to eminent usefulness, though beset with difficulties and trials. I rejoice that it has led to distinguished honor. Mr. Mann once said of himself to a friend, " All my boyish castles in the air had reference to do something for the benefit of mankind ; and I had a conviction that knowledge was my needed instrument." Here we find the key to his whole life, his ends, his motives, and his means, — the cultivation of his o^vn mind and heart with the view to use his acquisitions and powers for the improvement of his fellow-beings. He saw and felt, that to be a doer of good was the true and lawful end of all aspiring ; and thus at an early age his ambition was turned into the channel of benevolence. Gradually, as his mind expanded and his observation and expression were enlarged, he came to see clearly, — be- yond all shadow of doubt, — that the most beneficent of all the work which it was given men to do, was that of diffusing knowledge and virtue among men. And, rising at length above the ends and aims of ordinary statesmanship, his comprehensive intellect, in its impe- rial sweep and its prophetic forecast, came to see that our free institutes of government and religion — the rich inheritance of oui" fathers — could be maintained and preserved and enjoyed, only by an intelligent and moral people. He saw also, that the necessary intel- lectual and moral culture for the national safety, and the national prosperity and happiness, could be obtained only through the instrumentality of Free Public Schools open to all, good enough for all, and attended by all. 16 Nor did he stop here. He saw, and demonstrated with irrefutable logic, and enforced with eloquence unsur- passed, the right of every child to education, and the corresponding duty of the State to furnish it. And so by degrees he rose to the height of the great argument of Universal Education. Thus he seems to have been prepared by providential training and development for his high vocation ; and, when fully ripe for the undertaking, the appropriate office was providentially ready for his acceptance. On the 29th of June, 1837, he was chosen the first Secre- tary of the Massachusetts Board of Education. Never were man and place better adapted to each other. His boldness, combined with caution, his dauntless courage and unwearied patience, his zeal and fidelity, and his faith in the ultimate triumph of the right and in the progress of the race, were the qualities needed in the pioneer work he was called to perform. In this office, which his name has rendered illustrious, he labored during twelve years for the elevation and regeneration of the public schools of the State, with an enthusiasm and self-sacrificing devotion which we can now look back upon and contemplate only with astonishment and admiration. His twelve reports as Secretary of the Board, his pub- lished lectures and addresses on the subject of popular education, and his essays in the " Common-School Jour- nal," which he edited during the period of his Secre- taryship, constitute by far the most valuable body of educational literature ever produced by one mind. They have given an impulse to the public mind on the subject of education of incalculable importance. They are his 17 preserved, we would thank tliee for all which, under thy true monument, his ever-enduring memorial. The potent forces which he set in motion through the instru- mentality of his spoken and written words continue their beneficent operations in all our borders. We see their effects in all that we most value in our civilization. It may well be doubted, whether any other man has done so much as he has to shape the destiny and determine the future history of the Commonwealth. Although, during those twelve years, technically and officially limited in his aims to the specific task of elevating and improving the public schools of this State, the eff'ects of his beneficent labors soon extended from State to State, through the laud and beyond the sea, till they were felt more or less in every civilized nation on the globe. Never has any man had a deeper, broader, truer sense of what popular education should be, — its nature and necessity, — and the means of securing it ; or who said more or did more to sink it deep into the hearts of men. His name and fame are secure ; they need no monu- ment of bronze or marble to perpetuate their memory. But, as an expression of our appreciation of the tran- scendent importance of the cause for which he labored, it is eminently fit that this sculptured image should be set up where it will meet the eye of every legislator as he enters " our halls of council." Indeed, " it is for us, the living, rather to be dedicated here to the unfi^iished loork" which he did so much to promote. " It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us, that from this honored name we take in- 3 18 creased devotion to that cause for whicli he gave the last measure of devotion." 1 rejoice especially in tliis occasion, because it is the first time in the history of this country, if not of the world, that the genius of Sculpture has been invoked to aid in rendering such honors to one who gave him- self to the education, iiot of a sect, or of a favored class, but of the whole mass of the people, the rich and poor, bond and free, without distinction of race, color, or nationality. It thus becomes in some sort a landmark to indicate a new step in the progress of society. And I must not omit to call to mind at this time the important fiict, that Mr. Mann, in his efforts to promote the cause of popular education, came to see that this object could be accomplished only by good teachers ; and hence his Herculean struggles to establish and maintain Normal schools for the training of such teachers, and his unceasing endeavors to impress upon the pubHc mind and heart the necessity of elevating and encour- aging the profession of teaching, by bestowing upon it proper social consideration and adequate pecuniary com- pensation.' What he did to dignify and magnify the teacher's calling entitles him to be reckoned as one of its noblest benefactors. But alas that his matchless appeals in its behalf should still be so little heeded even in this Commonwealth ! To my mind this majestic figure symbolizes, and wHW. ever symbolize, as often as my eyes rest upon it, the grand and inspiring Idea of Progress, — that idea which was at once the faith and inspiration of Horace Mann. He believed in, and therefore he labored for, the pro- 19 gress of mankind, — the progress of the individual in intellectual, moral, and physical excellence, and conse- quently in happiness and usefulness ; the progress of the State in freedom and justice, and consequently in national prosperity and power. Universal education he regarded as the divinely appointed means — education sanctified by religion — of realizing this grand idea, and therefore as the essential instrument of political improvement and of social advancement. It is his praise that he lived up to his idea. We have entered into his labors ; and there is not a man or woman under middle age bred in the State, who is not better educated in consequence of Mr. Mann's labors. And now that we have honored him with this monument, let us honor him still more by imitating his example. At the conclusion of Mr. Philbrick's remarks, Rev. Thomas Hill, D.D., President of Harvard College, came forward and spoke as follows : — We have dedicated this statue, fellow-citizens, not more to the memory of him of whose bodily presence it is so faithful a reminder, than to those great principles to which, especially during the twelve years in which he was &st Secretary of the Board of Education, he dedi- cated himself with such wonderful zeal, energy and suc- cess. So long as it stands here on its firm pedestal, let it perpetually remind the people of this Commonwealth, and their representatives' in those halls of legislation, that Massachusetts by his appointment, eight and twenty years ago last Thursday, pledged herself to lead those States who take a wise interest in the education of their 20 citizens. Nobly did she struggle under his guidance, and with his powerful aid, to redeem that pledge. Let him, as he stands here in ever-enduring bronze, warn and admonish her that nothing but a perpetual struggle will enable her to maintain her place. The genius of the sculptor has filled those motionless lips with his wonted expression of mingled tenderness and severity, of stern self-renunciation, and inflexible devotion to his undertaken task ; and, if Massachusetts listens, she can- not fail to hear in their silent eloquence the words, " Honor not me, but honor the principles for Avhich you gave me the opportunity to labor ; remember that it is the right and the duty of a State to give each one of her children, of every class, and of either sex, that amount and that kind of education which shall best enable him to serve mankind." Let us listen to his doctrine, for it is true. What St. Paul says of the Church holds also of a nation, We are all one body, and members in par- ticular. Each individual member of the body pohtic serves best his own interests by serving the interests of the whole, and the nation best serves the interest of the whole by guarding carefully the interests and rights of each individual. The least honorable members are oftentimes' most useful, and most worthy of special care. In this newly regenerate nation, therefore, let there be no North, no South, no East, no West, no Celt nor Anglo-Saxon, Teuton nor African, male nor female, bond nor free ; but let American citizenship be all in all, — securing to each man equal attention, equal protec- tion, and equal opportunity to gam that amoimt and that kind of education which will enable him most thor- 21 oughly to serve the nation. But, should the American people fail of obtaining rapidly this full stature of man- hood, let, at all events, the Commonwealth of Massa- chusetts show an example of united devotion to the highest aims. Let there be no jealousy here between the seaboard and the mountains, between the farmer and the manufacturer ; but let all unite in sustaining the honor and the interests of the State, — well assui-ed that the interests of all sections, and of all classes must, in the long-run, prove identical. Your common schools once stood superior to any on the continent ; but, New York and the North-western States are more thoroughly awakened, more free from the trammels of routine, more generous, in proportion to their means, in outlay, and will soon outstrip you unless you renew your zeal. Your colleges and your University once stood in a proud pre-eminence over those of sister States ; but other States have now for many years been imitating with great suc- cess your previous steps, and will in a few years, unless you hasten to anticipate them, have more richly en- dowed, more thoroughly organized, and more generally comprehensive institutions for the highest education, than you. Let Massachusetts retrieve and increase her ancient honors. Let us never forget, so long as this sacred image recalls the faithful and tireless fii'st Secre- tary of the Board of Education, that it is the right and the duty of the State to provide for each child that amount and that kind of education which will most surely prepare him for as great usefulness to his race as his native talents will permit him to attain. Our com- mon schools are yet susceptible of improvement in their 22 mode of rendering the great mass of the people intelli- gent and happy co-laborers in the work of society. Our State scholarships, although useful, fall very far short of enabling all our children who desire it to obtain a col- legiate education. The Commonwealth must not fail to put to the utmost use all the talent of all her sons ; and the higher the talent, the more need there is of utilizing it. Those, therefore, who would pursue the highest walks of literature or science or art, or would make themselves masters of philosophy and political econ- omy and jurisprudence and statesmanship, and thus fit themselves for the highest possible service of the State, should be freely added by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and not be left dependent on private fortunes, nor forced to seek aid in the universities of foreign lands. Let the State determine so to improve all her facilities of education as rather to attract the youth of foreign lands hither. Horace Mann in his youth proclaimed the eternal progress of a true State : let not the erection of his statue mark the time when this State ceased to advance, and rested satisfied with her imperfect attain- ments. Rather let us honor his name by giving our- selves heartily to the high ends of humanity and the broad cause of education, with which he was identified, and in which he won a name more enduring than bronze, and established himself in the affectionate re- membrance of the people jnore firmly than any work of man's hands can be placed upon its foundations. 23 The children then sang with much spirit the follow- ing hymn : — My country, 'tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing ; Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrim's pride. From every mountain side Let freedom ring. My native country, thee — Land of the noble, free — Thy name — I love : I love thy rocks and rills, Thy woods and templed hills ; My heart with rapture thrills Like that above. Let music swell the breeze. And ring from all the trees t Sweet freedom's song : Let mortal tongues awake ; Let all that breathe partake ; Let rocks their silence break, — The sound prolong. Our fathers' God, to thee. Author of liberty. To thee we sing : Long may our land be bright With freedom's holy light ! Protect us by thy might, Great God, our King ! A benediction was then pronounced by the Rev. Dr. Stebbins. This closed these simple but earnest and impressive services. 24 The statue stands a memorial, not only of Horace ^lann, but of the desire of the people of Massachusetts, that the highest public homage, and the highest honors of art, should not be reserved for warriors, statesmen, and philosophers, but bestowed also upon those public benefactors who spend pure lives in doing good to their fellow-men. Various criticisms of the statue, as a work of art, have been printed. A few of them have been colored by par- tiality for the artist ; but others have been tinged by bitterness arising out of party or sectarian prejudice against the great man whom she strove to commemo- rate. Both are unworthy the artist and her subject. Miss Stebbins, inspired by love of her art, and by admiration of her subject, imdertook one of the most diffi- cult tasks in sculpture, and has achieved a degree of success very creditable to so young an artist, and which gives great promise of her future career. No American artist approaches nearer to Crawford, who, as yet, stands head and shoulders above the sculp- tors of the age. Miss Stebbins's statue has now been some time before the public eye, and has certainly won popular favor. The likeness has been preserved ; the attitude and general expression are characteristic of the great and good teacher ; and the whole effect upon the spectator is pleasant and grateful. The Avork is ornamental to our city, and creditable to American art. The following is the most valuable and fair critique which has yet appeared : — CHITIQUE. As we approach the State House, we see, with a certain sur- prise, that it has now two guardians, instead of one. To the grim, dark figure, already familiar to us, a shining colleague has been added. The colors of the two bronzes, of which the one is nearly golden, the other nearly iron in its hue, are not in stronger contrast than the character of the two statues. Whatever shall be said of the qualities and defects of their execution, they may at least be taken as well representing the two men in whose image and memory they stand. The figure on the right is well known to us. Long before Death took him, his features had become traditional as one of the gods of the popular idolatry, which gods oftenest prove to be no more than Titans. His great merits and demerits have received full discussion, and' settlement as adequate as the limits of human judgment allow. Time has condensed much that was vaporous in his reputation. Dead and dis- tanced, his praises fill the streets no more. But at some declamation of the Latin or High School, the youthful orators will astonish you with the ponderous ring of his sentences, the terseness and simplicity of his statements. In reciting a fragment of his speeches, these children appear to lift, for a moment, the hammer of Thor. What he is to say does not announce itself. It falls upon you with the shock of sudden thunder. For the forcible use of English words and natural logic, he remains, in his day, without a rival. 4 26 The attitude of this man is one of distant and unsympathetic reserve. He does not look as if he had respected, much less loved, the race for which he was compelled to labor. The disappointment of his life is written on the bronze features of his statue. His great final object was a personal and out- ward one. The symbol of supreme power, not the fact of supreme service, came to be the desired end of his efforts. He did not attain it, and was unhappy. This gloomy model of him will not suggest the easier side of his character, in which a certain grim good-fellowship is said to have had its place. For he had pleasures, like a weaker man. He loved hunting, fishing, farming, tolerable company, and good liquor, or what is called such. Whether he loved men or women is a ques- tion whose answer we will leave in respectful silence. The facts of his intimate personality are not known to us. But so much is known to us. In the absolute supremacy of the moral law, as the final point of appeal in all questions, he did not believe. This, his theory and his practice show us. During the later years of his public life, a problem began to shape itself before the people, and to press for settlement. This problem was capable only of a moral solution. Mr. Web- ster tried to give it a social and economic one, and failed. And this want of faith, this inner defeat to which no outward discomfiture could correspond, is the real cause of the shadow on the brow, and of the gloomy return upon self, pictured in the whole attitude of Mr. Powers's work which, so far, has the merit of being true to nature. A different personage is he on our left, the new comer in this court of Memory. A radiant serenity diffuses itself over his countenance. One hand is extended with persuasive hos- pitality, the other holds fast a book, — the symbol of mental wealth, and of moral enlightenment. This is one whose ser- vice was its own guerdon, and who asked of men nothing but that he might do them good. Devoted to the peaceable in- terests of education, he did much to prepare the wider range 27 of study and opportunity now enjoyed by the younger gener- ation. He tilled and fenced in, from the common of the public high road, those green pastures from which the lambs of the Commonwealth make such pleasant music. A good shepherd, and a brave champion also ; for when the time of trial came, he had his weapon ready, and was one of the earliest and stoutest defenders of the pass for which men fought, first in single combat, finally with the whole strength of the nation. Let us bid him welcome, with his open brow, his earnest eye, his benevolent lips. A man of simple life and no amuse- ments, he was happy, because his objects were such as cohere with the great order of human progress. All that brought good to his fellow-men brought joy to him. As an instrument of much vital service to the Commonwealth, he rightfully en- joyed the approval of his own conscience, and the gratitude of his fellow-citizens. Ardent in temperament, the logical balance of his mind preserved him from the distortions of fanaticism. And, although formidable in controversy, no per- sonal rancor survived in him the vehemence called forth by the exigencies of debate. So much for his auspicious return among us. For, though he left us to carry New-England culture into the wilderness of the West, his affections, as his merits, still belonged to us. We, who were forced to resign him living, receive him back in the ideal presence which is the special gift of Art, the embodiment of his pure life and noble worth. For this boon we have to thank Miss Stebbins, an American woman of ge- nius, whose co-operation in our plans and desires has been most zealous and disinterested. For a critical judgment, the work of Miss Stebbins must be compared with those of others of her sex, upon which much praise has been carelessly lavished. The statues of feminine artists hitherto known to us have presented subjects of less difficulty than the one now under consideration, and have been observed under circumstances less trying to their gen- 28 eral effect. The elevation of the Mann statue above the ordi- nary point of view brings into the strongest relief those parts of the figure which are usually least conspicuous. The ex- cessive brightness, too, of the new bronze is an hindrance to artistic effect, sure to be modified hereafter by time and weather. As a portraiture of Mr. Mann, the head and face are all that his friends could desire. The action of the right arm, and the quiet of the left arm, are both good. The attitude is tender and parental ; and the aspect of the whole, as seen from the front, is expressive, and characteristic of the personage represented. The lower portion of the statue is less happy, as seen from its present position, than the upper part. This may be in part the result of the difference between the elevation at which it now appears, and the limits of the studio in which it was mod- elled. While Miss Stebbins's work shows less familiarity with the details of execution than the " Zenobia " of Miss Hosmer, it shows, in our opinion, a greater power and originality of con- ception. It has a personality, an individuality, not to be predicated of the royal captive, who appears, moreover, in plastic marble, not in ungrateful bronze, the most difficult material for the subjects of sculpture. One word as to the costume of the statue, to which some exceptions have been taken. The cloak in which the figure is partially enveloped is not, as alleged by some, a military cloak, but simply a garment of a fashion much in use twenty- five or thirty years ago, familiar to the recollection of all who remember the dress of that period. Neither is the cloak of Chantrey's statue of Washington, quoted in the same connec- tion, an item of a military costume. Upon this point we are able to speak from direct testimony. Our honored fellow- townsman, Senator Sumner, having at one time the pleasure of personal intercourse with the sculptor Chantrey, learned from him, upon interrogation, that the drapery of the Wash- 29 ington was modelled from an ample cloak constantly worn by Canova, during his visit to London in 1814, and bequeathed by him to his brother artist, on the eve of his return to the Continent. So the military cloak of Washington turns out to be the peaceful mantle of an Italian artist. And the figure of Mr. Mann is very suitably presented to us under the folds of a garment which a man of his time would have been sure to possess, and might have continued to wear at any period of his life. But criticism, even the most friendly, is a poor return for the costly gifts of Art. To Miss Stebbins we owe only thanks and congratulations. We cannot justify, and will not imitate, that high-flown and sensational style of , encomium so much in use, and so little in place, in speaking of recent American works of Art. Better than all compliment is it to say, that Miss Stebbins has attempted one of the greatest difficulties in the domain of Art, and that her efforts have accomplished a creditable success. To make a good portrait statue is allowed by artists to be no easy undertaking. To make a good bronze statue is still less easy. Miss Stebbins has had to encounter those two tasks in one. Those of us who appre- ciate the character and services of the eminent man whose features she has portrayed for us will be sure to include her in their grateful remembrance. LIBRARY OF 019 793 369 Ol