4,6
WRITINGS OF SAM HOUSTON, 1858
genius; and I am sure that he never did it. It is impossible that genius, taste, or fancy, could ever have suggested such a thing. Sir, go look at those two statues. Look at the infant on the mother's arm, and see its attitude, and what it must perpetually endure. See, too, the attitude of that personage-I do not know who she is; it appears I was mistaken in supposing she was the goddess of Liberty. Certainly, I would have taken no undue liberties with her [laughter] because, to have commented on the · model appears to have been culpable. I did not intend it; I intended nothing but to deliver my opinion. I am not a scribbler, or I should have criticised them in the newspapers, to have pre- vented their introduction to the public eye. They well become their present condition; they are unfinished, and I hope that they will remain so as long as time lasts; for whenever the artist, or the lover of nature, or the admirer of beauty, or of elegance, comes to contemplate them, they must be condemned, no matter who produced them. But I intend no reflection on the sculptor. I intend not the slightest reflection on the memory of the departed. My friends and my enemies are alike to me, when they are covered by earth's dust-they bear no part of my ani- mosity. I only extend the sympathies of friendship to my friends with a tenderness that, perhaps, I have not had the generosity to bestow upon my adversaries ; but I never reflect upon an artist, or a man of genius. Being deficient in it myself, I admire it in others; and I am willing to accord to them the highest eulogiurns -the highest praise; but I always judge the tree by its fruit. 1congressional Globe, 1857-1858, Part 3, p. 2463. These remarks were made during the debate on the Civil Appropriation Bill and its many sections. Davis, of Mississippi, had offered an amendment to the bill for the United States Capitol extension, that $1,185,183.34 be appropriated to extend the wings of the Capitol, and to enable the Library Commission to contract with distinguished artists for historical paintings and sculpture, for panels, niches, and stairways of the Legislative halls; and for the great stairway of the Capitol extension, another $60,000, in addition to the funds in hands. CONCERNING THE ADMISSION OF MINNESOTA AS A STATE OF THE UNION 1 March 29, 1858. Mr. Houston. I am reluctant to detain the Senate by offering any remarks on this subject; but I deem it proper to say a very few words in explanation of my own course on this occasion. I disco er that there is a general feeling in the Senate to extend
• ! I
:
'
I I ' I I I •
I
l i . I l ! : i \ I ,. I I l I
Powered by FlippingBook