Art Out-of-Doors 



reason alone. If a work of art is agreeable 



to look upon, we may be glad to possess it 

 even if it commemorates a well-meaning no- 

 body. 



But the question of artistic excellence is 

 very important, and not only from the 

 purely artistic point of view. A bad v/ork 

 of art bearing the name of a great man de- 

 grades his memory, persistently imprinting 

 upon the people's mind a weak or false or 

 grotesque idea of him. Who can be won 

 to admiration of the poet by the contorted, 

 ridiculous figure at the entrance of the Mall 

 in Central Park, which bears the name 

 of Burns ? Or who can gain a fresh sense 

 of the service which Seward rendered the 

 Republic by contemplating his statue on 

 Madison Square ? But Farragut is really 

 commemorated, really honored, by the fig- 

 ure which stands not far away from the 

 Seward. Each time we pass it we think 

 with gratitude and admiration of him, while 

 we receive an impression of pleasure from 

 the sight of the work of art as such. Nor 

 need it be thought that the humblest among 

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