X 
HREE questions suggest them- 
selves when we look at a mon- 
ument which stands in a public 
park or square or street : Does 
the person or event commemorated deserve 
such conspicuous and lasting honor ? Is the 
monument excellent as a work of art ? And 
is it so placed that it appears to the best 
advantage itself, and increases the beauty of 
its surroundings ? 
If our public places are to be fittingly 
adorned, two of these questions should be 
carefully considered every time that an out- 
door monument is proposed. The first, I 
think, may be left to take care of itself. 
Public monuments, at least in this country, 
are not likely to be decreed to persons or 
causes unworthy of respect. And if some 
are set up to record the existence of men in 
whom the public at large feels little interest, 
we need not object to their presence for this 
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