Page images
PDF
EPUB

right, and Illinois, on the left, are apparently diminished in width. The left edge of the tablet-III.— forms the inside of the corner, as it joins the square base of the obelisk, which brings Mississippi on a straight surface. The bands or links connecting the tablets are well illustrated.

[graphic][merged small][merged small]

The statue of Mr. Lincoln stands on a pedestal projecting from the south side of the obelisk, seven feet higher than the four round pedestals. The pedestal bearing the statue of Lincoln has the United States Coat of Arms, in bronze, sunk in a recess on its front. The Coat of Arms, as shown in Figure 9, is somewhat modified, and is in bas relief.

It will be observed that the shield, with part of the

stars obscured, supports the American Eagle. The olive branch on the ground shows, that having been tendered until it was spurned by the rebels, it was then cast under foot. Then the conflict began, and raged until the chain of slavery was torn asunder, one part remaining grasped in the talons of the eagle, and the other held aloft in his beak. The coat of arms, in the position it occupies on the monument, is intended to typify the Constitution of the United States. Mr. Lincoln, on the pedestal above it, makes the whole an illustration of his position at the outbreak of the rebellion. He took his stand on the Constitution, as his authority for using the four arms of the war power of the Government-the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, and the Navy, which are to be represented in groups around him to hold together the States, which are represented still lower on the monument, by a cordon of tablets, linking them together, as it were, in a perpetual bond of Union.

The statue of Lincoln is the central figure in the group, or series of groups. There is nothing visible, on all the exterior, except granite and bronze. You enter the shaft, or obelisk, on a level with the Terrace, at the south side, under the statue of Lincoln, and ascend the spiral stairway seventy-seven feet, which brings you to the platform at the top, previously described. The floor of this platform is made of iron, and is ninety-two feet from the ground. The monument being on almost as high ground as any within several miles of the city, affords a fine prospect of Springfield and the surrounding country. Figure 10 is an accurate representation of the monument from the southeast, as it will appear when completed, and as it now appears, with the exception of the statuary. The door on the ground is the entrance to Memorial Hall; that on the Terrace, the entranee to the obelisk. The Catacomb is on the opposite side, and consequently

[graphic][subsumed][merged small]

THE NATIONAL LINCOLN MONUMENT, SPRINGFIELD, ILL.-SOUTH VIEW.

does not appear in this picture, but it is entered by a door on the ground, the same as that to Memorial Hall.

In order to make it more easily understood, I will recapitulate the dimensions. The base is seventy-two and a half feet square, and with the circular projection of the Catacomb on the north, and Memorial Hall on the south, the extreme length on the ground from north to south is one hundred and nineteen and a half feet. Height of the Terrace, fifteen feet ten inches. From the Terrace to the apex of the Obelisk, eighty-two feet six and a half inches. From the grade line to the top of the four round pedestals, twenty-eight feet four inches, and to the top of the pedestal for the Lincoln statue, thirty-five and a half feet. Total height from ground line to apex of Obelisk, ninety-eight feet four and a half inches. The above measurements were taken by T. J. Dennis in January, 1872.

CHAPTER XXV.

I have said that Memorial Hall would be the receptacle for articles that had been used by Mr. Lincoln, or in any way associated with his memory. There is a stone preserved in the Hall, which will furnish food for reflection to all lovers of liberty, but to those whose meditative faculties are fully developed, the study of it will be a rich feast.

All historians are aware that much of the early history of Rome is obscure and traditional, and that some of her reputed rulers are regarded, by a portion of the early historical writers, as mere creatures of the imagination, whilst others who are entitled to equal credence, regard what is related of them as, in the main,

true.

Taking all the light that can be obtained on the subject, the following is thought to be a correct version of the life of Servius Tullius: He is said to have been the sixth king of Rome. It is stated that he ascended the throne 578 years before the birth of Christ. He was of obscure origin, and his history mingled with pagan mythology. It is intimated that one or both of his parents were slaves. The policy of his reign was to better the condition of the common people by every means he could devise, and to raise them to an equality with their rulers, so far as the right to life and property was concerned. It is even asserted that he was aiming to qualify them to be their own rulers, with a view to abolishing the kingly office. He discharged the debts of his indigent subjects from his own private revenues, and deprived the creditor of the power of seizing the body of the debtor, restricting him to the goods and chattels for the liquidation of his claims.

« PreviousContinue »