[104] given myself here. Painting I have studied in the works of the masters before me, and in the various books in which their lives and merits are commemorated; and I have not contented myself by simply seeing and looking upon the ancient remains that have been preserved to us. My rule is with Horace,—‘Dona praesentis cape laetus horae;’ and while in any place to surrender myself as much as possible to all those things which make its life and peculiarity. What a day I passed at Tivoli! I was with French companions, one of whom lent me his pocket ‘Horace.’ The others strolled away to see some ruin or catch a nearer spray of the falling water. I lay on the grass with the praeceps Anio before me, in the very Tiburtine grove that Horace had celebrated; and there I read the first book of his odes, and on the spot saw and felt the felicity of his language. I am going to pass a few days in a convent with some Franciscan friars, on the banks of the beautiful Alban lake. Ever affectionately yours,C. S.P. S. Ah, my Dante! how I have thrilled under his stern and beautiful measures! I shall write you and my friends a letter soon about an artist here, Mr. T. Crawford, for whom I am anxious that something should be done. In your letters always cover every spot; tell me all the news about everybody in Court Street, and State Street, and Beacon Street, &c. I shall be in Germany when your answer to this comes, away from sight of any American paper. Greene, who is now with me, remembers you in Boston, and sends his regards. He has the highest admiration for you, and you should have the same for him, as he is one of the most accomplished scholars of our country, and is full of honorable ambition. Give my love to all. How is Longfellow? When I leave my convent,—where I intend to live as I chiefly do here, on fruit, salads, and wine,—I shall go to Florence. But I shall write you from my hermitage, if Nature and the library spare me any time.
To George S. Hillard.
Convent of Palazzuola, July 26, 1839.dear Hillard,—In my last, dated from Rome, I mentioned that there was an American sculptor there, who needs and deserves more patronage than he has. I wish now to call your particular attention to his case, and through you to interest for him such of my friends as you choose to mention it to. He is Mr. Thomas Crawford,1 of New York; he commenced life
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1 Thomas Crawford was born in New York, March 22, 1813, and died in London, Oct. 10, 1857. He visited Italy in 1835, and studied under Thorwaldsen at Rome. Among his chief works are the ‘Orpheus’ (1840), in the Boston Athenaeum; the colossal equestrian statue of Washington at Richmond; the colossal statue of ‘Liberty’ on the dome of the National Capitol; and the designs on the bronze doors of the Capitol, illustrating scenes in the history of the country. Among his statues are the ‘Beethoven’ in the Music Hall, Boston, and the ‘James Otis’ in the chapel at Mount Auburn.—Tuckerman's ‘Book of Artists,’ pp. 306-320; ‘Atlantic Monthly,’ July, 1869,—‘Thomas Crawford, A Eulogy,’ by George S. Hillard, pp. 40-54. Sumner, the day he arrived in Paris, in March, 1857, sought Crawford's lodgings, which he found only after a considerable effort. A fatal disease was upon him. Sumner wrote: ‘The whole visit moved me much. This beautiful genius seems to be drawing to its close.’ Sumner attended his funeral in New York, on December 5, and was one of the pall-bearers with George W. Greene, H. T. Tuckerman, and Dr. Lieber.
Cambridge, MA. Press of John Wilson and Son. 1877.
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