The Monument of ENGLAND'S GREATEST QUEEN.

Hastings Standard, Volume VIII, Issue 4632, 2 July 1904, Page 4

The Monument of ENGLAND'S GREATEST QUEEN.

! A splendid monument lo Queen I Victoria is to w eucctcd in London. i dinicuuy bus hS'.n exper .'itiiCLU in scicci .n 6 a sun able site, 'and iiiiu.i.> ii wu.& tno : Si.d.vi, iii iiuiiL, 01 liucivingr.am Paia.iu, „c illy iKttd eii i>.c .nail, was tlic mu.se u-.aiiable a.ghL for a worthy iut>iiiij-,ui to tie great. Quueii. j lu aciiiC i\,>i-aHS Uie .sia- <h n<u 5 ideal. me pioXiiini-y 01 ipßuc.*j ingliaiu i aUee maii.es it necessary elijt • the new m'....oiiai should i>e such I a character that it w..l not rtwari !the London resilience u; ordains kings, Moreover, the lacade oi u.e I palace, while- is very sunS pile, and its surroundings must. Ire in * liarmUny. No gorgeous | efl'oc-i, liKc that ol tin; memorial to I the Prince Consort in 'Axiismgum ; Gardens, would be possible, : The leading British architects ware : inviu«:i to submit sketches and. s-ug- ' gcslions, and the accepted design was : that offered by Aston Webb, K.A., in oorporatmg a heroic statue ol the lace Queen by Thomas Brock, iv.A. It involved some elaborate landscape gardening, the erection oi cqlonaia'Ctes l i fcrid gateways, the. 1-ay-ing out oi paths, t<be planting of trees and ' shrubs, and even the digging of two : small ponds. Inileod, it has been > criticised on account of its superaj fauml.ance oi oxtail, tbaugih .the gene- ■ ral opinion is thiat the effect will be ! highly decorative 'and' not inapproi priate. ) The 'lcisifiTt replaces the iron fence i in front of Buckingham Palace with :' a stone colonnade, airwi extends the : ; open spare outsii.de, enclosing it. with ; another colonnade of scmi-oireu'Lar '■ ftiim. Beyond this again, there • : sweeps a public ro.vlway, crossing " the west end of St. James' Park. ; Mr We!;b was. the only competing ar- ; chitcct who hit upon the happy idea j of carrying traffic round! the outside I of the enclosure. The roadway will i be 1 in--1 with trees and ornamented i a>t intervals with small obelisks.

In the center of thi» semicircle, in front of the main facade of the palace, and looking directly down the wide and shaded Mall toward the heart of London, will stain* th© nn posing statue of Victoria. Mr Brock the scalptor, Mas .explained that his idea is to represent the .great' queen amid the persrjniiieation of the qualities that made her great. fc>ne sits in her robes of .state ; on her right hand is -Justice, on her left hand Truth. At the LaoK is a .qroup. representing Maternity ; above, the eagle of the Kmpire. On the lofty super - structure of her throne stands Courage and Constancy ;. and the whole is dominated by a winged figure of Victory. Around; the base are four ships prows, lighting vessels.and merchantmen alternately, denoting Bntaims sea-power a«iid world-wide commerce. The monument will be of Carrara marble up to the three topmost figures, which are to-he of 'bronze gilt. The seated statue of the Queen will be thirteen feet high, and the entire structure, from the base to the tip of Victory's wings, will measure sev er.ty-flve feet. Mr Brock has now practically finished his working mod'els. With a wise prudence he determined to complete them before .•mtUng a single touch upon themon uinent itself. This prevents the misfortune, that has overtaken not a few important works of the sort —as, for instance, the JSherman memorial recently unveiled in Washington—which owing to the death of their designer iiave hem turned over to some other artist who had no means of knowing the details of the original sculptor's plvms.

The cnsUiution of the architeeUir al part o[ the memorial is now well ■iradi'r war, and ihi? whole scheme is !•.•-!'- ; ns: definite skape. Such a work is of course extremely costly. The subscriptions already receive;! amount to about, four hundred thousand ,i soori deal more will be needed. Coji iriilaitions ha'e came frpm all over the British hmpire, anil it. is interesting to note that- seventy-fwe thou sand "dollars was raised by an Ameri can committee. It is rather curious that the chief memorial of 4uetn Victoria should be so closely connected with BuckPalace ; for the late strongly disliked her London residence, and spent as little time th?re as she could. King Edward, on the other hand, seems to be very much at home t bore—greatly to the ile-, of Londoners, whose sincere at section for ihis moth.*r did nob tntirc.y stille their complaints about her nqglect of them. Plain and iV.ipretetii irus in .exteii'ior, the palace is both richly 'd'ecoTated aud comT.-Ttly equipped within, especially since the present suvereiaju added such modern can ■ er.icnees as elevators, of which itrt-ni Victoria d d not) a p prow. There are already many monuments f i'.ritain's greatest and most laiKNitii I,'ueen, and tnoir number .*■ dciily srowinr indeed. Meanly ■very important city in the Empire over wliich she r"leh will probably hen-r her m?iunr\ •».. • ,uo way cr iiiother.