Statues to Women.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10501, 23 November 1901, Page 2 (Supplement)

Statues to Women.

(Hilton Brooke, in the Lady's Magazine) Many famous women have been immortalised in poem and painting, but few in bronie and marble. The recent memorial to the ill-fated -*rlle. Henriot, of the Theatre Francais, with its touching line, "I came — I smiled — I passed away," recalls the fact that women are seldom honoured in this way. mere aro numerous statues of the virgin, St. Ursula, and other patron saints of the Boman Catholic chnrcheSj nunneries, and schools, and occasionally statues to women are found in the interior of churches and public bnildings — as, for instance, the beautiful tomb to "Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother," in Westminster Abbey, and the Shelley monument at Christchurch, which includes a sculptured figure of Mary Godwin. But if we except these and the numerous statues erected in honour of Queen "Victoria, wo find that there are strangely few statues to women in the United Kingdom. Queen Eleanor's crosses, which were originally twelve, and of which three only now remain, all contained statues of Edward's brave consort, but they have long since disappeared beneath the ravages of time, serving first, however, as the originals of the many likenesses of Queen Eleanor which have been handed down to us. There are several statues to Queen Anne in England; one of these is to be seen in a niche in the wall at Queen. Anne's Gate, S.W., one at Minehead, one at Gloucester, and the well-known, one in front of St. Paul's, in which her Majesty is scornfully turning her "• back on the Cathedral! Some years ago a statue of Queen Anne stood 'in a ' niche of a building facing Briggatv, Leeds. The building was pulled down, and the statue cleaned and placed in ' the Fine Art Gallery, where it, still remains. The Queen Anne statue at Gloucester stands in the Spa Field, overlooking the "classic" cricket ground, , the scene of W. G. Grace's novitiate, and is very neglected-looking and dilapidated. The one at Minehead is of , white marble, and was presented to the town in 1719 by Sir Jacob Banks, who onco represented the borough in Parliament. It formerly stood in" the church of St. Michael, but waa reerected in its present position in Wellington Square in 1893 by public subscription. A statue of Queen Elizabeth

adorns a niche in St. Dunatan'a Church, Fleet Street, and one* of Queen Jmae stands in Queen's Square, Bloomsbury. There is an imposing ntannineart. to the Duchess of York at Weybridg*, in Surrey, which waa erected to -her mem* ory by the inhabitants of the- town. It consists of a column, thirty feat in height, moumUd on -a pedMtal, which bears tho following inscription: — "This - column was erected by the inhabitant*: of Weybridge and it* vicinity, on the 6th day of August, 1822, . in .'toktft of their esteem and regard for her late Boyal Highness, the most excellent and illustrious Fxederica Charlotte Ulrica Catherina, who resided tor^upjra^da of thirty-nine years at Oatlands^in this parish, exercising every Christian virtue,, and died universally regretted on. the ' 6th day of August, 1820." ' ' ' , The only statue in England ever' erected to v actreaa, with the ex£ep-. tion of that of Helen Faucit at Strat-ford-on-Ayon, is that to the memory of the great Mrs Siddons at Paddington Green, which represents her , as', the' "Tragic Muse," after the celebrated ; painting of Beynolds. The ground now covered by Paddington Station was once the site of Mr* Siddons' farm (how surprised she would be if she could take' a peep at it now 7), and here the famous tragedienne lived after her, retirement from the stage. The statue is of. white marble, by L. Chavilliaud, and bean the inscription: "Siddons. 1755-1831.'' The beautiful statue of Bnrns' ''Highland Mary" at Dunoon, which stands in sight of all the passing ships, was erected in memory of the lowly-born but saintly Mary Campbell, of whom her poet-lover sang: For dear to me as light and life ; , Was my sweet Highland Mary. ; . The romantic story is familiar to all . admirers of Burns. The lovers were betrothed under touching circumstances on May 14, 1786. after which they sep^ . arated, never to meet again on this side, ',' . of the grave. ' Mary's untimely death ". formed the theme of the. exquisite, lyric, "To Mary in Heareri," and of several more of Burns' finest songs; and she^ will always be remembered, with^Dante's ' Beatrice and Petrarch's, LaurSy as". one t " who inspired an immortal ' poet witk love and music. This statue, which waa , " subscribed, for by lovers of Hnum, it of bronxe, mounted on a stone pedestal. ' It waa unveiled 'in. August,' 1898, by" ' Lady Kelvin. Five counties can be seen ' . from it., Bute, .Ayr, Benfrew, Dumbarton, and Argyll,. and it oTerlooks Dwfr- ( " oon, where Mary waa born.' Over her' grave at Oreenocfc is another monument, representing the parting of the lover*. ~ ■ „ •. -j ,-i_ TTnde Beuben: Farmer, Wfifeatley** ' , ' boy is home from college 1 . He' told me T ■' ' his eddication is finished. Uncle Hiram : ' I -guess his eddication don't amount to much. 'Uncle Beuben: Why ..mot?i - Uncle Hiram: If it did, heiwoalda*, think it was finished. .•■'•' .-.'•,■ AA ■ "So you're going toj.oall the;,<tow»' ] 'Smith Manor/ eh? Tfcat.-attikearnne ■ ..{ as awfully commonplace." "Perhapa «0, , ,r, but," replied the suburban >r«al i estate .■ ■ boomer, "we figure that every Smith in the city will jump at the chnace to sign himself 'Mr Snrith, of- Smith < '' •Manor. 9 " - ...-,!>■ ■;.,. i , -