We are delighted to learn that the American Committee who
had the duty of deciding which statue of Lincoln is to be given to Great Britain have reported exactly in the sense we hoped for. They advise that the well-known and idealized work by St. Gaudens shall be given to London, to be placed in the Canning enclosure, but that the United States shall also give to Great Britain the much-disputed statue by Barnard, to be placed in some other city. We quite agree that for the purposes of the capital the St. Gaudens statue is the right one. It commands the greatest common measure of assent and admiration. But for our part we confess to a great sympathy with work that is daring, rugged, and in a sense experimental. The laughing-stock of to-day often becomes the accepted form of to-morrow. Mr. Barnard's statue ought to be given to some town with academic leanings where such work would attract the highest degree of sympathy. It ought to go to some such place as Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester, Birmingham, or Liverpool. Our own suggestion is Oxford.
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