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from his lips, and the sad and sombre reality of the present, when he who had once been

"Their guide, philosopher, and friend.”

who had first taught their youthful minds to think, and to whom they had looked up with veneration and love, was now, after the lapse of near half a century, reposing in "cold oblivion" before them.

Mr. A. T. McCormick was a native of Ireland, and came to this city in the year 1795-'6. He was among the first to open a classical school, and the very first to establish an Episcopal Church in Washington. The building had been a barn, on the land of Mr. D. Carroll, one of the original proprietors of the city, and, by the individual and unaided exertions of this worthy and pious man, it was converted into an humble but decent temple of Christian worship. The illustrious Jefferson was wont to attend Divine service in this lowly chapel. He usually rode alone on horseback; his pew was handsomely cushioned, and his prayer-book was a French translation. Mr. Jefferson was much pleased with Mr. McCormick's reading, which he thought excellent. In this humble church he officiated till a larger and more commodious one of brick was erected near the Navy Yard in 1807, and continued its pastor till 1823, when he retired from its pastoral duties. Though unambitious of distinction, he endeavored to render himself useful to his fellowbeings and to society. He was appointed several years ago by the Board of Trustees of the Eastern Free School, established by the Corporation of Washington, their President, and acted in that capacity till the period of his death, to the satisfaction of the trustees and the Corporation. Mr. McCormick was a good classical scholar, of great simplicity of heart, kind, unoffending, and gentle, and a man like the brother of Goldsmith, whose

"Very failings leaned to Virtue's side."

Domestic in his habits and pious in his feelings, he was respected by all who knew him, and died, as he had lived, without an enemy.

He rests by the side of the body of the beloved and venerated Harrison, whose funeral he attended but a few short weeks before. They sleep together in peace, the exalted and the humble, and both alike

"In trembling hope repose

The bosom of their Father and their God."

W.

"CLARK MILLS."

Paper read before the Louisiana Historical Society on June 28, 1921,

CLA

By W. O. HART

LARK MILLS, the sculptor of the three Jackson statues and of other great works of art, was born in Onondaga County, New York, on December 1, 1815, and died in the City of Washington, District of Columbia, on January 12, 1883.

He was left an orphan at the age of five years, and then lived with a maternal uncle, but becoming dissatisfied with his home, ran away in 1828. After a hard experience working on a farm, cutting cedar posts in a swamp, and learning the millwright's trade, he reached New Orleans, La., where he stayed a year and then went to Charleston, S. C. Here he learned the stucco business, which he followed until 1835, when he discovered a new method of taking a cast from the living face, which enabled him to make busts so cheaply that he soon had as much work as he could do. He then resolved to try cutting in marble, and began a bust of John C. Calhoun, for which he was awarded a gold medal by the city council of Charleston, and it was placed by them in the city hall. Subsequently he executed busts of John Preston, Wade Hampton and other eminent South Carolinians. He was invited in 1848 to furnish a design for an equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, to be erected in Washington. He completed his model in eight months, and it was accepted. His treatment was entirely original. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans in 1853. It stands in Lafayette Square, and was cast

from cannon taken from the British during the War of 1812. Later he obtained a second commission for a colossal equestrian statue of George Washington and purchased ground in the vicinity of Washington, where he built a complete foundry. His statue of Washington represents a scene in the Battle of Princeton. It is placed in Washington Circle, at 25th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington City, and was dedicated on February 22, 1860. Meanwhile Mr. Mills also executed a replica of his Jackson statue for the city of New Orleans, La. In 1860 he began his statue of Freedom, after Thomas Crawford's designs, which was completed in 1863, and now stands above the dome of the Capitol. The latter part of his life was spent in making busts, and he invented a method of putting plaster on the face of his subjects, thereby adding greatly to the truthfulness of his casts.

The first equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson was erected in the City of Washington in what is known as Lafayette Square and was unveiled on January 8, 1853, the thirtyeighth anniversary of the battle of New Orleans, where the orator of the day was Stephen A. Douglas, of Illinois, then a member of the Senate of the United States and one of the unsuccessful candidates for the Presidency in 1860.

At the close of the address of Mr. Douglas, amidst shouts of the thousands who had surrounded him, Clark Mills was introduced. He had no words to express his feelings, and in lieu of words he pointed to the veiled statue; the veil was instantly withdrawn, and Jackson on his steed, as if in full action, full of life and energy, was revealed. That was his speech, and none could have been more appropriate. Without instruction, without instruments or appliances, with but little encouragement, and against the remonstrances and hindrances of men of art and men of science, he labored

for years, and by a simple gesture he pointed to the result of his labors. The scene was most picturesque, and at the close of the ceremonies many of the spectators lingered in admiration of the matchless work which the hands of a man of the people had fashioned.

The first replica of this statue is in Jackson Square in New Orleans and was unveiled on February 9, 1856, when Mr. Mills, in explaining to the people the idea which guided him in fashioning the statue, said:

"The statue before you represents one who, with a handful of men proved himself the saviour of your beautiful city. General Jackson is there represented as he appeared on the morning of the 8th of January, forty-one years ago. He has advanced to the center of the line in the act of review; the lines have come to present arms as a salute to their commander, who is acknowledging it by raising his chapeau, according to the military etiquette of that day. His restive horse, anticipating the next move, attempts to dash down the line; the bridle hand of the dauntless hero being turned under, shows that he is restraining the horse, whose open mouth and curved neck indicate that the animal is feeling the bit. I have thought this explanation necessary as there are many critics who profess not to understand the conception of the artist."

The fantastic story regarding this statue that the horse stands balanced without even being bolted is incorrect because a recent examination thereof by Mr. Robert Glenk, a member of the Society, has shown that the horse is securely fastened.

The last public appearance of the great sculptor, Mr. Mills, was when the third of the Jackson statues was unveiled in the city of Nashville on May 29, 1880, when Louisiana was most worthily represented by General W. J.

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