And spangled heavens ...

The island is far enough removed from the city so that no direct
comparisons can be made between the statue and any buildings. Seen from
the deck of a steamer at a distance say of a quarter of a mile, the
horizon, formed by the roofs, towers, spires and chimneys of three
cities, will not appear higher than the lower half of the pedestal. In
other words the statue will neither be dwarfed nor magnified by the
contiguity of any discordant objects. It will stand alone. The abstract
idea, as has been said, is noble. The plan of utilizing the statue as a
lighthouse at night does not detract from its worth in this respect; it
may be said to even emphasize the allegorial sense of the work.
"Liberty enlightening the world," lights the way of the sailor in the
crowded harbor of the second commercial city of the world. The very
magnitude of the work typifies, after a manner, the vast extent of our
country, and the audacity of the scheme is not inappropriate in the
place where it is to stand. It may be, indeed, that when the statue is
set up, we shall find it awkward and offensive, as some critics have
already prophecied: but that it must be so inevitably does not appear to
me to be a logical deduction from the information we have at hand as to
the artist and his plans. It is freely admitted that no modern work of
this nature has been successful, but that does not prove that this must
absolutely be a failure. The project ought not to be condemned in
advance because of the great difficulties surrounding it, its unequalled
scope and its novelty. Mr. Bartholdi is above all ingenious, bold, and
fertile in resources; it would be a great pity not to have him allowed
every opportunity to carry out a design in which, as we have seen, there
are so many elements of interest and even of grandeur. It has been said
that "there does not exist on French soil such a bombastic work as this
will be." Very well; admitting for the sake of argument that it will be