All is now ready for man.
In the center of the Court of the Universe was to have been Daniel
French's Genius of Creation, but if it is not there, we must not lose
the great dominant note of this Court, so pass thru the Triumphal Arch
of the Orient, thru the beautiful Aisle of the Rising Sun, across the
Court of the Ages, out thru the next aisle, to the plaza in front of
Machinery Palace in order to follow the story.
Here on the boulder sits the great Spirit (not a man you will notice).
The hood is drawn far over the face so that a certain idealism is
produced - a great spirit with wings and arms raised.
Wisdom (the serpent) encircles the throne.
The arms of the creating spirit have just been raised, the word has just
been spoken and splendid manhood ready to meet the world, with modest,
helpful woman, just come forth. The hands touch at the back of the
group, causing you to feel that man and woman are mutually dependent.
Return to the Court of the Universe.
Now, look up at the Triumphal arches and notice Leo Lentelli's Angel of
Peace with its downturned sword.
"Let there be peace throughout the world. Turn down the sword," it says.
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A night of illumination should follow your work and you can then read
under the searchlights the words on the right upper corner of the
Oriental Gateway -
"Our eyes and hearts uplifted
Seem to rest on heaven's radiance."
(From Hitomaro, the Japanese poet of the 8th century, A. D.)
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Your scene is shifted for a short time.
You have passed into the Court of the Ages for a retrospect (upon the
human side).
The primitive people are to be seen here on the Fountain of the
Psychology of Life. Don't try to see everything in detail now, for you
can come back later.
Just realize this, that the small group facing west in the fountain is
The Dawn of Life, then comes Natural Selection which develops into The
Survival of the Fittest, or The Development of the Militant Spirit.
This early period shows man working strongly under the power of impulse.
Vanity, lust and greed seem to dominate his actions. On these primitive
people pass thru life. You can see them if you look up on the Tower. On
they march, in that upward climb of civilization.
Marching along with primitive man, thru long periods of time, you next
meet him developed as the Crusader of the Mediaeval period. He has
mounted thru war and his religion and stands at the feet of the
Priestess of Religion, the last group at the upper part of the Tower.
On either side you will notice a man and a woman standing on the bodies
of primitive beings. These figures represent the man and the woman of
today - the man and the woman who have sprung from this primitive stock.
Don't stop in this beautiful Court of the Ages, for we shall return
later to finish our story.
You have gotten connection enough now to allow you to return to the
Court of the Universe.
Take a seat in the sunken garden and look up at the figures on the
Triumphal Arch of the Rising Sun. The Orientals are represented by many
types.
From left to right are seen:
1. The Arab sheik on his Arabian steed.
2. The Negro servitor with fruits on head.
3. The Egyptian on his camel, carrying a Mohammedan standard.
4. The Arab falconer with bird on wrist.
5. The splendid Indian prince on the back of the elephant.
6. Inside the howdah the Spirit of the East.
7. The lama from Thibet with his rod of authority.
8. The Mohammedan with his crescent standard.
9. Again a negro servitor.
10. The Mongolian on his horse.
On they come, these Orientals, to take part in the great celebration.
(They are the collaborated work of A. Stirling Calder, Leo Lentelli,
Frederick Roth.)
Next look up at your Occidentals on the Arch of the Setting Sun.
From left to right you see:
1. The French Canadian - the trapper.
2. The Alaskan with her totem poles on her back.
3. The Latin-American on horseback.
4. The German.
5. The Italian.
6. The Anglo-American.
7. The Squaw with her papoose basket.
8. The American Indian on his horse.
In the center is the old Prairie Schooner drawn by the great oxen.
Atop, pushing out, is Enterprise leading these men westward, on either
side a white boy and a colored boy, The Heroes of Tomorrow.
In front marches that stalwart Mother of Tomorrow. It has taken all
these Occidentals to produce the work that is coming in the future - the
achievements due to the completion of the Panama Canal - therefore, they
conjointly express "The Mother of Tomorrow."
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These nations are now marching into the Court of the Universe and are to
meet in front of the Tower of Jewels, the symbol of the Panama Canal.
Read now on the Occidental Gateway the magnificent lines by Walt
Whitman:
"Facing west from California's shores,
Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,
I, a child, very old, over waves
Toward the house of maternity, the land of migrations look afar,
Look off the shores of my western sea,
The circle almost circled."
Mr. Porter Garnett's excellent explanation you may be glad to read:
"In these transcendent lines we have the poet speaking as the
personification and representative of the Aryan race, the race, which,
having its origin in the plains of Kashmir, has by virtue of the spirit
of conquest, the desire to be seeking what is yet unfound, finally
reached the western edge of the American Continent, whence it 'faces
west from California's shores' and looks toward the House of Maternity,
the Land of Migrations from which it originally sprang."
"It seems hardly possible to conceive of an inscription that embodies
such a tremendous thought, and is, at the same time, so appropriate to
the purpose for which it is suggested. It comes, moreover, from the poet
who above all others represents the spirit of the American people and
the ideals of democracy."
You now feel the import of the Occidentals who, with that Aryan spirit,
have with mighty power, such as Hercules alone possessed (as Perham
Nahl's poster tells you) severed two continents and introduced the
Panama Canal.
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Next read the far-seeing words of Goethe in his letters to Eckermann (on
the west side of The Arch of the Setting Sun):
"It is absolutely indispensable for the United States to effect a
passage from the Mexican Gulf to the Pacific Ocean, and I am certain
that they will do it. Would that I could live to see it, but I shall
not."
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