The aggregate happiness of society is, or ought to be, the end of
all government.--WASHINGTON.
To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of
preserving peace.--WASHINGTON.
=Mr. Garnsey’s Ceiling Painting.=--The disc of the dome contains
one of the most interesting and ingeniously arranged of the purely
conventional decorations which ornament the Library. In the centre
is the great seal of the United States, which puts the final touch
of significance upon the series of paintings in the tympanums.
Surrounding it is a circular band containing forty-eight stars, one
for each State and Territory. On the diagonal axes of the room are
four medallions containing heads symbolizing the Four Winds--North,
South, East and West--each blowing a gale from his mouth, as in
the classical representations. They stand, of course, for the four
great natural divisions of the country. Below each medallion is
a garland of fruits or grains, festooned from bunches of eagles’
feathers which spring from the central panel of the decoration, and
indicating the nature of the products of each section. The garland
under the medallion of the North Wind, for example, is composed of
apples, pears, peaches, and similar fruits; that under the East Wind,
of various vegetables and berries; under the West Wind, grains,
as wheat, oats, and maize; and under the South Wind, bananas,
pomegranates, oranges, lemons, and so forth.
Other emblematic objects introduced into the decoration are lyres,
each flanked on either side by a horn of plenty filled with fruits;
and flaming torches, set between a pair of dolphins. There are
thus two sorts of groups, each of which occurs four times in the
decoration in accordance with the standard fixed by the four
medallions of the Winds. The four different objects depicted signify
four of the great interests of the country--the lyre, the Fine Arts;
the cornucopia, Agriculture; the torch, Learning and Education; and
the dolphin, Maritime Commerce. Finally the composition is united
by American flags festooned from the lyres to the garlands of fruit
which underhang the medallions of the Winds. And around the whole
is a narrow border, on which are inscribed the following words from
Lincoln’s Gettysburg address, used also, in part, by Mr. Vedder in
his decorations in the Entrance Hall:--
That this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom;
that government of the people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth.