THB HAVELOCK MEMORIAL.
To be a hero' and to be lampooned in words while living, has long been the rule: to be a hero, and to be lampooned in marble or bronze when dead, is an invention which England, if not the originator of it, has at least brought to system and perfection. A year or two ago it was Napier's turn for an effigy in Trafalgar Square; and now, after an in- terpolated Jenner, there is to be a Havelock to match. isperience for-_ bids us to augur any good of the result. The models sent in in compe- tition, thirty-four in number, may now be seen at the Suffolk Street Gallery. The terms of the competition have fortunately excluded allegoric accessories. With casual exceptions, the models all consist simply of a figure of the valiant soldier of Christ and his country in his habit as he lived ; and, even where any adjuncts exist,-they do not go beyond some simple bas-reliefs on the sup- porting plinth. Most are of a very flimsy kind; the solemn man of action, gaunt of visage, and small and meagre in frame, being presented often as an attractive young officer, fluttering and attitudinizing: one at least looks a man of six feet odd in natural height. Two or three only rise to even such a conception of character as to be provided with bible as well as sword; and these are not good in design. A couple—one dis- tinguished by the name Alpha, the other by a device of a star—are, we fancy, by the same artist, already tried in similar work. Both these figures lean on the sabre, and, though far from good, rank among the more competent. Perhaps the best is No. 31, under the motto " Con- fido." This figure also rests on his sword with both hands, having his military cloak about hip; and some notion of likeness in the face. A bust by Mr. Behnes, not within the terms of the competition, is the only satisfactory work of art; the hollow-checked visage stern and true, and with human individuality. We cannot profess much interest in the result of a project which, under better conditions of national art, would enlist a whole people's sympathies: but, if the design " Confido " be selected, we see no reason why the statue should not compete with the less exceptionable of the London effigies.
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