memory. The sculptor would be compelled to work in the
spirit of the historian, who recreates a past event from the
indication given him by an illiterate or fragmentary chronicle or
inscription. He would be bound to endow with artistic life those
features in which the authentic portraits agree, but the highest
effort of the imagination would be needed to create an impression of
artistic truth.

The success of a Shakespeare memorial will ultimately depend on the
pecuniary support that the public accord it. But in the initial stage
of the movement all rests on the discovery of a sculptor capable of
realising the significance of a national commemoration of the greatest
of the nation's, or indeed of the worlds, heroes. It would be well to
settle satisfactorily the question of such an artist's existence
before anything else. The first step that any organising committee of
a Shakespeare memorial should therefore take, in my view, would be to
invite sculptors of every country to propose a design. The monument
should be the best that artistic genius could contrive--the artistic
genius of the world. There may be better sculptors abroad than at
home. The universality of the appeal which Shakespeare's achievement
makes, justifies a competition among artists of every race or
nationality.

The crucial decision as to whether the capacity to execute the
monument is available, should be entrusted to a committee of taste, to
a committee of liberal-minded connoisseurs who command general
confidence. If this jury decide by their verdict that the present
conditions of art permit the production of a great memorial of
Shakespeare on just principles, then a strenuous appeal for funds may
be inaugurated with likelihood of success. It is hopeless to reverse
these methods of procedure. If funds are first invited before rational
doubts as to the possibility of a proper application of them are
dispelled, it is improbable that the response will be satisfactory or
that the issue of the movement of 1905 will differ from that of 1821
or 1864.

In 1864 Victor Hugo expressed the opinion that the expenses of a
Shakespeare memorial in London ought to be defrayed by the British
Government. There is small likelihood of assistance from that source.
Individual effort can alone be relied upon; and it is doubtful if it
be desirable to seek official aid. A great national memorial of
Shakespeare in London, if it come into being at all on the lines which
wou