"Have you ever seen that fine monument by Chantrey there?" asked the
gentleman.
"No," said my brother in astonishment, knowing the wild nature of the
country thereabouts.
"Well," he said, "mind you go and see it! Here is my card, and when you
have seen it, write me whether you have seen a finer monument in all
your life."
My brother found the monument in a small church about three miles from
the hotel in the hills above. He was very much astonished and deeply
impressed by the sculpture, acknowledging in his promised letter that it
was by far the finest he had seen. The origin of it was as follows:
The owner of the estate had an only child, a daughter, lovely, clever,
and accomplished, but slightly deformed in her back. When she was
twenty-one years old she was taken by her parents to London to have her
back straightened, but never recovered from the operation. The statuary
represented the daughter lying on a couch, her father standing at the
head looking down into the eyes of his dying daughter, while her mother
is kneeling at the foot in an attitude of prayer. The daughter's
instruments of music and painting, with her books, appear under the
couch, while every small detail, from the embroidery on the couch to the
creases in the pillow, are beautifully sculptured.
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