Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/216603
Fig. 8A. Progress of Civilization, by Thomas Crawford, marble, placed 1863, pediment over the east entrance to the Senate wing of the United States Capitol. Fig. 8B. Senate doors, by Thomas Crawford, bronze, installed 1868. offense at the personal insult in the speech to his kinsman Sen. Andrew Butler, and a day later beat Sumner over the head with his "unbreakable" cane (fig. 10). Sumner, seated at his desk, wedged in the tight space by his long legs, reared up and fell to the floor. All the while Brooks beat him so badly that his cane broke.27 And so did the desk. And so did the nation. Charles Sumner never fully recovered from the shock of the beating. He spent years abroad rallying for long periods of time and acting as his old self, and other times looking for doctors to treat his pain. Each time he tried to return to the Senate he became disabled, unable to think clearly. While Sumner was going through his physical and mental crisis, Crawford was diagnosed with a brain tumor behind his left eye.28 Both young men were wounded in their prime. Crawford's eye began to bother him in October 1856 and he worried about being able to work. He and Louisa sought out doctors in Paris and London, but no matter what they did, little if anything alleviated the symptoms. He wrote Meigs in November that the plaster cast of Freedom was completed and suggested that it be cast in bronze in Germany at the Royal Bavarian Foundry. It would be 19 feet 6 inches tall and weigh approximately 15,000 pounds. The casting did not happen, as Crawford became increasingly ill.29 By the end of 1856, Crawford's sight and ability to work long hours were greatly compromised. He had an operation that did not improve the condition of his eye or his health. In spite of his suffering, Crawford reportedly remained cheerful while hiding his pain, and had Louisa attend to the business side of the studio.30 Sumner landed in Paris in March 1857 and immediately set out to find Crawford. He entered in his journal that he looked for Crawford in two hotels but "could hear nothing of him." On March 25, Sumner at last found where Crawford lodged, but could not see him, "his wife told me of his condition, which is sad. I went away sorrowful."31 On March 29, he recorded; "Beautiful day; called again at Crawford's; his wife told me that he had