Daniel Chester French showed ability at an early age, but no particular leaning toward sculpture. He was simply a bright, good-looking boy, with a liking for outdoor life and exercise. One day, when about nineteen years old, during a period of work on his father’s farm, he showed his parents a queer figure of a frog that he had cut out of a turnip; “Daniel, there is your career!” were the words that expressed the feelings of both father and mother. The farm was near Concord. There dwelt Miss May Alcott, the “Amy” of “Little Women,” and an artist of some ability. She encouraged young French in his study of drawing and modeling, and he plunged into his art career with an enthusiasm that bordered on boyish frenzy. His nature was ardent and poetic, and it carried him into forms of expression that were doomed to disappointment. The best thing for him was a visit that he made to the veteran sculptor J. Q. A. Ward. This took place when he was staying with relatives in Brooklyn, New York, and it opened the boy’s eyes to the fuller meaning of sculpture. Months of earnest work followed, during which Daniel French’s talents rapidly ripened. When he was only twenty-three years old he received a commission of real national importance, that of modeling the statue of “The Minute Man.” This interesting piece of sculpture, now well known, was unveiled at Concord in 1875. In celebration of it Ralph Waldo Emerson and George William Curtis made speeches, and James Russell Lowell read a poem. At this time Daniel French had sailed for Italy, where he remained for a period in study. In 1879 he modeled a bust of Emerson from life--a work so vivid and lifelike that the poet-philosopher said, “The more it resembles me, the worse it looks,” and then added, with a nod of approval, “That is the face that I shave.” French’s art took rapid strides. He is known today equally well by his fine portrait busts and his great allegorical compositions. One of the most imposing of his compositions is the great heroic female figure entitled “Alma Mater,” seated at the approach to the library of Columbia University, New York. No American sculptor is better known than Mr. French in his home land or abroad. He bears high honors on both continents. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR. VOL. 1. No. 36 SERIAL No. 36 COPYRIGHT 1913, BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. [Illustration: COPYRIGHT 1903 THE MACMILLAN CO. NATHAN HALE--FREDERICK MACMONNIES REPRODUCED FROM “AMERICAN SCULPTURE” BY LORADO TAFT] Famous American Sculptors FREDERICK MACMONNIES Monograph Number Four in The Mentor Reading Course