From the Richmond Dispatch, 5/8/1862, p. 2, c. 2

A Matter that Ought to be Attended to. – As Houdon's great statue of Washington in the State House is the only perfect fac simile of the features of the noble Virginian whose name it is intended to commemorate, all possible care should be taken for its preservation. It has been intimated time and again that it is not safe in its present place of deposit. Nobody believes that it is. In the event of a fire in the rickety old edifice in which it has been so long ensconced in safety, its destruction would be an assured thing. Were the Yankees ever to possess Richmond they would straightaway proceed to appropriate Houdon's Washington as they do everything else that they can lay their hands on. Would it not be well to take time by the forelock and have the statue removed? We are informed that it could be done with ease and perfect safety to the statue, which could be conveyed to a place of safety, and, if necessary, buried in the ground.

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