14 May 1903.

 

My dear Miss Early.

            Of course I would be very much pleased to make the statue of our Hero General R. E. Lee—But I will not enter into any competition nor offer any sketches or models. The commission must be given to me as all / of my commissions are given unconditional. What ever price is named is a matter of indifference to me, as I never seek orders & do not care about the money part, one way or the other. But I will not compete with job hunters or people who know how to pull lines better than they know how to do good work. By this I do not mean that there are not some / good artists who do compete, but I have done enough to show what I can do and the men who have done as much as a rule do not enter competitions of any kind.

 

In reference to the bust of your great-uncle Genl Early I will be glad to hear from you and what I have said above holds good also in this matter of course. / It will be a great pleasure to me to make a bust of the General, or to do anything that would reflect honour and glory to the name of a Virginian, and hero in our lost but just cause.

                                                                       

Yours very Sincerely

M. Ezekiel

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