The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1858-03-04
Gbs Sstish.


Biography of Elisha Kent Kane Ry DR. William Eide,
Philadelphia Chids 4 Peterson 1857
1t is now nearly year, February 10th, 1856
since the lamented subject of this memoir
breathed his last, in sunny isle of the ocean.
to which he had repaired for recovery from dis.
ease-the effect of the exposure, hardships.
and anxieties, of that memorable arctic expedi.
ton with which his name will be associated II
all coming time. The news of his death snota
heavily on the hearts of many who had symp,.
thized with him in the perils and gories Of
his enterprise, the record of which, wondrou.
tale of heroic effort, manly faith, had inspired
them with the hope he might yet add other
laurels to those already grazing his brow
around no one did there seem to hang a mora
lofty interest of romance and adventure. com.
bined with philanthropy, fitting him to achieve
still other great things in undiscovered regions.
for his own and his country's fame. And vat
he had died, prementurely, as it might seem.
not on the field of adventure or amid he daring
of the indomitable spirit, but sunk on the coach
of wasting malady, his fondest wish Of suc.
cess unreslized. His remains were borpa 70
his native land, received and attended on their
way as with triumphal procession of p.iaTs
sorrowing welcome, till, heralded as they hal
b'en by the echoes of one eulogy after another
they lay as without intending at all to detract
from the high estimation we place on this al.
mirable volume. We cannot agree exactly
with the view Dr. Elder takes of DR.. Kene's
boyhood, and the traits of character then OK.
hibited. We see nothing in tie singular way.
wardneSs, heralding or preparing the way forthe
future man. His restless activity, his darpg
his selfrelying energy, meant something's b.,
it was not his wayward impulse to act his own
pleasure, connected with breakneck adven.
lures as child, that qualified him for the
post he took and which has entered his name
on the rolls of fame. Many boy has climbed
as high, has been as daring, scaling precipices,
plunging in every scene that tries COURAGE
or fortitude. Our country is full of such every.
where; but not one in a hundred, or in marv
thousands, could ever turn out q Kane. In our
view, it was the severity of that selfdi5cipline.
that patient and earnest address to which he
gave himself when he actually commenced. at
the age of sixteen, to prepare for life, that chiefly
made him the man he became.
We deny not the necessity Of far more pbysi.
cal culture than is generally given in the edu.
cation of the young. We would strenuously
urge it, and we doubt not that there are mary
who, too strongly curbed and tasked in cat
Hest childhood, are soon laid in the grave, or
whose subsequent life render more than prob
lematical the wisdom of their treatment; but
such habits Of insubordination and freaks of
boyish spirit as DR.. Elder speaks Of more than
half approvingly, in lower class of life and
in other circumstances, might have germinated
into the rowdy, or something worse. The good
biogrsPher, perhaps, might have told US of the
anxieties and sleepless nights of a parents
heart, as it pondered the possibilities of future
continuance and growth OF the very traits
which seem to him to have formed so greatly
the secret of capacity in the gifted subject Of
his praise. As we have said, it was rather the
subordinating of the lower qualities to the
higher mental development, so training him
into the pursuit of science by the closest appli.
cation, that gave to DIR. Kane that rare adapta.
ton for the positions he held. And so, too, he
seems to have regarded his comparatively
wasted days, when he really began to set about
his preparation in earnest, as he observed that
he had determined to make his mark in the
world" 1t is the steadiness of selfcommand,
the patient discipline the order and ability to
plan for others, and the cool, clear determine.
tion which thorough mental training Yields,
that, joined to enthusiasm and manly courage
and faith, are needed in difficult enterprises.
Humboldt's biography has not yet been given
to the public, end we hope that years may pass
before the green old age of the Nestor of Sci
ence is withered, and he lives no more to be
honored and revered but we doubt if his ex.
ample will not be found to justify our position.
Arsgo's certainly does and others, too, might
be mentioned. We have alluded to this point,
because we regret that the authority Of one
whom we respect 50 much as the biographer Of
DIR. Kane, and the example of the lamented
scholar, may be quoted to encourage even a
more wanton disregard of early patient and per.
severing mental discipline.
Combined with the preparation Dr. Kane
had gained by arduous selfdiscipline, all the
more severe from his previous want of it, there
was, too, the principle of manly faith in God.
This appears especially in his journal of the
last Arctic expedition, where he so opens to US
what was passing in his mind, and we catch
the more Frightening glimpses of his heart
amid those wonders and presentations. DR..
Elder speaks of this characteristic, and honors
the subject of his memoir for it. Indeed, It
was not till DR.. Ksne's Arctic explorations be
was known, except to comparatively few, and
the iEcessant activity of impulses through
which he became a traveller, in itself might
not have distinguished him from thousands Of
others. 1t was the executive power that is so
in his last expedition, which pecu
liarly stamps him as a man of extraordinary
character.
DR.. Elder sometimes hurries his reader over
scenes on which be would like to dwell yet
longer. DR.. Kane had a sui generis mode Of
telling his adventures and feelings, which is as
remarkable for its raey and lively off.hand pow.
er as the incidents and situations themselves.
we presume, were often wanting;
bu: we confess we should have been glad had
there been all through the volume more Of
these reflections from his own mind and heart
such as we meet on these pages.
DR.. Elder is q clear and powerful writer, with
q fine faculty for analysing character. He
wastes no words, but condenses the events Of
years in their great outlines into a moderate