Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1872-03-02
A SOLDIER OF FORTUNE,


EXTRAORDINARY ROMANCE OF TIE AMER.
ICAN SOLDIER, GENEHAL JOHN WARD,
IN CHINA BRILLIANT LIFE AND AN
UNTIMELY DEATH-AN ORIENTAL NAPO-
LEON BORN IN AMERICA.
[From the Chicago Times, January G.]
The passion for adventure in and for it.
self is rabies which runs riot by some
strange freak of nature in the sober An
gio Saxon blood more than any other.
The Gallic temper, though cxcitable and
loud af Change. seeks romantic exploits
because it Graves a sounding name aud a
reputation widely bruitcd forth. 1t loves
Ia guerra, only because it adores Ia gloire.
On the other hand, the Anglo Saxon
race has produced an extraordinary num-
Der of successful adventurers, who have
apparently sought the most eccentric dan
gers purely on account Of the love of
excitement. The tendency even iufects
the masses of the people, aud the English
man and American in the minds Of the
people Of continental Europe are at all
times ready to do crazy actions with no
comprehensive motive. This trait forms
an interesting element in the military his
tory Of England during the middle ages.
Although she was almost constantly plunged
up to her very eyes in wars, yet she fur
nished large majority Of the bands of
free champions" land buccaneers who
roamcd through Europe selling their lanccs
to the higcst bidder; or, in want of a
ready market, fought each for his " own
hand" sacking aud plundering wherever
" loot could be gathered. The fascinating
chronicles Of Froissart, that perfect mirror
which reflected the very age and body of
the time" are filed with the records of
these daring advcnturors.
This type of character has not been al
together submerged in the great wave Of
civilization which has swept on toward its
flood during the last four centuries. The
fierce conflicts waael by England to keep
her supremacy over India have developed
many such examples, aud our own late civil
war was prolific Of the same class Of reck-
less soldiers Of fortune.
One of the most wonderful cmbodimcnis
Of this type is founded in the very rcmark.
able career Of the late General John Ward,
mandarin of the "bluc button" generals
simo of the armies of China, son.in law of
the" Brother Of tue Sun and Moon," and
dictator of the most populous empire on
the planet. John Ward was the Chinese
Napoleon, who, if he had lived to consum-
mate his schemes, might have effected the
most remarkable revolution of modern
times. Wards chcckered and romantic
career, though full Of exploits, is almost
unknown in America, or else known only
through garbed aud imperfect newspaper
accounts. To the readers of the Times a
sketch of Wards exploits will be all the
more interesting as some Of his nearest
surviving relatives are prominent and hon.
orcd citizens Of Chicago and are full of
"reminiscences Of his early life in Salem,
Massachusetts, where he was born and
reared The romance of his latter life is
like dream, aud rivals in daripg and ex-
travagant deeds, if not in solid results, the
careers of Give and Tasting in India.
John Ward as schoolboy was not dis.
tinguished by studious disposition, but,
on the other hand, by his supremacy on
the playground, aud the utter fearlessness
of his disposition. Like many other lads
bred near the seashore, young Ward dcvel.
oped at an early age passion for sailor
life; perhaps iu his case owing to the fact
that such a life offered the only immediate
satisfaction for the passionate hunger for
adventure which haunted his nature.
Overcoming the objections of his parents,
who were in easy circumstances, he shipped
before the mast" and made the China
voyage. Ward developed such extraordi-
nary capacity and heroic coolness at sew.
eral seasons Of eminent peril that the
Captain marked him out for promotion.
After two or three voyages, in which he
mastered the details of the profession, he
was made the first mate of one of the lars-
est clipper ships sailing out of Boston in
the China and East India trade. But
such life did not fill up the measure Of
Wards secret ambition, an ambition of
whose direct aim perhaps he was not as yet
fully conscious.
His restless activity, combined with a
remarkable natural talent for languages,
soon made him tolcrable .master of the
Chinese language.
just prior to his fnal departure for the
Flowery Kingdom" where he was des.
tined to become the idol and virtual master
Of 25o,OeG,0OO of people, Ward spent q
year at home among his friends. A pre-.
sentiment ofhis career seemed to animate his
thoughts, as was the case with many othe,
great men, such as John Hunniades, Gus
tavus Adolphus of Sweden, and both Ma
poeon Bonapartc and his illustrous antag.
onist, Wellington.
Expressions fell from his lips that at the
time were credited to wild imagination
fired by the mystic influence of the sea and
storm; but they became transmitted by the
light Of after events into the half-brokeu
prophecies of one who felt his own great
ness and had shadowy glimpses of mag
nifcent future. Yet such was the impres
sion made by the tremendous latent
power of the man that none ridiculed even