The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-04-12
HEROES In BRONZE.
Each Epoch Denies the Exist
ence Of Its GeniuseA
We NAVE GREAT MEN TODAY.


>A8~1
Copyright. 1855 by John Clark Ridpath.
On certain occasion . French orator
in the national assembly became apostro-
ph;c and cried out. Where are the great
men OF France." No one seemed able to
tell him. and taking silence for applause.
he again cried out. Il repeat the question,
NJ lie President. Where are the great men
OF franceT Hereupon some one solemn
iy said. In bronxe.' The response SEEM
ed to satisfy all the requirements Of Wit
and truth. Was there not much philosc-
ply in the sardonic answer that the great
men arc in bronze? What does such .
question, so answered. signify? Are the
great men always In bronze? 1t would
seem 50.
The problem Of the great men and Of the
place which they hold In human affairs
the question of their coming and their go
ing-is exceedingly diflicult to solve. Thus
much We may say with tolerahle certainty
that the great men belong TO the agi-
tated epochs OF history. There goes an
arhorism thai peace hath her victories no
less renowned than var. This would I'M
ply that peace hath her heroes as well as
war has his. But the facts do not seem to
answer to the aspiration. Philanthro-
pists have always sought to make the
world think that the calm of human So
ciety is better than the storm. the stiffness
or peace more sublime than the thunder
or violence, but mankind does not accept
the dictum as true. History goes with the
common voice and 10 constrained, some
what against her leaning and conscience.
to admit that the great men arise only In
those times when the tocsin Of battle
Starts the frenzy of a cyclone through the
highlands Of tho heart.
The reason of this break in human judg-
ment 10 no doubt to be found in
the innate admiration of men for
power in visible exertion. There
is strange indifference to thought and
the work of thought, however bold and
high. In the present stage of our mortal
evolution the mind flies from the sublim-
est page. pictured with the loftiest IDEAL
lily. to the toughest forms of dramatic
action. Violence of every kind Is followed
with shout around the world. 1t is
action, action, that draws the race as the
magnet draws the bar. Ideality. however
pure and immortal. Is not a loadstone 10
the heart of man. 1t is for this reason.
perhaps, that Lewis H. Morgan, one OF the
greatest American historians. is I'M
known; that Andrew Carnegie has wider
fame than Alexander Winchell and that
Budd Doble. with his catarrhal name"
has greater renown than Emerson.
OF certainty the people of 1854 did not
think that their leaders were great men,
AT least they did not agree that any one
was great. There was only a dim appre-
hension that Lincoln was great. 1t seems
amazing that nearly half of the people
were willing. and large minority OF them
eager. to vote against him for reelection
to the presidency. Grant had then reach
ed Petersburg and Sherman was some
where In Georgia The whole horizon OF
the South and West smoked with war. A
million OF men were under arms and great
armies were in the almost daily grapple
of death. And yet 1t was questioned and
questionable II the ma jority would not put
Mcclellan In Lincoln's place. Few people
reckoned that greatness was on trial or
that there was anything more than the
usual politics at stake. Lincoln was able
to command the voice of the majority. but
even the majority looked to him as a sort
of necessary first man in the drama, with
out much considering the question of his
historical stature.
The very same opinion was held Of Grant
and Sherman and Sheridan and Hancock.
and all the leaders in the field. The same
was held OF Seward and Stanton, of Sum
ner and Andrew and Morton. and all the
men of the cabinet and council The great
men did not exist in the consciousness of
the age. Some thought that they were
beginning to exist. There was. we think.
a sort Of dim opinion that the great man
figure that would rise above
the turmoil and dwarf not only the
common leaders OF the army and the SEN
ate. but Lincoln himself and every man on
whose herculean shoulders the burdens
OF that stormy and tremendous period
were laid.
According to the common voice. there is
not at the present time one great man in
the United States. If 30. who IL he? OF
the 20 100000 Of people in our country there
ought to be at least one great. but IL we
accept the opinion OF the age there is not
race is equal TO the other races, then II
ought to bring forth as well as they. There
were great Greeks and great Romans.
There have been great Engiishmen and
great Frenchmen, and specially great Ger
mans History comedies that there have
been great Slavs. great Swedes and great
Italians There may have been great
Spaniard II so. he was Cervantes. We
are disposed 10 think that there have been
great negroes and great Indinas. There
il n consensus that great Americans have
lived. Are they all dead? That Is the ques-
tion Has 1t GENE to this-that party ana
pIutoeracy. creed and greed, democracy
and decadence have blotted out the heroic
psrt OF American life and left us only 1T
tleness and imitation and pretense in the
bottom OF the crucible?
Certainly the opinion practically pre-
walls that there IL not one great man IN
our country-except In bronze suppose
we submit the question TO those VINO
ought to be qualified to Judge. We ind
no concurrent belief OF the greatness or
ary single American. Leave II to the
newspapers. and they will answer In the
negative Leave 1t to a committee or
preachers. and the report VIII be that
there were great men. but they are all
gone. All the great bishops and preach
ers are dead. Leave It to the lawyers.
and they will decide that the great ju-
rists and great chanceiiors and advocates
are In bronze All the great orators and
lawyers are Of the past.
Suppose We should be called on TO NOM
mate a great man. What would the news
papers say regarding any possible candi-
datee What would the politicians say?
What would the preachers sayf What
would the magazines say? What would
even the nterati say? The sky would be
rent with vociferous contradictions. Amer
leans might agree that Bismarck Is great.
that Gambetta was great and possibly that
L. htsf al