The Topeka state journal., 1897-07-22

with the ready common sense which
belongs to no man, but to all men.
Logan is our great volunteer. So they
have named him, and so he will be
known when we are forgotten. What
ever is heroic, they make classic.
The profession of arms is an inspiring
one. There is a lustre upon it which
in every age has attracted chiValric
spirits and made them happy to be its
ornaments and its examplers- The
scholar, whether in business, in politics
or in war, is almost always superior to
his unframed rival. Grant, and Sher-
man, and Sheridan illustrate the ad-
vantage which country possesses that
has in its service men instructed in mil
itary knowledge. But a puisSant ma
ton such as came into the meditationS
of John Milton, when it rOuSeS itself
from sleep, vaults over scholastic rules
and puts men into its ranks, little re
garding the methods which are taught
in schools. Science has always found
it's way into moving columns Caesar
and Marlborough and Frederick We're
great commanders; but those who read
with seeing eyes perceive that generals
only lead men, and that battles how
ever planned, are usually determined
by the plain courage of the rank and
file.
In calling him the Great Volunteer
we have, unwittingly, done injustice to
Logan. He was not a mere fighter he
those who served with him, and they
will answer: Men whom Logan led
never turned back Only con1pre-
hensive mind can take events as they
come and mould them to it's will, as II
they had been ordered in advance. Reg
iment, brigade, division, corps, army;
these are the steps he took and never
tripped nor faltered.
The real proof of genius is the man
ner in which high responsibilities are
met. Abraham Lincoln, in the school
of Sangamon, was hardly a prophecy
of him who became the foremost man
Of oil n ADnOnat-
tox are wide apart; but Grant spanned
them. The law of growth rules; and
only those who can rise to occasion are
great. Measure Logan by this unfail-
ing test and he becomes colossal. EN-
erson tells, in a familiar line, how
Michael Angelo wrought in sad SIN
CERTIFY but so, in truth, does every
man, who in the stress of duty, builds
domeS or carVeS statues or fights bat
ties.
Let US see Logan under the light
that reveals motives and deeds. The
summons that came, in the spring of
1861, found US, as such summons al
ways does, unprepared. Peace is never
quite ready for war. 1t was the month
Of flowers;
when proud pied April, dressed in all
his trim,
Hath put a spirit of youth in every
thing"
The seed was waiting to be dropped
into the earth; the sun, swinging round
to the north, was calling every field
comprehended mystery of a new birth.
The pIow fell while we were welcoming
the bUttercups; and it gave such hurt
as we had never felt before. 1t was
cruel beyond all our imaginings, for it
seemed to write Failure as the end of
everything for which we had hoped.
Thus it touched our pride as well as
our affections. More than all, it
brought the deepest grief to those who
were best able to realize it's latent
meanings.
John A. Logan, only 35 years of age,
was already a striking figure in our ma
tional politics. He sat in the house of
representatives, that body which touch
es the people at every point, and in it
he was a Tribune Himself triumphant
ly reelected the preceding autumn, he
had seen his party beaten, his adored
leader, Douglas, defeated. and what to
him was infinitely worse, his country
hopelesSly drifting into civil war. In
those sad days, every heart had its
own sorrow. No one can doubt that he
remembered, as true men do, his party
ties; the friends who had been SO
staunch; his boyhood services in the