The record-union., 1898-05-08


States by his memorable and to then
unprecedented naval achievement when
he gathered his fotilla about him and
ran the fire of hellish batteries at ISL
and No. 10, with death strewn on every
wave of the waters of the Mississippi.
a feat so daring and heroic that the
enemy was moved by chivalrous spirit
to sound his praises.
Farragut covered the American name
with glory by his magnificent daring,
marvellous skill and deep cunning in a
half dozen splendid naval triumphs,
and commanded the admiration OF the
civilized world by his glorious dash up
the river and past the forts vomiting
iron hail upon him, and capture Of New
Orleans The records of the revolu-
tionary war and the war Of 1S12 are
filled with the accounts of the heroic
deeds of the fathers of the navy-deeds
with which our school children are pa
triotioally familiar, and which to this
day bring the flush of pride to the
American cheek.
But unless advices lead the public
into overestimates, Dewey, an officer a
fortnight ago little known outside or
naval walks, modest and reserved, has
performed valorous work that will send
his name sounding down the aisles OF
fame for all time, and which covers
American arms with the pride Of new
glories. He has put the United States
navy in the front rank for prowess and
daring, as we'll as for merciful kindness
foe He has proved to the naughty ma
tions of the earth that the American
naval officer is lacking in no essential
element of success; that by training
daunted courage he is a match for the
best, and will henceforward command
admiration and inspire respect where
he has been simply tolerated, if not
scorned, by the men of more than one
Of the navies Of the old world.
The American nation, never man
worshiping one, free, enlightened,
peace loving, war avoiding nation, but
heroic when in battle and terrible in
the wrath of arms, honors Commodore
Dewey to-day with a spontaniety Of
manifestation and warmth Of express
sion, that will be dearer to him and
wreaths and golden crowns, titles Of
nobility and the decorations of mon
archs and princes.
But Dewey has done a greater thing
that at first thought rises in the mind
in the midst of excitement over his
splendid victory; he has fought for and
won possible early peace. By his
valor and that of the noble company
Of officers and men about him, he has
in all probability brought the war
near to it's end, and opened the win
dow for the return Of the dove Of peace.
Helen Church, who has been writing
so charmingly on the subject "Curios-
ity Concerning the Lives Of Public Men
and Women" asks why do we like
habits of great men? Is it a vulgar
curiosity, craving that should not be
pandered to?" To which the New York
Times " literary critic replies in the
affirmative, and adds that sit is worse
than vulgar curiosity. 1t is in many
cases as indelicate and brutal as the
torturing scrutiny that Arthur Dim
mesdale was doomed to die under"
We cannot concur in such a sweeping
affirmative. Where the desire is that
of vulgar curiosity, it is worthy of all
execration. But in the majority of
cases it is not mere curiosity that
prompts the desire to know of the inner
life of the man Of public Importance, Of
the inner life Of those who have achiev-
ed the greatness that lives. The in
Quiry into these lives is due in largest
measure to commendable desire to have
more intimate acquaintance with the
character admired, or that commands
our attention. This drawing closer is
a natural and perfectly excusable hu-
man prompting Moreover, we have
our ideals and our fancies concerning
men and women of distinguished char
acter and it is a reasonable curiosity
to know how closely We have estimated
them, by inquiry into their lives, their
methods, their communings and their
inner thoughts. We discover by such
inquiry where there is hypocrisy and
where true living. We are helped to
proper estimates and values of the
work of great lives by knowledge Of
what they encountered and overcame
before reaching prominence that gave
them and their works to the world. We
read the author better and more under
stanaingly of whom we know some
thing regarding his inner study and
the environment that gave him to us.
We concede that this curiosity should
not go to the extent Of prying and nos
ing into the personal and purely do
mestic affairs of the artist, the author
or the statesman. Nothing pains the
sensitive mind more than to have the
domestic secrets of these laid bare, the
letters born Of love, confidence and
trust torn from their privacy and ex-
posed to the gaze of a gaping world.
Nothing is more repulsive than to have
the sorrows and woes due to weak hu-
man nature and unhappy trial and
affiiction dug up and given to stranger
eyes uselessly and merely to crafty
morbid taste. But there is an inner