The times., 1899-08-27
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it up and that he then made every preparation
possible 10 meet the Americans at Cavitc under
the shelter Of the batteries. Nelson practically
destroyed the French ieeet, but Admiral Vile.
neuve escaped next morning, with two ships OF
the line and two frigates, and there was only
one English ship, the Jealous, not enough for
the purpose in condition TO follow them. Dewey
absolutely destroyed every Spanish ship, includ-
ing the transport Mindanao, and captured The
other transport, the Manila. He sileuced all the
land batteries and took Cavite- Aboukir had its
messengers OF death in the escaping French ships;
Manila had none. Absolute completeness like
this cannot be surpassed.
There can be nothing better than per-
lection Of workmanship, and this Dewey and his
officers and men showed.
Though these last two sentences may
seem somewhat pleonastic, they express
the feelings of the American people quite
accurately, at any rate.
The next chapter deals with the block
ade of Cuba, and the average reader will
turn to it with some curiosity, because
there seem TO be two opinions about the
Santiago affair-Admiral SIMPSONS and
that of the people in general. Senator
Lodges view will not prove popular He
has followed the lead of the Navy De-
partment and condemned Admiral Schley
as disobedient, giving the whole credit of
the affair to Sampson. He may have his
reasons for doing this, but the average
The incompetence in the War Depart
ment fares less comfortably at the hands
of the historian. He admits the general
confusion, decentralization, and waste of
money, supplies, and life which attended
the land campaign, but tries to soften 1t
somewhat by laying it to "a bad system
in the department" and not to any par
ticular individuals. He has some very
pleasant things to say, too, about the Por-
~ irn an ion nd nc INN Orta
He then returns to affairs in the Philip
pines, and 1t may be mentioned that at
the head of this chapter there is an excep-
tionally fine portrait of Dewey, one of the
best yet published. A glowing tribute is
also paid to Dewey's diplomacy and finn
ness in dealing with Admiral Won Dieder-
ich. OF Aguinaldo, Senator Lodge speaks
with little but contempt, treating him as a
pompous pretender. Finally, he points out
the immediate and probable consequences
of the war, and this is the closing para
graph of the book.
What these new conditions may come TO mean
in the future no one now can safely say. But
if that future is TO bring the struggle which many
men peering into the darkness foresee-a con-
fict between the Slav and so much of Europe
as he can drag with him on one side, and the
English-speaking man the other; between the
military socialism of Russia and Germany and
the individualism and freedom of the United
land and the sea-power-then the future his
torian will date the opening OF this epoch
and of this mighty conflict, at once economic
and social, military and naval, from the war of
1898, which in three months oyerthrew the en-
pre Of Spain in the Antilles and the Philippines.
On the whole. Senator Lodges history is
not the great history of the war. He has
missed too many of his opportunities for
telling work. But 1t is good history, es-
pecially In certain chapters. and a valu-
able addition to the war literature of the
year. (New York: Harper & Bros. $2.50)
Memorial Volume.
1.-THE Memory of Lincoln" is slender
little volume containing poems which
have been written about Abraham Lin
coin from 1862 to the present time. There
are not quite a score of these, and most
Of the leading American poets are repre-
sented. The book is edited by W. A.
DeWolfe Howe, who has also written an
introduction to It. In this introduction
some Of the poems quoted are mentioned
with the following comments:
The Lincoln Of LowelPs far-fung vision was
ultimately the new birth OF our soil, the
frst American Whitman, looking cut
upon "the large unconscious scenery of his land
translates the meaning OF Lincoln's name for him
into terms OF the democracy he is never weary
OF singing q The poem read by Mr. Mau-
riee Thompson before the Harvard Phi Beta Kap-
pa in 1898 speaks eloquently for the great change
wrought by time; for here the voice OF one who
in his own person fought against the Northern
as those which Mr.. Paul Laurence Dunbar con-
tributes TO this volume were TO come in
time from one of Mr.. Dunbar's race.
The authors represented in this collec-
tion are Piatt, Lowell, Whitman, r. H.
Stoddard. Tom Taylor (of "Punch''), Boxer,
Bayard Taylor, Whittier, Stedman, Glider,
S. Weir Mitchell, Thompson, and Dunbar
Taking this group of American poets to-
gether IL is rather remarkable that each
should have written-and written well-on
this particular theme. The thing which
one notes particularly in looking through
the book is the number of phrases which
describe more or less accurately this great
American. II a sentence could be taken
from one poem, line from another, few
words from third and so on, one might
construct a sort of composite of Lincoln
which would be what might be called the
type Of the man, a picture of him as he
appeared to his countrymen. Stoddard
says Of him that he was
One OF the people! Born to be
Their curious epitome.
To Whitman he was MY Captain
there sounds the personal note. One of the
most pathetic of the tributes is that of Tom
Taylor. who, In the London Comic Jour-
nal" had once satirized Lincoln, and af-
terward confessed,
He had liv'd to shame me from my sneer,
To lame my pencil. and confute my pen,
To make this hind of princes peer
This rail-spltter a true-born king of men.
Dunbar calls him "the mighty Homer of
the Tyre of war and Weir Mitchell says
OF him
Most was he like to Luther, gay and great
The collection is an interesting one, and
contains at least dozen poems which
would be somewhat difficult to find else
where. (Boston: Small, Maynard q Co.
S100.)
An Old Poem Reprinted.
Some day, when an essayist familiar
with the subject happens to think of it,
We shall have picture, In romance or de-