The times., 1899-05-05

in the hail, and he would not have had a
good time. But the war is over.
There is nothing to arouse objection in
the name of Smith except that the family
is SO large; but after all it is a very good
family, and bears an honorable record. 1t
may be said without exaggeration that the
Smiths have done as much for the great
ness of the English and American nations
as any other one family, and more than
many of the richer and more prominent
houses. When the knight went out to
war, in the age of chivalry, it was Smith
who forged his armor, his sword, his bat
tle-axe. If the Smith had not done his
duty-if there was a flaw in the armor, or
a lack of temper in the sword that knight
came home dead, or not at all; if the
armor was strong and the sword we'll
forged the knight played his part with
great eclat. In those days the Taliaferros
of Spain could hold their own with the
English Smiths, and many were the good
blades that came from Spanish sword
makers and the fine suits of chain-ma
forged by Spanish armorers. But later the
Smiths won in the race, for they pegah
to make cannon, and rifles, and pistols,
and the Taliaferros went into politics and
got fat offices in the colonies, ana SPAIN
began to decline in power.
Then the English Smiths began to go
abroad, and they also went into other busi-
nesses, but the work of their ancestors
remained, and was the foundation for the
iron and steel industries which make Eng
land the foremost among the fighting ma
tions of the world The Smiths left TO
their country legacy Of skill and achieve
ment which blossomed into inventive gen.
ius in the new world and created rail-
roads, and steam engines, and huge fac-
tories, and agricultural implements which
would do the work of many men, While
requiring only the labor of one. Follow
ing the traditions of the Smiths, men
bridged the continent with steel rails and
set upon them fire carriages which ami
hilated the miles; they gave their ships a
burning heart which conquered wind and
wave; their furnaces and stoves bade de-
fance to the cold of winter; they protect
ed their money with iron safes, bridged
rivers with spider of steel, and fret
ted the metal into the delicate framework
of compass and timepiece. The Smiths OF
the English forests, in the wild age OF
baron and serf, knight and armorer, laid
without knowing it, the foundation for
our material civilization. Nobody need
fear to inspect the record of the Smiths in
those DAYS They were doing much more
respectable work than some of the kings.
They developed fine family character,
besides doing good to their country. Ihe
work of blacksmith is one which re-
quires not only strength, but skill, and the
man who has mastered that trade is some
thing of a mechanic. In the old days, when
the province of the smith was much wider
than that of the modern horseshoer. this
member of the community was important,
and more or less independent The knight
could not do without him; he supplied the
tools of the farmer and of all the other
craftsmen He developed certain sturdy
strength, as every man who is his own
master and knows his trade well must do.
He also had executive ability and shrewd-
ness. and he gave the world at least two or
three proverbs, the most important OF
which is, Strike while the iron is hot.
Altogether, the English Smith seems to
be quite as honorable as the Spanish Talia-
ferro pronounced Tolliver in this country
or the members of any other family of the
time of William the Conqueror.