The National tribune., 1900-04-12
AzlEgzZRL14XC !!
)!! 81 IN a71zZalhil7Qi0n.
By MARY S. LOCKWOOD.
People | Have Met.
Copyrighted, 1900, by THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE.

sketch so full of interest as the one MADE
up of human acts, and thus we are led II
these recollections TO tell something more
of the people we have met-some OF then
connected with the active history-maklng
periods, some in the halls OF Congress
many on the highways of life.
1t was, late in the Sixties, we were in 6
company of friends, when gentleman
was introduced who wore the uniform OF
United States military officer. He was
affable. courteous in manner, altogether 8
man who at first glance would make you
inquire: Who is he? What is his history:
We soon learned that he was none other
than d. H. Strothers, better known TO the
reading public as Porte Crayen," writer
o. serial stories and sketches for magazines
in that long ago tefcre the civil war. In
fact. he had with crayon and pen literally
sketched himself into the hearts of his
readers. and now had come the civil war,
and he a Virginan, He was native of
the Valley of ,he Shenandoah. He passed
the greater Tortion of his life on the north
ern Icrdcr OF Virginia. He thus Eecame,
almost from necessity. an interested OBJ
server Of many of the opening scenes of
the contest. a1d subsequently all active
participant in its armed solution.
Bat on what side was this border Nir-
ginian found when the gulf opened be-
tween the adverse sections aud yawnea
beneath their very hearths? The sword
which was drawn to divide the Nation di-
vided hearts as well What did he say of
the day and the hour? This:
Il saw nothing but political chaos,
which seemed about to swallow up the
Government. law, life and property togeth-
er.
South Carolina had seeded already;
but South Carolina was great way off.
and had been tn eatening secession for 80
years. She will not be supported by. a
single State. l have not heard Il voice
raised in her behalf. But each day
brought tidings of fresh outragcs and hui
miliations heaped upon the Government
seizure of arsenals, arms, forts, dockyards
and vessels.
What would the Government do in this
crisis? Has the Government no right TO
coerce State? A Nation that Tor more
than so years has maintained fleets and
armies. has waged war and made peace,
has collected customs and coined money,
whose commerce covers the globe, whose
flag is known and honored wherever the
sun shines. whose future promises 10 sur
pass in grandeur all that history has yet
recorded? Is nothing lawful or constitu-
tional but the outragcs OF revolutionary
mobS, the violation of solemn oaths, the
plundering of National property: Is the
Government We love so pltIable and I'M
potent a sham?
Such were the questions we Nirginians,
in the bitterness and humiliation. asked
each other. The plowman from his field,
the grimy artiZan from his shop, the un-
lettered citizen, without Latin enough TO
translate r. pLuribus u1unl, and barely
English enough to decipher the vernacu-
l.. ,+,l rra c4o md ,iir Ha1 fat
who had never read the Constitution or
Bill of Rights or Resolutions Of '9S; but
his political creed was SO simple that he
understood it with his heart if not his
head. He learned it from his father, who
fought under Jackson in 1912, who learned
1t from his father, who fought under Wash
ington in 1776. He had taught it to his
barefooted boy who tends the plow or
blows the bellows at the forge. He will
have faith when the day of trial comes
and stand by it. We, the people Of the
United States, will not be divided.
Fort Sumter surrendered. The Pres
fdent called for $4,000 troops to suppress
the insurrection. Virginia passed the Sc
cession Act and seized the Norfolk Navy
Yard; but vi ginia was State of imperial
boundaries, and the James River people
found out that there are hills and streams
beyond Pentland Forth.
"But the war? The war will not reach
us here. Literature and art will furnish
me with Interesting and remuneratlve oc-
cupation. There was my parlor. decorated
with paintings and furnished with musical
RpplianceS-piano. violin and guitar-with
choice selections of music. My studio was
well supplied with material for work.
Crayons. oil and water-colors. drawers
filled with sketch-books. papers, engrav-
ings. photograp aphs-such as will accumlI-
late in time upon the hands of every artis
hc amateur.
ALAS. the years Of quiet ! longed for
were unattainahe. There were other and
greater problems to solve Yesterday
was citizen Of the great American Re
public. TODAY what am l? A citizen Of
Virginia. a Commonwealth with scarcely
million Of white inhabitants. a worth
less fragment Of a broken vase.
The war will reach my part Of the
State Ny father taught me loyalty. He
is my guide and star to-day. | shall fol-
low iii his footsteps. The war crept on
apacc, and Old Virginia was swept into
the vortex. My father and myself could
make but one decision, TO stand by the flag
of our ancestors. For In It my father was
thrown into prison and released without
giving mp his allegiance 10 his country.
But one day had made n visit 10 Presi-
dent Lincoln to consult him about certain
adventures. How the dignity. the power.
the nobility OF the man in whose presence
l stood impressed mel Never was there
such a revolution Of feeling i had gone
10 hlm luil Oi all lile preJudlceS which an
INSCRIPTIONS press and frenZied people
could heap upon one man. | came ont Of
his presence with the full assurance that
had met one of the worlds nobility. A
telegram WAS handed me- / opened and
read: Your father died this morning
Yes. a great soul had passed on. Ii could
not bear the tension longer. His country,
that he loved, waS in peril. and he power
less 10 help her. The qujver was empty
and the bowstring broken"
We had listened 10 this graphic narrative
with that intensity Of feeling that those
alone can appreciate who lived in those
days Of nervous strain and anxiety.
MY friends" he said, rs he stood in the
doorway ready 10 take his leave. Il am
going back into my own Virginia noun
tains 10 live or die for my country"
MICHAEL. BAVITT.
The heads of an arbitration treaty he
tween Great Britain and Venezuela were
formulated and the agreement was signed
in Washington on Nov. II, 1896, By Sec
retary Olney and Sir Julian Pauncefote.
This treaty provided that an arbitral tri-
bunal shall be Immediately appointed to
determine the boundary line between the
colony Of British Guiana and the United
States Of Venezuela, TO consist of five men,
bers, of whom two on the part of Great