Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1901-09-07
CAPTAIN JOHN SMITH
His Place Among The Foremost Of
England's EAIdnsiunistS.

"Cartain John Smith in Virginia and
New england WAS the theme of Hon.
Alfred :. Roe, who lcctured the other
afternoon in the old South Meeting
House. Boston. IN the old South course
tor young people on The English
Exploration of America" he said
in part:
SOM one has wittlly sand that cap
tain john Smith WAS sIven to the world
to rciItN. the general monotony at
tending his name. y peep into the
directory OF any city will reveal an inn
menSc number of men, thus named,
whose expectations are seldom found
elsewhere. My own city OF W orCcster
has -, Boston claims li2. New York
POO. wailc London is said to have 500
who respond when thus addressed. If
this same proportion Of John smith
has prevailed since the time wnen John
became 4 prefix to an honorable call
ing we may well be- astonishcd at the
array of past Smiths and may even
sympathize with that bearer of the
combination who petitioncd the au-
thorities for a change OF name. bas-
ing his application on the plea that he
ledTeu, uIlltSS soIuc SutU toui 81 were
pursued, all mankind was in danger
of becoming Smith. The name has
given governors to States in the Union,
distinguished generals to our armies,
admiralS to the navy and the postal
management Of the land Is today in the
hands ofsa Smith, yet not one of these
noted men. past and present, ever
achieved a 1.-THE of the distinction that
accompanies the name of our captain.
IAN examination of the books in any
public library will show that people
read about the hero of centuries ago
while the stories of later paragons are
untouched. Such an investigation re-
Gently revealed Hillard's narrative
well thumbed; Simms's, dog cared and
iworn to the very extreme, while Char
Dudley Warmers recital, told in its
pewhat flippant manner. has arriv-
at the dignity of a second set of
koFera While not wishing to classify
the captains life with that of Robin
son Crusoe. it may be said that only
leFoe'S inimitable book has more
merican readers. The tradition and
tion which have entwined his name
$ NV us how the ancients evolved
~ IlStSuItS dIu TIC 1uiuuie ages IL
CHeYalier Bayard and Richard of the
3ton Heart. Under similar conditions
Na might expect the commentators of
tha future to explain his many acts on
the assumption that they were the
combined deeds of many men who
wrought under the generic appcllation
of Smith, word applicable to work.
| men in general. Fortunately for the
captain and his reputation we are
| near enough to his day and generation
| to CLEAN from his own writings or those
ascribed to him, and from the mass
of statements concerning him. facts
sufficient to warrant his place among
the foremost of Englands expansion
lists. for as such we are to remember
him today. With his Old World life
we have little to do, scarcely more than
to recall the Lincolnshire village of
Willoughby. in which he was born in
! 1877? hard by the sounding sea- We
are told that the sole redeeming feat
ure Of the low lying locality was it's
proximity to the sea, over which the
child was soon to sail on errands
wild. So little is known of his parent
age that his genealogy practically be-