The times., 1901-04-10

of our Government had left for posterity.
/ Since then there has been no restraint
upon American development and no bar
rler to American progress. The story OF
the revolution and the rebellion viii be
read by future generations, not III the
/ narration of their causes or incidents,
but mainly in the lives of the master
minds who participated in those Strug-
! giles. We now read the Revolution in the
, careers and achievements of Wash
lngton, Jefferson. Hamilton, and Samuel
and John Adams. aud their compatriots.
! Our marvellous material development and
/ the pace at which we have advanced in
! every department of national activity
since 1868 make the great civil strife seem
as distant almost as the classic tales of
+ our student days. As Washington stands
out in the first of our crucial contests, so
does Lincoln in the second. About Lin
/ coin cluster Grant, Sherman, Sheridan,
( Logan. Mcpherson, and host of other
heroes.
in the crisis of our fate as a nation
/ God seems TO have raised up and pre-
} pared men specially for the accomplish
rnent of the wonderful purposes which he
had in store for the Republic. But these
( wonderful intelligences, ready for great
/ occasions and the accomplishment of his
toric deeds. are inactive and undistin-
/ guished IN cOmmuHiIiS5 like ours until
/ their country calls them to duty.
The Mexican war at once fired the i'm
agination of the adventurous youth of
our land. It carried young Logan with
musket, as a private in the ranks of
his company across the Rio Grande and
he won his shoulder straps in the bloody
/ battles under Generals Taylor and Scott
This baptism of fire opened the mind en-
/ largcd the horizon, and pointed out a
larger future than ever dreamed of be-
/ fore for himself and for his country to
this enthusiastic lad.
"A most difficult thing for anyone is TO
! escape from his surroundings of neigh
| borhood, traditions proyincialsms. and
family II IS more serious task, if a
! born leader has discovered the errors of
opinion of himself and his neighbors and
attempts to remain their leader by con-
j VertlnS them TO his newborn ideas. There
/ was no more unpromisng section Of the
! United States in which TO rear a Union
man and a Federal soldier than the an
cient Egypt of Illinois. 1t had been set
I tied by shareholders, and the sons of
/ Shareholders and it's people. from blood
/ relationship, sympathy and association,
were IN thorough accord with the slave
( holding States from which they had come.
Young Logan became their idol and he
! was their representative i'm Congress The
nearly unanimous vote 10y which he was
sent 70 Washington illustrated the close
! ness and confidence between himself and
! this constituency. He was Il tower of
strength for the reactionary views and
I purposes OF the slavery leaders in Con-
gress. but underneath the sentiment and
principles of the party to which he was
I devoted, there brightly burned spirit
1 of liberty.
When hostilities began weaker man
/ than Logan would have sided with his
constituents In their sympathy with the
/ South. Had he been with them. an in
! surrectiOn in southern Illinois. barring
( the way Of the Union army TO Kentucky
and Tennessee, would have been a fright
/ ful blow to the success Of the national
cause. II was a conflict in which on the
! one side he would apparently lose his
! home and his political future TO enlist in
cause which, At that hour and atmos-
phere, seemed well-nigh hopeless; while
/ on the other, in addition to the hardships
/ and perils OF war, would be ceaseless dan
gers from enemies both in front and rear
Logan is the finest example of the vol
! unteer soldier. Around the nucleus of
little army Of 25,O00 regulars gathered a
/ million of volunteers who formed in an
incredibly brief space OF time the most
magnificent and resistless body of sol
diery OF modern or ancient times They
! demonstrated in the quickness with which
the army was modified and disciplined,
/ in the steadiness and endurance which it
exhibited as if trained veterans, and in
! It's peaceful disbandment and return to
! the pursuits Of peace after the close of
! the war, that the strength and reliance
of our country rest upon its citizen sol
| diery. This experiment also demon
! strated that while the citizen soldiers are
engaged in gainful pursuits and increas-
! ing the wealth Of the country, an ade-
! quate army composed of those who select
! a soldiers career, can protect the public
property, suppress insuTrection, meet inn
/ mediate and eXigent requirements at
/ home or abroad, and that we need have
! no apprehension OF militarism or of
! Caesarism. The Regular Army is but the
! pickets and the skirmishers of that vast
| host who, from the mountains and val
! leys, from plains and cities, from ham,
I lets and towns, are ready 10 respond TO
! the call 10 arms for the protection of
! their liberties from within or the defence
/ of their country from abroad.
'Logan's brilliant career emphasizes
( the necessity for a military education.
! In arms, as in art, in the professions, and
/ the industries, the severest training and
/ the best education are the requisites for
J success in our day of terrific competi-
/ ton. We will not dispute Logans claim
/ carried too far in his enthusiasm of the
distinction Of the natural soldier; but
/ great as were the merits and the success
of our general, if his genius had been
trained, broadened, and strengthened by
/ the drill and discipline OF the academy,
( the fort and the field, he would have
stood in the front rank OF the command
/ ers of great armies of modern times.
/ THE magnanimity and generosity of this
! thunuerDOlt of war were marked as
| his courage. When Grant became i'm
/ patient because General Thomas fingered
/ AT Nashville instead of moving upon the
enemy, he scnt Logan to supersede him
" hen Logan arrived at Cincinnati he
learned that Thomas had started. He
J knew that he could reach Thomas army
| before a battle, and that he had before
/ him that greatest temptation and oppor-
| tunity for soldier-a significant and de
/ cisive VI, tory. But he knew Thomas, the
Rock of Chickamauga He knew that
| Thomas had made the preparations with
| such care that failure was impossible. He
/ knew that the honors were due TO the or
| sanizer of the prospective triumph, and
| he delayed plucking the laureis that were
1 within his grasp, that they might adorn
| the brow of Thomas. So again in the
| bloody battle of Atlanta, Mcpherson fell
! idol OF the army and one OF the most