The Washington times., 1902-01-12

The style OF this work is original with
out being too picturesque for accura-
cy. and that is n rare balance of power
to preserve. Miss Woods adds to her
facts little touches of characterization
infinitely more interesting than it would
be without them. She says at the outset
that one reason why historians are SO apt
to quarrel ever her hero is that he pos
sessed in a marked degree that faculty
Of getting into scrapcs and getting cut Of
them with which all Americans are sup
posed to be more or less familiar. She
then proceeds to give brief sketch of the
| period in which John Smith was born and
grew to manhood, for, as in the case of
| every strong man, the influences of his
, time had 4 marked effect upon his char
acter. He was in some sort the instru-
ment Of the forces of transition, of
| change, and cf discovery. II has been said
| by some sagaciCus observers that the
time Of Elizabeth in some respects re-
sembled our own. In both we find the
wcrld On the alert fer new discoveries and
the acquiring Of more knowledge about
those already made; but now the discov-
cries are in the field of science me-
chanios and pure thought. while in the
days CT Elizabeth they were confined TO
the geographical sphere OF action. There
was struggle between the Saxon and the
Spanish civilizations, and then, as now,
the Anglo Saxon wen because his ships
were newer and the men behind the guns
better. 1t was, in shcrt. time in which
the strenuous life was a rlomentous fact,
though il had not yet come to be phrase,
and John Smith caught the spirit of it.
He put in the early part of his life
giving and taking ha> knocks in many
parts of the world, and the author
briefly but graphically records these ad-
ventures. There is nothing extraordinary
about it till one comes to his slavery
among the Turks, and this is a tale about
as wild and improbable as anything in
history, which is notoriously stranger
than fiction. 1t is worth buying the book
TO read this alone.
His Wort. ns CoIonizcr.
But. after all, the part OF the mar
rativc which will he most interesting to
the public is that which treats of his
adventures and doings in America and |
the author arrives at this point as soon /
as she conveniently can. Her account of
the influences which surrounded him at
the time of his becoming interested in .
colonization is worth quoting here. She :
says:
When Smith reached London he found
the favoritc project among men OF enter
prise the colonization OF his Majestys
fifth kingdom of Virginia. AS is usual
in human enterprise, It had twofold
motive behind it. Raleigh, Richard .
Hakluyt, the Earl of Southampton, and
others of their stripe were Influenced by
fa--seeing and noble patriotism; their
desire was a stronghold against Spain on
the shores of the New World. For this
the reasons were statesmanlike as well
2s military. To possess oneself of the
mines of gold and treasures of jewels
which We're believed to exist as well in
Virginia as in Mexico, was an excellent
thing; but it was equally good to make
thus a practical assertion that the Pope
had had no right over these undiscov-
cred countries, and that his gift Of the
New World to Spain and Portugal was
as foolish and as empty as his donation
to Philip ii of the crown OF England.