Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-19


only want Chinese Peter the Great or
Napoleon to make them SO. They have
every quality required for the good sol
| der and the good sailor. and in my idle
speculation upon this worlds future 1 have
| long ago selected them as the conrbatants
| On one side at the great battle OF Arma-
gedoon, the people of the United States
| or America being their opponents. The lat
| ter nation is fast becoming the greatest
power of the world. Thank heaven, they
speak English, are governed by an English
system of laws and profess the same regard
| that we have for what both understand
| by fair play in all ma tional as well as in all
private business
| Lord Wolseley's sentiments toward this
country are given further expression In the
course of later pages. in which he describes
| his experiences in Canada. After the close
of the China campaign in 1860 he returned
home, again thinking to enjoy a rest, but
he was once more interrupted in his pur
| suit of pleasure and sent post haste to
Canada to arrange for the Decentralization
and provisioning of troops which were being
sent hurriedly across the Atlantic In conse-
| quence of the war scare over the Trent af-
| affair By the time he landed President
| Lincoln had closed that door to further
| trouble for the United States by apologize
| ing to England for the seizure of Mason
| and Slidell, and there was no particular
! work for the British soldiers to do. So
Colonel Wolseley went on staff duty and at
| long distance studied the war between the
! states with keen interest. At last his pro-
fessicnal curiosity overcame his sense of
| routine, and he obtained two months leave
ana slipped into the confederate lines by
| way OF Baltimore and the underground
route. AS preliminary to his remarks
| upon his actual experiences in the confed-
crate camps he contrasts the methods of
| the two presidents, Lincoln and Davis. and
| sums up his sentiments thus:
| Surely, If ever there was a cause lost
| through ignorance of the soldiers science
| on the part of those into whose hands a
trusting people had confided 1t. the cause Of
| confederate independence was lost in 1862
| by the military folly Of Mr.. Davis and of the
| civilian colleagues who surrounded him."
| After visiting Richmond Colonel Wolseley
| obtained permission to visit Generals Lee,
! Jackson and Longstreet. In conversation
| with General Lee, for whom the author pro-
| fesses the highest admiration, mention was
| made of the battle of Antietam, which had
| just been fought. and the confederate COM
mander expressed the opinion that the REIN
| statement of Mcclellan to the command of
| the Union army, which Immediately preced-
| ed that engagement, had so electrified the
| federal forces, with whom Mcclellan was
| very popular, that the confederate defeat
| must be set down chiefly to that cause.
| Thus, Lee declared, If the federal admins
| tration had not reinstated Mcclellan 1t
| would have been possible for the confeder-
| ates to win at Antietam and then to sweep
! into Washington and drive the United
/ States government from its seat.
| Colonel Wolseley thus speaks of the con-
| federate troops he saw:
| Wltfl lUe southern army tnere was a TO-
| tai absence of all that is usually so satisfy
| ing to the artistic eye in the camps and
| bivouacs of Europe. General Lees head
| quarters consisted of merely some seven or
! eight small tents pitched along a snake
| fence. where the ground was bad and rocky.
| The camp followers were all slaves and the
| mounted orderlies-caled couriers' in Amer
| ica-usua1ly slept in the open. under carts
/ or wagons. There were no military bands
| no guards or sentries about, no busy staff
| officers told off to interview visitors and
| keep them from worrying their general. In
fact there was nothing of the 'pomp. pride
and circumstance of glorious war to be
seen in the camp of these earnest patriot
soldiers
| Colonel Wolseley's sympathies were main
| ly with the south, but he acknowledges that
doubtless II he had been a citizen Of this
country and had lived in the north he would
have been a radical supporter Of the federal
| principle. He advocates the belief that If
the southern ports could have been kept
open the confederacy must have maintained
| itself. He proceeds:
! Surely the time has come when the
| men of what Is now the greatest power on
earth-the present United States of Ameri-
ca-ean afford to hear such an opinion with
out any feeling against the soldier who
states 1t for what it is worth OF this at
least am certain. that no outsider can
nave deeper. more sincere admira ton
tnan nave for their Institutions their peo-
pie, their great soldiers and sailors as well
as Tor their writers and men of science"
| THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN ART; Edited nv
A Gaa van scr p}yssmTHE HISTORY OF
member 5f the National Sculpture Society With
trations in the text New York: The Macmillan hInsl
company. Washington: Brentano's
This Is the first number of a series op
four notable works. historically descriptive
| Of American art. 1t is large, in order tn
embrace the limits of the subject even
I briefly. 1t Is handsomely produced as be-
fits so important and d1gnif1ed work. Mr..
Taft's method of treatment Is tudicious
He attempts no didactic criticisms. no
classi1cat1on of American sculptors ac-
cording to relative artistic merits Ha
places no man first in his school, save as
MS general comments upon his work might
| Indicate to discriminating reader tend
ency toward one or another creator. He
handles his theme ehronologically, as suits
the historical inspiration OF the work.
American sculpture is relatively of re-
cent growth primarily tor the reason. az
the editor points out, that sculpture was of
slow growth in England. From that couu-
try came the first impulses toward art, and
unfortunately the early English influences
were distinctly adverse to art and all its
votaries 1t was rigidly Puritanical From
, the south came the first advances toward
D.
ture IN America WAS In the form Of tho
commissions given by the state of Vfr
ginia In 1871 and 1885 to Houdon for repre-
sentations Of Lafayette and Washington
But as regards the patronage Of native tall
emit, 1t was the north that finally took the
lead. The first profession American
sculptor was born in 1906. but 1t was NOT
for half century that sculpture as a dis
tfnct mode Of artistic expression, took form
as native art Small beginnings In cary
ing had, of course, been made prior to the
mfd-century. so that in the rough classff-
cation the time between 1850 and 1876 is
styled the middle period" In that time.
reaching elimination with the centen,
NAL. when the American people received a
remarkable stimulus through prior travel
and the exhibition here of many works Of
art from abroad, much had been done Of a
purely native and at the same time OF a
strictly exotic character. Most of the
young sculptors had gone to italy as
quickly as possible. and many had remain
ed there. Most CT them had followed the
Italian tenets OF the art rigidly and their
product in no degree reflected the Amerf-
can spirit. 1t has been only within the
past quarter Of a century that American
art, after revealing strictly native tenden-
cies during the middle period" has hos
somed into its true proportions as both
typical and classical. The net Judgment of
Mr.. Taft, himself a sculptor of note. is
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