New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-03-24

tons when once he has made UP his mind about
! a thing and Il Is inspiriting TO note from these
| pages the fervor and devotion with which. ever
] since the Civil War. he has done all In his
| power 70 foster the growth OF understanding
and friendship between the North and the South.
His love Of the Union is visible in all the ad-
dresses here printed in which the great strug-
gle is touched upon. and # is when he is dealing
with our national history that he is. perhaps
most eloquent NO one can read the story
] OF the struggle for freedom IN America" he
says. without an awestruck sense OF the pres
ence OF Gods hand from first to last" and he
is almost ardent in his words on Revolu-
tionary leaders as he is when he comes TO deal
with the men and events OF his own time. lie
believes that there never lived 'in this or in any
land a nobler gentleman and a knightlier sol
dir" than Jefferson Davis. but Lincoln is his
hero. and this not simply because he cherishes
the memory Of the man. but because he reveres
the statesman who carried the country through
its greatest crisis and re-established its unity.
Colonel Watterson's patriotism is not Of the
kind that flares up only on special occasions; II
is burning always and its sincerity lends a
very attractive glow TO the numerous passages
IL which he shows how his imagination has
been touched by the history OF his country.
Here is an illustration:
Take the map of North America and fix it
in your minds eye. Behold. what empire!
Caesar never looked upon the like Napoleon,
in his widest dreams conceived nothing
magnificent and vast See how IL takes up its
line of travel with the North Star; how IL
coasts along the frozen seas OF Alaska and Lab
rador: how IL sweeps round the capes Of New
foundand. losing itself moment in the mist;
how it skips. as ii were, over his majestys do
mniOns, to deepen into the pine forests ana
granite hills of New-England. with inland
oceans for its jewels and the great Niagara for
its crown Of diamonds; how it journeys in pal
coaches and vestibule trains through the
glorious North and the teeming South. until
dropping its rich fruitions into the Gulf Stream
IL fades at last into vision Of Paradise under
the Southern Cross. amid the silence and the
solitude OF eternal summer. What wealth is
here TO elevate the mind: to inspire the heart;
TO make us proud OF our country and ourselves!
What historical memories crowd every foot or
the way tracing the prowess OF our land and
race in the bones Of heroes that reach to the
borders Of the Polar mystery, to the bones of
heroes that have enriched the soil Of the Mon
tezumas. marking, in peace and war. in the
triumphs OF the Senate and the field, in the
nobler achievements of the laboratory and the
workshop. the progress of a people who have
already revolutionized the New World and put
the old to blush. and who destined ulti-
mately to absorb all the resources of the earth
and air. and all the arts and powers OF man IN
his state OF final and complete development
Along with an abundance Of discourse in this
vein there is much in Colonel watterson's book
in which. forsakng generalization for direct
narrative. he gives US a vivid sense OF a person.
ality or an event. The lecture on Lincoln is an
admirable study in portraiture. The author
knows his subject well. He first saw him when
Lincoln came 20 Washington on his election. and
stood at his elbow when he delivered the inau-
gural address. Lincoln delivered it. he says.
las II he had been delivering inaugural address
es all HIS life" and Colonel watterson seems to
have been strongly impressed by the tacit an