The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-09-06

quered Rome by civilization and tn
arts instead Of the sword"
Mr.. Meriwethcr collocates two inter
csting passages which invite TO quota
ton Semmes wrote
Time with his scythe and hourgass hat
brought another and newer race I,
sweep away the mouidered and mouIderir,
institutions OF worn out people and replac,
them with frcsher and more viRorou
civilization. The descendant OF the Dan.
and the Saxon. with progress inscribed OF
his helmet, had come to euppisnt tn,
never changing Nisieoth In his halls. and
to claim that superiority for his lineag.
which an all wise Providence has 40 indeiI.
bly, stamped upon II.
And in 1sii Emerson wrote in hi,
diary:
The question Of tn. annexation NJ re,s.
~ one OF those which look very differently
to the centuries and TO the wears I, ia very
certain that the s'rone British race which
nave Islcl now overrun 50 much Of tint.
continent. must also overrun that tract
and Mexico and oregon also; and IL Will.
, In the course Of axes. he ~ small import
J ny what particular occasions and methods 2,
was done.
/ The Southern warrior no more than
! the Northern philosopher was animated
in these spgculations by the restless
! fever or Imperialism or the enthusiasm
! or ignorance as to ways and means
Semmes was deep student OF law.
municipal and. more especially. consti-
tutional and international; and as his
latest bioSrapher IL at pains To point
out. he had faith in the existing political
! machinery to operate safely in greatly
eNpa noed and increasingly densely pop-
ulated territory II must. to a genera
iion born since the grea, war for the
. Union was fought. throw new rRh,
on the sundering force of tho "iss,ies'
from which II spranR 10 read the hioc-
rapher's excerpts from the political
philosophy OF n brave and thoughtful
man born Ia tho South and reared in the
patriotic service of the nation. "Rca-
soning soundly that no one State comb
seriously ieopardze tho other states u
did not occur to him that a group Of
them. with the same a commonl in
contivc. could impcril the entire fabric"
Tho story Of Semmcs's part in the
war his trip to tho North to purchase
munitions and his cruises in the
Sumter and tho Alabama. is too we'll
known f6r ropetition: but IL is told
Win picturesque detail in the book. and
~ifn fair insistence upon the credit
which belongs 10 tho commander for his
w." Planning. the eternal vigilance
That enabled him long To eludc pursuit.
ana the quality Of his conduct of the
duel with Winslow IN the Kcsrsargc
His voyages south to Cape Town and
iu Far Eastern waters were Of a ma
turc ia try q comma nder's soul more
than pitched battles
After tho destruction of his cruiser he
was received In tho South with civil and
military hunors. on the way TO his
home AZ Mobile he Joined his son who
like himself had resigned from the ser
vice of the United States to fight for
tho South. and had attained tho rank II
major. From Mobile. lodging the
'ederals who plotted his CAPTURE with
all the wiles and almost all the force
mat go to tho siege of city he went
on IN Richmond and was received by
Davis and Lee with marked considcra-
ton Roth tho Confederate Congress
and the Legislature of Virginia gave
him tho courtesy Of n privileged seat
soon he was rHade rear admiral and put
n command Of the James River fleet
n not very imposing affair Of three iron
CladS and five wooden gunboats His .
river service soon ended with obedience
to despatch ordering him To destroy
his vessels. II may he supposed that
ftor his long experience with tn"
ships Of others he made thorough
job Of blowing UP his own.
After his capture. confn. mcnt dn I
which he Jared much better than the :,
President Of the ConfederacN). trial and e
-clesse he ocCupied himself az first like