American Men of Action | Page 4

for heroism and high devotion, and worthy a lasting
place in the grateful memory of their country.
The passage of years has a way of diminishing the stature of men
thought great, and often of increasing that of men thought little. Few
American statesmen, for example, loom as large to-day as they
appeared to their contemporaries. Looking back at them, we perceive
that, for the most part, they wasted their days in fighting wind-mills, or
in doing things which had afterwards to be undone. Only through the

vista of the years do we get a true perspective, just as only from a
distance can we see which peaks of the mountain-range loom highest.
But even the mist of years cannot dim essential heroism and nobility of
achievement. Indeed, it enhances them; the voyage of Columbus seems
to us a far greater thing than his contemporaries thought it; Washington
is for us a more venerable figure than he was for the new-born Union;
and Lincoln is just coming into his own as a leader among men.
Every boy and girl ought to try to gain as true and clear an idea as
possible of their country's history, and of the men who made that
history. It is a pleasant study, and grows more and more fascinating as
one proceeds with it. The great pleasure in reading is to understand
every word, and so to catch the writer's thought completely. Knowledge
always gives pleasure in just that way--by a wider understanding.
Indeed, that is the principal aim of education: to enable the individual
to get the most out of life by broadening his horizon, so that he sees
more and understands more than he could do if he remained ignorant.
And since you are an American, you will need especially to understand
your country. You will be quite unable to grasp the meaning of the
references to her story which are made every day in conversation, in
newspapers, in books and magazines, unless you know that story; and
you will also be unable properly to fulfil your duties as a citizen of this
Republic unless you know it.
For the earliest years, and, more especially, for the story of the deadly
struggle between French and English for the possession of the continent,
the books to read above all others are those of Francis Parkman. He has
clothed history with romantic fascination, and no one who has not read
him can have any adequate idea of the glowing and life-like way in
which those Frenchmen and Spaniards and Englishmen work out their
destinies in his pages. The story of Columbus and of the early explorers
will be found in John Fiske's "Discovery of America," a book written
simply and interestingly, but without Parkman's insight and wizardry of
style--which, indeed, no other American historian can equal. A little
book by Charles F. Lummis, called "The Spanish Pioneers," also gives
a vivid picture of those early explorers. The story of John Smith and
William Bradford and Peter Stuyvesant and William Penn will also be

found in Fiske's histories dealing with Virginia and New England and
the Dutch and Quaker colonies. Almost any boy or girl will find them
interesting, for they are written with care, in simple language, and not
without an engaging humor.
There are so many biographies of Washington that it is difficult to
choose among them. Perhaps the most interesting are those by
Woodrow Wilson, Horace E. Scudder, Paul Leicester Ford, and Henry
Cabot Lodge--all well-written and with an effort to give a true
impression of the man. Of the other Presidents, no better biographies
exist than those in the "American Statesmen" series, where, of course,
the lives of the principal statesmen are also to be found. Not all of them,
nor, perhaps, even most of them are worth reading by the average boy
or girl. There is no especial reason why the life of any man should be
studied in detail after he has ceased to be a factor in history. Of the
Presidents, Washington, Jefferson, Jackson and Lincoln are still vital to
the life of to-day, and of the statesmen there are a few, like Franklin,
Hamilton, Webster, Calhoun and Clay, whose influence is still felt in
our national life, but the remainder are negligible, except that you must,
of course, be familiar in a broad way with their characters and
achievements to understand your country's story.
History is the best place to learn the stories of the pioneers, soldiers and
sailors. Archer Butler Hulburt has a little book, "Pilots of the
Republic," which tells about some of the pioneers; John Fiske wrote a
short history of "The War of Independence," which will tell you all you
need know about the soldiers of the Revolution, with the exception of
Washington; and you