American Men of Action | Page 5

can learn about the battles of the Civil War from
any good history of the United States. There is a series called the
"Great Commanders Series," which tells the story, in detail, of the lives
of American commanders on land and sea, but there is no reason why
you should read any of them, with the exception of Lee, Farragut, and
possibly Grant, though you will find the lives of Taylor and
"Stonewall" Jackson interesting in themselves. For the sailors, with the
exception of Farragut, Barnes's "Yankee Ships and Yankee Sailors"
will suffice; though every boy will enjoy reading Maclay's "History of
the American Navy," where the story of our great sea-fights is told

better than it has ever been told before.
These books may be found in almost any public library, and on the
shelves there, too, you will probably find Elbert Hubbard's "Little
Journeys," which give flashlight portraits of statesmen and soldiers and
many other people, vivid and interesting, but sometimes distorted, as
flashlights have a way of being.
Perhaps the librarian will permit you to look over the shelves where the
biographies and works dealing with American history are kept. Don't
be over-awed by the number of volumes, because there are scores and
scores which are of no importance to you. Theodore Parker had a
wrong idea about reading, for once upon a time he undertook to read all
the books in a library, beginning at the first one and proceeding along
shelf after shelf. He never finished the task, of course, because he found
out, after a while, that there are many books which are not worth
reading, and many more which are of value only to specialists in certain
departments of knowledge. No man can "know it all." But every man
should know one thing well, and have a general knowledge of the rest.
For instance, none but an astronomer need know the mathematics of the
science, but all of us should know the principal facts concerning the
universe and the solar system, and it is a pleasure to us to recognize the
different constellations as we gaze up at the heavens on a cloudless
night. None but a lawyer need spend his time reading law-books, but
most of us want to know the broad principles upon which justice is
administered. No one but an economist need bother with the abstract
theories of political economy, but if we are to be good citizens, we
must have a knowledge of its foundations, so that we may weigh
intelligently the solutions of public problems which different parties
offer.
So if you are permitted to look along the shelves of the public library,
you will have no concern with the great majority of the books you see
there; but here and there one will catch your eye which interests you,
and these are the ones for you to read. You have no idea how the habit
of right reading will grow upon you, and what a delightful and valuable
habit it will prove to be. Like any other good habit, it takes pains at first

to establish, an effort of will and self-control. But that very effort helps
in the forming of character, and the habit of right reading is perhaps the
best and most far-reaching in its effects that any boy or girl can form. I
hope that this little volume, and the other books which I have
mentioned, will help you to form it.
* * * * *
CHAPTER II
THE BEGINNERS
Nearly five hundred years ago, there lived, in the beautiful old Italian
city of Genoa, a poor wool-comber named Dominico Colombo, and
about 1446, a son was born to him and to his wife, Susanna, and in due
time christened Christoforo.
The world into which the child was born was very different to the one
in which we live. Europe was known, and northern Africa, and western
Asia; but to the east stretched the fabulous country of the Grand Khan,
Cathay, Cipango, and farthest Ind; while to the west rolled the Sea of
Darkness, peopled with unimaginable terrors.
Of the youth of Christopher Columbus, as we call him, little is known.
No doubt it was much like other boyhoods, and one likes to picture him,
in such hours of leisure as he had, strolling about the streets of Genoa,
listening to the talk, staring in at the shop-windows, or watching the
busy life in the harbor. That the latter had a strong attraction for him
there can be no doubt, for though he followed his father's trade till early
manhood, he finally found his real vocation as a seaman. It was on the
ocean that true romance dwelt, for it led to strange lands and peoples,
and no one knew what wonders and mysteries lay