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J GOODWIN'S WEEKLY 3 jj ! i 40Ma Goodwins UJqqAIi 1 ! J?v E t0 tlie Presence of several distin 1 (j IMA guished guests from France, we have m VHhB indeed been enjoying 'a feast of in i - fflW spiration and a flow of soul during LnQm -nrrii jBf the passing week. The charming tiit3iffBJmW Countess De Bryas was first to come, and her gracious manner and stirring message touched all our hearts. Then $ime the grizzled old General . Pau and party, fresh from the front and full of faith in the ultimate Tsucccss of the Allies' cause. This picturesque old hero of many a vajiant stand for France fairly bristles with the indomitable spirit of his people, and the message he brings to America is irresistible in its appeal. And last but not least came the incomparable Bernhardt, who too has performed a labor of love on the battlefields of her bleeding country. She is still with us, and although she is appearing for pay in a local theatre, her heart and hopes are all for France and she man ages to turn a bit of dramatic art into an inspiring appeal for her liard-pressed people, as well as an eloquent manifestation of their good will for the great-hearts of America. To have welcomed and entertained these three, all in one short week, is no small honor, and we are keenly sensible of the rare good fortune that has come our way. What wonderful people these French are! They charm us after the fashion of old friends. Though they come from across the seas and speak in a strange tongue, they seem to experience no difficulty in establishing themselves immediately in our good graces. They appeal to our better natures and awaken an exquisite sense of understanding which needs no common language to express its finer feelings. One cannot see them and be within the sound of their voices without experiencing a strange tumult of emo tions and being refreshed by the noblest sentiments. They know how to touch the heart, and they reach its innermost recesses with such ease and grace and delicacy of manner that they seem to win our affec tions unawares. We owe them much already more, perhaps, than we can ever hope to pay but we will forever be their debtors for helping us to find our better selves. T H f n WHEN THE BOYS COME HOME. ''pHE superb John A. Logan, of Civil War and subsequent Con JL gressional fame, never tired of telling the following story on I Colonel "Billy" Morrison, a fellow volunteer from the state of Illi nois. As it happened, both of these famous fighters were wounded before Donelson and were carried to the rear in the same ambulance. The latter was severely wounded in one leg. $" "Looks like the Rebs gave you a h 1 of a lick," observed Logan as he sized up his stricken comrade. "Yes, I got a good lick, all right," replied Morrison, rather optim istically. "Good enough, at any rate, for me to go back home after while and beat Phil Fouke for Congress." And then Logan would always wind up the story by saying : "And that's exactly what Billy finally did." By way of clearing up all the points involved in the story, it should be said that Fouke was one of the old-line politicians and of ficeholders whom the younger element had tried in vain to beat before the war. But after the war, when the "boys from Illinois" came home &nd decided to take a hand in the game for "the sake of their old com rade, they managed to pry old Fouke out of his seat in Congress in short order. And so they sent "Billy" Morrison to Congress and from there to the Senate, and then, as we now recall, they elected him gov ernor, and for thirty years he was a c,hampion of good government and a credit to his state and his glorious career was a matter of per- sonal pride to every one of the boys who had worn the old blue uni,- ( H form. H And what happened in Illinois was but one of hundreds of sim- -I H ilar instances throughout the other states in the years following. the ' H close of the Civil War. Is it too much to say that when the boys come ' H home from France we will see history repeat itself and the old-line H officeholders forced to vacate their positions, while the men who , j H wore the khaki warm the'seats of honor and public trust for the next H quarter of a century? L k , H OLD FRITZ'S DREAM. THIS being the anniversary of the death of Frederick -the Great, ! M it is to be supposed that the event will be appropriately observed ji M throughout all Germany. Insofar as they may have prospered, or tj, suffered, in their mad march toward world dominion, the modern Y M Germans have mucli to thank Old Fritz for, or his memory, rather, M since it seems that the evil genius which now possesses his progeny is partially traceable back to him. M And yet, with all his faults, one can hardly think of Frederick II J VM as the unregenerated old reprobate, such as he has been pictured, ifl against whom should be lodged all the anathemas of an outraged f world for having instilled the spirit of conquest in the hearts of his Hl people. He dreamed of an all-powerful Prussia, to be sure, and waged i war after the fashion of his day, but he was level-headed and as a il rule sensed the limitations of his power. Like all rulers of his kind, 11 he was not overly scrupulous about the manner in which he acquired I title to territory adjacent to his domain, but he managed at all times 11 to maintain a semblance of regard for the rights of neighboring coun- i tries. Then too, he had the good sense to always confine his quarrels 11 to the parties primarily concerned, and at no time did he permit his 11 celebrated campaigns to even border on the possibility of a world struggle. In the execution of his designs, he was cautious to not 11 tread unnecessarily on the toes of any neutral nation, and as a rule he 11 was faithful to his treaties. IH Moreover, it is a matter of record that Old Fritz finally grew H weary of waging war against his neighbors and concerned himself fiH solely with the pursuits of peace and prosperity among his people. 11 The grim old warrior learned to wield the pen so skillfully as he had 0 the sword; he became as successful in statesmanship as he had been as a soldier ; he patronized the fine arts ; matched wits with Voltaire 9H and other leading thinkers of the day; he developed a philosophical IH turn of mind that was the wonder of his contemporaries; and his ifl later years were entirely devoted to making his people happy, and in R grieving for the splendid soldiers he lost in his sanguinary campaigns. jUH Hence there is every reason for believing that the great Frederick wM passed his declining years trying to be a real father to the German in people. IH The story goes that shortly before his death, while passing the 1B hours away at his famous retreat in Sans-Souci, with little company ittfl save his flute and his melancholy moods, Old Fritz suddenly awoke gjJ from a bad dream one night and recounted the following experience to his old body-servant: jl "I dreamed I was standing on the terrace of San-Souci, and all ufl around me I beheld my state and all my palaces close together, and ! behind them I could descry the whole world, with all its cities ..nd IH countries; it was spread out before my eyes like a painting of won- mil drous beauty, and I was rapturoi J gazing at it. All at once the sky MM grew dark; black clouds passed over it; profound darkness covered 111 the beautiful world, and dreadful shrieks and groans resounded 111 through the air. But from the midst of the black clouds a bright, Ifl