CHAPTER XXIV

ROOSEVELT THE GREAT HEART

W

E found the parallel for Theodore Roosevelt in the Hercules of classical antiquity. We see his counterpart in the Great Heart of Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. Senator Henry Cabot Lodge in his masterful memorial oration uses as his peroration a quotation from Bunyan's allegory. He likens Roosevelt to Valiant-for-the-Truth, whom the author represents as holding the sword, with which he fights for the right, so firmly that it became cemented to his fingers and seemed to grow out of his hand as a part of it. But the real hero of the second part of Pilgrim's Progress was Great Heart. His tender regard for women and children was such that he devoted his time and energy in helping them up the pathway of life, and in clearing away its difficulties and dangers. He was a Hercules who braved lions in the path, drove them out of the way of the women and children and fought and slew the robbers and giants that undertook to harm them. It was Great Heart who led Christiana and her four sons along the dangerous pilgrimage of life up to the delectable mountains and the land of Beulah. He presents an exact picture of the tender regard Theodore Roosevelt always had for the women and children of

America, especially for the helpless ones. From the very beginning of his public life till the day of his death he did everything in his power to improve the condition of women and children, and to promote their progress, usefulness and happiness. The laws on the statute books safe-guarding the interest of the women and children, especially those of the poor, were many of them put there by Mr. Roosevelt's influence.

The other day I went over on the East Side to see a very old woman, Mrs. Mary Ledwith, who said she was born in 1830, and hence was 89 years of age. She said that she went to live in the home of Mr. Charles Carow, the father of Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, before Lincoln's election. She was in the family when Mrs. Roosevelt was born; she put her first dress upon her and remained in the family until the time, when she went, as a nurse, into the home of Colonel Roosevelt, when Miss Ethel Carow was married to him. She remained in the family until a few years ago. She said there never was a nicer little girl than Ethel Carow, and no finer woman than Mrs. Ethel Roosevelt. She is so lovely to me now, comes to see me and on Christmas always brings me some nice present, generally a garment that she has made with her own fingers. This nice one she gave me this last Christmas. I had the chance to see Colonel Roosevelt at close range and there was never a finer man. He also has been so tender and good to me, visiting me, and always came to see me when I was sick. All those pictures on the wall of Mr. and Mrs. Roosevelt and the children were given to me by him. The last time he was here he spent some considerable time looking over them and said, "This one was taken at Albany, that one in New York, this other one in Washington and this at Oyster Bay." Those pictures are mighty

good company to me and they seemed to be to him that day. Quite an amusing incident occurred one day. I had lived on the second floor of this building and had moved to the third, where I am now. And Colonel Roosevelt, running up the first stairway, rushed into the apartment I formerly occupied and frightened the tenant nearly out of her wits. Mrs. Weisman resented the insolence and Colonel Roosevelt told her who he was, begged her pardon and said he was looking for Mrs. Ledwith. He then came upstairs just as full of life as a boy and laughed heartily as he said, "You got me into a lot of trouble by not notifying me that you had moved upstairs, for I got into another person's house and did not know but that I would be arrested as a burglar." Mrs. Ledwith said she was very sorry that her memory had failed her, as she had so many delightful experiences in being in the home of so great and good a man as Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore Roosevelt's tender regard for Mrs. Ledwith was an illustration of that affection and care which he had for the aged man and woman.

Almost the greatest characteristic of Mr. Roosevelt's life was his love for children and the deep interest he took in their welfare. No wonder the boys in America idolized him. He knew them so well and was so much of a boy himself. During the Barnes trial in Syracuse the Colonel kept up his horseback exercise. One afternoon a prominent Syracusan looked up from his newspaper on the front porch and called to his wife upstairs: "There goes Theodore Roosevelt on horseback." At the moment the six-year-old son of the house was in the bathtub. He heard his father, rushed scampering and spattering downstairs, out of the front door and right down the walk to the middle of the street, hoping for a glimpse of his great idol.

But he was too late for the Colonel had gotten out of sight, and the father had to run out and kidnap his nude child and carry him back into the house while the little fellow kept on saying: "Where is he, papa! Where is he! Which way did he go!" That night, at a reception, the father told the Colonel of it. "By George-by George!"-and he chuckled. "You bring that boy to me I want to see him!" He was brought, duly clad, and was mounted for half an hour on the Roosevelt knee, and told stories about Injuns and lions and giraffes and grizzlies and my grandchildren; and when taken home in a trance, and measured, his father said he had grown an inch.

Not very long before he died, one autumn day Colonel Roosevelt went down to the court in New York and sat for two hours at the elbow of Justice Hoyt and acted as unofficial consulting justice. In one case he leaned over and whispered to a youngster, "It's all right, sonny. You're all right, but remember don't do it again or he'll send you away." One little urchin had stolen something good to eat from the pushcart and had made restitution to the owner. Mr. Roosevelt as he thumped the arm of the chair said, “That's a fine boy, that kind make first-rate citizens.

Colonel Roosevelt's love for the children was manifested in his deep desire that the children of the plain people, and of poverty, might have all the advantages of a common school education, and also technical instruction in the fine arts. This interest was shown, a few years ago, in a visit to the Third Street Music Settlement in New York City. He was entranced with the orchestra of East Side boys and girls, from many lands, playing a movement from a Haydn symphony, and was astonished by three little pupils with the Widor "Serenade" for piano, violin and 'cello, fol

lowed by various piano and violin solos. He made the children a beautiful speech in which he said: "Boys and girls, do not envy your neighbors who may have many automobiles in their garages while you have your piano, your violin, or 'cello. Prepare yourself to earn the living wage, but do not forget to leave the casement open to let in 'the light that never was on sea or land.' Let the love for literature, painting, sculpture, architecture, and, above all, music enter into your lives.

One cold day in February in returning from lunch to The Outlook office he found a little immigrant boy nine years old who had got lost from his parents and was crying bitterly. The Colonel took out his handkerchief, wiped the child's eyes and spoke to him kindly, and took him by the hand and led him to the matron of one of the police stations with the personal request that she immediately find his parents and take him to them, which she did.

In 1903 there was an important function in Portland, Ore., of which Mr. Roosevelt was the centre. The city was crowded and the pavements were lined with people witnessing the procession. There was a little incurable invalid girl, who was very anxious to see the President of the United States as he went by. And they put her on a stretcher and carried her to the edge of the pavement. President Roosevelt, noticing the pale, sick little creature, stopped his carriage, ran to the cot where she lay, stooped down and kissed her and then hurried back to his carriage and the procession went on. As Hercules, he was at the head of the nation; as Great Heart, he bent down and kissed the sick little child.

This love for children is illustrated by an incident told me by Rev. Dr. Bowman. One day Mrs. Bowman