with the spinning wheel, or Florence Nightingale in the art of nursing.
In a western town a lady was discredited, and shunned, because she had
been a sewing girl. Appreciating the situation, and ambitious socially,
she made her home the center of fashionable sewing circles. She taught
fancy crochet, and embroidery stitches; in a very short time she had the
aristocratic women at her feet, and became the social leader.
The bright little needle, the swift-flying needle,
The needle directed by beauty and art.
Clara Barton’s apparel was her personal care, and not the care of a
_modiste_. While in charge of relief work on a field of disaster, she
said I have no clothing, and couldn’t attend to it if I had.” She fully
appreciated also that “rags are royal raiment when worn for virtue’s
sake.” She would sew on her own buttons, mend, clean, stitch and
hemstitch, make and remake, her own clothes,—not only as a matter of
economy but as a matter of personal pride.
[Illustration:
W. R. SHAFTER
No governmental red tape system could possibly be as effective as were
Clara Barton’s sensible business methods in Cuba.
W. R. SHAFTER.
Brigadier-General Civil War; Major-General
Commanding the American Army in the Spanish-American War.
General Shafter, the kind and courteous officer and gentleman.
CLARA BARTON.
]
Clara Barton received no one until she had donned the, to her, becoming
apparel,—the proper bow at the neck, the proper bow in her hair.
Everything about her dress must be, to her, _au fait_. Propriety of
dress had been a part of her education. She recognized that a tramp
seldom gets by the barking dog at the gate, while the door of the palace
opens wide to the person well-dressed. And possibly also she entertained
the sentiment of Emerson, “The sense of being well-dressed gives a
feeling of inward tranquillity which religion is powerless to bestow.”
She agreed with Walt Whitman that only personal qualities endure, and
dress bespeaks personal qualities.
That she succeeded in the art of dress—that her personal qualities were
at all times in the ascendancy, is attested by the fact that the press
reporter overlooked her dress, in describing the “ladies’ costumes.” He
would describe her very dark, bright eyes, her face as the ideal one
which conforms to her character, her raven black hair worn in the
fashion of our mothers and grandmothers; or “her hair, black as the
raven’s wing, does not follow fashion’s ways but is dressed like
Longfellow’s Evangeline, low down on either side of her forehead,” and
then possibly dismiss her with the simple statement: “Miss Barton was
attired in black silk.”
XXXIX
Clara Barton—her brilliancy and bravery won her a European reputation;
she was decorated with several honorary orders in recognition of her
exploits. Raleigh (N. C.) _Times_.
The whole of Europe is marshaled under the banner of the Red Cross.
CLARA BARTON.
In the Grand Duchy of Baden, woman leads in Red Cross work.
CLARA BARTON.
Scarcely had man made his first move in organizing the Red Cross, when
the jeweled hand of royal woman glistened behind him, and right
royally she has done her part. CLARA BARTON.
Sovereigns deeply interested in the work of the Red Cross will be less
and less disposed to precipitate their peoples into war for light and
trivial causes, for small, or personal, or unworthy ends.
CLARA BARTON.
The patrons of the Red Cross in Europe are always of the Crown, or
royal families, as Empress Augusta of Germany, Victoria of England,
Dagmar of Russia, Marguerite of Italy, and the Royal Grand Duchess of
Baden. CLARA BARTON.
THE JEWELLED HAND AND THE HARD HAND MEET
In the Franco-Prussian War the jeweled hand of the princess and the hard
hand of the peasant met, and labored side by side unquestioned and
unquestioning in their God-given mission. Side by side they wrought,
says Clara Barton, as side by side their dead lay on the battlefield.
Empress Augusta became the active head of the Red Cross Society of
Germany. Luise, Grand Duchess of Baden, only daughter of the Emperor and
Empress of Germany, was untiring in the conduct of the Society she had
already formed and patronized. Her many beautiful castles, with their
magnificent grounds throughout all Baden were at once transformed into
military hospitals. The whole court with herself at its head formed into
a committee of superintendents an organization for the relief of the
wounded soldiers. Clara Barton was the leading spirit in all such relief
work. She says: “I have seen a wounded Arab from the French Armies, who
knew no word of any language but his own, stretch out his arms to my
friend, the Grand Duchess, in adoration and blessing as she passed by.”
XL
Clara Barton—The object of decorations by many sovereigns.
Tacoma (Wash.) _Ledger_.
Clara Barton—The rulers of many nations have done her honor.
Boston (Mass.) _Herald_.
The title of Emperor never loses itself. NAPOLEON.
A throne is but of wood, covered with velvet. NAPOLEON.
Royalty is no longer the feeling of the age. NAPOLEON.
Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. SHAKESPEARE.
Every monarch is subject to a mightier one. SENECA.
The name of Emperor is a word, like another; but he who bears it must
have a better title to render him worthy of posterity.
NAPOLEON.
Clara Barton was the welcome guest in the soldiers’ camp, the
woodman’s hut, and the palace of the king.
_Universal Leader_, Boston, Mass.
Clara Barton’s services in the Franco-Prussian War brought her
recognition from the German Emperor in the shape of an iron cross,
Germany’s most prized decoration.
Bridgeport (Conn.) _Post_.
The “little woman” accomplished what crowned heads failed in.
_Unity_—Chicago.
Germany, which was in the vanguard of treaty nations was thoroughly
organized and equipped. She was the first to demonstrate the true idea
of the Red Cross—people’s aid for national, for military, necessity.
CLARA BARTON.
His Majesty, in the name of humanity, was glad to meet and welcome
those who labored for it. CLARA BARTON.
CLARA BARTON AND THE EMPEROR
The royalty of Germany had assembled to speed the parting guest, to pay
tribute of respect to the “little lady” who had sacrificed herself for
the sick and wounded in the Franco-Prussian war. William the First was
there. The Emperor observed, among her many decorations, two decorations
worn on that occasion by the “little lady.” One of these had been
presented to her by His Majesty on his 75th birthday; the other, the
“Warrior Brothers in Arms” of Milwaukee, he had not seen. It was the
“Iron Cross of Germany,” on an American shield. The “American Eagle”
surmounted the arms for defence; and the colors of Germany—the Red,
White, and Black, of the Empire,—united the two.
The Emperor, with much curiosity, turned to his daughter, the Grand
Duchess, as if to ask “does my daughter understand this?” His daughter’s
explanation was satisfactory, whereupon the Emperor expressed the wish
to know whether or not the Germans make good American citizens. “The
best that could be desired,” responded the “little lady,”—“industrious,
honest, and prosperous.”
The Emperor then commented on the high compliment thus paid the
German-Americans; “I am glad to hear this; they were good soldiers and,
thank God, they are true men everywhere.”
In a personal sense the Emperor said: “Of myself, I am nothing. God be
praised; it is all from Him. I am only His. He made us what we are. God
is over all.”
Miss Barton, “this is probably the _last_ time; we may not meet again in
this world, but we will be sure to meet in the world beyond. Good-bye.”
Farewell! if ever fondest prayer
For others availed on high
Mine will not all be lost in air,
But waft thy name beyond the sky.
This was the _last time_. When she again visited Europe he had passed to
the Beyond. But Prince Henry later visited the United States. Clara
Barton was then temporarily at Hotel Willard, Washington, D. C. At the
request of Kaiser William, Lieutenant Commodore Von Egidy, of the Royal
Suite, made a personal call upon Clara Barton at her hotel. She had been
apprised of his coming and was tastefully attired, wearing her historic
souvenirs, including those presented to her by the Royal Family of
Prussia. Among the souvenirs were the Iron Cross of Prussia, by Emperor
William the First and Empress Augusta; Gold Cross of Remembrance, by the
Grand Duke and Grand Duchess of Baden; Silver Medal, by Empress Augusta
of Germany; Jewels, including the Ruby Pin, by the Queen of Prussia;
Jewels, including the famed Pansy Pin, by the Grand Duchess of Baden;
Medal of the International Committee of the Red Cross of Geneva,
Switzerland. The Lieutenant Commodore, in full uniform, bore the
greetings of Prince Henry to Miss Barton; and also friendly messages
from the Emperor and other members of the Royal Family. Among the other
pleasant messages from the Emperor was the statement that he still
cherished the “little lady,” as a member of his own family.
XLI
Were all the crowns and laurels of earth won by the kings of earth
within my reach on one hand, and on the other there rested the One
Never Dying Jewel—made brilliant and lustrous by Clara Barton’s good
deeds—I would count myself most blessed of men to—in reverence—touch
the latter rather than become the owner of all the others. T. V.
POWDERLY.
Clara Barton’s name was mingled with the orations of statesmen, the
elegance of the pulpit, the command of royalty, the commands of
generals—engraved in the halls of fame, in books of story for children
and adults, and engraved on jewels of costly make and rare art. Bangor
(Me.) _Commercial_.
What have kings
The privates have not, too, save ceremony?
SHAKESPEARE.
A crown
Golden in show is but a wreath of thorns. MILTON.
The crowned heads of Europe were quick to perceive the benign uses of
Red Cross Associations, and bestowed upon the Central Committees of
their countries money, credit and personal approbation.
CLARA BARTON.
Secretary of State Frelinghuysen, insisting that illness was not a
good excuse, and that Clara Barton _must_ represent the United States
at the International Conference at Geneva, in 1884, said: “All the
country knows what you have done and is more than satisfied. Regarding
your illness—you have had too much fresh water, Miss Barton—I
recommend salt and shall appoint you.”
THE AUTHOR.
I saw Paris when the Commune fell; the Army of Versailles shot down
its victims on the streets by the ghastly glare of blazing palaces.
CLARA BARTON.
In 1872, at the time of the Reign of Terror there, Clara Barton walked
into the city of Paris. When the people saw her entering the stricken
city on her errand of mercy, they cried out: “God, it is an angel!”
PERCY H. EPLER, Author.
As Clara Barton and her faithful attendant, Antoinette Margot, a fair
haired Swiss maiden, were on their way in Europe to the front they
heard “Turn back, turn back; turn back; the Prussians are coming.”
“Yes,” said Miss Barton, “that is why we are going, we are on our way
to care for the wounded of the battle.” And the people cried out:
“Dieu vous benisse!” PERCY H. EPLER.
For services among the Armenians, Turks and Kurds, Sultan Abdul-Hamid
of Turkey decorated Clara Barton with the order of Shefacat and
diploma for charity, and referred to her as “A Missionary of
Humanity.” W. H. SEARS.
Miss Barton was President of the Red Cross at the time of the Russian
famine. The total contribution from America was estimated at $800,000.
In 1902 Clara Barton, and party, was invited to Moscow, Russia, where
she had a royal reception lasting three days.
Referring to her relief work in Russia, to Clara Barton the mayor of
St. Petersburg said: “The Russian people know how to be appreciative.”
THE AUTHOR.
The Czar of Russia personally decorated me (1902) with the highest
honor conferred on anyone not of royal blood. I was entertained in the
royal palaces and the imperial railway trains were placed at my
disposal. CLARA BARTON.
In 1902 the delegates were received by the Czar, and as such they
passed in review. Everyone bent over and kissed his hand. When it was
Miss Barton’s turn, she attempted to bend over to kiss his hand, but
he pulled his hand away and said: “Oh! no, Miss Barton, not you,” and
shook her hand, instead. B. F. TILLINGHAST, Delegate to Quinquennial
Conference of the International Red Cross Society, in 1902.
To honor me, the likes o’ me, not so! Poor little me who has not seen
the present ruler (1909) of her own country.
CLARA BARTON.
AMERICA—SCARLET AND GOLD—EUROPE
In the autumn of her life honors, like the rich and beautifully colored
leaves from the trees of New England, fell upon Clara Barton in showers.
Twenty-seven testimonials officially were conferred upon America’s
greatest woman philanthropist. The nations thus recognizing her valuable
services to their respective countries are: Germany, Prussia, Austria,
Russia, Switzerland, Servia, Turkey, Armenia, Spain, Portugal and Cuba.
Through official sources it is learned that several of these nations
have under consideration a perpetual Clara Barton memorial, and it is
not improbable that the first great monument to our American
World-Character will be on foreign soil.
Before the organization of the National Red Cross Society, in 1870–71,
Clara Barton was an active participant in relief work on the following
battlefields: Hagenau, Metz, Strasburg, Sedan; in relief work at
Belfort, Woerth, Montbelard; in hospitals at Baden; in relief work in
Paris at the Fall of the Commune; and for some time thereafter
personally assisted in organizing relief work for the sick and wounded
in France.
Clara Barton officially represented the United States Government at the
Red Cross International Conferences. She was appointed by President
Arthur in 1884, as our country’s representative at Geneva, Switzerland;
by President Cleveland in 1887 to the Conference at Carlsruhe, Germany;
by President Harrison in 1890 to the Conference at Rome, Italy; by
President McKinley at Vienna in 1897; by President McKinley in 1902 to
the Conference at St. Petersburg, Russia. In person she attended the
Conference at Geneva, at Carlsruhe, at Vienna and at St. Petersburg.
At Geneva, “Mlle. Barton bien merite de l’human’te,” prepared by an
Italian delegate, was adopted by acclamation by the representatives of
all the governments of Europe—an honor to a woman never before or since
equaled in the world’s history.
At St. Petersburg Clara Barton and party were received by all the
royalty of Russia; entertained by them at dinners, luncheons, on
excursions, given free transportation with an escort, everywhere. At
Carlsruhe she received signal honors at the hands of the Emperor and
Empress of Germany, Grand Duke and Duchess of Baden, Grand Duchess
Luise, Bismarck, Von Moltke, and other statesmen and military officers.
At the palace of the Grand Duchess Louise, she had attendants liveried
in “scarlet and gold”; received all the honors accorded to royalty; and
on leaving for America all Royalty stood hat in hand wishing her _Bon
Voyage_ and _Dieu Vous Benisse_!
XLII
Clara Barton is the greatest woman in the world.
GENERAL W. R. SHAFTER.
Greatness is the courage to exercise common sense in high places.
JUDGE T. M. COOLEY.
General Shafter, while in Santiago as he had been at all other times,
was the kind and courteous officer and gentleman.
CLARA BARTON.
In Cuba General Leonard Wood—alert, wise and untiring, with an eye
single to the good of all—toiled day and night.
CLARA BARTON.
Take whatever three or four years of my existence you will, but leave
the old army life _untouched_. CLARA BARTON.
THREE CHEERS—WILD SCENES IN BOSTON—TIGER!! NO, SWEETHEART
It was on the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Grand Army of the
Republic, held at Atlanta, Georgia. Mrs. W. M. Scott, of O. M. Mitchell
No. 2, W. R. C., was the President. At that meeting the President
described the scene occurring at one of the sessions in Boston the
previous year.
Mrs. Annie Wittenmeyer was the President of the W. R. C. at the session
in Boston. As President she said: “I have the pleasure and the honor to
introduce to you”—and hundreds of lips ejaculated “Clara Barton!” Then
there occurred an ovation seldom witnessed. Handkerchiefs waved from
every part of the hall, and loving little tears of tenderness streamed
down the faces in that vast throng of admirers of the beloved woman. And
Clara Barton talked. She, describing a former meeting, said (her voice
tremulous): “They showed me the wounds they said _I_ had helped to heal,
and the stubs of the limbs they said _I_ had tried to save, and they
clustered around me like loving boys, and I—I cried, and they cried too;
and we talked of those terrible times, and then we talked of those
glorious times. They were grateful to me for what I had done for them,
and I was grateful that I had the privilege of doing it.” “And,” says
Mrs. Scott, “as Clara Barton told the simple story of her experiences
with her soldier boys every one of us women, gazing at her, thought that
if we did not have a sweetheart, or husband, at that time to nurse,
well,—we wish we had.”
The old soldier boys _brave and true_ in numbers were there. The G. A.
R. too was having its session in Boston, and their heroine also was
there. He, too, whom history will record as one of the greatest of
American generals, was there. As since has the soldier’s idol, the great
General also had “suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous
fortune”—at the hands of schemers and politicians. Under the General she
had served in Cuba—the same fearless woman that at the battle of
Santiago, perched on a gun-carriage, gave orders to the doctors and
nurses. Clara Barton again received an ovation, and General Shafter
shared in the honors.
[Illustration:
EMPRESS AUGUSTA
The Empress—her precious gift, the beautiful cross, is the chiefest
among my treasures. CLARA BARTON.
See pages between 326–7, decorations Nos. 9, 18.
]
[Illustration:
EMPEROR WILLIAM I
(1861–1888)
Tell the “little lady” I still cherish her as a member of my own
family.—THE EMPEROR.
See pages between 326–7, decoration No. 3.
]
THE ROYALTY OF GERMANY
[Illustration:
LUISE, THE GRAND DUCHESS OF BADEN
née Princess of Prussia
]
[Illustration:
FRIEDERICH, THE GRAND DUKE OF BADEN
Duke of Zährengen
]
For more than forty years, I have known dear, beloved Miss Clara
Barton. Great affection and great admiration and great gratitude
united me with her. Her memory I will keep sacred in faithful and
thankful remembrance of her whose friendship was in our never altering
affection so very precious to me.—LUISE, the Grand Duchess of Baden
(in 1912).
The Grand Duke, one of the kindest and noblest types of manhood. CLARA
BARTON.
See pages between 326–7, decorations Nos. 2, 4, 5, 16, 17.
The literary exercises were over. The General had stepped down from the
platform. There at the foot of the steps the General waited. The
audience had remained sitting. In a few moments Clara Barton and her
chivalric old Commander were in private conversation. As that great
audience, composed principally of old soldiers, saw together the
greatest hero and the greatest heroine of the Spanish-American War,
reminiscing of common hardships and common dangers, as one man they rose
to their feet, tumultuously cheering.
An old soldier at the top of his voice shouted:
“Three cheers for Clara Barton!”
The cheers given were uproarious, cheers continuing again and again. At
a still higher pitch of voice another shouted: “Tiger!!”
Hardly had the echo of that voice died away when still another voice
cried out: “No, Sweetheart!!”
Then shouts and tears were intermingled and little Clara, with a love as
true to her “soldier boys” as that of her “soldier boys” to her, much
embarrassed and speechless, could only smile back her love in return,
and in tears smile and smile and smile.
XLIII
I have been shaking hands since nine o’clock this morning, and my
right hand is almost paralyzed.
A. LINCOLN, January 2, 1863.
My “duties?” Receiving and shaking hands with _two thousand persons_,
sitting down to the May breakfast at one o’clock with eleven
hundred—leaving the table at four P. M.
CLARA BARTON, May 3, 1910.
All speaking terrifies me. CLARA BARTON.
Formality and parade I hate. CLARA BARTON.
Vain pomp and glory of the world
I hate ye. KING HENRY VIII.
Who was it that said that life is three-fourths conduct? Matthew
Arnold, I think. BISHOP WILLIAM F. MCDOWELL.
While Clara Barton’s religion was real, it was a thing expressed not
in words nor creeds, but almost wholly in deeds.
REVEREND PERCY H. EPLER.
Such lives as Clara Barton’s teach the world a lesson which it must
never be permitted to forget—namely, that the wealth of human life is
not what it gets, but what it gives.
REV. WM. E. BARTON, D.D.
THE LAST RECEPTION—HER AUTOGRAPH—THE BOYS IN GRAY
The last great public reception to Clara Barton was in Chicago, May 3,
1910. Miss Barton made the trip alone from Washington to Chicago, she
then being nearly ninety years of age. The reception was given by the
Social Economics Club, in Mandel’s Tea Room, to twelve hundred
delegates, representing the club women of the State of Illinois, Clara
Barton being the special guest of honor. Just back of Miss Barton on the
stage was a snow-white flag bearing in its center a blazing red cross.
The question to be discussed was “Are We Elevated by Knocks or Boosts?”
Under the spell of Miss Barton’s presence, “Knocks” was omitted from the
program and “Boosts” resulted in a symposium of tributes,—in an ovation
given to Miss Barton “such as few mortals receive.”
Since her death her autograph has become very valuable. Even then it was
highly prized, and she was not permitted to leave the hall until every
delegate present had her autograph. At the close of the meeting a
delegation of Southern women waited on Clara Barton to thank her for
what she did for the “boys in Gray” during the Civil War.
The following Sunday evening she was asked to fill the pulpit of a
famous Chicago divine. She declined. “But you must, Miss Barton; it is
announced, and the audience expects you.”
Commenting on the occasion she remarked to a friend: “I got even with
the pastor, for he had to sit in the pulpit to listen to my talk; but
possibly more annoying to him is the fact that he sat there, facing the
largest audience he had ever seen in his church—wondering all the while
what had been the trouble with his sermons.”
XLIV
I am sure I express the sentiment of our great commonwealth when I say
“All honor to the memory of the great founder of the Red Cross.”
CHARLES E. TOWNSEND, U. S. Senate.
Clara Barton’s fame will live as long as the race honors
self-sacrificing devotion in ministering to the suffering.
Dayton (Ohio) _Journal_.
Clara Barton—her fame will live throughout the ages.
Tampa (Fla.) _Tribune_.
Thou art Freedom’s now and Fame’s. FITZ-GREENE HALLECK.
Fame outlives marble. W. G. CLARK.
Fame is but a phantom. J. BROOKS.
Fame is the echo of action. FULTON.
Fame is a magnifying glass. PAVILLON.
Fame is the thin shadow of eternity. MARTIN LUTHER.
Fame is the perfume of heroic deeds. SOCRATES.
Fame comes only when deserved. H. W. LONGFELLOW.
Fame is no plant that grows on mortal soil. MILTON.
The temple of fame stands upon the grave. HAZLITT.
With fame—in just proportion, envy grows. YOUNG.
He lives in fame that died in virtue’s cause.
TITUS ANDRONICUS.
What is fame? A fancied life in other’s breath.
POPE—_Essay on Man_.
[Illustration:
NICHOLAS II
The Czar of Russia
Oh, no, Miss Barton, not you.
THE CZAR.
The Czar is young and handsome, an educated, refined, kind-hearted
gentleman. I know him. CLARA BARTON.
]
[Illustration:
ALEXANDRA FEODOROWNA
The Czarina of Russia
The Czarina was the active head of the Red Cross, in the Russian
famine of 1892. She and the Czar gave a special audience to Clara
Barton, on the occasion of her visit to St. Petersburg, in 1902.
]
THE ROYALTY OF RUSSIA
[Illustration:
MARIA FEODOROWNA
The Empress Dowager
_née_ Princess Dagmar of Denmark
The personal friend of Clara Barton and who, with the Czar, presented
her with a decoration. See page 327, decoration No. 23.
]
There is nothing vainer than the love of fame. THEOPHRASTUS.
Earth hath bubbles as the water has. MACBETH.