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Deeming that the public would be deeply interested to know, indeed had
a right to know, something more of the author of the following work
than gleams through the series of entertaining, instructive, and in
many respects unparalleled articles which constitute "Knots Untied," we
applied to him for his Autobiography, in details covering other
portions of, and facts in his life, than are revealed in the wonderful
experiences of his professional career, as brought to light in these
articles.
But we were met by a reply, characteristic of most men of deeds rather
than of words, that it would be wholly against his taste to furnish his
own personal history: he was in 'no wise desirous to vaunt himself,' he
said; 'he had not sought,' he continued, by the articles in question,
to illustrate himself, or to play the part of a hero in any measure,
but merely to contribute to the current literature and the history of
the times a narration of sundry interesting facts, which, in their
hidden and secret nature, are usually withheld from the general public.
Throughout this book Officer McWatters has shown the modesty of a
retiring and unassuming man; making no further allusion to himself, and
his deeds and experiences, than necessary to sustain the thread of the
narratives. He desired that the book should stand upon its own merits,
without any adventitious aid from the high indorsements of his own
daily life and personal character, such as will be found in what
follows. He would, so far as the book is concerned, be judged as an
officer and an author, rather than by the merits of his own private
life, be they great or small. In this he evinced a commendable pride
and a good sense which we could not question.
Nevertheless we considered it fitting that we add to the book such
facts as we might possess ourselves of regarding the career of a man
whose life has been given, in so great part, to deeds of good,
heartfully and freely done, and to humanitary reforms, as has Officer
McWatters'.
For it is not strictly and merely in the capacity of a successful
officer or as a spirited and graceful writer that "the Literary
Policeman" (as the journals of New York are wont to distinguish Officer
McWatters) has done his best works. Officer McWatters is, _par
excellence_, a humanitarian, a gentleman of the widest tolerance and
liberality of opinions, as is evinced in various parts of the
narratives, which exhibit nothing of that cruel and tyrannical spirit
so common to men who have much to do with the criminal classes. It is
rather by kindness than severity that he would deal with the erring.
Officer McWatters, being unwilling to supply his Autobiography; and
being ourselves without sufficient notes to furnish the public with the
biographical comments which we considered so desirable concerning him,
we intrusted the matter of writing his personal history to a well known
literary gentleman of New York, with directions to him to put into form
whatever he could authentically gather of a nature interesting to the
reading public in general, concerning the author of "Knots Untied."
How well he fulfilled his arduous duty, under the circumstances, the
reader of the Biographical Notes which follow will judge for himself.
But we regard it as not improper for us to say, that in our opinion the
Biographical Notes will be found a very interesting addition to "Knots
Untied," not only by the insight they give the reader into the career
of a man, who, filling an unpretentious sphere in life, so far as
technical vocations are concerned, has made himself illustrious by
deeds of good will; but also by their style, peculiar in some respects,
and here and there marked by the utterance of brave thoughts regarding
matters of so much vital interest to the laboring classes, the poor,
who are the "chief constituency," in a humanitary sense, of Officer
McWatters himself,--by his benefactions to whom he has mostly won that
high popular esteem, which is so well recorded in the Biographical
Notes.
It is due to the writer of the Biographical Notes to remark here that,
in view of the very short period that was given him in which to prepare
the same, he accomplished in their production, a task which would be
notable, even without consideration of the peculiar difficulties which
lay in his path. It is not an easy thing to search hurriedly through a
thousand newspapers, for example, for material, and select and arrange
the same acceptably. But upon this point, perhaps, we cannot do better
than to append to this, our Introduction, a copy of the letter which
accompanied the Biographical Notes, from the gentleman in question.