TIIE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN, PORTLAND, OCTOBER 17, 1909.
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r- OVEBXOH JOHNSON, of Minneeota.
1 dying t tli of BO, when It f
looked an though nothing but
miracle would haw deprived him of th
Democratic nomination for the Presi
dency In presents another case of the
fatality th&t wems to o-erhang leaders
of the party of Jackson.
ft l not th flrt time that death ia
thus cut short a promising life and de
prived th Democratic party of Its
chancce.
William H. Crawford, of Georftia; Rob- I
ert J. Walker, of Pennsylvania; C. K
Vallandigham. of Ohio; William Russell.
of Massachusetts, tnd Robert E. Pattison,
of Pennsyli-ania, are all Instances of men
lo?t to tho Democracy In their prime.
Some of theee lost leaders had time
enough to make a place In history and
are remembered for what they have done.
others are merely names, and are only
JceDt down from utter oblivion by the
thought of what they might have accom
plished.
"William H. Crawford, of Georgia, haa
fcad his memory cherished by Democrats
for nearly a century now and Is remem
beted a the first great Democrat who
might have attained the Presidency had
he lived.
Crawford began h! political career as
a moderate Federalist, but came over to
Jefferson at the beginning of the 19th
century, and was thereafter & recognlaed
leader of the party.
He had hopes of the party nomination
In 116, but Monroe, whom Jefferson had
gently repressed in 18, in order that
Madison might be elected, now had his
' reward.
When the convention of 1J24 arrived
Crawford had for V years been a domi
nating figure tn National life, his serv
ices having Included work as United
States Senator. Minister to France. See
retarr of War and Secretary of the
Treasury.
It was while he was Secretary of the
Treasury and at the very summit of his
popularity that he was etrlcken with
paralysis. He was then S3. His friends
did their best to make a secret of his 111
i Tiess. so that his chances for the nomina
tion might not be hopelessly impaired.
for the glante of the period in the party
were an active candidates.
Calhoun was 10 yearg younger than
Crawford and he was fsnlsfled with the
selection as Vice-President.
Crawford came third when the electors
I voted and failed to give any candidate
a majority. This threw the election Into
' the House of Representatives, and :then
the friends of the other leading candi
dates, Adams and ' Jackson, made the
most of Crawford's Illness and Adams
was elected.
Crawford rallied somewhat In health,
and, had he fully recovered, might have
been a dangerous opponent for Jackson
In 1P2S. but he Joined hands with Jack
son to combat the hated Adams adminis
tration, and died during the term of Jackson.
Robert J. Walker was another leader
early lost to the Democracy, but It was
not death or disability that took him
out of the arena of politics, but a most
creditable case of conscience.
Walker, who was born In Pennsylvania,
went to live in Mississippi at the age of
25. Six years later he was leading a
movement against nullification, and when
he had been but 10 years Jn his adopted
state he was selected to be United States
Besides Governor
Johnson, Five
Men, Slated for
the Presidency,
Down
in Their Prime
TVaxJurJT-T. desrsvF'&J&.ZS, fy&i? azrrr jtoxz-
Senator, a most unusual progress for any
man.
Walker was an open advocate of
gradual emancipation with proper re
muneration paid to the slave ownera, but
In every other particular he was a most
radical Democrat.
In fact he early gained the reputation
of being the most astute Democratic
leader In the party when he brought
Tyler back Into the fold, thereby nulll
mying the effort of the Whig triumph
of mi.
He fashioned the tariff of 1816, and
was a most able Secretary of the Treas
ury under Polk.
Much against his will he became Gov
ernor of the Territory of Kansas. He
was assured that if he served those who
wanted to make Kansas a slave state hi
would get the nominatlon for the Presl
dency, a nomination worth having, sincj
the man who got It. James Buchanan,
went to the White House. But Walker,
though a politician, was strictly honest
on the big Issues that then engrossed the
country. He declined to assist In making
Kansas a slave state, because he believed
that to be the course that met with the
wishes of the people. Hence he lost his
nomination, and passed out of power as
a leader of the Democracy.
Had Clement L. Vallandlgham, of
Ohio, lived, he would have been a for
midable candidate for the Presidency In
1873, for by that time the Democrats of
the country had come to the conclusion
that they had done a great wrong to him
during the Civil War.
During the war he was the most hated
Democrat In the North. He was the
leader of the Copperheads. He was the
only man whom President Lincoln ban
ished for opposition to his policy.
Until 1870 he looked hopelessly dead
from a' political standpoint, 'but then he
began directing attention to new Issues
that had arisen with the ending of the
war, and called on the people to get to
gether, and take the tig forward step
necessary to wipe out the memories and
bitterness of the Internecine conflict.
In June, 1871, It was a certainty that
at the next Democratic convention Val
landlgham must fee the leading figure,
and with his admitted ability and proved
courage he might even have been the
nominee, but on the 17th of June, while
trying a case, and attempting to show
that the victim of an alleged murderer
whom he was defending had accidentally
shot himself while drawing a pistol,
Vallandlgham . shot himself and died at
the age of 61.
The career of William Russell, of
Massachusetts, Is well remembered.
He was almost an Infant phenomenon
in politics. He was first chosen Mayor
of Boston at the age of 28, and was
promptly returned for a second term.
He was only 32 when he was chosen Gov
ernor of Massachusetts. Altogether he
had five terms. In Massachusetts they
elect every year.
His thin, smooth, almost colorless face,
sensitive in expression, but filled with
Intellect and energy made him liked
everywhere, and Democracy looked to
him as a leader who would certainly have
a chance to make the running for the
White House, and probably get there.
He opposed free silver, but even the
advocates of that policy never learned
to dislike young Russell because of his
opposition, and when the time for a heal
ing of the wounds came. It is probable
that he would have been foremost in aid
ing hie party to a hopeful fight against
the Republicans.
But In 1896 from a remote oamp In
Nova Scotia came news of his sudden
death. He waa then only 40 years old,
and had he lived would today still be
younger than most of the present day
leaders.
The career of Robert H Pattison was
somewhat similar. When only 27 years
old he was elected Controller of the Re-
publican city of Philadelphia, and twice
he was elected Governor of the hide- i
bound Republican state of Pennsylvania. !
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The Nation looked with Interest to the
possibilities of this tall, handsome and
maanetlc man. but he died before reach- '
lng the age of 60.
Our National Bonfires.
W. C. Barnes, in Harper's Weekly.
What can be done toward protecting
large areas of forested lands has been
well established by the work of the forest
service on the National forests.
The National forests cover, In round
numbers, about 185 million acres of pub
lic Ia.d. The fire loss each year on this
great area has by careful patrolling and
jj I' 1 "ir
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systematic fire fighting been so reduced
as to be almost a mere nothing. In 1907
the area burned over was but 119.410
acres, or lo69 tran three-fourths of 1 per
cent of the whole area.
It is estimated that the National forests
cover only about one-fourth of the entire
forested area of the United Slates, so
that on this basis the total area that
would have been burned over In the
whole of the United States In that year
should have been but a little over 43S.0H0
acres.
The estimates show that the totnj
actually was between 6,000.i) and 8,0u0.
C00 acres.
As for the cost, taking the expense of
the work on the National forests for a
baois. it would have, cost but 3.000,ono
to patrol and protect tlio whole of the
forests of the country, which would be
a very cheap form of flro Insurance for
the people who, without It, lost some
where between l.S.OrtO.000 and $W.OOO,000
worth of timber during the year 190".
A Soubrctte and Ase.
New York Evening Sun.
To have been a soubrette all one's
life and then to grow old! Why should
one be expected to change? Why should
not the habits of thought of years
reach on into the seventies? The-tale
Is told of that dear ladv who forty
years ago sent the blood dancing in the
veins of her generation with "tassels
on her boots," and the lilt of kindred
ditties. Her daughter, in constant fear
of pneumonia for the frail, tiny old
lady, urged upon her the wearing of
woolen stockings. She sweetly but
firmly declined considering the ugly;
things, and, needing a new supply, laid
the case before her son. He saw the
point at once, and bought her a box of
the sheerest, daintiest, most openwork
affairs the market afforded. To the
surprise of all, she never wore them.
Throughout the Winter and far Into
the Spring she spoke no more of stock
ings, but meukly wore the ugly woolen
ones of her daughter's choice. At last
one day her son asked her why.
"Where," he queried, "are those pretty
things I bought you?" "Oh, my dear
boy," she exclaimed, "it was kind and
thoughtful and sweet of you to buy
them for me, and , of course, you
couldn't possibly know, but the pat
terns are so unbecoming I can't wear
them."
Compeneatlun.
By Nellie Porter.
Out of my sorrows may be born a smile.
Out of the blow a kls.
Somewhere, dear baby waits all the while;
Could I only remember thiw.
Out of my heartai-hfs may happiness reign.
Out of life's struKgies. rest.
Somewhere may baby's hand reach down for
mine
To greet whom my soul loves best.
Out of death's darkness Into Hunt
Out of the tomb new life. -
Bomewhere. I trust It will all be rlcht.
After life's heartaches and strife.
Portland, October e.
SOLVED THE MYSTERY SURROUNDING MOST FAMOUS PICTURE IN THE LOUVRE
FT STERLING HEILIO.
CROWDS of American tourists stand
round It all Summer, fascinated by
Its lifelike qualities, held by its
mystery, awestruck by its reputation,
puzzled, interested, willing to be Inter
ested, troubled. Inquiring, disappointed
even, asking in a whisper If it Is the
right one.
Tourists of all grades of culture
know they ought to like this picture,
the most famous portrait of all time,
the "Sphynx of Beauty," Leonardo's
"Mona Lisa," special treasure of the
Salon Carre of the Louvre Museum.
"Greatest portrait In the world," they
murmur. ,
"I've seen prettier women." . . . .
"Miracle of painting (reading- from
the guide-book), in which the art of
portraiture hss probably approached
nearest to perfection."
"What Is she smiling at?" r . .
"Occupied the artist four years; and
then he pronounced It unfinished." . .
"Wife of Fran-ces-co del Glo-con-do."
"More divine than human, held to be
marvelous and living, equal to Nature."
"She looks elderly." . . .
"She looks sly." ...
"Looks like a servant-glrll"
"No; she looks like a lady, anyhow!"
"Even those whose first expression Is
"Huh!" who proclaim frankly that
they cannot see her beauty or her in
terest, find themselves disputing hotly
over both.
I have known uncultivated, rude and
honest-minded men to scoff the Mona
Lisa then go back to it again and
again. Were they affected by the his
torlcal fact that King Franols I. paying
4000 gold ecus for this portrait of an
unknown Italian woman whom he had
never seen in person, kept it locked
Jealously in his private, "gilded room"
of FontalnebleauT Or that King Louis
XIV hung it in his bedroom at Ver
sailles? I think not. What the honest
minded Philistines, unprejudiced by cul
ture, worried over was:
"What is the smiling at?"
And then, after more study:
"Is she really smiling?"
Other Old Masters, as celebrated in
their line, did not thus trouble them.
There Is a mystery and a fascination
about this portrait. Independent of the
extraordinary things which the world's
geniuses have discovered In It.
It Is not a portrait that beoomes In
teresting because we know something
of the woman it represents. On the
contrary, the woman grows interesting
because we have this particular por
trait of her.
Up to yesterday, all that the world
knew of Mona Lisa Gherardlni, third
wife of Francesco del Glocondo of Flor
ence, was that Leonardo da Vinci,
painted! bar betweea 1601 and 1504 and
that Leonardo was her husband's
friend.
Friendship did not prevent the Illus
trious painter from selling It almost
Immediately to the King of France, his
patron. So, "La Joconde" has always
been French property: because Jovial
Francis I, learning It to be the portrait
of a lady named Glocondo, by a natural,
perhaps unconscous pun, called it "La
Joconde," "the Joound one," gay lively
or light-hearted.
Glocondo Is not a French family
name. "La Joeond" stuck. And so,
for certain deep-sea thinkers, Mona
Lisa's smile became saucy, .sportive,
flirtatious and even naughty; while
plain people were reminded of Shake
speare's "Jocund morn" and took gentle
cheerlness for granted. Yet they won
dered. "She Is klnd-of smiling, all
right," I once heard a man from Seattle
say meditatively, "but Is she JocundT
Yes, and more, reply great thinkers.
Talne discovered. In her smile, that she
was flirting with Leonardo. "The
critics have discovered that Mona Lisa's
husband was at his third wife and, con
Sequently, no longer young, says
Talne. "Putting beside this what we
know of Leonardo, his beauty, his
grace and his glory, Mona Lisa's smile
may be mocking for her husband, com
pllmentary for Leonardo, and perhaps
both at the same time."
Would you like to have M. Talne
Judge you by your photograph? But
that is nothing. Her smile upset Mlch-
elet, the historian, 400 years after her
death. "I go to that portrait in spite
of myself," he says, "as the bird goes
to the snake." Theophlle Gautier, au
thor of "Carmen," found her malicious.
aggressive and cruel, "this strange
creature whose look promises unknown
Joys and whose expression is divinely
ironic." She smiles with "mocking
voluptuousness" on the thousands who
admire her. Arsene Houssaye sees
"shining from that smile, the soul of
Leonardo in love!" Bonnaman, who al
most wrote a book about .her, says that
"those lips have paled with love and
still carry the trace of kisses." And
even the honest Nozlere "esteemed" that
"Leonardo has left us the portrait of a
witty and tender friend, rather in
clined to enjoyment."
Theophlle Gautier argued that Leon
ardo never forgot her. She was a
woman not to be forgotten. "If Don
Juan had . met Mona Lisa," he says
darkly, "he would have been saved
writing on his list the names of 3000
women: he would have written but
one; and the wings of his love would
have refused to carry him further.
They would have melted till their
feathers fell, in the black sunlight of
those eyes!"
Now we are ' getting- at the truth.
Mona Lisa Is not a woman, but the
woman, which, eaab. man ought to find, i
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LEONARDO'S "MONA LISA."
Perhaps she is, at the same time, all
women. "La Joconde is a philosophy of
women," affirms Bonnaman. "She Is a
manifestation Of feminism," says Kraus.
"Is the secret of La Joconde so im
penetrable?" asks Kraus. "It is going
too far to pretend that the painter
tried, for once, to manifest all the
power of femininity, to immortalize the
superiority of the woman of genius of
her epoch, that superiority which Dante
and Tetrarch expressed poetically in
creating Beatrice and Laura?"
The English Walter Pater discovered
her to be even an encyclopedia. "In
this beauty," he says, "the soul appears
with all its affections. All the thoughts
and all the experience of the world
have left their traces on It: the animal
Ism of Greece, the lubricity of Rome,
the revelry of the Middle Ages, the re
turn to Paganism, the sins of the
Borgias!"
There remained nothing to aiscover dui
a glimpse into the future; and this the
Italian Carotti added:
"9he Is the emanation of the intellect
tual, sentimental and poetic power of
her time," says Carotti, "with all the
mystery of the human eoul and all Its
destiny!'
Here Is mystery; and they admit it
Paul Bourget says the smile of Mona
Lisa "will never be defined, it being
copied mystery." According to Charles
Clement "thousands of men have Rstened
to the lying words of those perfervld Hps.
That enchanting smile Is Implacable: it
promises felicity, but It will never give
happiness.
Evidently Mona Lisa is a mirror of life.
showing men what they bring to reflect
In It. Georges Sand found her as fright
ening as a Medusa or a Sphinx. Arsene
Houssaye declared her to be satanlc. Get-
froy Is sure that she is a disenchanted
pessimist.
"During 400 years past." says M.
Gruyer, curator of the Louvre paintings,
"the Mona Lisa has addled the wits of
those who have talked about her. after
naving looked too long upon ner. jina
M. Gruyer ought to know; he Is a most
distinguished art expert and the personal
custodian of Mona Lisa.
"
Salamon Relnaoh has nothing against
the Immortal portrait itself; on the con
trary, he delights in Its unapproachable
naturalness and the charm and perfec
tion of its execution. Up to Vasarl, he
says, this is what the world saw In the
Mona Lisa. And he quotes Vasarl:
"He who would know to what point art
can Imitate nature nas but to study
this head; because Leonardo has ren
dered the least details with extreme
finesse."
And Fellbien:
"There is such grace and sweetness in
those eyes and features that they appear
living."
That Is all right, approves Salamon
Relnaahj and the good people who, stand
ing before a painting, got themselves
laughed at for saying "It is nnture" say
In a word what the critics of ancient
Greece and the Renaissance developed
more amply. It is only photography that
lias disgusted us with It. Leonardo him
self asked nothing more of a portrait.
"I have seen," says Leonardo, "a por
trait so full of resemblance that a dog
belonging to the sitter took it for his
master and manifested his delight."
But with romanticism, says Salamon
Relnach, a new element forced Itself Into
art criticism. It became subtle, refined,
mysterious. Works, to be admired, must
have something enigmatic, must envelop
an unknown something which the critics
would disentangle. And no chef-d'oeuvre
has been o much solicited as Mona Lisa
by the amateurs of hidden meaning!
All this ho annoyed Salamon Relnach
that he finally bepan looking Mona Lisa
up. What did he discover? He dis
covered a very pathetic, very tender
thing!
"What Is she smiling at?" You shall
learn. No one would have dreamed It!
Leonardo da Vinci took four years. In
deed, to paint the wife of his friend
Francesco del Glocondo; and eo far from
his being in love with her, or she with
him, he dropped both portrait and sitter
again and again, on a moment's notice,
to go on pleasure or business trips.
Reinach is a terrible man. He chases a
date through a hundred MS. until he
trees It. Leonardo quit Florence In H&!,
to return only In 1301. In 1502 he travelled
In Umbria as architect of Valentine Bor
gia. He returned to Florence In 150:1,
went on a pleasure-trip to Venice In 1505,
returned, and went to Milan In 1506. That
Is not four yearg of loving contemplation.
Is It?
The truth Is that Leonardo painted the
portrait gratis for his friend, the hus
band, dropping it when business called.
It bears every mark of such a non-paid,
purely -friendship portrait to the last. In
which the painter sells It to a third
party!
Obviously, the painting Itself was not
much either to Leonardo, the husband
or to Mona Lisa herself! Yet Its execu
tion was everything! A word of Vasarl
put Salamon Relnach on the track of the
mystery. Leonardo was a good friend
of Francesco del Glocondo, and palntea
his wife when he had time to distract
her mind from a great unhapplness!
Vasarl says that when he painted Mona
Lisa, Leonardo "surrounded his model
with musicians, singers and clownB to
entertain her In a gentle gaiety, In order
to avoid the melancholy aspect we
observe In most portraits."
The conclusion Is pure Vasari, says
Relnach; but the fact Is a studio-tradition
which Vasarl could not have in
vented. What melancholy of Mona Lisa
did her husband's friend, the painter, go
to the expense of employing professional
entertainers to drive away?
Paris, July 18.