Who are the Twenty Greatest Men. 



33 



No. of Votes. 



Bjbrnson, 1832 — 1.910 ... ... ... ... i 



King Edward VH., 1841 — 1910 ... ... i 



Edison, 1847 ... ... ... ... ... 4 



Bell, 1847 3 



Booker T. Washington, born about 1858 ... 1 



Marconi, 1874 ... ... ... ... ... 2 



Morton, 19th century ... ... ... ... 14 



Manu ... ' ... ... ... ... ... 1 



H. Chr. Orstcd i 



Totinus ... ... ... ... ... ... I 



Even when the whole one hundred and fifty named 

 by the various contributors to the symposium are sub- 

 jected to a similar analysis it wi'l be seen that there is 

 a preponderance of English-speaking men, who supply 



fifty-four out of the one hundred and fifty. The other 

 countries represented are seventLcn from Italy, fifteen 

 from Greece, fifteen from Germany, twelve from 

 France, nine for the Jews — crediting the Sons of 

 Israel with Lord Beaconsfield and .Spinoza — four 

 from Sweden, three fjom India, two each from 

 Carthage, Holland and Spain, one each from 

 Arabia, China, Norway, Persia and Egypt. It is 

 curious to note that only five votes were given to 

 Napoleon, while six each were given to Washington 

 and Oliver Cromwell. 



~ I have received several other lists which arrived 

 too late to be included in the above statement. As 

 the subject is one of such interest I shall probably 

 return to it next month. 



WALT WHITMAN ON SOME EMINENT MEN. 



Horace Traubel, the Editor of the Consen<ator, 

 of Philadelphia, who lived on terms oP exceptional 

 intimacy with Walt Whitman, and is one of the poet's 

 literary executors, gives in the Forum for January 

 some interesting remarks uttfered by Walt Whitman in 

 his last days. Here is an astonishing passage reveal- 

 ing honest John Burns in quite a new light. 



'■ December 29th, 1888. 

 Do you know anything about Burns — John Burns 

 — a writer: he is a London man — seems to be a 

 labour agitator — an anarchist — something of that 

 >ort. Someone sends me some of his [)oems : they 

 seem to im.ngine a likeness between us-^seem to see 

 some suggestions of nie there, of Leaves of Grass.' 



" Later he talked of Rossetti and his expurgations. 

 ' Of course I see now as clearly as I did then how big 

 and fine Rossetti was about it all— how thoroughly he 

 realised me : much more so and more promptly than 

 ( onway. Hut I now feel somehow as if none of the 

 changes should have been made : that I should have 

 said, take me as I am or not at all. If any mistake 

 was made in this incident, it was mine — my mistake : 

 Rossetti was altogether beautiful— genial, loving, 

 open-handed : he was full of resource— always seemed 

 to know which way to turn next.' 



" He gave me what ho called a ' curio '—a letter 

 from W. 0. Conway introducing ' Mr. lohn iMorley, 

 Editor of the Fortnij^htly Review, in whose acquaint- 

 ance you will find much pleasure, as he will in yours.' 

 W. .said : ' ,\Iorley was not the famous man then that 

 he is now : he has been gradually going ahead, ahead, 

 until now he is one of the big-si/ed men over there : 

 not quite my type— not the letting-it-go kind : rather 

 too judicial : still ouite a man.' 



" He had given me a long letter from Edward 

 Carpenter. He said : ' Carpenter is one of the torch- 

 bearers, as they say : an exemplar of a loftier Eng- 

 land. He is not generally known, not a wholly wel- 

 come presence, in conventional England : the age is 

 still, while ripe for some things, not ripe for him, for 

 his sort, for us, for the human protest : not ripe 

 though ripening.' 



" He was asked : ' Do you always feel it is quite 

 certain that Emerson will size up in history ultimately 

 bigger than Thoreau ? ' He was 'not dead sure oil 

 that point either way.' ' My prejudices, if I may call 

 them that, are all with Emerson : but Thoreau was a 

 surprising fellow- he is not easily grasped — is elusive : 

 yet he is one of the nature forces— stands for a fact, a 

 movement, an upheaval : Thoreau belongs to .America, 

 to the transcendental, to the protesters : then he is an 

 outdoor man : all outdoor men— everything else big 

 equal — appeal to me. 



" ' Thoreau was not so precious, tender, a personality 

 as Emerson : but he was a force — he looms up biggtr 

 and bigger : his dying does not seem to have hurt 

 him a bit : every year h.is added to his fame. One 

 thing about Thoreau keeps him near to me : I refer 

 to his lawlessness— his dissent — his going his own 

 absolute road.' " 



One more extract on another subject : — 

 " Of war : ' They are a hellish business, ij-ars— all 

 wars. Sherman said, War is hell ; so it is : any honest 

 man says so — hates war where war is worst — not on the 

 battlefields, no— in the hospitals : there war is worst : 

 there I mixed with it : and now I say, God damn the 

 wars — all wars : God damn every war!' His voice 

 suddenly got strong, rang out. 'I'hen he sank b.ick 

 on his pillow." 



