s will, it is at least the willing and competent
servant of a single-minded master. If it has not been leavened by the
rigorous routine of its work, neither has it been cheapened; and the
service has constantly been growing better worth while. During the
course of his public career, his original integrity of character
has been intensified by the stress of his labors, his achievements,
his experiences, and his exhortations. An individuality such as
his--wrought with so much consistent purpose out of much variety of
experience--brings with it an intellectual economy of its own and a
sincere and useful sort of intellectual enlightenment. He may be figured
as a Thor wielding with power and effect a sledge-hammer in the cause of
national righteousness; and the sympathetic observer, who is not stunned
by the noise of the hammer, may occasionally be rewarded by the sight of
something more illuminating than a piece of rebellious metal beaten into
shape. He may be rewarded by certain unexpected gleams of insight, as if
the face of the sledge-hammer were worn bright by hard service and
flashed in the sunlight. Mr. Roosevelt sees as far ahead and as much as
he needs to see. He has an almost infallible sense of where to strike
the next important blow, and even during the ponderous labors of the day
he prudently and confidently lays out the task of to-morrow. Thus while
he has contributed to the liberation of American intelligence chiefly in
the sense that he has given his fellow-countrymen something to think
about, he is very far from being a blind, narrow, or unenlightened
leader.

Doubtless the only practical road of advance at present is laborious,
slow, and not too enlightened. For the time being the hammer is a
mightier weapon than the sword or the pen. Americans have the habit of
action rather than of thought. Like their forbears in England, they
begin to do things, because their common sense tells them that such
things have to be done, and then at a later date think over the
accomplished fact. A man in public life who told them that their "noble
national theory" was ambiguous and distracting, and that many of their
popular catchwords were false and exercised a mischievous influence on
public affairs, would do so at his own personal risk and cost. The task
of plain speaking must be suggested and justified by the achievement of
a considerable body of national reconstructive legislation, and must
even then devolve largely upon