The Project Gutenberg EBook of Hero Tales From American History, by
Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt

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Title: Hero Tales From American History

Author: Henry Cabot Lodge, and Theodore Roosevelt

Posting Date: October 10, 2008 [EBook #1864]
Release Date: August, 1999

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Produced by Dianne Bean

HERO TALES FROM AMERICAN HISTORY

By Henry Cabot Lodge And Theodore Roosevelt

Hence it is that the fathers of these men and ours also, and
they themselves likewise, being nurtured in all freedom and
well born, have shown before all men many and glorious deeds
in public and private, deeming it their duty to fight for
the cause of liberty and the Greeks, even against Greeks,
and against Barbarians for all the Greeks."--PLATO:
"Menexenus."

TO E. Y. R.

To you we owe the suggestion of writing this book. Its purpose, as you
know better than any one else, is to tell in simple fashion the story of
some Americans who showed that they knew how to live and how to die; who
proved their truth by their endeavor; and who joined to the stern and
manly qualities which are essential to the well-being of a masterful
race the virtues of gentleness, of patriotism, and of lofty adherence to
an ideal.

It is a good thing for all Americans, and it is an especially good thing
for young Americans, to remember the men who have given their lives in
war and peace to the service of their fellow-countrymen, and to keep in
mind the feats of daring and personal prowess done in time past by
some of the many champions of the nation in the various crises of her
history. Thrift, industry, obedience to law, and intellectual cultivation
are essential qualities in the makeup of any successful people; but no
people can be really great unless they possess also the heroic virtues
which are as needful in time of peace as in time of war, and as
important in civil as in military life. As a civilized people we desire
peace, but the only peace worth having is obtained by instant readiness
to fight when wronged--not by unwi