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The finest modern statue in
Berlin is that of
General Ziethen, the great Hussar commander in the Seven Years War.
1 He stands leaning on his sabre in a dreamy, nonchalant attitude, as if he were in the centre of indifference and life had little interest for him. Yet there never was a man more ready for action, or more quick to seize upon and solve the
nodus of any new emergency.
The Prussian anecdote-books are full of his exploits and hairbreadth escapes, a number of which are represented around the base of the statue.
He combined the intelligence of the skilful general with the physical dexterity of an acrobat.
Very much such a man was
Samuel Gridley Howe, born in
Boston November 10, 1801, whom
Whittier has taken as the archetype of an American hero in his time.
If a transient guest at the
Bird Club should have seen
Doctor Howe sitting at the table with his indifferent, nonchalant air, head leaning slightly forward and his grayish-black hair almost falling into his eyes, he would never have