LXXXIII
Clara Barton’s services in the Franco-German war, as a member of the Red Cross, were memorable throughout both continents. Holyoke (Mass.)Telegram.
There are old soldiers, veterans of the German battlefield, who still live and tell with tear-dimmed eyes of Clara Barton’s work among the wounded and the dying. Sioux Falls (S. D.)Press.
O, reputation! dearer far than life.Sir Walter Raleigh.
A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches.
Proverbs.
Proverbs.
Proverbs.
Proverbs.
Good name, in man or woman, is the immediate jewel of their souls.Othello.
Why persecutest thou me?Acts.
Those about herFrom her shall read the perfect ways of honor.King Henry VIII.
Those about herFrom her shall read the perfect ways of honor.King Henry VIII.
Those about herFrom her shall read the perfect ways of honor.King Henry VIII.
Those about her
From her shall read the perfect ways of honor.
King Henry VIII.
Miss Barton witnessed the work of the Red Cross during 1870.Mabel T. Boardman—In “Under the Red Cross Flag at Home and Abroad.”
In 1870–71 Clara Barton attached herself by invitation to the foreign Red Cross, and in that relation was actually in the Red Cross work during the entire Franco-Prussian war.
Red Cross Committee.
Red Cross Committee.
Red Cross Committee.
Red Cross Committee.
My physical strength had long ceased to exist, but on the borrowed force of love and memory I strove with might and main—I walked its hospitals day and night; I served in its camps, and I marched with its men; and I know whereof I speak.
Clara Barton.
Clara Barton.
Clara Barton.
Clara Barton.
During the eighteen months of European experience I worked with the Red Cross on my arm. The horrors and sufferings of Weissenburg, Woerth, and Hagenau, Strasbourg, Metz, Sedan and Paris—poor twice shattered Paris—and every besieged and desolated city of France fell under my observation and shared the labor of my hands through eighteen hard and dreadful months.
Clara Barton, in public address at Cape May.
Clara Barton, in public address at Cape May.
Clara Barton, in public address at Cape May.
Clara Barton, in public address at Cape May.
Truth, like the sun, submits to be obscured; but, like the sun, only for a time.Bovee.
Our dearly beloved and most honored Clara Barton! She understood fully the meaning of the Red Cross, and knew well how to put into action the great and beautiful, though difficult, duties of the Red Cross. How shall I forget what she was to us here in the year 1870, helping us during the time of war we had to go through with then! God grant her peace eternal! There where her beautiful soul will live in the glory of Christ.
Luise, Grand Duchess of Baden (1912).
Luise, Grand Duchess of Baden (1912).
Luise, Grand Duchess of Baden (1912).
Luise, Grand Duchess of Baden (1912).
It may be we shall let most of the period of the differences with the Red Cross remain in solution till the larger life and letters (by William E. Barton).
Reverend Percy H. Epler,(In 1915)One of the “Committee to Advise,” andAuthor of “The Life of Clara Barton.”
Reverend Percy H. Epler,(In 1915)One of the “Committee to Advise,” andAuthor of “The Life of Clara Barton.”
Reverend Percy H. Epler,(In 1915)One of the “Committee to Advise,” andAuthor of “The Life of Clara Barton.”
Reverend Percy H. Epler,
(In 1915)
One of the “Committee to Advise,” and
Author of “The Life of Clara Barton.”
“REFUSES TO ANTE”
If there was any lack of consideration for Clara Barton, it would do no good now to remember it.
Reverend William E. Barton,(In 1922)One of the “Committee to Advise,” andAuthor of “The Life of Clara Barton.”
Reverend William E. Barton,(In 1922)One of the “Committee to Advise,” andAuthor of “The Life of Clara Barton.”
Reverend William E. Barton,(In 1922)One of the “Committee to Advise,” andAuthor of “The Life of Clara Barton.”
Reverend William E. Barton,
(In 1922)
One of the “Committee to Advise,” and
Author of “The Life of Clara Barton.”
Years were to Clara Barton merely opportunities of service, not measures of life. This attitude prolonged her life and kept her young in spirit.
At ninety (1911) there was no mark of physical infirmity upon her nor was there any slightest slacking in the interest of the object for which she long had cared.
Senility was farther removed from her at ninety (1911) than from most women at sixty.
At the age of ninety-one (1912) there was not a physical lesion nor a diseased organ in the body.
She lived to enter her tenth decade, and when she died (1912) was still so normal in the soundness of her bodily organs and in the clarity of her mind and memory that it seemed she might easily have lived to see her hundredth birthday.
William E. Barton“Her Cousin, the Author.”(“William E. Barton is one of our third or fourth cousins.Stephen E. Barton,”)Clara Barton’s Nephew, and Dedicatee ofBarton’s “Life of Clara Barton.”
William E. Barton“Her Cousin, the Author.”(“William E. Barton is one of our third or fourth cousins.Stephen E. Barton,”)Clara Barton’s Nephew, and Dedicatee ofBarton’s “Life of Clara Barton.”
William E. Barton“Her Cousin, the Author.”(“William E. Barton is one of our third or fourth cousins.Stephen E. Barton,”)Clara Barton’s Nephew, and Dedicatee ofBarton’s “Life of Clara Barton.”
William E. Barton
“Her Cousin, the Author.”
(“William E. Barton is one of our third or fourth cousins.
Stephen E. Barton,”)
Clara Barton’s Nephew, and Dedicatee of
Barton’s “Life of Clara Barton.”
At no time in her life has Miss Barton been in sounder bodily or mental health or better able to continue the work to which her years of experience and natural endowments have preeminently fitted her. Moreover, the nation’s confidence is Miss Barton’s, and no hand can better guide its Red Cross work than hers.
Red Cross Committee, officially, to Congress.Written report unanimously concurred in.(In 1903.)
Red Cross Committee, officially, to Congress.Written report unanimously concurred in.(In 1903.)
Red Cross Committee, officially, to Congress.Written report unanimously concurred in.(In 1903.)
Red Cross Committee, officially, to Congress.
Written report unanimously concurred in.
(In 1903.)
Year after year your President has framed and offered her resignation to the preceding Board and Committees. These have been resolutely met by appointment for life.Clara Barton.
Miss Barton has resigned three times before this time (May 14, 1904) but every time we have elected her again unanimously; and twice we have elected her for life and every member, 315 in number, voted for her.W. H. Sears, Secretary for Clara Barton.
I certify that at the meeting of the American National Red Cross, held in Washington, D. C, December 9, 1902, on motion to elect Clara Barton President of the organization for life, a standing vote was taken, resulting as follows: Ayes 28, noes 3, the three negative votes being....
S. W. Briggs, Secretary, Red Cross Committee.
S. W. Briggs, Secretary, Red Cross Committee.
S. W. Briggs, Secretary, Red Cross Committee.
S. W. Briggs, Secretary, Red Cross Committee.
It is the Red Cross, without the glamor of war or disaster, to attract your interest, that I bring to you to nourish and protect.
Clara Barton.
Clara Barton.
Clara Barton.
Clara Barton.
When the Government accepted the Red Cross, perhaps a bit arrogantly, I felt that my end was accomplished and that I was ready to give it up.Clara Barton.
It is a pride as well as a pleasure to hand to you an organization perfectly formed, thoroughly officered, with no debts and a sum of from $12,000 to $14,000 available to our treasury as a working fund. (Amount realized $15,541.89. The Author.)Clara Barton(on May 14, 1904, in offering her resignation as President).
It would be strange, if after so many years of earnest effort for the relief of human suffering, during which time I have always lived and moved in the full glare of the public gaze, I could not now safely trust my character and good name to the care of the American people.Clara Barton.
MRS. JOHN A. LOGANClara Barton is the greatest woman of this, or any other, age.—Mrs. John A. Logan, the Vice-President under Clara Barton; the President of the American Red Cross Society, May 14, 1904–June 16, 1904.It is an unspeakable joy to me that the toil-worn, weary mantle, that drops from mine, falls upon the shoulders of my vice-president, the woman so cherished in our own country and honored and trusted in other countries.Clara Barton.
MRS. JOHN A. LOGANClara Barton is the greatest woman of this, or any other, age.—Mrs. John A. Logan, the Vice-President under Clara Barton; the President of the American Red Cross Society, May 14, 1904–June 16, 1904.It is an unspeakable joy to me that the toil-worn, weary mantle, that drops from mine, falls upon the shoulders of my vice-president, the woman so cherished in our own country and honored and trusted in other countries.Clara Barton.
MRS. JOHN A. LOGANClara Barton is the greatest woman of this, or any other, age.—Mrs. John A. Logan, the Vice-President under Clara Barton; the President of the American Red Cross Society, May 14, 1904–June 16, 1904.It is an unspeakable joy to me that the toil-worn, weary mantle, that drops from mine, falls upon the shoulders of my vice-president, the woman so cherished in our own country and honored and trusted in other countries.Clara Barton.
CLARA BARTON’S RESIGNATION
At a meeting of the American National Red Cross, held December 10, 1901, President Clara Barton said: “at that meeting (July 10, 1900) I brought my armor, worn and rusted, and reverently laid it at your feet with the request that I be released. You declined to permit me to retire. I again lay my armor before you, recommending the filling of this most eminent position in your gift by someone better fitted than I ever have been to assume its duties, and wear its honors.” The Red Cross again refused to accept the resignation.
The so called “charges” against Miss Barton were made December 10, 1903. The case was heard before the Proctor Red Cross Committee on May 3, 1904. Only one witness testified and, as elsewhere stated, he refused to be cross examined whereupon his statements were discredited, the case summarily dismissed for want of evidence, and on motion of the committee itself. Miss Barton previously had been re-elected, almost unanimously, to succeed herself.
The “remonstrants” discredited, their “charges” found baseless, Miss Barton vindicated, on May 14, 1904, she again offered her resignation[7]of the Presidency, this time in favor of Mrs. General John A. Logan, and insisted on its acceptance. Her friends protested her resignation; insisted she should not resign but should hold the position for life. Miss Barton persisted in sacrificing herself for what shethenthought would be in the interest of harmony, and the cause nearest her heart. The following is the personal explanation of her then attitude of mind.
7. Clara Barton resigned the presidency May 14, 1904. Mrs. John A. Logan succeeded to the presidency, holding the office until June 16, 1904. Mrs. Logan nominated W. H. Taft as her successor. Mr. Taft declining then to serve, Admiral W. K. Van Reypen, according to Red Cross official records, acted as president pro tern until January 8, 1905, when Mr. Taft accepted the presidency.
7. Clara Barton resigned the presidency May 14, 1904. Mrs. John A. Logan succeeded to the presidency, holding the office until June 16, 1904. Mrs. Logan nominated W. H. Taft as her successor. Mr. Taft declining then to serve, Admiral W. K. Van Reypen, according to Red Cross official records, acted as president pro tern until January 8, 1905, when Mr. Taft accepted the presidency.
“In initiating measures for the conciliation of opposing interests and views, it may seem to some of myfriends that I have overlooked just grounds of personal offence in imputations wantonly made upon my honor and integrity. I do so knowingly and willingly, and because the cause that the American Red Cross is meant to promote stands first in my affections and my desires. It would be strange if it did not—if the cause for which I have devoted myself for half a century were not deemed by me worthy of any possible sacrifice of personal pride or personal interest.”
’Tis not the house and not the dress,That makes the saint or sinner,To see the spider sit and spin,Shut with her walls of silver in,You would never, never, never guess,The way she gets her dinner.
’Tis not the house and not the dress,That makes the saint or sinner,To see the spider sit and spin,Shut with her walls of silver in,You would never, never, never guess,The way she gets her dinner.
’Tis not the house and not the dress,That makes the saint or sinner,To see the spider sit and spin,Shut with her walls of silver in,You would never, never, never guess,The way she gets her dinner.
’Tis not the house and not the dress,
That makes the saint or sinner,
To see the spider sit and spin,
Shut with her walls of silver in,
You would never, never, never guess,
The way she gets her dinner.
Had she entered the spider’s web of the society “remonstrant”; had she accepted the proposed annuity—and proposed honor of Honorary President, and thrown her child to the sharks, Clara Barton’s frail bark would have been towed into port, in peace. Instead, with her never failing courage she took to the life boat, on a stormy sea, and survived the storm to hand over her Red Cross child not to an unworthy, but to her Country and humanity.