THROUGH the death of Mr Roosevelt both France and England lose a warm friend. Long before his own country took its place on the side of the Allies, his sympathy with them was uncompromisingly expressed. He would, if he had been able, have served with us as a soldier, but four of his sons, one of whom fell in battle, bore arms against Germany. Twice elected President of the United States, Mr Roosevelt — “Teddy”, as the whole world came affectionately to call him — displayed in his official capacity that terrific energy which, at other times, found an outlet in sport and adventure. He has been described as a force rather than a man. There were occasions when other nations than his own felt a little uneasy when he came and told them what he thought it was their duty to do. But, remembering what he was, and recognizing the sincerity and earnestness of the man, they quickly recovered themselves and submitted patiently to his admonitions. The war had one delightful effect in bringing the ex-President Roosevelt into co-operation with President Wilson, whose labours for the cause of Right against Might were so completely in accord with his own feelings. Not since the death of Abraham Lincoln, it is said, has the loss of any American citizen been so profoundly mourned as the death of Theodore Roosevelt.
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