The Cleveland leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1865-1865, 1865-05-25
me Place OF > braham Lincoln In
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and Photographic views.
me Place OF > braham Lincoln In
History.
M. Bancroft, the eminent historian,
than whom no person is better quahHod
for the task, contributes TO the June num-
Der of the Atlantic Monthly 8 thoughtful
and admirable paper on "The Place OF
Abraham Lincoln in History NJ. Ban
croft argues that We pay the best 70 the
memory Of Mr. Lincoln, and the most ut
ting respect to his name if We ask after the
relation in which he stands to the history
Of his country and his fellow men. In or
dsr, therefore, to define the exact position
occupied by Mr.. Lincoln st his first inAu-
0urstion, Mr. Bancroft gives & suecinct
and forcible review Of the gradual steps
taken in opposition to slavery In this
country; beginning with the testimony
given in the middle Of the eighteenth CEN
tury by the statesmen Of Massachusetts,
who were inspired bytne writings Of Mon
~tesquieu; tracing the early jealousles OF
the Southern States toward the North;
touching upon the Missouri Compromise,
After which slavery became the foundation
of q political party, under the gulse OF s
zsAl for the rights Of theSouthj sllndngo
the Modification troubles, the political con-
troversies which produced the Compromise
of 1850, the bred Scott decision, the sd
ministrstion of Buchanan, and finally
the outbreak of the rebellion. Nh. Ban
croft shows that when Mr. Lincoln came
70 assume the responsibilities of the Presi-
1ency, his position wHs apparently one OF
hopeless debility; that 3 bark canoe in .
tempest on mid-ocean seeemed hardly less
safe; that the men who had chosen him
were q heterogeneous body, who did not
profess TO represent either Of the historic
parties which had been engaged in the
struggles Of t~hree-quRrters Of q century;
that they did not know their own position,
and we're startled by the consequences of
their own success; The most serious Diff
culties, therefore environed the President
of whom Nj. Bancroft spesks asfoAoWs;
GHs temper was soft and gentle and
yielding; reluctant to refuse anything that
presented itselfto him as an act o kindness;
loving to please and willing to conhde;
not trained to confne acts of goodwill
within the stern limits of duty. BE was
Of the temperament called m~elancholic,
scarcely concealed by an exterior of light
ness of humor, having q deep and fixed
seriousness, jesting lips, and wsnness Of
heart. And this man WA summoned to
stand up directly against 3 power with
which Henry Clay had never directly
grEppled, before which Webster st lssthsd
duAiled, which no President had offended
and yet successfully administered the gov
ernment to which each great party had
made concessions, to which in various
measures of compromise the country had
repeatedly capitalized, and with which he
must now venture a struggle for the life or
death of the nation"
The state Of the country at the time Mr..
Lincoln assumed office is thus described:
"The credit of the country had not fully
recovered from the shock it had treseher-
ously received in the former administration.
A part Of the navy yards were entrusted
to incompetent agents or enemies. The
social spirit of the city of Washington was
against him, and spies and enemies abound
cd In the circle of fashion. Every execu-
tive department swsrmed with men of
reasonable inclinstionA so that it was I'M
certain where to rest for support The ar
my officers had bean trained in unsound
political principles. The chief of staff of
the highest Of the general officers, wearing
the mask of loyalty, was 8 traitor at heart
The country vas ungenerous towards the
negro, who in truth was not in the least to
blsm@Wss impatient that such B strife
should have grown out of his condition,
and wished that he we're far awsy.' On
the aide Of prompt decision the advantage
wa with the rebels the President sought
how to avoid war without compromising
his duty and b rebels, who knew their
own purpose won incalculAble advantages
by the start which they thu gained. The
country stood sghGst, and would not be-
lieve in the full extent Of the conspiracy
to shatter it to pieces; men we're uncertain
whether there would be a general uprising
of the people The President and his Cab
met were in the midst of an enemy's coun-
try and in personal danger, and st one time
their connections with the North and West
we're cut of; and that very moment was
chosen by the trusted chief Of staff Of the
Lieutenant General to go overto the enemy.
HEVery one remembers how this state of
suspense WA terminated by the uprising
Of q people who now showed strength and
virtues which they were hardly conscious
of possessing" ast
Nj. Bancroft concludes with the follow
ing generous and truthful estimate of Mr..
Lincoln: 7r-
ain some respects AbrAham Lincoln
was peculiarly fitted for his task, in con-
nection with the movement of his country
men. he was of the Northwest and this
time it was the Mississippi river, the need
ed outlet for the wealth of the Northwest
that did its part in asserting the necessity
of Union. He YVES one Of the mass IF the
pesple; he represented them, because he
was of them; and the mass of the people
the class that lives and thrives by self-im-
posed labor, felt that the work which was
to be done was a work of their own the
assertion Of equality against the pride of
oligsrchy; of tree labor against the lord
ship over slaves; of the great industrial
people sgSinst all the expiring sristocracies
of which any remnants had tided down
the Middle Age. He was of Q religious
turn of mind, without superstition and.
the unbroken faith Of the mass was like his
own As he went along through his diff
cult journey, sounding his way, he held
fast by the hand of the people, and track
ed its footsteps with even feet IBIS
pulses beat tWinned with their pulses
He committed faults; but the people were
resolutely generous, msgnanimous and for
giving; and he In his turn was viking to
take Instructions from their wisdom G
'TThe measure by which Abraham Lin
coin takes mis- place. not in American his.
tory only, but in universal history, Is his
Proclamation Of January 1, 1858, emanci-
pAting all slaves within the ~inSurgent
States. It was, indeed, = military neees-
sity, and it decided the result Of the war.
Il took from the public enemy one or two
millions Of bondmen and placed between
one and two hundred thousand brave and
gallant troops in arms on the side Of the
Union. A great deal has been said In time
past Of the wonderful results of the toiIof
the enslavsd negroi in the creation of wealth
by the culture of cotton; and now it il in
partly to the aid Of the negro in freedom
that the country owes its success in It's
movement of regeneratiOn-that the world
of mankind owes the continuance Of the
United States as the example of arepublic.
The death Of President Lincoln sets the
seal TO that proclamation, which must
be maintained. It cannot but be
maintained. It Is the only rod
that can safely carry off the tbun-
derbolt. he came to it perhaps reluc