The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1897-10-20
TRUTH CRUSHED TO EARTH.


=
(coninued from First Page.
usg-that thov are telling US the less
said about the war the better
But while We are on the subject OF IN
surrcction yet us see what this ttachable
history has 10 say about Old Ossawatto-
mic Brown. the Freo-soil desperate OF
Kansas. who aucti0ncd on at Cleveland
n string OF horses which he publicly
poasted he had '.jay-hawkcd" from Mis-
sour planters. Brown was rcputed the
most lawioss and the most fearless OF ali
those frcc-bootcrs-a man OF iron nerve
and bloody hand-and with this roputa-
ton 40 was chosen by the New England
Ab0lltiOnists 20 carry fire and sword 10
the peaceful homes Of Virginia. IL was
those social rcgcnorators who furnished
forth his military chest. They equipped
him with weapons for the arming OF
thousand men. and sent him on cru
sadc which must inevitably seal his doom
unless ne should be able TO incito and
maintain that most frightfui Of all human
scouragcs. a serviie insurrcctionl
And what does this teachable history
have TO say about u?
we turn 10 page 197 and find thar
Brown was a hero and martyr rather
than a criminal. He IS depicted as a
motives but unable to carry out his great
designs
No hint is given Of the men whom he
cruelty murdered on that tranquil sab
bath morning at llarper's Ferry. NO
mention Is made Of the peaceful citizens
whom he seized In their beds. and shack
led as hostages or slew from mere lust
Of blood.
In short VIC arc assured that these deeds
OF his had really no moaning IN them.
And II anyone was TO blame 1t was the
Southern people. who. this teachable
history tells us. put themselves In a
wrong light by getting excited, and rush
ing 10 the conclusion that the raid was
significant OF Northern sentiment.
1T was soon knewn." says this history
that IN his wild design Brown had ask
cd counsel cf no one. and with this cool
presentations the whole subject - MS
missed
There is no allusion to the tolling of
funeral bells on the day Of his execution.
There Is no mention OF special services
at churches draped i'm mourning or or
flags hanging at half-mast Ana YET
these things were So And to-day he
stands in apotheosis. the divinity OF
now sort. with an aureOle about his
brow and a legend which declares that
his mode Of death has made the gailows
As sacred as the cross. And his name
and came have united TO inspire, II not
our national anthem. at least the Dattle
song Of the Republics conquerlng AZ
mics
The instincts OF the South were right!
In the incursion of this tough OLD ma
iauder. half highwayman ana nan evan
eel. we had premOnitOn Of other hordes
81 mn
who. like him. were TO ravage the land
with a zeal Qulckenod by rapacity with
"a rapacity sanotihed by zeal
sTRiKING CONTRASTS
should like to call your attention TO
the cold and formal terms which are
used in relating Federal disasters ana TO
contrast them with the ehusion ana
glow and tumult which depict their VIC
TORIES.
The Army Of the Potomac, this teach
able history informs us, was checked
al Fredericksburg, and again checked
al Chapcellorsville Which is very true.
II IS likewise true that the army OF
Honaparte was checked" at Waterloo.
but no French patriot not even Victor
Hugo. ever thought of putting It IN that
way.
Now turn the page. and see Federal
victory. We are carried at once into
new atmosphere. an atmosphere Of the
vivid. the picturesque, the dramatic. Be
hold Sheridan, the illustriOus, and the
illustrated. he of the "coal-black steed'
spurning the dull earth beneath hlm'
covered with foam, his nostrills blown
wide omen, his tail in commissions dash
ing to the new 'front.' and sending the
"plundering Confederates' whirling up
the valley Of the Shenandoah"
on the next page, PCS. IN foot-note'
there Is a brief reference 10 one or our
cavalry commanders, General Forrest.
u is the only mention that this teach
able history makes Of that remarkable
man. and every word is TO his disparage-
ment And yet in all quarters of the
Globe. wherever 1he art of war is studied
the career of Forrest has been marvel
md a delight A wandering star IN
the military armament ms magnitude
has not vet been measured nor his orbit
Traced. but his dazzling coirus-
cations have bewildered the stra-
tccdsts of all clmes and tribes
form Delhi TO Kamschatka from
Sierra Leone to the Horse Guards.
What would have been disaster and black
ruin to other commanders, was to him
but a mild cxhilaration. Hemmed in by
tcnfOld numbers we cdtch dbdlh 'hc III
spiration of his CHEEKY words: Now,
men. we've got EN- just right! They're all
around MS. and whichever way we go we
shall mix up with EN-" Truly II might
be said OF him
"Most master OF himself and least en-
numbered
when most besct, surrounded and out
M mbered."
Al First Manassas CBull Rum we have
the astounding information that the
Confederates were driven from the field
hut were subsequently rallied. Then a
shell burst among the Transfers wagons
a caisson was upset. and McDOwells
men fled etc. This trick Of statement
INNS an through the book. Mcdowell. IL
"a tr1e was one of the nine generals who.
I'm succession. commanded the army OF
the Potomac. but we have no right 20
suppose that all school children arc IA
miiiar with that fact.
The author is definite enough when he
describes the battle Of Nashville. lie
does not say that the army OF General
Hood was checked" But he says that
General. Thomas drove the Confederate
forces out of their entertainments into
headlong flight" that "thc Union cav
airy Numbered upon their heels with re-
morseless energy" and that the en-
Tire Confederate army was dissolved into
"a rabble Of demoralzcd fugiuves' only
.tho rear guard" Offering any effective
resistance
but he docs not tell YOU that that
danntless rear guard. which. baftied and
donoralized and out-fought ten times it's
own numbers was commanded by the