The Covington leader. (Covington, Tenn.) 18??-current, 1901-09-13
GLANCE At CURRENT HISTORY.
Some of Its Partisan Characters Elk
posed.

Some OF Its Partisan Characters Elk
posed.
The following are few extracts
from speech made by Col Cusson
on current history, made ia Rich
mond in 1897. We omit his intro.
ductory remarks and begin where
he takes up the subject prooer:
In literary ability, in tiiietity to
truth, in lucidity of narrative. in
simplicity of style, in skill Of com
preston, and in all the mechanical
qualities which comprise the book
makers art, we shall nowhere find
anything superior to the works of
our own Virginia writer's. And
these books have the widest range
of adaptability. They are suited to
pupils of every age. From Mrs.
Williamson s ''Life of Lee, model
of historical biography for the in
FAINT class-through the primary and
advanced text books of Maury and
DR.. Jones, and Mrs. Pendleton Lee,
and Miss Mary Tucker Magill-up
to the sedate and scholarly exposi-
ton of ]. L. M. Curry, there is alb
solutely no need which has not been
most abuudantly met.
What, then, bars the way? Why
is it that we cannot get into the
hands of our own children these
records of our own annals by our
own authors? Here IS symbol of
the power which forbids it:
This is "a Brief History of the
United States, written by Joel
Dorman Steele and Esther Baker
Steele, and published by the Ameri-
can Book Company, of New York
Cincinnati and Chicago 1t is one
Of series of eight historical works,
all OF which are copyrighted by A
3. Barnes & Co, of New York.
These eight books are written by
different authors, and yet there is z
superstition abroad that they are
the only existing histories that are
'teachable!' And surely, if tteach-
ability means an aptitude for
reaching false conclusion by smooth
and subtle ways-for making the
worse appear the better part-for
blFndly distorting facts, and with
an air of candor pervertinp honest
truthS-then, indeed, may this book
be pronounced 'teachable'' in a
very eminent degree.
Like some other evil things. it is
sugared over with adulation. And
where it most abounds in fiorid
compliment it is most misleading
and most dangerous. Its worst
vices, however, are not of the gross
and obvious kind. They are unob-
trusive. They lie beneath the sur
face. But they are constant, and
during the war period they are
close woven into the very texture of
the story. To adequately show this
by citations would be a tedious task
And to quote passage here and
there would be to initiate the trav-
eler who tried to give his friends
an idea of the magnitude of the Col
osseum by showing them a few
bricks which he had wrenehed out
of it's walls.
Here is specimen brick: Page
al" Invasion of MARYLAND This
book always calls it an invasion
when Southern troops go North
| When Northern troops go South it
calls IL marching to the front.
quote: "Flushed with success, Lee
now crossed the Potomac and en-
tered Maryland, hoping TO secure
volunteers and excite an insurrec-
tion. -
Think of it, Robert E. Lee an in
surrectionistl
That is what we have been teach
ing our children for years. That is
what we are teaching them today
Is it any wonder that they are get
ting a bit ashamed of US? That
about the war the better?"
But while we are on the subject OF
insurrection, let US see what this
'teachable history has TO say about
Old Ossawatomie Brown, the Free
Soil desperate of Kansas, who auc-
toned off string of horses which
he publicly bOasted he had lay
hawked' from Missouri planters.
Brown was reputed the most law
less and most fearless of all those
freebooters-a man of iron nerve
and bloody hand-and with this
reputation he was chosen by the
New England AbolitionistS to carry
fire and sword to the peaceful homes
OF Virginia. 1t was those social re-
generators who furnished forth his
military chest. They equipped
him with weapons for the arming OF
thousand men, and sent MIN on a
crusade which must inevitably seal
his doom unless he should be able
to incite and maintain that most
frightful of all human scourges-a
SerVile insurrectionl
And what does this 'teachable y
history have to say about it2 We
turn to page 1877. and find that
Brown was a hero and martyr,
rather than criminal He is de-
picted as brooding enthusiast, in
spired by lofty motives, but unable
to carry out his great designs.
No hint is given of the men whom
he cruelty murdered on that tran
quill Sabbath morning at Harper s
Ferry. No mention is made of the
peaceful citizens whom he seized in
their beds and shackled as hostages
or slew from mere lust of blood. In
short, we are assured that these
deeds of his had really no meaning
in them. And If any one was to
blame it was the Southern people,
who, this "teachable" history tells
US, put themselves in wrong light
by getting excited and rushing to
the conclusion that the raid was
Significant OF Northern senti-
ment. - SIT was soon Known, says
this history, "that in his wild de