Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1901-06-27
"The Real Lincoln"

! hlcnmOHu news.
A pamphlet has been written, edited
and published here called 1.-The Real Lin
coin" and we are very sorry to see 1t. Its
purpose is to show that President Lincoln
was vulgarian, coward, an imbecile
and trickster. As we gather from hasty
perusal, the former President is denied
any redeeming trait VI act.
What is the use of this kind of thing
ANY man can be blackened if all the evil
of his life and character and none of the
good be considered Pamphlets and news
paper articles yet in existence prove to the
satisfaction of their writer's, that George
Washington was personally a monster oil
immortality and officially a robber, ty'
rant and a traitor. The excuse for these
productions is that they were written in
the heat and fury of political strife. THIS
pamphlet on Lincoln is brought forth in
cold blood thirty-six years after the man
is dead and after the events in which he
was prominent have gone by. Suppose
Mr. Lincoln was as bad as be is presented
in "The Real Lincoln" what good purpose
is to be served by proving it now?
One of the most Improbable, alluring
and unsatisfactory vices to which human
ity is given is arguing against a success
Washington's fame has outlived detrac-
ton and detractors. History considers
general achievement rather than details,
Judges men by what they do and forgets
the blemishes en- giants which would loom
large on small men. Washington, Jefier'
son, Andrew jackson, most Of the big
men of our history have had serious faults
and were guilty of sins and errors, but
healthy minds turn from these to the
great results with which the men were con-
nected.
MIR. Lincoln was a success. He rose
from penniless and uneducated raftsman
and farm laborer to be successful lawyer,
politician and President of the United
States. There is no use trying to argue
that the man who did that lacks strength,
or character or purpose. He was not an
accident. He fought his way up step by
step and was tried and tested at each
stage of his rising. lie was at the head OF
the administration that fought one OF the
hardest and bitterest wars IN history and
he won-through many blunders and
crimes and failures, but he won, and win
ming is the purpose of war and fighting
Ii i'll becomes us OF the South to be paint
ing him in black colors. There is chiv'
airy and courage and generosity of defeat
as there is of victory.
Mr.. Lincoln had an infnity of problems
and perplexities to deal with and his
method of dealing with them succeeded
He is idolized by large section of our
felIow.citizens of the North, to whom he
stands as misrepresentation of a restored
union and a cause to them sacred. What
is the use of thrusting an unnecessary
Oflense in their tacesI
We did not enjoy any Of the innumer
able attacks on Jefferson Davis. As
matter of fact, any one could gather from
the files of the Richmond Examiner anC
could have gathered from the Confederate
soldiers in 1864 material for the denuncla
zion of Mr.. Davis even more savage thai
those of Mr.. Lincoln in the pamphlet w
are writing on. 1t is easy to collect ma
teria to support hostile criticism. Blu
2 the Northern writers have begun to trea
f MIR. Davis with the sembance, at least, o
fairness, and General Lee is in the Hal
OF Fame. Why should any Of our people
go out of their way to put IN print bite
] attacks on Mr.. Lincoln?