The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-12-14
"THg FAME OF LlNcoLN.o

A third Of a century is the cycle of a
whole generation OF man. but it is only a
moment in the life Of a people, and the
spirit that moves races or nations or sec
tions is to be reckoned not with the span
of a life, but with the range of an era.
Hence convictions and preiudices endure
from father to son long after those who
first bodied them forth are the dust of
earth and the quarrels they provoked are
the dry chroniclings Of history.
So it is that Mason and Dixon's line still
runs a dmly scarlet thread through the
fair fabric of American patriotism, and
whether we will or no we can not shut our
eyes to It. SO it is that yet and for many
years 20 come we who view it from this
side and they who see it from that will
inevitably trace 1t to its beginnings in con
trary interests and clashing interpretations
which rent the garment of our common in
hertance and stained it with the blood of
brothers. The garment is mended now, to
be torn no more forever. thanl, God but
10, the seam glows vivid to our awakening
recollection and we feel something of the
old bitterness which was all the more bit
ltI uttdthe II was DOILOlOFN IN conscience.
Nevertheless the time has come when,
looking across the little scarlet line which
we rejoice to know Is fadiug-slowly but
surely fading--into forgctfulness, we can
dispassionately meet the eyes looking
hither and take the measure of their hon
est depths, when we can admire tho heroic
figures limned against their love and pride,
without disparaging those that stand against
tho background of our own enduring rec
ord--when indeed critical contemplation
can he trusted to render a fair Judgment of
character and motive and catholic scntl.
ment may indulge in praise both for the
statesmen and heroes who preserved the
Union and for those who in equal patriotism
and high purpose sought it's dissolution.
These reflections are suggested by con.
troversy in which the New Orleans Times
Democrat is involved because it approved
the acceptance Of portrait of President
Lincoln, presented by his son, Robert T.
Lincoln upon the solicitation of the director
OF the department of archives of Mississippi
to be placed in the new capitol A letter
to the Times-Democrat protests in these
words:
Nearly forty years ago the civil war ended
IN the defeat of Southern arms, The principle!
for which we fought still live and TO those
thoughtful persons who have watched the cours,
OF events in the last few years, has come con
, seriousness OF the righteousness OF our cause
which IS a solace and comfort to those OF u
who followed the fortunes of Davis and Lei
! from Bull Run TO AppomattoN. To accept th
portrait, in the spirit OF the letter of Mr. Row
I many years ago maintained, that Jefferson Davi
was traitor" and every. Southern soldier wa
? an anarchist with arms in his hands"
No, Mr.. Editor, don't use your influence Il
destroy the idols we have worshped so long
nor dim their glory by placing another in thei
stead. Rather let us wait until Gettysburg an,
Manassas are but memory, and until Ito quot
your words) as Brutus and Anthony share tn
| common glory of Rome" so the fame OF Dav
and Lincoln shall become the heritage OF untet
people. I. L. FuLGHAM.
The Times Democrat makes temperate an,
touching reply. cites the example of L. @
; c. Lamar nearly thirty years ago in eu
logizng Charles Sumner as the grea
+ apostle of emancipation" observes tina
surely at this late day the people of Mis-
I sissippi may be pardoned If they recognize
c the true nobility Of President Lincoln
/ character" and concludes:
( Looking back upon the struggle the ex-Con
tederate IS ready to declare that though he CAV
the best four years OF his life 10 the cause o
y
though his hair is white, before he would Sc
slavery rc-estabshed or the Union DESTROYED
tie recognizes, however, that men Drawer or pure
a or nobler than the civil and military leaders o
the Coniederacy never lived, and that il was i
the inscrutable wisdom OF God that their hig
g purposes were crossed and their brave arme
. were beaten. He has, in a word, in striking
balance, found that men both at the North an
I at the South who defended the right as Co
gave them to know the right" were American
all-whose names were no more to be hemme
in by State lines than could their fame be cir
S eumseribed within the same narrow limits" On
OF these men---the greatest actor in the dram
on the Northern side-was Abraham Lincoln
8 Surely IN honoring such a man the Souther
l. people honor themselves and honor mankind
' Recognizing Mr., Lincoln's virtues Is no
! approving the cruel sspersions OF his earl
psrtisaps against the mon of the soutt
Indeed, IL is but reciprocal OF process
l which Ia already At work among the hi