New-York tribune., 1902-06-18
SHALLLEEHAVE A STATUE?
CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS PROPHECIES
ONE TO STAND IN WASHINGTON.
THE CASE OF CROMWELL COMPARED WITH
THAT OF THE CONFEDERATE CHIEF
TAIN-A NOTABLE GRAFTON.

TAIN-A NOTABLE GRAFTON
Chicago. June 1I-Charles Francis Adams, Of
Boston delivered the Grafton before the Phi
Beta Kappa Society Of the University of Chi
cago to-day. his subject being Shall Robert
T. Lee Have a statue?'' His address was as
follows:
At about o'clock Of the afternoon Of September
o 1858 the day of Worcester ard Of Dunbar, and
as great tempest was wearing tSel5 ] TO in rff1 t,
palace Of Whitehall that palace Of The great At ban a
had walked forth she scaffold little less
Than ten T years 9efoF few i %fsS bay Of e
Lord Protector Was carried 20 Nestmlnster Ap- @
then elapsed. and the twelfth anniversary OF
nsurpeE haTins BEEN dsinterred by unanimous
vote of the Convention Parliament; We're hung ih
noIe over She roof Of WestminsteT Hail Nearly
iwo centuries of txecration ensued until in the
sixth generation, the earlier verdict was ehaII
Cromwell have a statue Cromwell, the traitor
tyred Charles At first, and for long. the sugges-
ton was looked upon almost as an impety' and as
loyal king-woTship OF England recoil from the
II Declared that no SUCH distinction could be
granted so long as there remained IN the RTay&eT &
Martyr and Of praise and thanksgiving for the
great rebellion. and all of the other miseries and
expressions consequent thereon under which ,, theS
was insistent and last. but only after two fun
Sanced was the verdict Of 1861 reversed Today
bronze efflgy Of Oliver CrOmWell-maSSlNe IN
stands defantly in the yard of that WestminSter
score years ago the flesh crumbled from his skull
We. too as well as the English. have had our
sGreat Rebellion II cane TO a aIaIlala - iso Cios+
not less dramatic some seven times thirty-Seyeiii seven
years since e. also as tnE N tg n rennIdi our
verdicts assumed to be irreyersible. Of the men;
those veTdicts and judgments IN our c.iS as IN M
edge, calmer reflection. and a more judicial frame ne
of mind come with the passage of the years; IN
sime, passions subside, prejudices disappear truth
eoIng on for over two Centuries and a half with
what result Cromwells statue stands as proof
Sre. in their growth cycle Of cathayy: SO
5 works Ee9Ts m9Ts d Britain ld Curing fhe inter-
val between its great rebellion & ana ID ours, RS We We
Yet wholly vanished from the stage: the rearguard
of the Grand Army we hnger ro IgSaY b fb IS same
number Of years only which separated the GIoriec
Charles stuart yet to US is already given LOOK
5ek & same 9m the ef eecs With which the Vic
iIorian Englishman looks back on the men ana
1 propose on this occasion TO do so. and revert
ing to my text. shall Cromwell Have statue?
Latter Day Pamphlet., utterance, l quote you
-.Nfutato nornine. de te
and ask abruptly. Shah Robert E. Lee have
statne?" I propose also TO offer to your conSlGg
will have one. if not now, then presently
THE TECHNICAL RIGHT AND WRONG.
Legally technically-the moral and humantari-
an aspects of the issue wholly apart-which side
had the best Of the argument as TO the rights and
wrongs OF the case in the great debate which led
Up TO the Civil War? Before entering. however, on
this well worn-I might say this threadbare-
theme as find myself compelled in briefest way
to do there is one preliminary very essential to be
gone through special of moral purgation Bear
ing in mind DR.. JOhnscn's advice to Boswell, on a
certain memorable occasion. should at least try
10 clear minds of can't Many years ago, but
only shortly before his death. Richard Golden
said in Of his truth telling delirerances 10 his
Roehdae constituents: 81 really believe might be
Prime Minister. II I would get up and You
the greatest. the wisest the best, the happiest
people in the world and keep on repeating that l
don't doubt but what might he Prime Minister
.,c 1lrscisal,, l,y tFat nrocass The same great
apostle Of homeiy sense on another occaslon OCCASION
evervbody's rebels but our own In both these
spects i submit Americans are true descendants
from the Anglo-Saxon stock and nowhere is TINS
which may arise OF the motives which aetnated
see the @ issues inyoive6 in our civil War as We
saw them. Like those whom Golden addressed; we
do not particularly 70 give to what we are
tressonabie tak. In other words. and in plain.
Jlalatable English. our minds are saturated with
can't Ohiy IN 'le cas- OF "IeIS 90 We Zee II!IIsS
as they really are Then. ceasing 70 be antag-
/ IN comes 10 rebeIfons We like Cobden's English
u with everybcdy's rebels but our own Our souls
forth at SnSe b9 TO e Ihe Ce @ I Pole Ian
gGage quite fails US in which adequately TO depict
crate or Filipino who rises in resistance against
what NE pleased really TO consider. well
call the best and most benefiCent government the
3 world has Vet been permitted 10 see-Our Govern
rrent. This. submit. is cant-pure cant and at
minds of it. wholly. If can; Il not wholly. then
in so far as we can
Having entered this necessary If somewhat hope
less GaSeaf let %S IseSfs I've mo 10 me qIes ne
merally and not the rights and the wrongs OF
Civil War? The answer necessarily turns on the
abstract right Of what we term a sovereign state
TO secede from the Union at such time and for
such cause as may seem TO that State proper and
for all decided: it settled forty
years ago. and the settlement since made has
evidence but of events and OF force. To pass fair
Judgment on the line OF conduct pursued nv Lee in
1851. il is necessary 10 go back In thought and
imagination and see things, not they are. hut
OF some of the modern students and investi
gators of history-either wholly unprejudiced or
weight of argument falls into what will term the
history. a friend and advocate Of the Union during
compact and readable narratives of our national
6mProlesSoF @ Smith u has recently & said & Few who &
Union originally was. and was generally taken by
haps most OF them would have said at pleasure.
dfssolubie certainly on breach OF the articles OF
Union" To a like effect but in terms strong
er Mr. Henry Cabot Lodge now Senator from
c b;It IN wnr s Of bisto2cai a. chapartar When
constitution adopted by the votes Of States
States in popular Conventions il s safe TO say that
there was not man in the country. from Wash
ton and George Mason on the other. who regarded
sne ne" ue5 b he sfte and V from g 6rb sb
and every State had the right peaceably with
draw. a right which very likely to be exer-
cise6."