The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-11
EetterS tc tbe Gdfter
LincoIn and the south.

Editor The Advertiser:
 In an editorial in The Advertiser Might Have Been." you say: He (Lin- ccln) was of large and kindly heart and full of desire for reconciliation.
 been spared the horrors of reconstruc- tion and the bitterness of negro dom nation And you speak of many o.h. . G good things that might dh hsye sensi%enis Deen nowadays are common from the Soutn- err press and Southern orators nave never been able to find one act or MT Lincoln to Justify such an opinion. Tn his first inaugural he declared he had no right to interfere with slavery Tn the States, and certainly no intention
 hc issued his emancipation proclama- ticn. He wired our commissionf In the spring of '61; Faith as to Fort
 reinforcem@ents @ nd had been sent to the relief of that fort. He stopped all ex- change of prisoners, and by policy the most barbarous. ever known 10 a
 death thousand of soldiers in Northern
 prisons. His soldiers. officers and men
 robbed and burned in the South, and
 was ever punished. He armed slaves against masters, an act almost without
 precedence in the whole history of the
 alini. in his desperation and dire ex- tremity, rejected the offer of the ser lvsces Of slaves, and these slaves, white
 sroes. The The west Western tv states. at the he be.
 ginning of the war. were fiatly opposed to negro emancipation. They fought
 for the Union strictly: The. New Eng land States, dominated by abolition ia naticfsm shouldered their muskets to free the negroes. Had Mir. Lincoln de- lciared. in his first inaugural, that he gro and restore the Union, he would have had another rebellion" In the Western States. Hence his course oi
 inent that e had Rinpeoin PGp,h lyed. ssi he @ wout not have yielded to the extreme meas
 ures of Thad Stevens. Garrison ct omnt
 genus as t9 rec9nstrueiSn s,nS1e han
 act of his previous life. There can b'
 no doubt that his emancipation proc
 lamation was to placate that faction
 if. indeed, he himself was not in clos
 est sympathy with that faction. or
 enc occasion, when a number of North ern extremists were discussing witl | punishment for Southern traitors, h, l said: T can think of no punishmen
 to the Southern people so terrible a thought out the whole matter and de cided emancipation the most terribl punishment. = And in this his judg ment was nearly right.
 a good hearted man." for which ther is as little foundation as for Lincoln
 When at Appomattox, he appeared pc
 fore the great Lee to receive the sur . render of the latter, General Lee, said Tt Is unnecessary, General that l sa t a- the outset I shall not consider an . terms of surrender except such as ar s honorable to my command and myself. g General Grant replied with apparen i surprise: Why, have not the slight 1 est thought of asking any other tha n most honorable terms" Grant. in thi Q Instance. acted honorably, parolinE tn \ IConfederates with the one conditio z tl,a- they obey the laws of their re | spective States Yet this same Gran
 was President throughout the eigf
 lyears of reconstruction and used all hi
 power to oppress the South.
 That Lincoln and Grant were men ( II great ability. I shall not discuss. bJ q that either should be looked upon b - as merciiess tyrants is beyond my con e prehension. Times change, but th
 acts of men are unchangeable. M Iopinion of MT. Lincoln Is the same 1904 as in 1S61-65, because I judge h T. character by his acts. My opinion l. Grant is the same as during the r, a lccnstructfon period, 1S6S-76, forv tf e same reason. The Northern Stat
 owe and have lavishly bestowed hont h upon these two men, but l cant s' @ that the Southern people owe them an 1t The war is ended and almost forgotte l. and I am a loyal citizen of this gre
 Republic, but have not changed n n opinion of Northern men and measure ~ Let them be Judged by their acts, Iei ,s bestow no unmerited praise, and lei iSs S see to 1t that our children be taug ;'ee facts. E. Y. McMorries. K pIantaravyIIe Ala