The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1905-02-12
THE CLAY IN THE IRON
OF NORTHERN InmORTALS
THEODORE BRYANT KINGsBURY.


have exalted seats in the Pantheon of
the gods. l gave some appetizing
samples from the very gifted jour-
nalist whose candor is as surprising
refreshing, and shows that all men
are not blind and laundering and
liars. A man who can lift himself
above the prejudices and antagonisms
Of his time, and view men justly and
uispaSsiopately as well as Inercifully
and appreciatively. and thus makes
himself SO pronounced for the right,
and SO distinguished for sincerity. is
really rare exception from the ten
thousand. and of him it might be said
i'm truth that
His words arc bonds, his oaths are
oracleS;
His heart as far from fraud, as Hcav-
en- from earth.
| only knew OF him as q writer of
very marked qualities. and if had
known much of his history / have
forgotten it, My good friend, Hon. b.
r.. Grady. OF Clinton, n. c.. has done
me IL personal favor, as well as con-
terred q benefit upon my readers, by
giving me information concerning
General Piatt. for such he was In the
great war, as we'll as supplying me
with some extracts from his remark
able book on Abraham Lincoln. Mr..
Grady writes:
"Piatt was an Ohioan. He was in
duced in 1850 to make A canvass for
Lincoln In Illinois. He had never
seen Lincoln; and his first sight Of
him was after the election, when he
was invited to Springfield to join lii a
gioriitcation of the result of the cleo
ton. He became a general in the war
against the South. and, OF course, had
opportunities of studying the charac-
ter and abilities OF Lincoln. In 1888
Allen Thorndiae Rice published
"reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln"
But. for fear that you may not come
across 1t. 1 send you some quotations
from Piatt, reminding you that his
first lesson in studying Lincoln was
taken at Lincoln's house the night Of
The glorification. There are the
"Reminiscences" of a large number OF
prominent Northerners, ana the book
contains 641 pages.
On page Ar Piatt says: With us,
when Il leader dies. all good men go
10 lying about him. On page AS he
says: L hear of him read of him IL.
culogies and biographies. and iail to
recognize the man l encountered, for
the first time, in the canvass etc. On
page $50 he says: His view Of hu-
man nature was low. but good-na-
tured. This low estimate OF
He could not understand that men
would get up in their wrath and fight
for an idea On page 4S1 he says: He
unconsciously accepted, for himself
ard party, the same low line that he
awarded the South On the same
page: descended from the poor
whites CT a slave State, through many
generations, ne inherited the con-
tempt, il not the hatred, held by that
x.lf Ill
man. with scarcely winters school
ing from. books. his strong nature was
built on. what he Inherited, and he
could no more feel a sympathy for
that wretched race than he could for
Il horse he worked or the hog he
killed."
Very few men---writers or what not
have ever had 50 penetrating
mind, SO close an observation as
they were. He did not view Lincoln,
Grant. Sherman and others OF the
Northern leaders through "a glass
darkly," he saw them iii the clear,
open daylight. and judged accord
ingly. | now cite from the other vol
rne ne wrote from which the eX-
tracts in my first article we're taken.
Writing of Lincoln, Stanton. Chase and
Seward. General Piatt says:
our generals. it was a mere question
OF time when the Confedcracy would
sink exhausted. The great danger
that menaced us lay III European IN
reference. against which that greatest
CT all Secretaries of state guarded.
7 must quote more at length from
the book OH the war:
mo better illustration can be had
ct what 1 am striving to say than III
s,nT In a Nd
Stanton. The f3st-named has gone TO
his grave marked rs the hardest maj,
eyer in Office. And yet, knowing them
both intimately, | can say with truth
that stanton had the kinder heart OF
the two.
abraham Lincoln had good ma
tured. easy way. So far as nanner
went. but beneath this was d firm
character-tne result OF training and
temperament. Tile son of poor pco-
Die. the white trash of the South
sprawued in Illinois. as Wendali
Phillips tersely expressed II, lie work
ed his way up by the hardest study
10 d leading position at the bar. the
title of Honest Old Abe 1t is well
known. was given him because of
his plausible effectation OF simplicity
In dealing with q jury
what man Of keen, delicate sem
q: any sort III iestS SO coarse that they
cannot be put 20 record:
Again. this habit which ran
through his life from the time he was
a day laborcr until he died a Presi-
dent, is excused only during the four
years Of the war when cares were OPP
pressivc. The jokes were then Il re-
lief To him! How about the long Pc
",od previous? Let us see While a
r;tit-splitter in his early manhood. he
was noted for his jokes and stories.
Had ne then the necessity for Tclief?
In "a former article ] gave Piau's
opinion cf Grant Let US gather some
rf his remarks as TO General w. L.
sherman. IL man of intellectual parts,
but of no great figure as /. General.
however much over-rated in the
North. Wycth's most interesting large
book on General Forrest contains no
little That throws light on sherman.
But what docs General piatt say? OF
thp battle Of kennesaw Mountain he
savs "ths men who died aud the men
who crawlcd home crippled for life
we're the victims Of his insane ambi-
ton. He was in error when he wrote
ualieck 10 the effect that officers and
,,co had concluded that the old man