Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-04-06

endorsements will come from friends
In the most unexpected places. When
young Sir John Fox Burgoyne was a
Lieutenant colonel OF the Royal en-
gineers fighting General Jackson be-
fore the cotton bales or New Orleans
the English forces became demoralized.
What were the English troops to dor"
was the question. The commanding
general called together council Of
war to decide whether to renew the at
tack or TO retreat to the British gun
boats. Lieutenant Colonel Burgoyne
was one of the few officers who ear
nestly pleaded for the renewal of the
attack. The council of war met In a
room where the supposed corpse of a
STAFF officer, Major Stovin by name,
was lying upon the table covered over
with n sheet. The vast majority of
officers voted for retreat. Retreat 1t
was. But. strange to say, no sooner
did the feet sail back to England than
the English papers began to attack
Lieutenant Colonel Burgeyne They
said he was the cause OF the New Or
leans disaster and that he was the
coward who got his fellow officers to
retreat in disgrace. Sir John Fox Bur-
goyne said nothing. He was too much
of man to try to clear his own rec
ord by besmirching the characters of his
brother officers lin all~probahility. had
he tried to defend himself by denoune-
ing his companions in arms his last
condition would have been worse than
the first. But there at last came for
ward an unexpected defender, who
completely indicated Burgeyne.--s---
This was Major Stovin. whose sup
posed dead body was lying under the
sheet upon the table of the council
room. Major Stovin had been very seri-
ously wounded, but he was still alive
and heard all that had been said in the
council OF war. He took up his pen and
vigorously championed the cause of the
DETAINED officer He wrote: at was lying
there in the room during the council of
war, and heard all the officers speak.
/ want to testify that Colonel Bur-
goyne pleaded for n renewal of the
conflict and not for retreat" And SO.
my friends. even when injustice is be-
ing practiced against you, do not waste
your time by going forth to attack
some one else and trying to besmirch
other peoples characters. Be like Sir
John Fox Burgoyne-hold your peace.
Do your work; do it faithfully, and
God Will raise up your defenders.
Have no fear of the results. The strip
ling David going out to meet the Phil
istine giant had good cause to resent
the taunts of his brothers, who Knocked
him and babe him go home and tend
the sheep. but it was n good thing for
his people that he controlled his tenn
per and went out to STAY Goliath.
Work of the Bitter Tongue.
The ungovernable temper is to be
feared and dreaded for still another
reason-the bitter tongue never made
an enemy less bitter; the angry retort
never blunted an enemy's sword or
threw him off his guard or made him
less energetic for your destruction. We
have read about great ambassador
who was man OF such violent temper
that even the grand vizier of the Turk
ish sultan would tremble before him.
He would rush into the Turkish off,
ciars presence when anything went
wrong, crying. "It must be done, ] tell
you; IL must be done. or else our war
ships will soon be bombarding your
capital" But that is not the way you
and i are going to make our enemies
bow before us. We will not subdue
them by torrents OF invective, but only
by Kind words. "It is the angry tongue
that brcaketh the bone" says the
Bible? oh, no. by long forbearing
Is n prince persuaded, and soft
tongue breaketh the bone" All, my
friends. you want TO overcome your
enemies. do you? Then do It not with
a sledge hammer. but with. the power
Of Kindness. When a PERSON hates you
or i'll treats you. then systematically
so forth to win him over by sore and
forgiveness.
was never more impressed with
what love and kindness can do than
when studying the life OF Lincoln. His
gentleness> did more to save the .coun-
try and give us n reunited north and
south than all the bullets ever fred or
all the, swords ever drawn. His policy
of conquering by gentleness was. beau
tifully illustrated by an incident told
Missouri was ut that time under his
command. Guerrilla bands. for which
the Confederacy was In nowise respon-
sible, had captured three northern sol
diers, one a major the other. two pri-
Yates, and shot them down. In cold
blood. General Rosecrans, to retaliate.
ordered that three Confederates. one n
major and two priyates, should bcsbot.
one or those so sentenced to die ,was
Major Lyons. No sooner did Lincoln
hear of it than he sent telegram or
dering reprieve until he could look
into the matter and pass upon the ac-
ton of the court martial When Gen
erai Rosecrans received the telegraphic
orders he was furious. He declared
that If the officials ut Washington did
not leave him alone he would resign.
This pardoniDg policy Of the president
was absolutely running the army.
What did Lincoln do? Did he lis
charge Rosecrans? No. After he had
looked into the matter he sent letter
to the commander which went thus:
Dear General Rosecrans-I have person
any examined all the papers in the LYONS
NSe, anu 4 cannot see that II is a matter
or executive interference, so / will turn
II over TO you. with the full condolences
mat you will do what is Just and right.
only begging you, my dear general, to do
nothing in reprisal for the past, only what
Is necessary to insure security for the fu-
ture. and reminding you that we are not
nghtias against foreign foe. but our
prothers, and that our aim is not to break
their spirits. but only to bring them back
20 their old allegiance. Conquer by kind
ness-let that be our policy. Very truly
yours. ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Conquer by Kindness.
Do you wonder when General Rose
Grams received that letter he refrained
from executing Major Lyons I? Do you
wonder that Lincoln's policy of love