Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1907-02-12

III pursuit Ol the savage INDIANS, ana
! take you sufficiently into my conf
dence ahead of time to say that his
tory never produced the peer or super
Tor of Robert Edward Lee"
Again. toward the close of the adj
dress, after lauding at length General
Lees magnanimity, Mr.. Bryan says:
Never lived more magnanimous
man than that. And in this connection
and speaking of magnanimity, / want
to say that every child of the south
appreciates the magnanimity of Cen
eral Grant at Appamattox. but call
your attention to the fact that General
Ire had heen rendered the command
OF the union forces and General Grant
could well have allowed General Lee
to retain his side arms and depart as
paroled prisoner. He could have af-
forded. my fellow countrymen, to have
rlucked the epaulets from his shout
ders and the stars from his collar and
PILED them all at the feet of Robert e.
I Lee and said This. and all they rep
resent. l owe to you Because If Rob-
ert Lee had accepted the command of
the union forces. General Grant would
mot have been heard of as a gen
eral.'
| confess I am amazed that q man
standing so prominently in the past
and now SO in the limelight with the
democratic party, should boldly de.
clare that History never produced the
peer or superior of General Lee" If
such fulsome praise were the product
of some school boy in his early teens
it would perhaps only provoke smile,
but coming from Mr. Bryan, what
I shall we say of it? Did he mean it?
Was it an honest utterance? If the
answer be yes, then tell me, reader,
what IS the animus. the character of
the brains and heart from which such
an utterance emanated? What must
be the trend of such a brain and heart
touching the vital issues fought out
in our great civil war Does such an
utterance indicate in Its author the ex-
istence of true American patriotism
and craftsmanship? Does Mr.. Bryan
/ seek the presidency by RELOCATING to
the rear all the long line of our distin-
guisned public men as compared with
the military leader of the great re.
/ be]'ion?
Then again. why did Mr.. Bryan find
to cast fling at the great union lead.
err, General Grant, in pronouncing a
eulogy upon Lee. Note that he says
Grant might we'll have torn off the in
sigma of his rank and cast them at
the feet of Lee; that Grant would new
er have been heard of as a general
had not Lee refused to take command
of the union army. Why is it possible
that Lee once at the head Of our
forces would have so soon whipped the
confederates that Grant would never
have stormed Fort Donelson, Lookout
Mountain, Missionary Ridge or captur-
ed Vicksburg?
| But some may say that Bryan took
the liberty of the politician to tickle
the ear of his southern hearers. Well,
that might avail some as a plea for
justification in behalf of backwoods
illiterate, but for Mr.. Bryan it only
blackens his soul, especially when
such keenly-edged tools are used AS
were employed in this case.
admire General Lee. I place a
very high estimate upon his ability
I would kindly try to forget his great
error. At this time disarm criticism
when / know that no man is perfect
and that every man Is fashioned very
greatly in thought and action by his
environments, customs and endear.
ments surrounding the home of his
boyhood and early manhood. cannot
so write of Mr.. Bryan in the light of
the foregoing extracts from his ad-
dress.
II Hamilton