The Washington herald., 1909-02-13
Thomas Nelson Page Declares
Lincoln Preserved Union.
TELLS WHAT SOUTH BELIEVES
Famous Aathor Says the Martyred
President Is Surpassed in Ameri-
can History Only by Washington.
Lincoln stands Pre-eminent as the
Han Who saved the Nation.

T Page The famous Southern writer spoke
from the standpoint OF the people OF his
section Of the country. and the tribute he
paid 10 Lincoln was the more impressive
for that reason.
He said he accepted the invitation to
speak on the condition that he should
refer 10 Lincoln just as he believed, with
the privilege Of mentioning the bad. II
any. with the good. Except that he did
not hold Lincoln greater than Washing
I ton. Mr.. Pages ealogy was 6 glowing one.
He said, in part:
u have had the great honor done me
/ 70 ne asked as a Southern man 20 speak
On this notable occasion 20 celebrate here
/ in the Capital OF the nation. where he
achieved his great and abiding fame, the
+ centennial Of the birth Of the man who,
more than any other man or group OF
I men. saved the nation.
7 assume that the invitation was ex-
I tended. as L was accepted. with the un-
deTstanding that what 7 shall say shall
/ be what I really believe. and what the
South really believes. and not the reiec-
+ ton Of some other persons opinion or the
I opinion Of many other persons
''The fact that a Southern man can be
asked and can accept the invitation 70 do
this Is proof that the nation was saved
Most ReviIed in World.
In my boyhoOd the man whose birth
We are celebrating to-day was the best
hated and the most reviled man that I
I knew OF in the world And this hatred
/ was not confined to the South. but was.
/ Il possible. quite as bitter In the North.
''Whiie the South had some cause for
/ bitterness az the time-some reason for
/ It's hatred in the fact Of invasion and
war. OF which he was the tituIar repre-
! sentative-and while the South was by
! reason Of the war, ignorant OF the vast
! breadth OF his views and the humanity
| OF his heart, no such excuse could be
/ urged for those who Of his own faith and
/ household. as il were hated him with a
/ rancor which declared him publicly
/ greater enemy Of the Union than Jeffer-
! son Davis.
That hostility TO his memory stili ex-
\ lists in some measure among a certain
/ element in the South. and a very honest.
+ patriotic, and high-mlnded element at
that should be frankly admitted and
/ may be credited partly, simply TO human
/ nature, which is about the same the
world over, and partly 20 absence Of
4 knowledge of the real Lincoln
Hostility Dying Out.
THAT this hostility Is dying out, and
that II Is destined 10 die out completely
4 is. believe. as undeniabIe as its present
/ modified existence And make so bold
as 70 say that. IN my humble Judgment.
( its complete effacement viii not be due
I 10 any advantages which the South may
/ derive in the future from a restored Union
/ except as this may Justify IincOln's Wis
dom. but rather 20 sn understanding of
/ his cathOlicitv Of feeling and his abso-
/ Iutely unsectiOaaI sentiment for the whole
! people OF the country. For I.incOln's pas
sion was for the Union. lie has been
/ credited. and perhaps always WIZ be
I credited. with the two great works OF
7 having destroyed slavery and saved the
I Union, and yet standing here to-day With
every desire 70 accord him every honor
I that truth can tender 70 his memory,
/ cannot find in the facts OF history the
+ foundation for the first
( That he was opposed 10 slavery Is
unquestionably true. as also that he earn
estly desired its destruction. and strove
as far as he might. lawfully. 10 put an
4 end 70 it-sone even think he went Tar
/ beyond what the lav allowed in this
direction But the credit for its destruc-
ton must be distributed through many
years and 10 many men-soue OF them
I far. more Jealous and insistent workers
than the author OF the Emancipation
I Proclamation.
TO the ultra and intractable aboii-
tionists. once hated as roundly at the
North as az the South as diSturbers Of
the public peace. and chief among them
TO a woman, must be accredited the abOii-
ton OF slavery at the time and by the
method adopted. with whatever of veal
or woe was connected with It or cOnSe-
Quent upon it.
Lincoln an Instrument.
''Nr Lincoln was but an instrument
performing the function made possible by
their work And whatever the final con-
sequence. OF the Presidential proclama-
ton. its actual immediate effect was not
the emancipation OF a single slave, for in
express terms it excepted from its provi-
sion every rood OF territory under the
control Of the Federal government and
armies.
But in the other work. the preserva-
ton OF the Union, Lincoln stands SUI
preme. not only unedusled and unrivaled.
but unapDrOached. Love OF the Union.
I
nation was the master passion of his
soul-and he saved IT, Moreover. he
saved the nation. For long after his
worn frame had been laid TO rest amid
nations lamentations his spirit Of char
ity and universal good viii so brooded
over the fierce passions OF those who came
after him that in time the nation, which
I had been almost destroyed by the rancor
and hate that had been engendered,
emerged At last sound and fair from the
black chaos Of that turbulent time.
ct has grown to be the custom to COM
pare him with Washington, 10 speak OF
him as the equal Of Washington. and
some even 90 so far in their enthusiasm
as 10 declare him greater than Washing
ton. which is only TO say that they know
Lincoln. but do not know Washington.
There is no one the equal Of Wash
/ ington, no one in all history. II We take
as the gauge the standards by which
great men are measured-the intellectual
scope, the moral fiber. the unvarying for
titude, the gift OF construction. the su-
prene power Of command and over all.
( embracing all, pervading all. the indefna-
ble but recognizable endowment Of an all
! comprehensive genius
Less Great Than Washington.
1T does but beiittle Lincoln 10 place
him beside Washington. as it would be-
little any other man born OF woman of
whom We have record in historical times.
And it is not only not necessary but IN
/ Just to place him in comparison.
1T is honor enough 10 any man 10 men,
ton him in any connection with Wash
ington. though it be but to reject the
comparison Idncoin's greatness was AL
/ his own. as his fame viii be his own.
/ Why do you want TO smooth out and con-
ventionalize him into the form Of some
thing that he was not. even though that
something be as fine a thing as a we'll
Z a-oa man of the vrorfSP Won Tvofl5d b,tf