The Washington herald., 1909-02-07

times had permitted these men in the
South to look calmly upon the course Of
events, they would have found them
selves in close sympathy with Abraham
Lincoln. Now that the excitement OF the
anti-siavery agitation has died away.
not merely these men. but many others
in the South. are beginning 10 see that
during the whole course Of the civil war
the South had no more sincere friend
than the abOlitiOnist President Of the
United States. Abraham Lincoln. he. az
least. never forgot. during all the long
and bloody struggle. that a time was
coming when the men who fought for the 4
South and the men who fought for the 1
Union must settle down SIDE by side as /
fellow-cltizens OF the one indivisible re-
public
Let Is Judge Not.
Some one who was present when Lin
coin heard the news Of Lees surrender 4
said that JEFF Davis ought to be hung. /
The President in reply quoted from his
inaugural address. Let Us Judge not |
that We be not judged" Another said /
that the sight OF Libby Prison forbade /
mercy. Let US judge not" he repeated. /
that we be not judged" This was said /.
az the close Of the war when the whole !
North was afisme with the news OF VIC
tory. A year before. however. he had
said IN his jocuIar way. We should
avoid planting and cultivating too many
thorns IN the bosom Of society" All
through the war he saw, what Southern
statesmen either shut their eyes 70 OF
failed 70 see. that even had the South
won IN the war the old struggle between
freedom and slavery wOulf have gone on
just the same under other banners
and other battle cries
Physically speaking" he said. in his
frst inaugural address. 'we cannot sep
srate- We cannot remove our respective
sections from one another. nor build an
impossible wall between them a hus-
band and wife may be divorced and 60
out OF the presence and beyond the reach
Of one another. but the different parts o.
the country cannot do this. They cannot
but remain face TO face. and intercourse,
either amicabIe or hostile. must continue
between them. II IS impossible, then. 10
make that Intercourse more advanta-
ge0us, or more satisfactory, after sepa-
ration than before Can aliens make
treaties easier than friends can make
laws? Can treaties he more faithfully en-
forced between aliens than laws can
among friends? Suppose you go 70 var,
you cannot fight always, and when after
much loss on both sides and no gain on
either, you cease fighting, the identical
Old questions az 20 terms Of intercourse
are again upon you
Was Bound 20 Continue.
Whether as separate nations. or as
separate States OF the same nation, the
struggle between freedom and slavery
was bound TO continue, Had it been pos
sible 70 put an end to the conflict over
slavery. between the people OF the North
ern and the people OF the Southern
States. Il would soon have broken oct
again within the Southern States them
selves II should never be forgotten that
there was always a minority IN the South
which openly OF IN silence opposed slsv-
cry After 1880 when the abolition agi-
tation spTang Up in the North and It
came 10 be considered sort OF treason
IN the South 20 lend any sort Of favor
10 abolition sentiments, the opinions
against slavery were no longer openly
expressed il the South, but the OppoSi-
ton 10 slavery did not cease Thousands
, OF people who submitted 70 the censor
ship that was az that time imposed upon
/ the open expression Of opinion, silently
evaded the laws, and upon some plea or
other enancipated their slaves OF sent
them into free States. where their free
dom was assured. This is shown by the
| fact o. the constantly increasing number
/ OF free negroes" both ,Sn the Northern
and Southern States. and this, too, IN
spite OF the Efforts that were made 10
1 lcoIOnIze this class of citizens abroad.
sOutherner by Birth.
( No one knew these facts better than
I Lincoln. He mentions them in his de-
bates with Douglas In thk connection
/ It should not be forgotten that Lincoln
was a SOutherner by birth. II he did not
share the prejuGices OF the Southern peO-
pie. he az least understood and symps-
/ Douglass he spoke as a Southerner rather
than as q Northern aboIitionist.
! The extreme abOlitionists OF the East
/ ern States were frequently violently op-
posed TO him Because OF his attitude on
the fugitive slave law. Wendell Phillips
wrote an article entitled Abraham Liz
coln, the Slave Hound OF Illinois
! The Northwest Territory. OF which Ohio,
Michigan were formed, was largely set
Ted by Southerners who were opposed
TO slavery. These men remained South
lerners IN sentiment and tradition. They
did not cease 10 love the South because
they had gone into voluntary exile from
lit In a certain sense II is true. there
fore. that the abolition movement OF the
Middle West. which Lincoln represented.
was the moral sentiment OF the South
| turned against its own peculiar inStitU-
tons. 1t was not the opposition Of
strangers nor Of aliens IN tradition and
sentiment that the South met in Lincoln
and in the snti-slavery people OF Indiana.
Ohio. Kentucky. and Illinois from whom
he Sprang- Il was. TO q large degree. the
Opposition Of SoutherneTs 70 that institu-
ton OF the South that not only endsn-
gered the Union OF the States, but was
/ slowly and insidiously destroying the
South.
Are Direct InherIfOrs.
/ I think 1t IS important 70 point out this
lconnectiou Of Lincoln with the South. and
with Southern anti-slavery sentiment, be
cause there are men in the South to-day
who are working, silently and earnestly.
still IN the spirit OF that elder generation
OF anti-slavery men. In order TO COM
plete the work that Lincoln began. In a
certain way I may say that these men
are the direct inheritoTs OF that moral
sentiment OF the South which, as 1 have
sought to suggest, was represented by
/ Abraham Lincoln and the Southern anti
slavery men OF the Middle West.
| AS the years have passed, all sections
Of the country have learned to look with
altered views upon the men and the is
sues Of the civil war. Many things that
seemed OF overshadowing importance
forty or fifty years ago. now look small
ard Insignificant
Many persons who were IN the fore
| ground then. have now moved into the
| kacLcrn-lrd Looking At fhaza rnarsnrs