Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1909-09-09
Ships LIFE OF WILLIAM H,
CRAWFORD.

There is a rare treat ahead for any
intelligent Georgian, who feels an in
terest in the history of his state and
in the lives of the great men it has
produced, in the perusal of The Life
and Times of William H. Crawford"
just issued from the press of the
Southern Printers of this city.
The author, Hon. J. e. d. Ship of
Americas, well known throughout the
state not only as lawyer of ability,
but likewise as an historical student
has for many years accumulated ma
terial for this work This was in it.
self a task of no small moment
Crawford was too much immersed in
the making of history to keep a diary
and chronicle his views of himself
and others, as some of the leading
men of his time, notably John Quincy
Adams, did. He made no effort, il
would seem, to leave any literary re-
mains for publication. He was, in
deed, almost strangely indifferent tC
his own renown and the future opin-
ion of posterity. The consciousness
that he had played well his part was
doubtless sufficient compensation fol-
him. True nobility of mind does not
find it necessary to keep a day book
and record the weakness of others
and the strength of oneself. 1t is will
ing for coming generations to judge
for itself, to pass it's verdict upon the
deeds done in the flesh, uninfluenced
by such biased agencies. Because oil
this personal neglect by Crawford
the destruction of papers wrought by
time and the civil war, and the dis
appearance long ago from the scene
of life of all of those in any way per-
sonally acquainted with the man, his
biographer's labors have been made
much greater than thhGy- gf'- cl;;l1 .ba,e
been had he been handling many a
character of far less renown whose
impress upon the history of the state
and nation had been comparatively
insignificant compared with that OF
this Giant Georgian"
Mr. Ships work has been one of
patriotic love. Deploring the appar-
ent neglect of this illustrious son OF
Georgia, the ignorance of the present
generation of his many achievements
in the lines of diplomacy and state
craft, and realizing that the passage
of each year rendered it more than
ever difficult to reconstruct a picture
of the man as he was, supported by
documentary evidence of his career
in public life, he expended large sums
of money, and much valuable time, in
bringing together material on which
to base the work that has now been
given to the public. The desire that
the volume should not be so bulky as
to repel the average reader, and the
desire-to induce all to become famil-
lar in some degree with the career of
a man who in his day did more to
illustrate this state than any of his
compeers, induced Mr.. Shipp to forego
the personal pleasure that would have
been his in the publicati of a monu-
mental work. AS a result he has
given to the world a concisely writ
ten, graphically told, story of
n Irfn hat -, 1n1 Of al
brevity and accuracy. Within the
limits of $50 pages, of somewhat
small type, he has condensed a wealth
of information, dealing with Craw-
ford and his associates in public life,
with the stirring incidents with which
he was connected, with the remark
able conditions out of which later
American history was evolved and the
Republic brought to it's present-day
state. While an idealist by nature,
whose long study of Crawford has
more and more elevated that states
man to a higher and higher pinnacle
of glory in his opinion, Mr.. Shipp has
held these personal views in reserve
and sought to give a portrait of Craw-
ford and his friends and opponents
praises or severe in it's condemna-
tions. The truth has been his motto,
and justice has been done without
regard to the attitude of the
party dealt with in his personal rela-
tons to the subject of this most in
teresting book.
1t is not our purpose at this time to
enter into any elaborate review of
the book, simply to call attention to
it's great value as an original contri-
button to the history of Georgia and
of the United States. For the first
time there is placed within the reach
of the public life of Crawford. Many
popular errors may be refuted by it,
much new light may be thrown, in
many minds, upon the history of the
years of the last century, and justice
may finally be done, through this
agency, to one whose memory has
been treated by his own state with as
much Indifference as though he had
not been recognized by the world of
his day as one fthe most brilliant
characters it had produced. Perhaps
Georgia may not be so seemingly un-