The Sun. — 1865-05-03 (London, England)

THE MIN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVP,NI L= (3, MAY 3, 1865.'1  The Murder of President Lincoln,  " Historicus" Writes to the Times thus :—The American Civil War is beyond doubt the greatest event in the history of mankind which has occurred since the French Revolution. In both cases a corrupt condition of political society has purged itself at the cost of a terrible political and social convulsion. But the French Revolution itself, with all its horrors, has produced no crime more shocking to the conscience of mankind than the murder of the late President of the United States. The tribute which the civilised world from every quarter is offering on the grave of that eminent person is the natural instinct by which the human race gives utterance to the horror felt at a crime which is a common dishonour of our nature.  It is too early to judge either of the consequences of the crime, or of those upon whom the responsibility of .it is to be charged. Nothing can be more unjust than to visit upon whole societies or general systems the acts of isolated persons who may commit crimes without authority in their name. If the Papacy was held responsible for the massacre of St. Bartholomew, it was not because it contrived, but because it approved it. The SouthLwill be judged, not by the act of the assassin, but by the manner in which they receive the news of it. Booth has accomplished against President Lincoln what Brooks attempted against Senator Sumner. We unhappily know how the act of Brooks was applauded by both sexes of the community which he had disgraced.. Let us hope, for the honour of our nature, that such an outrage on humanity is not to be repeated. I sincerely wish, sir, that Mr. Mason, on behalf of the people he assumes to represent, had occupied himself on this dreadful occasion a little more in expressing his regret at the murder of Mr. Lincoln, and a little less in finding excuses for its commission. I hope that he will find in the Southern States of America few "well-balanced minds"—as aßsuredly he will find none in England—who will see in this hideous act the " necessary offspring" of anything but the most detestable cowardice and wickedness.  Upon Mr. Lincoln himself the world, even before his death, had passed a just and favourable judgment. Situated in circumstances of unexampled difficulty, he had achieved unexpected greatness. As the leader in a revolution which he had not made, he adhered as closely as that revolution permitted him to the .law. In disaster he was undismayed, in success he was sober, in the presence of provocation he was moderate, in the hour of victory he was merciful. If these are not the constituents of greatness, political and moral, I know not what is the meaning of that word. I see that some persons are disposed to exult over those who had not at the earliest moment appreciated the true proportions of his remarkable character. I do not sympathise in such censures, the more so, perhaps, because if they were well deserved I might feel that I ought to share them. But I think that those who plume themselves upon their prescient sagacity commit the common fault of pretending to have been wise too soon. Mr. Lincoln grew to be what he at length became by the hard discipline of adversity and the strict schooling of responsibility. He became great —as such natures do become great—by the action of the ennobling duties of such a station upon a mind honest, courageous, conscientious, and truthful. Under the purifying influences of this fiery assay the ore is purged from the dross, and shines out at length in a sterling lustre which did not belong to its native state. Those who have compared his earlier with his later discourses will have marked the striking grqwth of his moral - stature. No one, I think, can have read the Message of March 4, 1865, distinguished as it was by a tone of chastened and saddened earnestness, without feeling that it was the true language of a good and a great man, sober in the midst of political success, and moderate in the hour of military triumph. The lesson to be learnt from the history of such a character is to abstain from hasty judgments upon untried men. I trust it will not be lost at this moment either at home or abroad.