Page:Hamilton Men I Have Painted 153.jpg



HE most benevolent figure in England in the nineteenth century, perhaps the greatest personality in the world, is that of the organizer and the leader of the Salvation Army.

If we look back over a hundred years, the really conspicuous names are few in number—Napoleon, Wellington, Washington, Lincoln, Gladstone, Disraeli, and Bismarck. Of these seven, one, Lincoln, stood for a sentiment—not a principle. He fought for what is called freedom, whereas the great principle in nature is dependence, and its first duty is service. Not every one in his country agreed with him, for one-third of its population attacked him for his interference with their right to govern themselves and maintain their own institutions. And in the end, a brother of the celebrated actor Booth slew him, and shouting to the stupefied audience in the theatre "Sic semper tyrannis," fled from the scene.

Was Lincoln right or was he wrong? This is a question that will be answered, as nature generally answers, by an enigmatic casting of events, before the end of this century.

Reading history from the historian's standpoint is misleading and confusing; but reading it from the impeccable evidence impressed upon stones, and from the works of the men of the different epochs themselves, we can arrive more closely at the truth. Quoting only one historian, who will