FIRST ARTICLE.
It is often said by historians that no truly great man is every really
understood by the generation, and in the age, for which he labors. Many
instances of the truth of this statement can be easily cited. Two of the
most flagrant have come within the range of my own personal experience.
The first was the character of Abraham Lincoln as depicted by the
British press of 1860-64 and as conceived by the British public opinion
of that era. Mr. Henry Adams, son and private secretary of Mr. Charles
Francis Adams, our Minister Plenipotentiary to Great Britain during that
critical era in our history, writes, in that fascinating book of his
entitled "The Education of Henry Adams,"
that "London was altogether beside itself on one point, in
especial; it created a nightmare of its own, and gave it the
shape of Abraham Lincoln. Behind this it placed another demon,
if possible more devilish, and called it Mr. Seward. In regard
to these two men English society seemed demented. Defense was
useless: explanation was vain. One could only let the passion
exhaust itself.
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