This account mentions a United States senator by the name of Warrington, who never existed. The book claims that in the hospital the President for the first time saw a print of his Gettysburg Address and was by the dying rebel captain told it was a great address; and that, then and there, where he never was, for the first time Mr. Lincoln realized the value of his Gettysburg Address. As to the first account of Mr. Lincoln, to speak moderately, it is grossly incorrect. The only truth it contained is that he was at Gettysburg and made an address. The remarks as to his personal appearance are offensively false. Mr. Lincoln was not a slouch, nor was he awkward, nor was he ill dressed, nor did he ever stare listlessly, it would have been impossible, nor was his voice a squeaking falsetto, nor was his appearance irrepressibly ghastly. He was not handsome, but he was a plain, impressively good-looking man. When you met him you felt you were in an unusual presence. Wherever and whenever he appeared in public his appearance was to good advantage. He towered above the tall men of any gathering and on all occasions, by whomsoever surrounded, he was an inspiration, personally dignified, intellectually unequaled and morally grand; and so I say he was never, no never, slouchy nor irrepressibly ghastly. He had a countenance altogether his own, a facial expression all the more his own, always serious, expressive of deep thought and candid action. The book's account of the delivery of the address and its reception is false. It was not poorly delivered nor was it received in silence, and one biographer says, tears, sobs, and cheers at the close expressed the emotions of the audience. The audience did not titter or do any such unseemly thing. All who know anything about it say it was well delivered and well received. None of Mr. Lincoln's biographers furnish anything sustaining the Gettysburg account in the book. When the tumult of the enthusiastic reception given his address had somewhat subsided, Mr. Lincoln, duly acknowledging the same, turned and congratulated Mr. Everett upon his oration. Mr. Everett, thanking him, said he would gladly exchange his own hundred pages for Mr. Lincoln's twenty lines. Mr. Lincoln at that time was very popular. Vicksburg had surrendered, Gettysburg had been won, the Union arms were everywhere triumphing, and it was impossible that he should have been received anywhere in public or treated by any audience as indifferently as the book says he was at Gettysburg, when and where he gave to the world one of the greatest classics ever pronounced; and it was even more impossible that he did not realize the merit of that classic until a dying rebel soldier, who never existed, in a hospital that never existed, disillusioned him. Always, everywhere, on all occasions, under any and all circumstances, the President of the United States appearing in public is acclaimed; and from the very nature of the case, it was many, many times impossible that Abraham Lincoln could have been at Gettysburg in November, 1863, a few days more than four months after that great battle on that great battle field, and given that great address to a great audience that applauded Everett and did not applaud him. Think a moment, think many moments, before you conclude that Abraham Lincoln was not enthusiastically acclaimed at Gettysburg; and throw to the discard without thought that the audience was spellbound so spellbound that it did not know good manners. The Perfect Tribute book was not published and presumably was not written until nearly forty-five years after the events it undertakes to describe; and naturally, if truthful, should be supported by biographical record. This fact may explain the inaccuracies of the book but does not excuse an intention, evident from cover to cover, to corrupt and depreciate history by falsehood and fiction. The first account undertaken in the book is inexcusably incorrect and the second account is pure and simple fiction; therefore, the book is not any kind of a tribute. A tribute depends upon acts and deeds, must be in praise of one's conduct. To be a perfect tribute it must praise, exalt and honor, rather than ridicule, slur and slander. It must in every respect, too, tell the truth. Viewed, then, in the most charitable light conceivable, the book called The Perfect Tribute is not a tribute of any kind whatever, and should not be used by CLUBS or SCHOOLS or in any way to honor or praise the memory of Abraham Lincoln. Its use for such a purpose is a corruption of history. I am, in writing this criticism, guided by biographers who authentically recorded the event. I am also guided by a feeling that it is wrong that the "Perfect Tribute" should go any longer unchallenged, for many are receiving it as true; and ere long all will be found in the snare described by the poet, that "Vice is a monster of so frightful mien, Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face, We must not allow pusillanimity either on or between the lines of the life and character of Abraham Lincoln, for courage was the keynote of his soul. We must not allow that he was ever, anywhere, a sloucher, or a listless starer, or of ghastly appearance, or a laughing stock, or a disappointment. He did everything at the best of human ability, rising in all efforts above his associates both mentally and physically. It is more than surprising, that, seemingly, so many of Mr. Lincoln's admirers should, in the least, countenance or in any way approve such a glaring falsification of history, as the Perfect Tribute. In October, 1863, I had the honor to meet and shake hands with President Lincoln, and, attired in the gray shawl so much then worn and the tall silk hat, he appeared to me an alert, noble-looking man. I thought him impressively good-looking, an inspiration never to be forgotten, well-appearing, of commanding presence, and suggesting nothing, no nothing, of the fableized account of the Tribute Book. I am loath to quit this subject. His great life is so filled with perfect tributes that honor his memory |