. Abraham Lincoln and men of war-times. Some personal recollections of war and politics during the Lincoln administration . —by Mr. Herndon, by Mr. Lamon, by Mr. Arnold,and by Mr. Brooks, and to ]\Ir. Blaines Twenty Yearsin Congress, for valuable information on many pointsreferred to in these chapters, A. K. , 1892. INTRODUCTION. The modern spir-it, which is esseii-tiall\- the democraticspirit, that has soprofoundly influ-enced e\ery mani-festation of humant li o u n li t, haswroui^ht a greatcliange in the studyof history and inthe estimate of his-torical the
. Abraham Lincoln and men of war-times. Some personal recollections of war and politics during the Lincoln administration . —by Mr. Herndon, by Mr. Lamon, by Mr. Arnold,and by Mr. Brooks, and to ]\Ir. Blaines Twenty Yearsin Congress, for valuable information on many pointsreferred to in these chapters, A. K. , 1892. INTRODUCTION. The modern spir-it, which is esseii-tiall\- the democraticspirit, that has soprofoundly influ-enced e\ery mani-festation of humant li o u n li t, haswroui^ht a greatcliange in the studyof history and inthe estimate of his-torical the older writershistory was maiiiK a recortl of the acts of great men—monarchs, ministers, and generals—who rose out of themist of the past as independent and irresponsible agents;the champions of opposing ideas, it might be, but them-selves the centres of all interest, and to be consideredand classified as heroes or villains according as one likedor disliked the general purpose of their lives. The mod-ern historian, on the other hand, finds the material fora just estimate of times past not in the lives of the few. 8 INTRODUCTION. as much as in the lives of the many—in the generalconditions of civilization, of which the men of distinc-tion are only the strongest exponents, dramatizing inthemselves the forces of their age. Most of all is this recognized concerning periods ofstorm and stress, of war and tumult. Leaders mayhasten or retard events, may direct or misdirect theimpulses of the people, but they do not create theseimpulses. They are governed by them. Whether ornot we accept that magnificent generalization of CountTolstoi in his Physiology of JJ^ar that makes Napoleonand Alexander but cock-boats on the tide, and theprivate soldier a more genuine power than either ofthem, the time certainly is past when one could speakof wars or revolutions as the capricious acts of indi-vidual men, or could profess to estimate the characterand achievements of these men apart from t
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