Chapter 56 Judge not, lest you be judged

During the American Civil War, Lincoln repeatedly appointed new generals to lead the "Potomac" army, but each of them suffered a painful defeat, which made Lincoln pace the room alone with a disappointed and heavy heart.Almost half of the people in the country accused these incompetent generals in an uproar, but Lincoln maintained his peaceful attitude.One of his favorite maxims is - "Judge not, lest you be judged". When Lincoln's wife and others spoke unkindly about the Southerners, Lincoln always replied, "Don't criticize them. We would be like them in the same circumstances."

However, if anyone had a chance to criticize, it was Lincoln, as illustrated in the following example: On the night of July 4, 1863, Confederate General Lee began to retreat south.At that time, the country was flooded with rain. When General Lee led the defeated army to Potomac, he saw that the swell of the river ahead made it impossible for them to pass, while the victorious coalition army was behind.General Lee and his army are in a dilemma and are under siege. Lincoln knew this was an excellent opportunity to capture Lee's army and end the war immediately.Full of hope, Lincoln ordered Meate to attack Lee's army immediately without a council of war.Lincoln first telegraphed the order and then sent an envoy to Meath to act immediately.

But what about General Mitt?The actions Meate took were contrary to Lincoln's orders.He called a council of war, violated Lincoln's orders, and hesitated to delay it.Mitt used various excuses to reply to the call, but in fact he refused to attack General Li.At last the river receded, and Lee and his army escaped the Potomac. "What's Mitt's intention in doing this?" Lincoln was furious when he found out about this.Lincoln said loudly to his son: "God, what does this mean... The Li army is already in our hands, as long as we stretch out our hands, they are ours... In that case, any general can lead troops to take Li. The general is defeated, and if I went myself, I would have already caught him."

In deep disappointment, Lincoln wrote a letter to Meat.During this period of his life, Lincoln was extremely conservative and his words were very cautious, so in 1863, this letter from Lincoln's handwriting should be the most severe criticism.The content of Lincoln's letter is as follows—— Dear General: I don't believe you can appreciate the unfortunate events and important relationships that have arisen from General Lee's departure.He is already within our grasp, and his capture, combined with our recent victories elsewhere, would immediately end this war. However, judging from the present situation, the war will continue indefinitely.You couldn't attack Li Jun successfully last Monday, how can you attack him again... I don't expect much success from you now, because you have let the golden opportunity disappear, which makes me feel infinite bitter.

According to your guess, what will happen to Mitt when he reads this letter? But Meat never saw that letter because Lincoln didn't send it.The letter was discovered from Lincoln's papers after his death. I have this idea - it's just my guess.After Lincoln wrote this letter, he looked out the window and muttered to himself: "Wait a minute, maybe I can't be in such a hurry, I'm sitting here in the quiet of the White House, and ordering Meat to attack, it's a piece of cake, but if I get to Geddesbury, I'll see Meet last week Seeing so much blood, my ears heard the cries and groans of the dead and wounded, maybe I would not rush to attack Li Jun... If I had the same cowardly personality as Mitt, maybe what I did , will do exactly the same as he did.

"It's a done deal now, irreparable. If I send this letter, it will relieve me of my unhappiness, but Met will also defend himself. In that case, he will condemn me and cause him to feel bad for me. , and will damage his prestige as a commander in the future, and even force him to resign from the army." In the end, Lincoln didn't send the letter and just put it aside.Because Lincoln knew from painful experience that sharp criticism and reprimand will never be effective. President Roosevelt once said that when he was president and encountered difficult problems, he would lean back his seat, raise his head, and look at the large portrait of Lincoln on the wall of the writing desk.He asked himself, "What would Lincoln do if he were in the predicament I am facing? How would he solve it?"

If we want to criticize others in the future, let us take a five-dollar bill out of our pocket, look at the picture of Lincoln on the bill, and ask ourselves: "If Lincoln encountered such a thing, how would he deal with it?" Woolen cloth?" No one wants to listen to gratuitous criticism, and criticizing others in a fit of anger can make things difficult to deal with.Take a few minutes to calm down before criticizing someone.