First, the definition: Magnanimous means to be “very generous or forgiving, especially toward a rival or someone less powerful than oneself.”
Second, the illustration: The Civil War was a bloody, catastrophic war. It was fought for four long years and left somewhere between 620,000 and 750,000 dead men scattered around the south. Sometimes dead bodies were left in such dense concentrations, you could walk around a battlefield simply stepping on corpses.
In the closing days of the war, when General Grant had General Lee pinned down outside of Richmond, VA, President Lincoln came to talk with Grant and some of his officers. It was March 28, 1865 on board the River Queen. As Jean Edward Smith in his biography, Grant, relates the incident, William Tecumseh Sherman asked President Lincoln: “What is to be done with the rebel armies when defeated?”
The magnanimous president responded that he wanted the men comprising the Confederate armies to go “back to their homes, at work on their farms and in their shops. …Let them go, officers and all. I want submission and no more bloodshed. …I want no one punished; treat them liberally all round. We want those people to return to their allegiance to the Union and submit to the laws” (pg. 393).
When General Lee was finally forced to admit reality, he and General Grant made arrangements for the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia in the small community of Appomattox Court House on April 9th. As Grant sat in the parlor of a home there, he wrote later in his memoirs, “I felt like anything rather than rejoicing at the downfall of a foe who had fought so long and valiantly” (404).
Under the terms of the surrender, Grant (and Lincoln) asked the Confederate officers and soldiers to promise not to raise arms against their country again. Artillery and small arms were turned over. Officers were allowed to retain their side arms and their private horses and baggage. At Lee’s request, regular soldiers were also allowed to keep their own horses. Smith writes, “Not only was the military dignity of his opponents being respected, but there would be no imprisonment or captivity. …no trials or witch hunts. Grant…effectively pardoned all who surrendered. It was a general amnesty, which, he hoped, would free the country from reprisals and vengeance” (405).
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Unfortunately, others in the federal government did not share the same magnanimous spirit that U. S. Grant and Abraham Lincoln did, which contributed to years of bitterness and resentment in the reconstruction years.
Third, the challenge: But, this spirit of magnanimity is a spirit enjoined by the God of heaven. God said, through Solomon, “Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles” (Prov. 24:17).
Jesus said, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day (and makes himself your “enemy”), and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ forgive him” (Luke 17:3-4). Have a magnanimous spirit, remembering how often God must forgive you of your sins, even in a single day!
Magnanimity is not a word that we use in our daily speech but let us make it a part of our daily lives. Live to forgive.
–Paul Holland
