Berate Lincoln about his country (5)
I believe the answer is:
abuse
'berate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'lincoln about his country' is the wordplay.
'lincoln' becomes 'abe' (I've seen this in another clue).
'about' indicates putting letters inside.
'his country' becomes 'us' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'abe' placed around 'us' is 'ABUSE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for abuse that I've seen before include "corrupt practice" , "Maltreat" , "Revile" , "Treat cruelly" , "Vilify" .)