Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1862-05-28
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NIE. AADANaEs WI 9NNAANAH Ah AAAN WAAN
sea and chaos Of blood, tears, and cORyul-
sion, the bare, barren, dry land begins to
loom up, and the great end to appear.
Soon the patient statistioian will gather
up his facts, and by bis tables viii show
us the exact thousands Of lives squandered
90 this wide waste, and the innumerable
millions Of substance consumed in the
great conhagration. The curious and in-
dusteious HBnslist will swell his huge vol
uRes Of the amazing incidents whose fre-
Qaent recurrence has robbed us Of the
power Of being sstonished even. Tho
mofalist will 80 forth In melancholy 10
mourn the widespread lieentiousness and
decentralization growing out Of this huge
war, whose irrRdicRble ulcers shall be tho
last 70 cicRtTize.
The coyetous hand Of garneriug love
shall have gathered up and inurned the
last lost treasured one; the last inscription
shall be gravsd and the last monument
consecrated the last 0ulogy pronounced,
and the last roauium chaunted; and the
all-oonsoling hand Of timsshall have dried
the last tsar, or have broken the fountain
and soothsd or stilled the last sorrowing
heart. The footprinta Of war burnt in
thick and wastef1l battle-helds into the
whole South will rapidly fade out, and the
restoring hand Of nature, under genial
climate and weeping skies, viii again
clothe them in Disgusting beauty. The
fingers Of q single summer win overspread
/ the wsrsWorn plains with the tender grass,
| whose living green shall creep over the
place Of the final struggle, Of the last rally
and fearful rout; rapidly it will climb the
steeps Of innumerable forts and roof with
living verdure the mounds Of sleeping SOL
/ diers, on which the tear-distilling nights
| shall shed their softest dews. All these
will speedily and certainly occur; and the
/ inspiration of poetry, the muse Of history,
and the pencil Of art shall construct IN
strains of triple glory the great legend,
The deathless epic Of what we have lived
/ and suffered and achieved for the benefit,
the example, the warning, and the wonder
Of all after ages.
But now, e'er any Of this is accomplished
while We are yet in the midst Of the great
struggle whose tide is but now turned
! while the heady fight yet RACES under our
eyes, with its shout and groan in our ears,
its s0oTrhi1gy breath in our faces, and its
fiery pulse in our yeins-we are to become
calm and7elevated, clear in our vision, rise
4, above the smoke and dust Of battle to the
serene atmosphere, if We may, Of genuine
American statesmanship. Heroism, devo-
ton, and constancy, equaling the highest
achievements Of the race, accomplished the
frst Revolution an excess Of the same
high qualities are carrying us successfully
through the second.
4 A Weldon, tsgaoity, and patriotism hard.
" before paralleled constructed and
breathed life and strength into our consti-
tutionsi government; and nothing but an
: tedual expenditure Of the same rare quail
ties can successfully carry it through this
lits last and greatest ordeal. Its success
was an accomplished fact, under all the
ordinary and extraordinary vieissitudes tc
which nations may be exposed. Strong
and triumphant in war and stable and bo-
7 niheent in peace, it is now undergoing the
last and most fearful process TO which j
can be exposed Out of this, too, it vii
emerge stronger, purer, and beautifed by
the IRE if the men of this Congress arr
equal to this high occasion. If it fails, i
J viii not be through the imperfectiOns o
the Constitution, nor yet because our Gen
erals and soldiers are not equal to the tasl
assigned them-for that assuredly will b.
well and thoroughly done-but the failur,
will be upon lus, the men Of these tw,
I ! eaVeling about others, thanking IN our W'ti
this General, or censuring that Chieftain
as il that was our task, or as if our breatl
made OF marred fame and dictated the de
{ grees of history, and address ourselve
reverently 70 the greatest and most apal
ling Of our labors, the rough hewing ant
shaping with our Legislative hand the end
3 and destinies of the revolted States an,
} people, and so forever fixing our own.
! Ii has been said, and truly, that tn
! present Congress, in this fearful exigency
furnishes no great leading, mastering
mind, with grasp and strength to carry il
8 his single arms the fortunes of our sOrely
! bested country I do not stop to discus
the strange oversight of nature in no
providing great man for this great occa
sion according TO rule, nor 10 bewail ou
beresved condition in his absence. Con
cede that We have no overwhelming in
: teliects 70 ruin all by great mistakes,
}. believe, in point Of practical ability an,
9 cool courage and eonstancy, the aveTag
? Of this Congress equals that Of any Of it
predecessors. And think, too, that thi
Congress, with ali its jarrings, discords
0 and diferences VIII prove itself equal t
3 J EHe LlAEAAA LeEkg4sAtAAAAy AAAhL IL lpOu IL
p If so, tbs career Of no man, however hum
bic be may have been, can be uneventful
whose fortune Il is to occupy a seat here
It How are we to deal with these rebel
e when the chastening hand Of war shal
transfer them, subdued helpless, and ab
iect, to the processes Of the civil power
In our grave and solemn deliberations W
d are to remember that these States ar
; American States, these people were Amer
. can citizens, one-half OF our territory an
nation, Of what we were who jointly wit
us achieved our nations wealth Of glor
It and power. We viii also remember tina
= this territory is still to constitute an i'm
! portant half Of our empire, and that ont c
: the subdued people is to spring the gerr
4 Of renewed unity, fraternity, confdenc'
n strength, and national power and great
q ness and keeping these in mind, we al
{ to punish these rebels as they deserve
> fully, Justly, firmly, and mercifully. W
: are 70 punish as the parents and brother
= would punish the members Of the famil
r. who had deliberately set FIRE to the famil
:, mansion, overturned the family altar, an
aimed their daggers al the bosom Of th
/ mother that bore them. The punishmeI
~ must be condign, the atonement ampl
!. and the future secure. And yet sons
: thing is due to The memory Of the pas
4 and more to the hope and needs Of the fl
- ture Ner can nations now disregard tll
II opinions and sense Of other nations b
/, whom they are surrounded.
y But it is tho weakness of towards, {
D. sympathy for murderous traitors, that nov
10 while they confront us at all points wit
~ arms in their hands, and shoot down OIL
fathers, sons, husbands, brothers, lover
aud friends-that now lifts up weak hanC
10 in helpless horror, and raises querulOl
voices in feeble walls and cries for mere
to the rebels. Mercy now is treason, rap
= arson-an infractiOn of the whole dec
70 logue; and suspect the brain or heart
f. him who now speaks Of fOrbearance t
l. wards them. But the legislation which v