The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1865-08-16
THE UNION.
BY j. NJ. poULsoN.

| oh u W. IOOboON'
The dreadful fury of fratricidal strife
has at length abated. The thunder Of
warfare and the turmoil of battle have
rolled away in the distance. The far
flung shadows of the awful wings of
death, which have been sweeping the face
of our beloved land from east TO west for
the four years past, have now vanished
from sight. All hearts throughout the
Christianized world rejoice, with one har-
monious throb, that the terrific torrent,
the overwhelming tide of bloodshed has
finally been stayed. Shall we now be
liable to those grave and serious charges
which have been the promptings of po.
litical prejudices and party animositics
during the turbulent scenes Of our recent
history, shall we now be branded as "guil-
ty Of disloyal and reasonable practices"
if we but contemplate the deplOrable con-
sequences Of the sanguinory conflict, if
we endeavor from the record before us,
to estimate actual results Of the conflict =?
We invite a candid and impartial consid-
Grafton Of our question. IF we pro-
mulgate errors, they are a sufficient con-
demnation unto themselves when weighed
in the balance of intelligence and impair
tiality. If we reflect into your minds
the occurrences of the the past in their
true light, together with their bearing
upon the present and future, it then be.
comes you as fair and honest auditors to
fOrego personal prejudices, for the cause
Of truth. Tn proportion to our limited
capacity for judging, none have higher
regard for the heroic valor, the unparal-
lelled endurance Of the American SOL
der in every emergency. They need,
they ask no eucomiums from you or from
me. The history Of their deeds is their
highest, their ever living praise. But
these noble, these manly attributes have
been misapplied; they have been misdi-
rected. What are the fruits of the
mighty struggle? Where are the tro.
phies of your hard earned victory? You
have bound together merely by the bayo.
net, two sections as repulsiVe to each 9th.
er in mutual feeling as the two poles of
the magnet, as irreconciliable and an.
tagonistic in sentimcnt as the ferocious
instincts Of the rapaclous monsters in the
jungles Of Africa, and as envious and
rancerous toward each other as the an
cient Romans and Carthagenians. You
have joined together in an unwilling al.
lance the most discordant elements of
political brotherhood. The seeds of n
never.dying hostility have been sown,-
The history Of the stormy scenes from
which we have just emerged, can never
be forgotten The line of ancestry on
either side will always be strictly remem.
bered. In the far distant future, the son
of the brave father who fought beneath
the Stars and Stripes, will meet the dc
scendant of the heroic sire who followed
the Stars and Stripes to battle. They
will meet upon the deadly battle plain Of
Shiloh, or amid the gloomy shades of the
dreadful wilderness upon the time-worn
battlcments Of Vicksburg, or amid the
grassy graves upon the fatal field of An
tietam. Who can imagine their feelings
toward each other, who will describe the
sensations they must realize at such a
moment2 Here they will remember the
fraternal conflict, their hand to hand en-
counter, their frenzied grapple, their
deadly thrusts, their life blood mingling
together in the dying struggle, Each
must extol his ancestral valor. The jus.
tice of the cause for which they stroYc
on either side will again be discussed
Each must resent every indignity, aud
every insult to the memory Of his own
kindred. The deeds of his father cannot
now be condemned or reproached with
impunity, and yet silence upon the subject
is not to be expected. These s, enes,
these rccollections, the history Of the
bloody past, the memory of fallen heroes,
and reverence for their self.sacrifcing
zeal and manly devotion, will produce an
irradicable enmity, deadly unqucncha,
btC hatred within the hearts of every fu.
ture generation. The Vireinian and the
son of South Carolina will behold the
monumental columns at West Point and
at Gettysburg, and others yet to be erect.
ed as mementoes Of love for the memory
Of the dear ones smitten by the terrible
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