The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-10-17
mo NON q M E N T S,
sHERTDAMS WAR UPON THE NO
BILE DEAD. NJ

Fs-f- 49,
rFrom the n Y. Metropolitan Record.
HNo monuments intended to com
nemorate the rebellion will be permit
ted to be erected,n &c.-By order Of,
Major General p. III. Sheridan. /; Mr..
Brave old Ireland! how it strikes home
tn the hearts of those who regard thee with
filial love as their mother country to find
names illustrious in thy annals eyer asso-
ciatSd with unworthy deeds. mo Inonu-
ments permitted" 0 cavalry Sheridan!
WHY did YOU not remember the land Of
your fathers ere you profaned the name
"ou bear by signing that order making war
Unop the noble dead2 Before entering on
yonr UNEQUAL struggle with the Esprit that
seeks to elorify the rebellion why did yOu
not through some good Yankee medium call
mn the unquiet ghosts of all the despets,
Abe Plantagenets, the Lancasters, the
Works the Tud0rs, the Stuarts, the Bruins
wicks, and, more brutal than alI, the rspub-
7ican Cr0mwell--wh0 for seven centuries
have been trying to deal with the same
esprit" that, thank God! still lives In
dcsolated, impoverished Erin? Have you
no family traditions of rebels in whom you
glory2 or do you, perchanc6, boast that
your kindred were loyal Irish, of that class
which Tom Moore denounced as that
meanest thing-;n ati-Ifish Irishman9"
Did You never hear from fathers lips the
story of those countless SONS OF Erin whom
'1no monument commentaries, but to
whose memory affairs are erected in mil
lions of hearts tl'at glory in Offering to it
the reverential homage conquerors never
reccive-the worshipping loye due to those
who to the title of'hero add the more sa-
cred one of martyr. Have you never lin
gered beside dear mother, hour by hour,
listening with brcathless interest to old
legends, heard in her childhood when with
an eager little band she sat by an Irish
tireside and brought in her faithful memo
ry to the New World to delight andinstruct
her children in turn, and inspire them with
glowing love for the dear old land, more
dear for its wrongs and suffcrings, Tor that
the royal diadem that once circled its brow
is replaced by the crown of thorns? Did
you never bend with glistening eye and
thrObbiBg brow over Emnlets last speech,
and feel, while every nerve was .quivering,
that no monument could commemorate !"
his rebellion like his proud request to the
world for "the charity of its silence2" the
lofty spirit whose fire and hope not all the
tyrants power could quench, bursting forth
in the imprisoned appeal: LET nay tomb
remain nninscribed until other times and
other men can do Justice to my character.
When my county takes her place among
the nations of the earth, then, and not till
then, let my epitaph be written And
though q hundred monuments bore aloft
the name and image of the young martyr
hero, how tame the feelings they could in
spire compared with those aroused when
some "sad exile of Erin" with the tremu-
lous tones and earnest pathOs of a full heart,
chants the simple lament for the sincom-
menlOrated:
'"Obreathc not his name! let it sleep in
- the shade, 'hB % 70 4~
Where cold and unhonored his relics are
laid; a,ss = ......
Sad silent, and dark be the tears that We
AZ shed,
AS the night dew that falls on the grass
.se9E DER his head.
But the night dew that falls, though in
. SILENCE it weeps, Esq ~
viii brighten with verdnre the grave
e, -, where he sleeps, Essl d Gs'i
And the tear that we she'd, though in Sc
cret it rolls, s-s r.5oa
Will long keep his memory green in our
souls"
No monuments to commemorate the
late rcbclhon!" Ali it needs none. What
monument, though lofty as St. Peters
dome and imperishable as the Pyramids,
could worthily commemorate that rebel
lion? Mon, although despotism will hold
commanders strictly responsible forsthe
faithful execution of this order" will the
rebellion cease to be commem0rated You
may crush the frail germs of what you call
returning loyalty" it is but little plant,
hardy by nature, feeble from continual i'll
usage, striving patiently to root itself i'll o
narrow cleft Of the waysiderock the sun
pours his scorching rays full upon it, cold
winds chill and fierce tempests PROSTATE it;
meekly it bears the pitiless STORMY brayely
lifts its head when hull ensues III is start
ing again into more vigorous growth, when,
alas acareless foOtstep brushes itfnalcly
aside. Again the. sturdy little thing essays
to root itself more firmly in its doubtful
place of refuge poor shelter at hest, offer
ing little protection aud no fostering care
Yet it thriyes, aud begins to think of send
ing out little rootlets in p holder venture
,ol l'ie--Wnch 10: q iiel.. oi cattie grazing
,n nt; ;t neous ~ ou' ~ 1ileli way 20 tor
,noas ~ epile sliat1n iuueiS az lts lairesI
loasoe, U'Ilis olusn IL against the nara
loah mn.n .1 th oluel ioois oh[eiy u can,
J hnt -. 'nIs a.'aoh t.s sur IN; Is bruised
'n pe 10 .eate' VII ~ n: .iiei6
n opt th pa ptVi'ia as pr,as .nng nuO
or o; IT, 20 $3.50 thn l-ara 1 l;.t
s,,..t ~ tno iiySo pial,
been growing so tsll and yigorons. is hro.
ken hopelessly. bnt side shoots pee,, ont
and soon buddino leaflets tell Of its nerse,
verance and success. II is living still!
Hedged in from the needless or hostile,
nurtured with the least show Of loving
care. 1t might GROW to n noble'tree. extend.
ine it's shelter far and vide. Int exnosed
and uncared for. every moment NAV see If
trampled mon and crushed bevond ali
nossibil;fv nf restoration Rnt atbn shirt