The New era. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1865-1871, 1866-07-19

changed the fate. of the world. Not |
only the liberty and life of the combat.
ants, and the sacredness offire- ,,oson5.n.
eestral graves are at staf h,,, IN. eyis4
ance ofsocial, politiea' - - :.
..,.;,. ~, ~, and religious insti
e fabric of society and
ros,lt 7. sometimes derends on the
;nte~ Il Is thus the magnitude of the
tests which war involves, that invests
1t with such majesty in our eyes. 1t
seems to Re a mere personal strife,
natiohal duel,' and becomes turning
port in nations HISTORIAN hour
rom which an empire is to rise or fall
in the scale of national greatness and
power-an epoch from which ages of
glory, or ages of shame are to be count
with a moral interest, independent of
the number of combatants, or the skill
and bravery of leaders. Saratoga must
ever be hallowed ground in our eyes,
not so much because of the valor of our
troops. and the splendor of the victory
they achieved, but because it virtually
decided the question of our national in
dependence. However trivial in itself,
that is great upon which hang great
events. The battle that decides the fate
Of a people becomes ennobled thereby.
We overlook its revolving features as
we trace its consequences, unfolding in
ever-increasing importance from age to
age. In the battle of Bunker Hill, we
think not SO much of the death struggles
of Warren and his compatriots, who
fell amid that scene of carnage, but we
think of 1t as the opening scene of
strus gle for liberty. the noblest in the
worlds history-and as we catch the
morning sunbeams gliding the summit
of that monument which rises sublimely
towards the heavens in memory of that
scene, the place, the hour, the conflict,
become invested in our mind With an
importance, a sacredness. a moral gran
deur, which language is poWerless to
describe. We watch the great tripartite
war now in progress in Northern and
Central Europe, not SO much because of
the interest we feel in the details of its
battles, as in the consequences which
are to follow them, in changing the
boundaries of empires, and affecting the
social and political condition Of millions
of subjects OF the beligerent powers,
and in advancing or retarding the pro-
gress Of civilization.
We thus find sufficient reasons in the
very nature of war, why the successful
warrior in all ages has been the recipient
of such distinguished honors. AS the
highest exhibition of human enerev-
as calling into fullest play the powers of
man, physical moral, intellectual! as
developing some of the noblest qualities
of our nature-as necessary to maintain
the supremacy Of principles of vital
importance to human progress and hap
pinoss-as deciding the world 5 destinies,
war attracts us in spite Of the waste of
life and property, the misery and crime
which are its inseparabe attendants. 1t
has its heroic as we'll as its brutal side.
its gentle as well as its savage aspects.
There is indeed that degree of cruelty
and misery, which makes true the words
Of Napoleon, g War is the trade of bar
harians,o and the still stronger language
of a distinguished British General.
" Ours is a damnable prefession." Yet
it is also true, that some of the greatest,
noblest, purest of men, have worn the
sword and without reproach Who will
dare affirm, that Washington sullied his
fame when he became the leader of his
country's armies. The memory of Have
lock is fragrant with the christian virtues
and the name of Garibaldi will shine
with inperishable lustre, although amid
scenes of carnage and death he led on
his countrymen to the liberation of his
behaved Italy, and the establishment Of
an Italian Nationality.
Such then is war-a god double-faeed
ON one side too repulsive TO behold, on
the other with visage stern, but noble