Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1866-11-06
"NO MONUMENTS.
From tho Metropolitan Record ]

from tHe metropolitan hecOruJ
"No monuments intended to commemorate
the rebellion will be permitted to be erected,
etc.-By order of Mai. Gen. p. Ii. Sheridan.
Brave old Ireland how it strikes
home to the hearts of those who regard
thee with flial love as their mother
country, to find names illustrious in thy
annals ever associated with unworthy
deeds. mo monuments permitted. p"
o, cavalry Sheridan 4? Why did you not
remember the land of your fathers ere
you profaned the name you bear, by
signing that order making war upon the
noble dead2 Before entering on your
unequal struggle with the spirit that
seeks to glorify the rebellion" why did
you not through some good Yankee me-
dium call up the unquiet ghosts of all the
despots-the Plantagenets. the Lancas-
ters the Yorks, the Tudors, the Stuarts,
the Brunswicks, and, more brutal than
all, the republican Cromwell-who for
seven centuries have been trying to deal
with the same spirit that, thank God |!
still lives in desolatej, impoverished
Erin? Have you no family traditions of
rebels in whom you glory? Or do you,
perchancs, boast that your kindred were
loyal Irish, of that class which Tom
Moore denounced as that meanest
thing-an anti Irish Irishman 2" Did
you never hear from father lips the
story of those countless sons of Erin
whom no monument" commentaries,
but TO whose memory affairs are erected
in millions of hearts that glory in offer
ing to it the reverential homage conquer
ors never receive-the worshipping love
due to those who TO the title of hero
add the more sacred one of martyr
Have you never fingered beside a
dear mother, hour by hour, listen
ing with breathless interest to old
legends, heard in her childhood when
with an eager little band she sat by an
Irish .freside and brought in her faithful
memory to the new world to delight aud
instruct her children in turn, inspire
them with glowing love for the dear old
land-more dear for its wrongs and suf
ferings, for the royal diadem that once
circled its brow is replaced by crown Of
thorns Did you never bend with
elistening eye and throbbing heart over
Emmets last speech, and feel, while
every nerve was quivering, that no mon.
ument could Commemorate" his rebel
lion like his proud request to the world
for "the charity of its silence 7" the lofty
spirit whose fire and hope not all the
tyrauts power could quench, bursting
forth in the impassioned appeal Let
nv tomb remain uninscribed until other
times and other men can do justice to
my character. When my country takes
her place among the nations of the earth,
then, and not till then, let my epitah be
written" And though hundred mon
uments bore aloft the name and image
of the young nsrtyr-hero, how tame the
feelings they could inspire compared
with those aroused when some sad ex.
lie of Erin" with the tremelous tones
and earnest pathos of a full heart, chants
the simple lament for the uncommemo-
rated:
"Oh breathe not his name let it sleep in the
Whore cold and pnhonored his relics arc laid (;
Sad silent and dark be the tears that We shed,
As the night dew that falls on tho grass Der bis
head.
But the night dew that falls, though in silence
viii brighten with vcrdure the grave where hc
sleeps,
And the tear that VIC shed. though in secret 1t
rolls, .
viii long keep his memory green in our souls. p"
"No monuments to commemorate the
late rebellion !" All it needs none
What monument, though lofty as St
Peters dome and imperishable as the
Pyramids, could worthily commemorate
that rebellion ? Nor, although despotism
will hold commanders strictly respon-
sible for the faithful execution of this
order" will the rebellion cease TO be
commemorated. You may crush the
fairy germs of what you call returning
loyalty" it is but little plant, hardy by
nature. feeble from continual ill-ussge,
striving patiently to root itself in nar-
row cleft of the vayslde rock the sun
pours his scorchiug rays full upon IT,
cold winds chill and fierce tempests pros
trate il; meekly il bears the pitiless
storm, bravely il lifts its head when a lull
ensues; il is starting again into more
vigorous growth, when, alas careless
footstep brushes il rudely aside. Again
the sturdy little thing essays TO root itself
more firmly in its doubtful place OF re-
fuge. a poor shelter at best, offering little
protection and no fostering care.
Yet il thrives, and begins to think Of
sending out little rootlets in a bolder
venture for life-when 10 herd Of cat
lie grazing by must needs go out Of their
wav 10 torment il; some snatch rudely
AZ its fairest leaves, others crush i
AGAINST the hard rock with their cruel
hoofs. Surely it cannot survive this At-
tack: its stalk is bruised and bent its
leaves wilt; il lies there a helpless, pros
tra,e. perishing thing. But not the root
Is vet sound; a friendly shower revives