The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1866-12-05

the greatest Republic on earth, ever
though it shotild make good its boast thai
it has the best government the world hal
ever known
| But even apart from the vices incident
to national greatness, its stability is too
uncertain to promise any very, great OF
lasting rewards to those who bestow sc
much labor, care and anxiety on the build
ing up of the structure. As there is plant
ed within the organism of man the seeds Of
decay, which sooner or later must bring
him to the grave and cut off forever his
earthly hopes and aspirations, SO do ma.
tons, composed as they are of individuals
seem to carry within them the principle Of
destruction, and to have their seasons OF
youth, manhood and old age, of vigor, de.
crepitude and death. Cast your eyes over
the pages Of the worlds book of history
and reflect what has, become Of the great
nations whose mighty deeds are there re-
corded. The Assyrian Empire is howl
ing wilderness, and the most dillgent
search has failed to discover the founda-
tions of the walls Of Babylon, Nowhere in
the Persian dominions can an be found any
relics Of Cyrus and his splendid Court, OF
of Xerxes and his three millions of soldiers.
Go. to the basin of the Mediterranean,
which seems to have been the spot selected
by the Almighty as the scene of the grand.
est achievements of the human race, and
you will find nothing but the ruins of en-
pires and the wrecks Of greatness from the
pillars Of Hercules to the minarets OF Con-
stantinople. We have no reason to believe
that we shall escape the universal doom
which seems to hang over the nations of
the Earth. The wisest of men has pro-
claimed that "the things which have been
shall be-" and ga greater than Solomon"
has pointed to the word decay written with
the finger of God on the door posts Of the
temple of Earthly grandeur. Why then
should we fret ourselves over these things
which must so soon pass away9 Why
should we assist in raising a fabric which
shall serve only "to point moral or adorn
tale " for posterity which may, like US,
neglect to heed and profit by the lessons of
the, past?
There is certainly at the South field
wide enough for the exercise of all our ta-
Tents and all our energies, without expend-
form of which is not essential either to our
happiness or our prosperity. The war, the
issue of which we have accepted as final,
has brought ruin and desolation upon us,
and we must repair the damages as speedi-
ly as possible. In the place of ease and
plenty and comfort are now found poverty
and want and suffering. To restore pros.
perity to our land and repair our many
losses viii demand all the energies we can
command Though adifficult task it is not
impossible to execute it. 1t is related by
the historian of the French revolution that
ten years after the cessation of hostilitiet
the face of the country and the condition
of its inhabitants exhibited no traces Of
the terrible convulsion which for twenty
years shook the Empire to it's very centre
If energy and industry can accomplish the
same results for us, those qualities which
the Southern people are now displaying sc
eminently throughout the land afford 9
delightful earnest that our BELOVED section
may yet recover from the effects Of the
terrible catastrophe which has befallen her
With these reflections, my friends, we
approach the grave which is to be the last
resting place Of the departed hero. If We
make proper use of the severe Christening
we have received, the trials we have un
dergone, the suferings we have endured
and the means Of regeneration within oul
power, then indeed will he not have lived
in vain, or died in vain. His memory shall
be kept green amongst us in all generations
to come And it will be held in especial
veneration by his surviving companions in
arms, some of whom gather around his
tomb to-day. Whenever they shall assem-
BILE in the future to keep alive the recollec
tons of the eventful scenes through which
they have passed together, none will be re
membered with feelings of greater respect
and affection. In those reunions whenever
the name OF Leroy A. Stafford is called
we'll may his comrades answer for him az
did the comrades of the knightly and peer
less grenadier,
prAH .iN ruI Eyrr n M uoN,nD