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

never shone with more brilliant lustre.
For whole year her inadequate armies
kept at bay the vast hordes of her enemy
until she was forced to yield to the superb
OF numbers greater endurance and more
malignant determination which had been
brought to bear upon her. One year after
the battle, of the Wilderness the armies Of
the C6nfederacy were disbanded, the supre-
macy of the government of the United
States INDICATED, and the glories and mis-
fortunes Of four eventfnl years numbered
among the things of the past.
1t is not a proper time now, and certain
ly not my intention, to enter upon dis
cussion Of the question of the business of
the late war, OF to indulge in any yituper-
alive terms towards those who differ from
US on this important subject. / can see
no useful results that could flow from such
a discussion, and the age is gettinga little
too practical for speculations without re-
suits. But, waving the question Of right
involved in the late struggle, / am unwil-
hing to believe that the victOrs are the only
ones that have been benefited by the con-
test. 1t is true that the North has tri-
umphed, and that the flag of the Union
now waves over a people who 30 recently
hoped to construct a government of their
own. But has the South gained nothing?
Has the best blood of her gallant sons been
poured out in vain? Have all the tears of
her devoted women been shed, and all their
prayers been offered up in vain? Forbid
it, Almighty Cod | cannot believe that
such an expenditure of all the noblest ex-
ertions of which our nature is capable can
have resulted in nothing but unmitigated
evil. ! would fain believe that the South,
conquered though she is, has received ben
efts from the struggle which she should
not exchange for even her prosperity be-
fore the war The memory of the glories
and the honors of the war, which elected
the establishment and admiration of, the
world, should be cherished by us as a
treasure far exceeding in value any mate
rial prosperity without such glorious and
honorable record. On many bloody bat
tie field, fighting against fearful odds, she
bore off the palm of victory; and when it
is considered that her antagonist could
boast of the same lineage, her victories
under such disadvantages are the most
wonderful that history has ever recorded.
Her achievements will live in history and
form one of its brightest pages, as long as
courage and patriotism and virtue shall be
esteemed among men. Instead of pinirg
over what we have lost, let us cherish as
sacred what we have gained, would not
give the page which the South has added
to the worlds history for all the prosperity
of all the corrupt and tyrannical nations
on the face of the Earth l would not give
the heroism of her sons, displayed on eve
ry red battle field, for all the prosperity
that she ever enjoyed before she undertook
to demand her rights by an appeal to arms.
would not give the tears shed by her
lovely daughters, as they knelt by their
bedsides and prayed God to speed the cause
in which their fathers and brothers aud
sons were engaged, for the cargoes of all
the argosies that were ever freighted with
I" the wealth of Ormus or of Ind" ''For it
is written that man shall not live by bread
alone, but by every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of the Father"
Apart, however, from these considera-
tions, there are many intellectual and NOR
al advantages which proceed from all great
social and political commissions, and which
are shared alike by the victors and the
vanquished. 1t seems to be law of our
nature that nothing great, or noble, or Clio.
rious, can be attained III this world without
toll and trial and suffering Ever since
the divine decree "in the sweat of thy brUw
shalt thou eat thy bread" man has never
been able to accomplish anything valuable
without passing through severe expert
ence of labor and hardship and self-denial.
And it is just such an ordeal which not on
ly brings forth the most Beneficial results,
but trains and chastens the mind and ca
FACILITATES it for still grander efforts and
still nobler achievements Adversely is
therefore not only the severest but the
most salutary school: Lord Bacon atfirms
that it is a part of the religion of the New
Testament, and says, "the harp of David
has sent forth many a hearse-like air, and
the pencil of the Holy Ghost has labored
more on the affections of Job than Oh the
talicities of Solomon"
It is undoubtedly true that the ordeal
through.which men have to pass during a
greal civil convulsion is the very mental
training which is necessary to enable them
to accomplish great intellectual results; for
the mint, is then stretched to its utmost
tension and made capable of its grandest
conceptions. Hence it is that those eras of
the worlds history in which the mind OF
man has reached its greatest development
and brought forth its most fruitful results,
were either during, or Immediately sue.
ceeding seasons of great national distress
or civil disorder. The Age of Pericles fol.
lowed the Persian invasion and ran into
the Peloponessian War, when the ener.
gies of the Athenian Republic were exert.
ed to the utmost to maintain it's nationali.
ty and save itself from destruction. After.
wards, with the national repose the Greci.
an mind sunk into inactio,1, until her arms
were carried into the heart of the East by
the great Macedonian, when the dormant
energies of the men of genius were again
aroused; and while Alexander was signing
for more worlds to conquer, his great pre-,
ceptor and his illustrious coadiut0rs found
no such dearth in the universe Of Thought
but were continually invading new do
mains and bringing fresh captives to their
feet. The Age of Augustus came after the
civil tumalts of the Consulate and the Tri.
umvirate; and the wealth of poetry, the
splendor of oratory, and the graphic power
Of history which adorned that remarkable
era, owed more to the clash of arms on the
plains of Pharsalia, and on the waters Of
ACtiim, than to all the encouragement of
the Emperor or the splendid patronage
of Mscenas. And it was only after the
temple of Janus had been shut, and the
military achievements of the Empire had
given place to the wealth, the luxury and
the efeminacy of a prosperous people, that
the Roman intellect declined, the Roman
authority decreased, and the Roman virtue
passed away, to such an extent that the
Pratorian guards sold at auction in the
market place the Imperial diaden which
had sparkled on the brow of all the Caesars
AS for the Age of Louis XIV and Queen
Anne, together forming continuous era,
in which the intellect Of the two most pow
erful nations Of modern times gathered so
many choice flowers in the field of litera.
ture, the Memnon tones which greeted its
early dawn were but the echoes of the can.
non of Condo and Turenne, while the splen.
did affn1oence which i1lumined it's brilliant