The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1867-06-09
Honor to the Dead.

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ATEssR;. EDIroRs: To honor the
illustrious dead has been the charac-
Iltelistic of man throughout oil re-
corded time. 1t seems to be prin-
ciple nearly allied to the religious
nature implanted in his breast by the
hhnd of Deity In the earlier ages
of the world. the departed great were
ranked with the protecting divinities,
and imagination readily clothed their
earthly actions with fabulous splen-,
dor. Nine hundred years before the
Christian era, the traditions of
Greece were woven into system of
mythology by Homer, with skill
and beauty that challenges the cri-
ticism and commands the admiration
of posterity. A
The lights of Christianity have dis
PEELED the auotheosis of the living
and their consequent deification. The
principle has been purified, but not
destroyed. Among enlightened ne
tlons, it unfolds itself in an humble
sphere, and its fruits may be seen in
the monument, the cenotaph and the
cemetery. When the great of earth
pass away, the wealth of people,
the pen OF the historian, the brush
OF the painter, and the Chisel of the
sculptor, unite to immortalize the
name and perpetuate the deeds of
departed merit; and genius exhausts
itself in doing honor to the worthy
dead. No true man can wish it other
wise, and the heart that beats not
responsive to such claims can find
lodgment only in the bosom of das-
tard, or in that of shylock. But
while this principle is ever to be COM
mended, it is not the less true that it
should be influenced by circum-
stances, and ruled by reason, in the
bestowal Of it's honors.
The valor of the South, in the late
internecine strife, is not to be oblite-
rated by her disastrous defeat. The
victories won upon many well-con-
tested and bloody field are rendered
only the more conspicuous, when
contrasted with the shades of night
that descend and gather around her
crushing downfall. They stand rs
stars of promise in the mantle of
darkness that now envelops her, and
may yet prompt the sons to emulate
the fame of their sires. .. Defeat is not
necessarily linked with shame. The
loss of Thermopylm gave additional
lustre to the proud name of Sparta;
and the gallant Texans have never
had cause to blush for the Alamo.
From the one, the naughty Persian
pressed on to infamy and ruin; and
the yain-glorious Spaniard was soon
taught to fear and tremble, as the
name of the other rose above the
clangor of arms and the shout of
battle.
/ The sons of the South, her bravest
and her best, have gone down to the
warriors grave. Hundreds of battle
fields, and thousands of fresh-made
mounds, proclaim their unyielding
courage, and attest the desperation
of the struggle. And now, that the
.storm-cloud has passed away, and the
,hoarse thunder of the battle has died
in the distance, shall we forget their
glory and their triumph? Shall we
cease to remember that they perished
in defence of our property, our homes
and our firesides? That success did
not crown the cause, does not lessen
the merit of the effort. From the
heights of Gettysburg to the plains
of the Rio Grande-from the wilds
of New Mexico to the shores of the
Atlantic-the blood of the martyrs
call to the living for respect and re-
membrance. We are all willing to
listen to the summons, but we may
differ as to the manner of obedience.
Shall the honors due the fallen brave
be expended in cenotnphs and ceme-
teries? Will the condition of the
country justify such a course?
The state of our finance is deplora-
BILE; our property has been swept
away; our system of labor has been
destroyed, and we are threatened with
an almost universal bankruptcy. The
rich have but little to give, and it is
with difficulty that the numerous
poor can earn the scanty means for
daily subsistence. Poverty is abroad
in tho land, and, unless we are blessed
in the coming harvests, famine will
follow as the constant shadow of
penury. Such being the condition OF
the country, how can we best do
honor to the memory of those who
fell in defence of the little that we
have left from the hand of rapine and
the violence of war? They have left
widows and orphans to our care and