American citizen., 1868-01-04
Confederate Dead at Antietam.
The hardness of head and lbifetrl
ess of snirit which tiistiiIpuisls M,

siOners of the Antietam Cemetery
had resolved. with bntrne dissenting
, voice, not to permit the burial of the
! Confederate dead within the incl0.
sure. What else could have been
expected from men who seek Office
; tor salary. and employ its influence
! only for the benefit Of the party to
which they belong! Governor Fen
ton, of New York, has evinced moro
enlargement OF heart and more patri-
Otic wisdom. He has instructed the
special commissioner OF his State TO
move TO r-vrrse'this senseless insult
to the dead. This has been done
latter considerable. discussion" aud
now the remains of the warning ar
mics are TO lie separate. but under
the protection of the national GENE
terry. The letter ef Gov. FeDt0n is
so replrte with proper sentiment that
we feel justified in transferring ex-
itracts TO our columns:
But looking ut the matter not from
a narrow technical point OF view, but
from IA broad national stand point. it
seems to me that good faith towArds
the State of Maryland. which origi-
mated the scheme. purchased the
ground, enacted the law, and made
two appropriations to carry out tts
, objects, makes it the clear duty of the
! trustees to etfectuate, as far as lies in
their power, the known intent of the
act, and that such course will meet
the approval Of the people of the 10y.
al States who have become parties
TO the corporation, and whose dead
repOss in the cemetery. A strong
local and individual feeling in the
n"ighborhood of Autietam and other
parts of Maryland, naturally eRgen.
'lered by the invasion, may have ere.
ted some indifference in regard to
the Confederate dead, aud an indiS.
position to see them buried side by
side with those who died in defense
of our nationality. But it is cont
IDENTIFY believed that 10 such feeling
pervatles the breasts of the American
people, or the surviving officers and
soldiers of the Union armies.
When we recall the generosity and
moderation that marked the conduct
of the people, the government and
the army during the war, and the
magnanimity that presided At it's
close when We remember that our
countrymen are now engaged in the
work of rcconstructlng the Union on
he basis of universal freedom, and
with an earnest desire to restore to
/ tlr Southern States prosperity in
tinitrly greater than that which sla-
very and rebellion c0nSI'ired to dc.
StrON, it is impossible to believe that
they would desire to make an invidi.
Gus distinction agairSt the moulder-
/ ing remains of the Confederate dead,
or that they would tlisapprove OF
their being carefully gathered from
the spots where they fell, and laid to-
rest in the National Cemetery on ths :
battle field of Antirtam.
ConquerorS as We were in that
great struggle. our stern diSapproval
of the cause in which they fought
need not forbid our admiration of the
bravery with which they died. They
were Americans, misguided, indeed,
and miSIed, but still our country men,
aud We cannot remember them now
either with enmity or unkindneSS.
The hostility Of the generous and he
role ends with death, and brief sour
history is, il has furnished an cam sst
and striking example. The Britt b
and Americans who fell at PlattSburg
sleep side by side. and common
monument on the Plains of Abraham
atteStS the hcrolsm of WO'1e aud
VI ,ntcalm.
To day nothing. perhaps, could
sooner reawakpn national spirit in
the heart of the South than the
thought that representatives of the
| Northern States were gathering the
remains of its fallen sons for inter.
ment in our National Cemetery; and
in future days, when our country is
one, not alone its boundaries, but in
spirit asd affection, and the recent
struggle is remembered as a war less
of sections than of systems, the Gem.
eiery at Antietam, with it's colossal
statue of Union soldier keeping
guard over the ashes of all who fell
in the opposing ranks of Mcclellan
and Lee. will have a common interest
for the descendants of those " no died
on either side in that sad and men,
orable civil war.
Such %ntifne ITS will do far more
towards restoring the fraternity of
, the Union than threats of contisca-
tion, or an abuse of the power OF the
conquerors Ivy those who kept out of
the fight. The day will as surely
come when the soldiers of Lee and
I Grant will lie united in a common
fame, as that Cromwell should he re-
garded as a grand English captain,
or Napoleon as the highest type of
Gallo greatness, and both without
the slightest reference 10 the opinions
on which either manifested the ex-
traOr'linary genius which gave the
renown.
THE PRICE OF AN Ass.-One day
at the table of CaHiinal Richelieu,
: Bartru seeking to amuse him, inquir-
ed Of one Of the strangers present
, 7" Monsieur, excuse me, but how did