New-York tribune., 1871-05-30
DEGORATI0N UAY.

! The trucSt and most vital observanccS arc
! those which proceed from the hear'S VI |"
people, rather than those which arc ''o i''',,
( of official direction. We regard IL as III al
! respects fortunate that the attemp' Wh'c" was
/ - c. ,,oors 400 TO have Decoration
/ Day made n legal holiday dld hoJ sGcceou'
! TLc tlo1obt of bonoring tie memory of the
| AL eoIdicrs or the Republic by decorating
/ ,,o;, o,o,,os ,yos a natural and spontaneous
| o,,,,oS,;ou of the popular love and gratitude,
! oc1 - ,pould have been hampercd and chilled
! ;e t,o Government had taken into its hands
! ,be control and management of this memorial
| festival. On each successive year the cere-
monies Of the day have been more widely and
more formally observed. until now the day
has taken permanent rank beside the anniyer-
sary of cur independence as national holi-
day.
Ii is as yet somewhat household and a
family festival. The fresidcs are few where
the memory of one lost in battle is not fire.
quent guest. II may bc said there is not one
house in the North where there has been no
mourning for either relative OF friend. That
vast army of citizens united the entire popu-
lation of the country in its wide-spreading
filaments Of interest and sympathy. Now that
the body of the commonwealth again, they
carry into their ordinary life the sacred asso-
Citations of cOnradeship, and feel 1t duty and
pleasure to devote one day III the year to
relighting the famo on the altar of the old
friendship, made sacred by death But there
is another class to whom this day is one OF
still deeper and more impressive meaning 1t
/ is composed of the great silent multitude OF the
! berCavcd to whom, during the war, tho news
! of the death of the soldier came with shock
| which never seemed expected. The fate which
! had been dreamed Of and dreaded through
weary months Of anxiety always came at last,
as sudden, and sharp, and cruel as If there
had never been Il death before IN the world.
The very remoteness of the fact seemed to add
IL new horror and pOgnancy to the grief. 10
some was granted the sad comfort of bring
ing home with bell and burial but in in
Vulnerable homes the only confirmation OF the
first awful intelligence has been the ever in
creasing and deepening gloom OF absence and
silence. TO all of thcse-tO comrades, to
friends, to stricken mOurners-there Is genu-
inc consolation in the act OF giving up one
day of the soft Spring weather to the memory
of the heroic dead. There is nothing in the
world more precious than sympathy, and what
sympathy is more deeply cOnsoling than that
which unites a nation about the sepulcher of
a departed friend Grief is well nigh swal-
lowed up in the solemn joy and pride which
comes with the thought that the nation
knows and recognizes the worth and nobility
of the sacrifice represented by those flower
strewn graves.
The organization of soldiers through whose
spontaneous action the first observance of this
day was made, and whose slillful and prudent
management has brought it to so successful
an issue, has been especially fortunate IN
keeping the simple and touching ceremonial
free from every faint of partisanship. AS In the
cemeteries of Europe the days of All-SOuls and
Al-Saints are sacred to truce of party and
Of caste, where all are equal before the ma
iesty of death, and all are brethren in the
midst of the solemn scenes which speak so
impressively of the littleness of earthly wrang-
lings, so in this national act of loving mem
ory there has been no violence done to the gen
tier emotions of the heart by any attempt to turn
them into any worldly channels. SO pure and
free from intrigue have these occasions been
preserved, that if any one now complains that
they iniure his cause it is confession that
his cause is hurt by anything which intensi-
fes and cOnSOlIdateS the sentiments OF puDIiC
virtue and patriotism.
1t is in view of all the solemn lessons of the
day that we express our deep regret that
another anniversary has come which shall not
witness the full completion of the work for
which the patriot dead gave up their lives.
The public mind is not yet fully at ease i'll
regard to the cOnquests of right and justice
achieved at such enormous cost, and through
out the South there are still the smOldcring
embers of ill-will and discomfort kept alive by
an unwise and impolitic prescription. Only
when the impOtent protest against the course
of events has ceased among those who ap-
pealed years ago to the arbitrament of the
sword,-Only when all distinctions as to civic
rights and duties have passed away among
the victors and vanquished i'll that mighty
struggle, will the living be at peace and the
dead be Justly glorified. Let us earnestly hope
that in the closing days of future Springs we
may see a whole nation doing homage in har-
mony to its dead, and recOncied enemies
standing by the graves in which their resent
ments are buried, united by the lessons of
bitter experience, in patriotism and religion,
in peace and good will. So
~-------------
Mr.. BRENNAN'S BOARDING. HOUSE.