Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1872-04-11
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THE sEelNNINe AND THE END.


Two pageants passed through the
streets of the city yesterday; one
was funereal, and the other trium-
phant. The first bore to his grave
the mortal part of a soldier of re
nown whose fame is bound up with
stormy chapter of his country's
history. The other celebrated the
deliverance of a race from bondage.
The funeral cortege was tribute of
honor and respect to one whose
name is identified with the begin
ming of civil war; the triumphal
procession commemorated the de
liverance of millions of men, wo-
men and children, through the fire
and blood of that long struggle. 1t
was fitting that much of the pomp-
and circumstance of war should at
tend Anderson to his grave, and
that the old FLAG which he defended
so well at Sumter should drape his
C cofiin as he was carried hence; and
it is well that the representatives OF
a race redeemed hv the conflict he
gun ut Sumter should commemorate
with jubilation the day which cloth
ed them with the rights of citizens
of the Republic. We do not need to
look beneath the larger meaning of
these two public demonstrations: it
is not so much the man whom We
honor in him who fought at Sumter
as the sentiment of which he was the
illustration-the cause which he de-
Tended. And tn ,ugh those who
parade in honor of the adoption of
the Fifteenth Amendment may not
altogether apprehend the greatness
of that event in American history.
and though they may bear upon
them many traces Of their past rude
estate, no large, honest soul can con-
template their generous offering to
the day without a thrill of pride
and triumph at the work which has
been done for humanity. 1t was by
a felicitous coincidence that these
memories should be crowded into
one day; they recall the beginning
and the end, the first and last chap
tiers in the record of nation saved,
race delivered.
1t is possible that we may too
soon forget to revere the memory OF
those who fell and to honor the
deeds of those who fought we'll in
the struggle for the unity of the
country The dark days when an
archy, dismembered nation, and
social chaos seemed nigh at hand,
are soon forgotten; and the time
when the heart of the whole c0un-
try, as the heart of one man, was
with the brave boys at the front,
seems almost like dream ages old !;
we live so fast. But, though the
old irritations of extreme national
sections may be soothed and disap-
pear, and no veteran of the grand
army be left to shoulder his crutch
and show how fields were. won, if
will be always well for the nation
that it keep alive the smoldering
fires Of patriotism by a recall of the
self-denying sacrifices of the brave
men who did what they could to
maintain the integrity of the Union.
A part of the enduring fruit of vic
tory was the absolute freedom OF
the colored race, whose humble tri-
butte to. the greatness of the ami
versary so singularly mingled, yes
terday, with the recollections OF
Sumter, and the lurid beginnings
Of a conflict whose end no man
could foresee. Whatever may be
true of this passing generation, men
will not forget the great events
which lie between the opening and
the close of that struggle-between
Sumter and Freedom Perhaps we
need to stand off 4 pace and look
back on the portentous historical
figures which emerge from our ma
tional life. Yet, justice need not
wait for another age to give place to
that which belongs to the great
names and great events of the past
decade of American history. We
may not have monuments and pa
geants for these in all time hereaf-
ter; but humanity will, in ages to
come, remember Sumter, Lincoln,
Emancipation.