Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-05-16
Rebellion a Virtue.

THE South has its Decoration day" as
we'll as the North. Here we observe the
Both of May. There they observed the
Goth of April We honor our dead not
only for their bravery and devotion, but
for the cause in which they rendered up
their lives-for liberty, for unity, for the
preservation of the Republic. 1t is curl
Gus to observe that the Southern dead are
honored in precisely similar way and
for similar reasons
There is something about this solemn
ceremony that disarms criticism and soft
ems rancor. 1t is very hard to indulge in
philosophical questionings while the
mournful strains of a funeral march are
sounding in our ears, and while the long
procession of flower-laden mOurners is
vending its way to the last resting place
of brave men. And yet one or the other
of these observances must be wrong; not
wrong as tribute of love and affection
for lost friends, but wrong as commenda-
tory of the services of the dead.
In the late ceremonies at Mobile thou
sands joined in the line of march-young,
old, and middle-aged--and in the Grafton
to which they listened after the decoration
occurred these words:
our spirits are yet aglow with the memories Of
the days when Lee led bis dauntless legions TO VIC
immortal. Battlehelds bury men, not rights
The principle for which we fought lives yet in the
love Of Southern hearts, in the memory of the
past, in the stories which mothers tell their chill
dren at the knee. Lee surrendered an untarnshed
sword. He surrendered the policy of resistance not
the principle"
When we come to celebrate the Both
| of May, and strew the graves of our dead
| with floral offerings, words of similar i'm
port will be used. Children at the North
and South are taught to respect the mem
| ory of the men who are thus honored, not
| for any individual trait or excellence, but
| because they died to preserve the Nation
on the one hand and to divide it on the
other. Thus is an antagonistic sentiment
being instilled into the minds of the youth
of the country. 1t is not pleasant to re-
| fleet upon the consequences of such teach
| ings. 1t is not encouraging TO know that
| the children of one section are being
trained to regard as just and sacred
that which the children of another
section learn to look upon with horror
and aversion. Such teachings do not
promise the restoration of those bonds of
union which the thoughtful and patriotic
have hoped for when the actual partici-
pants in the bitter strife of the past had
passed away. We would be glad to sec
the ceremonies which mark this anniver-
II,
and that purely one of affection and ad-
miration for brave soldiers, who exhibited
the courage and obstinacy characteristic
of their cOuntrymen and of their section
leaving the cause in which these traits
were exhibited to the oblivion of a patri-
Otic forgetfulness. We speak in no un-
kindness-in no spirit of sectional selfish
ness but two principles so radically op-
posed cannot live in unison, and as the sue
cessful one cannot be asked TO give way, we
know no other alternative than for the de
feated to yield-not yield their love, their
respect, their gratitude;7 but yield the
cause, which cannot concern the dead, and
having been abandoned by the living
should not be paraded as the basis of
future strife and discomfort.
Aside from this, war for the division
of the Republic and the maintenance of
slavery cannot be applauded by posterity.
Gradually the existence of slavery
in this country, as the system
formerly reigned in the South, is coming
TO be looked upon as barbarism, shock
ing TO civilization and at war with our
professions as nation. This sentiment
will grow as it grew in England, until the
system of bondage prevalent in the South
up to 1861 will come to be looked upon as
the one dark spot upon our history, deserv-
ing only reproach and condemnation. A
cause, then, which had for ITS reigning
inspiration the continuance of such sys-
tenn cannot long be regarded with favor or
admiration, even by those who were once
loudest in its praise.
While the feeling of the world is one of
admiration for the courage displayed by
the Confederate troops, it Is at the same
time one of regret at the cause in which
such heroism was manifested, and the
quicker the latter is forgotten and the
former only remembered the better il will
! be,-CAie090 Iatel-0eeaR,