Middletown transcript., 1874-06-27
The Blue" and "Gray.m

Under this caption The Commercial, on, Mon
day, indulped in some gentle ~ and soothing (2)
remarks admirably calculated to heal the breach,
and pave the way for peace and good will, be-
tween the two sectious of our divided country.
IA complains of the disposition manifested g in
some quarters" TO ''lct the dead past bury its
dead,' and styles it ''oheap sentiment and
''bathos.' II 'notces with pain an effort look
ing towards a reunion of Federal aud Confede-
rate soldiers at the Centennial" and is very fear
full lest this "crucl mocAery' ''may very possi-
bly, he brought about"
This is, perhaps, q perfectly natural feeling on
the part Of the editor Of that paper. He, doubt
less, (?) has good reasons for the views he en-
teriains on this subject. Should such reunion
t,ke place Col. J. might possibly meet with some
southern soldier whose face grew familiar from
constant contact on the field of gore. He might
meet there the identical sharp-shooter whose bull
let wounded him so severely through the chest
that his life was dispared of; or that rifeman
whose shot in the ley has rendered him a Grip
nlo for life; or il might be that the "rebe' cav
niHym'ln whose flashing sword threatened to cut
shsrt the brilliant career of 'tye senior would
lie there to remind him of his hairbreadth escape.
II might be, too, that the ragged soldier who
gnardcd the Coloners every move during his
long Imprisonment in the 'rebel PEN would
be there 70 remind him of those terrible days.
All these things would be very hard to bear.
The C5mmerc@b wishes to "hea the wounds made
by the war, and TO the South prosperous and
happy that is, so far as she can be SO under
carpet-bag rule and negro domination, but it has
decided objections TO seeing the "wearers of the
gray" taken into the ''Natioual arms or allow
ing them to take any part in the great Philade-
phia tintinnabulum. The recollections of his
tersibls sutieriugs during the four long, long
years, has geadcd the gentle Colonel into a mo-
mentary forgeGalness of his dislike to all at
temps "to keep alive the latent embers of see
tional strfc,' and induced him to talk ones more
about ''rebels'' and treason" and all that. lie
is perfectly satisfied to allow the South TO send
tokens OF her wealth, and perhaps help bear the
expense, and proficiency in arts which make this
land desirable home for the race (what race
does he refer TO p to the Centennial but he don
want 10 see any gray coats there or any where
else: and it lacerates his tender, Uuion-loving
heart 10 see flowers scattered upon graves of dead
pebels. lie thinks that the sentiment which can
encourage such things is 'f.lse and pernicious u
and has tendency to degrade the Union troops,
to discount their patriotism and to strip them OF
slicir deserved and hardly won honors."
1t does not seem TO have occurred to our amia-
Bile contemporary that he might possibly be doing
the very thing he so much deplores. 1t appears
TO us that he has buta slight opinion of the mag
nanimity and soldicrshp Of the troops who could
be degraded by forgvng their "erring breth.
rcn and associating with men with whom they
commended in honorable warfare on the battl,
fields of Bull Run, Pea Ridge, Shiloh, Sever
Oaks, Antetam, Charlottesville and Gettys
hnrg. lie must have low estimate of the pa
triotism that could he SO easily "dscounted, y
and Of the observed and hardly won honors
which could be 80 easily stripped off.