The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1875-07-09

OI iCS predecessors, is TOO apt 10 lnEefpfet
them in the light of subsequent events,
and by endowing their authors with the
gift oil prophecy assume that those authors
labored to accomplish the precise results
/ that have subsequently transpired. Such
has generally been the method of viewing
the ldbors Of our revolutionary sres. No
BETTER method could be devised to rob
tllens of their proper guerdpn of grateful
remembrance. It is given to none tu
knuw what the future has in store. They
who SD manfully took their lives in their
hands were profoundly distiustful Of the
final result. When the last name had been
affixed to the declaration, one Of the sgG-
ers, in view of the gravity of the situation,
remarked, Nov, We must all hang togeth.
err 2. Yes, - replied another, - or we will
all hang separately" They. had nothing
l.ich III the nsodern sense was worthy To
be called an army; no excheuuer, few peo-
pie and but little wealth; they had no stand
ing among the nations, and hadt just justified
their course by the enunciation of thost
principles of individual freedom best calcl-
lated 10 make u standing enemy OF every
desp,t in Europe. They had not even what
contd BIZ called Il government, no common
flag, rich III suggestion to arouse and in
tensfy patriotic devotion. Except John
ed they had no just conception Of the mighty
empire wliose foundations they were then
unwittingly laying. All else was involved
Ill chaotic doubt. Their lives. their for
fumes, and their sacred honor, alone, Were
tIt ir own. And these with uDstinted hand
they flung, pltnteous laIgess to % hungry
world. 10 ooppose the selri. ranks mar
shalled ag tinst them they could not even
array united people. Their Tories and
Cowboys. were trgus-eyed spies to betray
i'll the most critical emergencies all of their
military movements. More than once from
fainting souls Came heart-rending cries of
distress, clamoring for surrender. More
than once We're whole provinces subjected.
Even in the patriot ranks there were
''many poor spirited creatures" whose
courage was afflicted with chronic ooze.
Still not knowing v hat the morrow woud
bring forth, daring the last peril of haz-
aldous fate, filling their depleted gray beard
ranks with the d,wny cheek of youth, for
eight long years swinging like u pendulum
over the very abysses of hell, the IRON
hearted leaders and contiding uopple held
they challenge our outmost gratitude and
admiration. For this do VIZ in part pay
| the debt this day.
The theme is an an inviting one, replete
with soal-inspirlng memories and tender
thoughts, but why pursue 1T? The past is
secure. The present does not exist. AS
we ment:ou it, it vanishes away. L is only
in the tlture that we live. 'fis the future
only with which we have to deal. The
final issue of the memorable conflict was
| the adoption of the Federal constitution
and the formation of the Union of these
| States. Easy as il. is to express it, this
result was obtained, only by sacrifices,
| which, although not So great, were even
more difficult to make, than those demand
Ell by the necessities of revolution. At the
close of the war, after the joyful celebra-
tion OF the peaceful jubilee had passed, the
reaction from the prolonged tension of SUI
| preTne emotion, brought to the public mind
an indont indttf. renee to the course ot
| public affairs, which cropped cut in queru-
| lous complaints and exalted petty criti-
/ tisn,, To tile place uf eiighteued statesman
ship. Many OF the old ante-revolutionary
feuds revived, suppl. mented by new causes
of irritation, that were the product of the
war itself. A portion of the same zeal
which the possible States had displayed in
binding up each others wounds, The actual
States now exhibited in tearing them
asunder. The noble greatness of h"pa and
despair combined was succeed, by the
contemplate lttleness OF assured success.
The feeble confederation could pass resolu
tions ad Iibit1B, aud even laws upon a
few specified subjects, but could punish no
one for their breach. They who had chal-
lenged worlds admiration had speedily
become u worlds laughing g-stock. The old
sagacity and impulses, however, were not
dead, but simply weary. With he recupera-
tion of rest, patriotism revived, and the
sentiment of Union again grew to be a VII
tai thing. The goal for which we had
been running since the day the Stamp Act
was passed, was reached, when the govern
meht was formed under which for eighty
six years we have lived and prospered as
never people did before. In the convention
which framed the Federal Constitution two
questions were raised which from the day
of its adoption dogged eur footsteps, shad-
owed all our acts, and infused an ever
present feeling of uncertainty into every
tions were the right of State of it's own
vofition to withdraw from the Union, and
the perpetuation of African slavery. In the
convention propositions were made to rec
ognize, and counter propositions to con-
denim them both, in the Constitution itself.
To have done either would have been to
render futile all attempts to form a more
perfect Union, and its trainers therefore
wisely left them to be settled by those who
should come after them. They are both at
last settled, now and forever. However
much we may lament that this settlement
could not be peaceful one; whatever may
have been the mutual injuries or grievances
done OF suffered by the contsnding hosts:
however much of needless aggravation the
0,pening scenes of this settlement may
have witnessed however great the mutual
provocations that followed it, confidently
aoI believe that the great mass of the peo-
pie, whether they wore or sympathized
with the blue or the gray, are glad they are
settled, and settled in favor of universal
freedom, and the eternal duration of the
Federal Union. If upon either side we
shall occasionally discover some poor un-
fortunate whose embittered feelings, pride
of opinion, or lack Of magnanimity viii not
permit him to be reconciled to the ineyita-
OF time, the logic of events and the gather
ing contempt Of the people. Hatred has
no permanent abiding place. T is only
Love that is eternal.
The times are propitious. The threaten
ing ground swell after our recent strife is
rapidly subsiding. Everywhere are the
people ignoring the objects of controversy,
dwelling upon the points of Union. The
experimental legislation that followed
the war. has had time TO bear its legitimate
fruits, both of good and evil. From this
new and difficult experience, we may now
select the one and reject the other. The
mood OF the nation is q penitenEial one,
but the sadness of retrospection yields to
the joy of reconciliation.
Standing upon the verge " of the CEN