Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1875-11-17
STONENALL JACKSON.

days ago is an event unparalleled.
Union soldiers men whose life had
been perilled, men whose blood has
been shed upon the field, whose de-
votion to the cause for which they had
passed through the ordeal Of battle,
had never suffered a doubt, took part
In the ovation which was bestowed on
the august ceremony; giving form to
national sentiment Of regard for the
illustrious man, whose memory tie
statue is designed to perpetuate.
Such an incident in the history of
people betokens growth, such as the
world had never hitherto witnessed
The rejecting mind is bound to in
quire the meaning Of such development.
That crowd of fifty thousand citizens
of Richmond was not convened to do
honor to material triumph; for Stone
wall Jackson died for fallen cause;
and, 1t would be safe to say that a
large majority of those who recently
did homage to his great qualities.
would agree with us 10 the conclusion
hat the object which be vainly
thought to sustain deserved nothing
but failure. That fact renders he
| celebration more remarkable, and the
more gratifying from our point OF
view The personal qualities OF tn
| man have been severed from his par
tisan designs, in the curious ana!y,lcal
| processes of popular reasoning; heuee
the men who held their ives well
spent In defeating rebel projects oa,s
join even with those who suppo tee
Stonewall Jackson IN his mistaken ca
reer to express teeii1g winch al, e>,.
| the herolsm OF our race
The French tells US that nothlbs
succeeds like success and on oaSe-
materlallstlc plane. they are Correct,
| but, In building character, the word
best property immediate victory is rot
always factor. We seem to reverse
the order OF events, on tbs conllneut
because we are more true to humanity
A man rebels against estabh-heu
forms 10 Europe, and the autocrat up
on whom he has made war and failed.
hands over bis body to the hangn,an
and delivers his name TO suboruee,
scribes to be made Kissing and by
word
Slowly. IN some cases. very slowly
the whirling of time brings round al,
revenges Robert Emmett the irish
rebel and his compatriot, Lord Ed
ward Fitzgerald, might be cited as
cases in point; they donned the green
and gold of the Irish republic. for
which they sighed and labored, aud it
is only within the latter half of this
century that. the average reader has
reached the conviction that the mar
tvrs who laid down their lives upon
the altar Of their country, deserve
more than Curran or Grattan, from
the people whom they would have
served. Even now. should desire be
expressed to erect monuments to their
memory, the British government
would afford no military force to assist
the pageant. Had Washington failed
that government would have given to
him the punishment which they depre-
Gated in the case Of Major Andre. 1t
is still governing class, aud not the
people which directs the affairs of that
nation. Cromwell the greatest ruler
that England ever knew, is not yet
permitted place in The list of sover-
eigns. His picture is denied panel
in the gallery which seeks to embaIm
the memory of John, the poltroon Of
Runnymede, from whose fears the
barons extorted Magma Charta.
Cromwell is thus sighted by the Eng
lish, although he achieved success in
an exceptional degree. What then is
the lesson of Stonewall Jackson's life,
! which has written itself in the minds
of the same race on this continent,
eventuating in the ceremonial of un-
yelling his statue? AS We have seen
his purpose proved failure; still his
memory is preserved with reverence.
Mistaken beyond all question, was the
politician who sought to disrupt the
Union; but the self sacrificing bravery
which his career eyinced, has removed
him beyond the arena of ce,.snre for
that error. There is deep down in the
popular heart, recognition of the
right of revolution. upon which our
government was founded, and to which
the patriot may in the last resort ap-
peal, subject always to the penalties
which await an abortive experiment;
and, while the populace dsnouncc the
deeds of those who were associated
with his views as factious expression
of low and mean purposes, in the
breasts of many leaders, they would
preserve in tact against the possibilities
Ct some tyrant in the future, that re-
course to the force of a majority which
may be necessary to break through
| ~ e