Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-09-30
Forgive and Forget.

Even good sentiment may be abused.
rnrciyeness is noble attribute Of charac-
~ hut it does not imply forgetfulness. A
nan may torgivea wrong. but he cannot
u -SN forget it. 1t is retained on his men,
Wv whether he wills it or not. He may
.-tte F." forgiven" over it, and show by his
'onduct that all trace Of resentment has
bsen removed, but the memory of the
~ronr remains, as if the record had been
,nt by chisel on the enduring granite.
therefore to talk of forgiveness and for
rerlluess as if they were synonymous
arms is to confound two distinct traits
6roiveness, which implies nobility Of
manhood, and forgetfulness, which i'm
oIies mental imbecility.
Democratic orators are ringing the
changes on this expression. They ask
Republicans to forgive and forget" yet
Aey are very careful not to practice what
bey preach They neither forgive nor
6rret They go over the past, and pick
| ami each fault that series Of years may
have developed They hold it up for in
.nection; they gloat over it as rare piece
| d good luck to them; they overlook the
many virtues and the mighty achieve
ments of the Republican party, and con-
Tenn the granite pillar of justice that has
sustained the nation through its fiery
roubles, because close inspection has re-
,ealed, here and there, q few slight flaws
m It's polished surface They hold up
npbic men who have served their coun-
y with distinguished fidelity to scorn
and contempt They rake over the ashes
Of dead past and exhume anything and
everything that can serve their partisan
purpose. They arraign loyal men for
| heir patriotic acts tenfold more bitterly
than loyal men ever arraigned them; and
then, after dealing all the deadly blows
thew can, and pouring out the Walls of
wrath and vindictive hate upon the party
that has done more for humanity, civili-
zation and national progress than any
other party known to history, they turn,
with bland smile, and ask the followers
ofthis party to " forgive and forget
Forgive and forget what? Republicans
are ready to forgive the wrong-doers of the
past, but they cannot forget their deeds.
Neither can they forget those who stood
havely at the post of duty in the hour of
trial. The effort to destroy the nation will
be remembered as long as the heroic serv-
ices of our citizen soldiery Who can
predict the time when these patriotic serv-
ices will be forgotten? Out of the remem-
brance of the past we profit for the future.
From the pages of history we gather wis
dom that should make us better and
stronger in the administration of govern
ment than those who have gone before us.
The American people may forgive De-
mocracy for the trouble which it brought
upon the nation, but they cannot forget
Hose troubles, nor blot out the memory OF
their cost in blood and treasure, nor per-
nit it again to return to power, to plague
anew a people that have been redeemed
from its thralldom.
Republicanism extends forgiveness
wherever asked, and tenders it where it is
not. But its mission is not to forget what
has been done, but rather to remember it,
whether it comes from evil or good, that
the Republic may avoid in the future, by
clear knowledge Of the past, those dan
gers Which threaten its tability.-Repu6-
lie Kagastae