Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1875-06-23
The Value Of Centennials.

memories of the common patriotism and
heroism Of the early days of the republic
The bitterness engendered in the recent
strife, that was for years preceded by
greater bitterness still is likely TO be wholly
washed away by the tides Of good feeling,
evoked by ancient memories, that are now
sweeping over the land. Concord and Lex
ington; Ticonderoga, Bunker HILL Cowpens
and Eutaw Springs, are the crystalllzing
centres Of the returning amity and good will
of the restored country.
Many have thought, aud we confess to
have shared the feeling, that it would be
long time. il ever, before the era Of good
feeling would return We have looked for
long years Of sectional animosity to follow
in the wake of the terrible civil war. But
we are, happily and providentially, coming
together again. We are beginning to recog-
nize the excellent qualities Of our former
foes, and they are beginning to see some
thing besides narrowness and selfishness in
u.s. The old root of bitterness, in the insti-
tuition of slavery, which divided our views,
sentiments and interests, is destroyed, and
the poison of the maleyolence it produced
no longer ranlles in the veins Of the body
polite. There is nothing to prevent new
and heartier community Of interest and pat
riotic feeling than ever before existed, save
the recollections of the late sanguinary
struggle But they have died out Of the
minds and hearts Of the best men Of both
parts OF the country and viii gradually die
out of the minds of the selfish and malignant,
before long. They will cease to stir the
blood Of the most fancorous in little while
more.
England has long ago recovered from the
effects of its protracted civil wars, and bur
led their animosities in fathomless graves
Once her fair fields ran red with the blood
of men slain by brothers hands " In
my remembrance says Philip de Confines,
"eighty princes Of the blood royal of Eng
land persisted in these commissions; seven or
eight battles were fought in the course of
thirty years. Those who were spared by
llt tMplbs itlltMtu liltl Nultltllka III lot
eign lands. The duke of Exeter, the king
of England's brother-in-law, earned his
bread in Burgundy, 10y walking barefoot,
and begging from door to door, Every in
dividual of two generations of the families
of Somerset and Warwick, fell on the field,
or on the scaffold, victim of their bloody
interests" Nor were the wars between the
red rose Of Lancaster and the white rose Of
York, any less extensive and disastrous.
And for three centuries, England and Scot.
land were joined in furious controversy
But all those strifes are ended. The red
and white rose bloom on the same parte,ve
The enmites of old chieftains and their re-
tainers were quenched in their blood The
fields that were trampled in dust and blood
wave with the harvests of peace, and the
descendants of the old rivals and warriors
mingle their blood on Balaklava, or join in
the festivals which commemorate common
heroism. 1t is possible for the members of
nation to stand face to face on the battle
field, and afterwards strike hands in closer
amity.
In fact it is not unnatural that the peace
which comes after civil war should be greater
than that which existed before. While the
causes of strife were ranking in the hearts
OF men, it was not possible that there should
be any certain or permanent peace. But
now that the war has terminated the causes
- II IL r..
ton which produced the conflict, there is no
reason why there should not be truer and
more generous peace than before.
The various commemoratons Of the earlier
days of the republic which are now occurring,
will greatly facilitate this desirable consun-
nation. The time is over now when parties
or politicians can make capital by playing
upon the hostile sentiments which once ex.
isted Nothing sounds so dissonant as war
cry in the days of returning peace. The
hoarse shout of national hate seeking to in
fame and exasperate the old passions Of the
war, is like the scream Of a vulture. Politi
clans will be obliged now to trim their sails
to catch the growing breeze Of peace ant
good will. If they try to fan the flame o.
former animosities and make them sery,
their ends, they will have their labor fo
their pains. 1t will hardly be safe to desig
nate the population of states, with which W.
were at war few years ago, by the name o
"banditti" The most that it will be pol
itic to call them, will be "our misguided
brethren" and, perhaps, it would be alto
gether wiser to leave off the epithet mis-
guided" The incoming of generous feeling
sweeps away depreciatory adjectives. We
expect soon TO see the sagacious politi
cianswho have worn threadbare the phrase,
of sectional jealousy, studying the Ian
guage of fraternal comfy, and larding thei
speeches in Congress, and OH the stump
with illusions to the heroism of their old foes
and of prophecies of the good time coming
when Semmes and Morton shall lie down to
gether, and not voice shall be lifted agains
the Union as it is That day is nearer THAI
some of the politicians and zealots, Nortl
and Sonth, believe and they will do well Il
take warning and govern themselves accord
ingly. And it is fortunate, also, that ther
is no "great moral principle that can nov
be thrust in the way of peace.
The real value Of these anniversaries i,
therefore, in the increment they give 4
the growth Of generous sentiments in tn
hearts of all the citizens Of our common
country, They win throw water upon, i
they do not wholly quench, the fires of poll
teal bigotry and sectional bitterness. The
will allay and modify hostile feeling am
foster kindly and patriotic sentiments
Even the South will learn To be grateful
that it did not succeed in celebrating tn
Union before its centenary, and hopelessl
dividing a great nation. Nor will it loo
with regret upon the ruins of an institl
ton which bound il hand and foot TO sy
tenn Of seryitude at war with every principl
of liberty which it professed to supper
And the North will have more intellger
sympathy with that part of our countr
which is bearing the burden of a race who'll
unlike our own.
A MARINE MONSTER. - An experiment
has lately been performed at Portsmouth