The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1878-06-09

the grand army of the Potomac against thu
forces Of Gen. Lee. We give extracts from bi'
journal:
"May 5.--we shall fight tomorrow. hops
l may get through, but hardly expect 1t. iii
MAY 6-Move ct q. m. to the front. Il
will be bloody day. / believe am prepared
TO die. Went into action about .
in the head about IL. Carried to the rear
| Sent to the hospital In the rear. i
has been the hardest fighting of the war, pro
W;,5s.nsss 70 n.iso ZOE sneS1 se.ts% froy
twenty TO thirty thousand"
But even sfser this, he returned to the fielt
and was in the terrible attack upon Peters
burg. A she'll crushed his wooden Leg and b.
was taken prisoner. The shook, the long fs
tigues, his old wounds, all helped to pros.ratt
him, aud while ct Danville, Va, he came very
near dying.
This closed his military career, for after hi
exchange and his recovery to health, the wal
was over. He had, however, bsen promoted
to the rank of Brigadier General. and ut the
age of twenty-four he was already veteran
in service and hero in fame.
But the noblest trait in his character still
remains to be told, and all We have related OF
the man was but rs o background against
W1A0h ~ euASW . oeAoDSSAt "a AABAes WV
mean his warm and eloquent utterances in
favor Of peace and Justice for the South, for
the men who had crippled his usefulness and
blighted the promise of his youth But with
"a tender heart too warm for hate" he poured
forth his eloquent denunciation Of those "whc
talk more bravely than they fought" and who
for "the sake of self or party, stand in the way
of reconciliation and q united country"
When Lexington celebrated its centennial
anniversary Of the first blow for liberty, the
war. worn, heroic soldier was called from his
quiet home five hundred miles away, to speak
the words befitting suoh memorial day. The
whole country knows his speech, it was flashed
over the wires in full, North and South, and
touched every heart on which it fell. In it
occur these lines:
tAs an American am as proud of the men
vision ON our lines at Gettysburg, as am of
the men who SO bravely met and repulsed
them there. Men cannot always choose the
right cause but when, having chosen that
die for it, if they justify not their cause, they
at least ennoble their manhood. And the men
who fought for conscience sake, against their
government at Gsttysburg, ought easily to be
forgiven by the sons Of men who, for conscience
sake, fought against their government ct
Lexington and Bunker HILL"
No wonder that after his retusn to Rich
nohd, the ex-Confederate soldiers OF. that
place expressed their sense of his speech by
giving him o serenade, at which Gen. Bradley
John SON spoke for them. In his reply Gen.
Bartlett said:
"The war through which We passed develop
cd and proved, on both sides, the nobleas
qualities of American manhood. It has left TO
ne soldiers-onee foes. now friends, memory
or o.l %1r, wE,k ali -.,R fnI of
heroic valor, and has taught rs lesson to be
transmitted to our children that divided, We
were terrible-united, We are forever invinci-
ble."
We need not ssy anything more of this great
souled warrior who now sleeps in the lowly
graveyard of his native town, Pistsaeld, Mass !;
but as We seldom we find book issued by the
Northern press, so worthy Of South ern stten-
tion az this, wd have been led away by our
sincere admiration into somewhat lengthier
notice than we at first intended.
We would like to have dwelt upon his gen.
erous words in regard to the question of flags.
"No civilized nation" he wrote, "preserves on
its flags the names of battles between fellow
citizens. The memory of suoh bloody discord
must be consigned to history and not be
fsunted before our eyes,"
Our last extract is the key note of bis brave
soul, and must edify every heart that reads it ::
''It was to make this happy, re united
country, where every man should be in reality
free and equal before the law, that our COM
rades fought, or brothers fell. They died, not
that New England might prosper, or that the
West might thrive. They died, not to defend
the northern capitol or preserve those marble
halls where the polished statesmen of the
period conduct their dignified debatesl They
died for their country-for the South no less
than for the North. And the southern youth,
in the days to come, will see this, and as he
stands in these hailowed halls and reads those
names, realizing the grandeur and power Of q
country which, thanks to them, is still his,
will exclaim, These men fought for my saliva
tion, as well as for their own. They died to
preserve not merely the unity of nation, but
the destinies of q continent"
1t is not we'll to let hero pass from sight
without marking that which made him great,
and which will inspire greatness in others.
Massachusetts has reason to be proud of her
illustrious son, and the whole country breathes
purer atmosphere to day, because such as he
infused into it the beet and noblest principles