Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1879-12-18


of passion are clearing away in the
North, there is naught but respect and
sorrow for the Christian soldier who so
loved n State rs to be misguided to
causeless war that widened into bound
less bereavement and desolation.
a heartsome drive through this
beautiful city, with its broad and
well-paved streets, its varied architec-
ture in its cheerful looking homes, its
innumerable parks and tri-anglcd
greens and its many monuments of the
country's greatness, brings YOU to
Georgetown, where Washington aris-
tocracy reigns unsullied by mixture
with the promoted plebean or the ad-
venturer of the Capital. Thence a
rickety bridge, dilapidatcd in every
thing but the measure of It's tolls, lands
the visitor on the sacred soil of the once
proud Old Dominion There are few
evidences remaining of the Notifications
which displayed bristling guns when
last | journeycd to Ar ington. The
ruder OF the structures hastily erected
To serve the purposes of war are seen
here and there with decay stamped
upon them, and ienceless fields tell
how the Incidence and thriftlcssncss of
slavery yet rule in the South. Not
until the wcNl-beatcn road turns into
the pillarcd gate that opens the Ma
tional Cemetery are there signs Of care
and industry but the long regular
white lines which traverse the care
fully garni-hed lawns tell strange
and sad story of wars multiplied re-
tributions. Throughout the winding
roads which gradually ascend the
heights to the Arlington Mansion, the
I. gravestonc is never out of sight and
around the gardens up to the very
pillars of the home of Lee the dream
less couchcs of Union officers are
spread as if their dust was to stand rs
a line Of eternal scn,rics about the
tcnantlc-s halls of the Confederate
.chicnain. Twelve thousand warriors
people this beautiful City of the 81
lent, and the Blue and the Gray sleep
their long sleep togethcr-heroic enc
mics in the flame of battle, they have
gained the peace that Is TO be unbrukcn,
Onc-third of the whole numbe! are the
namele-s tomb- of the unknown, but
their rest is undisturbcd by the pity Of
the stranger or the sorrowing Of loved
ones who mourn their un-hrincd dead.
. In one central vault the long.un-
carthcd and scattered bones of over
two thousand fallen soldier. have been
gathered for sepulchrc. Who they
were when they brayed the deadly
strife whether they were friend or
foe, none can tell.
THE NATiOSAL CEMETERY.
When the ravagez of war bad ccas.
ed, the government was but just
to all in cleaning the battle-hclds,
/ where hcroi-m such as was never sur
| passed in ancient or modern conflicts
had pcen displayed by North and
South, and rc.cuiug the remains Of all
/ from de,ecration. In the centre of
one of the broad lawns which are dot
ted with the white records of the sacri.
fees of war, on a little cmincnce that
greets the early rays Of the morning
sun, is an enclosure in which there are
monuments differing from the plain
and uniform slabs noting the slccpcrs
beneath them 1t is neatly palcd,
carefully preserved and looks as if the
offices of affection had been freely cx.
ercised in guarding the ashes that re-
pose there. 1t is the family burial
ground of the Custises aud the Lees,
and it is made the special care of
those who are charged with the keep
| ing of this vast tenement of the silent.
Here and there may be seen wooden
slabs of uniform size, conspicuous be-
cause higher than the modest marble
that shapes its faultless lines on the
lcyeled green. They are the graves of
the Confederates who were left on the
sanguinary field or who died within
the Union lines, and they rest sur.
rounded by those who were their dead
/ " foes in battle. Over two hundred
acres are enclosed in the cemetery,
embracing Arlington Mansion in the
centre and the now terraccd and beau
tiful lawn that made the prospect so
pleasing from the portico, when look
ing TO the distant Capital or to the
calm blue waters of the Potomac. The
entrance to the walled enclosure is fit
ly ornamented by pillars from the old
War and Navy Buildings, and wealth
er-beaten guns and symmetrically-
rounded mounds of shot mark the
many hillocks which so grandly varie.
gate the slope of Arlington Heights.
Close to the mansion Is the rude and
yet attractive open temple, where dec
Grafton day is celebrated. The ros.
trum is hanked by the old Grecian
pillars from the dismantled Depart
ments of War in Washington, and the
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