Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1880-09-18
Continued from first page.

great cities, wash their nets amid the reilcs
IF our gigantic docks and build their huts
out of the capitals of our stately edifices :;
but instead, she will he permitted to be-
hold that delightful vision which bursts
upon the eye Of Milton as he looked down
through the vista of time Methinks
see a noble and puissant nation rouslng
herself like a strong man after sleep and
shaking her invincible locks methinks
I zee her as an eagle nursing her mighty
youth, and kindling her undazzled vision
at the full midday beam, purging and un-
sealing her oft abused sight at the very
fountain itself of heavenly radiance"
Reconciliation.
From the graves of our dead, the tris
umphs of the past, and the needs of the
present, another inspiration springs which
will honor any heart that filings wide its
gates to receive it. Reconciliation and
forgiveness are as important now as werc
heroism and valor in the hour Of our
country's supreme peril. This day lays
no higher command on the patriot than
to promote q restoration of national
feeling and fratcrnal affection between
the alienated sections of our common
country. If there remains upon the
garments of tho union a single stain
Of sectional pride, hate and jealousy, let
us not rest until it is wiped away. The
capitulation of Lee was signed on Palm
Sunday, the anniversary of the triumphant
entry of our Saviour into Jerusalem. As
the latter event ushercd in welcome
reign of peace and good will to men, SO
should the latter have inaugurated new
reign of peace and fraternity between the
states OF the union. After AppOmattOx
Gen. Lee made the great speech of his life,
when he said, "Soldicrs, VIC have done our
duty as We knew it 4; now let us 60 home
and be good citizens" A greater than Lee
tho nations silent chieftain-also spoke
and his uttcrance will not soon die, "Lct
US have peace" The prayer we lift to-day
from Antietam's hallOwed fields is, Let
us have peace. Lei us he good citizens. I"
From tho hearts of patriots everywhere,
attuned to the same melody, is lifted up
the glad rcfrain-celestial chOirs prolong
the Joyful chorus, until tho spirits of our
martyrcd dead send back tho swelling an
them, "Let us have peace. Let us he
good citizens.''
BASIS of Reconciliation.
But there should bc no forgctfulness of
the past that would lull the nation into
indifference to security for the future; no
gushing sentiment of honor to those who
died in the act of rebellion 4; no obliteration
of the distinction between loyalty and trea-
son, by equality of rites and ceremonies in
their rcommemoratiOn no apotheosis ofrc-
bcllion no immunity to crime, by vencrat-
ing the memory of its perpetrators. This
would bc neither national nor patriotic.
Our crring countrymcn may not have SIN
ned against conscience; they may have
justified the act to themselves; but the re-
public can have no standard of law or NOR
ais that does not condemn as a c.ime the
act of rebellion against her constituted au
thorities and the only conceivable national
basis of reconciliation and restoration is
the recognition of the rightfulness of the
war for the Union and entire acquiescence
in its results. With these qualifications,
every consideration of the hour commands
us to cover the transgrcssions of our van
quishcd countrymen with an ample for
givencss. The carnival of blood ended
long ago. The fields that were crimsoned
with human gore and piled with the bodies
of the slain yield now their bOuntiful har-
vests to the peaceful sickle. The streams
that ran red and glimmered in the sun, roll
now their crystal waters unstained to the
sea. Wild flowers whose cnameled cups
were filled high with human blood, have
dropped and persisted and are succeeded by
brighter growths whose perfumed COB
lets arc filled with peaceful dew. The
silvery moon has shed her peaceful beams
upon the fields of strife, the stars have
shot down their eternal rays upon them,
and tho winds from every quarter OF
the earth have swept over them, until every
trace of carnage is Worn away. Nature, rs
if to set 4 pattern for man, who suffers the
embers of hate to shoulder in his bosom,
has recovered her serenity and smiles upon
the guilty battlc-fields the same as when
they were innocent of blood. Over the
green earth from whence they were fright
cned by the smoke and tumult of battle,
the feathercd sOnSstcrs, now without a
note of discord, warble their sweet praises
to God of peace. So in hearts once tumul
tuOus with wars stormy passions now let
the bird of peace sing her sweet songs in
tuneful glec. Let the resentments of the
past be buried in the graves of the past,
while the crring and vanquished are wei
coined with fraternal hands to deep
draughts at the fountain of forgiveness.
Thus may a true unity of patriotic faith
be restored in all heal Is that are T0ac loyal
and the people, North and South, rising
ahc. ~ Inc mists of earth-the smoke of
battle-thc clouds of resentment and hate
into the golden sunlight of their better
natures, will find their " rock Of reconcil-
iation" in the reflection that the dark and
stormy path of war was the way of light
to a redeemed and rcScncrated republic.
Hopes of tho Future.
Having indulgcd some OF tic reflections
which emallate from this unusual occasion
having witnessed this solemn "guard
roo,,ufinp - Ovnr tho dea6-havinp dofli .
Gated this colossal sol lier to his high task
and been ourselves dedicated to a yet
higher and holicr one, may VIC not, with
out invoking the nccrOmanccr or aStrOlO-
ger, without searching among the silent
stars, but from the consideration of the
past and present alone, predict for the fu-
ture of our country a career far transcend
ing in the grandeur of its achievements
anything the world has yet attained
'And cast iii some diviner mould
Let the new cycle hamc the old.''
Animated by these views and inspired by
these high hopes, Americans can hold fast
their faith, that while this granite sentinel
shall hold his silent watch above these
graves, yea, when the battle of time shall
have cut him down also, and his dust shall
have mingled with that of the dead beneath
him, the republic, guided by principles
which follow in the wake of Christianity, rs
verdurc follows the path of the sun, freight
ed with the golden triumphs Of the past,
and led by faith in an immortal destiny, rs
by a "pillar of cloud by day and of fire by
night, will continue her majestic march
down tic centuries, plucking new laurels
and winning new victories for man and
government until, ripe with years and
with completed destiny, she lays the