The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1881-10-12
The Meaning OF the Testimony.
TChicago Timcs.l

[Chcago Tmcsl
On the southern shore Of Lake Erie, over
looking the bright waves that, on opposite
shores, lave the borders Of two nations, there
is new made grave Only little mound of
earth marks the spot where, Monday, the
: | whole Anglo-oaxon race stood with uncoy-
! cred heads while the American nation buried
/ its dead. One hundred millions of people,
! lnhabiting the most distant parts Of the globe,
vetdescendants of the same ancestors, kind
>. i IN blood and language and Institutions,
eoznmon nheritors of the grandest his
a0y bzsnch of the human species has
de, WaHs on that spot reunited in the
,a,t;a,,n Sof q Ieo&Anson brotherhood by the
rense of . common ;beEesyement.
T.; 40 10, 1 70 express it as it is to realize
the FIN n,ean, ne OF what this statement is
The facts in which it is
ao-to:, NO n those amazing testis
noaials from the @ ID II oAly hollesteau -
The race, which seem to b. 'eak down all par :
liers OF space apd tim 3 and
political arrangements, bripgin,. long 'Separ-
ated but still kindred pee otes bacA '
zation of the tact that the, are OTIS So "a
the same ancestry, and, thG ugh long '1'Aoso
cally, are still united in the L 'onds Of oo"-
mon heritage which nothing 1nder omnA po-
tence can suDder
Have we thcughtfuuy con Ndered the
meaning of these testimonies? HaVe We
asked ourselves why the great ca Shedral of
St. Paul, in the British metropolis vas ''ab-
5olutely crammed, Sunday afternoon y upon
he announcement thatth9 services wo uld re-
ate TO the dea,h Ct the late American orest~
lent? When the solemn stDead March IN
saul filed the vast basilica in the tones Of
congregation, numbering many thousands
ose and remained standing, amidst profound
Hence, all showing grief, and many weep
ng? Why were similar scenes witnessed
q most OF the clutches and chapels
throughout Great Britain 2? These NANTES
Festations of the English people certainly
orroborate the declarations of the English
ress that s'the Queens order for counting
lonrning for the late Presidents ghtly IN
s1prets iha. feeling of the people," The or
er was san unprecedented act," never be-
,re done s'for one neither a sovereign nor
')at've, yet it precisely expressed the uni
etsal foeiing that al EngIishman who was
The place of q king, and worthy to rank
ith kings, has passed away What means
is. universal feeling moving ''njnety mil
On Of people who think in English to be
equally visible and audible assistants" at
e funeral of an American citizen !?
Ducbtless the explanation is in part suc-
sted by these words. 1t is because all these
'ople s'think in English, and because they
we had, through many ehundreds Of sue
ssiye generations, a common heritage Of
lglish thought, English history, English
ood, and English civilization. Though sep
ated by three thousand miles Of ocean and
;eutury of political diversity, neither space
4 time can permanently divide the sympa-
les of Two kindred nations sswhen atfliction
S heavily laid IFS hand on either" Inwo-
d in the character of two kindred nations
are is q bond of unity, unperceived by
her, which the death Of the man who was
long the best representatives of that race
aracter has suddenly revealed to both 1t
he revelation of fact which, say the
ectator, smay yet effect the history of the
rld." It is certain to effect tie history of
1erica. 1t is certain to set in more rapid
tion the forces which have long been
ldualY officiating from the mental hab-
OF Americans those senseless prejudces
ich, born of political contentious in q re-
te past have been too long kept alive
inst a nation from which America hag
ived by inheritance all that is best and
81 enduring in her social and political con.
ltions.
e.