New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1881-01-27

took sp' cial pains to define what ne caiiS
"the great epoch in American history III
1861 IA "a great revolution Whlcn
accomplished great results The aues-
ton under discussion was the bill TO
place General Grant on the retired list OF the
army Upon this Mr.. Hill seemed to have no
positive opinion. Beating the air with many
words and much iteration, he made it known
that he had not made up his mind on the
merits of the measure or how he should Vote
upon it the principal object of his speech
seemed to be to put on record his dehnlt'oh
OF the "epoch " as "a great revolution wnlch
would be so known in history.
If this BE- so, then must the TECHNOLOGY OF
history be revised. There have been few
great political changes in the worlds progress
that history has heretofore deemed worthy to
dignity by the name of revolutions. RevoIu-
lions there my be in public opinion, In social
conditions, in religious beliefs, in political con-
troll, and Il Thousand things ~ minor lmD)rt-
ance but the few great political changes that
are recognized as Revolutions IN history nave
been successful revOlts against governments
whose authority hid been rcnOunccd. such
was the Revolution of 1858 which depOsed
reigning sovereign and established CON
stiutOnaI monarchy; such the es-
Enlistment of our own reprblic, and
such the violent changes in the form OF the
French Government since 1879. All these
are known in history "a Il vO utiOnS. But
they were completed movem nts; eOnsum-
mated changes; not foled enterprises. History
has but one word for a balilld attempt to
overthrow n government, or revolt from its
IL. a Z, ,nil f,xll 1tTly
tits name to the great undertaking in which
Mr.. Hill and his cOmperrs engaged III 1851
not in passion or VITA proju ice, but IN cold
ju liciu truth, because 1t belongs 10 aud
defines it. That 1t was begun with vast
designs and carried on at supendous cost;
thai 1t was phenomenal in many OF lts aspects
and cntailed momentOus consequences, IL true
enough: and 10y these marks it viii be DIS
tingulshed in history as punctuating great,
perhaps, as Mr.. Hill assumes "a fundamental
epoch" But it goes over, all the SINE, into
the Il spassiOnate domain of history as
Rebellion, not a Revolution. No magnifying
of ITS purposes, or Of the scIle upon which it
WAS conducted, or of Its historic bearings, can
change its nature or oblitcratc Its name.
The end did not crown the work. As it
began, so it was at its conclusion, rebellion.
TO Mr. Hill. who was part of il, and be-
iicved in il, and who doubtless thought il Il
VIA. and patriotic enterprise, th!S seems
hard name to give il. knowing how great
was the undertake ng and the failure. and how
all the political and social conditions Of the
community in which he lived had been up
turned and thrown into confusion, he PROJECTS
forward INTO history his OwI narrow an in
tercstcd judgment. In his view thc largrncSS
of the enterprise and the far-rcaching results
of It's failure cntite it 10 higher emincnce
in history than thft of "A rebellion. To him
il seems a revolution. H. dignif,s Il local
change in social conditions with too large Il
name. The abolition OF slavery is IN import
ant historical event il marks, as h siyS, Il
historic epoch. But neither that nor the social
changes it brought nor the endowment of the
irccamcn with the ballot. nor any other nor
all these things together, are sufficient to
warrant the historian IN summing 1t up as a
Revolution. lie l0rgctS that all these things,
numcntous a. they my seem to hm. are
looked upon 10y the world outside as SIMPLY
consequences of political ml>take the price
paid for engaging IN rebellion. There Is moth
ing i'll this period that history can describe as Il
Revolution. The futile attempt to dIvIdc the
Union aud establish Southern COnfederacy
great political and social changes IN tn South
that followed n it, logical cons qucnc">. | he
most that history can do for Mr.. Hill and his
cunfedcrates is 10 cell their ubortive enterprise
" The Great brIlion.n