Daily Kennebec journal., 1884-06-02


ing fresh vantage ground, delivering heavier
blows and making hercer onxlaughts.
Recall for a moment that brave old army
as It was score of years ago on these spring
IKE days of opening summer with US, but
there the full tide of summer heat. The men
are worn and tired in body by . months
lncessant fighting. marching, exposure to the
glare of the Southern sun, and to the heavy
de.s OF night; by sleepless vigils on the
picket line. or standing 20 arms in expecta-
ton OF attack from the near foe. Morally,
tnere was in the retrospect since crossing the
hapidan, and 10 the situation. enough to carry
olsmay to the stoutest heart. Tried and trusted
officers. from dear old Sedgwick. the leader
OF the 9th Corps, down through all grades,
have fallen and their places have been sup
piled by others Who must win confidence
When the squad, that was a company falls in
for rollcall, they who answer think of their
unanswering comrades living in crowded
trenches on the field where they fell. or Ian
gushing in hospitals. Recruits can never
NIL the places of the stanch comrades who
had so often been proved by all the tests that
veterans know. The brave enemy is ever on
the alert enterprising, ready at every point
to meet an attack or profit By an opportunity
to make one. The end is perceptibly no
nearer for all the tolls and losses of the cam
paign. Sometimes it seems as if both armies
would be sin one red burial blent," or that
victory could go only to whichever army
might have representatives left to claim it
There is disheartenment in the very ground
thev stand upon. Cold Harbor and Chicka-
hominy are well known and little loved by
the veterans who fought on that ground two
years before when the Army of the Potomac
was in the prime of its youth and enthusiasm
How different the picture to day, The di-
vided and warning sections are one again,
held by firmer bonds than ever before. Peace
and prosperity reign undisturbed throughout
the length and breadth of the land Nowhere
have we made desert and call it peace. The
late enemy's country is the scene of
Astounding activities. of newly awakened and
| freshly stimulated hopes, desires and ener.
| gies seeking qualification. fulflment and ex-
ercise. The right to think and act and work
| for themselves, to share the duties and re-
sponsibilities of citizenship. is developing a
| new manhood among the emancipated millions
and their descendants North and South are
now but geographical terms. The words no
longer stand, as they did for nearly century
of our history. for distinctive institutions,
interests, aims, customs, habits of thought
/ and of action.
| 1t is sad to reflect upon the wastefulness
and loss to civilization entailed upon the
South, the country and mankind by the in
stitution of slavery. How often in nature
and in human affairs stupendous conse
quences result from apparently trivial causes
A rat-hole in Holland dixie leads the way
for an influx of waters, suhmer9ing whole
provinces. If. says the naturalist. Cleops
| tras nose had been a trifle shorter, the histo
ry of the world would have been changed
1t has been declared-and the assumption
,a nt ah1 Ia tat h.rf f.r fha
tion of the cotton-gin slavery would have
died natural and easy death. That inven
ton so greatly enhanced the value Of cotton
that its culture became profitable and thence
forth the maintenance and extension OF
slavery became the dominant feature of the
political and social system Of the States ly
ing within the cotton belt. Indifferent to all
else but the immediate prospect of gain from
this source. the owners of the evil stifed the
voice of humanity in their breasts, crying out
| against the sin and shame of robbing men oi
their freedom ond mothers of their children
and they could or would not see that they
were compelled by their choice to keep or
in narrow circle with no power to enlarge
it. The wealth, leisure, power, and
education acquired through slave labor
were all absorbed in the defence
whether with tongue or pen the bowie.
knife or the bludgeon- of the creative
institution. Cotton was King. Cotton made
presidents and congressman and presidents
| and congressman dared to consider the gener
al welfare and the promotion of the greatness
of the country no further than seemed good
to their selfish King. The race held in
bondage and the landless freemen who en-
dured in common many of the wrongs and
privations incident to such social structure
were not the only sufferers from it. The
class which reaped all the benefits there were,
which represented the wealth, intelligence
and power, suffered more from this narrow
policy because they had greater talents, broad
er powers and higher ambitions to be re-
strcted by it. Planting and politics were al
most the sole outlets for their energies, as in
England the youngest sons of the nobility
look to the army and the church for occrpa
ton Now that the scales have fallen IRON
their ewes they can see and are frank to ac
knowledge that they too were unwittingly il
bondage and that the larger air of freedom tc
which their land has been thrown open is up
lifting and inspiring and sweet with new
hopes, opportunities and possibilities to the
emancipated master az we'll as the emancipateC
slave.
OF the illustrious company that rises before
US when, we recall the war period, and whose
names and fame alone survive, foremost anc
loftiest appears Lincoln, the leader and in
spirer of his people. His fame grows with
the growing years. Every record that comes
to light attests the strength. the purity ant
sincerity of his mind and character and the
immensity of the service he rendered hil
country. His soul was steadfast, stayed or
| faith in the justice of his cause and the pre-
vailing power of truth; hence he never rec
ognized the possibility Of any swerving from
the direct path that duty had mark out fol
him, or of any halt short of the goal to which
it led His confidence in his people would
have shame I'd them from any fickleness OF
spirit to which they might have been tempted
by impatience under hardships and deferred
hopes, and his faith and courage sustained
them to the end. Wise in act and speech
prompt in decision vet waiting patiently fol
the ripening of times and occasions; kindly
in heart, exemplifying his own words, "witt
malice towards none, with charity for all.
modest and unassumug in all that related tc
his own personality yet bearing in an uncou
scious dignity the impress of the grave care:
and responsibilities of his great office,-i
needed not the martys's crown to make hin
one of the imperial figures of all time ant
| peoples. Seward, who escaped the assassin:
knife and lived to see the end of the '.irre
pressible confiict" he had declared, Chase, he
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