The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1886-06-02

puzzled and perpiexed. he knew nothing
Of that .balanceoi power" IN Europe, for
nn,S wniSh WI, 2, qsSnss 20 o
children -"ohi Il was famous viciery"-ss
4 victory alone could justify ali, the horrors
Let us learn a lesson from this story.
When our children, when the Erandsons OF
those who ~ buried here, excited by the
Stirred BY iSs thrilling story Of the ysior
and devotion OF their ancestors, shall de-
mand Of ua TO know what was the occasion
piished by 80 much q sacrifice, let u. have.
some better answer than old Caspar's. Let
o nSs s s:p s:s ,ssS ss ss tSS S%y so1y
however famous.
Il certainly is not wise to teach the rising
sss ssr own reward MT csr.sinly is nc
wise 70 teach them that, by dying brave!y in
any cause, soldier shall win honor and re. e
Of disioyaity and rebellion, and the path Of
duty and patriotism, SO they be- bnt bravely
p 10 ro
And yet am wrong II imagine that
o:s ss Hs Ponh h.sta ,nh
the gray" until they. seem to have confound.
Has II not become a fashion to paint the
treason Of rebellion in such mild and neu-
tral colors, that the picture can hardly be
and the Union 10 permit the men Of the
so-calied southern Confederacy-no matter
whsi sor oH s'y fs.s ,s.s nss
have maintained them in the neld-to share
the imperishable fame Of these, our sacred
o res.S snS 70 pns TO tns
their blessed memory.
s one cd ios forbid sRss ;nn S
day should be made an occasion for arous.
ing the awful passions. which. twenty Ave
afS ssscs 50 ths
great Joy, that in only twenty. years these
angry passions have 30 nearly subsidized |;
coniiics con have ave- 30 20 hsslthfuIiy healed. % Let ns
be glad that the men Of the South. SO lately
our foes, have not only generally accepted
them are able TO laugh with us at the vaga.
ries Of that political anachronism, Jefferson
os Sed sS cseS Nth ns in the; ,ss new
suit Of their own defeat. Let us fondiy hope
that Mason Dixon's line" once Indeed q
sSsn an ordinary psrssi ssnas
The n r9ops 81 Gsnsss Nsthss you'd
laura isurais Is of S that Valiant Army 10 Of he SOUTH
stand amazed before the record of their
yalorcus nohievements. rejoice in the
proved themselves as splendid soldiers as
the world ever saw, were after all American
citizens; sons Of our common mother. And
thank God that they are once more and
forever fellow. citizens with our own boys.
blue, Of one great and now inyincible Re.
ness to think that such splendid daring,
such abandonment Of self.devotion. shou ID
have been expended in the service OF cause
ss e IN oSly Gt snas Ss
educated for rebellion. Woe unto you,
q ihs South woe unto you. ye blind
Let us then turn to the true lesson that
Decoration Day should teach. Let us
1t Is that we refuse to those brave men Of
the South that tribute Of praise and
thanks giving which we so freely bestow
upon our own victorious warriors.
To US of maturer years the story may
seem twice-told tale. But let us imagine
that this younger generation, growing up
amidst other associations than those in
which we passed our youth, have demand
ed to know what was the occasion of so
much of sacrihce? What national sin
committed, what holy law transgressed
demanded atonement In the blood OF
their fathersf For the story of the Re.
belllon and its causes breaches to US
again the constant truth, that retribution
must follow the violation Of righteous law.
As we read the record Of punishment for
human slavery in America, we seem to
|
amidst the awful thunders of Sinai: "For
the Lord thy God is Jealous God, and
visits the sins of the fathers upon the
children. even unto the third and fourth
generations" ..,
Very briefly, then, let us recount the
story.> Let us trace the civil war from its
early beginning. Let us learn why, with
all OF its horrors, It was, in the providence
of God, national necessity.
In the light OF this history any child can
sse the truth can see that victory to the
South would have been the triumph OF
slavery ami national dismemberment
and that the victory of the North has
wrought freedom and national unity.
The seeds ofthe civil war were planted
in the very soil of the constitution.
/ The failure of the Fathers, to denounce
human slavery in tue constitution itself
and theii failure to accurately and clearly
define the nature of the Federal Union,
ultimately but most directly led to the
civil war. For In the course of time
human slavery came to be regarded in
the South as a commercial necessity.
Then, in the struggle to preserve
slavery In certain States, and to extend
It to new ones against the wishes and
moral convictions of the other States oi
the Union, the doctrine of the supremacy
of the State to the National Govern ment
commonly known as State Sovereignty
became to the shareholders a political
necessity. And finally the attempt tc
!; put this political theory into practice, by
secession, Immediately brought on civil
war.
It would be worse than idle to blame
the trainers of the great Constitution, be
cause they did not foresee and provid,
against these events. This would be tc
demand for those illustrious men mo-
only that wisdom half divine with which
they were endowed, but the spirit o
. prophesy az we'll. To meet the demand
for a more perfect Union, they had t.
form out of warning interests and conflict
ing theories by patience and mutual con
cession fundamental law for q grea
Nation. And am convinced that II tn,
! Constitution that they framed had beef
theoretically perfect in the respects
have named, It would never have beef
!. ratified by the requisite number of States
, Their work has stood the test of time
and over one hundred years OF trial ant
. vicissitude, although four years of dread
; ful war were required to interpret beyon,
dispute its truest and grandest meaning
= At the time our Government was form
! cd, and indeed for nearly forty year
7 after wards, the existence of humaI
slavery in the country was by no mean
I the burning question 1t Afterwards be
/ came. All men North and South l0oket
b upon The African slave Trade as bar
2 barous, and united In passing laws for 1t
! suppression. Indeed the economics
4 value OF slavery itself was much question
+ ed. even in the South where, for time
many of the leading men, includin
!. | laffarsOn and MadiaOn advOcated II