The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1886-04-29


trae the very climax in the antithesis Of fortune
The one was in victory, the other in defeat On
the one he was President; on the other pris-
oner On the one occasion he rode with lofty
bearing on the battle field OF the first Manassas
the constitutional commander chief of victo-
rious army; on the other he lay incarcerated in
Fortress Monroe. the vicarious sufferer for his
vanquished people.
"As saw him in that first great conflict of
the Copfederacy, with the shouts of his victori-
Gus legions in his ears and the glory of battle on
his face, he was in the meridian blaze of his
fame, commanding the unqualified confidence of
his Southern countrymen and the attention Of
Christendom. But as prisoner, stripped OF all
power save the power to endure, sustained
by that majestic spirit which no force
but death could conquer, awaiting his
judicial trial and all its consequences with a re-
pose of mind, an equipoise and dignity of de-
meanor rarely equaled and never excelled-lt
was then that he bound himself to the hearts of
his people in deathless affection, and rose to the
sublimest height of the morally heoric OF
these two scenes, the one in the fortress was
more profoundly impressive Its lesson is Of
inestimable value to the young men of our coun-
try. 1t teaches that no revulsion in political
fortunes, however sudden or extreme. can over
whelm or crush the man whose aims are lofty
and whose life is blameless. TO my mind great
and grand as he was in the hour of his most
splendid triumph. he was greater and grander
still in the hour of his deepest humiliation. And
when alterations and bitter memories are gone,
wheE the crucial test Of historical analysis shall
be fully fairly and truthfully made-then his
name and his fame his conspicuous services to
the country before the war, his unrivaled state
papers and manly utterances during the war,
and his moral elevation and matchless fortitude
prisoner OF state after the war; will com maud
universal respect and challenge unqualified ad-
miration.
1.-THE third and last thought suggested by
your committees invitation is, that the occasion
appeals to our patriotism I embrace this
truth in its broadcast significance This memo
rable event upon historic ground will assuredly
increase the strength and enlarge the scope of
the patriotism of this people. the natural,
logical inevitable issues Of this and all analo-
gous events must be to enhance the selfrespect,
augment the self-reliance, exalt the manhood
and helghten the appreciation of this people for
their past history and achievements, and there
fore intensity their love of country. The con-
verse proposition is equally true. Should we
build no monuments, write no histories, cherish
memories of the men and the deeds which
truthful history would make immortal, we
would sap the most solid foundations of our
manhood and bring certain decay to the patriot
ism of our people The soldier or the citizen Of
the North or the South who would frown down
upon scenes like this in either section, who does
not esteem the renown won by both armies in
the late war, as enrichment of the history and
aliment for the patriotism of the whole people,
is narrow in conception and jaundiced in vision.
s'The thought of Lord Bolingbroke was true
one, that patriotism must be founded on great
principles and supported by great virtues 1t
therefore follows that the more commendable
the principles and the higher the virtues which
moved and supported the course of each section
in the late war, the more life-giving is the nutr
ment afforded to the patriotism OF all by their
contemplation. Let each section, therefore,
while approaching the virtues of the other, add
to the aggregate patriotism of the country by
perpetuating in brass and marble shafts and
granite piles the yalor of it's sons, and emblazon
every page of its history with the glory of their
achievements.
Il am not of those who sympathize with the
spirit of that narrow though patriotic citizen of
England who declared that high praise of the
Romans was detraction of the Britons. Nor can
/ suppress contempt for that short-sghted states
manship In this country which sees in merited
tributes to confederates implied detraction of the
vaorous federals. On the other hand, l ack-
nowledge inferiority to no man in admiration of
the broad liberality which prompted the effort of
Charles Sumner to strike from the flags of
the Union the names of the battles
between his estranged and embittered coun
trymen; yet l subscribe neither to
its policy nor to its justice All honor to the
spirit of the man who, facing STORM of poiti-
stroyiDg all mementoes Of Northern triumph
over his Southern countrymen All honor to
the eloquent utterances by which he sought to
make practical his magnanimous conception
DuI uJLofly ulSSeub IroIu LIE opinion tnab Sucn
obliteration was either essential TO the fraterni-
cation of the sections or just to the intrepid
armies Of the Union. The one thing essential to
the manhood and self-respect and therefore,
repeat to the patriotism of the people. is that
exact historic justice shall be melted out to each
army and all sections Let malicious detraction
cease let envy-which enslaves ignoble minds
find no place in the breast of any lover of truth.
With what measure ye mete it shall be meas
ured to you again. A just appreciation of the
motives which impelled and of the heroism
Titanic conflict is the symbol as we'll as sus-
tenance Of patriotism. Liberal criticism is not
only unpatriotc-it is irrational. Merited en-
coiniums Of Southern heroism is implied euogy
Of North prowess, which. inspired by devotion to
the union Of the States and sustained through
privRtions and blood by the profoundest convic-
tions, brought at last this iOnhearted section to
defeat ana surrender On the other hand,
laudations of the great commanders of the
lowers and the monuments built to their mem
Org are monuments also to Lee and his barefoot
and hungry heroes, who for four bloody years
kept those vast numbers at bay. and in the space
of three years defeated and forced from the su-
preme command at least five of these renowned
federal captains
.And now, without the possibility, trust, of
being misconstrued in spirit or purpose by either
the North or the South, will group together
some of the indisputable facts connected with
that mighty struggle. Justice to the conquered
vived, as well as to their descendants, demands
the production and reproduction of these facts
until they become familiar in every household in
the land. Truth, self-respect and Southern
manhood demand it. Patriotism itself demands
it. The craftsmanship and spirit Of liberality