Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1889-03-15

order of things which best suits HI
tastes or interests.
According TO the genius of Ameri
can thoughts of government as e1
pressed in the Declaration Of Inde
pendence, Constitution, &c, &c, it i:
that form and order of things ordaiHeC
by the people and meant to subservt
the interests of the phole people.
am not ready. then, TO crawl TO the
feet of that shadowy figure, kiss the
hem of his robes and ask that thai
traitors brand be stamped upon my
forehead like the brand of Cain. and
| allowed TO live, the one worthy of q
traitors death if that be the price OF
life then | prefer 10 die. ain not
ready to say of yonder graves of fallen
comrades, there is the potters-feld
where aliens to the genius of Ameri-
can Government lie; where the would
be destroyers Of American Liberty rot
in deserved contempt No, comrades
and veterans. | AIN not ready TO erase
from the monuments of Lee, Jackson,
Stuart or Pelham the record of our
admiration and love and replace it by
the legend that they were rebels
against American Liberty and traitors
TO the highest interests of their coun-
try. No, when approach those mon
uments let it be with uncovered head
and the purpose of making more per
manent the characters that record
their answering courage and their
unseltish devotion to their convictions
of right.
say every manly feeling in erery
heart contemns the meanness which
takes such position to secure some
selfish end
In such compromise the elements
of mutual respect for the honest con
victions of those on the other side the
line would be wanting Without that
element there can be no real conf
dence, and so no abiding peace be-
tween the sections. Let us distrust
alike the men who for personal or par
ty purposes keep open the wounds of
civil war: or those, who TO make fair
weather for themselves. are filled with
lying confessions and as ready to
change their convictions as their hats.
Aye, distrust them, comrades, as you
would the soldier of fortune Oh one
hand, who lives on the horrors Of war;
or the miscreants, on the other hand,
who changed their convictions under
the persuasive eloquence of shot and
shell at Charlottesville or Gettys-
burg.
Avoiding these dangers, there are
some lessons we may learn to-day as
we stand by the resting place of our
fallen comrades. LIST, The lesson Of
forbearance. Surely memories which
this spot recalls may well remind us
that 'tis better TO make concessions
where principle is not involved-than
today fiercely express sectional inter
ests or prerogatives. Here We are re-
minded that the tender mercies Of
war are cruel Here we are remind
ed not only of how the soldiers suffer
ed from cold, fatigue, hunger, &c,
but how useful lives were cut off in
their nanhood's prime, how noble cit
liens were lost TO their country.
But here too, we remember how
homes were blighted; how wives were
made widows and children fatherless,
and mothers hearts were filed with
anguish, as these and other soldiers
graves were filled with fallen heroes.
Yes, comrades, every man with heart
in his breast will remember here how
every time the shout Of victory went
up from the battle field, the lower but
deeper and far more lasting wall OF
woe went up from many blighted
home and broken heart. What cared
those widows or orphans or mothers
for the headings of glorious victory
in the daily paper, when side by side
with that they read in the fatal death
roll the name most dear on earth To
them. Yes, we remember this, and
remembering it, let us determine to
make any concession consistent with
principle rather than plunge into the
horrors of civil war.
But another lesson we may learn
here. Better suffer for right and con-
u,ction than rest at ease through in
difference or cowardice. Bad as war
is there is something even worse
that spirit of wretched self-indulgence,
too indolent TO care for any princi-
pie, too selfish to have any real con-
viction which costs an effort. | fee
as though | had rather boy OF mine
should lie down in a narrow bed like
yon soldiers grave than be the wretch
ed thing known as social or "busi-
ness man-too indolent and selfish
to live or suffer for any cause, incapa-
BILE of any worship but of the golden
calf
Oh, yon graves do tell US war is sad
in its bitter experiences of blood and
tears; but | do not see in them the
only inheritance of those who sleep be
meath. No. from this monument and
the head-stones what stand above the
graves-raised at such a cost from
small means Of their surviving com
rades-and from crowd gathered here
to-day TO do their honor, / read the
truer lesson, that there is some truer
measure of the value Of human life
and the nobility of human character
than mere success.
AIN not here to-day TO discuss the