Daily Republican. [volume] ([Wilmington, Del.]) 1874-1890, 1890-02-25
Cl,orus:-
OPPOSED TO aoNoRINa REBELS.

Rev. VIM. NJ. Altman, . former pastor
OF Hanover Presbyterian Church Of this
city, delivered an GRAFTON at Gettysb urg,
Pa, On July l, 1889, on tho dedication Of
. monument In memory of Rsv. Hora ito
Stockton Howell, chaplain Of the Goth
regiment, PennsylvaLis Volunteers, who
WAS killed on the ateps of Christ's Luth-
eran Church, at Gettysburg, Pa, July l,
1858, by . rebel soldier, who had no
respect for hospital flag or unarmed
citizens.
Mr.. Altman after abiding to the char
acter OF the murdered chaplsip, and in
cidents In his own experience during the
Rebellion, be very properly rsbukes the
prevalent disposition to honor the memory
Of leading traitors and lessen the con-
demnati that should BE- visited on all
who endenvored to break up the govern
msnt rather than submit to the will OF the
voters q expressed through the ballot
boz. He APPLY said:
Men have been talking a. II all who
fought hero, and on either side, were
worthy alike Of reverence and honor. It
Ia more than time that halt was called,
aud that We should have q clarified at :.
mosphere, while this dusty mist oil false
irenic sentiment driits away.
am . man OF peace. My profession is
that oil preaching the Gospel Of peace. l
hate war, wss taught to hate II from my
Infaucy. l AM not here to glorify war.
| The tragic scene which we commemorate
would forever forbid it.
So my heart cries out, all my nature
cries out, against the men who mi de the
war, against the men who led those sixty
Thousand men TO trample these fie dc and
| moisten them with blood, aud make the m
fields of tile dead; the men who planted
those two hundred cannon ON yonder
heigh 70 pour an internal fire. over
these peaceful hills.
| have seen, ct one of the most mem.
orable spots on this field, where you stood
after you had come In from battle on the
hills before US, just in the Bloody Angle,
. stone, marking with memorial words
where . rebel general iell Within our
lines. With all the admiration must
have for bravery, ! cannot but feel that
that stone 10 out Of place. 1t eoes
against my clearest convictions, as ses
Il right in the spot made immortal BY
the death OF my countrymen. / think
that ! lofty seuse Of honor and proprIety
| would not have asked that 1t should be
put there. 1t was unparalleled mag.
nanimity that allowed It. That general
vas rushing forward, leading desperate
men. In herce attempt 10 do WHAT TIC
Kill the defenders Of thio government, to
strike down your country and mine, by
laying them low In death.
The feeling which prompts one Ia
grasp the hand Of the man whom he has
yauq uished, but who has fough bravely,
10 uatural aud spon taneous to man oil
noble instincts. To forgive, and have
pass Into seeming oblivion, wrong
done but confessed, 10 both manly and
christian. honor the sentiment W hich
prompts 1t. But wise man will have q
care, lest In the forgiveness and the
welcome, the distinction between right
and wrong be not lost. There may be q
profound and lasting injury by the words
and the manner Of forgiveness.
In the exuberant JOY over the cessa-
tion Of war, with its attendant and i'm.
measurable SORROWS. In a. country saved
from ACKNOWLEDGMENT and ruin, there has
been too often forgetfulness of what
aused the sorrow and danger. The men
who brought them both have been hon.
ored because they we're able and brave.
II has become almost . fashion to
gloriiy the names aud the deeds OF those
who fought against this government and
country. Some In my own profession
have been foremost IN 1t.
It has been doing, In my estimation,
widespread harm. 1t has been an injury
to the living and dishonor TO the dead.
What has been the net result Of this
teaching? just this-to have helped the
training Of the people. in . large part OF
the land, to believs that the great at.
tempt to destroy this government was no
error, that the man who died 10 the at
tempt WAS hero and . martyr above
tho man who died In It's defence. Hall
the country has been taught to accept
only the inevitable; that the lost cause was
Just cause, crushed but never conquered,
beaten down unrIg hteousiy by . brute
but resistless force; taught not to well
come the Union, only to accept 1t. and
not to love the good that was everlast-
liugly in IT.; taught not to honor the flag,
that flag that you so often saw before
you, which nerved your arm and gave
tlightsomenesy TO your tread, which to-
day 10 the most beautiful thing that 1oats
In air, ''Old Glory" you call 1t; taught
not to love, only to tolerate it and permit
1t to wave. This teaching, fear, has
been increasing In volume l believe II
to be unpa iriotic and mistaken. Here, In
my place, lift up my voice against 1t.
] am entirely aware what will be said
OF these uttsrances. 1t has Of en- and
ilippantly besn asserted that tho men
Who fought do not talk thus, that only
those who remained at home say such
thiDga But when man from his child
hood has been taught to think along the
lines Of human right, and from his early
manhood has been familiar with the
causes which brought on tie war; when
he has been accustomed for forty years,
to write and speak publicly about them.
he may be permitted to have some con-
victions aud some knowledge OF the
thIngs he speaks OF.
For man 10 stand day after day,
month after mouth, year after year, In
slave state before the war, during the
war, alter the war, speaking uncom-
promising and unsparing. words for
liberty and tho Union, risking position,
! reputation, means oil livelihood for wife
and little ones, and even life itself, with
enemies near who would gladly take II
II they dared; with, what was harder to
bear, the tremulousuess OF timid friends,
not Tor one month or one year but for
nlne weary years-years that he thanks
God he was permitted 10 liye-this, say,
possibly required as much courage rs
under the fe, G. excitement OF day Of
battle, with shout oil cOiorRde ana Until