The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1892-05-28

bly, stronger than the confederation formed
by their fOrefathers. And at each return
Of Memorial Day the bonds are renewed
with fresh sympathy and added esteem.
Our war instead Of imbittering US has
Modified us has enabled us to see each
other without bias in the clear light q
truth The difference between the sections
was caused by slavery, and slavery is Cor.
ever extinct. The political education Of The
north and south had been diverse, and their
moral ideas were to an extent the result
thereof. Politically they were both right;
aud now they have the same moral point
OF view, which they could not have had be-
fore
Memorial Day is, in the strictest sense,
national. and the most conducive Of all our
holidays to preserve our nationality Its
value and its beauty can scarcely be over
estimated. II recalls the patriotic past,
aud assures the patriotic future. Il Is evil
dence of what we have done and promise
Of what we would do in like emergency.
IL is at once an example and a warning, a
triumph and q conservation. The oftener
we celebrate the day, the more important
and precious it should be- In the next
century il should assume character al
most sacred. We are yet too near the war
to perceive its vast proportions and enor-
w
spective for its proper apprehension.
Has any other country such a holiday
Other countries commemorate their victo-
ries. But we commemorate victory on
one side and defeat on the other, and be-
ing the same people we regard the defeat
as a victory, since it has led to a consoli-
dation Of our common heritage and our
common interests. Latterly, too we com
memorate our reconciliation, which, great
er than any feat Of arms or skill of STRAIT
egy, attests the advance and superiority Of
free institutions
It is hard to conceive higher moral
spectacle than the day exhibits In the
north and in the south, where the Union
lists and Copfederates are buried. their
graves are strewn with flowers alike, and
equal honors are paid to their memory.
Eulogies are pronounced by northern men
on southern soldiers, and by southern men
on northern soldiers The past. with all
its blood and sacrifice, is forgiven, If not
forgotten, in a grand spirit of generosity
and all embracing patriotism,
The heroes of a generation, passive, II not
already past praise and revere the heroes
who gave their lives to a cause which was
sacred to them, and which can never arise
again, to separate and make hostile a
brave chivalrous and enlightened people
A war that can produce such results must
have been conscientious war, and must
have been conducted on patriotic prin-
ciples 1t has no parallel in history; it Is
proof Of civilization; it is an indelible
record Of a new and most encouraging era
which could not have been reached before
the present century.
Wars generally, as has been often said
leave the nations engaged in them in fur
m bat or ba
set. Our war was an exception. 1t was
more than war for an idea; it was for O
conviction, and in the interest of progress
and morality 1t left u.s. after the sacri.
fee Of million lives and incalculable
treasure, infinitely better off in every way
The treasure has been repaid fourfold, and
the lives lost have entered into the national
life, enlarging purifying and elevating it
beyond estimation. Not one of all the men
who died has died in vain, which is always
the best recompense for death, and one
very rarely secured
With such feelings as these we, of the
north and south, observe and revere the
day 1t touches MS to our depths and fills
our souls with a mingled sentiment Of sor-
row and rejoicing-sorrow for what has
gone; rejoicing for what has come and viii
remain. The day can never become com
monplace or Indifferent. 1t commemorates
the true birth of our common country and
the apparent perpetuity of its redeemed
existence.
In the next century and the next it prom
ses to be more impressive and stimulating
than it is to us, whose fathers, brothers and
sons are sleeping in the graves of a hun
dred battlefields, Our posterity will be
sure to honor it and idealize it, as ali de-
voted men and great deeds are apt to be
idealized, and to follow the professions
that decorate the mounds amid muffied
drums, with hushed voices and tender
hearts Memorial Day bids fair to keep
green, through unnumbered years, the
memory Of the truly heroic struggles and
sacrifices that have constituted us Amer
leans of America.
JuNIUs Hmm BROMNE.