Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1895-08-22
oNlYA STRIP loF BUNTING.

Oh, Moths Fiag Of This Country Strands
for Principles That Incited Brave Men
TO Deeds Of Patriotism aud Yalor.
Philadelphia record, August nth.
Before the civil war;" says Repub
lican contemporary, "the American
flag was merely a strip Of bunting, and
to nearly every one was apropos OF
nothing'.'' This is, indeed, remark
able utterance. Had it come from
foreigner from one unfamiliar with
American history or ignorant of Ameri-
can institutions-t the comment might
have been easily explained and readily
excused. But emanating from true
blue adherent of the Grand Old Party
from newspaper that bears at the
head Of it's editoria. page a realistic
picture Of sold Glory and that
fiourishes the patriotic motto 'Ameri-
can in Everything the sentiment is
little less than astonishing. Its un-
mistakahle meaning sets one seriously
to thinking. 1t awakens memories of
the liveiest character, and revivea app
prehensions Of considerable interest.
In word, it blots out the history OF
the first 20 years of the Republic, and
dates the birth OF the nation from 1861.
1t grasses names that have shone for
century with undiminished splendor,
and dismisses in a sentence lives that
have been an inspiration to American
youth characters that have been ever
living beacons to the children of Co
lumbia.
Now 'The Record" is not for saying
that the flag lost any Of its glory in the
titanic struggle which ended at Apo
matox. Every reader of these columns
knows the thorough loyalty of 1.-THE
Record" to the issue that triumphed
in the war On every field from Bull
Run to Appomattox the banner of the
Republic was baptized anew in the best
blood of its children and made doubly
dear to the sons Of every section of the
Union. All honor to the followers Of
the flag in that struggle! None can APP
preciate more truly the significance of
that conflict than can 1.-THE Record -
but to say that Fort Sumter was the
beginning of our national life that
with the civil war the flag first began
to symbolic something = is to be
strikingly emphatic at the expense Of
| truth.
The honor Of the flag has an
older history. 1t dates back to the
early days before the present design
was even conceived. 1t embodies the
achievements of centuries. 1t represents
a spirit that nerved the three hun
bred at Thermopylae, and armed the
| ten Thousand at Marathon; that
drove Tarquif from Rome, and aimed
| the arrow Of Tell that charged with
Cromwell and his Ironsides, and ac-
companied Sidney to the block that
fred the farmer's gun at Lexington,
| and RACED the Bastile in Paris; that in
| spired the charter in the cabin of the
Mayflower, and the Declaration Of In
dependence by the Continental Con.
gress. 1t gave comfort and courage to
the patriots who delberated in this
city; it sent cheer and consolation To
the stout hearts at Valley Forge II
made invincible the followers Of
Marion in the swamps of Caorlina, ant
the sons of Massachusetts ION every
field from New England to Georgia. :
1t steeled mems hearts to suffering anc
hardship. 1t inspired the utteranct
of Lowndes: :" am poor God know
/ am poorl But your King isn't rich
enough to buy me,n II nerved Jaspe
to leap over the embankment at Fort
Moultrie and replace the fallen color
on the American rampant. 1t put dow
the Whisky Rebellion it led tn,
supporters of law and order against tn,
followers of Shay. 1t waved from tn,
masthead of the Philadelphia agains
the Algerian pirates. 1t was will
Perry, in his flagship on Lake Erie
when he sent the laconic dispatch
"We have met tae enemy and they
are ours!" 1t assured the nationa
credit both at home and abroad; il
protected American sailors on the higt
seas; it led the United States into thu
community of nations; it was Will
Taylor and Scott in Mexico when thu
armies of the United States carved al
empire out of the heritage of tn,
Montezuma In word the flag ha
been the inspiration of great peopl
the influence that has wisely direct
ed the aspirations of nation lust,
with the strength of youth.
And yet throughout the Garlic
period Of our history, and until 1861
the flag is to some merely strip O
bunting" In a purely material sens
it is a biteo bunting. So was the fla
of 1861; so also is the flag of to-day
Stripped of symbolism, robbed of tn
beauty and power which imagination
has given3it, the Stars and Stripes i
nothing but piece OF woolen--possl
bly, of silk-torn with shot and black
ened with powder, Yet who woul
have had the audacity to tell tn
soldier of 1861 that he was madly fight
ing for bit of rag What would tn
Army of the Potomac or the Army O
the Cumberland have said to such al
utteranceY What would the Minut
Man of ZIG have said? Some. Repub
licans seem to imagine that everythin
in the history of the United State
before the birth of the Grand Oh
Party somehow or other "doesn
count. ;, Like the French Revolution
lists, they would make new era an
date it from the civil war. To ther
the flag of Washington, jefferson
Adams, Hamilton, Madison and Mar
shall, of jackson, Taylor, Scott, Web
ster and Clay is an insignificant rag
void of symbolism and apropos of moth
ing! Merely a strip of bunting
Shades of the Revolutionary fathers
forgive this wanton insult!
Provided With a Home.