The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1897-09-27

4
has been no age and no race In which
| pagaants have not been known. and
upon the walls OF buried palaces almost
the sole surviving sign OF dynasties for
gotten for thousands OF years, are the
/ rude Representations OF professions The
/ history Of Egypt, Assyria, Baoylonia,
1 Greece ard Rome, may almost be read
| in these pictures OF state functions and
| displays Of grandeur. Much as the re-
/ publican in spirit may deprecate such
/ artificial aids TO the development OF
nation, II is forced upon notice that
+ as a nation increased in glory and mag
nifeenee. in wealth and commerce. ii
expanded and became more nagnin-
/ cent In its display Of gorgeous uniforms.
grandly caparisoned horses, the burn
ished ordnance OF its military, and the
| glitter Of weapons. How far the prog
ress was dependent upon this display or
the display dependent upon the prog
ress is not always determinable. But
| the rise and the decline OF an empire,
an autocracy, or republic, has invari-
ably been paralleled by its fictitious dis
play Of magnifeenee.
Behind all this parade and glare. ma
| lions have slowly rotted away, but no
people has ever become notable
throughout all the centuries which has
manifested an Indifference 10 bright
| eoiors In costume, and the marshalling
Of men In the panoply of state. Ireland
has been for two or three centuries, at
least, a blank to all forms of regal
splendor; 1t has known no glory OF uni
form except that of petty officers, who
have brought with them petty tyran-
MES. There is no more miserable city
in the world than London, with its tens
Of thousands of unfortunates, who new
er know to a certainty where the next
days meal is TO come from, yet there is
no more loyal people TO that incorporeal
thing which is represented by the gid
ed scepter, the orb OF authority, and
| the bejeweled crown of a sovereign
Although there is something barbaric
10 the reason in this yielding up OF re-
speet to the evidences of wealth and
power, 1t gratifies the eye and pleases
| the senses. 1t has an impalpable, but
none the less effectuai influence upon
the human mind: instead of arousing
wrath and envy on the part OF those
who stand In the gutter and are be-
sprinkled by the spatter of mud from
the wheels OF the pampered few who
ride in luxury past, the people enter
into the whole pageantry as II they
were contributors TO, participators In,
and benefeiaries of the pomp and the
grandeur they are supposed TO typefy.
which can be felt but not analysed:
there is a symbolism In them which
attracts and holds the convic-
tons when abstract propositions fail
utterly to make any impression upon
the untutored mind. Not that the in
fluence is confined TO the ignorant or
the poor: indeed, although it originates
! In a barbaric taste it is enjoyed and
fostered by those who are emerging
| from the gloom of poverty into the sun
light of prosperity
There is no indication that in spite
| of all the advancement in thought the
pageant is diminishing in popularity.
| The recent instance in this country of
| the dedication OF Grants tomb shows
that when people. free from the af-
fectations OF royal court. as this is.
desires 10 manifest its most intense in
terest in any subject, it appeals TO the
| blare of the trumpet and the roll of
| the drum, to the tramp OF marching
hosts, the Haunting of the banner and
the bright glitter of steel weapons, the
crimson hues of fancy vestments and
the browning glory of plumed and
| feathered helmets.
II a return to these insignia OF state
/ shall bring contentment TO the Irish
heart. and turn its melancholy over the
| sorrows OF the past into a hopeful ex-
/ pectation Of more prosperous future.
| by all means let the procession move
/ II viii not give bread where there is
/ need. but as a symbol it may stimulate
| courage and arouse the people from the
lethargy into which they have permit
ted themselves TO lapse in mourning
over medieval glories which can never
1 come hack