The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1897-05-01

Some Rambling Thoughts.
BY MEMO.

BY MEMO.
I "fIow nice to have flag over every
school house; it is such an ornament,n
says one.
ssWhat a good idea to decorate the
graves of the dead; it makes the bu-
rial ground look so bright and pretty.r
says another.
"What honely old scare-crow
Horace Greely's statute makes; the ILL
fitting clothes and the great PIGGY
face, surmuunted by bald head are
a blotch on Greedy Squareln says a
third. And so on, and so fourth, UNI
til the heart grows weary at the large
proportion OF people who gaze ouly at
the outer aspect OF flags. public cere-
m0nials and monuments. We need
more of a national imagination, so as
/ to look back Of scenic effects aud look
deeper than the surface; then we are
ready to be thrilled by the real things
and the real sufferings typified in way
ing bunting or silent bronze.
-
Imagination blessedly broadens and
ideepcns life; without it the past be-
comes almost silent to us. With IL,
/ the great are our companions and
great deeds our native atmosphere.
This inner sense of appreciation trans
forms the plain contents of church
into an arena where souls have strug-
gled together for an eternal destiny.
/ BY this power the least memory OF
the city OF Washington is that OF
rooms and buildings; the greatest,
that of place where mental conflicts,
fierce and furious, have been fought
out with mental weapons, sharpened
seryiceable, where national destinies
have been made or marred by words,
light as air and heavy as fate.
-
We Americans ought to make il a
rule never to visit a monument with
out either before or after reading up
the facts of the life portrayed before
us. We shall then quickly free our
selves from the nonsensical elements
of hero worship, which impart to the
hero strangely favorable circumstances
and a condition Of being with nobler
possibilities than ours; and arrive at
the conclusion that our heroes of the
battlefield or of Congress, OF the pull
pit or of commerce are men who have
been in every way tried like we are,
disappointed often, cheered occasion
ally, determined ever. This same
view of them will be the best view for
gaining most of good from their ca
reers.
Take as an example the celebration
in New York this week. General
Grants tomb is practically complete;
these days win witness its dedication
and transference TO the care of the
city of New York Thousands of
soldiers and hundreds Of thous-
ands of citizens will be gathered near
it for few hours: martial music and
impassioned speeches will thrill the
hearers; and then the great crowds
will melt away, each individual re-
turning to his pleasures or burdens.
| leaving the tomb to its motionless
vigil over the dead Scenically the
tomb is unique. 1t will always be
one of the notable features OF the city.
raised in forceful shape where neither
houses nor commerce can ever
hide-it from view either by water or
by land: and unnumbered living and
those yet to live will come TO it toI
gaze and pass on. Some will see in II
less of grandeur than is possessed by
the mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome,
after which it seems undoubtedly to
have been modelled; Others will adj
mire its stern, square simplicity
standing sturdily alone and unmoyed
amid the restlessness of the tides be-
fore it and the turmoil of the city be-
hind it, the few will think of Grant
as real person and see in his tomb
the spirit OF the man who endured
hard duties quietly, met disappoint-
ments quietly, enjoyed trumphs quiz
city. 1t seems To me that all this
pageantry aud pride is the very last
thing Grant himself wonld have APP
proved: the thought of being idly
stared at by sight-seers would have
disquieted him.
nne enoosi ~ .nIns - nc 49,, ~ -. -.
oiuln"'' ino. .,.'a.S hr;,,;a,t ,,,an
but he was forceful, persistent one,
who just tried to do right and il unsuc-
49, 80 .as sa,s dn+n e. hin, be would
ea',s .e. nn : o III, ~ and th;n with
,oiio" on .,'l un -. naath U;s.,.aat
que ielene,essns ~ ~ Dasn ma,,
ness 1ons,a.eu - uo ~ ums ' hast ettad
anu unae INC 'n''k ne was oes' "''0'
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~ - ~ uesos ao,o -. 'iom us 1 i,sa -
ness az q niouei "a VIZ ~ e roe,I, aroat
Say onao 'e eeasua " - ha.tio I'D
a. sun as ohe ,u ~. - oat' he r n
uleu uo"n onao naonv 'o 49,. 10
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lie uc.ia'eu' sn0,e ~ ps"
wneu =. nsu ons ,lo' ~ 90, " ,,,Id
'ahqu,sicu oiiiocie o.oauso my "uu'u
ieeu Ilcli ~ pioue nins an 49,
ne loroaoe ei''e, ines,e ~ s'sn. "
eAu,oao'vn III on ~ % Go
willie 'ne arms n,o " 1 IT, o1 t,at .;n,o
"eie oeins ooaoNou' no o"@o s'As
on, ne was 'ely olu'na,y nan -
poof Juuse VI nunian naouio "nue
riesiuenV' Nasty ',iau ~ oon,e..'o'
WIN one or Two coioniAine sonelncs'
pan Doiniheo, espeoiails poot pns.
no, nan na" ,s - harehra; nod gambling
plan.
Yet like the light at eventide after
day of storm. which seems to call
LaI IN an ,,oce;hlo ,.lor;ae of th.