The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-07-03

gathered around the tall man dressed in
deepest blue-he is very thin and pale
his left coatsleeve is empty and is pinned
to mis- breast. He is Col. -, home on
a furlough to gain a little strength, then
he will go back to the front with COM
pany Of our older brothers and some Of
the older men, He wears something on
his shoulders, sword at his side and
hat that becomes him WELL To us he is
a hero. What has he done? We care
not we only long to be like him.
July Fourth, 1863 Do you remember it?
No. 1t was then that bearded men went
for joy-that a loyal nation knelt and
thanked God for a great deliverance. Tile
morning sun ushers In a brilliant day.
The booming cannon announces to an anx-
ious people that the eighty-seventh ami
versary of the nation has arrived, but
what Will the future bring forth? The
war clouds hang thick over the land.
1t Is 10 o'clock. The people have gathered
in the street, talking of nothing but war;
w iielI 10 liiIl V lShSpul5 iAeN~o
dered to Grant and at this moment the
rebel hosts are marching out prisoners Of
wharf.-the backbone of the confederacy is
broken" A great shout goes up from the
people, but what about Gettysburg? For
two days the hosts of Gen. Lee and the
army of the Potomac have been In
death grapple on the soil of a free state.
The sun has set The sack race, the
wheelbarrow race and the blindfold race
have been run. The tired people have
begun to gather in knots, some to go
home. some to stay to the fireworks"
The cannon which has been silent for
hours again booms forth a salute. What
does it mean? The marshal of the day,
Respondent in red sash and glittering
sword, shouts out the news of Gettys-
burg. The news that
General Lee,
Tine flower of Southern chivalry
Beaten and staggering backward reeled
From a stubborn Mead and a barren
field"
Again we hear the "ffes shrill note,
the drums loud beat. and through the
wide land everywhere, the answering
tread of hurrying feet"
Men grasp each other by the hand, and
say nothing Boys, knowing not the full
meaning of war, but realizing that it was
glorious victory, jump and howl for
joy. The war cloud has suddenly burst,
and through It's rent folds shine the
came on the Fourth of July. 1853. m.
Thirty-eight years have passed since
the nation was newborn on the bloody
fields of Gettysburg and in the silent
trenches of Vicksburg. Grant and Mead
and the thousands who fought with them
have gone to their reward. Thirty-eight
years of peace, only broken by brief
war undertaken for the liberation of a
foreign people.
Shall we celebrate the Fourth Of July,
because on that day our fathers declared
on paper that 'these colonies are and
of right ought to be free and independ-
ent States" or shall we celebrate the
Fourth of July because upon that day
in 1868 a nation of 100000 people re-
ceived a new baptism of fire-was re-
created in blood and agony? From that
day the constitution Of the fathers, at
best miserable compromise, came forth
a real instrument of power. A divided
people was made whole. 1t was on the
heights of Gettysburg, when Pickett
reeied back from his awful charge, that
we became a living nation, THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
When the continental congress Sc
lected George Washington commander
in-chief of the American armies it was
compromise. The articles of con-
federation were adopted as a COM
promise. When the constitutional
convention met ''to form a more perfect
union," it at once became evident that
no union could be effected. And when
the gray-haired Franklin arose-Frank-
lin who was a pronounced agnostic-and
moved that the sessions hereafter be
opened with prayer. the delegates knew
that no human effort could effect a union
and that a compromise was the only
thing between the nation and anarchy.
When Hamilton exercised his mighty
genius in favor Of the constitution
adopted by the convention, he did it. not
for the love of the form of government
which it provided, but because he was
convinced that 1t was the best compro-
mise under the circumstances. When
the forensic Hercules, Webster. hurled
his thunderbolts of logic against the ar
guments of Hayne, If was to sustain and
perpetuate the compromise of the ia
theirs. Henry Clay. spent his eventful life
in vain attempts to create minor com
promises TO sustain a falling constitu-
ton. knowing full we'll that some day
that constitution must sink beneath a
wreck of anarchy or rise triumphant
from sea of blood. And when the i'm
mortal Lincoln took the shattered helm
of state, his great soul was filled with
visions OF compromise
The celebrations, therefore, of our ma
TONS independence for nearly century
We're deluslons. Not until grim visaged
war" ended the long train of compro-
mise at AppomatoX, did we become a ma
ton in fact as we'll as in name.
Let us celebrate then the birth OF