Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-05-31

in the war will have to pass away be-
fore the impartial historian shall have
given due honor to the brave men on
both sides who barred their breasts to
the foe, fighting for principle, for home
and country.
The Civil War was the shock of two
diverse civilizations, or forms of So
ciety, whose inception was older than
the Republic itself.
Two principal streams of immigra-
ton came to this continent from Eng
land. To the southwark, one reached
the shores OF what was afterWard the
Colony OF Virginia, named after Eng
lands Virgin Qcen Elizabeth, and these
immigrants founded jamestown. This
| was the civilization Of the cavalier a
brave, cultured, proud people, who car
! rlcd with them aristrocratic ideas of
family descent, of titles and landed es-
| tates. Labor with ones hands was
deemed a thing to be avoided where
| possible, and q society, whose landed
! gentry where to do inmate, was or
| ganized. The institution of African
| slavery offered the opportunity to build
| up vast system Of agriculture, based
upon the toll OF Il captive race. Great
riches came to their descendants from
the profitable crops of tobacco and cot
| ton which the fertile soil produced
| Their young men were graduated at
| the best institutions of learning the
! world possessed. Abundant leisure pre-
mited the planters to study the science
| of government and the South eXcelled
in statecraft, until Virginia became he
mother of Presidents and that section
dominated the politics and government
| of the country for three-q quarters of a
century
To the North, the other stream of i'm
migration grounded on the bleak
shores of New England, landing on
| plymouth Rock: these settlers founded
the colony Of Massachusetts, and there
inaugurated the civilization of the
| Roundhead, the Puritan.
! The Pilgrim fathers first cmiCratcd to
| Holland, seeking civil and religious lib
erty denied them in England and from
| thence TO the shores of the New World.
| Before thy had ever sighted land, on
the decks of the Mayilower, they as
scmbled and voted that the ajority
| should rule in all their future govern
mcntS, and asserted that under God, all
| men were created free and equal.
| Theirs was the civilization Of the
| Houndhcad. who taught that labor was
| honorable in all men, that the accident
| of birth bestowed Unon no man q pa
| tent of nobility ana that in the Ian
Guagc Of BObbic Burns: "a man is ii
man for a'that ana a'that."
The Pilgrim Fathers established tn"
New England township system, the
| foundation Of our republic and the cor
| ncr stone of American liberty. Union
| The free labor of the North, they erect
| ed structure of enduring prosperity.
| IIvccllnG in the arts and sciences, fer
| tile i'll invention, they laid bare the
secrets of nature and enriched them
| selves from the storchouses Of the
| mines and the pursuits Of commcrC".
| They builded great railroad systems,
tunnclling mountains, bridging mighty
rivers, overcoming all obstacles. They
used til" appliances of steam and the
mechanical forces, they harncsScd the
| lightning and made it carry their mes
saScS over limitlrss space; they found
| Cd great institutions of learning and
| organized the public school system.
| Immersed in pursuit of material ao-
| VantaSes. busy opening up the great
West and Northwest. they We're con-
| tent to let their Southern brethren rule
| the nation. But slavery, which John
| WeGlcy called "rhc sum of all villain
| los" was not content to dominate tn"
| section Of the land in which it was so
successful. It pushed its hdcous head
| towards the West, claiming the right
to settle its fanEs upon the new states
| ana territories coming in the Union.
| The nation tcmporizcd. hcsitated.
| drcainG the awful struggle that must
| come.
| Tho Missouri Compromise. the VIII
mot proviTn the Drcd Scott decision,
all marx thc rising tide Of strife, Then
| came the election Of Lincoln. Unable
| to longer rule. tn" SlaVC-holdinE minor
| ity put into force the oft threatened at
| tempt at secession. Some Of the best
men the South ever produced, were bit
| terly opposed to the war. Having no
| personal interest IN slavery, they hop
! cd and prayed that God would avert
| the storm of intnrnacin ire strife which
| seemed gathering over their loved land
| They were devoted to their states and
believing rs they Ccnscientiously did in
the sovereignty OF the state, they felt
in honor bound TO cast in their fortunes
with their ncighbors and draw their
swords in defence of their firesidcs.
At length the shock came, Tho echo
of the first shot fired upon Sumptcr re
vcrberates throughout the land! What
is the response We hear? It's the thun-
der of the tramp of the mighty army Of
freeman which shakes the very earth
beneath their onward march. Down
from the pulpit and the forum, out
from the counting room and workshop.
dropping the hammer by the anvil,
leaving the ploughshare in the untUrn-
cd soil. they surge. singing as they
march We're Coming Father Abra-
ham, Three Hundred Thousand Strong"
1t is impossible in this presence to at
| tempt Il review of the history of the
war, for before us are seated the men
| who wrote the story of its battles in
their own blood. We'll may you say us
did Caesar in his preface to his story
Of his campaign in Gaul: "All of which
| | saw and part of which | was
| The conflict was marked by three dis
tinct periods. The first includes the
conspiracy to bring about the disrup-
ton of the Union. withdrawal OF the
cotton producing states. formation Of
the Confederacy, seizure Of the prop
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