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THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE: WASILTNGTO,- J). C, APEXL 29, 1882'.
athhial Tribune
(ESTAEUBHCD 1877.)
HE
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tNTERCD AT THE WASHINGTON PCST-OFFICE AS StCCNIMXASS MATTER.
WASHINGTON, D. C, APRIL 29, 1SS2.
In forwarding Ids subscription for The
National Tribune from Lmcrcncc, JIass.,
Gen. George S. Merrill, Commander-in-Chief of
the Grand Army of the Republic, says :
"The bold advocacy of Tun NATIONAL
TRIBUNE of the rights of the soldier elicits my
hearty approval. Keep on as yon have begun,
and do not consider your icorl: accomplished
until every soldier who is entitled to a pension
receives it, and every soldier's widow and every
soldier s child are provided for by the Govern
ment. (Signed) Geo. S. Merrill."
Official Organ of the Grand Army.
Executive Committee Sixteenth
National Encampment G-. A. 11.,
Baltimore, 3Tareh 31, 1SS2.
To the Editor National Tribune.
Sri:: lam so much pleased with the fearless
adrnr"n; of the soldiers interests pursued by
y:ur pttivr that I have taJcen a personal interest
ir i.itioiucing it into this Department, and Kill
.vjv ?.: one hundred subscribers in a short
t:.nr J further desire to ma7:e iltiho qffig&W
01 iunoftjiis committee, and itiU furmsh'
y'UM'Xyrcifhsomuchofili&commrttcVsfVdrPd -
'
? i?ei:ce is icill be interesting io"bir"coi)Prdnc3' '
throvjhovl the country who intend visiting this i
city on the occasion of the assembling of the
National Encampment, in June next. J enclose
a roster of the several Departments and request
that you mil furnish each Department Com
mander a marked copy of your valuable paper
until the close of the ceremonies, on the 2Uh of
June. Yours, very truly,
Wm. E. W. Ross,
Chairman Executive Committee
Commanders of Grand Army Posts will
confer a favor by furnishing The National
Tribune with a full list of their members
and the post-office address of each. "We shall
be glad to publish any news, letters, or com
munications concerning Grand Army affairs.
If Hallett Kilbonrne is to receive $100,000
for being held a prisoner at the capitol for a
short time, surrounded with every luxury
that money could procure, what sum of
money vrould be an equitable adjustment of
a Union soldier's claim for the sufferings
and loss of health caused by many months'
imprisonment in the Audersonville prison
pen? Will not some of our Senators or
Representatives please figure this out at their
earliest convenience?
It "will he seen, by reference to an article
in another column, that the bill to increase
the force in the Pension Office, to secure the
passage of which Tite National Tribune
has labored so long and earnestly, is soon to
be reported favorably by the Committee on
Appropriations, and judging from the ex
pressions of Senators and representatives on
the subject, the measure will be passed.
Thus it appears that at last General Dudley
is to have a proper clerical force at his dis
posal to enable him to adjust the long
standing claims of the Nation's defenders.
On Tin: same day the bill was reported to
the House to pay the physicians and other
attendants of the late President Garfield
various sums of money, aggregating about
$150,000, oats were quoted in Chicago at
fifty cents a bushel. As wo point out more
particularly elsewhere, Dr. Bliss is to receive
$312.50 per day for his services. Our farmer
readers will do well to bear in mind the fact
that the congressional committee that pro
poses to disburse so generously the people's
money, estimate Dr. Bliss services for each
day as worth G25 bushels of oats a greater
quantity than an entire year's crop on many
farms. In writing to members of Congress
it would be well for the readers of The
National Tribune to call their attention
to this fact You might also figure it out at
the current rate on wheat and corn. The
value of a year's oat crop, on a good-sized
farm, is, we imagine, pretty fair compensa
tion for a few honr's professional service of a
physician. What do the readers of The
National Tribune think about it?
The National Tribune is the best sol
diers' paper in the country, and should be in
the hands of every man who wore the Blue.
Do not delay, luilsubscribe at once 1 a year.
m
Needless ami Inoxensnble Delay.
Jtia recent issue we had occasion to refer
to the case of a soldier who died in New
York last winter from the effect of a wound
received twenty years ago, and we remarked
at the time that although such occurrences
n ere not very frequent they were not by any
means as rare as many persons supposed.
We find in au Ohio journal of a late date an
account of a case that in some respects is
even more noteworthy. It is that of a man
who entered the service when he had just
attained his majority, and who, while en
gaged with his command on Cheat Moun
tain, "West Virginia, was struck by a falling
tree and severely injured. He was a plucky
lad, however, and stuck to his regiment,
accompanying it on a fatiguing march to
Clarksburg and thence by rail and water to
Louisville, where he joined the army under
General Buell. The effects of the blow parti
ally wore away and after three years service
he Avas honorably discharged. In course of
time he married and became the father of
three children. Ten years after his dis
charge he began again to suffer from the
injuries which he had sustained while in
the armj', and within tho next six yeara
he became totally disabled. "With a family
of four persons dependent upon him for sup
port his situation, it must be admitted by
even the most cynical, was decidedly piti
able. Evidently there was no other course
open to him but to apply to the Government
for the pension to which he was clearly en
titled. Two years ago he took that step and
forwarded his papers to tho Tension Bureau.
Unfortunately, as it turned out, having re
mained on duty despite his injuries, instead
of putting himself under a surgeon's carc, he
was unable to produce auy hospital record,
and it is very doubtful whether his pension
will be granted, and a special act of Congress
may be required to meet his case.
But supposing that he had a hospital record
and his papers were all in proper form, tho
business of the Pension Office is so sadly in
arrears that several years might elapse be
fore his claim could be reached in the usual
course of examination and acted upon. The
reports of Commissioner Dudley show that
there are upwards of two hundred and fifty
thousand claims now on file and awaiting ad
judication, and at the present rate of settle
ment it will require from five to ten years
to dispose of them. There is no reason to
doubt that the percentage of bona-fidc appli
cations is as great as among those hitherto
examined, and certainly the applicants are
quite as much entitled to have their claims
promptly passed upon as those who filed
their papers immediately after the Avar. It
is also fair to presume that among these
applicants are many who are quite as much
in need of the aid which the Gocrnmenfc
has obligated itself to extend to them as the
poor soldier already referred to, and this
, -l i t. y ' r J'
lay this needless and inexcusable delay,
- wgarfl itin the settlemenfc of their
. ,. .... ... , . . .
nlniTYiQ inner. lnAvirnnlv mfiil o-rnr.snfrprinrr
f n . '
if not actual poverty and distress, upon
thousands to whom the Nation owes a debt
much more sacred and holy than that which
is represented bjWuVrflierest-bearing bonds
of the Government.
We say this delay is needless and inex
cusable, and with good reason. In the first
place, it is due solely to the lack of sufficient
clerical force in the Pension Bureau to prop
erly transact the business of that office.
This fact is within the official knowledge of
Congress, since it is clearly and explicitly
set forth in a special report made by Com
missioner Dudley to the House at the pres
ent session. In the second place, this delay
is needless and inexcusable because the Gov
ernment, with an annual surplus of $150,
000,000 at its command, can well afford to
hire the additional clerks that are required
in the Pension Bureau in order to dispose of
its arrearages of business. This fact is also
within the official knowledge ofiCongress, as
a necessary consequence of its acquaintance
with the condition of the Treasury. It is
Congress, then, that must be held responsi
ble for this delay, and the members of that
body should be made to understand that
public sentiment will not tolerate its in
action much longer. Let our ex-soldiers by
letter, petition, and every other lawful means,
impress upon their Representatives the ne
cessity and importance of increasing the
force in tho Pension Office, and persist in
their demand until it is granted. We an
swer for it that Congress will not long re
main dumb to their wishes.
United We Stand.
No journal ever made a shining mark in
the newspaper world that was lacking in
strong convictions or the courage to express
them. We do not mean to say that no jour
nal ever succeeded that was not of a partisan
character, for, as a matter of fact, the greatest
newspapers of modern times arc those which
do not wear the yoke of any party, or the
collar of any " boss." But to make an im
pression upon the age, to mould and shape
public opinion, to command the support of
the masses and the respect of their leaders,
a newspaper must hold positive views in re
gard to all questions of public concern, and
must be able to sustain those views with
ability, vigor, and persistence. It is true
that the first duty of a newspaper is to print
tho news, but the public have come jbo look
to it for advice also; and at this late day no
one. we suppose, will dispute the statement
that the press of the civilized world exer
cises a greater influence than either church
or State. The celebrated Doctor Rush, of
Philadelphia, was wont to speak of news
papers as " teachers of dipjointcd thinking,"
but even he admitted that they wielded a
vast influence.
Entertaining these views, tho proprietor
of TnE National Tribune has sought to
make his journal the exponent of great prin
ciples and ideas, and has not hesitated to
advocate them with earnestness and vigor.
Recognizing the equity and justice of tho
claims which the soldiers of the lato war
have upon the Government for compensation
for injuries sustained in the service, and ob
serving the growing apathy of Congressional
sentiment in regard to pension legiflation,
he has made The National Tribune the
champion of the soldiers interests, and al
ready has the satisfaction of knowing that
the value of the service which it has ren
dered is widely appreciated. As its circti
lation has increased, and the sphere of its
usefulness expanded, he has enlarged its
columns, improved its contents by the addi
tion of many novel and interesting features,
and acquired better mechanical facilities for
its publication, until, in all that goes to
make a great newspaper, it is unsurpassed
by any weekly in the country. Its growth,.
moreover, has been steady and healthful,'
rather than spasmodic and abnormal, and'
due solely to its merits.
It is true that The National Tribune
is not the first newspaper that has been
started in the interest of tho soldier. There
i
have been many attempts in this direction,
and no doubt the effect of the numerous
failures that have occurred is to make the
public distrustful of the permanence of all
such undertakings. We do not wonder that
those who subscribed in advance for these
short-lived publications are inclined to look
with suspicion upon any new venture. The
National Tribune, however, has been
conducted from the first oil a sound business
basis, and its permanence is as well assured
as that of any newspaper in the country. It
represents, indeed, an investment of many
thousands of dollars, and in its new types,
presses, and machinery possesses a "plant"
equal to that of the great dailies. In a
word, The National Tribune has come
to stay.
We are led to make these remarks, by the
desire to make clear to our subscribers the '
spirit which inspires the conduct of this
journal and the resources at its command;
and we feel that we arc fully justified in
inviting their active aid and co-operation in
bringing it to the attention of those who are
still unacquainted with its objects, but who
are equally interested in their accomplish
ment. Our veterans are so widely scattered
through the country that we can only reach
them effectively through the kind offices of
such of their comrades as are already on our
rolls. We depend upon our subscribers, who
have a direct concern in the extension of the
circulation and influence of The National
Tribune, to exert themselves to that end!
The members of the Grand Army, who can
not but recognize the value of The Na
tional Tribune as the mouthpiece of its
principles aud a reservoir of news, aTO espe
cially interested in contributing to its
cess, and we hope to see the day wliei. ir
lisfc of subscribers will include the, men: ; .
of every Post in the country Should'
shoulder, let us go forward in the great t
which is yet given us to do "for him
has borne the battle and for his widow .
orphans."
Congressional Extravagance.
While we have no desire to give undue
publicity to the unsavory scandal that fol
lowed the revelations of extravagance, and,
something even worse, in connection witlb
the memorial services of the late President,"
yet the report recently made to Congress to
pay the expenfes of certain claimants, pub
lished in the last number of The National
Tribune, brings the subject again before
the country and renders the proposed legis
lation fit subject for criticism. In dealing
with this matter the committee, or at least
a majority of its members, appear ready to
dispose of the public funds with a liberality
that is really princely in its character.
Passing over the appropriation of a year's
salary of $50,000 to Mrs. Garfield, less the
amount' paid to tho late President, as a
proper thing under the circumstances, and
for which Congress has established prece
dents, we come to tho next item in the bill
to pay Dr. Blis3 $25,000 for "professional
services." Assuming that Dr. Bliss gave his
services to the President for 80 days, it is
proposed to pay him at the rate of $312.50 per
day ! Few physicians of national reputa
tion and recognized skill, we imagine, would
exact a fee of one-third that amount for such
services as Dr. Bliss performed.
Tho fact should also not bo forgotten
that Dr. Bliss did not give his entire time
to the distinguished patient; he made
other visits and gave considerable attention
to his office practice. To pay him $25,000
for such service as he rendered is sheer rob
bery. But the generosity of the committee
docs not end here ; they propose to pay the
two eminent consulting physicians $15,000
each. There is more reason in this, as these
physicians were summoned from distant
cities and compelled to neglect their pro
fessional duties, but, nevertheless tho
amount is excessive, and either of these gen
tlemen would, we have no doubt, be satisfied
with one-half the amount, or probably $5,000
apiece. Following up the items of the bill we
find the liberal allowance of $10,000 to Drs.
Reyburn and Boynton and an equal sum to
Mrs. "Dr." Susan Edson, and in lieu of direct
pay for Surgeon-General Barnes and Dr.
Woodward army promotions, entailing in
creased burdens on the Treasury in tho
future. In addition to this we find that
gjjnerous " provision " is made for all tho
employees of the Executive Mansion, rang
ing from $3,000 for Mr. Crump down to $120
for the servants, in the face of the fact that
these persons were liberally paid by the
Government to perform services almost if
not quite as exacting as was demanded of
them during tho President's illness. If the
members of the committee who propose to
distribute so lavishly the public money were
called upon to adjust such claims against
themselves they would probably view the
subject in a practical way and dispose of
them in a business manner. That Congress
will sanction such extravagance we cannot
believe.
We are also informed that when the bill
comes up on its passage, that various amend
ments will be offered, among them one to
p:iy the six government employes who were
detailed from the Navy Yard to work the
.Turning's refrigerator. The aggrerate allow
ances by the committee arc already in the
neighborhood of $150,000 a sum in excess of
that caused by the illness and death of any
royal potentate of modern times. As it
sfands, the whole matter appears like a
gigantic job as recommended by the majority
of the committee.
' We sincerely hope that the report of the
minority of the committee will be substi
tuted for that of the majority. Under its
provisions persons holding claims must
furnish proof of the value of the services
rendered, and for professional services only
such are to be allowed as would be properly
chargeable against the estate of the late
President. This is looking at the matter in
an unsentimental light, and it is the only
proper light in which to view it. There
are pressing uses for the public money other
than squandering it in this extravagant
fashion. Up to this time Congress has failed
to make tho comparatively trifling appro
priation to enable the honest claims of the
soldiers to bo examined. The brave men
who offered their lives in the service of the
country are suffered to go unpaid with
millions of unemployed capital in the
Treasury, and yet we find in many senti
mental matters committees can act promptly
and appropriate with astonishing liberality
the money of the people. Senators and
Representatives are reminded that their
action in this matter is being watched with
eager interest by thousands upon thousands
of soldiers in every State throughout the
country. They should also not overlook the
!fact that these soldiers enjoy not only tho
right of suffrage, but that they exercise a
vast amount of political influence. Viewed
-merely from a selfish standpoint, our Con
gressmen will do well to see that justice is
done these long-deferred honest claimants.
The justice of these claims has been recog
nized ; and this being the case, what excuse
have Congressmen to offer for protracting
their payment? Before voting away large
sums of money as mere gratuities, let the
honest debts of tho Government due to the
men who saved the Nation be paid. The
people demand that it shall be done.
A "Waste of Energy.
(There is, perhaps, no page of the world's
history that is so rich in adventure as that
which contains the records of polar explora
tion. From the time of those daring north
re - avigatora the Cabots to the present
he Arctic seas have possessed a terrible
ation alike for tho savant and the
; and whenever tho means have been
. .nd to equip an expedition the men
always been at hand, too, to conduct
'" Che perils and privations of Arctic
ration seem but to have increased the
n for it; and so the battle of man with
ements goes on perpetually, in spite of
shipwreck, starvation, and death. Every
disastrous voyage necessitates the fitting out
of,a relief expedition, and every relief expe
dition occasions new solicitude. The printed
records of polar research constitute a litera
ture in themselves a literature abounding
in thrilling incident and heroic feats, but
oh! how barren of benificent achievement!
It stirs the blood to read the story of Cap
tain Kane's long contest with ice and snow
and hunger and sickness; and one cannot
heli admiring tho skill and courage which
the explorers of tho present day display in
their struggle with the obstacles to Arctic
navigation ; yet, it is impossible not to feel
that all this fortitude and daring is to no
purpose, and the world is no better off for
the sacrifice of so many lives, and so much
treasure, on the altar of polar discovery.
The old delusion, that the location of tho
Northwest passage would open up a new
highway for commerce, was long ago ex
ploded, and no ono any longer pretends to
look for any more substantial result than
'the extension of geographical knowledge.
We are prompted to make these observa
tions by the news which has reached us of
the disastrous termination of the voyage of
the U. S. Steamer Eodgers, which was sent
out last year to succor the missing Jeannettc,
and the announcement that the Government
will now dispatch a vessel to the relief of
the survivors. What will bo the final out
come of tho so-called enterprise of Mr. Ben
nett? The net results are, so far, the total
loss of the Jeannette, with a part of the
officers and crew, tho burning of the Eodgers,
and, the endangering of more lives in tho
attempt to rescue those that are already in
jeopardy. Science has profited nothing by
these expeditions, beyond the discovery of a
few petty islands. The geography of the
polar regions remains as obscure as ever.
The only apparent beneficiary is, indeed, the
New York Herald, which is thus provided
with a news sensation that will fill its col
umns for months to come.
Is it worth while? Mr. Bennett may
think so, but surely the time has come when
the Government should cease to lend its aid
to schemes of mere adventure that involve
a useless expenditure of public money, and
risk precious life to no purpose We aro
quite willing to admit that the stories which
the Herald couriers traverse the desolate
Siberian plains to telegraph to that journal
make very interesting reading, but wo can
not help thinking that if Mr. Bennett had
devoted the money whieh he spent in fitting
out the Jeannette to the founding of a
Soldiers' Home for the crippled and impov
erished defenders of his country, he would
have won a fame much more substantial
and enduring than any which he can possi
b'ly acquire by his disastrous attempts at
Arctic discovery.
One Hundred Tears Ilcnco.
Edmund About, the well-known French
novelist, in his story entitled "The Man
With a Broken Ear," has given us a very
entertaining analysis of the feelings of a man
who, after being kept in a state of suspended
animation for an entire generation, is sud
denly restored to life, and confronted with
the changes that have taken place in the
meantime, and our own Washington Irving,
in his quaint story of Rip Van Winkle, has
indulged a similar fancy. Has the imagina
tion of our readers, slipping the cables that
bind it to the present age, ever led them to
conjecture what the world will be like a
hundred years hence? It is, perhaps, a
useless speculation, but it is nevertheless
not without a certain fascination for the
curious.
A year ago the Boston Globe published a
special edition dated January 1, 1981, in
which such an attempt was made to realize
the changes of the century, and the concep
tion, it must he owned, was very cleverly
carried out, but, as might naturally be ex
pected, all the marvelous achievements of
science and art which it recorded were
merely the exaggerated development of dis
coveries and inventions alreadv known.
Thus, a description was given of a collision
on an aerial railway line merely an expan
sion of the theory of modern ballooning; of
the lighting of a theatre with stored sun
light which the immutable laws of science
tell us will always be a thing incapable of
accomplishing; of the artificial freezing of
lakes and rivers to break up the ice monop
oly which is but a ludicrous travesty on a
well known chemical process; of the inven
tion of cold-blast cannon which kill by re
frigeration instead of -with bullets and
many other equally amusing conceits, al
though none of them transcend the limits
of modern comprehension, however improb
able they may seem. Anyone with a lively
fancy and a f.iir knowledge of the forces of
nature, so far as science has made them
known to us, can create for himself such
prodigies of achievement as we have quoted.
But it is as likely as not that the course
of development in the next hundred yeara
will be radically at variance with that which
experience naturally leads us to expect.
New forces, as surprising in their effects as
once were steam and electricity, may be dis
covered, and once more change tho entire
direction of human effort. Will any scien
tist affirm that investigation has yet pene
trated all the sources of physical power,
when it has not yet solved all the mysteries
of known forces ? It will be time enough
to consider that possibility when our sa
vants have settled among themselves the
still undecided question as to why boilers
explode at times when, according to their
own declarations, boilers cannot explode.
We flatter ourselves that we are not as in
crellulbus'corlcerning tho possibilities of dis
covery as our forefathera were. We are highly
amused on reading of the popular skepticism
with which the projectors of the first rail
way, the first steamboat, and the first telc-
I graph line had to contend yet, after all, it is
doubtful whether we are really a whit more
far-sighted than were -the ootemporaries of
Fulton, or Watts, or Morse. Indeed, it
would be unreasonable to expect it to be
otherwise, since it is not the habit of the
human mind to venture beyond the limits
of the finite, and those who amuse them
selves with speculating upon what tho world
will be a hundred years hence, can only bo
certain that it will not be what they imag
ine. We cannot even be sure that the pend
ing pension claims will be settled by that
time!
A Question of Uniform.
One of the most important and interesting
matters that will come up for discussion at
the National Encampment of the Grand
Army, next June, is the question of uniform.
At present, the number of uniformed Posts
is comparatively small, and, indeed, outside
of the large cities in the East, there are
scarcely any. The reason lies, of conrse, in
the fact that while among the members of
tho Grand Army are many men of abun
dant means, the majority are in moderate
circumstances, and cannot afford the expense
of a special uniform. They say, too, and
with justice, that public display is not one
of the objects of the Order. It was never
intended that the Grand Army should emu
late the example of crack militia regiments
like the Maryland Fifth and Now York
Seventh, and lavish its money upon military
tailors. Tho veterans of the war rightly
thought it beneath their dignity, :is well as
at variance with tho objects of their organi
zation, to indulge in the pomp and show of
tho amateur soldier, and it cannot bo denied
that the inexponsiveness of membership has
had a great deal to do with the rapid growth
of the Order. But while the adontion of a
uniform has never been made compulsory,
for the reasons which wo have stated, some
of tho Posts long ago put on, of their own
accord, the plain blue flannel uniform, Avhich
has now come to be regarded by the general
public as the regulation Grand Army dress.
Tho desirability of its universal adoption is
too evident to need explanation, and we do
not doubt that the members would heartily
approve such a step if tho objection as to
cost could be overcome. So far as we know,
but ono plan that is at all practical has been
proposed to meet this objection, and thai is
the one suggested, we believe, by General
Ross, of Baltimore, viz., that, instead of buy
ing any busiuess suit that happens to please
their fancy, the members of the Grand Army
purchase, at the beginning of the seesan, an
ordinary blue flannel suit, which can be hrnl
as low as thirteen dollars, which, if provided
with eyelets for the insertion of Grand Army
buttons, will answer all the purposes of a
parade uniform, as well as of an everyday
street costume, without entailing any extra
expense. This is the plan already in vogue
in Baltimore, where the Posts are as well
uniformed as in any city in the coun
try, and there is no reason why it cannot be
successfully employed elsewhere. "While
therefore, it may not be wise to make the
adoption of even such a uniform as we have
suggested compulsory, there can be no ques
tion that its use might, with entire propriety,
be officially recommended at the approach
ing National Encampment. It is well that
our veterans should avoid mere military
display, but, on the other hand, it is ex
tremely desirable that their dress, on public
occasions at least, should be of a character
to distinguish the Order from other civic so
cieties. i
Disbonoring tbo Dead.
Among the measures introduced at the
recent session of the Virginia Legislature
was one directing the employment of con
victs in the work of caring for the graves of
the confederate dead- Nothing more repug
nant to the feelings of the soldier could well
be imagined, and we are not surprised that
the veterans of the North have united with,
the veterans of the South in denouncing tho
proposition as dishonoring to the dead and
insulting to the living. It is revolting, in
deed, in every aspect. It is painful enough
to think that as our veterans gradually pas3
away the duty of tending the graves of our
gallant dead must of necessity be trans
ferred to other than comrades, without con
templating such a shameful desecration of
their dust as that in question. "What could
these men in prison stripes have in common
with the brave fellows who fell fighting for
what they believed to be right? To them
the rows of nameless mounds would be no
more than a furrow in a cornfield, and not
a single patriotic impulse would inspire their
labors. They would regard it merely as a
part of their punishment a task imposed
upon them in pursuance of the tenn3 of
their sentence. God forbid that to unwilling
hands should ever be committed the holy
duty of tending the soldier's turf, be that
soldier friend or foe!
It matters little what the ceremony i3
with which this duty i3 discharged or what
the method of its observance. It is not the
mere act of decorating the grave of the
soldier with flowers or erecting a monument
over his ashes that sanctifies the custom.
It is the love, the admiration, and the
reverence which the act typifies which make
it holy in the eyes of the world, and grate
fulshall we not say? to the dead them
selves. Though they brought not a flower,
the presence of the comrades of our fallen
horoes at their graves would alone bear testi
mony that they were still remembered. How
well apply the immortal lines of the poet!
How sleep the brave who sink to rest
By all their country's wishes blessed!
"When Spring, with dewy finders cold,
Returns to deck their hallowed mould,
She there shall dress a sweeter sod
Than Fancy's feet have ever trod,
f . - 'ByTfairjj bands their knell w rung, '"-
, fiy forms unseen their dirge is sungr ' '"" "
,'r There Honor comes, a pilgrim gray, ' '
To bless the turf that wraps their cla7,
And Freedom shall awhile repair
To dwell a weeping hermit there !
Better indeed that the graves of those who
gave their lives to preserve the Union ahould
go undecked save by Spring's dewy fingers,
that no music but the plaintive melody of
the passing winds should bear their requiem,
and that Honor and Freedom should be their
only mourners, than that to the convict
should be allotted the duty which belongs
to a grateful Nation!
The acquittal of McLean, the lunatic who
attempted the life of Queen Victoria, after a
prompt and speedy trial, has naturally pro
voked many comparisons between this pro
ceeding and that in the Guiteau case. "We
are asked to note how much more decorously
justice is administered in England than in
the United States, and how much less time
is consumed in trying important cases. The
admirers of British institutions seem to
forget that no doubt existed in the McLean
case as to the insanity of the accused, and
that although the Crown's attorney went
through the formality of a prosecution, no
attempt was made to shake the credibility of
the testimony as to the lunacy of the pris
oner. In fact, it seems to have been tacitly
understood from the first that the Govern
ment did not desire a conviction and would
be content with a simple order of the court
for the confinement of McLean as a maniac
during the Queen's pleasure. There was,
therefore, no resemblance between the two
cases that would warrant the comparison
referred to. But even were it otherwise, it
might be remarked that however slowly the
machinery of the law may sometimes move
in this country, the law is the same for all
assassins, and we do not, like our friends
across the water, invest the trial of a man
who fires on a public officer with foolish
pomp and parade.
In the death of Charles Darwin, Science
loses the greatest mind of the century. To
him belongs the honor of having revolution
ized the whole system of scientific research,
and discovered the key to those mysteries of
life which for ages had baftled the penetra
tion of the world's explorers. The study of
botany and zoology, and even ethnology and
philology acquired a new meaning and took
a new direction from the day that witnessed
the publication of his work on the " Origin
of Species," and although, like Galileo, he
was condemned to bear the ridicule of those
wiio looked upon his discoveries as heretical
and hostile to religion, he lived to see his theo
ries adopted by the whole civilized world as
the basis of all scientific progress. The con
flicts of the theologians never disturbed this
great soul, and he died calmly and sweetly
in the bosom of his family, surrounded by
those he loved best.
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