26o CONFEDERATE PORTRAITS
profiting by one another's progress, all alike proud of one civilization, one Constitution, and one flag.
Think what it means for more than this one conti- nent ! Nearly one hundred and fifty years ago our fathers began a great new experiment in democracy — the gov- ernment of the people, by the people, and for the peo- ple. What if, after less than a century of trial, the ex- periment had failed, and the great, growing, triumphant republic had fallen to pieces, shattered by its own weight, giving evidence to its enemies that the people could not harmonize their discords ; that they could not govern and control themselves. For this the old aristocracies of Europe had waited ; this they had gloated over in antici- pation. Bull Run, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville filled the French and English conservatives with ecstasy. Gettysburg taught them that the United States were not yet dead, Appomattox that they were still united, and that democracy was still the hope of the world.
As South and North grow nearer and nearer together, the anniversaries of these events must be more and more cherished. All animosity will pass out of them. Meade and Lee, Hancock and Longstreet, Reynolds and Pick- ett, even more, the common soldiers. North and South both, were all Americans, all ours, ours to praise, ours to be proud of, ours to learn from. The inheritance of their courage, their sacrifice, their loyalty to high ideals is one of which no country can ever have too much. And if the tradition of these great souls brings with it glory, it
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