From The Mirror
(The punctuation and spelling are as they appeared in the original document.)
“THE DEMOCRATIC MIRROR”
BENJ. F. SHEETZ, EDITOR
Thursday morning, October 26, 1865
“Upon the return of peace and the surrender
of the enemies of the country, it should be the duty of every patriot, and
every one who calls himself a Christian, to remember that with the termination
of the war his resentments should cease, that angry feelings should subside,
and that every man should become calm and tranquil, and be prepared for what
is before him.”
The above sentiment was recently enunciated by the President
of the United States in addressing a regiment of colored troops who paid their
respects to him. They are as apples of gold in pictures of silver, conveying
a lesson of moral beauty that cannot be too highly commended nor too frequently
practiced. Surely four years of angry strife such as we have just passed through,
is long enough for one generation to empty its vials of malignant wrath and
rid the most plethoric soul of its envenomed hate. Misery, desolation and
death have long enough blighted our hopes and blasted our prosperity, with
their poisonous breath, without marring the present with the discordant notes
of events drowned out in fire and blood. The demon of war has been chased
from his throne by the angel of peace, and with his exit we should bury the
past and gird up our loins for the race which is before us. Let the language
of President Johnson be the language of every honest heart, and all may yet
be well. We have enough over which to brood in silent sorrow for hearts wrung
with anguish over homes desolated and household treasures slain, without embittering
the soul with petty malice over real or fancied wrongs done in the past.