- ers first came into national notice during the
Civil War; and here resides now Henry Watterson, whose patriotic pen and eloquent lips in recent years have dispelled the last feeling of prejudice between the once estranged sections of the Union, and who, speaking for his fellow-citizens, cordially received the Grand Army of the Republic into the South on their first visit since they left its soil as conquerors.
In the evolution of nations struggle is unavoidable, but higher results ensue: and it is the peculiar pride of the State of Kentucky that though Lincoln and Davis, the two leaders of the Federal and Confederate governments while the fate of the Union was being decided on the bloody field, were her sons, nevertheless her conservatism, wise counsel and gentle forbearance—beginning in the speeches of Henry Clay long previous to the late unpleasantness, and continuing in the admirable efforts of Henry Watterson afterward—indicated the path to peace and prosperity. The motto of the Republic is "Many in one"; that of Kentucky, "United we stand, divided we fall"; and it has been the mission of our State to emphasize the vital political truth that many commonwealths with widely diverse institutions
