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| Within the deserted fort-1865 Here is the desolation inside the shattered walls of Sumter. The celebration of raising the flag on April 14, 1865, is now in the past. The benches that had been crowded with listeners eager to catch every word of the address by Henry Ward Beecher are now empty. The pavilion in which he spoke is no longer gay with flags. The staff from which ‘Old Glory’ had floated to the applause of thousands stands bare. Beyond are the shapeless ruins made by Gillmore's guns. Out in the bay no ships dressed in flags are to be seen. For the whole nation is in mourning. On the very evening of the flag-raising the bullet of Booth had laid low the man through whose patience and statesmanship the Sumter celebration had become possible. Trials more searching than those of war awaited his sorrowing people. |
