It is not to be disguised, that a war has broken out between the North and the South. - Political and commercial men are industriously striving to restore peace: but the peace, which they would effect, is superficial, false, and temporary.
Cease-fire is important, but it can last only for a very, very, very short time.
All wars come to an end, at least temporarily. But the authority acquired by the state hangs on; political power never abdicates.
Wars are never cured, they just go into remission for a few years.
War is just like bush-clearing-the moment you stop, the jungle comes back even thicker, but for a little while you can plant and grow a crop in the ground you have won at such a terrible cost.
Violence brings only temporary victories; violence, by creating many more social problems than it solves, never brings permanent peace.
Moments of kindness and reconciliation are worth having, even if the parting has to come sooner or later.
The whole city stopped - And this is a pause worth savouring, because the world will soon be complicated again.
RECONCILIATION, n. A suspension of hostilities. An armed truce for the purpose of digging up the dead.
