Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1866-06-29
WILSON,. ABBEVIIIE s c. FRIDAY J11NE 90 1s66

nict; the lille and tho death OF such q
man cannot but redeem from reproach the
principles to which they were devoted
aud shed hallowing lustre upon even
defeated cause, which now. but for such lu-
minous illustrations would. in the judgment
of the word, 80 down into the night of a
perpetual oblivion. Nor were there want
ing many kindred spirits Of lower rank
and lesser note. Hundreds, officers and
private soldiers, developed the lofty spirit of
seit-sacrifice, the noblest, the submest, the
most god-like trait which can adorn and
dignity our poor human nature. A gal
liant and beloved young officer from this
city, when dying Of a wound, in distant
Stale, said to me, Tell my dear parents I
DO not repent Of fighting for my country
Brave, gentle, affectionate messma,e and
friend He sleeps not upon tho soil Of his
cherished Carolina, but the Bosom OF Vir-
ginia, reddeued With the gore of heroes,
softly pillows his head in his last unbroken
repose. Said a private soldier to mo,
while he was lying in hospital in pros
pect of death: "Sr, mny die, but if
had forty lives I would give them for such
cause as this" Said another to me, af-
ter he had contracted severe and dan
gerous disease in consequence of doing
picket duty, in freezing weather, without
| an overcoat or a blanket to cover him:
II have suffered much, but I would rather
die than give up the cause I have been
fighting for.' Sacred to us must be tho
memory Of such heroesl Green be the
turf that rests upon their sleeping dustl
But I must forbear. The emotions
which thrill us at such recollections are
deep, too tender, to find expression in Ian
guage. We cannot give utterance to the
feelings which oppress US, and yet, like an
inward fountain of fire, they would fain
burn for themselves vent.
It haspleasel an all-wise Providence to
deny success to cause in which the blood
of our brethren was split. We would rev.
erently and submissively bow to the decis.
ion If His sovereign will. We would re-
mit the whole case to His wisdom and
mercy, and quietly and patiently await its
ultimate developments. We have no quar-
re-. with the providence ofGod. We would
obediently accept the situation which lie
allots us, and would endeavor honorably to
meet the obligations aud discharge the
duties which it implies. We are not in
sensible to the sanctity of oaths, and trust
We may have grace to conform to ever y
requirement of conscience, probity, and
honor.
But while thus in sincerity we feel and
speak, justice TO the dead aud fidelity to
truth alike compel US to say that we can
not ignore the fact that the mere presence
or absence Of success does not, of itself,
deter miDe the question Of the righteous
ness of principles. We cannot close our
eyes to the great lesson which starts out
from the pages of history-that causes,
which, while struggling for existence, were
branded with the stigma which attaches
only to crime, have been rescued from con.
tempt and glorified in the eyes Of men by
the mere accident of victory; and that
others, which, while in the ascendant,
were attended with ACCLAIM ations of ap-
plause, have, by reverse Of fortune, expe>
rienced an opposite fate. Such was the
lesson written upon the great struggles for
the maintenance of constitutional law in
the history of the English people; such
was the lesson impressed, as in letters of
light, upon the face of the American Rev
olution. Nor can the argument from the
apparent favor or frown of Providence, be
deemed conclusive as to the character of
principles, since the Church of God her
self has sometimes been subjected to perse.
cutions which drenched her in blood, end
brought her to the very verge Of exiting
tiop.. Right is right, and wrong is wrong,
whatever may DO the outward and acciden'
tai circumstances which accompany them
and it 10 an ineradicabls faith Of the bu-
man heart, which alss would be but sepul.
ehre Of hope, that uuth and right, though,
like the ,ss.insIi FL issun, they may sink beneath
"a horizon 81 darkness and an ocean of
Estefpas, may laTy 1t Jass rs-appear in the morn
ipgstoty:of an unclouded day.
The blood, the precious, priceless blood
Of our brsathren may seem 70 rs to have
been drunk up by the earth iu vaiu--but
vhatsser Of truth, whatever. of right,
whatever. Of pure and. ioftv. min MI MA