The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1866-11-01


my right hand forget its cunning, and my J,
tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth.
1t becomes us to bow in humble suoul!s-
sion to that decree which took from U.S. IN
all the pride of youth, and strength ana
beauty. those who were dearer to us than
life, knowing as we do that 1t came 1rom
Him who is all-merciful, as we'll as all
wise. 1t is our duty to submit patiently,
and without q murmur, to His chastening
rod and to accept, without repining, the
conditions and the duties He imposes; !;
but while we do this, we can still cherish
in our heart of hearts the memory OF
those who gave, not only. all that makes
life dear, but life itself, in that heroic
struggle which has covered our land with
graves, has clothed our people with sack
cloth, and has left US ruined aud well
nigh broken-hearted; but amid the ruin
| of our hopes, the wreck Of our fortunes,
the desolation of our land, we have the
proud consciousness of knowing that the
South-our own dear South-during her
short-lived, and now extinct nationality,
has written on the page of everything
history an imperishable record OF noble
deeds, the lustre Of which will never fade
That she has given to the world glorious
names, which men will not willingly let
die and that ruined, desolated, vanquish-
ed, as she now is, she can still proudly
and fearlessly commit the Judgment Of
her cause to impartial posterity. And the
men who, believing that they were fight
ing in just cause, and believing this,
clung to their colors and to their cause as
long as those colors waved, and until that
cause was hopeless, can meet, without one
emotion of shame, even our noble wo-
men, nor fear to hear from one OF them
the bitter tauut wrung from the heart OF
the indignant and heroic Queen. to her
recreant son, as he looked back weeping
over the fair domain he had lost forever,
'sAye, weep like woman over what thou
hadst not the courage to defend like
man." Such were the men to whose
memory you are now doing honor. The
principles which they had held sacred,
were to be submitted to the fiery ordeal
of battle, and true to their lifelong con-
victions, they buckled on their armor at
the cali of their State. They believed
that they would have been traitors had
they done otherwise You, my country
women, believed so, too; you believe so
STILL and even now, weeping as you must
do over their graves, you "would not ex-
change your dead sons for any living
sons In christendom" The world may,
perhaps, pronounce another Judgment
than ours on the justice of the cause IN
which they fell, but as long as patriotism
is more than an empty name-as long as
devotion to duty is esteemed the highest
principle of action-as long as noble
deeds kindle the admiration of man.
|. .kind-as long as knightly courage stirs
the heart of man like the blast OF q bu-
Gle, so long will their names be held in
reyerence-so r. long will brave men and
gentle women cherish their memory; and
in after ages to their tombs will
sRonor come, pilgrim grey,
To bless the turf that wraps their clay.
This region gave to our "lost cause"
some of it's noblest supporters, and the
number of graves which you have, with
pious hands, this day decked with flowers
and laurel, tells in silent, but emphatic
language, how fearfally it suffered. And
not alone in the number of its dead, great
as that is. did it suffer, for here, as else
where, Death has shown that he loves a
shining mark. In your quiet graveyards
sleep men whose names are sdeservedly
dear to every Carolinian. There is laid
Cardinals first, and one of her noblest
offerings on the altar of liberty-the he
.roic Bee. There rest Stephens, the brave,
the earnest, the devoted soldier Kilpat-
rick, whose modesty was only exceeded
by his courage, and the gallant young
Sloan. There, by the side of the officers
whom they SO often followed to victory.
comrades in death as in life-repose the
brave men whose heroic deeds were illus
trated on most glorious battlehelds;
Each of these, if he was true and faithful
soldier, is as worthy of our gratitude as
any officer who gave lustre to our army.
| would not pluck one leaf from the lad
rel which binds the brows of our great
commanders would detract nothing
from their well-earned fame-a fame as
wide as the world, and as enduring; but
the foundation on which their glory rests
was laid in the courage, the constancy,
the faith, the endurance, the patriotism
Of the common soldiers-those brave men
who half-clothed, poorly fed, badly arm
ed and unpaid, gave without grudging
their all to their country. The private
could hope for no distinction; he could
look for no reward beyond the conscious
ness of duty performed, and the success
of that cause to which he had devoted
his life. Yet these incentives were found
strong enough to give TO the South an
army not surpassed in the glory OF It's
achievements by the legions OF the Great
Frederick, the troops which Wellington
so often led to victory, or the veterans
with which Napoleon conquered the
world. Give, then, all praise and honor
70 +ha hraue the frna. the faithful soldier,