The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-05-11

rho ,-orr, men of the South were all
ready ia bestow applause and commenda-
tinn unon our State, and torn and bleed
ing, ruined and Impoverished 'no"sn 81.
be. she still possesses the DraVes' "oi ns"
that the sun ever shone upoh-,ncso "o"l
women of Virginia Had anything oe."
wanting in them it had been amply iliaa,
nm bv the formation OF these MeI'ipi l"'
| Associations: only one thing was iachinS
to fill up the measure OF their good ooe"a,
and that they now have done in honorihg
those whose Southern hearts have ccaSca
to beat. whose arms have ceased 10 "aNe
in strife. Congratulations then, he said,
| to Won. ladies', in the name of all those WHO
sleep in lakewood Cemetery
Mr.. Edwards said that, looking back 10
go and '63. and '6i, we could scarcely real
ize that months and years had he'd. We
could still hear the tramp of the charging
sonadrou the rattle of the muskct, the
Incoming oftbc cannon: could hear the roll
of the ambulance train, and the groanS OF
the wounded and dying; one, IN ms last
agony. was again in the smoke aud carriage
| Of the battlefield another, with his last
Sirb breathed the name oil DIS hlo'llcI.
| Great God, what scenes have We seen
Where are the people on the lace Oh tniH
wide universe who have passed tHIousn
what we have passed through 1here lSa'l
,,r,,.ritten history of this war, he sad, more
eIonucntly touching and heroic liian any
! that has vet been recorded. ms hlS'"r!
may never be written, but III VIII i've wv =
ever in the thoughts, feelings, ana ileat'n VI
! This Southern people. The strongest u"
| that can now unite the southern states WI
| mo found in the graves of those who dicd IN
rho war Statesmen decline and pass away,
and those who live scarcely dare 10 open
their mouths to utter one sentiment OF as
| scrt one principle; but the blood that mas
been she'd links us together in one vast
network the blood Of the people of every
southern State has been mingled together;
they were comrades on the march and III
| camp were one in thought and one in pur-
pose. He said it was SO common i'll the
far south for the young men, when they
| heard that he hailed from Virginia, 10 come
to him and tell him with how much aticc-
ton they remembered some Virginia com
radc, whose name they would never for
! get. The South is now united by band
of gravcS-a tie that can never be sun
| dercd.
Should we not honor the dead? There
| is not one brave or honorable spirit
amongst those who fought against us that
would wish to place any cOnStralnt upon
the lip that would utter honest scnt-
mentS: and there was not one brave and
| chivaIrouS man that would object to our
| honoring the dead. Nothing need be said
of the lost cause. We felt too much to
speak of it lightly; but, right or 'rro"g, we
! could say that there were never Drawer or
more heroic soldiers in the universe than
| those of the Confederate army. They
! have fallen, they have gone down to the
! future their names are enrolled IN our
memories, and the only external sign we
can give is to adorn their graves with
flowers and sprinkle them with our tears.
Remember when jackson fell! 1T l.
three wears since, but il scarcely seems
a dav, His name was 4 terror to ms
! enemies, while his whole character was
marked by picty as pure rs his intel
! lcct was symmetrical. He remembered
the strange power that the great soldier
had even in death! None could look
upon that cold, calm face and rest I'M
moved. he Or. Edwards) remembered
| still that kcculv-chi>clcd face rs he saw
it in the Capitol, and he would bear that
memory to his grave. " Stoncwall" Jack
son left an unbIcmshcd name and SpotlcS>
reputation. Those who fought and marched
with him have caught something of his
spirit and feeling; they will have been
made better men and better Christians
by their knowledge and experience Of
him. He then alluded to the power cXcr-
| ciScd by " influence and said that ctcr-
nity alone could show the power Of that
! single man upon the present and coming
generations.
One name has magic power i'll the
| South; the name of that man 80 brave, 50
generous, 50 noble, that there Is none like
| him. Who could grasp his entire clarac-
| ter! 1t seemed perfect from every stand
point Grand in defeat when his army had
fallen, as when he led his panoplcd lcgiomS
| in triumph to victory. He had retired
quietly to the shelter of those mountains
! which he loved 50 much, leaving to the
Young men, in his lortitudc and picty, an
example which may do more for lis than
all else. The name OF that man can never
be mentioned without thrill. What tri-
butte can we pay to him, whom no words OF
praise can reach! He referred to General
Ice lttltI. anu SdlAt NdN Si''A IL h''' ~
simple in Stylc-it was 50 like him, and
then he remembered, too, that General
Lee had said that the graves OF the Con
fcdcrate dead would ever be green III his
memory. Long, long, may he live! And
when his sun shall at last go down,
may it be like an autumn sunset. The
clouds, in their gorgeous beauty, shall
reflect the falling rays; the last bright
tntS shall throw an unwontcd radi-
ancc upon the hill and upon the plain, and
when at last the sun OF his fame sinks from
our watching gaze, train of grand and
glowing light shall still remain to point to
those vet TO come where the great lumi-
nary had faded silently out of the world !
Mr.. Edwards then explained the terms of
contribution TO the lakewood Memorial
! Association, and alluded to the monuments
to the dead which he had seen in the South.
II he, Mr.. Edwards, could but live to see
the day when giant monument should be
erected to bear the names of the twelve
thousand six hundred ContederatcS who
are Inferred at lakewood, he then would
read name after name, enjoying the sad
pleasure of grieving over the fallen brave :,
| He would wish to make his visit to that
monument in autumn, while the golden
rays of the declining sun were falling upon
the tinted trees, and ere twilight came he
would tondly read each name so sacred to
| every hcart-So sacred 10 the people of the
South. In conclusion, Mr.. Edwards read