Abbeville press. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1860-1869, 1866-06-29
to and fro, and muttering at brief inter
walls: 'Oh, the shame, the shamep
THE CONFEDERATE DEAD.

cred by the Rev. J. L. Girardeau at the
recent celebration in Charleston to the
memory Of the Confederate dead:
We have come, my friends, 10 this sa-
cred spot in obedience to the promptings
of a universal and we'll nigh irresistible in. .
stinct of the 5uman heart. Men of all
forms Of religion, unite in doing honor to
the memory Of their dead. The phioso-
pher and the savage, the Pagan, the Mo-
hammedan, the Jew, and the Christian,
are at one in the indulgence of the sen,i-
ment which dictates the discharge of those
nournfu offices, the las. which it is compe-
tent 10 affection to render in behalf of kin
dred countrymen and friends.
We are hero as mourners today. We
have repaired to this burial ground to
mingle the tears Of a common sorrow, and
to pay that tribute of respect to our de.
ceased soldiers which was previously pre-
vented by the hindrances Of war. The act
which We arc assembled to perform is sug-
gested not by acrimony towards the living,
but by affection for the dead. Simply re-
Prospective in it's character it has no
political complexion, and no latent and in.
sidous reference to the future. 1t affords,
1t ls true, not only an expression of our
grief over the ashes of our departed heroes,
but of our admiration for their character.
and our love for their memories and their
names; but there is no noble and eener-
GUS spirit, even among those who were vic
tors i'll the great and sauguinary struggle
through which we have passed, that would
refuse US the consolation Of dropping q
tear, and of laying our chaple,s Of cypress
upon the graves of our dead.
We are here as mourners, not only for
our own unutterab.o losses, but also as rep
resentatives Of the disccnsoiate kindred of
many of those who here sleep in death, de-
barred by distance from participating with
US in these sad rites; Of fathers and moth
ers who sent forth their sons, with their
benedictions, to see them no more OH earth
OF wives and sisters, who slowly and reluc-
family unwound their arms Of affection
from the necks Of husbands and brothers.
whose faces they were destined never more
to look upon in this world; of little or.
phaned children who clung to their depart
ing sires, and all unconscious of the dread
significance Of the insignia of war; toyed
with their gfittering sword chains, and
smiled at the nodding OF their plumes.
Alas! their fond visions of the soldiers re-
turn to gladden. his home were doomed
never to be realized; aud now , in place of
the joyous greetings Of father, a hus-
band, brother, son, is the voiceless 81
lence of grief that casts its daily shadow
over the desolated family circle, and which
nangbt but the divine consultations of re-
ligion can assuage.
Whether they are right or wrong in the
prosecution Of the contest which cost them
their lives, the men whose sunken grave
we repair, and whose memories we honor,
died for us. We can never, never forget
that they were sacri6cial victims on an al.
tar which we helped to rear, and that their
blood was poured out like water in de-
fence Of principle which we avowed and
which we counseiled and exhorted them to
m aintaiu to the last extremity. Fo,
that cause which we, rs we'll as they,
regarded IS the exponent Of constitutional
liberty. and which, during Its protrac,el and
agonizing struggle for existence, we love1
with passionate intensity which no words
can express-for that cause these men
encountered every hardship, under every
privation, and freely sacrificed their lives.
For it they forsook the sweet fslicities of
home, and bade. a last farewell to- those
whom they held dearer than life itself.
Encouraged by the blessings Of those whose
hearts broke at their own exhortations to
them t. 60 forward in. the path of duty,
attended by the sanctions Of religion. and
the prayers Of the pious, and erimulated
10y the applause Of whole people, they
went forth cheerfully and exultingly to the
endurance Of trials to which even the sorov-
fnl annals of warfare can scarcely furnish
q parallel Engaged ID a eonaiot With
one OF the great powers Of the world
whose voice 10 heard With respect BY the
occupants Of European thrones, exeommu-
nicsted from the fellowship and symn.,bv sv
of The hnman race, eugirdled with .wsll
[of frs aua barred Of from interooptsss, Win
she rest OF mankind, sustained by .tsources
Eas s'l hons which .Yses were barely adeassts .o.ha