Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1867-05-23
THE GRAND TOURNAMENT.
A Perfect Successful Least
Ten Thousand People
Present.
A Large Portion Of the BuSi-
ness Houses Closed and q
Grand Gala Day
GENERALLY.

was e success Is not enough. it was i'm
mense-the crowd Of fair women ant
brave men assembled being n o
the largest assemblies we have
seen congregated since the surren'
} der. About half past mine O'cloch
the contestant knights assembled on tht
east side Of Court square In costume
and in charge OF the marshal Of the day
n. i. Hughes, ESQ aided by his assist
ants), proceeded to the race track. On
entering the grounds the knights were
called before the stand, when the orator
OF the day, Hon. w. T. Avery, was in
troduced, aud spoke a follows:
M. President, s. rKusRh's, and you, Ladies and
Genilemsn composing this vast con curse OF
people;
When / remember that the position ]
now occupy, wss upon your last occasion
of the sort, graced by one of TENNESSEE
most gifted and captivating orators, l am
disposed toshrink from my present under
taking. Nor would have ventuTed upon
it at all but for the noble objects which
prompt this pageant, and b solieituoe
of q few partial friends, who have urged
me TO the task. L will prOmiseyou, how
ever. in the outset, that / will detain you
but a little while from the more interest
ing exercises of the day, which are soon
to follow. And another thing ] will
promise Oh, and that is, that 1 will not
put any politics in my speech. For we
Reconstructed rebels, who, as the doctors
woHld say, "healed by the first inten-
tion,u and who made such haste, upon
all occasions, both in writing and in
speech, To accept the situation, are
beginning to discover by this time, that
by this they did not make the situation
accept US but, on the contrary, It ae-
j cepted them other people" and eg-
i cepted us. And if any aspiring politi-
clan of therebel persuasion has launched
his reconstructed bark upon these new
and unnavigated waters, with the ling
ering hope that it will ere leng he borne
again into the peaceful harbOr OF political
tranquility aud popular prefe;ment l
think he will be doomed 10 dlsappoint-
ment. The political gulf stream viii
not soon drift it in that direction.
Some five hundred years ago, a cen
tury or so tefore the great navigator dis
covered. the continent upon which we
live. there was an age Of chivairy. An
age memorable as well for its Wariike
achievements, as for its many Instances
| of individual proves when the modest
deeds of daring were performed; when
brave men prided themselves uOOn the
accomplishment of the most brilliant ac-
tions of courage and of virtue, war was
| the trade of the people of the times, and
| tits and tournaments their pastinle. All
the world was persuaded then, and acted
upon the principle that love was the H.
ceutive to these deeds of daring. Gal
/ liant knights made brilliant parade Of it
in their tournaments, Il warriors eX-
posed themselves to the most perilOus
combats to maintain the honor and
beauty Of their ladies. lt wss then
thought. however, that love might be
( confined to 8 delicate intercourse OF gal
lantTy and tenderness. And the bold
and ambitious youth sought by these
daring means to prOpitiate the favor OF
the fair.
Although the idea Of the tournament
OF to-day has come down to us through
long ages from the knighthood and chiv-
airy of the times of which | speak, yet
the motives, the objects ana the results
are lar different. / have already iuti-
mated that the knight Of the Oiden time
was pushed on to his profession Of arms,
and to his championship Of knighthood,
because his excellence in these manly
ACCOMPLISHMENTS ATOMS placed him high
m in the scale Offemale admiration, aud
especially in the admiration Of his
chosen lady love. It was alone by these
gladiatorial feats of proves that ne could
hope to VOC or win her favor. The mat
rons and maidens OF the time demanded
of their lords these perilOus proofs OF
their valor and of their devotion. These
were their high passports As well TO pop
ulaT favor as 20 womRn's love. We live
in a different age. No such tests are
now needed nor demanded. Many of
you-nay most, If not all of You, have
II kArwanVH nrnuf NJ u~unW nruVraag on
field where something more was
at stake than the mere champion
ship at arms. Woman toe world
over has ever held in high esteem virtue
and bravery And nowhere in all the
earth is accorded to these noble and
manly qualities Of human character a
ulster and a truer tribute and is yielded
TO them a deeper and q hOlier devotion,
han IS by the blessed women of this our
southern land. 10 proof: A few days
ago, when the first dowers OF spring had
burst z hough the crustlings of their win
try beds, we saw in yOnder cemetery,
these. the earliest offerings Of the season, /
bestowed by a Thousand fair and lovely
hands upon the soldiers graves. And
upon that same day. at that same oOnse-
Grated hour, throughout this broad land
Of sorrow and grief, whefevef n dead
hero slept, and the foot Of woman could
find his resting place, were besprinkied
by a million hands, these same mute but
eloquent and expressive emblems OF WO-
manly devotion. Oh! how beautiful the
thought, how touching the ceremony.
So let it be forever each returning spring
time.
These we're not offerings upon the
crumbled affairs Of ancient chivslry, nor
were they prompted by those impulses
which wsuld move the heart OF the fair
maiden Of five centuries ago 20 Dedeek
the brow Of her champion knight with
choicest flowers but they were the
purest tributes of true WOman's sorrow
stricken heart upon the graves Of solid
aoldiers, who fell fighting for a cause,
though lost, they believed 60 be right,
and for principles they deemed as indy
ing and eternal as the everlasting hills.
But they whose bones lie buried and
scattered upon a thousand hattlefields,
10 government to gather them together
in national cemeteries ms build mOso-
laums to CasiE memories, no flowers can
ever bedeck their graves. They viii
sleep on, with nothing to mark their
resting place, until the last grand re-
veille OF recorded time shall summon
them from their soldier graves unto the
dread morning Of the resurrection
But there were qualities of those war
like and chivalrOus people Of these past
ages, which might well challenge the
emulation Of the conquering nations Of
more modern times. Amongst these
qualities l might mention their magma
nimity to a fallen foe. Brave them
selves, they accorded themselves the
highest mead OF praise to vaioT, whether
found in friend or foe. They paid hon.
age ard honor to the true soldier whilst
living, and to his memory when dead.
Their chivalry was of that lofty cnarac-
ter that scOrned the oppression of a brave
though conquered enemy. And the
the valor of the v~anguished, the
more magnanimOus the conduct Of the
They let no fitting OppOrtu-
nifty pass Of expressing this high devo-
ton TO the character of the brave. They
would themselves bestrew the graves OF
a valiant foe with flowers, and bid their
living friends cherish forever the mem
ory of their virtues and their ValoT.
Why, after the battle Of Poictiers, n of
bloodiest and hardest fought =
Of that age, when the prince Of
Wales had vanquished John, the king of
and taken captive him and all
his cohorts, he spread for them 8 mag
llUceub ledSt IN COmp4lnbub 70 tueAI !
bravery, and lavished upon than the
most delicate attentions. And when
they were transported prisoners Of war T
across the water &c England the delicate
idea suggested itself sad was carried out
Of giving the king a ship to himself, that
be might the more be al his ease and s
And when arrived in England
great homage and honor were paid them
everywhere. They were met more like
sonquerors than the conquered. The
king and queen of England themselves
frequently visited this, their captive
king. in the castle which had been as ]
signed him for his abode, TO comfort and
cheer him. No forts. no prison walls, no
Insolent guard, no manacles, but free
under his parole of honor to seek in ali
his comfort and his pleasure.
They would have sc0rned, even in those
medieval ages, the oppression OF a pros
trate people, Of a proud though van
prisoner.
May l not be paTdOned, in the presence
Of this vast multitude, to-day, for de-
for a moment OF two from the
historic paths of chivalry and knight !
hood, which It might be more pleasing, ]
not more profitable TO PURSUE, to
.ouchsaf a few ref1eefionH of a urartiesl