Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1868-04-16

transform tie iniquity .: wrong into I'll,
sacredness ot right. Brute force 5oas
down into hatt,cfgiis not t. ta-5 the c:17.t-
fu,ness Of causes .but 10 trr tho strength
of nlbatant, The success IT the sword
is No argu,sent in favor ot t1c cause tos
which il has aeeu unsleatAed The sur
render Of the sword is no argument : ..ns,
sle cause which drew il from /, q Sab
/. bard Shot and shell do not reas
they Straightforward slaughter, be i N re
or less. is only slaughter--it is no afgu-
ment. tor or agiIust tha rights or those
who XII or are killed. Ballets may man
gle he>h-spili bload-slay men--bat
they can never reach the vital principles
f1r which men cont-nl These principles
are .eyou the range Of muskot and cav
non Battle 1-l3s may hc the burial p,a-
oes Of Atn-but never Of rights. Above
the smoke, and storm aud shock Of hat
ties, unaffected by vittory or defeat, calu.
a4d immovabla Justice sis on her e,er-
nal throne. ana IN her eyes right IS righ,
+ toreyer-wron9 is ete.naiiy wrong AMI
traurled right is crander than triump paaut
wrong From the decisions given a-4jo-t !
Us IN the court Of battle, We therefore al-
peal; and thsse decisions we carry nr to
the high tribunal Of Justice. for reversal
This ana this alone, was settled BY battle
that we were the weaker party. We
had less brute force on our side, aud We
/ were compelled to yield u the superior
strength Of our assalants. The armies
and government Of the Contederacy were
but the mortal flesh and blood Of an i'm
mortal cause. They are gone-it is liv-
ing Nor steel, nor lead could touch lis
life or take il away, 1t is living IL the
loves Of Southern hearts-lt is living in
tue memories Of the Southern dead-it IS
living IN the stories which Southern moth
crs are telling their little children-lt is
living III the sorrows and tears OF our wId-
ows aud orphans. And we shall keep il
alive. The right Of cur cause Jill not I4ll
with Richmond It exists to-day as clear
ly az 1t did when the first boom Of our
guns sounded across the Carolina waters,
and when the Palmetto tag-nld the
ringing q bells, ana rapture OF gIaddened
hearts and the sounding Of cheers which
the shore sent over the sea-waved in tri-
umph over Sumter. And on that April
day when Lee gave up his sword bright
and unUlemiahcl as when he first -girdcd
in on, lie yielded merely and only tile pol
|lcv Of further resistano- hot the priucl-
le which Ia lifted that resistance into a
flght and s4nciaed il as duty. Right
began cur tru--le, right justified and en-
n90led i, right animated our soldiers,
night made them strong to suffer, strong
t. endure right made them brave to
dare, and brasost Of al, TO die right
marched With theno atap ny step, into
every cory Id right flashed IN the
sheen OF tl.ir swords, and thuudered IN
lie boom Of their cannons in every fray :;
right wreathed glory around their ban
ners wherever tLo!r banners were borne );
right consecrated their victories and cou-
s1led them IN their defeats right lit il
.thlir hearts the fumes Of that heroism
WhIch bl1Zed out into deathless deeds !,
right ncfyed them to every sacrifice they
mace, to every hardship they endured f;
right lit bcAcon-tres of glory on the plains
Of Manassas, on the heights Of Fredericks..
burg IN the swamps Of the chickahominy,
IN the trenches of Richmond, on the
mountains OF tennessee, Ia the battle pla-
ceo ot kentucky, on the soil Of Georgia,
on the seaboard of the CaroIinas, il the
wilds beyond the Mississippi and, now,
right stands amid our ruins and gra yes,
and pointing to the glories Of our cause
and waiting n hope for the terrible retri-
button Of the future, lifts towards the
heavens the manacled hands, which, there
at least, have never pleaded in vain, and
>oleully protests against the expressions
ot victorious wrong; and we, for one, join
now and always il their protests. We
stand by the Past Of our country end
cause and we accept no Future which
will not accept that Past. There are
men who bend their principles before the
! layonet there are men who desert the
aLtays ol Lost Cause round which they
once stood with the blood in their hearts
pant.ng flr IJation, and who kneel to Of
Ter homage 1t the altars Of successful
wrong There are men who trample IN
der ,aot tie very standards that one float
al pre44ly over them There are men
base enough to lift their hands against
the very rights for which they once up
lifted swords. We are not such. For
us, principle Is principal, right IS right
J. yesterday = to-aay o-morrow-forever.
Submission to might is not surrender Of
right We Weld to the one-but FlalI
never yield up the other.