Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1868-05-02


From her bright eye the waFmest drops shall
Fast flowing from the fouaisiu at her hOart.
strswn by her tender anssrs Ger their bier.
All drsnehed with April's and her own hot
tear, ...f. 80. ..|.E 4. d. 81.
While rlse the hills, and while the waters meet.
Fresh flowers shall keep their precious memory
sweet '- fEn-. Do fi4 Htl
The Springs shall GENE and %. aud we shall
And be. perehance. by these lost heroes laid.
But love shall dress these mounds from year 10
And silii tho birds viii come and carol here.
From age to aEe. flung as tho seasons r9ll,
Despite the power OF passion 70 control,
The summers bloom. the Autumn's yellow
The Winters snow. shall lingsr here awhile.
Their monument shall be tho living love
or earth below and light Of heaven abovei
Their elegy the copstant wind prooi.ims,
And ocean murmurs glory to their names
COLONEL Whites GRAFTON.
After the poem, Col. White rose and
eloquently addressed the attentive throng
as follows;
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: This occasion
with all its surrounding circumstances renders
the spectacle alike honorable to the living and
the dead. We come not radiant In the r0bes OF
victory. but clad In the habiliments Of woe;
The anthem and the dlrge, the merry peel and
the mournfnl knell. do not for us mingle in
strange unison. A mighty people mourn to- day.
Mo hers. wives and sisters must claim this day
NJ. monopoly Of woe, no exclusive luxury Of
mingle their own with the tears Of the whole
South. This day Is consecIated 70 the memory
Of the Confederate dead. The noble women Of
| the South always foremost in deeds of love and
mercy--the chief sufferers by the WARFARE the
| chief mourners to-day. There arc among them
no Miriams 10 chant songs OF triumph and re-
| joce over their peoples delivery from the en-
riors, and its bitter waters roll on crimsoned
with the blood Of the first born sons ottheSouth:
| The widowed South appears as. kachaeh clad
| in sackcloth and ashes, mourning because her
son, arc not. and refusing % DC comforted;
And to-day a more acceptable offering could
not be made 70 the God of The widow and the
orphan than the holy incen>6t hat ascends from
the myriads Of gsrlands, woven by Southern
Momen. for the graves OIL TIER saiant deao;
paying tribute of grateful respsc, to the mem
| ory OF those who sealed their devotion 20 the
| South with their heats blood. and keeping
| their memories fresh. could have been devised.
than the simple act of annually sirewing their
graves with fowers? No cold. speechlets
| monument Of brass or marble affords such
| evidence of heartfelt sympathy and grief. as
L
sweet types Of hope and love. History tells us
| that the Swiss peasants, tor hundreds Of years
| after the aohi svement Of their independence,
| annually assembled on the battle grounds OF
| Morganta and Laupen, spread garlands over
the graves Of their e. lien warriors, and prayed
| for the souls Of those who had died for their
| country's freedom. But we need no evidence
| OF the antiquity of the custom, no presidents
/ from Greek or Roman history or fable, 10 secure
cur approval Of an act that bears such unmis-
taxable evidence of sincere and heartfelt feel
| ines Of admiration, sympathy and gratitude.
| How appropriate and attectinely beautiful the
such only as feel the holy ties Of love that sur
| yiye death--responds: "strew flowers.
"For this. through its leaves has the white rose
For This. In the woods, was the violet nurscd |;
| Though they smile in vain for what once was
They are leye's last gift-bring flowers, pale
howers.'
nobleness Of our Southern people that to day.
| from the monumental mountains of Virginia TO
the lower span gled prairies OF TIE xas, hundreds
| Of thousands of Southern women are strewing
| Sowers and weeping tears of unaffected sympa-
| thy over the graves of those who fought so
nobly and died so gloriOusly, in defense 81 their
| rights. Soldiers dream OF heme and happine.s
but to wake to reality and disappointment:
| The unpleasant fact forces itsel upon "a that
| th,r are thousands of our braves who sleep in
| unknown graves, on almost every battlefield
| in the South, over whom no flowers are strewn
to-day. The Isnely winds mourn their requiem I,
| and the wild flowers, crimsoned with their own
| hearts blood, alone deck the spot where they
sleep. The memory of our gallant dead cannot
be too fondly cherished. The exalted spirit OF
| patriotism which an mated them, when they
| babe farewell to mother, wife. children and
| friends, to undergo the exposures OF camp, the
fatigues Of the march. and all the priyatons
/ which the Confederate soldier unavoidably en-
| countered, and faced death with deuntles s.
| fall M -
| serves to be remembered as long as Southern
woman admires valor and can weave garland.
| How many, too, alas died iar away nom
friends and home. with no loving female rela,
tive TO smooth their pillows. cool their parched
foreheads. give them parting blessing ana
close their eyes when death had put an end to
their suffering. There are those within the
sound of my voice who have seen the soldier
die rs Nv complaining as ne had enuurea inc
hardships of the service
| T.. without n sigh,
A change of feature or shaded smile.
. He gave his hand to the stern messenger,
| And, as a glad child seeks his fathers arms,
| Went home" I,
| How anxiously and yainly did many a fond
| mother, wife or sister await the return Of some
| gallant relative, looking through the lattice
| ike the mother of Siscra. and wondering why
| his chariot was so long in coming. But II we
| admire the patriotism which prompted the sol
der to endure hardships and privations Tor ~.
| country under ordinary circumstances, what
shall we say of the sublime courage which ami
mated him in arraying himself against so for
midable fee as did the Confederate soldier,
with full knowledge of the advantage his ad-
yersary possessed. A standing army and navy
-inexhaustable resources upon land-a com
merce whitening every ocean-rich in all the
Clements of a great and powerful nation, ana
aware, Too, of the ruinous conseauenc OF
defeat with a full knowledge OF these facts
the Confederate soldier de6antly disregsrded
All and struck for the liberty and independence
of his native South, History furnishes no OK
ample of heroism that SURPRISES ms eonduct,
and time will produce none of loftier patriotism
or more intrepid valor. Who can withhold the
Just tribute Of admiration from the patriot hero
Who will deny that the Confederate SOLO ell
was prompted by as high spirit OF patrlotisu u
and acted in obedience to as exalted tense o.
honor as ever melted man to take up arms II
defense of his home and Preside. 1t Is not iol
the men of this generation to sit IN yndgmen'
| upon the motives Of the brave Contederate.
When the glorious sunlight of liberty again
shines forth in full splendor, and Reason anG
Justice resume their sway, then, and not unit
then, can il be properly determined VINO "a nrt
the true friends OF Constitutional liberty Inc
| war ended most dsastrously for the South
Peace was proclaimed. She came not white
winged and with her landmarks, Order, justice
and Prosperity. but, rather Ike that terrible
INSTRUMENT OF the Inquisiton, represented
! a. beautiful virgin, ,nticlng to tn'
sight, but whose embrace was tortur
, ite death. Men cry peace, peace, when Their
Is no peace" The only l4aee Nnele perc,
T graveyard. There Federal and COME terate-
their earthly warfare o'er-sleep sics by side u
peace, They may have met and contended fol
The supremacy, amid the smoke and carnage o
battle, but they have burie every embitterec
7 thought, and Dwell together in unity: I'M
living il Is who cherish enmlty, tomeot dlscord
and will not have peace to dwell among them
How many Of our soldiers sleep here in bhssfu
Ignorance Of the result OF the late war, and o.
the present condition Of the country Thel
! died ere the simeon Of war had desolated their
BELOVED South. They were lost to US, bu
taken away from the evil 10 come" Hea
the gifted Prentice. in sad and plaintive line
TO his dead soldier boy: 700
Perchance. when fallsn in the strife,
Thy young lips breAtheed a prayer for life.