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

purpose Wnicu toiu now tnht thc cpiriti
as we'll as the heart, ofthe Southland lives
in her sons aud daugters still. Impressive
and irresistably touching the spectacle of
a multitude thus assembled as one, to
give tears and flowers to the dead whose
blood was as a sacrament poured in the
cause their hearts espoused. And,
withal, how appropriate the place, the
silent and sacred precincts of the grave,
for those to meet and commune with the
noble spirits of the departed whose hopes
and aspirations are buried with them.
IT'S In the grave the glory Of the South
is lying. The renown of her patriot
heroes sleeps with their ashes. The hal
lowed mounds meath which repose her
fallen is all our sunny cline contains to
keep her dear and sacred 10 the hearts of
her children. The dead armies of the
South have made her name and history
immortal. To paraphrase the language
of one whose tuneful heart lies chill
within Southern soldiers grave, ssy
"'Tis flames eternal camping ground,
Whereon their fonts are spread,
i And glory guards with solemn round
| EEL, The bivouac of our dead"
1t is by those whose ashes it contains
our land is consecrated to love and rev.
erence. But from the multitude that
throng its every sunny, silent path, the
eye is for a moment allured by the
charms in natures springtime garb of
this, the city Of our dead, lItI
| ,DrH sag ELMwooD. fEz Df fsfgf
What more lovely spot throughout the
length and breadth of our sunny cline
has affection dedicated to the repose of
its lost ones And how more than lovely
at this season, when every mound, and
shrub, and tree, are clothed with verdure
and gemmed with early flowers, that
glow -
Like stars upon sky Of green"
We know of none; we certainly have
beheld none more attractively beautiful
in the lavishment of nature, and Of art,
than this, our own burial place. And
especially lovely seemed its hallowed
precincts today. The rains which fell
during the early part of the week had
impaired a visible freshness to the leaves
and grass. blades that had drunk them in,
and the little flowers seemed, peri-like,
to have come out of the bgth more
beautiful and pure than ever. The
smile that nature seemed to wear after
her tears, like that of lovely woman, was
tenderer and sweeter than it could have
been without them. Nor had nature
alone conspired to the identifying of the
soldiers resting place, for this, the occa.
sion of the annual tribute to his memory.
- THE ARRANGEMENTS.
Every lot throughout the grounds
seemed by thoughtful hands to have been
put in readiness, and upon the graves of
those to receive the flowers there was
every evidence of care and labor be-
slowed. Upon the gentle slope, among
the arching elms to the north of the FIVE
hundred mounds where sleep in lines,
never to be broken again, the Confederate
dead, and from its elevation looking
down upon them, was erected the stand
on which the ceremonies Of the daywere to
be performed, and here, as they arrived,
seemed the center of the throng of de-
voices, whose circumference could only
be described by the limits of the cemetery
itself. Just to the east of this declivity
where sleep in solid phalanx the private
soldiery, rises, with its graceful contour,
Chapel Hill, its base encircled by lux
uriant hedge of evergreen, and its crest
crowned with forest trees. Upon this
mound, and not stones throw from
each other, we're dug the graves to re-
ceive the remains Of General Preston
Smith and Colonel Jeffrey Forrest, q
spot than which none more beautiful
could have been selected in the cemetery.
To the east of the resting place of the
former rises majestic gum, and to the
west of the latter spreads the broad
beanches Of q venerable elm. At the
rising and the setting Of the sun, the long,
cool shadow Of the one tree shall fall
upon both mounds, and the Aecking light
and shade shall shift from grave to grave,
and play between them as softly and az
silently as the eommunings OF thelr
pulseless inmates. al O. raleI ai q
| Here from the leaves Of these over
arching branches, as from Aolean harp
strings, shall Zephyr strike with Invisible
fingers, a low, sad dirge. And here the
birds of spring shall freight the airy
wiues OF every wind with the rich burthen
of,heir mournful melody. Bat even now
while yet we Hnger at these twin graves
/ The multitude scattered throughout the
cemetery, strewing bright flowers and
immortells on every humble mound that
marks a soldiers resting place, slowly
and silently begin 70 make their nay
% ,be stand, where is to be pro
pouncsd. By reverend lips, the Las
eo,d tribute Of love and honor oveI
he remains Of the two chieftains.
rHE rUsrEaf RITA lt
Already had The burial cases holdini
Al that is mortal Of General smith ant
b,s Gallant comrade in arms been re-