The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1868-04-22

the sorrows aud tears OF our WIDOWS anu
oruhans, And we shall keepit alive. The
right Of our cause did not fall with Rich.
mond. 1t exists to-day as clearly as It ala
when the first boom Of our gnns sounded
across the Carolina waters, and when the
Palmetto flag-mid the ringing ofbells, and
the rapture Of gladdened hearts and the
sounding OF cheers which the shore sent
over the sea-wayed in triumph over Sum-
ter. And on that April day when Lee
gave up his sword bright and unblemished
Us when he first girded it on, he yielded
merely, and only, the policy OF future resls,
tance- not the principle which had lifted
that resistance into right and sanctlhed
it as a duty. Right began our struggle,
right justified and ennobled it, right ANNA
ted our soldiers, right made them strong to
suffer, strong to endure; right made them
brave to dare, and, bravest of all, to die;
right marched with them, step by step, into
every cory field; right flashed in the sheen
Of their swords, thundered in the boom Of
their cannons in every fray; right wreathed
a glory around their banners whenever
their banners were borne, right consecrated
their victories and consoled them in their
defeats; right lit in their hearts the flames
| Of that heroism which, blazed out into
deathless deeds; right nerved them to every
sacrifice they made, to every hardship they
endured; right lit beacon fires Of glory on
the plains Of Manassas, on the heights OF
Fredericksburg, in the swamps OF the
Chickahominy, Ia the trenches Of Rich
mand, on The mountains Of Tennessee, In
the battle.places Of Kentucky, on the soil
Of Georgia, on the seabord oftbe ,Carolinas
| in the wilds beyond the Mississippi; and,
now, right stands amid our ruins and
graves, and pointing to the stories OF our
cause and waiting in hope for the terrible
Iretribution of the future, lifts towards the
heavens the manacled hands, which, there
at least, have never pleaded in vain, and
solemnly protests against the expressions
| Of victorious wrong; and we, for one, join
now aud always in the. protest. We stand
| by the Past Of our country and cause, and
we accept no Future which will accept that
Past. There are men who bent their ,prin
ciples before the bayonet. There are mel
who desert the affairs Of Lost Cause
around which they once stood with the
blood in their hearts painting for liberation
and who kneel to offer homage at the oil
tiers Of successful wrong. There are mel
who trample under foot the very standards
that once aoated proudly over them
There are men base enough to lift thel
hands against the very rights for which
they once uplifted swords. We are no
such. For us, principle is principle, righ'
is right-yesterday to-day tomorrow
forever Submission to might is not sur
|render ofright. eyield to the one--bu
shall never yield to the other.
| We shall do our best, therefore to saw
from oblivion the memories and traditions
of the Confederacy. Whoever in tn
South is ashamed Of these had better no
Tread "rHE BANNER OF THE ScurH." Ami'
the questions which agitate the present, W
should never lose pride in our past. 1t j
too grand to be forgotten. Pass down it
memories they should live forever,