Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-05-08

the conqueror to impoie such conditions
and restrictions npon the vsnquished ns
would remove all reasonable ground Of
apprehension. But this right is TO be
used only as shield to protect, and not
as sscord to Cypress and punish; and
when the question Of safety is determined,
the Just or magnanimous conqueror
nc-or seeks to make further display or
application Of his power.
That the organized political action OF
| States can be regarded as mere insur-
rection of individuals and outlaws--that
the crime of treason and rebellion can
legally or justly be imputed to whole
people attempting to establish govern
ment for themselves, are propositions
too absurd to admit of argument and
hence there never has been, and never
can be, until the administration of justice
becomes a mockery, conviction of
treason growing out of the events of our
civil war. Had results been different,
the South might indeed have had her
Arnolds, but they would not have been
found among the number of those who
followed her flag and were faithful to her
cause.
| Why then denounce that in US as
crime which in any other people would
be denominated patriotism? Why seek
to add humiliation and dishonor to the
modification of defeat? Why require
US to expose ourselves to the scorn and
derision of the world, and to the execra-
ton of our posterity, by exhibiting an
abject and cringing servility; by feign-
ing repentance we do not feel-proving
ourselves to be heartless ingrates to our
living and our dead-false to all the
memories Of the past and the hopes of
the future2 Why not allow us to
| Snatch from the ashes of our sires
The embers of their living fires,
And leave to other times name
We. too, had rather die than shame? ?"
Surely may be permitted to say that
since the cessation of hoslilities, no peo-
Pile have ever exhibited a more sincere
desire for peace, or more scrupulous
obedience to the laws and observance Of
their political duties and obligations than
the people of the Southern States, who
are so persistenty denounced as rebels;
and gladly would we efface the bitter
recolections Of the past and look forward
to an era of concord and unity in the fu-
ture. But if this boon is to be purchased
at the price of all that the noble heart
delights to cherish, at the sacrifice of all
the claims of honor and manhood and
the tenderest rites of humanity, ah
This is infamy beneath towards bsseness."
which every honest heart must loathe.
And should the time ever come when we
shall want the manly virtue to vindicate
our living and our dead against unjust
assailment and imputed crime; when we
become forgetful of our obligations to
those who molder here beneath these
sods and slumber elsewhere in their
countless unknown graves, then shall we
incur the whitening reprobation of man.
kind, and will deserve to be forgotten of
our God
Rest, then, ye now peaceful slsepers!
Rest until -.
tiisrtq --" the nations hear
The blsst that wakes the dead
"Your own loved mother earth
Enshrines tho fallen brave;
In her sweet lap, who gave you birth.
You find your tranquil grave!
Whilst living, for all your tolls and trials
your only pay was gratitude and glory
and dying, many of you had no heritage to
transmit but honor. Be it ours to preserve
this sacred legacy with more than miser
care and when some craven soul would
desecrate your graves aud snlly your fair
fame, then let the exclamation leap from
our indignant hearts,
"They were true to the last of their blood and
their breath,
And like reapers went down to the harvest of
death
And leaving in battle no blot on tholr name.
LOOK proudly. 70 heaven from the death bed
OF fameV
And should man-selfish and time
serving mau-prove recreant to his trust,
thank God there are those of more &C.
estial mold, whose ever faithful hearts
will be your holy shrine She, whose
lips imprinted on your cheek the linger-
ing kiss as you went forth at duty's call
to breast the storm Of battle; that angel
one who lowered round your bard and
homely bunk as you lay gaspipg with
your wounds; who famed your fevered
face, and wiped the death damp from
your brow; lol she maintains her vigil
yet around your sleeping dust And
through the long vista of the years to
come shall you behold her constant still
teaching her offspring to revere your
honored names-sdorning these, your
otherwise untrophied graves, with the
sweet symbols Of her grief and love, and
rearing here ere long the towering shaft.
transmitting to the after time the record
of your manly deeds, inscribed by peer
less woMAN's hand
POEM.
Mr. Duke Williams, the Marshal, read
the following poem, written by the Rev.
R. L. McEhse,
DECORATE THEIR GRAVES"
nv REV n T. M'aREE