Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1869-03-02
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Confederate Dead.
BY wM. ARCHER COOKE.

Our exchanges inform us of a movement
co-extensive with the area of the late Confeder-
ate States, to provide Cemeteries suitable to
the Confederate dead.
The very term Confederate dead. has an
eloquence which reaches the heart. 1t does
not embrace those who lived, while they lived,
on pelf, and died of rotteuness in comfortable
chambers, far away from the roar Of artillery,
and the rattle of musketry, where men laid
down and died with the life blood flowing from
them. No, the Confederate dead, means those
brave, honest patriots who for country barred
their breast to the storms Of war for liberty
died under the 1ng of their native land. or
with sekcned body and mutilated limb perish
ed in the hospital. These are our Confeder-
ate dead, who sealed their love of principle
with death bed scene thnt will forever stamp
their names on the roll Of honor.
They are in character
"Msjestic men, whose deeds have da=zled faith'
OF each may it be said
CIV ith his back to the field and his feet to the foe
And leaving i'll battle nL blood on his name;
Look proudly to Heaven from the death bed of fame
Bury our Confederate dead in beautiful
cemeteries Let tue chlSel of the artist, TIE
cumming of the artisan decorate their graves !;
let the innocent warbe Of tho forest songster
be heard in tho willow that wceps above the
m0numeutal stone Let woman come With
her plastic hand, and pure Christian heart,
aud plant fresh flowers around the last resting
place Of Llberty's martyrs. Here the sweet
Young wife may gather at early morn and
dewy eve, and, as she mIngles her tears of de-
votion with the dripping of the flowers, she
can tell her orphan child how a noble father
fell. Here the aged matron and feeble sire
may totter around the heaving earth tiIut holds
the remains Of the only stay and prop of their
declining years.
Does any one ask
'sCan storied animated bust,
Back to its mansion call the fleeting breathe
Can honors voice provoke the silent dust,
Cr tlattery soOthe the dull, cold of death.
Alas no; but the gratitude of a people
for soldier band of such worth and character
and honor as sour Confederate dead" should
be perpetuated in history on the canvass, upon
the breathing marble. The Settles of the
dead should receive the embelllshment of art
the cultivation OF taste, and above all, let the
rising generation see and feel that though un-
successful against mighty armies, yet their
names are to memory ever dear, and those
WIN are now younger brothers, or little orphan
bows may see that brothers and fathers, though
sleeping beneath the sod, are still remember
ed by grateful people.
Nor is it an empty honor, we do justice to
our own appreciation of all that is excellent !;
we erect u shrine where genius and worth may
offer their devotions, we open school where
the ardent young mind may cultivate an un-
dying admiration not for the glare O: military
tinsel, but for high toned chiyalric honor
for unshrinHing valor.
EmbelIisb these hallowed spots engrave
upon marble and upon granite your gratitude
and your appreciation for moral worth you
are re-enacting the history of classic Greece
and Rome; you are adding another tune to
the melody of song-additional FIRE to the
blaze of eloquence, fresh stream of devotion
to the genius of Liberty.