Vicksburg weekly herald. (Vicksburg, Miss.) 1868-1883, 1870-04-30

- VI MS ullANf huu kAAAA ~ Luulu ue
a cause OF wrong, they believed to
be among the things impossible,
written in Heaven. For four long
years, they struggled ON in no
boastful reliance upon the strength
OF their arms, but in sublime faith
in the right OF their country 10 be
free, and when al last, crushed and
broken by defeat, fortune seemed
to set her face against them, still,
they struggled On-hoping against
hope, aud blindly believing That the
God of all would be with them in
the end-that the Right must aud
I rOHid prevail, even against the
mar,haled hosts of all the earth.
And, though that God saw fit to
deny to their glorious struggle,
the II GROWING glory, sue.
cess, yet to the never dying
honor Of this Southern land be
it said, hal the cause OF free
dom and of free government never
had nObler or drawer defenders
than the dead soldiers who sleep
here. The memory OF their Clio.
rious lives aud heroic deaths Is TO
the South the most cherished of all
the idols that she holds to her
broken and sOrrOwiug heart. Year
~, she turns from the contempla-
ton OF "those daily needs that deal
with dust and pelf," TO clasp 1t TO
her bosom aud 10 linger q while
amidst the tender associations that
rise up with its presence. Yearly,
her mothers, wives, and daughters
turn from the accustomed walks Of
daily life, to discharge the sacred
trust which she has cOnfided TO
their care-to bind up this one,
broken idol with the laurel and the
ivy-the myrtle and the cypress.
God forbid that that trust should
ever seem less sacred to them than
upon this day, and in this hour!
God forbid that yonder sun should
ever 60 down, In the distant west,
and leave the graves Of the Confed-
crate dead, that lie scattered over
the hills and hills Of the south, un-
strcwn with flowers from the hands
Of her noble women! Small tribute
this! And poor reCOmpense for
years OF suffering, aud carnage, and
death but, alas amid the ruin Of
our hopes and the wreck OF our
fortunes, II Is all that we can offer.
Though we may not repay it
though we may not testify it, as
our hearts feel it-yet, will we
never forget the debt OF gratitude
we owe 10 those who yielded I'D
their lives "a holocaust to their
country, need" Who will say, that
debt is less or the sooner re-
paid, because those lives were
yielded up in vain?
"Thc debt NJ gratitude
!, not tue b It r"ncIn' cred, where the lip,
l'raf forth III ,r yuiuh'G srd iluert tltc
p!w.'m acAnow' rlgmrrt,
The breast. where gratitude is firm and
deep,
Gives least expires ion 10 the one /, serve;
n trees that Dsar the heaviest oil fruit,
Yield the least r%usiIing TO the che rishing
byc' &c.
Prayer hls is dccalogue and well set chant
To lay or stag; hut prayer can uGcr up
a pu!rr " lbutg 10Th Mighty one,
"hI rules thG thunder and restrains the
WAY s.
Than ever clustered walls rcsnondc 10,
lhe lonely. orp an child, wtO seals ut
night,
Where the round moon shines on a fathers
kaows ltl. how to mould his trusting
faith,
IN proper sentences. but tho dim eye
inat shcis It, binding t. : upon the turf,
Ana then lloks up 10 the Idir, silver STAR
Larrlcs u ray II Irrvc cy
Ia1t viii not be rciertcd. at the throne
VI liiin, an suits the wind 10 the thorn
lamb
In the beautiful language of one
whose heart lies buried in the grave
of Confederate soldier "All We
eau now do is to slug at the graves
OF our Dead but sing rs we may,
in lofty strains or lOwly, we can
never express all our feelings-can
never celebrate all their fame. A
crown, such as our Dead deserve TO
wear, will never be wreathed for
them but It is our duty TO gather
%garlands, which If not beautiful
enough for their brows, we eau.
humbly, lay at their leet."
In scattering these foral offerings
upon the graves that surround us
here to-day, VIC do honor not only
to the silent forms that sleep be-
meath, but to the cause in which
they died, aud 10 every kindred
spirit that marshaled beneath lis
banner. To the dead of the Con.
iederaie armies everywhere, wheth-
or sleeping upon the plains of Vir-
giilia, the mountains of Georgia,
the hills of Tennessee, beside The
great Father of Waters or by the
oceans tide whether gathered to-
geiher in humble cemeteries. where
unPretending marble lifts itself
above the sacred soil, or scattered
upon the fields Of glory, where
they fell, with naught save the
broken earth and battle scattered
forests 10 mark the spot-whether
resting in the bosom Of their dear.
native South, or beneath the cold,
uncongcnial clod OF the fur distant
North, we here offer this grateful
and atlectionate tribute of RESPECT
and reverence. Because they were
men of exalted patriotism uufoil.
ing Iortitude and undaunted our
age because, trusting not to the
strong arm of power, but to the
goodness of their cause, they went
forth, bravely, to do battle for the
right; because they faltered not in
their faith, though enshrouded in
darkness and defeat ; because their
lives were made glorious BY deeds
of chivalry and surprising valor:
because they yielded up life itself,
M n willing aanptH,o