Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1872-08-30
ELOQUENT PERORATION.
a Noble Tribute 20 our Departed
Heroes.

Extract from Rev. DIR. Palmers Address in the |
Lee Memorial Chapel, June 2oth, 1871
"Finally, we must bring over to the fn- |
ture patriotism that is born of adversely |
and trial, more intense and pure than in |
the prosperous and joyful past.
Love of country is ineXLinguishable, be- |
cause it is filial. 1t ranks with that we |
owe to the parents that begat us, and have !
given to us their image and their name. |
But plead for it not upon the cold foot |
ing Of duty, but precious sentiment of
the heart. AS principle, it strikes its
root far down into the consciO Lsness, but
its bloom must expand into holy passion,
and its fruit ri pen into acts of enduring
service for the public veal. The best at
fectiOns of the soul are those which
strengthen under trial. The alloy of sell
hshneSs burns in the crucible, and the pure
love comes forth with power of en-
durance which nothing can exhaust. 1t is
thus We bear up each other under the dis
cipliIe of life, not through the compulsion
of necessity, nor the cold obligation OF
| duty, but with warm devotion which
| finds its joys in the ministries of love.
genuine patriotism is not that which shouts
itself hoarse amid holiday celebrations,
but when the country groans in the an
! guish of great crisis, waits upon it's des-
| tiny, though it be that of the tomb.
many graves and overshadowed by such
| solemn mem0fIes, calls for conservation
| of the heart which shall be equal to its
| grief. The patriotism which these days
| demand must refine itself into martyrdOm.
1t must suffer as Web as act. Strong i'll
! the consciousness of rectitude, it must
nerve itself to endure contradiction and
scorn. If need be, it must weep at the
burial of civil liberty, and wait with the
| off for aiT of
Such a spirit will wear out the longest
tyranny and assist at the coronation of
brighter destiny.
Young gentlemen of the University, l
have delivered the message with which
felt myself charged. l have not been able
to address you with the tripperies of rhe-
toric have done you the higher honor
Of shpposing you capable lof sympathizing
with the deep emotion of my own heart.
When your note of invitation reached
me some months ago, it touched me with
the sol mnity of call from the grave. l
felt, as L turned my steps hither, that l
was making pilgrimage to my countrys
shrine. | should be permitted to stand un-
covered at the tomb of the immortal chief
! who sleeps i'll such grand repose beneath
these academic shades where he found rest
after heroic tolls. Should l look upon it
as the emblem of my cOuntry's death ?
VT SuOulu PROPHECY DcSlue IL LIEo DlrCQ OF
a new career? Memories as holy as death
have been throwing their shadows over
my spirit and have spoken in the inter-
est of country, OF duty and of truth.
The dim forms of Washington and Lee
twin names upon American history as we'll
as upon your own walls-appear before
me the Rhadamanthus and the Minos, who
shall pronounce jut glnent up very anti-
ment uttered here. If aughL said by lie
should draw the frOwn Of their displeas-
ure, may the Angel of Iity drop a tear,
and blot it out forever! Standing upon
the soil which gave birth to a.Washington,
a Madison, Jefferson, a Henry, Ran
dol PHI, Marsh all, a jackson and Lee;
and lifting the scroll which hangs around
the ensign of my native State the names
of Pinckney, Laurens, Rutledge, Lowndes,
McDuflie, Hayne, Calhoun, l summon
their immortal shades around his tomb
whom nation has so lately incurred.
III their dread presence l sOlemnly de-
clare that the principles of our fathers are
our principles to-day, and that the stones
upon which the temple of American liberty
was first built, are the only stones upon
which it shall ever be able to stand. And
you, gentlemen, representing the young
thought and hope which must shortly deal
with these mighty issues, | swear each one
of you by an oath more solemn than that
OF HanlDal, not that you Will destroy Rom,
but that you will save Carthage. charge
you, if this great Republic like a gallant
ship must drive upon the breakers, that
you be upon the deck, and with suspended
breath await the shock.
perchance she will survive it, but if she
sink beneath the destiny which has de-
voured the great kingdoms of the past, that
you save from the melancholy wreck our
Ancestral Faiths, and work out yet upon
this Continens tAe problem of a free, con-
StitutiOnal and popular government.
And may the God OF dcstinies give you
a good issue.