Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-05-09
THE CANDIDATES.
Enthusiasm of Arkansas-HOW a Lead
ing Helena Lawyer and Railway
Builder Talks About II.
HOuOrs to the mlustrious Dead.

HELENA, Arkansas, May :, 1872.
EDIToRs A~PPRAL-Hurrah! for the
great champions of the people, Greeley,
of New York, and Brown, of Missouri!
We had the pleasure to-dayof attend
ing the simple and beautiful ceremony
commemorative of the Confederate
dead, in the annual strewing of wreaths
and flowers over the graves of the sol
dies who sleep in Evergreen Cemetery.
The day was one Of the l0veliest OF
the always welcome month of May,
clear and vernal; the ardent rays of the
sun being tempered by cooling breezes,
while the fragrance of opening flowers
and the song of birds, the glad freshness
of the woods, the hills and dells, and
the ~far-receding river made the heart
lift itself up in sympathy with the glory
of the season.
From the Methodist Church, where the
preliminaries of the day were had, the
ladies of the Memorial Association
formed in procession of carriages, a long
line of beauty and elegance, and drove
to the cemetery. Alighting at the gate
and slowly ascending the hills, en-
bosomed in which is the silent city, the
fair votaries of valor, laden with floral
tributes, assembled ON the hill, the most
commanding of the group, sacred to the
Confederate dead. From this hill a
splendid view of the Mississippi river, of
the city ofHelena, andOfthe valley ofthe
stream on the Arkansas and Mississippi
shores for miles up and down the
mighty river is had. Major w. f.
Govan, the Marshal of the day, inaugu-
rated the proceedings by introducing the
selected speaker of the occasion, Mr.. G.
A. Otey, who delivered a w~elLcOnsid-
cred and appropriate address, replete
with beautiful thoughts, feelingly and
forcibly expressed, and was followed by
Major GOvan in an eloquent speech of
several minutes, well delivered. 1t may
be proper to remark that no faint of
Dolitical reference marred the sacred
ness of these addresses. They were in
harmony with the spirit of the days
work. a commemorative feast of Chris
tan love and gratitude at the graves of
men who endured privations and fought
and feel at the call of their country, a
call always sacred and we responded
to by the best and bravest of men.
These oral tributes ending the floral
offerings began. There is something
exauisitely beautiful in the tribute Of
flowers to the dead. The renewal of life
beyond the tomb typified in the bud and
bloom of the spring flowers, and the
likeness to the immortal spirit in their
intangible, impOnderable, mysterious,
yet living fragrance, combined with
their beauty, so unlike anything on
earth, which, tinting our minds with
thoughts of paradise, bids us, forces us,
to see God and Immortality in their
composition these have made flowers
the most eloquent and beautiful votive
offerings of the living to the dead. And
now, as we behold these ladies making
each humble grave glow with the love
illness of roses, lilies, asphodel, myrtles,
and all the most symbolic flowers,
mind is aroused to the pleasing fact
that amid the assumed moral desolation
and decadence of Our race, woman is
still true to the immortal principles of
love and gratitude, that we have from
the beginning consented her in the
ewes of our sex as a purer and better if
not a nObler and higher type of man.
quiet, faithful, beautiful, wO-
man! The solace of Adam when ex-
PEELED from Paradise: the companion,
comforter, and last friend of Christ,
weeping at His cross, and waiting at
His sepulcher the patient, devoted,
and loyal friend, to lover, country, p,
lr cause. Woman! God bless her!
never forgets the hand that
jenderly guarded the EheaTt truly loved
Ter, the life that went out in her de-
ence. And to-day, n she silently strews :
gathered flowers OveT the graves !
# the patriot dead, she illustrates anew !
Ter fidelity to that heritage of love and ,
gratitude, which is hers by right divine. .
We noticed among the offerings elabor- /.
tely twined wreaths, crosses, and taste !
ully arranged bOquets, but the simple !
ose bud, leaf, twig, or v~ine-spray, scat !
cred by the hand of love, Overthe grave I
# the patriOtdead, has %elOquence enough !
o enOble the act and !
Bless the turf that wraps their clay
AN act that is twice blessed, honorable J
like to the living and to the dead, be- ]
towing, indeed, more on the n than
he other, for the world knows the glory
hat enshrouds the graves of the Con-
'ederate dead, the wreath of immor-
is on their graves.
"On flames eternal camping ground,
Their silent tents are spread,
And glory guards with solemn round
The bivOuac Of the dead"
The light and beautiful labor was
done, and the sun looked down
upon a duty well performed, a day well
spent, and returning to her home, each
knew that she had retrimmed
the lamp of a kindly virtue, that she
had a glimpse of hat faith which lives d,
the grave, and blooms in amar-
lnthine glory by the river which flows
through the gardens of God.