Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1873-05-21

u
freesboroi, Drury's Bluff, Petersburg an,
Atlanta. But we cannot pause to coun
the long roll of battles great and small
that shed respondent light and glory upo1
Confederate arms. Nor have we the gift
to sing, could we be allured by so glitter.
ing an array, the praises of our chieftains
good and great. The names of your Lees
Johnstons, Jacksons, Hills, Cleburnes and
Stuarts, written in letters of living glory
| upon our hearts, will go sounding down
the corridors of all coming time, and need
| not the moulded bronze and sculptured
marble, mans towering mockeries of de-
cay, to perpetuate their memory. There
is a bright galaxy of Southern names that
| defy the ravages of time, and when histo-
ry shall have made up her impartial re.
cord, they will enter the lists of the great.
fit compeers of the greatest. - ~
But the fates are truly MEMORABLE, and
there is no remedy in vain regrets. Forth
tude repines, never. The fraternal truce,
and, be it hoped lastingly, hovers over the
great contending legions, each worthy of
the metal OF their own, sheathed blades.
Alas! What thought these visions
brood 70 have, in so little time, and in
our day, outlived builded hope of so much
and SO promising splendor. 'Tis but brief
span of time, since that Confederacy, in
the beauty and sym metry of all its parts,
burst upon startled world At first, sum
shine seemed to settle in its path, but 10!
in twinkling shadow then cloud
then storm black and dread then the
forked lightning scathed her as an old oak
stripped of its limbs and left her shivering
in the blast. The philosophy of attrition
and the overwhelming power of numbers
solved its brief but brilliant existence,
But let US never forget the annual re-
turn of these loved duties we are here this
day to fulfill. Let our flowers, with our
sympathies warm, mantle the mound of
each sleeper here, and, withdrawn from the
joys and hustle of life, take our hearts
without the portals of its sordid keeping,
and commune for the time with our COM
rades, now far beyond the valley and
shadow of death. 1t were fighting, too, in
this connection, to commend the fair hands
that uphold this Association 1t is found |
ed in their hearts and fOstered i'm their af |
fections, and true to the history of their |
sex, these "Angels of Mercy" have ever |
ministered to its life and prosperity. May |
its fervOr forever glow and its mission |
never end.
Within sight of the grave of our gall |
liant dead, whose memories we hold dear, |
and from whose renown we borrow, it |
seems not an uniting time to address our
selves briefly to the living present. We
are face to face with its momentous realities,
which point to scenes-vain with genius
identified with 1iterature-full of national |
lealousies and hopes-negotiating peace
rife for war-sending the Bible into one
land-the sword in another. A mighty |
Of nn1 mnags nG nabag Of the world ALL
see to it, therefore, that we act well that |
part. ~
There are yet broad fields of prophetic
oil hnfOrQ 1
us invitingly spread. Each generation is |
of another, perhaps, too, of
loftier days, themes and men. When we |
end, another will begin. When we fail, |
another will succeed, and enlarge, and add |
new laurels to the triumphs of genius. No |
matter what misfOrtunes have Overtaken |
us in times past-here is our country, and |
here our destiny is cast, and in the spirit |
of noble dedication, let us betake ourselves |
to the task--tO guide her interests, to ele-
vate her standard. and be prepared for
whatever emergencies events may press to
our homes. Whether in private or public |
life, high and honorable duties are before |
us. We have committed to our care more
than any other, the destinies of
the people of the South, a people as fair
and true " as e'er the sun shone on" And
while we would address our efforts to our
whole country, yet let us look faithfully
and flxedly upon our own loved South,
never faltering in the endeavor to project
her higher and yet higher in the horizon
of moral and political splendor.
And now, and forever more, may the
angel spirits of our departed and unfair.
nished heroes cast the mantle of purity and
preservation over our aims and purposes,
and may we all. and may our beloved
South, be held in the hollow of the hand
of the Most High.
At the conclusion of Mr.. Anderson's adj
dress, the band played a solemn air, dur
ing which time the flowers were distribut-
ed over the graves by the hands of the fair
members of the Society, and such other
ladies as chose to assist them. The cere-
monies were concluded by Dixie, after
which the entire party returned to the city,
nothing having occurred to mar the So
lemnitY of the occasion.