The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1878-05-30

llnent, but | trust you Will find it sufficient
near the spoken original to merit somethin
of the honor conferred by its publication.
| Yours respectfully,
A. q. THOMAS.
Ladies' Of tile Mtrietta Memorial 1ssOciatjo,
and fslloo Citizens
Nothing but a deep devotion tc
the sacred memories of the "LosI
Cause" and profound anxiety tc
contribute my humble efforts to per
petuate the heroism, the valor, and
the extreme sacrifice, even life, Of
our noble dead, could induce me tc
appear as your speaker to>day. -
With only few days notice and {
few hours at command which | could
devote to prepar alton for the duties
of the hour, | beg you to be char:ta
Bile in your criticisms Of my imper
feet attempt to fill the measure o
the honorable position to which your
too partial voice has called me.
We are moved to this welcome
annual labor of love by deep anx.
iety to vindicate the great principles
which are illusti ated by the thou
sands of graves of the noble defend
ers of national and State rights for
whom country PROSTATE in the
dust is to-day weeping, while her
daughters scatter howers-sweet
emblems of their immortal fame
over their hallowed tombs. Yes,
here we are under the beautiful
blue of the Southern sky-in the
young shade of springs new leaves
-bathed with the glory of the
declining sun, drinking in the balmy
air laden with the breath of thou
sand blooms to decorate with immor.
telles and sauctify with our tears
those solemn mounds of Goods
acres" !; which looking up to heaven
tell the story of patriotism and hero
lia deeds of.noble valer done beneath
the folds Of the BARS and Stars,
now, alas! forever furled. We are
here to scatter flowers but not for
this alone. We are not here to tear
agape the closing wounds of civil
strife, and bid the blood of hate flow
afresh, or to rouse the smouldering
embers of animosity already dead
into redder flames. We are not
here to speak harshly of our North
ern>fellow citizens, or to slur COW
ardly at the courage of their myriad
dead heroes, whose prowess illumi-
mated hundred bloody fields with
our brothers for their foe, nor to
point with any, save the finger of
pride to the eleven thousand graves
of Federals lying just yonder be-
meath our own blue dome, around
which graves we ever tread with
solemn step and bated breath, for
they were somebody's darlings we
know.
But VIC are here with higher and
nobler purposes, to hallOw the mem-
DRY of our own Confederate dead !; to
Justify the motives for which they
and their surviving comrades in suf>
ferings and in battles fought; to tell
to the world that they struggled for
the ever living principles of free
government Of the people by the
people and the inalienable guaran-
tees of constitutional liberty that
every blow struck by Southern arms
was mighty protest against iufidel-
ity to constitutional right and a
proud effort for the preservation of
the spirit and letter of that grand
old compact of our forefathers, the
Constitution of the-not consolidas
ted nation-but of the United States
of America, and heroic resistance
against sectional supremacy and
tyrannous Capitalization. We are
here to rekindle the flames of our
love for our common country at the
altar fires of the heroism of our own
martyred dead; and to teach our
children that these flowers are to
fall on no traitors graves; that
these mounds consecrated by wo
mans devotion and blessed by wo-
mans care, cover no traitors forms !;
but that these dead ones were heroes
battling, bleeding, dying for holy
cause, which they felt to be right
and righteous, at the ever welcome
call Of their country, who wore en-
blazoned on their escutcheon the sub &.
lime legend, "Duty to Native State"
We are here to tell cur young men
and maidens that whatever of politi-
cal rights they enjoy tO>day, what
ever of State autonomy, whatever re-
establishment of constitutional su-
premacy and~rcturn to constitutional
governnao6t is but the outcome of
the glorious principles. for which
THESE died. And thus, while we
honor our dead by strewing flowers
on their graves, we do them double
honor by doing justice to their mem-
cries and this is but doing our own
daty to our country aud to the world,
to our man aud matrons Ito our
children aud to what we hope shall
be an illustrious pOsterity.