Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1878-05-28

o'clock-under the Marshalship of Jas. N.
Gallaher, with j. c. Holmes, Jno T. Colston
and Geo. W. Henson as Assstants-on
George street, tho right resting on Washing
ton street, in the following order:
Marshal and Assistant Marshal.
Shepherdstown Band.
Winchester Drum Corps.
Winchester Light Infantry.
Charlestown Brass Band.
Orator and Invited Guests.
Charlestown Mechanics Silver Cornet Band
Citizens on Foot.
Citizens in Carriages.
Citizens on Horseback.
The procession then moved up George
street to Congress, down Congress to Water,
down Water to Washington, thence up Wash, 1
ipg.on to Edge Hill Cemetery. At the Gem
etery commodious and neatly decorated
stand had been erected by the employees of
Mr. j. G.. Holmes, to the left of the main
entrance and facing the Southern Soldiers
Monument. The military were filed to the
left of the stand and stacked arms the
Bands were stationed to the right, and vast
area in front was occupied by large assem-
blage gathered from every direction, and en-
bracing citizens of all classes and shades of
opinion.
The order of exercises began with dirge
by one of the Bands, after which the Rev. s.
G. Ferguson offered up an eloquent and im-
pressive prayer. Hon. Jos. G. S. Black burn,
the orator of the day, was then introduced
by VIM i. Wilson. Esq, (who oficiated in
the absence of the President of the Lee Me-
mortal Association, Rev. a. G. HopkiDs,) in
a handsome and indeed a very eloquent little
Introductory address. Mr.. blackburn, after
prefacing his remarks by an allusion to the
important position which the scene of John
Browns exploits would ever occupy in the
history of the sanguiuary struggle which so
soon followed that fanatics attack upon the
existing institutions of the country, proceeded
to deliver an address which, we think, was
about the best we have ever heard on SIM
liar occasion. Without at all admitting that
the South had not the constitutional right to
sever her relations with the Federal G overn>
lnent, he declared that the result of the late
war had proven that she had not the power
to exercise that right and the entire South
was willing in good faith to abide by that re-
suit. But without discussing the great con-
stitutioual question upon which the two Sec
tions of the country had divided in 1861, it
pleasure to honor the memories of the men
who had so heroically given their lives for a
cause which mere physical force could never
prove to be wrong. All the world over, and
from the earliest ages, the men who have
yielded up their lives for the advancement of
O mere abstract principle. have justly been
regarded as heroes, and have received the
homage due to heroic men. 1t was, there
fore, not necessary now to discuss the consti-
tutional merits of the quarrel in which our
heroic dead had given their lives. Learned
and scientific men have asccrtained that since
the creation of the world not an atom of mat
ter has ever been lost !; the world is to-day
neither heavier nor lighter than when it was
first created. 1t is in the moral as in the
physical world every particle of truth will
live forever. History, in her search after
truth, will not allow results achieved by mere
brute force to influence her conclusions
But it is impossible to do justice in our short
space to address which was at once beau>
tiful in language, correct in the theories ad- |
vanced, aud most happy in its delivery.
When Mr.. Blackburn had concluded, Mr.. |
Wilson announced that Col. Johnston,
nephew of Gen. Albert Sydney Johnston,
and at present Secretary of State of Ken
lucky, was upon the platform. Col. johns
ston, in obedience to the wish of the audience,
made his appearance, but would not consent
to do more than express his participation in
the patriotic feeling which had that day
drawn such crowd together.
At the conclusion of Col. Johnston's re-
marks the Benediction was pronounced by
the Rev. Mr. Ferguson, after which music
was rendered by the Bands, whilst the graves
of the Confederate Dead were strewn with
flowers.
After sufficient interval the procession
was reformed and moved to the Episcopal
and NJ ethodist burial grounds, (the soldiers
graves in each of which we're decorated,) and
thence to the Court. House, where it was dis
missed.
The fine appearance and soldierly bearing
of the Winchester Light Infantry in the line
of the procession, we're most favorably COM
mented upon. Those gallant and noble
souled veterans of the old "Stonewall Bri>
gade," Capt. Jim Burgess and First Lieu,
tenant Joe. Mutton, were heartily greeted on
every hand by their old comrades in arms,
and Lieutenant Faulkner, who followed the
fortunes of the gallant Mosby in the latter
years of the war as a STRIPPING cavalier, looked
every inch soldier. The Drum Corps at
tached to the Infantry furnished good music,
was handsomely uniformed, and included in
the gallant Fifth Virginia.
The Shepherdstown Band discoursed good
music throughout the day, and preserved its
reputation as one of the best in the Valley,
whilst our own Bands acquitted themselves
with credit to their organizations and to the
town.