The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1880-08-11

would be better understood ana lCs
lessons utilized for the good of all
sections of our country. The neces'
sites of the country required that the
war should come. There were mis-
understandings which finally led to
the North doing the South great
wrong. The North and the South
construed the Constitution from diff,
ferent standpoints. African slavery
was not the main cause of the war
1t was only an important incident.
which led the way to the discussion
of the right of the general govern
ment to interfere in the affairs Of the
States. The Confederate war, as well
as that of 1776, was waged for an alb
stract principle, and therein they
both differed from the War of the
Roses and other wars in Europe,
which had their origin in practical
grievances or in the desire for power.
We of the South fought for principle
and to resist entertainments upon our
institutions; and, while no section OF
this country is more loyal to the gen.
| eral government than the South is to-
day, yet let it be proclaimed forever
that no true Southern man ever asked
pardon fer the part be bore in the
armies Of the Confederacy.
He bestowed an eloquent eulogy
upon the leaders of the Southern
army, and said that the time was
coming when the impartial verdict OF
history would embalm their names
among the greatest of the earth. Two
of them, however, far ~excelled the
others, and stood the peers of any
military genius the world has ever
produced. These were Jackson and
Forrest, and he gave an interesting
description of their different military
methods and peculiarities. He would
not, he said, join in the cry as to the
obstinacy and self-opinionacy Of the
distinguished gentlemen who stood
at the head OF the Southern Confed-
eracy. His great services, his talents
and his sufferings would einbalm him
forever in the hearts Of his people.
But the virtues OF the Southern
people shone brighter far in the char
acter of the soldiers they sent to the
war, and in their devotion, patriot
ism and self-sacrifces, aud the faith
they had in the justice Of their cause.
To pay a tribute to the noble dead,
the women of the South are erecting
monuments to their memory. Would
that the base of each of these monu-
ments could be as broad, its shaft as
lofty and it's proportions as beautiful
as the patriotism, the virtue and the
lives of these dead heroes. He said
that it was the duty of the people OF
the South, while honoring their past,
to look the present and the future in
the face and realize and adapt them
selves to the new order of things.
Upon the aesthetic we must engraft
the practical and the material. The
glorious attractions Of our climate and
soil will attract immigrants to our
borders, and our people must be
prepared to meet them and grapple
with them in the race of life. With
this infusion of new blood will inevi-
tably come changes in the constitu-
ton of our society. These changes
are now beginning, as the result OF
our contact with other peoples of the
world and of our new condition.
Education is essential and must reach
every strata of society-not simply in
consequence OF the franchise but be-
cause the struggle of the future will
be n OF brains and not of muscle.
In mentioning the changes in our
condition he said that it is q fact that
some Of our people reprobated the
methods of aveuging private wrongs
which wee formerly in vogue, and
/ jLo Lagisiature has been invoked to
provide { more perfect protection to
person aud property; that we are de-
termined to perpetuate catholicity Of
opinion in this State, and this dispo'
sition has gone abroad more than
ever among our people. These are
some of the changes to which We
have to adapt ourselves. After the
struggle we have gone through in the
past fifteen years u country has
come forth many fold stronger than