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

SleS, anu tue ueloS "ueIe IueJ Aeii
will yet become shrines where the
youth of our country will draw in
~spiratiou for noble conduct in the
future. Let liberty be regulated by
law, and let the preservation of our
form of government animate every
member of our community, and let it
be understood that in religion and in
politics the law of progress is the law
of right. Applause.
At the conclusion of General Ken
ncdy's speech little Rosa Meetze pre-
sented him with a beautiful bouquet.
Major Leaphart next introduced
Senator NJ. e. Butler, who was greet
ed with applause. He spoke with
some complimentary remarks to the
ladies, and followed these up with a
funny anccdote, which %captivated the
audience and prepared them to re-
ceive the solid advice he was about to
give them
He said he would not impair the
force of what had been said by his
eloquent friend General Kennedy by
making any extended remarks. He
saw in the audience many familiar
faces that recalled scenes and memo
ries which terminated his heart with
pride and he did not believe it was
inconsistent with our new obligations
that we cherish the memories Of our
dead cause and dead heroes with a
feeling of respect and veneration. 1t
is not inconsistent with nj highest
duty to our common country that we
occasionally revive those memories as
they were doing here, and pay hon.
age to all that is glorious and worthy
in them, and rescue from oblivion the
devoted co lrage and patriotic sacri-
fees of the men and women who made
the Confederate struggle immortal.
A decent respect for the grandeur of
our own achievements will prepare US
the better for a faithful aud patriotic
discharge Of the duties of citizenship
under the new constitution and the
new Union.
He said: I need not admonish you,
my soldier friends, my fellow-com-
rades, that a faithful obedience to the
Constitution and laws of the country,
a cordial support Of the proper au-
thorities, is the first and highest duty
of every soldier who wore the gray;
that he can best fulfill the obligations
of an honorable parole by a strict OBJ
servance of his responsibilities as an
American citizen. This government
and this Constitution is ours. Our
forefathers shed their blood for the
principles Of both, and we shed ours,
not to destroy those principles, but
to perpetuate them as we understood
them. Republican institutions were
always dear to us, and there was
never a day or an hour during our
struggle for the maintenance Of u
Interpretation of the Constitution
when we would have consented to the
destruction of the wo.G of the fathers.
That work lives to-day endowed with
all of its essential elements aud is as
worthy of our support and guardian
ship as when it contained, in our
Judgment, the doctrine Of secession
and the protection to slavery. Both
those features are dead and buried
forever, and their traces r fast dis
appearing. Shall we, the surviving
Confederate soldiers, build upon their
ruins a new country which shall pre-
serve all the glories and grand mem
cries of the old whilst We forget and
put behind all that is not worthy to
be remembered and cherished? The
history Of your conduct since the war
answers the question afirmatively.
The foundation of that building has
been completed by the peaceable res
cue of our country from the hands of
the stranger and the grip of the rob-
Der. We must now 60 forward and
complete the superstructure by keep
ing it jealousy covered and protected
by the agis Of good government.
You can only do this by keeping the
whiteness of your souls uncontamina-
ted by contact with Radicalism. I
mean by Radicalism that political and
social dynasty which arises out of the
corruptible and vicious elements of
society and has for it's basis the rotten