The Aberdeen examiner. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1866-current, 1884-06-12

| w" itOspeNCy. but alAs ANS rs the
| North sprang from the infancy Of an
| oppressed little band 10 the manhood Of
q glorious republic; as she left the rus,
| tic huts OF her pilgrim fathers and found
homes in elegant mansions, she forgot
the covenant OF her fathers, los. her
| heritage and cut with the sword Of
ljealousy the constitutional chords OF
ttrlodom. At this juucture Of Affairs,
| the South in modest Stiffness ana lumii
| ty thuldered forth from her national
| balls Of legislation in tones OF vehem.
ent oarnestuess aud fiery pungent rhet-
orics, peace be still. But there was no
voice to answer save the voice of that
peace which is false in its methods and
consequently oppressive in its neasures,
that peace which meant poverty and
weakness for the South, wealth and
strength for tho North; that peace
which swept Louis Napolson's empire
from the nations of earth, and which
would have hurled this country from
the path Of national rsctitude and honor.
We believed il local self-government,
and local leaving alone, whence, says
Victor Hugo, "English liberty took its
rise" We believed in q Federal Union
and Republican Institutions. and We be-
lieved that such was the nature of the
compact to which we had acoadcd
Therefore how could the South for her
own tranquility rs well as for the vel
fare of postority accept such terms of
| peace. The South saw the Dutch Re,
public in the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries; she saw Greece at the fore
head of the world, but was it when her
sovereign States pAned OF their edges
were stuck, carbuncle shape, in AIeyan~
ders ring, or WAS it when the planes of
her rose.diamonds had each focus Of
its own. Such instances shown out to
the South from afar like another Pleiad
beacon in heaven. The only logic
which then remained to tho South WAS
the ultima ratio roqnuu,, accordingly the
mighty gate Of Janus revo,ved upon its
rusty hinges, and Beaufegard with his
brave followers marched grandiy under
its portals TO reclaim the broken frag-
merits Of f. demolished government and
the shacElei columns Of constitutional
lioerty. Oh to what higher station,
did tles9 sleepng heroes exc i'm c .hey
marched to tho thrilling ecstatio song OF
duty, can any mortal aspire more than to
servs as the guardian angel Of his couu>
tries oause.
Northern sculptors, essayists, orutors.
and historians have exhausted the re-
sources Of AIT and language in pio.uaug
the scenes and Actors Of this war. 1t
suiiees to cay, however. without CONS
meutlng On the artificial and diversified
colo.s OF these pictures, that it Is truth
| wu.A paints il vivid ;ints Of grandeur
Glu beauty, ana when the scenes of this
conflict shall have been portrayed in
culorA Of truth, presented in the pure
white light ui history, the vay-farer will
| gaze upon il with feeling OF pride
mingled with indignation, the former for
the south, the latter for the North, That
part VI the picture. representing the
mmRadefs OF the valley; THAI part he
speaking yAo deep0iring cry which wives
ami httla ones raised to wintry skioa lit
by tbs balefaI glare OF burning homes,
which we're borne upon every blast from
the cotton lands OF Georgia and the rice
fields Of Carolina, that part representing
the long arm and 3inewy grip Of ull the
athletics OF greed and impecuueous
aloltness, will elicit from the way farcr,
the pilgrim, and the patriot two oouclu-
/ NADL9 Ah'ss 'udV tuO blStNAG lHS SSth
touched by the black hand Of ErebEs,
and second, that the conflict it represents
was against the dictates Of humanity and
the requirements OF justice, yes; Il blot
upon the esoutcheon of this government.
1t is foreign to our subject to say more
about these ghaatly, bloody pictures Of
the past. For the future honor and rep.
utation Of this Republic, they should be
obliterated from our memory ere the
lamp OF the nineteenth century extin-
gulsles. But at the same time, fellow
citizens, we should reserve to ourselves
the gracious privilege of porpetuating
the memory OF our hero dead, not only
by entwining around their graves the
myrtle, the laurel and the violet, but by
vindlcahng the cause in defense Of which
they fell, and which to us is SO lovely.
Yes, covered with reproaoh, for us is
pure; crowned with thorus, for as is
holy. Then when time in his oeaseless
flight shall have shrouded the bloody
sword in the veil Of oblivion, their
heroic deeds will eloquently tell how
they, far away from home amid the wild
glare of battle, gave up.
''The last libation that liberty draws,
From the heart that burst and breaks in her
| cause
Yes. will tell how they bore the GOV.
enant of strength like the plume of vic
tory from Bethel to Gettysburg. Such
deeds will over cause their spirits TO rise
up in dcwy freshness, touching the sool
OF The South wi.h the sublime thought,
mon die, but them deeds live.
Twentv three years ago our Confede,
rate soldiers, some living, and some now
dead, left their peaceful homes to obey
tue authority md uphold the honor Of
their sovereign States, This proud step
led to the great questions underlying the
relation Of State to government, which
have, in the main, been settled by polit-