Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1888-03-22

into tue oSuAtS. w Astt '<7 4a
derogation either OF the honcsxa II,
courage or the integrity Of thaf Sena'
tor. | sllude to it as a lasslsr o.
history only, and for the purzese q
showing, so far as / may. that thsil
devotion to the South aDd 10 fhs
Southern COnfederacy the netol
from Kentucky aud the Senator from
Missouri can not be suspected d. in-
sincerity. No flag OF State allss ancl
summoned them to cast their fortunes
with the South. No phantom d state
sovereignty allured them, as.s ! =
many others, into that terrsss Eszs'
trophe. No, sir; they went because
they wanted to go. They went be-
cause they believed that slavery was
better than liberty; because they be-
lieved that secession was better than
union; because they believed the stars
and bars were more worthy OF a pa
triot's allegiance than the Stars and
Stripes; because they believed that
Jefferson Davis was more entitled to
respect and confidence than Abraham
Lincoln. They went South, they
allied their fortunes with the Confed-
eracy because they preferred to do so,
and their sincerity can not be suspect
ed.
1t is little singular, however, that
for some subtle and incomprehensible
reason, the Confederates from Union
States are a little more pronounced,
little more aggressive, and little
more violent in their denunciations Of
the North, of the Union armies, of the
veterans Of the Grand Army of the
Republic, than those who had the
excuse TO which l have referred of
following their States into the vortex
Of secession. So it is that upon every
occasion when debate affords the op
portunity the Senator from Missouri,
born in a Union State, a citizen Of a
Union State by adoption, rises here
nd eulogizes the exploits of the Con-
tederate armies, extols their achieve
ments, and by irresistible inference
degrades, belittles, and sneers at the
Union armies and their friends and
allies. .. -
So, in the debate on Wednesday,
last, the Senator from Missouri rises
and says:
When General Lee surrendered at
Appomattox there were but eight
thousand muskets-
Ii the Senator had been there there
would have been eight thousand and
one. Laughter.
When General Lee surrendered at
Appomattox there were but eight
thousand muskets left of that splendid
army which had fought the world in
arms and had been battered and beat
en- back by overwhelming numbers
for four long years. Out Of compGni,s
that went into that terrible strife OF
one hundred and twenty five and one
hundred and eighty men but ten or
twelve returned back to their kindred
and homes. The South to-day is fii.d
with manned and crippled soldiers,
who, amid shot and she'll and sa6er.
stroke. fought for their honest conyic-
tions as men have seldom fought be
fore. They ask no pensions,
Sneeringly said the Senator from
Missouri. The Federal soldiers are
asking for pensions, but the gallant
survivors of the Confederate armies
have asked for no pensions
God be thanked
Said the Senator from Missouri,
growing devout-
God be thanked, they would not
take them. They are no: in aims
houses, and no man has ever seen ore
Of them begging for bread.
The computation Of the Senator from
Missouri must certainly have been
made with his fancy. Is dizzies the
arithmetic OF the imagination to un
dersttnd upon what volume Of stats
ties he founded his amazing anu in
credible statement that there Were
but 5000 survivors of the Confederate
armies at the surrender at Appomat-
tox. If that Senator would pluck a
few Of the plumes from the dazzling
tail of his imagination and stick them
into the wings Of his judgment, he
would fly a bolder, more direct, and
accurate flight.
The official reports show that from
the Goth day Of March, 1865, to April
. of that year there were captured o:
General Lees army 49,4S5 msn in
arms, and that on that fatal day for
the Confederacy, when God failed to
bless their cause, as the Senator from
Missouri said he hoped. He would
have done, there were taken, in ad-
dition to those who had been pre-.
viOusIy captured and parOled, 27,4lf
men in arms, making a total, instead
of 5000 men with muskets who We're