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

body was to be unveiled, man whom
! honored. and whom We all respec.
ted. Upon that occasion the vsnsra-
bic ex-president of the Confsdsraey
was invited to be present. 1t was a
day that never viii be forgotten in
the annals of the South. They fiocked
to that city as men so to banquet or
rs doves hosk to their windows.
They
Came as the winds come, when
Forests are rcnded;
Came as the waves come, when
Nayies are stranded.
The city was decorated with the
Confederate emblem brought ont TO
make a Confederate holiday, and an
orator was selected to give voice to
the sentiments Of the inhabitants of
the lost Confederacy. not in 1866. but
in 1886. twenty years after the sur
render at Appomattox, and twenty
years after we had been told that the
South in good faith had accepted the
results Of the war and desired to come
in under the old flag ard obtain the
necessary appropriations. Laughter.
I have the Grafton delivered by the
speaker upon that occasion, not gar
bled and mutilated extract printed
in Northern paper, but the cOrrec.
ted copy printed in the paper that the
orator himself edits, believe. There
fore it is entitled to credence; it is
authentic and authoritative. 1t may
be, perhaps, instructive and entertain
ing, in view of what we hear about
the reconstruction Of the South, their
their desire to cooperate
with the North in accomplishing the
great results of our destiny under the
Constitution of the Union, to hear
what he says; and at the risk Of tres
passing upon your patience / will,
with as little abbreviation as l can,
the Grafton delivered on that
occasion. AS said, it was to unveil
a monument to Benjamin Harvey Hill.
The orator said
Had the great man whose memory
is perpetuated in this marble chosen
Of all men one witness to his constan.
cY and his courage, he would have
chosen the honorable statesman whose
presence honors this platform to-day.
Had the people of Georgia chosen of
all men one man to-day to aid in this
sacred duty, and. by the memories
that invest him about, to give deeper
sanclhy to their work, they would
have chosen Jefferson Davis first and
last president of the Confederate
States.
l do not blame him for that, Mr..
President. ! can understand it; in n
certain sense honor it, because he
spoke what l believe were the honest,
truthful, and courageous sentiments
of his heart, as l believe the Senator
rom Kentucky and the Senator from
Missouri have done in this debate.
1t is good, sir.
He confinnad-
turning to Mr.. Davis for you to be
lere. Other leaders have had their tri-
imphs. Conquerors have won crowns,
md honors have been piled on the
1ictors Of the esrth's great battles;
put never yet, sir. came man to more
owing people. Never conqueror wore
prouder diadem than the deathless
love that crowns your gray hairs to-
lay. Never king inhabited more
splendid palace than the millions of
brave hearts in which your dear name
and fame are forever enshrined.
Speaking to you, sir, as the son of
soldier who sealed his de.
votion with his life-holding kinship
through the priceless heritage Of his
blood to you and yours-standing
between the thinning ranks
Of his old comrades, whose faltering
footsteps are turned toward the grave,
and the new generation thronging
eagerly to take the work that falls
unfinished from their hands-here in
the auspicious present, across which
the historic past salutes a glorious fu-
ture, let me pledge you that the love
we bear you shall be transmitted to
our children and our childi en- is chill
dren, and that generations yet un-
born shall in this fair land hold your
memory sacred and point with pride
to your lofty and stainless life.
My countrymen-
He continued
turning to the crowd let us teach the
lesson in this old mans life, that de.
feat hath its glories no less than VIC
tory. Let us declare that this outcast
from the privileges of this great Gov
ernment is the uncrowned king Of our
people, and that no Southern man,
high or humble, asks greater glory
than to bear with him heart to heart
the blame and the burden ofthe cause
for which he stands unpardoned. In
dignity and honor be met the respon.
sibilities Of our common cause. With
dauntless courage he faced its charges.
In obscurity and poverty he has for
twenty years borne the reproach of
our enemies and the Obloquy Of de-
feat.
And as if this were not enough, as
if enlnrv had not been exhausted he