Semi-weekly south Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1883-1889, 1888-02-10
Southern Patriotism.
HONOR TO THE MEMORY OF THE
HEROIC DEAD.
A Patriotic Suggestion.


llb TehuClsj SspSSioAig thO iou'So o"N'
ne representative business men of Hop
III kinsville, a legitimate suggestion
10 one that will be of no little interest
q and importance TO those who partic-
:" lpated and were Immediately con-
>. cerned in the unwilling of the La
-, than Monument.
;. May 10Th, 1887 will ever be romem-
~ bered by the rising generation as an
- epoch in Hopkinsvile's chronology.
:. That memorable day was observed
- here in remembrance of the l0l he
. roic, but unnamed dead, of no par
= ticular army.
70 The spot hallowed by the remains
of men who nobly fell in noble
cause, were that day visited by num-
II, berless thousands anxious to testify
10 their reverence for the patriotic mar
tyrs, who offered Themselves a will
n ing sacrifice on the altar of their
J., country, and gained for the South
a undying glory and immortal fame.
q The testimonial of deep reverence
!, paid these dead soldiers was well and
q nobly recorded. 1t was deserved
and touching tribute worthy of the
dead and creditable to the living,
: and every year as 1t rolls around
Il should see that tribute religiously
n paid. A tribute? A debt rather
: and shame on us if we repudiate
e debt we owe the glorious dead, if,
r while summing ourselves in the glory
| they Dequeath to us, we commit their
3 memories to oblivion and their
graves to strangers. That would,
indeed, prove us bankrupt in graft
tude, and what insolvency so dis
graceful as insolvency of the heart.
The unnamed heroes that fell upon |
the Southern battle fields gave their
lives TO intensity the lustre of their
country's glory, not abstracting from
it one ray wherewith to gild their
humble graves. To perpetuate the
memory of these fallen braves is a
duty the present generation owes to
posterity, for the surest preventive of
decentralization is reverence f."
illustrious deaSro lower the moral q
one as well as the literary and ar
istic taste of a people so far, that
successful swindlers may be regarded
Is great men, yellow covered trash :
as emanations of genius, and sign Il
board painting as triumphs of art. U
This being the case, it is our duty as |!
patriots and as Christians to preserve /;
by every means in our power, the
memory of men who were good as /
we'll as great. Pen and pencil
should vie with each other in this
noble work. Men and women, faith
ers and mothers, sons and daughters
should lend their aid, should do their
utmost to confer earthly Immortality
on men who lived in accordance with
principle, or died in its defense (;
or patriots who sacrificed all for their
country and whose achievements
rendered it illustrious if they could
not make it independent. Every
commemorate monument that rises
in the South will inculcate love of
country and being standing, en-
during protest against the malignant
misrepresentation of mean, coward
ly foes, or the traitorous acquiescence
Of soidisant friends.
Let some committee be appointed
and "all persons who honor purity,
gallantry and devotion be requested
to forward their subscription" to-
ward defraying the necessary ex-
penses. Let some good citizen mani
fest personal interest in this worthy
cause and proceed at once to con-
cert of action. 1t is inspiring to see
people still staggering from the eff
fects OF their late deadly struggle,
giving time and thought to such
things and abstracting from their
necessities means for such purposes.
Let us again gather around Mr..
l Latham's noble gift-this towering
: shaft of liberty, heroism and patriot
Ism, and garland the memorial with
purple lilac flowers and evergreens,
l over which let orators, distinguished,
G deliver appropriate addresses.
! These brave soldiers died unknown
among strangers. No loved ones
fingered around their couch. No
mothers and sisters gentle hand
smoothed their dying pillow-but
stronger hands bore them slowly and
sadly to the silent, unmarked tombs,
echoing in mournful cadences dirge
on the young gallants gone from
earth forever. The cause they taught
for was beneath the foot of power.
. Their patriotism was pure gold, I'M
alleged by love of fame or desire
of glory. In dying they had the
0 satisfaction of knowing they died for
t their country, and the inefIable hap
. pinesp of thinking they would not
' die in vain. Nor have they. Men
! never die in vain for their country
3 from their graves they speak, in
: their deeds they live, by example
, they teach; and though nameless
. they inspire more enthusiasm than
| all the lauroled heroes of antiquity.
Q If the future patriotism should grow
} cold, one glance at these grassy en-
closures will revive 1t, and the shall