Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1889-01-04
Confederate Reunion at Chatam, Va


VI NOItHcTH W EiH1s t'"'' p u.s. 2 "
Hemcn:
You will allow n,c to thank you faI
the honor which yun have Conferred
upon me in inviting NE 10 ai'resS you
en this oecasion appreciate II all lhr
more highly brcl It came Of rs owu
accord while | Unconscious Of sour pur
pusc was engaged, in h" dut o. OF ms
holy calling | couli MOI rri'ist whcn
,lllrd upon y You q. assure ! "a "t The
inter st | take. o le sympathy feel
in the AIMS ant w,rk Of this IS clation
That work Is holy Ia every age, II
ever, land ~hrre civii.z,l men have
f,urled aud maintained tree institutions,
tho duty of han in1 doSu To- posirrlt,
the names Of those wnu di"d iut tnelr
cruntry has been r coEu'z d "a, sacred
Te was ~ among the ane.rui tricks. =
tqver the remains Of the l92 Athenlans
who died at Marathon a mound WE
erected which % centuries have no
DESTROYED The heroic band who fell a.
Thermopylae were hOnorel with memo
rails no less splendid.
And surely W. may say II mn ~
ag past have honored thus their vail
ant dead. that th.se our comrades, VIE
twenty-five years ago scaled with THEN
blood their devotion to then native State,
deserve to be held ia lasting remcm-
brance.
The very motives viii h inspired their
valor would entitle them alone to the
admiration of pOstcrity These men
we're no selfish politicians plot lns for
their own advantage to over lrow the
Onion. Of the Sta'es. They were no
reckless fanatics tearing down ~ day
the fair fabric whirh seventy y'ars had
served to consolidate.
L. ~ to me matter Of profoundcst
gratitude that the S ate ut Virginia and
the people Of Pittsylvania refused 10 be
hurried into secession by the action Of the
Southern States, that they sent to the
convention men pledged &c maintain the
Union as long as they could maintain II
without sacrificing the honor Of Virginia
that they bore with patient cqpnnmitl
the ieers aud taupts of hot headed seces-
rion,sts. that tney used every ctfor
which patriotism and wisdom could lug.
ycst To avert the horrors Of impending
war. that even to tie last they hoped
against hope for the maintenance Of
peace.
How that hope was blasted, how those
efforts failed, VIC all know but too well
The fall Of Fort Sumpter precpitatcd
the crisiaa, 'EAe callof.Pra>l.ient LA,
coln for troops to put down the 50 called
"R bclion" 0eci led at once the action
Of Virginia The war was already be
gun. The only question for Us to de-
eide was whether we should fight witt
our sister States or else fight against
aicm Aud none who knew the peopI,
Of Virginia could doubt for an Instant
how that question would be answered
They had done everything that could
he done TO preserve the Union withou
sacrificing the honor Of the STATE; aus
nnw, with barred weapons and armed 70
the strife in panoply ot proof. Virgins
kaped into the arena. radiant with til
Rluries Of policy and way " atset---ounc
to the world her inAaxible detfrm untiol
10 protect the Southern Statts from III,
.ncloachmeuts Of the North or perish il
the attempt
And now the war began. and Pittsyl
wanna sent her sons by hundreds, b,
slousands, to the field They were MOI
Invertebrates fghiias for pay. Or alured
I" camp by hope Of bnoy Tae pay oil
: Confederate soldier for whole month
would hardly buy a par of SHOES.
They were not lighting to perpetuate
slavery Accustomed to it as they were.
believing. us ,hey did that it was an in
sfitution establish ed by law aud sane
toned by the word of God, they wouli
gladly have seen it utterly abolished it
SO they could have conquered in the
strife
They were not the dupes of designing
men. hurried blind f,ld into battle ~
They knew too well the issues involved
They had been trained up IN political
school which more nearly than any 9TH
er had imb'bed the thoughts. aud grasp
cd the principles, anil handed down the
traditions of those illu,trious men who
laid the firm foundations Of the Federal
onion Aud trained up in that ; hool,
aud versed in the history of national
politics, and gra>pins firmly the issue Of
she hour, they knew ter rights, and
knowing dared mainiaiu:"
They were not couspirltors. They
were not rebels We know how per
si,tently the charge has been made
sXsinst them, how during the war anJ
mnce it has been the effort Of poltca
party 10 braud the Confederate soldier
=. DO. cou>rirator, against the nation,
hfc-- traitor and a rebel agajns
The best government, that the wool,
Sv,r saw"
That statement may be necessary ye
"a Justify the course and uphold the pol
ry Of the Republican party
But it is statement which no tru,
Confederate should eyer allow to pas
unchallenged 1t is sd, it is humiliat
mig e. see how son etimeS Southern mel
will humble themselves before the North
They seem half inclined to rccaut thei
political errors, to apologize for thei
1rmer violence, to acknowledge that th
action of the Southern States was revo
lutionary and rash, that the cause eff th
North was the cause of Frcedc base,
on right aud backed by the cons tuition
They seem to think that the failure o
the Confederacy is proof conclusive tina
we we're all in the wrong
They are profoundly grateful if an,
Northern man comedies that, rebel
though we were, we were at any rate
honest in our convictions. 1t is huml
rating. | say, to see Southern men cring
ing thus before our late opponents.
We may acknowledge tina: the actio
of the cotton States was hasty an,
rash. We may see now that the evil