Iron County register., 1890-06-05

| mounted ana OUereO MS arm TO General
| johnson to escort him to the seat re-
served for him, then Governor McKin-
ney. Colonel Anderson and the other
distinguished guests and officers of the
occasion passed in review before
them, the veteran infantry lead
| ing. and the veteran cavalry and
volunteer infantry bringing up the
rear. The infantry organizations were
massed as rapidly as possible in front of
the grand stand, the mounted veterans
| on the left near the monument. The
artillery took position in line west of
the infantry and facing the statue. The
volunteer cavalry formed facing the
grand stand. The arrangement of the
mass of people occupied fully half
an hour. When the organizatio
was com plete and something like
quiet could be had Governor Mckinney,
as president of the Lee Monument AS
SOciatiOn, arose and called the as
semblage to order. After a brief invo-
cation by Rev. Charles Minnigerode, of
the Episcopal Church, Governor McKin-
ney introduced General Early as chair
man of the meeting. He was greeted
with prolonged applause and cheering.
Taking the gavel from Governor Nc
kinney's hand, General Early an
nOunCed in a few weil-chosen words the
orator of the occasion, Colonel Archer
Anderson.
Colonel Anderson's Grafton, an elab-
crate panegyric, eloquently delivered,
was a comprehensive analysis and
brilliant portrayal of the character and
career of the famous Confederate Cen
IL
and intellectual traits, his military
achievements and his life work, which,
in the opinion of the orator, amply
justified admiration of the great man,
who. in the union of military greatness
with the noblest public and private
virtue, presented that rare great
ness which men may most honor
in their fellow men. Vir-
ginia had produced two such stain
less Captains. The fame of the one
George Washington-had been conse-
Grated by a century of universal rever-
ence, and the growth of a colossal en-
pire; the fame of the other-of General
Lee not yet generation old, and won
in cause which was lost, was already
established, upon a pinnacle equal to
that of Washington's. Virginia's mon
ument to George Washington had found
its only fitting complement and com
paniOn in the monument to Lee, un-
vailed to-day. Following the story of
General Lees later life, when the
greater elements of the Confederate
chief.ain's character appeared, Colonel
Anderson spoke of his noble person, his
grace, his social charm, his pure life,
''of that inborn divinity which with a
look could check familiarity, or convey
rebul1e: of that manly beauty and COM
manding presence, fitted alike to win
child or maiden. and to awaken in the
sternest soldier an expectation and as
surance of pre-eminence and distinc-
ton" General Lee, the orator claimed,
the South had inherited, and
must be left to mitigate, and,
if possible, extirpate by wise and
gradual measures and, when obliged to
make his choice and take sides in the
irrepressible conflict. no more painful
struggle ever tore the heart of patriot.
Inheriting, along with the most ard.4t
love of the Union. a paramount loyalty
to his native State, when the time
came, in de fiance of the temptings of
ambition-for the command of the
United States armies was Of
fercd him-he determined that
duty babe him side with his
beloved Virginia, he laid down his COM
mission and solemnly declared his pur-
pose never to draw his sword, save in
behalf of his native State.
Following the vicissitudes of General
Lees generalship in the late war, from
the beginning to the end, when the |
surrender of the fragments of the army |
of Northern Virginia closed the i'm
perishable record of his military |
life" the orator exclaimed: What |
what moving and |
pathetic contrast; on the one side, |
complete and dazzling triumph, after a |
long succession of humiliating disas-
ters; on the other absolute ruin and de- |
feat; crown of thorns for that peer
less army, which hitherto had known |
only the victor'S laurelS; but the mag |
of the conquerer not less than |
the fortitude of the vanquished out !
shone the solemn scene and Softened |
its tragic outlines of fate and doom. !
The moderation and good sense of |
the Northern people, breathing |
the large and generous air of our |
Western world, quickly responded |
to Grants examples, and though the |
North was afterwards betrayed into |
fanatical and baleful excess on more
than one great subject all the fiercer |
passions of bloody civil war were rap |
idly extinguished. Let this monu-
ment then" said Colonel Anderson, in |
his perioration, teach to generations |
yet unborn these lessons of his life. |
Let it stand, not as q record of civil |
strife, but as perpetual protest against |
whatever is low and sordid in our |
private and public objects. Let it |
stand as memorial of personal honor |
that never brooked stain: of knightly |
valor without thought of self; of far |
reaching military genius unsoiled by |
ambition; of heroic constancy from |
which no cloud of misfortune could |
ever hide the path of duty. Let it stand
ever sink below the standard of |
their fathers. Let it stand for patriotic |
hope and cheer, if a day of National
gloom and disaster shall ever dawn
upon our country; let it stand as the |
embodiment of brave and virtuous
peoples ideal leader. Let it stand as
great public act of thanksgiving and
praise for that, it pleased Almighty |
God to bestow upon these Southern
States man so formed as to reflect his |