The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1891-06-06
ewels 0f the old South-the fair
and fruitful land, where manhood and
nigh endeavor lofty sentiment and open hos
1ikallty, fO,,, Il their IN voritn hoIst+nt tio,,

nlHn enueaVOf, lofty sentiment and open hos
pitallty, fouLd their favorite ha6itation
That old South has its waste places and it.
ruins to mark the track OF war; il has it,
broken sh ats and fallen temples but it has
Its tra4itiOns and its memories to inspire ant
strengthen the hopes and hearts and hand.
of it's men and women. and 1t has It's history
which lS the honor and glory Of its DeppIe
In this day when not business alone. but
pubic virtue and private honor, ofIicia
fidelity. and even the Observances OF religion
are looked upon and estimated too much.
fear, from the standpoint Of hard practical
ity ana trade" men come among us ant
PR ss q naNl!dnS up what th,ey are pleased
mefts md tho most valuable constituent
forces, which can enter into a new order ant
new customs here must not come from wha,
IS left sis of the old. They would have II,
break all our cherished images. bury "a past
that fs not dead that can not die ant; con.
sign ali its precious memories and splendid
examples to oblivion. Underwriting our
people and allowing nothing forthe hard con-
point US to our thrifty Northern neighbors.
US patterns for our initiation. and exl.urt us
to keep abreast of what they style the
progressive spirit of the age.
gress mean well in what they say. but
the common senscof those they would in
struct has long ago suggested and adopted
all thati worth knowing or observing in
their cold philosophy. All of Us are ca
ger to know from any who can teach us how,
better than We ;re doing. we cun adapt
ourselves to our changed condition. and 10
lclloW any example. wherever found. which
has III 1T any useful lesson that We ought to
learn.
Butall this can he better done If we keen
alive ana foster. for our guidance and sup
port, those distinctive Southern sentiments
and characteristic qualities which have been
the strength of our people and on which. NOT
only their prosperity and progress, but. IN
view OF their peculiar surroundings, their
safety else must depend.. For some fancied
advansege. OF an utilitarian kind. lot us be
slow1 give up Ome:hing worth more to us
even m matters purely practical, than all
that Is promised in return. Lei us not pro-
ianely turn our backs upon the old South
With lt&traditions and examples and hal
tllnent "tich has animated its sons and
daughters and sink it into mere finty prar-
ticality on the false idea that the virtues
which make our peonle what they are, are
proyement. ltd dots MT argue that we do
not live In the prc>eIl.. and look hopefully
to the future, that we cling to the memories
9f the past; Wcrhn love the Union and still
who are faitllful to the Union now. as they
were to the Southern cause. We do not
stand IN the way Of the earnest work of real
progress when We dcprecate amy tendency
those sentiments which will guide us and In
spire ussiIereafter Us heretofore. to he true
alike to ourselves and tile Government to
which our allegiance is due.
II any here consider these expressions the
offspring Of mere Southern ardor and en-
thusiasm. would ask them what it was that
moved old and young. rich and poor, slave
holders and non-slaveholders.. ministers OF
the church and men OF the world, the sedate
and thoughtful. the reckless and mpulsive,
all alike; in eleven States. to rise up AS one
man and fly to arms with one impulse in
1851? Whac was it that sustained them, with
a Governmss,,t born almost @ under fire, With
supplies, or means. without allies or. SYM
pathy, shut in by close blockade and shut
out from all the world with the organized
Government and its Army and Navy and
backed up by foreign commerce and
sustained them in four years
contest with the trained troops of the Gov
Of the %iehty North and the ' lesions tS n'ei Of
drawn from the nations beyond
the seas? DO notseek to account for 1t with
out resort to someth Ing higher than mere
physical courage and ordinary endurance,
for II you do the facts and figures Of recorded
history will overwhelm you. Listen to some
Of these:
More than half as many men were enrolled
in the Union army as the entire white popu
Ing all the women and the children.
lion, eight hundred and fifty thousand troops |
were furnished the Union army by the
can not state to q man the enlistmenrs in the !
ARMY from first to last. the esti-
mate has the sanction Of high authority. |
deemed reliable, that the Confederate forces. |
available for action, during the entire war. |
soldiers, Of whom there were not more than |
two hundred thousand arms-bearng men ut |
any one time, and when the war closed half
that number covered the whole effective |
force. Of all arms, In all quarters OF the Con-
Besides the Disparity in the land forces
there was the Federal Navy, the gun boats
and the ironclads, without which many be-
Shiloh and McCeian's % on the 'P Penil,suiar @ s:
When the Union army was dissolved. four
hundred thousand more men were borne up
Oh its rolls than the estimated number OF
available enlistlnents in the Southern army
from the spring Of 1861 to the spring Of 1865
and during that time there had been two
hundred and seventy Thousand Federal !
prisoners captured.
But this, enumeration need not be ex-
tended. The battle fields. which are the
Durying grounds Of our ''unreturning dead"
attest the resolution Of the weaker side and
The eighty-twO beautiful National cemeter-
es. where more than three hundred thousand
Union soldiers are inferred, Illustrate the
aerceness OF the fiery struggle.
The odds OF which the figures tell to which
have adverted, do not present in their best
light the constancy and devotion Of the
'oldiers Of the South.
For proof Of this. see the troops OF one
state. whose territory must be uncovered to
ave some other point. leave family and
lome defenceless. to full within hostile lines
,ehind them. and march cheerfully. though
nv, to other fields to defend the soil Of
'tf,er States. when IL they had chosen the
'iternatiye Of desertion, eharity would have
)alliatpd their crime. But II you seek for
hat which most won the homage Of the
world YOU find II in the Southern soldiers
Onduct after the time in the fateful year
$751; when reason, but for faith. had adjudged
hat the destiny Of the COnfederacy was de-
ided and the SOuthern movement doomed.
After the failure at Gettysburg and the
all Of Vicksbnrg, the men. who had stood
With Ice ut sharpsburK-less. than forty
housand against more than eighty thous-
q then before Richmond in 1855, after afl
round for hope was gone, against three
ines their number Of veterans under Grant.
The in,molation at Franklin. where eleven
Outhern Generals and the flower of
heir followers fell fighting against fate, and
he eallantry at BentOnvillc, following the
isaster at Nashville, attest the unabated
arnestness and fidelity Of those who at
hlloh had performed prodigies of valOr. in
pired by the hope and prospect Of Southern
After these brief but suggestive recitals
II toomuch to say that IN the war the south
m people waged 10 save heCOnstitution and
there was something sustaining
hem which they knew not Of. who only
)ught to put these people down. In this there
| no implication OF Whic, the brave de-