The weekly intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1891-1901, 1894-09-22
Dr. Caves Speech.

LIE. NhSc b pccCu
At the invitation of the Ex-Confederate
Historical and Benevolent Association,
. meeting OF which was held at st. Louis,
recently, Rev. DR.. X. Z. Cave was present,
and spoke a. follows:
"Mr. Chairman, and Gentlemen OF the
Elk C~onfederate Association II thank
you for the hearty welcome which your
chairman has given me-; and l thank you,
my comrades, that o lave responded
30 heartily TO b welcome. 1t is not my
you, tonight, or TO trespass on your time.
and while IL 10 not my purpose to make a
formal speech, ! gladly embrace the
| opportunity to thank you for your in
dorsement OF my recent words, and the
honor you have conferred upon me in
electing me . member of your body. !
| we'll recollect that, when northern papers
were denouncing mo-, and some time
servers In the south added their words TO
the denunciation, for my vindication OF
the men who fought and bled under the
starry cross, the COnfederates CAV me
their hearty Endorsement. l was assured
that whatever others might say. the men
who wore the gray, and endured the
battles OF the fierce war, commended me.
This indicates that b southern people
still cherish their belief In the right and
justice OF the cause for which they
battled.
ain peace we have been too unmindful
of the obligation which rests upon ~ To
preserve the truths of history. While
grooming under the oppression after the
surrender, and suffering the Affections OF
the re-construction period, We were c0n-
tent to exalt the valor Of the men who
gave their lives for their homes, their
flresides and their country, and left the
justice of the cause to Others. We have
held our peace for thirty years, while the
northern people have represented us as an
ignorant horde of rebels and traitors,
battling only to hold human beings in
the bonds Of alavery.
w seem TO have forgotten that there
10 something more than fearlessnees and
courage that leads men TO battle, and
makes them worthy OF remembrance. No
| one ever accused Benedict Arnold of cow
ardice, or ever thought hat his heart was
not as brave a. any soldiers that ever
beat. but what 10 his memOryf IL It ever
revered by . single person in this landf
However much we may admire the des-
perate courage OF traitors, we can never
honor then In their memory.
"If It 10 true that the ~Confederates were
traitors, and fought only for slavery, the
best thing that we can do Is, not TO build
monuments, but to tear those down that
southern dead until the beating rain
smooths the little mound to the level OF
the plain, and nature covers the place
| with its broad mantle of green, and with
it the shame Of the southland. But IL the
men who followed Lee, jackson and
Missouri's Price are not rebels and
traitors, but true hearted patriots, bat
Ting for their homes and native land, we
owe IL TO them n to ourselves to boldly
affirm and to fearlessly assert 1t.
"The time has come when our feelings
and convictions must be crystalized into q
H,..n k akAlI NJ lAral --u A.
uture generations. The attitude which
we now assume will be b form in which
they will be handed down. 1t Is said that
the war Ii over; let IL rest In peace; that Il
Is q dead Issue; but that il sheer nonsense.
As we'll may we say that the downfall of
Rome, the French revolutions n the
Revolutionary war are dead issues and not
10 be referred To. The civil war, as a
political issue, IL dead. but as a truth of
history IL can never die. As n political
issue, used to create sectional hatred and
feeling, 1t ought to be dead. II Is not the
south that has kept 1t alive as such for
thirty years.
"When the south laid down its arms ut
Appomattox, the wal was over to 1t. 1t had
fought it TO . finish and was defeated, and
the Confederate spldiers, like the true
souls of honor that they were, meant that
1t should be when they said so. They have
never appealed to war Issues from that
day 10 this. The northern people are The
ones that have kept them alive. They are
the ones that have appealed to the hatred
for the south that they have In their
bosoms TO gain republican votes.
1--WE are willing to let the wal die M a
political issue, but AZ q truth of history
to our children that the truths of history
shall be handed down to them. This Is the
obligation that I felt when l spoke in
Richmond, Va, last May, and the same