Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1894-05-16
Memorial Address of Capt j. IL.
Tillman, Baptist Church, Edge
field, May 10th, 1894,

memories CLUSTER aIOuuu tue PAIL
It is the catastrophe before which
monarchs bow and from which the
long suffering and long expectant
shrink. No assurance can make
it acceptable and even faith and
prophecy can reconcile us only in
part to its stern decree.
1t is not my purpose to rehearse
the deeds of the daring. Song
and story have long preceded and
emblazoned the pathway they trod
to greatness. They thought of
Valley Forge and saw Deyond it
Yorktown. No drop of blood be-
tweena Petersburg and Appomattox,
not OF. in the last charge,was shed
in vain. Peace with honor must
pay its price, even if that price be
life itself. eff you would know
why Rome was great, "says a
famed historian, "consider that
Roman soldier whose armed skele-
ton was found in a recess near the
gate of Pompeii. When burst the
sulphurous storm the undaunted
hero dropped the visor of his
helmet and stood there to die"
Would you know why the South
was great? Look to yonder grave
yard, perhaps the smallest Of a
thousand more, and marvel at the
dead. Think of those whose blood
enriched every battlefield in
Virginia and whosessbodies sleep in
every vale and on every hillside;
of those who fell upon the field
far from their Dixie homes with
no hand to succor and no motherly
tongue to console.
Hove the cause for which my
people strove, my father bled, my
unc le died-that cause which
bathed half our country with blood
and sprinkled the other half with
tears. But the Southern Confeder-
acy is gone--forever gone. The stars
and bars, lis tattered standard, is
furled about a shattered staff.
Let it be buried with the dead
placed in hands that are lifeless,
and can wave it no more-shrouded
upon the breasts of the heroes who
bore it, "furl it, hide it, let it rest
Slavery was the pretext not the
cause of the rebellion.
A loftier inspiration than a miser-
able barter about the ransom of
slaves sounded the tocsin of war.
State rights was the cause for
which you fought and State
sovereignty will come. 1t must be
that or worse. M Mutterings of angry
dissent are heard at every hand.
The signs of the times are
written upon the wall-Coxey and
his army of cranks translate the
dream; though themselves but few
in numbers the sympathy of
millions follows their march. The
eyes of the nation are turned
toward the capitol and fixed upon
the mute and helpless goddess that
adorns the dome. An impoverished
nation prays relief-a huugered
people ask for bread. If somt thing
is not done what is now but q
will soon become
a common-woe. Fanatics are
already painting wild dreams;
demagogues will rule; communism
and anarchy Will prevail.
The union of the states more
than hundred years ago was a
grand union. The blood of our
ancestors flowed to establish it.
They loved it then; and SO long
as the star of the South shines
with the lustre of that of the
North,-so long az the crimson bar
wave as an ensign of liberty and
not of shame, we for their sake
will love it still.
But while we honor the stars
and stripes,-a flag resplendent IN
glory, there is another standard
bathed in our fathers blood to
which we dedicate our lasting love
and own our first allegiance; that
banner which Carolinians waved
at the head of many a bloody
charge and while it futtered to the
breeze thousands leapt with joyous
bound into the awful darkness of
eternity; and.
GAS the sun flower turns on her God
when he sets
The same look which she turned when
he rose"
So will we turn, until our eyes
are sealed in death, upon the grand
Palmetto as it ge.tlv sWays in the