The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-06-11
And, so say
Our men i'm gr.y
Have left TO the South and North tale
Which none of the glories of earth car

pale"
We, OF the South, measure our dea
comrades buried here by the standar
applied to men after death, and yot
. OF Chicago, have measured them b.
the same standard, the only standar
by which we can measure men, and b
applying this you have shown that yo
have come to the highest standar,
vOuchsafed to men, and on this Nortl
and South can stand, with honor alik
to both sections. Are any Fedora
soldiers disloyal to tho flag unde
which they fought because they join Il
decorating the graves of brave mel
whom they met in battle? Thousand
OF Federal soldiers rest under South
ern skies, in Southern graves, many IL
unknown graves.
| Where some beneath Virginia hills
| And some by green Atlantic rills,
I Some by the waters of the West,
myriad unknown heroes rest.
"Of them, their patriot, zeal and pride
| The lofty faith that with them died,
No grateful page shall further tell,
Than that so many bravely fell"
And when on Memorial day in the
South the graves of our dead are de
corated, gray-headed Confederate vet
Grams and noble, devoted women, strew
flowers over the graves of Federal sol
diers.
IL the humane, generous action OF
the people OF this city in doing honor
to the memory Of their old antag onists,
Ia denounced as dissertation, it would
seem to follow that the decoration OF
Federal graves by rebel" hands,
should be open to the same criticism,
but no denunciation by Southern peo-
pie for daring to honor the memory
has met my eyes. Such narrow and
bigoted feeling as would prompt a
discordant note on occasions of this
sort are rarely found among true men
and brave soldiers, and l have often
thought that III the two great captains
who were engaged in that death
grapple in Virginia had been left TO
settle the ter ms of peace, each sup
ported by his faithful followers, the
country would have had peace
indeed. one honorable alike to victors
and vanquished and which would have
prevented the evils brought about by
the politicians. AS it is, the South
recognizes and honors the magnamity
OF General Grant towards our great
chief, General Lee, and deplores as an
tion OF Lincoln. Irepeat emphatically,
that the untimely death of President
Lincoln was regarded by all thought
full men of the South as one of the
most serious evils which had befallen
our section, and l venture to say that
my Southern associates here present
will sustain my assertion. We knew
that during the war he devoted every
energy of mind and body to restora-
tion Of the Union. and that result ac-
complished, we felt that his big brain
and his kind heart would prompt him
to deal kindly aud leniently with his
fellow citizens of the South; for his
highest, If not his sole aim, was to see
the Union restored, and it was a cruel
fate that deprived him of what he
hoped would be the reward Of his
labors, and the South of one who would
have been her strongest protector in
her sorest hour of need.
Some of our Northern fellow citi-
zens seom to paraphrase the question.
Can anything good come out of
Nazareth 7" by applying it to the
South, but, my friends, we really are
not evil. Put yourselves in our places
and judge us from that standpoint
In the convention which formed the
Constitution, there were two parties
which held opposite positions, one
urging the formation of u strong CEN
tral government, and the other ad-
vocating the doctrine of State rights.
1t was attempted to reconcile these
antagonistic views by a compromise by
which it was declared that all powers
not delegated to the general govern
ment were reserved to the States, but
like all compromises, it left the vital
question unsettled, and from 1887 until
1861 the proper construction to be
placed on the clause of the Constitu.
tiOn just referred to had led to con-
stant and Often to angry discussion.
This unfortunate condition of affairs
was further complicated by the iniec-
tion of the question OF slavery into it
and we all know what has been the re-
suit of theae unhappy differences.
These are now all dead issues. and I
do not propose to discuss them. 1t
was q wise philosopher who said to @
general commanding an army, ~ do
not choose to argue with the cOmman-
der Of ten legions," and when ques-
tions are submitted to the arbitrament
Of the sword the decision is generally
in favor of the ten legions. The vexed
questions which have disturbed the
country since the foundation of the
government are settled, and reference
to them Is made only to show how
natural the course of the South was,
educated as the people there were In
the school of strict State rights.
Every Southern man felt that call
made upon him by his State was an inn
perative command and that his duty
was to obey without hesitation and at
all hazards. When the North called
on it's citizens to rally TO the old flag,
they responded to the summons from a
sense OF duty, rs did the people of the
South to the sail made on them. State
allegiance and State pride in each
case was the moving cause which
arrayed,millions of meni arms In this
country, and while the war that
brought them out caused untold misery
to the country, it has taught q lesson
to the nations of the earth, that Ameri-
ca in arms can defy the world. 1t
seems to me, too, that 10 should meal
culate another lesson to us and that is,
that the time has come when the
actors In that fearful fractricidal strife
and those whom they represent should
Judge their former opponents as they
should themselves be judged. This
can De done without the sacrifice OF
principle on either side, as the example
OF our mother country has shown us.
York and Lancaster, Cavalier and
Roundhead, no longer wage war or
each other all are Englishmen, proud
Of their country, and the red rose anC
| the white are emblems nf peace and O