The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1895-06-13
Whether he fell on the shore or sea-
Did deeds Of which

And the sage's book and the poets lay,
Are full Of the deeds Of the men In grey
No lion cleft from the rock Is ours, such al
Lucerne displays.
and words of 'eyercnd praise.
And the roses brought to this silent yard,
Are red and white. Behold
They tell how wars for kingly GROWN. in
the blood Of England's best writ down
Left Britain story whose moral old
Is is mt to be given In text Of gold;
The noral Is, that when battles cease
me ramparts emile in the bloom of peace
And flowers to-day were hither brought
from the gallant men who against us
York and Lancaster--Gray and Blue,
Each to itself aud the other true
And, 80 say
Our men in gry
Have left to the South and North tale
winch none of the glories of earth can
Iale."
We, Of the South, measure our dead
comrades buried here by tho standard
applied to men after death, and you,
OF Chicago, have measured them by
the same standard, the only standard
oy which we can measure men, and by
applying this you have shown that you
have como to tho i.ighest standard
vouchsafed to men, and on this North
and South can stand, with honor alike
to both sections. Are any Federal
soldiers dislOyal to tho flag under
which they fought because they join in
decorating the graves of brave mon
whom they met In battle? Thousands
OF Federal soldiers rest under South
ern skies, in Southern graves, many in
unknown graves.
".Where some beneath Virginia hills
will
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,
Ihan 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.
Ii the humane, generous action of
the people of this city in doing honor
to the memory of their Gid antag onists,
ls denounced rs desecration, it would
seem to follow that the decoration of
Federal graves by "rebel" hands,
should be.open to tho same criticism,
but no denunciation by Southern peo-
pie Tor daring to honor tho memory
or men who were once their enemies
mas met my eyes. Such narrow and
6igoted feeling us would prompt u
dlscordant note on occasions of this
sort arc rarely found among true men
and brave soldiers, and l have often
thought that If the two great captains
who we're engaged in that death
grapp!e In Virginia had been left to
settle the ter ms of peace, each sup
ported by his faithful followers, the
country would have had u 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 tho magnamity
OF General Grant towards our great
chief, General Lee, and deplores as an
unmltl gated misfortune the assassina-
tlon OF Lincoln Irepeat emphatically,
that tho untimely death Of PresideuL
Lincoln was regarded by all thought
ful mon of the South rs one of the
most serious evils which had befallen
our section, and venture to say that
my Southern associates here present
will sustain my assertion. We knew
that during the war he devoted evory
energy of mind and body to restora-
tion OF the Union, and that result ac-
oomplished, 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-
zers seem to paraphrase the question.
Can anything good come out of
Nazareth Z" by. applying it to the
south, put, my friends. we really are
not ev}l; Put yourselves in our places
ana Judge us from tnat standpoint.
In the convention which formed the
Constitution, there were two parties
which hold opposite positions, ono
urging the formation of a strong cen.
tral government, and the other I'D
vocatlng the doctrine of State rights.
1T was attempted to reconcile these
anta;,onistic views by IL compromise bv
which it was declared that all powers
not delegated to the general govern
ment were reserved to the States. but
like I'LL compromises, it left the vital
question unsettled. and from 1857 until
1911 the proper construction to be
placed on tho clause of tho Constitu.
tion just referred to had led to con-
stlnt and Often to angry discussion.
This unfortunate condition of affairs
was further complicated by the intcc.
tion Of the question Of slavery into it
and we all know what has boon the re-
sultof thone unhappy differences.
These are now oil dead issues and T
do not propose to discuss them. 1t
was wise philosopher who said to q
general commanding an army, Il do
not choose to argue with tho comman-
der Of ten logions," and when qucs-
tiOus are submitted to the arbitrament
OF the sword the decision is generally
in favor Of the ten legions. The vexed
questions which havo 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 tho South was,
educated as the people thero were in
the school OF strict State rights.
Every Southern man felt that a 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 citizeps to rally to the old lag
rPSnnnIo1 90 h.