Goldsboro weekly argus. [volume] (Goldsboro, N.C.) 1885-1909, 1895-03-21

History vindicate us if we condemn
ourselves? But if we cling st~eadfastly
to the faith taught by our forefathers;
if we prove worthy of that faith, we
shall not have fought in vain; for
though We can no longer defend our
cause with our swords, we can Justify
it before the great tribunal of History,
and posterity will do US justice.
To u noble women, the real mar
tyrs of b war, as they are it's saddest
victims, the prospect of future justif-
cation of our conduct brings, I know,
but little compensation for what they
have suffered and lost. But by a
merciful dispensation of Providence,
nature offers some compensation for
nearly every sorrow, and this blessed
law will give to them many and rich
mercies for the griefs they have borne.
The tender care with which they
soothed the sufferings of our wounded
and ill soldiers, is remembered in
many a grateful heart from which
daily prayers ascend to the Throne of
Grace, invoking on them every bless
ing which a merciful God can bestow.
The consciousness of duty nobly per-
formed to the living and dead will
bring to them peace, if not happiness.
Many of them, alas! throughout all the
borders of our stricken land, like
Rachel, weep for their children, and
refuse to be cOmforted because they
are not;'' but let them remember the
proud boast of a bereaved mother,
who, even over the body of her dead
dead son for any living son in Chris
tendon" Nor is the death of a loved
one who gave his life nobly in a just
cause a source of unalloyed sorrow.
Among the beautiful legends which
come to us from classic Greece, there is
one which always struck me as pecu-
larry touching. and which might teach
a lesson to many q m%ournful mother in
the South. It was a custom at the
great festival IN honor of Juno, that
| the priestess, drawn in a chariot by two
white oxen, should go, accompanied by
a solemn procession, to h temple to
offer the usual sacrifices. 1t is related
that on one occasion b oxen for the
chariot were wanting, when the two
sons of the ~priestess, yoking themselves
to the chariot, drew their mother in
triumph to the temple. amid the plaudits
of the populace. The priestess, in the
pride of a mothers heart at this act of
filial devotion, duplicated the gods to
bestow on her sons the greatest bless
ing which could be granted to mortals.
Her prayers were answered.; her ons
sank into gentle sleep in the temple
itself, and thus PASSED from life to
death. as if to show that the greatest
boon in the gift of the gods was an early
death for man.
81 did not ask of the gods" ex.
claimed Xenophon, when told of the
death of his son, that my son should
never die; l only prayed thai he might
live virtuously and die nobly."
The Roman Senate decreed a tri
umph to one of their heroic citizens, be.
cause, amid all the dangers threaten.
ing his country, he never despaired OIL
the Republic. Many and great dan
gers surround us. and they may well
appall the stoutest heart.
"H4rk, from the abyss a voice pro
ceeds,
A long, low, distant murmur of dread
| sound,
Such as arises when a nation bleeds,
From some deep immedicable wound.
From the hearts of u people comes
up that ''murmur of dread sound, ,
which tells of the wounds our land has
received, but it does not becOmesus, as
brave men, to yield to despair. If we
will but be true to ourselves, to oul
principles. to u country, and to oul
God, the future may bring to us some
compensation 1OT GH0 pdSGs L duJuf
you, then, by all the glorious memorie.
of the past, by all the hopes of the flu
ture, to dedicate yourselves to the ser
vice of your country. Be steadfast tC
the right; "steadfast."
ITO stand or fall, free in their OWL
arbitrament it lies"
In the early annals of the Saracens
a story is told of the heroic conduct OF
one of the Caliphs. who was beseige6
; in Mecca. when he perceived him
self forsaken on all Sides" says the his
~torian, she went to his mother, and sale
to her, oh, mother, the people and ever
my own children have de serted me. M
enemies are willing to give me if I viii
submit whatever 1 can desire in thi.
world. What do you advise me to do?
Son, said she, Judge for yourself. II
as you pre- tend to be, you know that you
are in the right, ~persevere, for youl
friends have died for the sake of it
But if thou choosest the present
world, alas, bad servant, thou has
destroyed yourself and those who were
= killed for thee! And if thou sayest,
stood to the truth, put when my friends
r declined l was weakened. this is Meth
er the part of an ingenious nor a reli
!. gious man. And how long can yo,
, continue in this world! Death is more
, eligible" He took the advice of hi.
l mother, and leaving of his armor, 81
as to meet death the more surely, ht
sailed forth and gave his life for the
cause he believed to be true. Centuries