The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-05-14
MEMORIAL DAY.
Continued from Second Page,

Continued from Second Page,
difference. So in government if you
would have a people growing in the
arts and industries, but more espe-
cially evolving the best that man can
do, it is necessary that the difference
in men and communities be preserved
as much as possible and out Of the
people who live among the lakes, he
people who live beside the Gulf of
Mexico, the people of the Pacific coast
and the people of the cotton-bearlng
area you bring together that formlda-
bic nation of Apg!o-SaXon race and
civilization which seems destined,
under the lead of Christianity, to teach
the nations sof the earth how to enter
the twentieth century, and what seeds
of liberty 10 SOW therein and what
harvest to expect therefrom. Under
the dominion of this foundation prin-
ciple of local seIf-government we may
prosper until the very isles of The sea
will bless the institutions Of this gov
ernment. Without this principle our
very greatness will crush our ciViliza-
ton and liberties into the dust.
Again as germane to the idea just
advanced, this principle is necessary to
arrest the dangerous tendencies of s
mere material and building civiliZa-
ton. I care not how many railroads
you build; I care not how many canals
you open; how many magnificent
structures the government builds, if it
does it at the sacrifice Of any of the
fundamental principles cf human
liberty, if it costs the violation Of
human rights, it will not stand and
ought not 10 stand. You may erect e
material civilization and make It's top
reach as high as the Rocky Mountains,
yeu may lay its foundation in the gran
tie of your quarries, but if the struc-
ture is builded up to commemorate
wrong or give injustice its trophy and
memorial the pulse OF little girl in
the course of time will beat it down.
Let this government 60 on and pros
per, but le: its people be continually
taught that it is righteousness that
buildeth up a people. and not bigness
of material growth, and that that gov
ernment has forgotten its functions
and the purposes cf its creation, when
it il 100 broad and too long to hear the
CRY of distress of its people.
We are now, my friends, confronted
with serious social and political prob
lens: they are refusing to be post
poned on the calendar of history; they
demand recognition or rejection now.
And how shall we meet them? Shall
we dodge them? Did Lee dodge the
question when Virginia and the United
States claimed his services? Did he
sell the truth to serve the hour? Did
he palter with immortal God for
power? No, he stood foresQuare to
all the winds of temptation and did
his duty, preferring the principle of
local self-government to commission
of colonel in the United States army;
he drew his sword from It's scabbard
all bright with historic fame for Vir-
einia, and declared he would never
draw it in any other cause against
these United States. Have you ever
thought how much that decision meant
for you and me? How significant was
the day when the sun played in irrides-
cent colors along that swerd-drawn
in the assertion Of principle and right?
am not extravagant when say that
if be had taken a different course the
cause of manhood would have re-
ceived q blow, and human nature
would have been deprived of one Of its
most honored examples to cheer, to
cleanse, to purify it and to sustain it in
the battle for the right.
And how then shall we act towards
those pressing, urgent questions? l
say meet them fairly, meet them on
the plan of not counting the cost If
the path of duty leads on. Meet them
as these old heroes Of ours met their
duty, front to front, face to fsce.
Let US draw inspiration from these
annual yisitings to their graves. Every
one of Us, alas, how searching was the
cause when each home has its hero, has
his precious dust or such occasions
where memory fingers fondly; each
one of US the great struggle touched
With its earnest hand; each one Of US
1as his sorrow, and even from this
title village assembly there goes up as
here can arise from no other but a
similar assembly in our land, the in
,ense of gratitude tor the life of the
soldier and the prayer that
ne may meet them again.
Ny friends, we are entering the
wentieth century, and we must build
10 our Southern greatness, and /
Know of no other Foundation better
md surer than thatwhich is already laid,
he precious dust and deathless exam
lie of these wearers Of the grey.
attack no other peoples civilization; |
make no invidious comparis0ubetween
IS and any other people, but 1 assert
With some warmth of emphasis that
he South Carolinian who attempts to
build US up in any kind of greatness
Without the aid, example and the recol.
ections and memories of these Con-
'ederate soldiers, will build sand heaps
If policy, will erect toy houses of
government, which will fall down
sven in the very lifetime of its build
.. DIT ;f r1a oroct sha nayy order of