The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1895-05-30

Following we publish the Grafton
Of Hon. Alfred Moore Waddell, de-
Ilvered at the unveiling Of the Confed-
crate monument in Raleigh, May goth,
also the address of welcome by Capt.
5. a. Ashe, together with the speech
Of our townsman, Col. w. H. Cheek.
THE SPEECH OF CAPT ASHE.
1t is finished. The grateful task l.,
done. The pious work has been &C
complished and it stands a fitting
to the heroism of North
Cardinals fallen soldiers. Long have
we desired that some enduring shaft
should give expression to the senti
ments cherished by North Carolina for
her Confederate dead. To-day that
ardent longing is gratfied. To-day
that sacred duty is performed, and our
hearts swell with emotion as we con-
template yonder monument and real
ize the full meaning of this great dem
onstration. Oh. ye thousands assem-
bled here. Oh! ye old veterans whose
memory goes back to the bloody con-
hicts of the war-associates and COM
rades of the dead in perils and suffer
ings. Oh! ye young men, here, in
heritors of glorious fame that crowns
o,I ,l,,nc Tho manhood ~ vorr Ctota q
rejoice; rejoice that North Caro-
lima, at whose command our fathers
and brothers went forth to battle and
to die, to-day bids the world look on
while she does honor TO their memory.
To day North Carolina proclaims by
this memorial shaft her admiration,
her undying love for her fallen sons.
She invokes the sympathy of all brave
and patriotic hearts in paying tribute
to her dead heroes, whose unsurpassed
courage and splendid achievements
have made lustrous the annals OF her
history. This monument we unveil
bears witness that North Carolina, a
generation after the Southern Confed-
eracy fades away into the irrevocable
past, cherishes a mothers pride in the
valor Of her Confederate sons, and re-
CARDS them as noble exemplars for the
patriots of future ages. Like some
wayfaring man, who, after long travel,
ling, attains the summit of an eminene
and beholds in the distance the be
loved scenes of his youth, SO we to-day
survey once more the fading picture
of the Southern Confederacy anc
sanctify this monument by dedicatine
it to the Confederate dead; by dedica
ting it to the heroes who fought under
the immortal Lee and followed the
blazing pennon of Stonewall Jackson
Lee, whose spotless glory shines as
MONDAY sun, steady, efulgent, bench
cent, and Jackson, whose marvellou
career was like some irresistible bol
of brilliant lightning, phenomenon o
warfare, and all too short for the
safety and independence Of his people
While all the States have cause tt
mingle glory with their grief, as it tel
to North Cardinals lot to suffer more
than any of her sisters, SO it Is he1
proud claim that her soldiers won TIT
greatest share of glory and renown
From Bethel to Appomattox her bat
talions were the heaviest and her sol
diers most numerous, and they alway
lay thickest on every field of battle
1t is we'll that this work has been de
Iayet.. 1t is we'll that this memoria
| which we erect to our fathers, who suf
tered death in the great war, shoult
not have been reared while bitterness
and passion still inhamed the wound
of our sorrowing hearts. Rather, as
is, that after the passage Of years ha'
softened our grieis; when the period O
strife and animosity had receded int
the past; now, in the calm Of repose
North Carolina places a memorla
here at the very entrance OF her capl
tol, of her admiration and unwaverin
affection for her Confederate soldier
and her appreciation of their courag
and character. She speaks in qule
dignity to ages yet to come-declarln
that the fame of her Confederate pa
triots shall ever be cherished an
treasured by her people. With prid
we review the past, and, save the so
rows and sufferings, the awful grie
and pains and fearful sacrifices, "
would have no jot or title obliteratet
We turn to those years Of trial as II
proudest heritage of noble people
We reverence the patriots of the Rev
luton, the rebels of 1916, and glol
in their constancy, bravery and spr
of independence, but we come vii
still loftier emotions to the foot of tn
monument, this shrine of PATRIOTS
which North Carolina erects to Il
memory Of her Confederate dead. A
what men they were! How clothe
they were in the attributes of roy
manhood How panoplied in Il
rich endowmen,s of sclf-sacrifice ar
glorious courage! 1t is in their hon
as men, as citizens, as soldiers, as P
,rots that North Carolina bids "
draw near, while she lauds and ma
nifies their name and dedicates II
8 shaft as memorial Of their honor al
. glory. She bids you welcome-y'
t who have come as pilgrims, with syr
pathetic hearts, from other States
d Join with US in paying tribute to o
! brave soldiers of the Confederac
And she gives her greeting to t
remnant of those devoted sons W
= wore the Gray, heroes Of a hundr
s le-felds. Long may they surv1