The Columbus commercial. (Columbus, Miss.) 1893-1922, 1896-05-03

imagination I have seen and felt it
all, and while / may be deficient in
the essential mental qualities neoess
sary to fittingly perform the exalted
task which you have assigned me
today, / can assure you that there
pulsates within my bosom a heart
in perfect harmony and accord with
the spirit and purpose Of this oc-
casion.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have
come together for the purpose of
paying tribute to greatness, to make
recognition of our gratitude, and
with loving hearts and gentle hands
to lay the tokens of our inefible af-
fections and admiration upon the
graves of the immortal heroes who
sleep before us. 1t is a custom
most beautiful and touching in the
extreme, yet, it is not more beauti-
full in its devotion to the dead than
it is substantial and practically bene-
fetal to the living. Tho most last
ing and useful lessons are the les
sons learned from life-from con-
duct and character. Man Is the
creature ofheredity and environment.
The man of today is the lowering
of the human plant whose roots run
back through all the countless ages
of the past, drawing nourishment
and strength from all the trials, dis
appointments, failures and success
es of human efforts. And right
here want to say that genius, in
tellect, character, is a plant that
never grows without soil. tits true
that occasionally you may find a
glorious flower blooming upon the
steril hillside, npon what appears
from a superficial observation to be
the most unproductive soil, yet if
you will but probe the matter, break
the crust and discover the truth,you
viii lind that its roots have gone down
deep into the earth of gen9logy un-
til they have struck afriendly strata
found the element essential to its
luxuriant and abnormal growth.
Greatness-the moral and INTEL
lectual merit which character zes
and crowns the Anglo-Saxon Of he
10Th century is but the harvest, the
fruition of the seed sown-the noble
deeds and worthy achievements
wrought by our ancestors, in all the
ages past. It is therefore meet and
proper that the achievements and
noble characteristics of our Confed-
crate heroes, should be kept green
in the memories of their children,
and their children's children. That
is the purpose Of this beautiful cere-
mony today. Not that we expect
to honor these splendid heroes
whose graves undulates and ms Ike
sacred this beautiful landscape-we
cannot honor them-their cup is
full to overflowing-nor is it our
purpose to attempt to flatter their
immortal spirits which | sometimes
think are listening to what has tag
en- place here; and with gladstone
hearts mingling with their comrades
on this side of the river, but it is
rather for the purpose Of appropriate
ing and perpetuating the lessons
taught by their honorable lives, and
thereby to ere,t in the minds Of a
p0sterity a monument to their
memories, which win last as long as
/ heroism Is a virtue, and the love of
( God and home animates the human
breast. It is my judgment that the
highest type Of intelligent patriot
ism-the most superb example Of
valor and heroism-the sublimest
conception Of love of home and de-
votion to principle, is embodied in
the life, character, and career of the
4 Confederate soldier.
History, from the dawn Of time to
the death of this day, contains no
parallel to it. He stands pre-emi-
nent "the heir Of all ages''-the
culmination-the Towering of An
glo-Saxon prowess, patriotism and
i pertinacity to constitutional gov
eminent.
It is not my purpose or desire on