The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1896-07-01
Convention of Confederate Vet
erans in Richmond.
MEN WHO WORE THE GRAY
The Immense Throng Welcomed
by Gov. O'Ferrall.
AN OVATION TO GEN. GORDON
The Battle Abbey Committee Met and
Appointed Trustees to incorporate
the Confederate Memorial
Association.

Association.
Richmond, Va, June 3d. Confeder-
ate reunion opened to-day with charm
ING weather, clear and cool. An inn
mense throng of people was present
and the exposition grounds, where the
convention is held in a large audfto-
rium erected for the purpose, was
crowded. The auditorium is handsome
ly decorated. AS General Gordon SHOW
cd his face on the rostrum this morn
ing, a mighty Confederate yell went up
and the battle-scarred veteran recelv-
ed an ovation. Governor O'Ferrail ana
other distinguished men went up aud
grasped his hand, and the bands played
..Dixie," and the people shouted.
Before the convention was called to
order. General Gordon was presented
a oayel made from tree from the bat
tiefeld of Chicamauga. Rev. y. Nm.
Homes. of Richmond, offered prayer 10
the God of Lee and Jackson and DAVIS.
General Gordon, without making a
sneech. introduced Governor 0Ferrail'
who. on behalf of Virginia, welcomed
the veterans. He said:
..yeterans and Comrades: You We're
enlisted in those bands who wrote theif
names in glory's skies and carved them
deep in the temple of fame, who made
the cause of the South so imperishable
and the renown of her armies SO iaoe-
less You endured hardships which no
human Imagination could picture and
no mortal tongue could describe.
Your exploits equalled those OF tue
heroic age in Grecian legends, ana your
devotion was not surpassed by Leoni-
5as and his three hundred at Thermopy-
lac. In the path of duty no dangers
daunted YOU. no suffering subdued you,
no force appalled, you, and no deieat
disheartened you. True as the dial TO
the sun, firm as the rock on the noun
tain crest, resolute as the lion aroused
in his lair, with unblanched cheek ana
steady nerve, you obeyed every com
mand. however rained the MISSILES OF
death. The greater the peril the sti1Ier
YOUR sinews; the fiercer the battle the
hotter was your blood. NO Grecla1
phalanx, no Roman legion was ever
adorned with badges more honorable
than those you wear upon your manly
breasts. Ii was neither conquest nor
power for which you fought; 1T was IN
defense of home and country. The
rights for which the founders OF this
Republic struck were no more sacred
to them than the rights for which
YOU struck were dear to you.
If YOU were rebels, SO were the
fathers of constitutional liberty of
hundred and twenty years ago. III
YOU fought to sever connection with a
Union whose bonds were calling, so
did the men now iInmortalized in
song and story when they snapped the
cord of British allegiance in 1776. III
YOU had within you spirit that would
not submit tamely to wrong and dared
to assert itself in the front of grim
yisaged war, it came to you by ances-
tral inheritance, orif foreign born, you
imbibed it from the air you breathed.
Pointing to statue of Lee, he said:
s.Just in front of us astride his noble
war steed is the great captain OF the
nineteenth century, unsurpassed In
legend or tradition. How thankful are
we that human hand has been gifted
with the skill to convert inanimate
maCIeT Into tHS uNlHS 1oihh u ''i''
who, with
s.Washington shall rise immortal,
And shall ride abreast of time,
Shall light up stately history
And blaze in epic rhyme,
Both patriot, both Southerners, true,
Both rebels, both sublime.
s.When the work which will be be-
gun so soon shall be completed, the
world will behold a monument erected
to an unceptered ruler by the free will
offering of the scattered remnants of
HI, armies and the descendants of his
dead soldiers, by the high and the
humble, the rich and the poor. Not
brick will be laid by taxation: not a
stone shall be laid by government do
nation"
While Gov. O'Ferrall was speaking,
Wade Hampton came in, and was pre-
sented by Gen. Gordon. At the con-
.clusion of the Governors address,
Mayor Richard NJ. Taylor delivered an
address of welcome on behalf of the
city of Richmond
The Battle Abbey committee held
a long session this morning. Col
Woods report showed contributions
of 500 .S48 in addition to Mr.. Rouss'
conditional subscription. Col. Chale-
ron. of Louisiana, said he was opposed
to conditional subscription. New Or
leans, he said, had a $150,000 site to
offer absolutely. Mr.. Rouss submit
ted second proposition, offering to
contribute $4,000 if the South would
raise an equal amount to erect great
Battle Abbey in Washington. Resolu-
tions were finally adopted providing
TINT the committee ask to be dischar-
gedNand be succeeded by trustees to be
sele kted by representatives of each
div ion of United Confederate veterans