Birmingham state herald., 1897-06-24

cesses or consecrated in defeat. is to idealze principle and strengthen charac- ter, intensity love of country and convert defeat and disaster into pillars of support for future manhood and noble woman hood. Whether the southern people Sn- der their changed conditionsr may ever hope to witness another civilization which shall equal that which began with their George Washington and ended with their Lee, it Is certainly true that devotion to their glorious past is not only the sureSt guaranty of future progress-the holi st bond of unity, but is also the strongest claim they can present to the confidence and respect of the other sections of the union.'
 Speaking then of your organization, I said:
 'It Is political in no sense except so far as the word ''polltical' Is a synonym of the word patriotic" It is a hrother- hood over which the genius of philan- thropy and patriotism, of truth and of justice will preside. Of philanthropy be- cause it will suecor the disabled, help the needy strengthen the weak and cheer the disconsolate of patriotism, because 1t will cherish the past glories of the dead confederacy, and transmute them into in- spiratiens for future services to the living republic; of truth, because it will seek to gather and preserve unimpeacheable facts as witnesses for history; of justice be- cause it will cultivate national as we'll as scutherni fraternity, and will condemn narrowmindedness and prejudice and passion and cultivate that bread r. h gh- en- nobler sentiment which would write on the grave of every soldier who fell on the other side:
 :" Here lies an American hero, martyr to the right as his conscience conceived it."
 My comrades. how can I doubt your sympathy and approval, when upon this analysis of prep6 ed me for so great period and with such unparalleled unanimity? Guided by my own convictions of duty to you and to our whole country, I have not hesitated to proclaim on all proper occasions in public and private, on the political hustings and the floor of the senate, at the north and the south and among the English speaking people beyond the Atlantic everywhere. I repeat I have proclaimed that the knighthood won by the confeder- ate soldier in war would never be lost or tarnished in peace by narrow bigotry or any lack of a noble magnanimity.
 MT. president. as long as the south's flag conld be held aloft in the smoke and storm of battle, no man followed it, think, more Loyalty or lovingly than my self, and the judge of all hearts is my witness that I would freely have given for it's triumph the last drop of blood in these veins. No man is more loyal now to the hallowed memories than are embalm=d with it, but when that flag went down at Appomattox, when the fate of war made 1t certai that this country was to remain one with one flag and one dsstiny, l turned my thoughts and labors to the up- building of that one country which was bequea athed to all the sections by the fathers From the morning at Appo- mattox to this hour in Nashville it has bsen my higest political ambition to be an humble instrument in the restoration of fraternity and unity to the once di- vided and embittered sections, upon a basis consistent with the honor and man. hood of all
 q trust. my comrades, that you will re- gard thsse personal allusions as at least pardonable, although they may not be es- sential to a clear understanding of my stewardship. You will also permlt nie,to recall In this connection the indispuiarle fa st tisat for thjsssy years southern, ,lSad- CTS have stood in the forefront of the country's peacemakers.
 "It was Ben Hill, of Georgia, who, In that masterfuq defense of his people on the floor of congress, called the nation to witness that the 'south's sons were in their fathers house, and there to stay. It was my hong cherished friend, Missis- slppis illustrious sen. the matchlss5 La mar. who uttered in that same hall the inspired words, My ountrymen, krow each other. and you wiN love each other These noble words from a southern lead- CT caught the nations ear and thrilled the nations heart. It was Henry w Grady, who in the very precinct of Plymouth Rock and in sight of Bunker Hill, pro claimed that evangei of peace that rang in every home throughout the land. Ard, Mr. President and Comrades. the proud est hour ir my own public life was that in which I was able to pledge to the d'S- turbed communities of the north the loyal hearts and strong arms of the south for the enforcement of law and order. It was i,a That 1rp16fIn b,0I1r when ciSt O city of the west was threatered with r ot torch and blocd when mob viclence ruls q in her streets; when laws wer. tranp'ed and civil authority defied: when flames were spreading amidst her dwellings,; when panic and dismay filed Chic1go's l homes, an1 when no man could predict the rext scene in the drama--it was in that hour and on the floor of the senate that I was able to pledge southern sym pathy and aid and to declare that no men in this union were mSre loyal to law and to public liberty as c9nse erved by law none more ready to defend t<c authority of the general government its honor, it's flag and it's freedom, than the heroic remnants of those immortal armies which followed Lee ard Jackson. the JohrSt n, Bragg and Hood or Jeb Stuart and Bed fond Forrest, till the confed sracy fsN be- fore the resistless storm.
 My comrades the echoes came and came quickly from all ovsr the land: and
 
 than that which was brought by the re- | sponses from north and south alike. "In conclusion, my comrades, let me hope that the wise conservatism, the | spirit of magnanimfty which is always | the brigh test gem in the crown of courage | will mark your career in the future as | they have in the past. On, another m m- orable occasion when speaking as south l ern representative, I said, in substance let us all hope that the day is not distant 1 whsn every section will recognize the monumental truth that both sides fought under written constitutions guaranteeing 1 the same monuments of liberty: that every drop of blood shed was the price fire fly paid by the soldier for his inherited beliefs and cherished convictions; that every uniform worn by the brave-wheth- | CT it's color was blue or gray-every sheet of fIam+ from the ranks and rifles of both; {; every cannon shot that shook Chicka- | mauga's hills and thundered around the heights of Gettysburg: every patriotic