Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1897-07-15
TEARS WILL COME.
When War Veterans Meet Each
Other at Their Reunions
rhey Are Not Tears of sorrow, Hut
the w~tttsa Up sad over
Cow Of sacred
Memories.

Charley Lane. delivered most enjoy
,ble lecture ON the analysis OF laugh.
ter. or "Why DO We I.augh2" Now.
II he will analyze our tears and tell u.
why We do weep. we will the better un-
dcrstand another one Of the mysteries
" our emotional humanity. Why does
q man weep when there Is no sorrow
IN his especially an old man
veteran? II II were not pathetic II
| would be funny to see the tears In these
nid soldiers eyes ms they met and
marched aud listened to the martial
music or sat together under the sound
of words that came from the lips OF old
men eloquent-old comrades in arms
words that awakened soul-stirring
memories and quickened into life the
| hard but heroic scenes that were iiv-
ing facts a third OF a century ago. How
hard they iook-thcse old soldiers
hard In face and feature, but soft in
heart. II seems to me can pick them
on, from common people. Every wrin-
klc tells of service. of suffering and dis
appointment. The bronze on their fur
rowed faces has never yet been bleached
and their walk is still n true but tired
march. Yes. can pick them out all
around me. Look at old Cap, Neal
and Mai. foute, and McCandless and
Durham and Mountcastie. They cant
hurry now. Their quick step has gone
They marched and countermarch
they advanced and re,r-ated. they
charged and double-quicked for four
long years, until the spring Of their In
step was worn down to plane with
heel aud toe. and now u IN IA fact that
the hollow Of the foot makes n hole in
the ground.
But why should an old man weep?
! remember that when hen Hills statue
was uncovered and the great speeches
were over and qucenly Winnie Davis
was brought forward ON the platform
and presented to us ~ the daughter
Of the confederacy by Gen. Gordon. ac-
clamations rent the air aud reached
the heavens aud made the welkin ring
Then everybody cried except those who
had no feeling-no cmotion-no pa
triotiSm. Old Gen. Black was leaning
heavily upon me and felt the quiver
heavily and | turned quickly to look
into his face and saw the tears eours-
ing down as freely as IL he were
boy. As I brushed my own away
said: What Is the matter, general?
do you want some water? Are you
about to faint?"
"oh. no-no." said he, Just let me
alone aud hold me up little. lam feel
ing good. Thank God for His mer-
cies. feel like old Nicodemus when
he said; Now let me die. since have
seen Thy salvation
The medical books tell us that tears
are contagious. We all know that and
have experienced II. but ordinarily our
tears come from our own emotions and
not from anoiber's. I suppose tina,
there were probably 10000 bona fide
veterans Mt Nashville. and while under
the influence Of the occasion. the sur
roundings, the memories of the past
aud the thoughts that breathed and the
words that burned. they all shed tears
or felt like IL. What n spectacle for
northern eyes, What commentary
on northern intolerance. How long
will IL take to eradicate our love for
the lost cause or our admiration for its
heroes? Like father. like son and
daughter. aud It is already transmit
ted down the line from generation to
generation. and in few years more
these reunions viii he baptized with
another name and be called the sons
Of the confederate veterans. said that
probably there were 10000 real bona
nde confederate veterans gathered at
Nashville. for II is n fact that our vet
Grams are swiftly passing away. There
are not 100000 now aiive-not more
than one in seven Of all who served.
There might have been more. but un-
pensioned soldiers don't live forever:
neither do they multiply as the years
roll on.