Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-01-20

| the central uEuftf AROUND WHO'LL ulu an
| the hopes Of the people cluster? To whom
| did the people of the Southland look IN
| the darkest hour with a confidence that
knew no wavering? To that grand man
| and great commander. Robert r. Lee. And
4 what shaA 1 say of him? Language which
| my feeble ability enables me to command
/ Is inadequate to express my admiration
/ for him, and my conception OF his great
| ness as man and soldier. The Southland,
plOughed with graves and REDEEMED with
| blood. that can look the proudest nation
| fearlessly I'm the face and whose sons he
| led 10 battle. viii ever cherish Tor MIN
I the highest regard and the deepest afiec-
| ton. Ave. more. his fame is not bounded
| by the country of which he was n cit
zen. but IL has gone across the waters,
and wherever there Is heart upon whose
altar burn the fires of liberty, and soul
that appreciates all that Is great and
good. there the name of Robert T.. Lee
is enshrined. and when the monuments
we may build 10 his memory shall have
crumbled into dust, his virtues will still
live-a high model for the imitation OF
generations yet unborn. As has been beau
tifully said me was foe without hate;
a friend without treachery; a soldier with
out cruelty. and victim without muir
muring. He was a public officer without
vices; a private citizen without wrong: a
neighbor without reproach; a Christian
without hypocrisy, and a man without
guilt. He was Caesar without his ambl-
ton; Frederick without his tyranny; Ma
UNitOn WITHOUT his StllSHutFF. ana W ash
ingtOn without his reward He was ODE
dent to authority as servant. and royal
in authority as king. He was as gentle
as a woman in life; pure and modest as a
virgin in thought; watchful as a Roman
vestal: submissive to law as Socrates, and
grand I'm battle as Achilles"
The profession Of the soldier has been
hOnOred by his renOwn, the cause Of
education by his virtues, religion by his
piety
THE greatest gift a hero leaves his race
Is TO have been a hero"
In the ancient East. 1t is said the wan
derlng Arabs are searching for treasures
buried IN the tombs of their mOnarchs.
He whose memory we commemorate. on
this. the ninety-frst anniversary Of his
birth, has no treasures buried with him
The treasures of his life were brave
noble. unseliish deeds, which he left be-
hind him 10 make the sons Of men wiser.
nobler, and better.
OUR PRINCIPLES STILL LIVE.
/ said our cause was lost. but il was
lost only in the sense that we did not
accomplish that for which we struggled
but the principles for which we contend
ded sun live. Clouds may obscure the
sun. but it still shines; truth NAV be
crushed to the earth but il will rise
again; principles Of justice and right may
be uampled under the feet of dema-
gogues and fanatics, but they still sur
ViVe. All else may change and decay
Passing away Is written upon all ma
terial things. The grass of the field
Withereth; the Hover thereof fadeth, the
Mlnd passeth over ii, and il is gone"
The tiny leaf springng from the ex-
pandlng tWlg changes its color from sum-
mer beauty 10 autumnal lovelinessr and
ldlls IN Withered wOrthlessness TO the
ground teaching man who treads upon
IL a lesson of his own destiny. The granite
peaks That stand like sentinels Keeping
watch over the valleys below. that have
withsto0d the frost of centuries, around
lick
have harmlessly played and on whose
crest the lurid bolt as IL leaned from,
the bosom of the storm-cloud has spent
Tvs I1ice IN VAN, VIII succumb TO the
Gorrodlng touch Of time and pass away
Bul the principles Of right. which spring
from the eternal Throne. will survive "the
wreck OF matter and crush of worlds
& anu. Shlhe with respleDdont lustre when
lianmlhed by the pure light Of eternity.
The struggle was ended. the soldier
peilshed. but the principles for which
ne ne. fought survive. and believe that the
time viii come when the southern soldier
VIII not only stand ACQUITTED. bur iusfifed
Dy the verdict Of the world
what means this building with the sig |
nincant name of Lee Camp? What !
mean the hundreds Of similar oraanjza |
tons all over the Southland? They sneak |
IN no unmeaning language. They tell ms |
That though our cause is lost i'm the sense |
mat the Independence Of the Southern |
Confederacy was not achieved. that |
though we were wasted and worn ana ali |
was lost we saved our honor and orr |
manhood and we cannot forget our he |
iioes. Sacred history tells us that one OF |
the disciples proposed that three tabar- |
nacles should be raised on the mount OF |
llanslgnratio{s, and in all ages of. the /
world heroic deeds of men, and nations |
nave ibesnsq9mmemorsted by their follow
citlzehs. snow me-a land whpre thSre'are |
no churches whose spires point heaven
ward. commemorative of the great work
finished on Calvary. as told i'm that Rock |
suspended as il were in the zenith OF the |
moral heaven bidding all men t6 look
believe, and live; show me a land where
there are no tombs of marble no statues |
or bronze, no monuments Of granite !
erected 10 commemorate heroic self-sac- |
rYiclng deeds, and will show you a peo-
pie lost 70 every lofty emotion. without
an ennobling sentiment fit subjects to be
the dupes OF demagOgues and the slaves
OF the ambitious. No, no: we cannot for
get The boys who wore the gray and Of
fered their lives for what they believed
TO be right.
ION flames eternal campng-ground
Their silent tents are spread;
While glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac Of the dead"
MEN OF THE NOBLEST TYPE
Raise monuments TO their memory, and
with each returning season strew their
graves with flowers of field and garden.
and by these things let YOUR children and
children be taught that the
heroes of the Lost Cause were not rebels
and traitors, but men of the noblest tyne |
who were ready to do, to dare. and TO
die In obedience 10 the call of duty. Go |
on with the work, and the brave the
true OF every land, will approve such con
duct. No one who wore the blue. and
who was a soldier. will say aught against
Il. only those who were peace-llke in
war and warlike in peace will condemn.
"He jests at scars who never felt n |
wound" We cOvet not their praise nor
will we be deferred by their censure.
the rising generation | would deliver a
message. Soon taps" for lights out"
will sound for all who wore the gray,
other shore Will you permit the memory