The age-herald., 1898-07-21

SpOlu 10 IDeSe 0GdTlltlL AiOh my native state and her capital city. Geogra- phically, therefore, I should play the part of the host, but officially must speak as your guest. Anomalous as this double capacity may seem, it is not without. Its compensations. In my capacity Of host and dutifu son I can lean as 1t were on the bosom of my mother, Georgia, and feel her beating heart throbbing with a boundiess love and sympathy for all survivors of the South's unriyalled armies while in the cap- acty of guest I throw around these yis- iting comrades the arms of a brother and pledge their greatful acknowledgement Tor this magnificent recention.
 s'Georgia and her fair daughter Atlanta In thus opening their arms and hearts to receive us, are in no sense surprising us. We knew what to expect before we came. The normal position of this state and city is known to all men. Their place is at the front, whether in sending soldiers to war, or in honoring- them in peace and there is not survivor of these immortal legions, who bore the stainless cross of battle to thousand victories, who does not feel at home in this state and city. All of these Confederates realize that they are at home, and their pulsing hearts tell of their ap- preciation in language far more eloquent and tender than any which l could now utter.
 Significance of the Reception
 And now, my fellow countrymen, may ask if you have contemplated and compre- hended the full significance of this spendid reception and of others like it which have been accorded us by Louisiana by Ala bama, by Mississippi, by Texas, by Vir- ginia, by Tennessee, by all the people wherever 1t has been our fortune to con- vene? How strange, how marvelousiy strange must these annual outpourings ap- pear to all peoples outside of the south border.
 '.On another occasion I felt impelled to advert to the peculiar significance of these Confederate reunions, but the mind can never tire of their analysis-philosophy patriotism, virtue and religion may all feed and feast upon such theme without ex- hausting it. and the spirit of liberty the reverence for law and for regulated gov ernment rejoces and grows strong in the sentiment and high purpose which these gatherings evoke. No other conventions or ex-sodiers in all the earth are so free from self-seeking, so untainted by passion or prejudice, so purely philanthropic, nor more broadly patriotic. No disbanded and de- feated soldery has ever been for so long period the special objects of so unique and universal appreciation and affection by people for whose cause that soldiery con- tended unsnccessfully.
 Paeans of Victory
 Tn every other age, in every other land, popular plaudits have been but the echoes of the shouts and martial paeans Of vic- tory. Public honors, costly demonstrations and universal acclaim have been the heri- tage of successful armies. Imperial Rome, intoxicated with the glory of conquest, erected lofty arches to her mighty war riors only when they bore her proud eagles above the ranks of the conquering legion. France was unite and exultant unuer the great Corsican so long as he was VIC trious but he, too, was defeated, and at fe1I xxf.1o +sx- nf ple abandoned and demanded the abdica- tion of this hitherto idolized leader. Nor do our own brave countrymen, the brave veterans of the union army, furnish any parallel to the conditions which surround us When they returned from the nor TOTS of war it was to homes or lncreasea comfort, to augmented wealth, and with arms in their hands and victory on their banners They returned to an established and grateful government
 'The return of the disarmed and dis banded Confederatesa however, was to peo- pie made poorer, to a land made desolate, covered with blackened ruins, where every home was in mourning, every breath was sigh and every breeze messenger of woe. And yet, after a third of a century has passed, after the remnant Of those armies have grown gray and the govern ment for which they fought lives only as memory these grim southern warriors
  cipients of a -boundless hospitality, dis pensed by this recently impoverished but grateful people.
 "On what page in history will you find similar history? In what age or country have the shattered remnants of defeated armies banded together in brotherhood so uniuue a purpose so unselfsh? Among what defeated people has ever been witt messed such fidelity to the memories Of an unsuccessful past; such devotion to the sur vvors of an unsuccessful army, coupled with such unostentat tious, genuine ana re- sponsive loyalty to the government rom which they so resolutely and conscientious ; ly sought separation? I challenge the worlds annals to furnish parallel. Justice to the Brave
 .In conclusion, let me inquire what it all means Simple justice to these brave and | patriotic men, who yielded at last to over- l whelming numbers and resources; justice | to the southern people, whose devotion to ! their cause must be measured by the count . less sacrifices they made for it; justice to their present attitude toward the American republic, whose honor, freedom and flag they are always ready to defend; justice to the self-respedt and manhood of southern 1 youth, who are to stand for all time with i northern youth in defense of popular lD- erty; justice to the past and justice to the i future all demand that our own posterity and all mankind shall know the meaning of these phenomenal demonstrations over 1 the thinned ranks of a broken, but proud | and once resistless army.
 "Our heroic brothers of the Union army need no such care in guarding themselves ] from misapprehension, and for the reason that they are, so to speak, the special wards ! of this great nation. All of its energies, all | of its influence and large share of its taxing power are subject, when required | to their demands. Besides, as rule, it is | true the world over that victory itself vindi 1 cates, while defeat dooms to misrepresenta- l tion the cause of the vanquished.
 Loyalty to the Union
 "Let us hope, however, that impartial his- | tory, secured through the labors of ou. | broad-minded and able historical commit 1 tee. will avert from our people such a | wrong.
 Again, and finally, I press the question
 What Is the inmost meaning of these | Confederate pageants? Are they due to