Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1898-08-02
Gen. dordon,s EIoauent Words.

D
dous ovation on his entrance into
the recent reunion meeting at Atlanta
Ga. His eloquent address, delivered
shortly afterward, was in part as follows
mo other convention of ex-soldiers /.
all the earth are so free from self-seel1ing
SO untainted by passion OF prejudice, 81
purely philanthropic, or more broadly
patriotic. No disbanded and defeated
soldiery has ever been for so long period
the special objects of so unique and uni
versal appreciation and affection by peo
pie for whose cause that soldiery contend
ed unsuccessfullY.
:" In every other age in every Other
land, popular Plaudits have been but the
echoes of the shouts and martial peans
of victory. Nor do our own brave coun.
trymen, the brave veterans of the Union
army furnish any parallel to the condi
tions which surround us. When they re.
turned from the horrors of war it was tc
homes of increased comfort, to augment
ed wealth and with arms in their hands
and victory on their banners. They re.
turned to an established and grateful
government.
The return of the disarmed and dis
banded Confederates, however, was to
people made poor; to land made desc
late, covered with blackened ruins, where
every home was in mourning, every
breath was sigh and every breeze a
messenger of woe. And yet, after third
of century has passed, after the rem
nant of those armies have grown gray,
and the government for which they
fought lives only as a memory, these grim
southern warriors gather in annual re-
unions and are the recipients of bound
less hospitality dispensed by this recently
impoverished but grateful people.
In conclusion, let me inquire what 1t
all means Simple justice to these brave
and patriotic men, who yielded at last to
overwhelming numbers and resources !;
justice to the southern people, whose de-
votion to their cause must be measured
by the countless sacrifices they made for
it; justice to their present attitude to-
ward the American republic, whose hon
or and freedom and flag they are always
ready to defend justice to the self-re-
spect and manhood of southern youth,
who are to stand for all time with north
ern youth, in defense of popular liberty /;
justice TO the past and justice to the fu-
ture, all demand that our own posterity
and all mankind shall know the meaning
of these phenomenal demonstrations over
the tllinned ranks of broken, but proud
and once resistless army.
"Our heroic brothers of the Union
army need no such care in guarding
themselves from misrepresentation; 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
a large share of its taxing power are sub
ject, when required, to their demands
Besides, as rule, it is true the world
over that victory itself vindicates, while
defeat dooms to misrepresentation the
cause of the vanquished.
Let us hope, however, that impartial
history, secured through the labors of
our broadminded and able historical com
mittee, will avert from our people such a
wrong.
Again, and finally, press the ques-
ton, what is the inmost meaning of these
Confederate pageants? Are they due to
any covert or sinister aims, or, in the re-
motest degree to self-seeking? Their
open sessions and published proceedings,
which all the world is challenged to in
spect, furnish the answer, Do these re-
unions and popular demonstrations which
attend them draw their inspiration from
any suggestion of disloyalty to either of
the tremendous results of the war-the
freedom of the slave and the eternal uni
ty of the Republic? The protection of
the negro by southern courts, his reliance
for security upon southern sentiment and
his education through white taxation in
southern schools, furnish the South's an
swer to the first. To the second: loyalty
to perpetual union of the states, and to
the honor and glory of the republic-the
south has been continually answering
since the close of our civil war, and she is
answering to-day by the presence and
Prowess of her heroic sons at the front in
the war with Spain.
Her Lee, her Wheeler, her Bagley,
her Blue, her Hobson and her thousands
of volunteers who sprang to arms at their
country's call, are answering from their
camps in the Philippines and from the
jungles of Cuba.
You, my Confederate comrades.
would be there if the country needed you.
Many of you assembled here would have
been there but for impaired health and
failing strength. But our sons and
grandsons are there. With our PRAYERS
and blessings they are enlisted in this
war with high and holy purposes. Among
the great ends to be attained IN this con
fiict with Spain, the freedom of oppressed
islands in both oceans, the wider infr-
ence of America in the councils of the
nations, the increased respect for her
power on land and sea, there is still an.
other achievement to be attained. no less
glorious and far reaching; namely. the
obliteration of all traces Of distrust among
ourselves and the complete and too long
delayed unifcation of the American peo-
: ~.