The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-07-29
TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION.
WILMINGTON. n. c.
FRIDAY, JULY %, 1898.
THE CONFEDERATE PAGEANT

paraded in a storm, and Is, 1000 people
witnessed the march. No storm or
rain could keep back the men from
marching who had faced many a storm
of lead. In all this world there has
beer no greater armies than those
that wore the gray. Viewing the facts
dispassionately, and considering the
great disparity in numbers, the long
consuming, destructive war of four
years; the embarrassing difficulties
under which the south had to begin the
terribly unequal fight, having no mu-
nitions and no arms scarcely and
every thing to be extemporized and no
standing army to begin with as the
north had, and armies to be created
out of men fresh from their homes
who knew nothing whatever of sol
diering; considering all this, the en-
ing of the men were nothing short of
the marvellous and the sublime. 1t
was a part of those heroes in gray
who at Atlanta braved the storm and
faced the lightning, battle-worn and
scar-marked, and remembering the
immortal deeds SO bravely, grandly
done, hearts thrilled with joy at the
recOllections Of the past, and yet with
real love of country united and one,
they kept step to the music of the
Union of States. The Atlanta Journal
with %eloquence says of the scene:
Following these leaders were the
men, who after all, must be said to
have made the imperishable glory of
the confederacy; the men who fought
without the hope or desire for fame
or reward and who fought as men
never did before or since. Out Of
their mortality others put on immor-
tality; out of their tattered garb was
woven for others the garments of
glory. Oh, it was good to look upon
their dear old faces as they went I'M
faltering through the storm. They
are men who never learned how to
1alter n every man who saw them
yesterday felt a thrill of pride run
through his heart when he saw that
lis country had such heroes.
"The rain came in torrents, but it
was the most beautiful afternoon At
lanta ever had.
"The muititudes stood uncovered in
the storm to see the heroes pass.
LAS the rain was the softest and
warmest that ever fell in Atlanta. 1t
kissed tenderly the cheeks of ten thou
sand marching veterans and bejew-
elled their white locks with a splendor
beyond comparison with kingly gems.
The clouds wept for the suffering
which these men and their comrades
endured and baptized their blessed
heads with the blessings of heaven.
"Old men and old women wept as
they looked upon that spectacle, and
little children who saw it will hold it
in the very core of their hearts as long
as they live"
In all that great gathering nearly
all hearts were loyal to the memo
ries of the past, and the inspirations
of the hour were rich in fruitiOn and
hope in spite of defeat and the folding
of the southern banner-the Stars and
Bars. The mighty conflict had ended
thirty-three years ago, and after so
many intervening years of expressions
and wrongs and disappointments the
south had become more potent, more
progressive, more tenacious of cOnsti-
tutional liberty, more resOlute of pur-
pose to retain and maintain her
rights under the organic law,
determined if possible to cooperate
heart and soul and to the end with
those every where in our land who
believed a free government, a govern
ment of the people and for the people
and by the people. The men who
wore the gray were patriots and free
men in the highest sense. They be-
lieved in liberty and sought indepen-
dence of the north because that end Of
the union was dominant, aggressive
and oppressive. The men of the south
are Of the same race and lineage as the
men who achieved victories for liberty
in England, who won at Quebec, who
compelled surrender at Yorktown,
who stood forth championing the
right in the time of the Spanish Ar
mazda, and who upheld Washington
alike in war and in peace. They are
descendants of the men of Magma
Charta and the Bill of Rights and
trial by jury. They are true and reso.
lutte and brave, and are ready at any
time to deliver battle for the preser
walton of their liberties and in behalf
of the American union. New names
are being added to the long roll o
American heroes, but so long a
memory lasts and liberty is worship
ped and brave hearts remain, tn
names of Lee and Jackson and tn