Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1898-07-28


successful armies. Imperial Rome
intoxicated with tho glory of con.
quest, erected lofty arches to he,
mighty warriors, only when they
bore her proud eagles above the
ranks of conqucring lcgions. France
was united and exultant under tho
great Corsican so long as he was vic
torious but he, too, was defeated
and at his fall, the Legislative assem-.
bly, of his people abandoned and do
manded tho abdication of this hith.
orto idolzcd leader. Nor do oul
own bravo countrymen, the brave
Veterans of the Union army, furnish
any parallel to tho conditions whicl,
surround us. When thoy returned
from the horrors of war it was to
homes Of increased comfort, to aug
mentcd wealth and with arms in
their hands and victory on their
banners. They returned to an cstab-
lishcd and grateful government.
The return of the disarmed and
disbanded Confederates, however,
was to people made poor; to land
made dcsolatc, covered with black
cned ruins, where every home was in
mourning, every breath was sigh
and every breeze messenger of woe.
And yet, after a third of century
has passed, after the remnants of
those armies have grown gray, and
the government for which they
fought lives only as memory, these
grim Southern warriors gather in
annual reunion, and are tho recipients
of boundless hospitality dispensed
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 rem
nants of defeated armies, banded to-
gethcr in a brotherhood so unique, a
purpo C so unsclfish ? Among what
defea led people has ever been wit
nes' I'd such fidelity to the memories
of an unsuccessful army, coupled with
such unostcntatious, genuine and re-
sponsivc loyalty to the government
from which they so rcsolutely and
conscientiously sought separation {
/ challenge the worlds annals to
furnish a parallel.
in conclusion, let me inquire what
it all means. Simple justice to these
brave and patriotic mon, who yielded
ut last to overwhelming numbers and
resources; justice to the Southern
people, whose devotion to their cause
must be measured by the countless
sacrifices they made for it; justice
to their present attitude toward the
American republic: whose honor and
freedom a"d flag they are always
ready to defend; justice to the self
respect and mr,hood of Southern
youth, who arc to stand for all time
with Northern youth in defence of
popular liberty; justice to the past
and Justice to the future, all demand
that our own postcrity and all man.
kind shall know the meaning of these
phenomenal demonstrations over the
thinncd ranks of a broken but proud
and once rcsistlcss army.
Our heroic brothers of the Union
army need no such care in guarding
themselves from misapprchcnsion
and for tho reason that they are. 80
to speak, the special wards of his
great nation. All of it's energies, all
of its inluenc and largo share of
it's taxing power arc subject, when
required, to their demands. Besides,
as rule, it is true tho world over
that victory itself vindicatcs, while
defeat dooms to misrepresentation
the cause of the vanquishcd.
Let us hope, however, that impair
tial history, secured through tho la
bors Of our broad minded and able
historical committee, will avert from
our people such wrong.
Again, and finally, ] press the
question, what is the inmost mean
ing of these Confederate pagoants
Are they due to any covert or sinis-
ter aims, or, in tho rcmotcst degree,
to sclf-sccking2 Their open sessions
and published proceedings, which all
the world is challenged to inspect,
furnish the answer DO these
reunions and popular demonstra-
tions, which attend them, draw
their inspiration from any snggcs-
zion Of ais'oyalty to either Of the tro-
mondOus results OF the war-thc
freedom of the slave ana tho eternal
unity of the republic? The protcc-
ton of the negro by Southern courts,
his reliance for security upon South
tern sentiment and his education