The Opelousas courier., 1898-07-30
General Gordon's Address to the U. c.
v. Reunion.

| Grams in Atlanta, Ga, July Goth, 1898:
Governor, General Evans, Mr.. Mayor
and Gentlemen of the Committee:
AS a Georgian at home my proper
place in this programme would seem 10
| welcome and not as the m%0uthplece or
| the recipients OF that welcome: The
| official station, however, to winch my
| comrades have called me demands that
| in their name | respond to these heart.
| felt greetings from my native State ana
| her capital city. Geographically, there
| fore, | should play the part OF the host,
| but officially ] must speak as your
| euest. Anomalous as this double &C.
| pacity may seem, it is no without Its
conversations. In my capacity OF host
| and dutiful son, | can lean as it were on
| the bosom of my mother Georgia and
| feel her beating heart throbbing with q
| boundless love and sympathy for all
| survivors OF the South's u%nrivaled ar.
| mics while in the capacity OF guest. L
| throw around these visiting comrades
| the arms of q brother and in their name
| pledge their grateful acknowledgement
| for this magnificent reception.
Georgia and her fair daughter At
lanta, in thus opening their arms and
hearts to receive us, are in no sense sur
prjsine % us. We knew what to expect
before WE came. The normal position
ofthis State and city is known OF all men.
Their place is Mt the front, whether IN
| sending soldiers to war, or in honOrlng
| them in peace; and there is not Il sur
| vivor of those immortal legions VINO
| bore the stainless cross OF battle to u
| 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 appreciation IN language 1ar
more eloquent and tender than any
which | could utter.
And now, my fellow-cOuntrymeD, may
| ask if you have contemplated anu
comprehcnded the full significance or
this splendid reception and Of others
like it which have been accorded Us 10y
Louisiana, 10y Alabama, by Mississippi,
by Texas, by Virginia, by Tennessee,
by all the people wherever 1T has been
our fortune to convene. How strange,
must these annual o~utpOurings appear
to All Deoples outside Of the SOuth's
border.
On another occasisn / 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 re-
tigion may all feed and feast upon such
a theme without exhaustlng 1t and the
spirit of liberty, the reverence for law
and for regulated government reJoices
and grows strong in the sentiment and
high purpose which these gatherings
evoke. No other conventions OF ex-
soldiers in all the earth are 80 free from
self seeking, so untainted by passion or
prejudice, so purely philantlropic, nor
more broadly patriotic. No disbanded
and defeated soldiery has ever been for
so long a period the special objects OF
so unique and universal appreciation
and ELECTION by a people for whose
cause that soldiery commended success
fully.
In every other age, in every other
land, popular plaudits have been but
tho echoes of the shouts and martial
peans of victory. Public honors, costly
demonstrations and universal acclaim
have been tho heritage Of successful ar
mics. Imperial Rome, intoxicated with
the glory of conquest, erected lofty
arches to her mighty warriors, only
when they bore her proud eagles above
the ranks Of conquering legion. France
was united under the great Corslcan 50
loDg as he was Victories /; but he too
was defeated, and at his fail, the Legis
lative Assembly OF his people aban-
doned and demanded the abdication Of
this hitherto idolized leader. Nor do
our own brave cOuntrymen. the brave
veterans of the Union army, furnish any
p~arallel 10 the conditions which sur
round us. When they returned from
the horrors Of var it was to homes OF
increased comfort, to augmented wealth
and with arms in their hands and vic
tory on their banners. They returned
to an established aud greatfnl govern
ment.
The return OF the disarmed and dis
banded Confederates, however, was to a
people made poor; to u land made des
olate, covered with %blackened ruins,
where every home was in mourning,
every breath was a sigh and every
breeze a messenger of woe. And yet,
after the remnant of those armies have
grown grey, and the Government for
which they fought lives only as a menu
ory, these grim Southern warriors gath
or in annual reunions, and are the re-
cipients of a boundless hospitality, dis
pensed by this recently impoverished,
but grateful people.
On what page in history will You find
a similar example? In what age or
country have the shattered remnants of
defeated armies, banded together in a
brotherhood so unique, a purpose so IN
selfish? Among what defeated people
has ever been witnessed such fidelity to
the memories OF an unsuccessful army
coupled with such transformations, gen
ujne and responsive loyalty to the Gov
erument from which they 80 resolutely
and c~onscientiously sought separation
[ challenge the worlds annals to fur
nish n parallel.
10 conclusion, let me inquire what il
all means. Simple justice to these
brave and patriotic men, who yielded al
last to overwhelming numbers and re-
sources 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 at.
tjtnde toward the American Republic
whose honor and freedom and flag they
are always ready to defend !; justice tt
the self-respect and manhood of the
Southern youth, who are to stand fol-
ali time with the Northern youth, il
defense of popular liberty ; justice tt
the past and justice to the future, all de
mand that our own p0sterity and al
mankind shall know the meaning oil
these phenomenal demonstrations Owe
the tbinned ranks of u broken, bu1
proud aud once resistless army.
Our heroic brothers of the Union ar,
nv need no such care in guarding them
selves from misapprehension ;land fo1
the reason that they are, so TO speak
the special wards of this great nation
All of it's energies, all of its influence
and a large share Of its taxing power