The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-04-30
MEMORIAL DAY
EXERCISES HERE
Col. Wharton J. Green viii
be Orator of the Day.
AT nhkWOOn CEMETERY
AT OAKWO0D CEMETERY
EXERCISES TO TAKE PLACE AT
MORTUARY CHAPEL.
ADDRESS TO LADIES BY CHIEF MARSHAL
Programme Announced for the Day, When
Raleigh VIII Homer The Prays Confederate
Soldiers Who Died Fighting
for Their Country

To the Ladies of the City of Raleigh and
Surrounding Country.
am directed by the president ard
Ladies of the Memorial Association
TO request your presence on the after
noon of the 10th day of May, a, our
beautiful lakewood Cemetery, with all
the flowers at your command, TO and
them in the decoration of the graves of
our Confederate dead. No parade OF
civic organizations, no ceremony or dlS-
play is intended; but the simple cont
memoraton of the virtues Of SOME Cead
soldier of the Lost Cause" will he
had, in an address by the Hon. W. ).
Green, at the Mortuary Chapel OH the
grounds. This day we hold sacred to
the memory of our dead, bat more csps-
cially so that of two classes, who the
more their conduct is considered ana the
more it is examined, the higher respect
and honor will be paid them by historian
and posterty. / mean the private s"!.
der and the women of the Confectionery
of these. the obscure woman pack i'll
the country, away from railroads and
post offices, cut off, isolated from the
world, who during that four years or
deal bore, in silence and fortituda, the
terrible strain of never-ceasing terror
and anxiety; and of the hundreds of
thousands of plain country boys who
died without a sign and who till TN
marked graves, no human being know
ing their names, their homes or their
places-each one dead on the field If
honor.'
The war waged on the South WIS one
OF aggression, of invasion, of conquest,
absolutely without excuse or justiica-
ton; for the government established by
the Revolution of 17I5-S3 was based III
the consent of the governed. Instinct
is more acute than reason, aud every
woman of the South felt ana knew tliat
if the invader was permitted 20 over.
throw the government which their faith
ers had established that thenceforward
they and their children would be gov
erned at the will of the conqueror
Therefore, when the news came that
lwar was upon us, the plain, quiet wo-
Imam of the South never hestated, brt, of
cloth of her own weaving, she made tie
fclothes of her only son, she packed his
bundle and sent him to the nearest camp
Ito join his fellows in the defence OF his
home, and many never saw that child
again-the last sight of him was as ais
figure, with the little bundle on his back,
turned the road, and, to her, wen. out
of this world forever. There she stay
ed tending the small children, working
the crop to supply food and clothes for
them, wearing her heart out with ankle.
ty and fear. Every visitor that approach
ed her home might be the messenger "f
death-husband and sons swallowed up
she had no newspaper, she must rely
upon the flying rumors borne on tle
breeze of great battles in Virginia and
Tennessee or Georgia, where great gem
erals were killed, but not one word Of
her hearts treasure. The names of the
dead priyates were not mentioned III the
dispatches, and for months she lived
this dead and alive life, not knowing
whether the other half of her life was
gone or not No hardship of the soldier
no cold or starvation or disease was com
parable to this. And all this suffering
was borne with unfiinching fortitudc by
hundreds of thousands of humble women
al over these Southern States. All IN,
or to them and to their memory from
generation to generation, until tine
shall he no more!
In the bosom of our beautiful GENE
terry lie the husbands and sons of many
of these martyred women of the Sou.h,
and in their behalf; and that you, the
generation that succeeds them, may earn
the lesson that their martyred lives
teach, do we urge you to give to tae
sacred duty of streWng the graves of
their loved ones with the flowers Of me
mory. The private soldier that raSts
there did his duty as no man has done
anywhere that i have ever read of
Without pay, half starved, not half
clad, day after day and night after night
he trod his lonely round on post in the
snow, in the sleet, and in the biting
wind, when ten minutes walk To the enc
my's line would have gwen him som1crt
and safety but he stood e. 81 his
duty. The wife or mothe. . home in
the cabin in the pine wor>@s should never
blush to hear that the one she honorcd
or the one she loved was deserter. Get
ter rvation-bettcr the freezing cold
better death in any form than dishonor
And the private soldier was the type OF
the manhood of the South. He stood
for maniness, for courage, for love OF
justice, of right and liberty, and his ey-
ample will endure through all time. We
honor ourselves in honoring him: aid
raising our heart in humble gratitude 10
Him who spared him long enough 10
breathe his spirit into us, the multitude
of his survivors.
Come. then, and help us to beautify
this spot eonsecrated to their memories
and come in the spirit of the sacred
duty we ask you to perform, filled wl:l
a sense of the great sufferings you com
memorate.
WM.. J. SAUNDERS.
Chief Marshal