Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1900-06-07


For il droopS above our dead
Touch II not-untuTl II never
Let it drcop thus furled forever,
For its peoples hopes are He'd.
Hope that Springs eternal in the hui
man breast" seemed to have spread her
wings and taken her flight forever from
our Southern land.
Thirty-fve years have gone by a
whole generation Of men have passed
from the scene Of action since that Cause
went down in storm and disaster. And
is it lost ? Has it been forgotten from
the memories of mankind Let this
great assemblage answer, mo, never.
was in Atlanta last week whittier
duty had called me, Atlanta, the Gate
City" the Metropolis Of the South, At
lanta, once burned to ashes by Sherman
on his cruel march to the sea, yet now
sprung phTniX-like from its ashes, the
faireSt, most prosperous and wealthiest
city of the South And as | wandered
one afternoon along the streets of that
great city | came upon Oakland Gene
terry, and going through that sleeping
place Of the dead, amid its monuments
and mausoleums, in the centre | came
upon asingle granite shaft, a white finger
pointing toward heaven, bearing this
simple inscription, Our Confederate
Dead. "
Passing through Norfolk on my way
home this week found on the oldMarket
Square, in the very heart Of the city,
erected since was there year ago,
lofty handsome sculptured column, and
on its base these same words, To Our
Confederate Dead" And so in every
city and town through our broad South
ern land, from Maryland to Texas, new
monuments are rising to commemorate
the virtues and celebrate the fame OF
our Confederate heroes, who fought and
fell in the Cause that was lost.
When your noble chieftain Lee
sheathed his sword, and retiring to the
peaceful academic shades of Lexington,
began to instruct the young men Of the
South in those principles, in defence Of
which he had led her armies, it was in
effect what all Of you did, who so long
and faithfully had followed him in the
war. You returned to practise the arts
of industry in times of peace, and at the
same time to teach your sons those prin-
ciples that inspired you in your great
struggle. And right well are you reap
ing the reward Of your toll. You have
begotten race of men that remember
and honor and live for those principles.
SONS of Confederate Veterans" are or
ganizing everywhere through our South
ern land.
And the women of the South have not
been behind you-those angels Of mercy,
who in the stress and strain Of times of
war with gentle offices of love ministered
to the sick and dying soldiers, soothing
their pain and pointing the way to
heaven. They have nurtured and reared
generation of Daughters of the Con-
federacy, whose bOsoms thrill with love
and pride at the story Of your heroic
deeds and patient sutteTings, and who
will hand down the principles for which
you fought 10 generations yet unborn.
And from these memorial services in
which you resolved to meet one day ia
each year TO recall the names, and to
stI6w with Movers the graves OF your
comrades, who fought and fell on many
| a bloody battlefield, and inwhich, thanks
to theMemorial Association that occurred
! this beautiful Elmwood Cemetery, you
| here in Shepherdstown took SO early
part. From these yearly memorial SER
vices have grown the great Annual Con-
federate Reunions, such as that i'm
mense gathering that has just closed in
the city of Louisville, where thousands
of Confederate Veterans, and Sons Of
| Veterans and Daughters OF the Confed-
eracy met 70 celebrate the fame ana FER
petuate me principles OF the Cause that
vas lost.
Confederate Veterans, the silver on
your heads and boards reminds me that
death mpst one DAY coHe ia yau, as it
has come to your gallant Colonel Nor
gan. whose clarion voicewas heard cheer
| ing his men on many field OF battle,