The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-11-07
LEST WE FORGET!
LEST WE FORGET -
SPLENDID TRIBUTE TO vALOR.

WHITE TENTS ARE THICK
ENING IN THE NALLrYS AND O:
TIE llILLsIDES.N
Mr.. Lucian l.. Knight, Of Atlanta
Ga, recently delivered an cloQucn
Grafton at the annual memorial CX
crciscs of the Confederate Veterans il
that city, which is worthy OF pcrhSa
by every man, wOmand and child II
the county, and we take pleasure il
giving our readers the address as fol
lows
&C On this occasion ii Is not unmctC
to unroll the panorama of the past &c
wander again in thought over the dis
putcd fields which Confederate valol
has made forever glorious and to hold
communion with the spirits of our
martyrcd dead who have made the
story of the conquered banner immor-
tai upon history's proudcst page; TO
contemplate again the hcrolsm Of
brave men and the fortitudC of noble
women who illustrated our Confederate
struggle and TO emphasize anew the
lessons of fidelity to principle which
the sacrifices of the sixties teach us.
In honoring our Confederate dead we
honor Americans who proved them
selves worthy sons of Revolutionary
sircs who, entertaining political con-
vctions rs deeply rooted as life itself
could not slavishy surrender them at
the mandate of majoritics and who,
rather than yield the heritage of free
dom which they received from the re-
public's fathers, preferred to immediate
n1,+n tl,n nlt Of
publlc's constitution. Tho born
since the drama Of war was concluded
at AppomattoX | rejoice III the Grim
son tic of kinshlp which links me with
the men who followed Lee, and if
know my own convictions, | had lath-
CT be the son of one Of the humblest
heroes in the Army of Northern Vir-
ginia than to trace my lineage back un-
broken to the proudest captain that
ever returned to Rome in triumph
through the Appian Way shouting the
hosannahs of Caesar.
ID In Rudyald kiplng's poetic
masterpiece each stanza ends with the
'cfrain "Lest we forget . Lest we
;orgct - Is ii possible that the admo-
Iition can apply to us? Have we be-
SolpC SO SOlttl'l ttuNl 81 SclilSH III our
pursuit of gain that we have ceased to
listen with emotion to the story of our
Confederate struggle which as long as
we breathe the air of heaven ought to
make every drop of blood in our
veins tingc with enthusiasm ? No;
and God forbid that it should ever be .
Thirty-livc years have passed since our
gallant boys in gray, returning home
from Appomattox, brought with them
i'll their pallid faces and in their eyes
bcdlmmcd with tears the fate o. DlXic's
forlorn hope. Vast changes have oc-
CURED since then. Like the phoenix
we have risen from the ruins Of war
and upon our battlCliClds we have
gathered unnumbcrcd harvests of wav-
ing grain and ilcccy cotton. Another
conflict in which our former foes have
been our comrades has bcqueathcd to
us fresh glorics and throughout our
borders the gentle ministers of recon
ciliation have been silently at work
healing the brccch which once divided
us until North and South today, like
tho sisters of Bethany, dwell together
in love. We cherish the flag which
ripplcs above us IN the breeze we
glory in every stripe and we are proud
of every star But we have not for
gotten the sacrifices and the triumphs,
the privations and the martyrdoms
which our lost cause brings to mind ;
and ever and anon our thoughts fly
backward to the days when hope beat
wildly IN the bosoms of our gallant
boys in gray and our brave battalons
iluttcr2d the banner which now heauti-
ies Il air no more. We cherish every
relic which the war has left us every
lock Of hair, every faded photograph,
every letter dimmcd with age nor
shall we cease to cherish them until
yondcr, where the war drums throb
no longer we shall fold the owners IN
our LOVING arms and press Them fondly
to our hearts again.
We have not forgotten Lee. Our
hearts still shrine the image of the
captain of our hosts and we vencrate
him still as the prince imperial of the
sons of men. Without fear and with
out reproach he led us from victory
unto victory, and though at last the
durcss of superior numbers compelled
him to partake of the bitter cup of
failure, he found himself in the hour of
surrender enriched with nubler honors
in the ashes of defeat than any earthly
conqucror ever found In the laurcls Of
success. Grand in battle, grander still
IN peace, / think of Gen. Lee as
think of some rock-ribbed mountain
pile rising in colossal majesty above
the plains to battle its summit in the
purcr ether of the skies. Nature made
but one such man and broke the die in
molding Lee
), We have not forgotten Stonewall
Jackson. We cherish still hessmcmory
of that priest of battle whose martial
enthusiasm yoked with his saintliness
of character made him resemble some
fearless knight of old eager to plant
the banner of the crusade upon the
scpulchcr of Christ. Our memories of
the past delight to brood upon his ex-
pioits in the valley of Virginia and our
hopes of the hereafter find sweet en-
ployment in dreaming of him yonder
meath the vernal shade OF the immor.
tai trees
" Johnston, Bcaurcgard, Stuart
Hood Forrest IOnostrpot Early W.