The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-06-19

of the American people, Henry w Grady |
VINO as a youth drank from the fountain |
Of letters and learning in this university |
HIS genius, his patriotism and his early |
death have made him the idol of south |
culture of Boston had not been so thrilled |
since the days of James Otis and Samuel
Adams as when they heard that match-
less voice which came to them like the
hers of a new era Not since Bradford
and Brewster and Winslow first saw the
rock which gave them its icy welcome to
Plymouth, had that historic spot felt such
an inspiring influence as when Henry
Grady, even then entering the valley of
the shadow, babe them love and trust the
new south Wherever he went, all who
heard and all who saw, recognized one
who dwelt in an ampler ether, a diviner
air. Who could resist that engaging per-
sonality, that gifted mind, that lofty soul d?
What words SO fifty speak our grief as
those of Milton when his bestowed
friend sank beneath the wave?
For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime,
Young Lyeidas, and hath not left his
peer
Standing also for peace and good WILL
as IS the fashion of brave soldler,-ls
another Georgian, with whose acquaint-
ance have been honored and whose
friendship I trust is mine. 1t was he who,
corps ito a frazzle'' and saw with break
ing heart the sun go down upon the cause
he loved. Georgia has honored him, and
he has honored Georgia. Many. many
ened with warm responsive hearts to his
eloquent recital of the heroic story which
he knew well. May I not, as one who
wore the blue, here make public acknow-
ledgmept of the respect and affection we
all bear for that good grey head? Cen
tlemen, thought of you and thought of
Georgia, when, three weeks ago, l read
the knightly language of General Gordon,
which warmed the blood in every patriotic
heart throughout our country; Some day,
which | hope is far distant,-a marble
shaft will commemorate his brave life,
and what better inscription could be gray
en- upon it than the lmpassioned words he
uttered to the comrades he had led on
so many a desperate field? I trust the
time will never come while l stand
southern ground, or among the chival-
rous men of the south, when I will refuse
to send a kindly message to an enemy"
The last two years have been rusiug all
our hearts in the crucible of history. I'm,
der common impulse, rallying to the
| approved. we learned that north and
/ south love and follow the same flag and
| will follow it together to the uttermost.
| Where now is their rivalry? Together
| they sailed into the bay, when Dewey I'M
| furled the flag, and babe his eloquent
| guns proclaim the rising son or victory
| Georgia was there with the gallant
| Brumby, 50 soon to return and mingle his
| ashes with the soil of his native state
| We shall not soon forget those anxious
! days when we waited for news from San
| tiago; when our lines were marching up
| the steep road to that ugly crest, while
| the fleet in sleepless vigil guarded the har-
| Dor where lay the ships of Spain, uncon-
! The record made by the army. and the
record made by the navy are alike inspir-
!
you not? how quick the nation was to rec
ognize its own essential unity and to re-
| joice that at last Northern soldiers and
! Southern soldiers, wearing the same uni
| form, Saluting the same colorS, were Of
fering their lives to the same cause. 1t
| has often been said that the Spanish war
| removed the last lingering trace of en-
| nifty between north and south. l thought
so and often said so, but one day shortly
! after Santiago fell 1 heard a wiser state
! ment of the situation than had come to
! my ears before [ met in Chicago a gen
n Tenn
who had given four good years to the
stars and bars, and whose erect soldierly
bearing showed that he had not forgot
| ten Shiloh and the fields where he had
fought. In the course of our conversation
| ish war was worth everything it had cost
in blood and treasure, because 1t had
| ended all ill-feeling between north and
! south. His eye flashed as he responded.
! No, sir; it has not" For a moment /
thought | had awakened the wrath of an
unreconstructed Confederate. But ne re-
peated: mo, sir it has not ended the
ill-feeling: it has shown that it was al
ready ended" I bowed to him as one
who had easily outdone me in courtesy.
And yet. We both meant the same thing
which we had waited long.
Naturally you are proud of what Geor-
that furnished by any other state in pro-
portion to its population. And you gave
not only men for the rank and file, but
Though he is a citizen of Alabama, you
claim General Wheeler as a native Geor-
will surrender him to you. He is, as
Judge Speer said in his eloquent speech
at the Chicago Peace JHPl lee IA little t!I
up, for his is the common property of us
all When the summons comes that shall
call him from this life, he Will be, as he
deserves to be, a retired brigadier general
in the regular army of the United States
probation of this high theme. It is my
most ardent wish that together we may
share in honors as we have in sacrifices
Va h1x~n had mrs
find consolation in the thought that hui
man interests are governed by a law
which, if we do not understand we may
at least dimly discern The men of sci
ence, who have given their lives to the
study of nature tell us that all phenome
ma will be ineligible when knowledge
gets its range and discovers the true re
lation of things It will some day come
to US that all our social and political re-
! latiOnS are governed by q laW-tOo wide
for our present comprehension, but none
the less wisely ordered for our permanen
: well being.
The phiiosophic student. looking back
of historic events but how often quicl
and sudden movements, unforeseen an6
unexpected, rise like a bright aurora upo1
our vision2 No one anticipated Wha
President Mckinley was about to uttel
when, addressing the general assembly O
Georgia, he lifted the veil and hade hi
countrymen behold each -Other once mOr'
as countrymen indeed. Can you ever for
get that supreme moment, when he said
s'Fhe time has now come in the evolution
of sentiment and feeling, in the provi
denee of God, when in the spirit OF ira
ternity we should share with you in tn
care of the graves of the Confederate
soldiers" It was my pFiviiege to he he a,
: Howell. in the Constitution so trul!
called experimenting. I witnessed will
many others who are here today the fer
vid enthusiasm reaching the highes
: heights in that great audience It was
not to Georgia, the speech was made; i
was not to the south: it was to thu
United States and to all the world. You
know the response the nation made. No
one word of dissent was heard, for al
men saw and all men knew that we haC
= reached the meridian.
What we heard seemed like an echo O.
the words of Socrates to Menexenus afte
: the civil war which they had witnessed
And we ought also TO remember thos'
who then fell by one anothers' hands
and on such occasions as these, to recon
cile them with sacrifices and prayers
praying to those who have power owe
. l,a EacnIlcilal