Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-05-26
CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL DAY.
The Brave Southern Women Honor
Their Dead in the Rain.

|
brave Southern ladies turned out in
large numbers. notwithstanding the
ram, to honor those who died for the
7 cause they loved so well.
Inc morning opened cold and rainy;
the clouds looked as though they were
ihinging their tears with those who
were vending their way to the Silent
city or the Dead to strew flowers upon
the graves of loved ones who had Cross
ed that river whence no traveller ever
returns. AS the day advanced and the
ram began to fall at intervals the
aiearts OF many were made sad: but
quite number gathered around the
monument in hopes that the rain might
cease and that the exercises as pre-
Viously published might be carried out;
but f3te deemed 1t otherwise. The
concert which was to have been given
from to o'clock was abandoned; al
so the parade. 1t was decided to let
the exercises take place at the Court
street Baptist Church, an offer having
been made to allow them to do so.
Stonewall Camp and n detachment from
! Pickett Buchanan Camp left the head
quarters of the camp and proceeded to
the church In body. Grimes Battery
and the Portsmouth Rifles was also
present. AT the appointed hour the ex-
ercises were opened with prayer by
Kew Mr.. Eggleston, after which Rev.
Mr. Beadles then came forward and de-
lvered the following beautiful address,:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
| l am here to-day at the request of
the Stonewall Camp of Confederate
veterans to speak to you on a sub
Ject that lies sacredy enshrined in
thousands of hearts all over this great
land of ours
| l come to-day as n representative of
this generation to lay flower upon the
grave of past generation. The men
whose ashes lie silent and still under
their coverings of living green belonged
to period in our national history that
Will never be forgotten. AS long as the
heart of man responds to the deeds of
heroism and as long as the mind of
youth Is fired by acts of courage, so
| long Will the men of the Confederacy be
remembered. These men were the peers
| OF any who ever lved-their hearts
were as warm and their deeds were as
brave. May their memory be as fresh
and as fragrant in our hearts to-day as.
4 the flowers we lay upon their graves.
! While L do not approve of dangling
the skeletons of dead issues before the
eyes of later generations. or of keep
ing alive the fires that ought to go out
beneath the accumulated interests of
more recent years, at the same time ii
| is emlnently appropriate that we should
pause. at least occasionally. amid the
passing of the years to review the past
and to plant flowers upon the graves OF
our dead.
While am In thorough and hearty
sympathy with our nation as it stands
| to-day and am as true to the Stars and
Stripes as my heart is capable of be-
ing, while l rejoice in Its greatness. in
It's vast eXpanse of territory. in it's IL
lustriouS name on land and on sea; yet,
l honor the memory of those who
| fought for what they conceived to be
the right. and who died in the defense
of their convictions.
1 lift my hat to every Confederate
Veteran here to-day and honor and re-
spect him as I would honor and re-
spect the guardian of my own home
and the defender sof my own land.
| Yes, let us keep the memory OF the
Confederate soldier green. He was
out own flesh and blood. He belonged
to us. He was no foreigner. He was
no hireling. He was born and bred
amid the trees and flowers of our own
Sunny South" He was fighting for
home and loved ones. He was our
father. our brother our friends. Shall
we forget him? Shall we bury his
memory in the oblivion of the past?
Shall we withhold his name from our
children? Then let our right hands for
get their cunning and our tongues
cleave to the roof of our mouths.
There is no reason that we should be
ashamed of the fact that our kindred
wore the gray. There was no impure
or sinister motive that prompted them
| in their act.
Efforts have been made by tongue
and pen to defame the name of JEFF
ferson Davis and to bury the memory
OF Robert l.. Lee in ignominy and
shame. But they have failed-failed
because the genius OF such men can
not be eclipsed; failed because truth
will always prevail. We cannot be
soul of Gen. Lee breathed any but the
highest and noblest thoughts. He was
one of Gods noblemen. a strainess
soul, sweet in q stainless body. He
loved His Maker and walked humbly
before Him. He loved his fellow men,
and his great heart bled when they suf-
| fered.
The Confederacy gave to the worll
the finest type OF the soldier the world
ever saw. Am 1 extravagant in the
statement? Do you point me to Napo-
| Icons conquering army or To Yelling
! toms victorious veterans. and say:
| There you have the finest type? I will
point you to those beardless boys-they
are old men now, all who are alive
who followed Stonewal Jackson
through the Valley of Virginia in the
terrible winter OF 1862: who. with frozen
feet and empty haversacks. followed
| their great general into the very Jaws
OF death and snatchcd victory from
| many a hard fought battlefield The
| world has never witnessed n more brill
| liant campaign than that enacted in the
Valley of Virginia in that memorable
| winter. I'm three months Jackson had
| covered six hundred miles fought four
| hnt