The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1901-06-21
THE OLD VETERANS, 3
Bill Arp Writes Of the Great ciatiser.
ing Of Brave Mon.

4
Ing of Brave Mon,
Forty years havo passed slnco these
soldior boys first shouldered arms and
hurried to tho front. No such array
OF patriots wcro over soon, for thero
was not tory among them nor q
foreign hirollng, aud oven the North
ern-born citizens Of tho South volun.
toerod with ono aoocrd and cast their
liyos and property in tho common poril
OF their adopted State. 10 that GLASS
Wo oWo oil tho II ore honor for it was 4
great heart struggle to sever tho bonds
that bound thom to thoir kindred and
tho placo Of tboir birth. Forty yoara
have not faced nor dimmod tic mo.
mory Of those four long yoars from tho
minds OF tho Veterans who gathered at
tho Memphis reunion. AS timo rolls
on they eeom the moro oagor to CON
gregato apd commune together; and
happily, there arc mono nos to molest
ca mako tholn afraid
Happily tho soldiers Of The blue and
the gray arc becoming every year
wy ".oAo oohplNofalo VI tno Iooll0RS
and principles Of oaoh othor. Tho SOL
dicrs, say thoso who fought against
us for tho bravost are tho tondercst. II
is tho politicians who eaw the battle
from sfar, Sho still rofuse to give ue
back our flags and are still worryin g
over tho robol briga1icrs whom wo have
sen, to Congress. But timo is q good
doctor, and soft words tako away
wrath.
That vas q grand oonvocation that
paraded tho streets Of Memphis. M
Hearts beat rapidly aud eyes wore
moist with tears
Whilc memory fingered Ger Tho sad review
Of joys that faded like tho morning dow
Thai was beautiful prayer sont up
TO heaven by our beloved grand Chap.
lain, Rev. j. William Jones. and faith.
full bulwerk of Confederate history. J.
know that tho bluo md tho gray clasped
hands and hearts as ho invoked q bloss
Ing upon Mr.. ard Mrs, Mckinley and
asked for her restoration to hoalth, |
tell you, my brotheron, thero is moth
ing small or selfish or mean in tho
Aoarts Of our great leaders. In war
and in peaco thoy havo boon and arc
gentlemen. There WAS not Nero or
Doke of Alva among thom nor hoart-
loss destroyer Of tho innocent nor a
violatcr OF tho laws Of kiudnosa to wo
mon and ohildfcn. Our soldiers fought
q good fight, on patriotic principles,
and it rejoioes us that thsy havo kopt
tho faith and arc as truo now to the ma
tion al they wero then to the PRINCIPLES
for which thoy fought. Those prinoi.
pies arc not dead; and We believe that
II this republican govornmont is pre-
served from tho domination Of imperial.
ism, with which it is threatened, it will
bo tho conservative spirit Of tho South
that will do it. Tho spirit of oonstitu-
tionsl liberty is yot alive with us and
will bo transmitted to our children.
ltls high timo that the North cra
preachers and teachers and editors wore
learning salutary lesson from those
annual reunions Of tho old Confaderatcs.
II ! had been a Federal soldier and
lived up there it seems to mo that [
would sly, My brethren, tho: o robola
must have been tremendously in earnest
There is no let up or o abatement in their
faith. Fort? years has not humbled
them ono iosa. We had better make
friends With auch pcoplo and divide
honors and pensions, too. They have
carried an awful load for all those yoars.
Thoy hGIc % pay good part Of tho
pensions 80 our soldiers and all Of tho
pensions Of their own and big tax to
educate thoir negroes; and thoy had to
endure tho ravages aud stoalagcs of tho
carpet. baggers for years, but they never
complain. They fight back and defend
their honor, but, like tho sons Of Alno
mok, they mover complain. Surely they
are great pcoplo. Thoy suffer, and arc
strong, and when soldiers wore wanted
for Cuba and the Philippines thoy oamo
at tho first call. Brothrsn, let's stop
all this anti Southern sentiment and
mako our preachers and editors stop it.
There is no good in rubbing an old
aore. We don't know what may hap.
pom, and NO may need those boys to
save the country. The old veterans
are dying out, but thoir sons arc tho
samo old stock. Tho South is fast
oomi, G to tho front, and is destined to
DC grost power in tho land, and if We
keep on aggravating them with abuse,
it is possible thoy may get fighting mad
some of theso days and get up another
civil war and-aud l. and whip us again,
or como pretty near it," That's what
would say if Iwasont fool.
These are alarming limos. Wars,
firos, floods. Awful c,lamlties on land
and on the soa, explosions in minos,
wrooks on railroads, murders, suicides,
robbories, abductions of childron, and
worse than all, thoro scems to bo no
stop to those horrible outragcs Of brutal
negroes. 'Theu there is tho insubor.
dination Of students in our colleges
and tho infamy Of hazing is still going
on. II distressed me to 500 among
those oxpollod from Wost Point tho
names Of two Soutncrners -ono from
Alabama and ono from Texas. Edu
cation and discipline seom to bo divoro.
cd. limo was whom Mr.. Bonman
boasted that ho had subduod eyory big
boy in his school subduod him by tho
rod. Old man Isham did tho same
thing, and so did Dr.. Patterson thresh
out tho worst boys at our Manual Labor
school; but now it is tho boys who rulo
the toachcra and mako demands, and
the consequences is our colleges havo
no discipline snd hazing aooms to be as
popular as eyor.
thought that this hazing business
vas modern invention, but in tho
second volume of "American Iitora-
turan I And a lotfor re Tobo .,rao,,