The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-05-08

, liant Gordon-the white scar of battle
flaming on Il cheek that never once
grew pale before advancing foe-with
lIardee. Young and Woiford, Lawton
and the brave Barlow, Walker, Cum.
1 ming and Henry Jackson and gallant
Cobb, who died at Fredericksburg
and countless others brave az they
soldiers all my couEtrymcn, whose
. names are written in unlading hue
upon that scroll where valor's deeds
= find everlasting record, and who have
: place enduring in the great Pantheon
t of history where heroes live till time
shall be no more.
And now like him who stood on
! lroS's embattled walls waiting for son
oil Priam not yet come, so do we scan
; The PLAIN with eager glance aud look
with wi tfu and eXpcctant eyes for
that one son of Dixie not yet come
our IDOL and the old SOuth's pride, Il e
old South's and the new. Can soldiers
such as those gone past have in one
man head and trout, chct that can
be worthy of such names, such men
and worthy of such deeds 2 For an
Swer, turn, my countrAmcn, and look
on yonder horscman riding near, clad
IN his simple uniform of gray three
stars upon the collar wrcathtd with
lines of gold, dcnoting his high rank
| look on that hOrscmau riding with IN |
comparable grace of Southern cavalier
on IraVeler-immOrlal horse of The |
Confederacy whose name. like Co.
penhaSen's and Buccphalus's linked |
with his aster's, will 90 down in his
tofy-look on that silent horscman,
and he will give yor answer! Nearer,
ana nearer yet he rides, and now, my
countrym' II. a. that resplcnlent figure
comes Ia AL review, with hand up
ll1tet do | point TO him, aud as The
aged Trojan did of Trolus shout, cry
o. him-"Yonder, 'iis Lee! brave Lee,
'he prince of chivalry |"
No purer sword led braver band,
Nor braver bed for a brighter land,
Nor brighter land had cause so grand,
Nor cause chief like Lee"
Veterans of the iron cross, 1.-THE
eagles gone" The prince of chlvalry
snail ride no more. The eagles
gone" but crows and jackdaws still
remain to peck at valcr's dust and cav
against that glorious courage and re-
hown their craven spirits never knew
nor yet can understand. They tell us |
that the greatest soldier of his age can |
have no place within a reunited coun- I
try's hall of fame. Caesar may seek to a
grasp tyrants crown, ambitious Bon +
apalte may ruthlcssly strike down his {
country's government, Cromwell's iron q
hand may drip with blood of Engand's t
cavaliers, and drive his king an exile to |
foreign shore, and Washington nav T
draw his sword despite his pledged al I
leSlancc to an English throne o d hurl @
wars thunderbOlts against his mother.
land, yet Cesar's marble image stood r
within the precincts of the Roman s
forum, NapoleOn's arch of triumph Y
holds lofty place within his country's v
capital, and Cromwell's statue stands il
IN state within estminister's con. t
sccrated ground, while higher than the G
dome of proud Columbia's capitol the q
towering shaft of Washington maics- /
llcnlly rises up to meet the sun. Aud I
sun the knightliest soldier of all time n
can have no place within Columbia's v
hall of fame.
My countryncn, there is no Parth. s
enon of Greece, no forum of the Ro. a
man capital, no "placc d'honeur" by Z
the Seine, no Westminster Abbey. and v
no American hall of fame where his II
herolc statue could not grace the lof r
tiest niche and bring a nobler lustcr to i,
INC great company OF immortals there d
enshrlned in marble or in bronze. And Ii
he can have no place within our hall of t
lame. lie needs it not There is no b
nall OF honor built by mortal hands q
whose guided dome can rise up high | il
enough toward Heaven to compass in "
the height OF his great fame Thank h
God, the hall Of fame wherein his il
knlghtly figure sits enthroned is not /
lnclosed by pillared marble nor by h
vaultlng roof shut in, but holds its a
everlasting place within the hearts of Il
all who love the great, the brave, the a
noble, the sublime. n
But 1t is not the nations voice that
speaks the harsh decree, my country 4
men, for, with Frightening thought !,
and hearts aglow with gratitude do we q
recall That countless gallant soldiers v
VINO once wore the blue with knlghtly h
grace and souls magnanimous, un- Il
Rrudglngly chivalrlc tribute render TO n
our prlpcely Lee. On such as these, v
may heavens benedlction rest, but on h
the venomed toads who would spit in h
fanny and shame upon his spotess Ii
name, may that oblivion he can never O
know fall on their little souls and NAV n
their little names forever be by al {
brave men forgotten. b
When time shall pass still further q
on and years grown older, let tho truth a
shine clearer, then Will he come into Il
his own and lank enduring as BELTS q
his fame, and when, in later days, the f
muse of history shall come to sing of I
him, no hero OF the Iliad, nor tabled !
knight of Arthur's splendid court, /
shall in nohler song outring the {
music of his name, our Southern prince |
of ch.valry .
And now the day grows DIM, and !
yonder sun on purple hills descending
gives token of the coming on of night.
Soon will her sable curtains fall g on ,
Shlloh's woods and Chickamauga's ,
solltudes," but though Dight's deepen i
ing, gloom shall wrap the silent bat
tlciields, no night shall ever come
whose ebon winds can e'er shut out