The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-11-26

American unity, and the disruption 0 | this meant the destruction of the Union | These matters were the all-absorbins ones of the conflict, and the position was irreconciliable. The arguments il support of these views were imbeddet
 in the very grain and fibre of the sec tions, and after this debate naturall. followed and the sectional debate crys tallized into a debate of bullets. Wa | came naturally, inevitably. No human power was capable of preventing it | The great agitators of the north added fuel to the flames, and the agitators 0! the south did likewise. When real wal came on and conflict began in earnest none of these men was to be found, anC
 if they were none was at the head or 1T the front ranks of the battle line General Gordon then and at numer' ous times paid glowing tributes to the
 noble and glorious women, both Of the north and of the south, who were al- ways ready to aid and assist the sol
 diers in their loving way and minister
 to them in their sorrows and suffer-
 ings.
 General Gordon said there was indeed comfort in defeat in not having been beaten by foreign foe, but by our own
 American brothers. They were of the same American stock which has devel- oped the lofty American manhood
 borne of freedom. In the first bloody encounter the north lost and the south won, but that did not serve to bring the sections together, but it did serve to widen the breach. The north then, in the majesty of might and pertinacity of purpose, rose to a man With the pledge that, with Gods help, the Union should be preserved The south also pledged itself afresh to the cause it be- lieved to be right, and that by their faith in the church, by the help of God and all that was good, they would nev- CT yield while hope or life endured. This they did not do until the whole beautiful land had been devastated and with all resources exhausted and every thing prostrate.
 General Gordon said that even in the thick of the battle he felt the power of a good womans love and patriotism, and believed that every man who ever faced the cannons mouth felt some thing of the spirit which prevailed over
 
 his own. Quoting, he said:
 Where is the boy with soul so dead Who never in the war has said,
 AS the bullets from his rife sped,
 Where is the girl I left behind|
 General Gordon said that the prayers and spirits of the faithful women lifted men to the highest human endeavor The power of woInan's influence over a soldiers spirit was wonderful and not to be undertood by those who had never been at the front.
 The speaker dwelt at some length on his personal experiences, which, he said. he related with much reluctance, but they served to illustrate the experiences of thousands of others. He also told of the presentiments of many men, in his and other commands, of their coming death. His relation of the presentiment of his youngest brother of his impend- ing death was very touching.
 After relating an incident of one of the famous battles where soldier was heard to eXclaim that he would turn back were it not for the sake of his character, General Gordon spoke at some length on the subject, saying that character was all there is worth living for in this life" There is no prouder or nObler thing.
 Glowing tributes were paid the fa- nous Confederate generals Lee, Stone wall Jackson and others. Of Jackson he said he was a man of Christian character and spirit, and was absolute ly without blemish He had firm tl.t and under him, and permeated every fibre He was Christs disciple and Gods child.
 The rallying cry was the same on both sides. They were fighting for lib- erty as they understood it.
 General Gordon closed by saying that "every uniform, every sheet of flame. every cannon's shot, every hurrying team, every prayer that ascended to heaven, every ministration of loving shall yet become in Gods contributions for the up- of American manhood, for our future defense of American freedom"
 One noticeable and gratifying element to northern people wts the friendly spirit manifested by the speaker in ad- dressing his auditors as My Country men" and his evident desire to show that the sectional feeling had totally disappeared and that we are all one people and one Union.
 In a few well chosen words Hon. Lynde Harrison, president of the soci ety, thanked the general for his mag nificent lecture and called attention to the fact that in no other country where there has been a civil strife has the feeling which caused the same disap- peared within generation so utterly as has been the case in this country.
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