The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1901-06-19
The OLD VETERANS.
Bill Arp Writes cf the Great Gather
ing Of Brave Men

Of patriots were ever seen, for there
Was rot tory among them nor 8
foreign hirellng, and even the N)rth-
ern-born c:tiz?Ds of the South vo'un.
teersd with one acccrl and cast their
lives and property in the common peril
of their adopted State. To that class
We owe all the ore honor for it was q
great hea;t struggle - sevsr the bond,
that bound en- to their kindred and
th3 place - their birth Forty YEARS
have not Sod nor dimmed the me
mory Of those four lorg years from tie
minds Of the veterans Eho gathered at
the Memphis reu 1ion. As time rolls
on they seem the more eager to con-
sregate aod commune together; snd
happily, there are noas nov to mo'est
or mako them afraid.
Happily the soldiers Of the blue and
the gray are becoming every year
the more considerste Of tie feelings
and principles of each other. The sal
diers, say-those who fought against
us-for the bravest are the tenderest. Ii
is the politicians who saw the battle
from afar, who sill refuse to give Us
hack our flags and sre still worr5in 6
over the rebel briga Hers whom Ve have
sent to Congress. But tine is a good
doctor, and soft words take a1ay
wrath.
Thai was grand convocation that
paradsd the streets Of Memphis.
Hearts beat rapidly and eyes were
moist with tears
while memory fingered o'er the sad review
Of joys that faded like tn; morning dew
Tha. was beautiful prayer sent up
to heaven by our beloved grand chap
lain. Rsv. j. William Jones, and faith.
fui bul lHsrk of Confederate history. I
know that the blue and the gray clasped
hands and hearts as he irvok:d a bless
ing u pom Nh. ard Mrs Mckinley and
asked for h,r re:tora:icn to health. /
tell you, my bretheren, there is moth
ing small or selfish OF mean in the
hesrts of our great leaders Ia war
and in peace they have bsen aud are
gentlemen. There Ea3 not Nero or a
Daks Of Alva among them noc heart
less destroyer Of the innocent nor a
violatcr Of the laws of kiudress to Wo
men and children. Our soldiers fought
coed fight, on patriotic principles,
and it ejcices US that thsy have kept
the faith and are as true now to the ns-
tiou as they we're then to the principles
for which they fought. Those princi-
pies are not dead; and We believe that
if this republican government is pre-
served from the domination Of imperial
ism, with which it is threatened, it will
be the conservative spirit Of the South
that will do it. The spirit Of constitu-
tional liberty is yet alive with US and
will be transmitted to our children.
It's high tins that the Northern
preschers and teachers and editors were
learning ealutary lesson from these
annual reunions Of the old Confederates
If l had been a Federal soldier a7d
lived up there. it seems to me that l
would say, MY brethren, those rebels
must have been tremendouslyir ir earnest
There is no let up or abatement in their
faith. Forty years has not humbled
them one iota. We had batter make
friends with such people and divide
honors and pensions, too, They have
carried an aWfu? load f,r all these years.
Taey have to pay good part Of the
pensions to our soIdicrs and all Of the
pensions Of their own and big tax to
educate the:1 negroes; and they had to
endure the 1sVages AID s.ealages Of the
carpes- bsqgels for years, but they rever
complain. They fight back and defend
their honor, but, like the sons Of Alne
mok, they never complsin. Surely they
are s great people. They suffer, and are
strong, and when soldiers were wanted
for Cuba and the P Philippines they came
at the first call. Brsthran, let's stop
ali this anti Southern sentiment and
make our preachers and editors stop it.
There is no good in rubbing an old
sore. We don't know what may hap
pen, and VIC msy need those boys 10
save the country. The old veterans
sre dying out, but their sons are the
same old sto,k. The South is fast
comir G 10 the front, aud is destined to
be CREST power in the land, and if We
keep on sg2ravating them with abuse,
it is possible they may get fighting mad
some Of these days and get up another
civil war and-and-aDd 8hip US again,
or come pretty near it." That's what l
would say if l Iwasent fool.
These are alarming times. Wars,
fires, foods. Awful calamlties On land
snd on tue ses, explosions in mines,
wrecks on railroads, murders, suicides,
robberies, abductions Of children, and
worse than all, there seems to be no
stop to these horrible ousrsges Of brutal
negroes. Then there is the insubor
dination Of student in our colleges
and the infarly of hszing is still going
on. It distressed me to see among
those expelled from West Point the
names Of two Soutnerners-one from
Alabams and one from Texas. Edu
cation and discipline seem to be divoro
ed. Time was when Mr.. Benmsn
boosted that be had subdued every big
boy in Lis school -sublued him by the
rod. Old msn Ishsn did the same
thing, and so did Dr.. Patterson tbresh
out the worst boys at our MsDusl Labor
school; but nov it is the boys who rule
the teachers and make demands, and
the consequences is our colleges have
40 discipline and hazing seems to be as
popular as ever.
Thought that this bazing business
was a modern invention, but in the.
second volume Of American Litera-
ture" l 6nd letter Of John LAWSON,
. Scotchman, who lived for years
among the North Carolina Indians. he
10 r,-;tior fo bie foIkc et homo 171l