The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-11-13
MIR. DENT TO THE SONS
CORDIAL GREETING TO YOUNG
 MEN OF STATE.
Splendid Eulogy of the Men Who Wore the Gray and Perpetuity of Their Deeds of
 Valor.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans were welcomed to Montgomery by s. H. Dent, IT,. in an eloquent address at the Council Chamber.
 Mr. Dent spoke as follows:
 Commander and Comrades-He who does not look backward with pride upon the deeds of his ancestors will never look forward with hope to his posterity. Such is the principle md such the inspir- ation which gathers us together on this occasion.
 "It may be asked,-in fact have heard the question,--what is the reason, why the necessity of our organization? From the grave of each Confederate soldier upon every battlefield from Manassas to Appomattox from the lips of every crip- pled and disabled Veteran who has sought neither the charity of nation, State nor individual, from those whose lives were risked but who escaped, ana whose labors have rehabilltated an im- poverished land. comes the answer In tones that cannot be misinterpreted. his tory must aye, history shall, truly and accurately relate the record of the South ern Confederacy.
 'FThe Confederate soldier has always &C., cepted in the most perfect good faith the terms or SufTenueT dST0cu upou ny LcC and Johnston. From the hour that com pact was signed until this good day, he has instructed his sons to abide its terms Nowhere in our Southland has Hamilcar sworn young Hannibal to hatred and vengeance, but everywhere to loyalty and to love,-and this notwithstanding the hardships, more severe, if possible, than were inflicted upon him by grim-visaged war,-of the era of reconstruction.
 ''In accepting the results of the war, he and his sons have recognized the set clement of only two great questions. First, the extinction of human slavery forever from American soil Second, the fndissolubility of this union of States in its original integrity and purity. But the underlying principle. which was the real cause of civil strife, that war never settled, that war could not settle. He insists yet. that the time will come when 1t will be a burning issue not in war, but in politics, with no sectional ques- ton calling for sectional division. It will have its adherents in the North. as well as the South; in the East and the West. it will find its votaries.
 And what. my comrades, was the prin- ciple involved? Was it slavery? No. That was but an incident which gave practical application to the real question in controversy. The true issue was contest between a Federal or a Confed- erated form of Government. and a cen tralized or a consolidated Government It was but renewal of the struggle be- tween the governments of Asia and an- cient Europe. It was but continuance of the contest between Persia and Greece. The Southron said when he surrendered, l admit the abolition of slavery, I admit the indissolUbility of the Union as in- tended by those who framed and adopted its Constitution, but deny that the con- ception of government for which I fought was wrong in principle and I still main- tain a centralized government with all power lodged in one place or in one head would in the end be subversive of the great Ideas of liberty and freedom in- herited from our Revolutionary sires These facts leading to war, history must truly record.
 Not only must the true cause of the war be stated with impartiality but the record of the soldier upon the field of battle must also be faithfully preserved. so that future generations shall give him that honor which is his due, and gather from his life an inspiration to nobler as- pirations and grander deeds.
 Upon this phase of the subject permit me to call as witness a foreigner who has written the fullest and the fairest history of those times that has vet been published. After referring to the conduct of some branches of the Northern army in its ruthless desolation of Southern homes. and its merciless treatment of the defenseless, he says in substance if not literally, Northern party spirit invented with strange inconsistencies of the true bearing of the story an equally charac- tariRtiC illustration 0f and chivalry The Stars and Stripes dis appear from Frederick on the approach of the Confederates. Displayed by a silly old crone. from an attic window, the hos tile flag provokes discharge from the insulted victors.
 She leaned far out on the window sill And shook 1t forth with royal will, Shoot if you must, this old gray head But spare your country's flag, she said A shade of sadness, a flush of shame, Over the cheeks of the leader came The nobler nature within him stirred To life at the woman's deed and word Who touches hair of that grey head Dies like a dog. March on! He said. All day long that free flag tossed
 Over the heads of the rebel host
 MT. Whittier thus brings out the more forcibly because unawares, the contrast between the petulant impertinence of Mrs. Barbara, and the forbearance tinged with contempt of the Confederate chief and soldiery. Such was the temper and such the discipline of the Southern troops with scarcely an exception throughout the war. No retaliatory rudeness or sever ity was inflicted on Northern citizens. In no case had the Pennsylvanians to com plain of personal injury or even discour- a fhA handG of thnaa yyhnRa homes they had insulted, robbed and tormented.
 Another witness: An Alabamian. true to the traditions of the South, strolling alone amid that wonderful exhibition at the Worlds Fair in Chicago, happened l believe. in the West Virginia building. There he saw two large pictures hanging side by side one of Lee, the other of Grant. While standing there studying the two characters, an elderly gentleman and lady. accompanied by a young girl of some IS or 19 summers, walked up be- side him. In the innocence of her youth this gentle young woman catching a glimpse of the picture of Robert E. Lee exclaimed: What a grand. what a mag nificent countenance. The elder lady said: Hush my daughter. that is the pie ture of the rebel General Lee Undaunt- ed the younger woman replied, I care not, 1t is the grandest the noblest, the most benevolent face my eyes have ever gazed upon
 Are you not proud my comrades of such a leader, and does your breast not swell with joy that you are the sons of such noble sires. And how meet, how ap- propriate, that you should annually gath CT together in this historic city to do homage to the memory of such men and pay your respects to the cause they es- poused. This sacred city, and I say it