The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1902-08-13

OUTHRON, AUGUST 13
tThe countless thousands
In that mighty phantom host,
True hearts and noble patriots
Whose names on earth are lost.
There the missing found their
places
Those who vanished from our gaze
Like brilliant, flashing meteors,
And were lost in glory's blaze.
Yes, they passed, that noble army
They passed to meet their Lord,
And voice within me whispered:
They but marched to their le-
ward. %
"Sunny South, weep onp' Thy sons
illustrated the spirit of their forefa-
theirs, but they came not back from
Appomattox without hope and were
not dismayed at the task that lay be-
fore them, though they look upon
"homes whose light was quenched, :"
and their memories were filled with
"the graves without stone, the fold
ed flag, the broken sword" the gun
without it's soldier. "Yet raise thy
head, fair land !"
"The folded flag is Stainless still, the
broken sword is bright,
No blot on the record is found, no
treason soils thy fame.''
There is yet hope to lure us on to
/ greater victories, where courage even
of higher type will be required and
! where manhood's strength will move US
ON until the world shall once more be
! drawn to witness achievements in the
| arts of peace that are indestructib bly,
linked with the genius, the energy,
the perseverance, the unconquerable
spirit that wrested victory on an hun
dred fields of war.
An artist has recently embodied
'The Spirit of the Confederacy'' in a
group where poses supernatural
being and q youth in the garb of a
farmer, whose tatters and patches
reveal the tale Of hardship in cam
paign that ends in failure. In this
"victory for the vanquished" is held
out laurel wreath in token Of the fact
| that there is consolation for the con-
quered which has finer, more spirit
| ual essence than is aofrded by the ma
terial results attained by the success
full foe.
We are met here to pay homage to
/ this esprit of the Confederacy,' but
we do not forget that there was anoth-
er guiding star in the talismanic
stDuty,'' which our own peerless
4 Robt. E. Lee said was the sublimest
word in the English language. It was
/ the incompatible leadership Of such
men as Lee and Hampton that brought
/ order out of chaos, that restored
| plenty whore waste and want had pre-
| vailed, and that inspired the hands
| and the hearts of the men and women
VINO have made this fair land of ours
| to bloom and blossom as the rose, and
to foretoken the time when the garden
of its wealth shall reappear.
Lee, the vanquished chieftain, turn
| ed with weary pace and saddened fea-
lures to the desolation Of Virginia,
but he went not back to sullen inactiv-
ity.. He said that all had been done
which mortals could accomplish
against the power of overwhelming
numbers and inexhaustible resources,
and that tbe duty of the future was to
abandon the dream of Confederacy,
and to render new and cheerful al
/ legiance to a reunited government.
This was the record of his own stain
less life, and his moral greatness was
developed in the FIVE years he lived to
lead the youth Of his native land into
| that realm where he dwelt constantly.
The greatness of his achievements in
war were almost eaualled by the sim
plicity and, grandeur of bis after life,
which closed without the utterance Of
one word of bitterness. Cheerful even
under defeat, how unselfsh the charac-
ter that absolved all others of blame
at Gettysburg! Majestic and dignifed
| in all his career, he was greatest and
grandest in the hour of defeat, and
discontinue.
"In every hour of living force
His grand example bides,
OF courage, valor, wisdom rare,
The modesty that hides
The hero in the hero's deed,
The soldier in the man.
WaQ6 hampton WAS Aot uA1he LIS
great commander in many respects,
and in the province of God he was
called upon to pass through perilous
scenes and endure trials that were
akin to his experience in the tide Of
war. AS soldier he was the equal of
any man in gaining the confidence and
respect of his followers, and like Lee
| he could make love for his person a
substitute for food and clothing when
naked, starving band was to be
transformed into fighting host.
! Hampton came back to desolate
home, where he found a fair city laid
waste and in ashes by the ruthless
hand of an implacable enemy. and al
most the first words that fell from his
lips were wise patient, gentle counsel
to the emancipated race that were
around him in poverty, ignorance and
prejudice. His tender, compassionate
heart went out in sympathy for their
needs, and even unto the last hour Of
his existence came yelling up from
heaving bosom the faltering cry: All