Clarke courier. [volume] (Berryville, Va.) 1869-1997, 1902-05-28

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the cavalier and round head: of the
heroic highlanders and the sturdy
men from the green land of old Ire
land: and of those lovers of liberty
who came from the mountain battle
mcnts of Switzerland: and lastly OF
the same strain of blood which foil
owed Henry of Navarro at Ivry.
Constitutional liberty was the battle
cry of this proud host.
The private soldier of the confed-
erscy had no hope of conspicuous
honors: be had no opportunity to
lay up riches he had mesgre rstions,
scant clothing aud naked feet. He
exchanged domestic happiness for
domestic sorrow. He surrendered a
fair competence for absolute want.
The chief legacy he left his family,
when be fell in battle was life of
restitution and sorrow. His sole com
fort lay in the fact that he was true
to the dictates of his conscience 4:
faithful to the traditions of his. pee
pie.
He was inspired by the plaudits
of Southern women. Would the
Southern women of that day. OF of
any other day have aided or abetted
cause that was wrong? Is the
Daughter Of the COnfederacy ,cronq
to treasure memories of those sad
times? No, She knows the cause
to have been righteous one. And.
her Spartan spirit brooks no inter
ference with principle. In the by
gone times, need, exposure. famine,
pestilence, all rose up before her in
vain. She surrendered all she had
for the cause, and wept that she had
no more to give.
The women's part was u
harder part to ill: yet they filled it
to the brim, good measure, overflow
ing. 1t is no disparagement to the
men to say that whatever courage
they displayed, it was less than that
which the women showed. Wherever
q Southern woman stood during
those four years, there in her small
person was a garrison of the South
impregnsble- These, then, were the
men and women whose very hearts
and souls were wrapped up in the
Lost Cause.
What did they fight forg They
fought for constitutional liberty.
They fought to preserve thesovereign-
ty of the States. They fought to
uphold e decision of the Supreme
Court of the land. They fought for
hearth and home. They fought
for principle.
The South did not secede to pre-
serve slavery. On the contrary, the
Confederate Constitution distinctly
prohibited slavery. They did not
seek war till all peaceful measures
had failed. Not until the North
sought coercion, did the South resort
to arms.
AS u distinguished speaker once
expressed it: THE sounds of political
strife from Washington to Lincoln
foretold q contest ruder than one of
words. 1t was the inevitable out
come Of over a century's discord. -
The South had made the Union and
loved it. 1t was the creature of her
best intellects. Southern men ruled
and governed it in its infancy. and
gave it the strength which after
wards enabled it to defeat them.
1t was the voice of Patrick Henry
which blazed the way for the Amori-
can Revolution. 1t was the hand of
Washington that guided that Revo-
luton to 6 successful end-from
Lexington to Yorktown. 1t was the
mind of Jefferson that conceived and
wrote the Declaration of Indepen.
dence and the Constitution of the
United States. The contest waged by
Madison and Hamilton with the pen.
In framing the Constitution of the
United States, was identical with the
contest subsequently waged between
the North and the South with the
sword. Madison contended for the
sovereignty of the States, and Hamil-
ton advocated the location of the
sovereign power with the central
government. Madison won. The
most distinguished jurists of this
and foreign lands have decided that
the SoEth was legally right in it's
contention; and have based their
decisions on the constitution and the
Federalist. The Supreme Court of
Appeals of the country decided this
question in its famous bred Scott
decision, in favor of the southern
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