Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-10-26

he9 endured the long and bitter months
Oh pr,son-iite. with a fortitude so univer-
sai that though simple parole would
iaNe SET them free, the instances of its
acceptance were almost unknown Tell
us the simple story of their deeds, and
oiu enioss stand with uncovered head.
ono Oh our duties to these men is to
preserve at least the best clements Of
mat I ciViiization from which their best
quantities came. and which they so no.
bly, illustrated. Chief among these Gle
snents fake to have been the home
NE Oh our people and the virtues that
mace II. 1t inculcated honor among men.
purity and Senteness among women. and
hlsh-mlndedncss among both; q certain
simplicity of mind that acted along the
primary lines Of human nature; a reso-
tnte quaiitN that almost Invariably rose
10 the demands Of every occasion knew
no defeat; that bearing itself modestly
IN success, in reverse, bore itself nobly.
Time fails me TO tell of their virtues. or
of the noble instances of the illustration
OF those virtues that we have all known.
Their memory is a part Of our priceless
heritage.
TRIBUTE TO MAURY.
One instance must rise on this occa-
sion In the minds of all who knew him.
never knew better illustration of these
kng-compeliing graccs than the man
whose name has been taken by the ladies
whose plous work we are here to honor
to-day: General Dahney Herndon Maury.
| knew him we'll, and had the honor to
call him my friend. ] did not know him
in the days OF his prosperity, Us the
able, intrepid and successful commander
who drove one Of the ablest among the
Federal generals from the Yazoo Valley,
and held the Department of the South
against greatly superior force.
I knew him in the days OF his re-
verses if man can ever be said to be
in reverses, whose mind is q Kingdom and
who possesses the respect of all and the
devotion OF his friends. And so knowing
him, can say from my heart that 1
never knew any man by whom I would
rather have had the civilization of the
South judged. OF the best blood CT two
contineHts-on one side of that staunch
old blood that had followed the great
Collgny and Henry the Great, and held
France and the low countries against ty-
ralIny; and on the other hand. of the
strain that had stood for the great char
tiers: lie exemplified the virtues Of both
raes. No courtiere who followed the
white plume of Henry of Nevarre was
ever more gallant or more courtly, no
conmoner who stood for the writs of
privilege was ever more Staunchly repub-
Hcan. When in the days of his poverty
and revcrses he was rendered position
of high trust with the Louisiana State
Lottery. an Office which had been held by
honorable men and with salary that
would have made him rich. he declined
it without a moments hesitation Some
one praised him for having thus protest
ed against gambling. Not at ail,' he
said. Il declined because the best ele-
ment of my people are opposed to it. I
have lived SO far without doing anything
that my children would have to explain
and I am too old now to beign to put
lem upon explanation"
HONOR TO THEIR NAMES.
He did honor to names already written
high on the roll of honor-names illus
trated both on land and seattle names
of Herndon and Of the great Maury, and
n all the mighty army that answered TO
the roll-call of the Confederacy there was
no drawer soldier, no nobler gentleman
and no better man that Dabney Herndon
Maury. His warfare DER. he has gone to
join the great army that has camped on
the other side Of the river. Some of them,
whose mortal ashes rest on this consc-
Grated hill; others in what was once the
land Of the enemy. but is now part of
the same country. on which their valor
has shed the lustre of an imper;shable
renown. No matter where they lie
Young April over their lowly mounds
Shall shake the violets from her hair,
And glorious June with fervid kiss,
Shall bid the roses blossom there.
And all around. the mournful bee
With drowsy hum shall come and go,
And summer winds the live-long day
Shall Inurmur dirges sweet and low.
No matter where their ashes lie, their
memory rests forever in our hearts.
Whatever the historian may have writ
ten hitherto over these men for epitaph
posterity shall write the words that were
carved above the Spartans who fell at
Thermopylae GO, passer-by, and tell it
in Lacedaemon, that we died in obedience
to her sacred laws"