The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1902-05-16

splendor, incalculable in her power, the
pride and admiration Of the world
Time will show what you will do with
her, but no time can dim our glory or
diminish your responsibility"
Our loye for the institutions our an
cestors had aided in founding, and un-
der which we had met with so much
prosperity, was made manifest by
the form Of government which was i'm
mediately provided for the Confederate
States of America
The Confederate constitution, with
few amendments, was the same as that
of the United States. The administra-
tive features Of the new
Confederate government were prac-
Care of tically the same as those
American Of the Old No thought
Institutions of dictatorship or mill
tary supremacy on the
one hand OF Of lawlessness on the other,
entered the minds of any. True to the
principles of the revolution, and of the
Declaration OF Independence, we pro-
vide for safeguarding the sights of per-
sonal liberty and local government.
During the whole Of the long strife,
and amidst hardship and privation al
most indeScribable, law and order were
everywhere maintained; the legisla-
lures Of the States assembled and en-
acted such laws as were from time to
time deemed necessary, courts of JUS
tice we're opened for the enforcement
and maintenance Of the rights of person
and property. 1t has often been said,
that having failed to settle by debate
the issues which had so long been the
subject of contention, the South delib-
erately appealed to the arbitrament of
war; This is mistaken notion of the
view which we entertained of our re-
lations to the union.
Under the view, as have attempted
to explain, the constitution was but
compact between the States which
might be dissolved by
Constitution them at pleasure. Hay.
a Compact. ing exercised the right
Southern to withdraw from the
Valor. Union, which under
their Interpretation OF
the constitution, belonged to them, the
Southern States saw no necessity for ap-
pealing to the arbitrament of war, and
when war came it was not because
they had invited or sought it, but be-
cause they had determined to maintain
their position which they believed had
absolved them from all allegiance
whatever from the United States of
America. We contemplated no war
upon the States Of the North but had
hoped and believed that we would be
allowed to set up a government for our
selves and that the relations between
the cOnfederacy which we established,
and the United States of America,
would be such as should Subsist between
friendly nations I need not attempt
to describe with what valor and forti-
tude and heroic endeavor the armies of
the South maintained themselves dur
ing four weary years of strife and blood
shed. The history of that war has
been told too often to call for further
description by me. We know, and all
the world admits, that the magnificent
leadership of our armies and the splen-
did courage of our soldiers have illus
trated in the sublimest manner possible:
the martial spirit of the American peo-
pie. The twenty-five hundred battles
that were fought before our cause went
down, the 2, 600, 600 men who were need
ed TO conquer us, the pension roll of the
government which contains the names
of nearly one million benefciaries; the
beautiful cemeteries where rest the
dead heroes of the Union armies; the
monuments of marble and bronze erect.
ed all over the land to perpetuate the
names and fame of their great captains
all these make up memorial of the
skill and prowess and unyielding cour
age Of our people, such as the history of
ages cannot parallel The end came as
might have been expected. Our resour
ces were so limited in comparison with
those of the Northern States, that only
persistence on their part was needed to
bring defeat and disaster to the South
ern cause.
No nation ever rose so fair,
None ever fell so pure.
When it came we accepted the settle
ment as final and irrevocable in SO far