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

destroyed D6IOI6 IL Can BeU upon lUS
feet. The empire once launched, there
will be no power that can check it 10
mid career. 1t will run its allotted
course and reach its predestined end,
and the end ofimperial centralizationhas
hitherto always been despotism do
not so desire it. l pray heaven that my
forebodings my prove unfounded, but
passing events lead me to expect that
the Southern people will receive their
ultimate and triumphant vindicatio at
the hand of the historian who shall
write "The Decline and Fall Of the
American Republic"
1 believe that my self-appointed task
has been accomplished, and that the
questions with which this address be-
gan have been answered.
If there has ever been a people whose
right and duty it was to stand upon the
truth Of history it is the right and du-
ty of the Southern people to preserve
and proclaim the truth touching our
great war for independence, and to vim
dicate the character and motives of'theil
men who, in the dark days of their
country's stress and peril, upheld her
cause with superb courage and and tire
less devotion.
And now, veterans Of the Lost Cause,
1 congratulate you that this glorious
work has been taken up by such worthy
hands
In the case Of every people that has
achieved any degree Of civilization OF
played any respectable part in history
woman has been the custodian of its
faiths and ideals. H9r heart has ever
been the shrine Of all ennobllng senti-
ments, and she herself the prizes tess
ministering at the altars Of integrity,
honor and patriotism. No cause is
hopelessly lost if it meet her approval.
and no fame can rest long under asper-
sion if enshrined in her heart
It is an omen of happy import that
the noble women of the South have de-
termined that their country's history
shall not be perverted nor its heroes
left without their fame.
If anything be needed to quicken
your zeal in this behalf, 'L9dies of the
Memorial Association and Daughters
Of the Canfederacy, permit me to urge
it upon you as a duty which you owe
to yourselves and to your mothers, the
noble women of the old South. Not
all, nor the greater courage devotion
and suffering, were in the ranks Of the
fighting men,
The bravest spirits, the strongest
hearts, the most faithful and devoted
souls throughout the great ordeal were
those who were left at home, who
could not fight but who could only
work and pray and suffer in silence.
The war was theirs. They had formed
tbs character and propagated the senti-
ments that sustained the South through
out its fiery trials, and enabled her to
bear herself to the last with such hero
ic courage and splendid dignity. Their
honor and their fame are involved as
much as the honor and fame Of the men
who upheld the banners and carried
muskets of the Confederacyr When
you erect monuments to the Confeder
ate Soldier you er9ct them also to the
Confederate Woman, whose hopes and
prayers went with him always.
Iwould urge it upon you again as a
duty which you owe to your children
No greater misfortune can befall them
than that they should lose pride in thier
country's past, or faith in the honor,
integrity and patriotism of their fathers
and mothers. You will wrong them
unspeakably if you permit them to be-
lieve that they are the sons and daugh-
ters Of traitors You will wrong them
equally if you permit them to forget
the faiths and ideals of the past.
Whether they shall forget and aband on
them must depend upon you.
There can be no doubt that as peo-
pie we are fast becoming learned with
the spirit Of materialism and infected
with that sordid commerce alism that
writesthe dollarmark upon everything,
and demands to know of everything,
chow much will it pay?'
1t should be your duty to see that in
the new era and industrial and com
mercial development upon which we
are entering, we do not lose the simple
faiths and high ideals that have made
our past so glorious You should never
let your children forget that these are
things of more worth than bales of cot
ton or boxes of goods, than ware houses
and factories, than railroads and steam
ships, than stocks and bonds. Above