The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-05-08
MEMORIAL DAY.
Le, Us Not Fail to Honor the Memory
or Our Dead Heroes.

Next Saturday is Memorial Day,
and the graves Of the dead heroes OF
South Carolina wllo died for the Con-
federacy will be decorated with sweet
flowers by our noble women Once 81
year, for the ra,t three decades. Sa s
the Atlanta Journal. the people uI tie
southern states have observed il hay
for the decoration OF the lat resting
pi.Gen hi tic Confederate heroes. and
III: recital Of their vauruus deeds.
.!nd now the SeaspnS have :lg,i,, Shj.t.
:d 10 SprinElime aud tile tOunts or
memory are unScalcd on many Il green
iii. Amid the strains OF marital
music, Lhnus;i nls make their WAY to
lie llowc.Hi mounds b man wn.;::l
lie Tue Heroes Of -thc Sotnh. Upu,
those mounds they place their lr;b.i,c.
or affection and rcvc.ent regard; ANA
the lonesome grasses are hrir lltrtrtl
viii, fresh Il 'w..ia. Ills titt;n:. ihc.c.
fore, that we Should curl.i,i:.r for !, no.
m"nt what this day tnAlnS. aud wnv it,
is observed, especially In r-fercnv. To
the changed conditions Or this century,
ana LIE long perspective which nov
lies between the present: gcn.rl tiun
and those Who wore the gray.
Mcm',iial day. as il Is observed in
The south, Is what its name implies
Il day of memories. It Is not designed
t" KEEP alive any fvu;l ur scc.i nal
issue. Ii is rcverentau retrospective.
The c nntrtvrrSy Which urged these
dead soldiers to ~ down their live,
Tor thclr country iii, i,rt.n buried with
Lifen: ard The silent nnmn,lit:lS w.iici
10 scr iic::rcnw.t,n! wi:crc thcv ,rS, ar.
|ymr'lSpE p ';lc.., MT or VIII. M.un,:ill
Il y stands tor all thai vas best. and
all lfiaI Is best, in :.!c Sui!in q. Tie
past ana 81 The present. 'l'nn same
spirit which impclIrd Siutcwa!i .J,.k
Son. and al whose bid ling the s y,,rd
OF Lnc flashed from It's scn,Dard
lives in the south today, changed only
rs to object the guiding Star Of that
region where patriotism never dies nor
faltcrs.
The men who come from Appomat-
toX, and their sons, lifted the south
out OF its ruins and rebuilt it into
more than its ancient opulcnce. This
task was not inferior to the one which
lay before them when they marched
out in 1861. II it was less pcrilous il
was more tedious. IL called for all the
resolution, all the moral courage, all
the faith, hope and energy which
could be summoned by the finest Anso-
Saxon stock which the world has ever
known. Patiently uncomplainingly
they rebuilt, replantcd, and have since
reharvestcd. Or such fiber were the
people who fought for home rule in
the south. or such Il force and purity
was the spirit which led forward those
VINO sleep today around the soldiers
monuments. It Is this spirit, devoid
or sectional strife or issue which in.
FORM the observance uf Memorial day
TO remember, to reverence. and to rc.
peat these are the privileges or those
who decorate the soldiers graves and
who gather near them
But in this burying ur sectional
strife, Memorial day has lost not one
atom Of its inSistancc upon the right
cous patriotism Of those whose mem
ory IL pcrpetuateS. Not for years
and never, we trust twill the day be-
come memorial Of misguided fanatics
who died for an unjust cause. Let the
phrase, They died for what they
thought was right perish half utter
cd upon the feeble lips that would
frame IL. Let any suggestion that
those who wore the gray were rebels
led by rebel chiefs, remain locked up
in those distorted sectional histories,
where they belong. With the mere
abstract merits Of the controversy,
Memorial day and the generation
which now observes it has nothing to
40. But that this was was a struggle
between sovereign and independent
states, is proposition which those
VINO decorate the graves Of southern
soldiers cannot afford to relinquiSh for
one moment.
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