The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-05-22
BEN NNETTSVILLE, IS. q

-oAAAAAANN VI ShS Pfil tlC pl(lSCu
days OF '0l and '65, and you are here,
also, my friends, to attest the fact
that when the God Of Battles decided
againstyou, in good faith you accepted
that decision.
The great privilege, the distingu-
ished honor, has been conferred upon
me Of welcoming you to this city, in
behalf Of the people of this State.
Let me say to you that. although,
welcome you gladly, heartily and low
ingly, that you need no welcome to
this, your own capital. You need no
welcome here because Columbia is
yours-it belongs to you-;ind may
add that there is no spot Of ground in
South Carolina or in the south to
which you are not welcome. There is
no patriot heart IN our grand and
glorious commonwealth com
monwcalth which produced such men
as yourSelveS-that does not beat with
pride at tile remembrance OF your
deeds, and which does not gladly vel
come you to home and tircsidc. In
The years gone by you shed impcrish-
able honor and lustrc upon your be-
loved State, and gratitude and love
from its people Is yours forcvcrmorc.
AS you gather each year at your re-
unions your ranks arc growing thin
ner-yOnr heads are growing whittier,
and your footsteps more iutirm. One
by one the private is again following
his commandcr-not now to the field
Of battle, but to the great reward.
Since last you met in this city in
your annual reunion, another great
chieftain has found that reward. In
your quiet churchyard. under the dome
OF the capitol which lie saved; beneath
Confederate flags and nDwcrs fair,
sleeps Wade Hampton. That spirit
OF his Which was your inspiration in
the hour Of battle, and your hope in
the days Of reconstruction, thrills, /
know, your hearts today, aS we pause
to do him reverence. Peace to his
ashes, Ca.olina's great captain.
y WARM WELCOME
| welcome every South Carolina
veteran here today. / welcome every
sou OF veteran. l welcome every
falr sponsor-and the women OF The
Conicderacy, you are welcome, vel
comc--thricc welcome!
welcome you tto-you Ccorrians
right gladly do welcome YOU to
South Carolina, Shoulder will our
brave boys YOU stood, when those old
guns Of yours flashed forth in,defcnsc
OF southern rights. When the bat
Tie was ticrcest you stood by the sides
or Carolinians as you stand by their
sides today. You too were soldiers Of
the Southern Confcdcracy-w what
more can be said:
That you fought well and bravelv.
too, and held your country dear;
We know, else you had never beea Il
Georgia yOluntcer!'
" What an impressive scene is this!
we stand here honoring and welcom-
ing the living, while yOn SIlcnJ muiIu-
mcnt commentaries the dead
| is the history OF the world that
when Il war is over it is the victOrS
who build triumphant arches, honor
their great generals and their con-
Qucring trOOpS-that the vanquiShed
erect no monuments to commemorate
their defeat. The south is an cxcep-
ton TO this rule. Today there is.
scarcely Il cemetery, from the blue
mountains Of Virginia TO the brown
and far-strctching plains of Texas, in
which sleep the Confederate dead,
where there is not TO be found some
monument, though it be only simple
shaft, erected by poor but loving
hands, upon which are engraved words
which declare that the people Of the
south honor the men who fell in de-
feat, Yaliantly battling for principle,
just as much as any nation ever hon
orcd her sons who fell in victory.
And those monuments have been
erected by the women Of the south.
1t is needless for South Carolinians
ever to ask what has woman done for
the State what has she done for her
country what has she done to nur-
ture patriotism? We know too we'll
we know that more than anything
else it has been our women, who
Since the days of old,
Have kept the lamp of chivalry
Alight in hearts OF gold"
GREAT DEEDS or ARMS.
t was by their inspiration and for
their sakcs that great deeds OF arms
have been wrought by Cardinals SONS,
not only upon the soils Of South Caro-
lima, but in other States, in foreign
lands and upon distant seas. And
when these sons returned, whether i'm
victory or in defeat, when they laid
thcirarmor by, they could always rest
assured that their bravery, their sac
riiiccs, their privationS would bc com
mcmorated by the women OF South
Carolina that the women would see
to 1t that postcrity should know Of all
they had done through enduring brass
and imperishable marble. The hero
ism Of the Confederate soldier has
found no truer historian than the wO-
men Of the Confcdc1acy, who suffered
SO much while he fought so well.
Those old ragged gray caps of yours
can find no more loving cuStodians
than the fair daughters of YOU men,
who wore those caps.
And now let me add, may your lives
be spared To us for long years TO come.
We need yon, and sc want you. Your
lives have not been spared in vain.
They have been, and ever vii! be, an
inspiration to these among whom yoi,
live, pointing the young manhood OF
the south upward to higher and to
holcr things. You, men, who defend
cd the rights or south, did all that Cx-
altcd and patriotic manhood could do,
and as long us the south honorS chiv-
airy and holds DltriotiSm dear So