The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1903-02-03

| teDueu snOuluer 10 SnOulQer, and
fought face to face.
"This, however, is Of the past. Its
issues are settled, never to be raised
again. But, no matter how we may
discuss the rights and wrongs of a
day that is dead-its victories and
defeats--one thing ls clear beyond
dispute--victor and vanquished-
Confederate and Uionist--the de
scendants of those who between 1851
and 1865, wore the gray and of those
who wore the blue-enter as essen.
tial and as equal factors into the
national life which now is, and IN
future is to be. Not more so Puri.
tan and Cavalier in Englsnd-the
offspring of Cromwell and Stafford's
descendants. With us, as with them,
the individual exponents of either
side became in time common prop
erty, and equally the glory of all.
$50 am here this evening-as
have said, Massachusetts man as
we'll as member of the Loyal Legion
to do honor to the memory of him
who was chief among those once set in
array against us. Of him, what shall I
say? Essentially soldier, as a soldier
Robert E. Lee was a many sided
man. I might speak of him as a
strategist; but, of this aspect or the
man. enough has perhaps been said
L might refer to the respect, the con
tidence and love with which he in
spired those under his command. l
might dilate On his restraint in VIC
tory; his resource and patient endu-
rance in the face Of adverse fortune;
the serene dignity with which he, in
the end, triumphed over defeat. But,
passing over all these well-worn
themes, shall contine myself 10
that one attribute of his which, recog
nized in soldier by an opponent,
cannot but regard as his surest and
loftiest title to enduring fame. 1
refer to his humanity in arms, and
his scrupulous regard for the most
advanced rules of civilized warfare.
"On this point, two views l am
we'll aware have been taken from the
beginning, and still are advanced.
On the one side it is contended that
warfare should be strictly confined to
combatants, and it's horrors and de
vastetions brought within the narrow
est limits-that private property
should be respected, and devastation
and violence limited to that neces
sary to overcome armed opposition
at the vital points Of conflict. This by
some. But, on the other hand, it is
inslsted that such a method of prooe
dure is mere cruelty in disguise that
war at best is hell, and that true hu-
msuity lies in exaggerating that hell
to such an extent as to make it unen-
durable. BY SO doing, it is forced
to a speedy end. On this issue, I
stand with Lee. Moreover, looking
back over the awful past-replete
with mans inhumanity to mani
insist that the verdict of history is
distinct. That war is hell at best,
then make it hell indeed-that cry
is not original with us-far from it,
it echoes down the ages. Take Eu-
rope for example. Let me cite two
instances, separated by half CEN
tury, and two names which have
come down to us loaded with execra-
tion and sunken deep in infancy
the instances-the repeated and COM
plete devastation of what was known
as tho Palatinate, once during the
war of Thirty Years and against the
order OF Louis Fourteenth--the
names Tilly and Melac.
"You have heard of Tilly, and of
the sack of Magdeburg. Tilly fully
believed in making war hell--fast,
furious and bloody. His orders
were to kill and burn, burn and kill,
and burn and kill again. Ho wanted
no prisoners-and none we're made.
The more his subordinates killed and
the more they burned, the better he
was pleased. He wished the Pala.
tine to be made a bowling wilderness.
1t is familiar story--a lameutation
and an ancient tale of wrong; and
you remember its outcome Even
today, as we read the story of those
horrors centuries gone, we thrill with