The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1903-02-06
ous md blood y. His orders were to
klllntti burn burn and Kill ,FandEburn

tsilOS1n Nl.uSuiu So f10 sWautGQS0O prlSODs
ers-sslnd NONE were made. The more
MS SubOrdinates killed and the more
tiiey burned the better he Was
0e made u hoWling wilderness. 1t is d
familiar story-a lamentatlon and an
ancient tale of wrong; and you reinem-
ber. Its outcome. Even today, as we
read the story Of those horrors CEN
turies gone. we thrill with vindictive
pleasure when the humane Gustayus
AdolphuS Sprang into the arena, and
bore down hell's advocate in hopeless
defeat and irreyocable death.
Again, fifty years later, the same
gospel OF hell Is proclaimed and en-
forced. Once more the Palatinate IS
devastated by sword and fire. War is
hell-thcn make it hell, indeed--and
have it over. They did make it hell
even? Il French general, Mclac by
name, acting for Louis XIV, repeated
Tilly's work; lie could not improve it,.
He also believed that to carry OH war,
disguise 1t us we may, it is to he cruel.
1t is to kill and burn, burn and kill;
and again llilla burn. The great
monarch desired him also to bear
himself us TO leave on the inhabitants
OF the Palatinatc an impression that
future generations would know he had
been there. He did SO bear himself.
what was the result? Hell was in
deed let loose; but SO was hate. Was
the war made shorter? No; not by an
hour. III was simply made neediessiy
bitter, brutal and barbarous. TO this
day the ruins Of Heidelberg remain
Nlclac'S monument. Remembered to
be cursed-pilloricd with Tilly-his
name is in the Palalinatc household
word. Six generations of men have
since passed and, today, with those of
The seventh, Melac is q name there
given to dogs Many of you have
doubtless stood, as have l I, on the still
shattered and crumbling battlcments
peaceful valley of tho Nccker, and
listening TO its murmcring flow. Thir-
ty years ago | was there, and l vividly
recall little incident strik ingly illus
trativc OF the exact opposite OF what 1
am here today to say Of Lee. ~ por-
trait of Mclac hung in the gallery OF
the castle. 1t hangs there now, or did
so not more than Il year or two ago;
but when l saw it first, in 1872, it bore
Of hate. Nlclac had, in March, 1859,
blown up the castle, burned the town,
and devastated the surrounding coun-
try-givcn future generations to know
he had been there. a Frenchman, he
made war hell TO the German. Near
~ two centuries later the turn Of Ger
many came. Then, in 1870, dcyastat-
ing France, they inflicted on the
French the misery and shame Of Sedan;
they bcsicged and captured Paris. Two
years afterwards, in 1872, l read this
inscription in letters large and black
beneath the portrait Of Mclac at Hei-
oil, k1ESO NnrrN1to,,
had indeed been given cause to remcm-
Der; nor had they forgotten. The debt,
two centuries old, had been computed
with interest: and payment cXactcd III
blood and flame.
a ''As an American-as All cX-soldicr
Of the UniOn--aS one who did his best
in honest, even fight, to destroy that
fragment OF the army OF the Confedcr-
acy to which he found himself opposed
II rejoice that no such hatred at
tachcs TO the name Of Lee. Reckless
OF life to attain the legitimate ends OF
war, he sought to mitigate it's horrors.
Opposed TO him at Gettysburg, here,
forty years later, do him justice. No
more crcditablc order ever issued from
Il commanding general than that for
muiatcd and signed by Robert T.. Lee
as, al the close Of June, 1863, he ad-
vanccd on Il war Of invasion. NO
greater disgrace lie then declared,
| can bcfall tile army and through it
our whole people, than the pcrpctra-
tion OF barbarouS 0utragcS upon the
innocent and dcfcnsclcss. Such pro-
ccedings not only disgrace the pcrpe-
traitors and all connected with them,
but arc Subvcrsivc of the discipline
and efficiency Of the army, and dcs-
tructive OF the ends Of our movement.
| 1T must be remembered that we make
war only on armed men. Lee did not,
| like lilly and Mclac, ,eXhort his follow
crs 10 kill aDq jH'lri; % nd burn and kill
and again kill IN; to make war
bel .ssAe did nclaim thct(:ssea
i S;lnC,5 .;llO pris He did not en-
lfjoin tupon hi. iers as a;duty to
cause the people Of Pennsylvania to
remember they had been there. I
thank heaven he did not. lie at least,
an American, and not Il Tilly nor a
Mclac.
"And here, as Il soldier OF the Army
OF the Potomac, let INC bear my testi-
mony to such OF the Army OF Northern
| Virginia us may now be present.
| While war at best is bad, yet its ncccs-
sary and unavoidable badness was not
in that campaign enhanced. In scope
and spirit Lees order was observed.
and ..oubt 1T hostile force ever ad-
vanccd in an cncmy'S country, or fell
back from it in retreat, leaving behind
it less cause Of hate and bitterness
than did the Army of Northern Vir-
ginia in that memorable campaign
which eliminated at Gettysburg. Be
cause he was a soldier. Lee did not
feel it incumbent upon him to pro
claim himself Il brute, or to cXhort his
| followers to brutality
81 have paid my tribute. One word
more and have done. Some six
months ago, in Il certain academic adj
| dress al Chicago, called to mind the
fact that Il statue Of Oliver Cromwell
now stood in the yard of Parliament
House in London, close to that histor-
ic hall of Westminster, from the roof
OF which his severed head had once
| looked down. Calling to mind the
strange changes OF feeling cvinced by
the memory OF that grinning skull and
remembering that Cromwell, once
traitor and rogicdc, stood now con
spicuous among England's worthcst
and most honOrcd-I asked, why
should il not also in time be so with
Lee? Why should not his ciligy, erect
on his charger and wearing The insig
MIA Of his Confederate rank, gaze from
his pedestal across the Potomac at the
| Virginia shore, and his once dearly
| loved home at Arington?' lie, too, is
one OF the precious possessions Of what
is an essential factor in the nation
that now is, and is 10 be.
My suggestion was met with an an
Swcr to which would now make re
ply. II was objected that such me
mortal was to be provided from the