The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-04-27
MAJOR BRICKEN SPEAKS.
Appealed for Reunited Country ant
 Eulogized Gen. Gordon.

Appealed for Reunited Country and
 Eulogized Gen. Gordon.
 In full the address of Major Bricken is as follows:
 Ladies of the Memorial Association,
 Friends and Comrades:
 On occasions of this kind the speak CT generally takes up the time allotted i to him in eulogies of our dead heroes. The Confederate soldier belongs to his- tory. he has passed through the fiery ordeal of battle. He laid down his life in defense of the Confectionery; he did not fear that the future would not do him justice. He needs no eulogy. And while I shall not forget, in my brief remarks to speak of his past deeds, shall also speak of the duty he owes to the future, and if, in this solemn presence, can say something that will tend to more strongly unite all sections of our common country, shall be satisfied.
 But first of all pay my respects to the noblest, bravest, truest and best of all Confederates, ''The woman of the South" She 1t is that cheered the Confederate soldier in his darkest hour; administered to him when help- less, sick, wounded, and dying, closed his eyes in death and Aow keeps fresh his memory, scattering sweetest fiow- CTS over his grave. Sweet, noble, self sacrificing woman-"the last at the cross and the first at the grave" l have not the power of conception nor language to express the love, the adoration, that the Confederate sol- dier has for the gentle patriotic, self sacrificing woman of the South. She has robbed adjectives of their power to praise. I can only say of her as King Lear said to his faithful and loving child, Daughter on such sac- rifices as thine the Gods themselves throw incense"
 Next to the woman of the South I pay my respects to her sons and daugh- fers To them as individuals, and more especially to them as Sons of Veterans and Daughters of the Con- federacy, we transmit the splendid her itage of the deeds and daring of the Confederate soldier; to them is be- queathed the duty to keep alive in the memory of their children's children the deeds of valor. the unfaltering pa triotism. the superb courage of the he- ed by this presence and this beautiful ceremony.
 He Was a Boy Soldier.
 Last but far from least, I pay my respects to the men who wore the gray. When a mere boy less than four teen years of age, I ran away from my Virginia home. came to this beau tiful city of Montgomery, and at Greenyille,, Ala, enlisted in the 46th Alabama Regiment, .Pettus Brigade. I love you my, comrades, with my whole heart with that deep devotion second only to my family ties. And when I am laid away the best that could be said of me, is that he was a true Con- fedearte soldier; one who never shirk- ed duty, one who did nothing unwor- thy of the gray jacket he wore in the Confederate Army.
 We are fast passing away. Soon the sweet women of Alabama will bring fresh flowers to scatter over our graves It will be but a short time before we will all have crossed the river and stacked arms on the other side. There we hope to meet our comrades, who have gone before, in one grand reunion of Confederate Vet erans around the white throne in Heaven.
 I am Commander of Camp Gracy, United Confederate Veterans, in my county. We have a County Annual Re- union. Once year the sweet women of my town, under the lead of the Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Veterans, a splendid feast is prepared, and an attractive program is rendered, and everything possible, is done to make glad the heart of the old Confederate soldier. I believe that he is entitled in this world to the very