Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-10

new hotel, bright and early this morning.
| Treasurer Halliday was kept busy through
out the morning receiving the dues and
! issuing badges to the members. At 0
! of the visitors and escorted them to the
| Ruffner school house, from the tower of
which an excellent view of the surround
| ing country. including parts of the battle
ground, can be obtained. At 10 O'Clock
| the corps meetings commenced.
The LIST, I'd. Sd, 4th, 9Th. 9th, 9th, 10th,
| 18th, 18th, 18th and 10Th Cavalry, general
| staff and signal corps organizations are all
represented here and each meeting was
well attended.
The Great Meeting.
| The great meeting of the day began at
| 3 o'clock this afternoon. The meeting was
| held at the court house, a relic of the war
time. Hundreds of tickets were issued for
| the meeting and when the ticket holders
had been given seats the doors were thrown
open and the general public were admitted.
| The main court room where the meeting
| was held was profusely decorated for the
occasion with flags and bunting and spring
| flowers. Gen. Horatio King, president of
| the society, presided. The exercises were
| opened with an invocation by Rev. DR..
John Gillen, formerly a chaplain in the
| confederate service. THE Star Spangled
Banner then sung by Mrs. Annie
| Laurie Stilson of Cleveland, after which
Gen. Rlxey's Welcome.
| Representative Rixey of the local congress
sional district of Virginia delivered an adj
| dress of welcome to the visitors on behalf
| of the state of Virginia. Gov. Montague,
who was to have delivered this address, was
prevented from attending the meeting by
| illness, and Mr.. Rixey was given his place
at short notice. Mr.. Rixey said he was
| more than glad to be allowed the privilege
of welcoming to the commonwealth of Vir-
gnia SO distinguished a gathering of vet
Grams of the war. Virginia holds out her
arms In welcome to no class of men with
more sincere greeting or cordial greeting
than to the veterans of the Army of the
Potomac. Mr.. RiXeys address was brief
because of the short notice he had been
given, and he had no time in which to pre-
pare an extended Grafton. Judge Nicol was
the next speaker. In the heartiest kind of
manner the speaker bade the members of
the society welcome to Manassas on behalf
or the people of the town. He spoke of the
dlnerence that would be noted in the town
and surrounding country by the veterans as
compared with their last visit and declared
that he hoped they would not make this
their last visit to the scene of their former
conflict Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean"
was then sung by Mrs. Stilson, the audience
Joining in the chorus. Gen. King them made
an address in reply to the welcoming words
OF the previous speakers. He said:
ResponseBy Gen. Horatio c. KING
- Speah me sentiment of all the men,
pers present, and indeed of the whole So
ciety' IN saying that we are, and all others
Will be, most deeply affected by your gen.
erous words of welcome. The scene and
the occasion are indeed unique Forty years
ago these fertile fields, brilliant with the
verdure of summer, nowhere more bea,itf-
full than in this noble state, echoed to the
tread of vast battalions returning home
ward; gallant men who less than a month
before stood in hostile array in presence
OF peliowlng muskets and smoking cannon
served by as brave partsans as ever re-
sponded to the call of arms. That the war
was desperate and prolonged was due to
the nativity and like temperament of the
! eombatants When the great orator and
divine Henry Ward Beecher was in Eu-
rope he was severely chaffed by an Eng
lfshman because Of the north's frequent re-
verses In the great war then in progress.
Mr.. Beecher, little nettled, replied: "Ah
my friend. please bear in mind that we are
not fighting Englishmen; we are fighting
Americans" So the magnificent valor ex-
hibted on both sides in that unparalleled
conflict is a common heritage of which all
Americans are proud. We were brothers
then, simply estranged for a while by a
difference of opinion on constitutional QueS-
tions, and we are tenfold closer brothers
now that these questions have been set
tied by the arbitrament of war, and settled
forever.
Certainly one notable result of the strug-
gle was That DOtn sizes learned to know
each other better. and to change their
opinions, which were mutually based upon
imperfect knowledge. In the Lady of Ly-
ons,' Claude MelnOtte is made to say in
substance, ut is remarkable how much
you respect a man after you have fought
him. and surely out Of this respect, when
the last shot was fired, sprang the renewed
esteem and friendship which animated the
contending hosts. whp shared their hard
tack and coffee and drank something more
stimulating than either from the same cam
teen.
Indeed throughout the four years OF
bloody strife, there never was time when
the north was not ready to treat with the
SOUTH with view to any compromise that
did not involve the ACKNOWLEDGMENT Of the
Union.
Hate shuts her soul when dove-eyed
mercy Pleads" and give thanks for
that broad humanity and brighter patriot
ism which has driven out hate buried the
CONTINUED on Twelfth page.)