The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-08-15

ON The DOrln slQe tue lOultu udeo 10 tpio
inscription: The first mass meeting for
Secession was held at Abbeville. s. c., Nov.
%, 1860. The last cabinet meeting was held at
Abbeville, S. c., May 2. 1865.
The die on this side is carved into wreath
enclosing the flag with the thirteen stars.
| Just under the flag is monogram made OF
the two letters d. C.-Daughters of the Con-
federacy. On either side OF ribbon repre-
sented as fastening the wreath at Its base are
the figures "6l" and "85." Just above the
wreath is this lettering: Erected by the
Daughters of the Confederacy of Abbeville
county" and just below this is the year,
1906"
The cap bears the same inscription on this
side as on the south side.
The west side the monument shows more
Inscriptions than any Of the others. The
fourth base has this on IL: "Honor the
brave" "They knew their rights and dared
maintai them."
The die has an inscription that will sound
familiar TO every southern year:
ave have furled 1t slowly, sadly,
Once we loved 1t proudly. gladly,
And we fought beneath II madly
Fought in bloody deathly pray,
For we sW ore 10 those who gave It
That in triumph we would wave 1t,
Or life's crimson tide should lave IL
Ere 10 blue should yield the gray.
Yes Ills taken down all faded
And like those who bore II jaded
For through lakes OF blood they waded
Nor did weary footsteps lag
Oh! twas hard to fofd and yield II
While man was left TO shield 1t
For twas Dlxie's bonnie nag"
The cap, on the north side has the same
lettering as on the south side, viz: 1851.
1866"
The work is we'll done, The gentlemen
who have put 1t up are good and worthy men,
They have made themselves agreeable and
pleasant and we are 10th TO see them 90.
The daughters, who have been so untiring
in their efforts for these many years, are
about 10 see their hopes realized. These good
women who are 80 loyal to the 'lost cause" ,"
W no / owe the town, their home. 30 fervently,
deserve a monument for themselves. I'm
daunted they have labored, in the face OF
scathipg criticisms and adverse circumstan.
ces they have pushed on.
Fired with zeal that is not born OF un-
worthy motives and an enthusiasm that can
not be quenced by the chickering's Of oppo.
nents. they have spent their energies and
lavished their loves on this one tribute: Did
not this noble pile of granite commemorate
deeds and sacrifices unprecedented, did 1t not
call TO mind subject OF which our poets
have sung and our orators spoken, still We
would cherish 1t for the love and the labor OF
| our noble wome that is cemented into It's
every joint.
During the trying epoch OF strife, when
our fathers needed the tocsin OF war and went
| to the front 10 face the foe, the mothers OF
these Daugh ters OF the Confederacy, in many
| Instances unprotected, remained at home
nd fought their battles as heroically as the
southern soldier al Bullrun or English sons
| at Balsclavs. Not with the noise Of musket.
| ry or the wbizz OF shot or bursting shell did
| they fight. but with hunger. with loneliness
with widowhocd, with lopgings for the lives
OF their loy ed, with hopes that were hopeless
with desires for a sight Of unmarked graves
with yearnings for victory that was lost
| with poverty, with fearful uncertainty az 10
their own safety, they fought. Those who
are not moved when they remember the
hardships, the tears the hopeless loDgngs Of
our mothers during that strife are "fit for
treason strategems and spoils, let no such
man be trusted"
| And now as the visitor enters the Abbe-
| Vile plsza ircm any side the shaft Of granite
| erected TO the memory OF the spartans Of
| America meets the eye, and while We
| cherish the memory OF these brave men-for
braver men than these, history does not re-
call nor shall the Eons 10 come give them to
| the future generations-let US bare our heads
and bow a moment In memory Of our fair
mothers who kept the vestal fires OF our homes
brightly allght with the lamp of an un.
quenchable love and laVed the sacred laltars
| were with Lee.
| This is q sc ntiment that We should cherish.
Not as the Spanish Hidalgo. as he set in the
peaceful porches Of the Aihsmbra and gaZed
toward the sea With longing for The return
OF the lost Amads, for "he would ride through
slaughter TO q throne and shut the gates Of
mercy on mankind" We look out on the
sea OF the past from an epoch Of unpre cedent.
ed prosperity and we see the ships that we're
| ours ruthlessly spatched from us by those,
our br others. They wrenched by force ol
arms from us that which they had given u.s.
They invaded us and brought with them the
1 " uiiCt aho tho tSiSh. oul II6ule W dddtdC
matized and usurped. We fought. We bed
We died. We were conquered. But shall we
not remember our suffering? Aye. Even
as Virgel sings. as long as the stars shall feed
the poles; as long as the shaddC ws thall Greer
over the mountains; as long as the rivers
shall flow into the seas-So long shall We re.
| member.
The Daughters of the Confederacy hav'
done nobly. Would that some poet woulc
sing of the m. The liste ming earsof the South