Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1907-06-07


General now surviving.
The vast hall was gay with Confed
erateeolors, the battle flags of stars
and bars, the colors of many Southern
States and the pictures of Lee, Davis
Jackson and Stuart adjoining the walls
The band played ''Dixie, that inspiring
air which has power to stir North and
South alike, and wild ''rebel yell''
shook the rafters.
Equally eloquent and admirable as
the Governors were the words of Gen
eral Lee. He brought blush of pride
to the cheek of every Virginian when
he said: ''The oftener we pay YOU a
visit the more we like you. Every
true Southerner either claims to come
from Virginia or to have some relative
there. 1t is sort of American patent
of nobility. When the Confederate
soldier comes to Richmond. it is a
homecoming. The greatest of Eng
land Queens said that when her heart
should be opened, upon it would be
found written the word Calais; in
every Confederate heart, Richmond is
written forever. Here stand the Capi-
tol and the White House of the Confed-
eracy. Yonder is the statue of our
great commander, a tribute from the
genius of France to the glorious man.
hood of Virginia. Here is Stonewall
Jackson in immortal bronze, a mem
orial by English gentlemen to the
soldier of God and his country. Here.
too, is A. P. Hill, who gave his native
land soldiers finished service and vet
to whom. also, the glory of patriots
death was not denied"
1t was, however, his closing words
which sent thrill through the au-
dience and unloosed the rebel yell. Cen
eral Lee had spoken of the pros
perity of the South and of the great
and noble men who had made her his
tory. With voice raised loud and clear
and with dramatic gesture, he ex-
claimed:
1.-The blossom upon our human tree
is once more bursting into bloom, and
we old soldiers, living in the past as we
must, are made glad by the reverence
and respect shown to US. We are
happy and rejoice that we have the
affection and gratitude of the Southern
people. We gather our sons and grand
sons around US, and they listen with
thrilling hearts to the glorious story of
the Confederacy. They ride with Stuart
and Hampton and Forrest, and they
march with Jackson, Cheatham and
Hood. They listen to the thunder of
Pelham's guns. They bear in their
arms the body of Ashby. They listen
for the -hoofbeats of Traveller" thev
hear the shout ''Lee to the rearv' and
then the rebel yell rings in their ears
and above the storm of battle until they
almost catch the wild joy of the soul
and even share in the rapture of the
charge"
After the applause had subsidized his
comrades urged him to ''go on "'go
on" but his message had been given.
Not the least interesting part of Cen
eral Lees remarks were his illusions
to the kindly feeling which existed
between the North and South, and it is
remarkable that almost at the same
hour, in the city of Indianapolis, Presi-
dent Roosevelt told the same story to
the men in blue in these words:
You have left country so gen
timely reunited that all of US now. in
whatever part of this Union we live.
have right to feel the keenest pride.
not only in the valor and self-devotion
OF you, the gallant men who wore the
blue, but also in the valor and self
devotion of your gallant opponents
who wore the grey"
At the Unwilling.
In the march to the unwilling of the
statue of ''Jeb" Stuart, magnificent
bronze equestrian one, the Stonewall
Brigade, Stuart's cavalry, Mosby's men
Plckett's remnants and Mahone's legion
all came in for waves of applause.
Thousands of others, individually and
collectively, also shared the thundous
applause. Veterans from the Nor
them Neck, the ''Outside Row."
were few in comparison, but they
received with the other devoted
heads the encores of the thronged
streets of the parade.
ltwas commented on that one gallant
army was missing, represented by only
few individual survivors the rem
nants of gallant Beauregard's Palmetto
legion. They, for the most part,
have Joined the hero of Bull Run and
Fort Sumter and are now resting under
the immortal palms.
The Commander-in-chie General
Stephen ID. Lee, was in the van, sup
ported by the Army of Northern Vir-
ginia, and the thunders of applause
which were not to be stilled for two
hours began in intensest volume.
AT the end of the line, on the
plaza beyond the statue, most beauti-
tul feature was presented. On an in
clined platform, like huge grand
stand, sat six hundred children, in blocks
OF red, white and blue, so dressed and
arranged that they made living Con-
federate battle-fag.
After the parade and after the speech
OF Judge T. S. Garnett, of Norfolk, a
member of Stuart's staff, the veil was
unloosed by a grand daughter of Lees
cavalry leader, amid the booming of
hundreds of cannons and the acclaims