Hattiesburg daily news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1907-1908, 1907-10-18

chagrin of the general and other Of
ficers and soldiers present, the young
man exclaimed: Il can't tell, my watch
has run down" So If in this attempt
to perform as it should be the impor-
tant duty assigned me, should fail,
it will be because my mouth has run
down, and the good ladies' like the
general will have selected the wrong
man.
We, my friends. have gathered here
to celebrate with the few survivors
and pay tribute to thousands gone
of the noblest, best and bravest set
of men the world has ever produced,
and of which historians have yet
spoken Of Thousands of pages have
been written and as many speeches
have been made, since the command
stack arms" was given at Appomat-
tox, in praise and extolling the valor
and manhood Of the Confederate
soldiers, and yet not the half has been
said in their praise that could be said,
and will yet be said of their true
greatness.
II had the time and you the in
clination to stand here and listen to
me, I could begin at the battle of
Bull Run in 1851 and go with you
through the many bloody battles and
suffering and heroic achievements of
these dear soldiers all through the
great war down to April 9, 1865, when
the great leader and his 10000 rag
ged, starved, bleeding but brave sold
iers stool under the shades of the
trees about Appomattox court house,
and undertake to detail their courage
and undermining fidelity to the cause
they so stubbornly advocated, 1 could
not tell the half They were an ar
| ray Of men, the equal of which the
world has never yet seen. In almost
every paper we read something new
about their bravery. 1t is therefore
fitting for me to simply express what
all nations and people have acclaimed,
| They were real Soldiers"
shall not in this short talk under
take to show the business and right
eousness of their cause, but leave
that for other men to pursuade you
with, If their be in the minds of any
here any doubt. for one do not take
any stock in the belief that men OF
any country and nation could fight
SO hard and suffer SO long as did
the Confederate soldier for a cause
he thought was right. agree with
and endorse the statement of the gal
liant young man and accomplished
orator, Lee, who at the recent reunion
at Richmond said that the Confederate
! soldier fought, bled and died not for
what he thought was right, but by
the help of God he fought, bled and
died for what was eternally right
l am one of those uncompromising
Southerners who believe this great
army and its great leaders were right,
and although ground down to. defeat
and surrender, SUI the stars and bars
which waived over their heads repre-
scented most righteous cause, and
which all the ages to come will say
was right.
1t is not my purpose nor would it
be fitting and pleasant for me here to
waive the bloody shirt" and to give
the feelings of those who may differ
from me stab, because of their be-
lief, but the purpose of this assem-
blage is to make the survivors of this
cause happy, and to express to them
our high esteem Of them, and to keep
in memory their brave comrades who
died upon the bloody fields and the
many who since the ending of this
great struggle have ceased to feel
the wounds and scars of this war
and who have passed to the great
hereafter.
Only few more feeting years and
the last of you, our most cherished
citizens shall have crossed over, and
your valuable presence will be no
| longer with us. While it is painful
to us all to think about this parting,
we are consoled that no man who
Wore the gray is afraid Of death. The
laSt words uttered by the immortal
Stopewall jackson was an admonition
to YOU all, when he dying said: Let
us cross over the river and rest under
the shade Of the trees.v
| You were not only faithful and self
denying in the bitter struggle Of war
fare, but you are still self-denying and
self-sacrificing in your efforts to at
! tend these reunions. No set of men
in all the land, at your ages, would
be as punctual and devoted to these
4 reunions as you have been. Year af-
ter year, you sacrifice time and your
H paltry means to meet each other and
other comrades at county and general
l.