Milford chronicle., 1907-05-31

| IOugnt the movement before, was then
senator, and he was the most enthusi.
astic advocate of the bill Yes. yes, al
last the civil war was ended. At last
by the voluntary return OF the blood
soaked battlehags the United States
congress declared there was no north,
no south, no east. no west. no conquer
Ors and no vanquished. The COnfeder-
ate battledags were given back to the
men whose comrades had baptized
them with their life's blood.
Why did the north return those old
battlehags OF the southern army
First, the northerners realized that the
Houtherners were honest men and had
been honest in their advocacy of the
state rights principle all through the
war. The northerners realized that the
same fidelity to principle which made
Massachusetts and Illinois and Wis
consin and California fight for the CEN
| tral2atiOn OF government drove GeOr-
gia and Alabama and South Carolina
TO fight for state rights. These men.
born below the Mason and Dixon line,
were not dishonest or mercenary. They
MNAE Ai-nAAnE AUA a HAAAANAliAEt UENAuSG
they believed the principle was just
And for that principle they were ready
to sacrifice their lives
The Confederate Flag.
Thus, brave men of the north and
brave men of the south in the name
Of our reunited country before this ap-
preaching Memorial day I salute you
You two classes Of veterans have not
only proved to the world that you are
physical heroes, but greater than this
that you are moral and spiritual ha-,
FOes. You have not only proved to ''.e
great wide world that you have cour-
age and backbone enough TO fight, but
that you also have nobility of soul
enough to forget and forgive past diff
ferences In this beautiful land of ours
for 364 days out of the year we only
want one flag. That flag must be the
stars and stripes. We want it waving
from every home and every school
house and every church and every leg
islative hall But on the spring Memo
rial day we like to see the folds of the
old Confederate flag for a little while
wrapped about the folds of the stars
and stripes. which once battled with
it. That Confederate flag is the EN-
blem of many a heroic deed of the true
American heart. as the United States
flag is also the emblem Of many a true
heroic deed.
Oh. the bravery of the past, when
the great armies of the north and the
south were in mortal conflict! Did not
the two armies then respect the bTav-
cry and nobility of each other and bow
in reverence to the heroism of their
foes? At the siege of Vicksburg, May
%. 1868. the commanding general or
dered the Ninety-nnth regiment of H.
linOis volunteers to charge a redoubt
occupied by the Second infantry of
Texas. As the northern regiment NOV
ed forward to the charge the colonel !
gave the command: Boys, don't look |
back. Keep your faces toward the en-
recognize each others honesty. It is
almost impossible for a man who is
fighting to believe that his opponent, |
whose doubled fist is pummeling and /
beating him, has an honest heart or a |
straight hair in his head But after |
the battle is over, after time has cooled .
the blood, after our adversary may |
have been laid away in his silent grave,
then we are able to look at our past |
actions and those Of our enemies as
anOther's eyes. Then we see
shst both of US may have been honest
in our ideas, but both or one Of us may
have been mistaken in our judgment.
If those southerners were not honest
in their advocacy of state rights how
can you account for the actions Of
Robert E. Lee? Study the history Of
the man any way you will, and you
will find him a noble, true hero through
and through. He certainly did not en-
ter the southern army for fame. Had
he stayed in the northern army he
might have been commander of all the
United States forces. He knew he was
slated as the successor of Winfield
Scott. Surely that was fame enough
for any man. He did not enter the
southern army for mercenary motives.
He was already wealthy in his own
right, and Arlington Heights, his home,
was Just across the Potomac. He knew
that If he entered the southern cause
bis property might be confscated and
his homestead demolished. Yet with
out hesitation he sacrificed an honora-
Dle position, land, family, homestead
and money, and threw them all into
The southern cause. Then study the
life of Robert E. Lee after the civil /
war. Even amid poverty, after his
great pillared mansion had been ex-
changed for an old tumbledown negro
1aIt not fit for an outhouse or a cattle