The Columbus weekly dispatch., 1908-05-03

+ and aSSua2e the thirst or his SmlTEen
s foes. From one to another unflineh-
+ ingly he passed, adjusting them more
. comfortably and aIlaying their awful
. thirst IN astonishment and admira-
: ton of a deed so magnanimous and
= perilous, the Federal guns AT that
l point were hushed, until Dick Kirk
f land having exhausted his canteens.
} amid the cheers of friends and enc
t mics, returned erect to his own lines
and resumed his place among his
comrades in the trenches. The Con
federate Veteran publishes this story.
and further states that in a lonely,
unmarked grave in South Carolina,
killed at Chickamauga, Dick Kirk
lands body lies. His Incompatible
deed, immortal as his undaunted
spirit, Will rest through all the ages
as an imperishable crown on the
brow of the private soldier of the
South.
Of the unequal struggle and the
inevitable outcome, of the billions of
dollars, and the million of lives it
cost, of its three thousand ensan-
guined fields, its triumphs and its de-
feats, it's glories and its horrors. r
| have not time, nor do I deem it nee /
| essary here to speak The record is f
full and now fairly impartial To +
Lee, Jackson, and other Southern 4
leaders and to their followers, the I
world, even the North, is disposed TO
accord unstinted praise. But the
statesmen of the South have not been
so fairly treated History has heaped
its maledictions on them, and as
traitors who melted a bloody rebel
lion they are yet too commonly re-
ferred to in the press and on the
hUstings of the North. Owing to
causes previously mentioned, sad to
always been rightly understood and
vigorously and intelIigently defend
ed. Against the secessiOnist and !
STAKEHOLDER, the shafts of ignorance =
and malice have been so vehemently I
and persistently hurled, that, with ?
out defense, even the children of the =
South, in the changed political and j
social conditions consequent upon I
The War, unable to understand an .
institution and policy, fit and right q
in former and very different days, n
may be led to palliate and condone. G.
If not actually to condemn, the acts q
and principles of their fathers. For Il
years following the war, the South :
was too busy making bread to have II
ime for writing or interpreting its II
and scarcely cared to take o.
he time for explanation or defense, T
which it deemed unnecessary or did Il
lot deign to make But that age is K
ey, Davis, Toombs, Cobb, Stephens, 4
nd other statesmen who were the N
pokesmen of the South from so to N
81, that their own words and deeds n
e known by this and coming genera te
ions. This done, their vindication cl
5 assured, and they will ever hold ri
sway over Southern m
linds and hearts. "
Ny young friends, from a critical &C
tudy of both sides of this great ol
uestion, I affirm with all the empha- in
is possible, with all the sincerity C,
f which | am capable, that these OF
rand men were not as they have &c
cen charged, reckless, fiery instiga- III
)rs of treason, rebellion, and dis ii
nion. On the contrary, as earnest it
do | avow that they were con- III
ervative, patient, loyal defenders of III
le Constitution, and ardent lovers in
E the Union of the Fathers. Out of pr
leir own mouths, not those of enc Is
lies, let them be judged Listen to in
[r. Davis in his inaugural address vi
the Confederate Congress in 1861. dc
many years of controversy sb
ith our late associates, the North De
-n States, we have vainly endeav- G
red to secure tranquility and to OBJ Y,
lin respect for the rights to which er
e were entitled. As a necessity, ST
OF choice, we have resorted to the su
emedy of separation. The sacrifices "
, be made are not TO be balanced tic
gainst honor, and right, and libeFty, le;
nd equality" In closing his address tn
, the Georgia legislature, A. H. ST.
later VTce-President of the ca
thus spoke: My po- pc
tion, then, in conclusion is for the of
aintenance of the honor, the rights, 70
le equality, the security, and the in
Iory of ma native State in the Union, av
possible, but if these cannot be vi
aintained in the Union, then I am ca
II their maintenance at all hazards. 70
ut of it" Listen again, ask, to Rob s
It Toombs, as he places the whole to