The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1908-02-07
Before Meeting Of Daughters Of
the Confederacy in Memory
Of the Dead.
Dear Daughters of the Confed-

lnCO the three score and ten.
They were both good soldiers,
having entered the Confederate
service early in the war, and re-
mained at the front till the close,
except that in the latter part of
the war Mr.. Langley was in a
northern prison, having been
captured while at home on his
only furlough,
You of this generation cannot
conceive of the life of a Confed-
crate soldier. But for his great
love Of home and Southland, he
would never have endured the
wonderful hardships consequent
upon the service. A soldier of
fortune, having neither home nor
country, like Capt. Dougald Dol
gently of Drum Thawacket of
Marshal College of Aberdeen,
might be true to his commander,
and not desert the standard he
had sworn to uphold, having in
view the spoils and plunder he
might get from the other side.
There is no love of country for
such an one. But the Confeder-
ate soldier, loving his country
with an undying devotion, and
camping on her sacred soil, nev.
er thought of spoils and plunder,
He fought for a principle. He
believed that the sacred right of
home rule and personal liberty
were in peril, and so believing,
he shouldered his musket and
fixed his bayonet and marched
to the front to offer up his life
for his country. His thought was
of the dear wife at home and the
little ones by her side, or follow
ing her in the new made furrow,
as she worked for bread for them
while he was bareing his breast
to the storm of grape and mus
kerry. His own life he consid-
cred not, but truth must live for
their sakes., and righteousness
succeed for their future welfare,
even if bones should bleach on
some battle field. And so Jerry
Thompson and P. Langley, kiss
ing their wives and children good
bye with an impress, that it
might be the last time, took their
lives in their hands, so to speak,
and went to the front to fight,
and die, if need be. They both
possessed an undying love for the
South. When any question arose
involving the right Of their own
dear Southland, their devotion
was so great that they conld see
but the one side. And when the
armies of Lee and Johnson were
so decimated that any unpreju-
diced mind would have known
it was only a question of a short
time till all must be lost, their
devotion was so great that they
still believed we must finally win.
When the war was over and
the cause for which we fought
lost, they returned to their homes
where desolation and ruin stared
them in the face at every corner.
But with that heroism character
istic of the Confederate soldier,
thew began anew to rebuild the
vast places of the homeland, and
each lived to see their country
again in a fourishing condition
and prosperity abounding. They
were great lovers of the Lost
Cause, and strongly attached to
the old soldier, and enjoyed Won
derfully the meetings of the old
Confederates from time time to
live over again their old cam
paigns. When you touched the
old soldier you touched them.
When anyone spoke a word
against the South or against jeff
erson Davis, they were in arms
at once. When any speaker m en-
toned the devotion of the private
lsoldier to the canse for which
4 they fought, and held up to con-
sideration the thought that it
!! was the private soldier who made
lice and jackson what they were
sltheir faces shined as the sunlight
| from a cloudless sky, and they
were ready to give the Confed-
crate yell. But, Daughters, these
snldier-fatherS are qona. We