Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1908-04-08

: BEAUTIFUL PICTURES WHICH
HANG ON THE WALL.

HANG ON THE WALL.
es 80 = ss sss
Editors Keowee Courier: So long
as can speak and write shall hold
up the Confederate soldier as tn
greatest man In all the world, but
not to excite anew the fierce patri-
otic passions which once filled the
breast of every true Southern man.
Nor is 1t our intention to say aught
that Is dfsloyal to the great Union
which now protects US all, for we
are now under the same govern
ment, the same flag; We have the
same laws, we read the same Bible,
and worship the same God; and we
are the same people, with the same
hopes, the same aspirations, and the
same destiny.
Thank God, the day has come
when part Of the sad memories and
bitter animosities of the past are be-
ing absorbed In a quickened public
and social relations between the
South and the North; hut the day has
not yet come when We can forget the
brave men who died the death of
martyrs in fighting for their convic-
tions. In all times and ages he who
has been willing to offer his life as
an evidence of the faith that was in
him has been deemed worthy Of O.
place among the heroes of history.
Without fear of contradiction we as
sert that this position should be ac-
corded to every man who wore the
gray.
The struggle, from the beginning,
was an unequal one. 1t was not for
the promise Of glory that they enter
ed into this war, not for riches or
high renown, but simply because That
each Southern State was a sovereign
in itself, which should be protected
even at the cost of the blood of her
noblest sons. The result Of that une-
quail conflict did not destroy the
principles contended for blythe South,
and we speak Of 1t now as a just
cause. Nations die and races ex-
b pire," but truth is immortal, and
principles based upon truth live on
forever. So it was the principle of
local selfgovernment for which our
comrades died, and will yet live on
forever.
No cause is lost which in it's los
ing forms the cornerstone of lib
erty. Even to-day We can see a
bright star Of hope above the sad
ness which steals over us when we
hear from the lips of Father Ryan,
that soldier-priest, that uncrowned
poet laureate Of the South, his fam
Gus war lyric, which says to you:
Fold that banner, for It's weary,
Round its staff tbs floating dreary;
Furl 1t, fold lit is best,
For there's not man to wave 1t,
And there's not a sword to save 1t,
And there's not one left to lave it
In the blood that heroes gave it;
Touch it not, unfold 1t never,
Let II drOOn there fur1pd fnravor
For its peoples hopes are dead"
That star of hope was for a long
time after the war obscured from
view, from the desolate condition of
heart-brokcn homes, from whose fire
side son, a father, husband, were
missing, but to-day 1t spreads its eff
fulgent rays Of comfort over q proud,
energetic, successful and happy peo-
pie.
Let us draw aside the curtain
from some of the beautiful pictures
which hang high ON memory's walls.
The chiefest picture in our group of
treasures is the picture Of that spot
less, that immortal Virginian, the
hero of Appomattox, the ideal of
every Southern heart. The very
sound OF the name of
Robert Edward Lee
fills every true Southern heart with a
charm. like unto the gentle murmur
OF "Silvery fountain stealing forth
midst bed of roses" We can see
that gallant chieftain and his heroic
followers on that eventful morning
OF the 9th Of April, at Appomattox
G. H., as they stand ready to face the
unequal foe. All! some of those gal
liant soldiers had taken part in
Pickett's magnificent charge at Get
tysburg-by their valor they had
made the battlefield of Manassas i'm
mortal. Again. at Chickamauga,
where those granite shafts now point
skyward in loving memory of both
the gray and the blue, these war
SCARED veterans had, on many a
bloody field, felt the flush Of VIC
tory. But now the end was very
near, and 1t did not take prophetic
eve to see that Lees illustrious army
was soon only to be a matter of his
tory. Less than twenty-seven thou
sand, all told, ragged and hungry
having passed through n winter Of
extreme privatiOn and suffering
and knowing that the loved ones at
home. through Federal invasions had
become wanders upon the face Of the
earth-still the tattered gray uni
forms, upon which the sun shone that
April morning, covered as noble, as
brave, as unfiinching soldiers as ever
breathed. Lees immortal surrender
was made, and 1t was left for that
day to disclose to view the ragged
Southern soldier, with head bowed in
the presence OF his God, to whom
alone he could look In that trying
hour for solace and comfort; for,
though he had fought brave fight
and had done his best, call was lost
save honor"
Another picture well defined upon
the walls Of memory Is the heroic