The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-06-11

death is claiming the bravest and best.
 or whether we see him in Anglo-Saxor
 caucuses of a defeated people devising means in their extremity to preserve the integrity of a race who glory in the blood
 that coursed thelr veins and were proud of the mighty deeds of their ancestry, whether sitting in the legislative halls
 of his state making laws for the govern
 ment of people or directing the youth of the land in her classic halls to higher and nobler living, whether standing in the public gathering invoking the blessing of God upon the people and country or kneeling around the family altar asking the direction of Providence for himself and his own loved ones, his impress has been left, and his country has been I blessed and the world bettered by his , having lived.'
 | Dr. James A. Duncan, pastor of the l First Methodist church, Birmingham, | made the memorial talk He dwelt upon | the tremendous importance of the great struggle, and he did not believe that his- | tory will ever furnish so many great and
 noble warriors. He attributed the ever | increasing honor given to the veterans to | the fact that they believe with all their heart and soul that Jesus Christ is the l Savior of men, and that such men as Jackson were never afraid to pray with | and for thelr men. This quality he es- pecially described as exemplified in Robert E.. Lee, the man who was more, but never less than q man, who never knew a pri- vate so obscure but that he could stoop down and greet him in Gods name, who could lay down his arms in defeat and
 yet men would call him a conquror. Dr. Duncan paid great tribute to the | sainted Morgan and the sainted Pettus | and declared that there was never any 1ino fnn fnf f11n f,aafa yhn | the gray.
 We do not sorrow as men who have | no hope. We have won many things | You have left us things to do and think of ! that never could have been. You have | lived for what's worth living for, and | they died for what's worth dying for, and after while we will all Join the great l God who blessed them and who blesses us today"
 | The annual address of Gen. Stephen b.
 Lee, which was prepared for delivery be-
 fore his death and which goes into the
 record of proceedings of the reunion, is as l follows:
 | Gen. Lees Address.
 ''It is now IA years since the Confed-
 crate veterans enjoyed the hospitality
 of this magic city. We remember grate- 1 fully the>courtesy of our former unsur- I | to believe that Birmingham can surpass | itself. Then there was with us the in 1 comparable Gordon, soldier, statesman l and orator. who along with the valorous l Longstreet and the gallant Wheeler were | Alabama's Paladins in the armies of the | Confederacy It was from Alabama that Yanceys voice, like a silver trumpet, | called the south to arms, with an elo- | Quence more potent than Clan-Alpines' | fiery cross. Alabama was the cradle of the | Confederacy Here was installed the pro- visional government of the new nation.
 and here her illustrious chief took the oath 1 of office which no man but himself
 should ever take And from Alabama | came the great admiral, who foated the stars and bars upon every sea- and single 1 handed swept a nations commerce from | the waves.
 "Snce the war have heard many ad-
 dresses to the Confederate veterans Our | orators have been rich in arguments to demonstrate the correctness of states ! rights views and the soundness of the l interpretation of the constitution held by | southern statesmen. They have displayed | the firm historic basis of our political
 faith. They have spoken in comforting words of unexpected beneficent results of the war, of the preservation of .he 1 rights of the states in the union, of the | discipline of diversity which prepared us | to meet the terrible race problem with un- fiinching courage, indefatigable patience and united strength. They have taught us that the Lost Cause was not wholly l lost that the best fruits of the great | conflict came to the south, when the mas | ter was freed from the slave. and the old | icebergs of sectional hate were set adrft l in the warm gulf-stream of new na- | tional patriotism.
 To Vindicate Constitution. i Nevertheless it has not seemed the whole. truth to me that the Confederate i soldier went into battle to vindicate a l constitutional argument. He went to war
 because he loved his people; because his country was invaded; because his heart | was throbbing for his hearthstones. Here was the land which gave him birth. Here | was his childhood's home. Here were | the graves of his dead. Here was the i church spire where he had learned was | not all of life to live, or all of death to 1 die No hostile foot should ever tread l this consecrated ground except over his 1 dead body. It was the prospect of in | yasion that made the border states with l bleeding hearts try to cast their lot with 1 the Confectionery He who could have ex- 1 pected Lee to do battle against Vir- ginia. or Hampton to draw his sword l against South Carolina. has never learned ! the language of the human heart Noth- 1 ing but the most devoted love of country ! could ever have sustained the Confederate
 soldier in his unequal and terrible strug- gle
 ; Neither do I consider if necessary to l find reward for the Confederate soldier in unexpected good results of the great conflict. The reward of noble actions lies 1 in the capacity to do them. The Gen. 1 federate soldier who fought with unfiinch- | ing courage had the reward of being brave man. He who loved his country l, lad the reward of being true patriot. He 1 who faced tho cannon's mouth for rnpse | he loved dearcr thar If.. had the reward | of being a hero. He who W as faithful unto death had .he reward of a stainless | honor. What other course could.a south | erner have taken?
 Behind him were the great traditions i of his English race-thers were Hastings l and Cressy and Agincourt, there were ! Naseby, Blenheim and Quebec, there were | Kings Mountain and Valley Forge In | his veins flowed the blood of thousand years of chivalry. He could face the line
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