The Hattiesburg news. (Hattiesburg, Miss.) 1908-1917, 1910-04-25
ent Their ~ = ses were as follows:
~. Ija1I's Address.

~. HSlPs Address.
81 can t1InH ~ nothing more appro-
pirate for = 6ccasion like this than
the old sonesswhich have just been
sung. I eEe card them many a
time aroun1 df mp fires where we
held our prsx6r lettings, and some
times at might, vh1n Me distant sound
of the cannd }6Id - in advance o.
the coming, BATH "a the morrow.
People who wei6 ~ a the army have
but a very inn lea OF the re-
ligious life of The 3ql1lsr during the
war. Our religicn ~ have had as
much fuss, but e IA 1pt have as
much feathers as noX Il was the
genuine article. h6Vevet- IL have
heard some of the most slncere shout
ing there have ever heQfq snywhere.
well remember an ocSa4ion on
which little dutchmaa got soshappy
at a prayer meeting one night until
he had to tell us about it. He said
the Lord is wild us in de camp, He is
wd us on de march, He is wild us on
de battle field, He is wild us every
where
"Forty-nine years ago this April the
young men Of this country were 60
ing to the nearest towns and cities to
enlist in one of the most terrific wars
of modern times. 1t was not a war
for slavery as a cause. Slavery was
an issue only. The principle involved,
as seen by the southern soldier, was
that of civil liberty. The right Of a
sovereign state to shape and guard
it's own destiny. The courage and for
titude with which he maintained his
! convictions have never been excelled
in any age or country. Only one
class of people is entitled to pre-emi-
nence when a comparison is made.
| That class was made up of the wo-
manhood of the south from 81 to 65.
They did not have the entertainment
of the jolly campfire or the excite
ment of the battlefield to cheer or to
inspire them during the long four
years of suffering and sorrow, God
only knows what they endured. They
| ought to have monument built to
their memory at every court house
| in the South.
Sometimes / see the mention of a
new South when it seems to me that
the object is to disparage the condi-
lions of what they call the old.
| don't like this. Our fathers, one
hundred years ago, found this coun-
try a wilderness and in fifty years
they had transformed it into the
wealthiest agricultural country on
earth. Ordinary men could never
have done anything of the kind.
| Comrades, most of those who suf-
fered with us have crossed the river.
Many of them persisted on far-off
battlefields. can see them now as
have seen them there. Their faces
upturned toward the undiscovered
sky while the ground around their
lifeless bodies was slippery with their
blood. A great many others died in
northern prisons. With not friend
or relative to wipe from their fevered
brows the cold sweat of death Their
bodies were dumped into shallow
graves where they are not moulder
ing into dust beneath the northern
sky. Shall we ever forget them? May
God forget me If l do. A few years
more and not one of us will be left tc
tell to others the story of our trials
then. Let us so live that when the
summons comes to join those who
have gone before us, we shall be
ready to pass over the river and rest
forever under the shade of the tree
of everlasting life"