The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1910-05-18
ADDRESS OF
FRANK B. GARY. :.
OF Abbeville, S. 6.
DELIVERED ON MEMORIAL DAY AT
DUE WEST, S. G..
OF Abbeville, S. G.

the memorial dQQIeSS VII lHlS ONSaoiOH, ~ " Poei
cularly gratifying to me, not only because of the COM
pliment that is implied in that invitation, but because
it affords me the opportunity of paying my feeble
tribute to men whose untold suffering and whose de-
votion to duty appeal to me with peculiar force. The
occasion is one that should interest US all.
On the monument in front of our State Capitol,
erected to the memory of those who gave up their
lives in defense of our Southland, is an inscription
of which these words form a part "Ihls monument
perpetuates the memory x * x of those who in
the dark hours of Imprisonment and the hopelessness
of the hospital, in fhe short, sharp agony of the field
found support and consolation in the belief that at
home they would not be forgotten" Was ever cpl
tab more pathetic Was ever confidence better
founded
1t is in fulfillment of this we'll placed confidence
that we have assembled to-day and, as a testlmo-
NAL that the valor of these men has not been forgot
ten at home, loving hearts and willing hands will this
day bedeck their graves with emblems of affection.
On YOU Daughters of the Confederacy is the self
allotted task-a sacred duty-and a beautiful ministry
of seeing to it that the memory of those men is pre-
served in undiminished glory. ibis gathering is but
one Of the manv evidences that the self-imposed task
is well placed. We should all find mingled sadness
and pleasure in such occasions as this, not only be-
cause in the language of Jefferson Davis, sft is a
duty we owe to posterity to see that our children
shall know the virtues and rise worthy of their sires,'
but because it brings to mind in the most impressive
manner. that we have a land which though once in
ruins, and now dotted with graves, is yet full of
glorious history"
eyes. give me a land with a grave in each spot,
And names in the graves that shall not be forgot,
" -z =. ~ 1opI of tho urock and tho tppoh
There is grandeur in graves, there is glory in gloom,
For out of the gloom future brightness is born
As after the night comes the sunlight of morn
And the graves of the dead with the names over-grown
May yet form the foot steps of liberty's throne
And each single wreck in the war path OF might
Shall vet be a rock in the temple Of right"
Those men whom we this day seek to honor have
made history worthy to be commen1orated-history
repIete with deeds of heroism wrought in bitter strife
for home and country. To forget such history would
expose a shameless degeneracy and demonstrate to
the world our own unworthiness.
The great historian Macaulay has said that, GA peo-
ple which take no pride in the noble achievements of
remote ancestry will never achieve anything worthy
to be remembered by remote descendants" If we
would develope heroes now, then we must remind
our children of the heroes of the past. x X 4 We
are told that s'the ancien Grecian race track was lined
with monuments to the winners OF the races OF other
DAYS. and as the runner hurled himself along the
course, he felt the inspiration OF those marble figures
beside him., and knew that if he too won, his statute
would stand among those others in the immortal
rows. Naught can so inspire a youth as the life
story of his country's heroic men. We cannot better
discharge the sacred duty we owe the dead than by
re%counting their heroic deeds and impressing the lrv-
ing that their sires were no traitors-that they were
true to every ust-tha they kept the faith.
Not that we would swear our young Hannibals to
eternal hatred of the North-not that we would re-
open wounds now happily healed, nor repel a single
advance looking to a complete reconciliation between
the sections. Rather would we pour healing oil into
our Country's wounds, and to our fellow countrymen
of every section, say "We be brethren -
But the glorious record of Our fathers is in danger
of being so perverted that our own children will be
made to believe that their fathers were traitors to
their Country that John c. Calhoun was the Catalina
of the Senate and Jefferson Davis the prototype of
all that is bad.
AS long as partisan historians misrepresent us,
and as long as our school authorities persist in the
use of text books made by pandering authors, that
belittle us, great is the need of such object lessons
as we witness on this memorial day. Was Jefferson
Davis a traitor? Was he a coward who sought to
make his escape in the disguise of female attire?
Partisan historians have said it, others have re-
echoed it. Your indignant answer l am sure is, no!
A thousand times no! But how is this calumny to
,