The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1910-01-27

more than half of its existence, who
won its liberty from England, built its
first temples, wrote its declaration,
framed its construction, and carved fol
the republic the twin pillars of liberty
and law.
'These we're no saplings chance blown
by the fountain,
Blooming in Beltane in winter to
| fade"-
But they were trees of giant stature,
observed from afar, firm-rooted in the
earth, growing in the sunlight and
surrounded by the free air of heaven.
Warns His People Against Agitation
| would call upon the south TO look
to these for guidance, to turn from ag-
itators who SOW the dragons teeth of
discord and confusion-from false re-
formers who feed upon predjudices and
thrive upon hate-from men who tear
down and never build, and relearn the
| lessons of tolerance and liberty.
| would have her remember those
who exalted her to the heights of glory
with their learning and fidelity, and
forget these who would sink her with
their ignorance and faithlessness.
would enter plea for true conser-
vatism which leaves men free and
makes men great.
But this would not be for the south
alone, but everywhere all over the land
wherever the torch of prescription has
been raised.
Our people are beginning to take
their bearings, they have already re-
sisted, they will continue to resist,
they will check, they will overpower
and destroy every vestige of that hate
full spirit, SO foreign to their natures,
so inimical to their progress, so oppos-
ed to their history and traditions.
They cannot, they will not, permit
their leadership to go into the hands of
men who, under the guise of moral re-
form, too often wear the mask which
designers use to hide their features and
cloak their purposes, but they intend
and will never rest content until they
bring the land they love back to its
ancient moorings, and make the south
what their fathers made it, first in the
science of government, and first in the
history of an lndissoluble union.
Since Appamattox the men of south
have been as loyal to the Union as the
men of New York or New England.
This was true, though that loyalty
was put to the severest test at time
when northern fanaticism would have
denied the opportunity to be loyal,
when it seemed delight to sneer at
the pretensions of the south, to insult |
her pride, and to threaten the very |
blood of her race, as her ship sailed |
amid the rocks and shoals of dark and |
seas.
There is not-now an atom of bitter
ness left, there is not u single regret at
the issue of war, not a single remorse
for the position she assumed or the
heroic if losing fight she made.
But has it all ended in the north?
Let me tell of n scene witnessed in
Memphis, which have related to some
of our people in other parts of Tennes-
see who were not present, as carrying
3 lesson OF inspiration to us all.
The occasion was confederate reun-
ion, and great concourse had assem-
blcd TO pay their tribute of reverence
TO the remnants who wore the gray in
The dark and bloody years, which were
Jour of undying glory to north and
south, as valor met valor from Manas-
vas to the Wilderness
On the reviewing stand stood son
If the great captain of the federal
'orces, whose indomitable will and
ron courage had done more to wreck
he fortunes of the confederacy than
my other single force. The stars and
stripes were there bravely waving;
here were other flags, too, all tattered
md torn, and those bore the stars and
,ars, old and holy relics of cause that
vas lost.
In Eloquent Tribute to Thin Gray Line"
The thin, gray line that will one day
Ne reunited in another and happier
and, where wars, and rumors of wars,
ire never heard, passed in line Of march,
nd each naan saluted the central fSg-