St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1910-04-02

aaoqeln the order Of IFS rranaenr d
21lthera hearts rests1aa ffnv eross
II 9Aghze That too Is alone / Ill the story
IS -. y ssALss NO mi deed ofdarfng won
haaSirs 9eaFer. ~ whispers OF patient
nn@sss9A unnumbSred hardshiBs. og
49, sn1Eer1ng Ia earnpa and battle field
7 done, OF hunger aeeenled rIadIv
roaLne g of Cause OF courage that
4YS1 Ilnchel, though the deco meant
na1s EsadaraEaGa1a1a
xassSS tat tiny cross Fame has
maisten N letters oE fire: aFidelity*.
II assE patience, and Patriotism Not
1850 Duf ~contSna0us bravery won
~ q man WIS It given, but 10
cross 0E honor.
been aslsed III these TAR Wonn-
8aose gentle hands haVe done q
$3.50 m rescue and nraserVe tie sacred
~ 0f he pasE.$o s0Ice 48g them
nlY % q can the ga IMPORT and1
~ sAsAnca oil thss onze Bm
" nlch thaF arata h0nor
Iq-QaTs 10 ~ So besk I may
A1s I~9nfeuerate cross ag honor
n9sasAf 70 me- and 10 my comrades of the
~ WaF Gays. IL is q little thing, and
u Vne great maFts of trade Ii would not
soun6Ior much, and vet to- him who
Wears ~ WorthiIy it has q world of
meaning What il III Il means that
MAne ana forty years ago there came
tnsO thls life q stern and stubborn duty
taat ne dared to face. that under the
carton call of newborn fag and with
seafZWet kiss Of mother, sister, wife or
al 0f them upon his brave young lips
ne lett the comforts of his home to snf-
LEE h~ardshIps, peril, and p~riYatiou, TO
IseL1he bitterness of cold and Weari-
ness 81 munger. TO tread the lonely shiy-
sTing path OF midnight picket with no
companion but the stars, to face the
thunder OF belchfng cannon and the
music OF Kissing minnies, and to meet,
n need be, q soldiers death with no
complaint upon his loyal lips.
10 means that during these four years,
IN infinite ~selfsdenial and supreme self
sacrifice, in loyal and sabine devotion
~ patriotic duty he reached Q higher
plane Of moral manhood than had ever
touched his life.
IL means that he, ff any mortal could
Dc, was worthy Of the glorious South
eru W~omanhooa who wrought with tire
less fingers ut their hearthstones or
M3nlstered with glad and willing hands
5n Wayside homes or tired with angel
step aud angel heart the fevered aisles
OF gh0stlY hospitals, MheEB pain and
death held cruel sway-the radiant
w~pmanhood whose patient heroism
amid the dread suspense that came be-
tween the battle and the published list
OF slain and wounded. amid the wearing
agonY Of o separation that seemed SO
andiess, amid the weary watching for
footsteps thai never came again, gIoFt-
fed the loneliness OF their battle snad-
owed homes.
ID means that he Wss part sfld parcel
of Matrimonial gray clad host whose
nncr0Wned Yaior won the homage OF the
world, and that through It's shifting
fortunes of victory and defeat liefought
beneath q flag whose crimson folds
were eve stained by cruelty or wrong.
It means companionship with glorious
John B. Gordon whose hero heart and
brave right arm made him the man OF
the 18th Of May, and a1sIloWship With
Nathan Bedford Fofestthe 4Wizzard OF
the Saddle whose unframed genius res
~volutIonixed the art Of q
1T means q brotherhood with Albert
Sidney Johnston, with Beauregard and
Hill and Stuart a LonEstrset, with
Walker and Taylor and Polk and Gle
buTne. with Hampton and Wheeler and
Mouton, with ali that radiant band
whose cleaning swords flashed always
and onlY in the forefront OF battle.
RI means d comradeship with that
strange sanity soldier who dazzled
with his genius the camps and cabinets
OF both continents and then went down
SF&kAA& p
WOrldn StoneWali jackson.
IT'D means 81 glorious kinship with the
nobIest knight OF all the generations,
kinshfp with him Within whose royal
soul there bIossomed the fairest flower
Of Southern grace and Southern chival-
ry-yess thank God, kiiship with the
courtesy and the courage, tbs virtue and
the valor. the goodness and the great
ness, the world crowned grandeur Of
Robert Edward Lee.
And meaning this, my comrades, / adj
jure you to cherish it In your heart OF
hearts Vi d priceless heritage, and when
the eternal bugler sounds the "taps'i
that end your waning years transmit
lit TO your children and your children's
children for all the years to come. For
well i feel assured that when posterity,
unhIinded by prejudice II passion. shall
to- all the claimants in the Pau
theon of Fame their just and proper
need as high In purest patriotism as
any Rebel that fell at Lexington or
stormed at valley FORGE a. high IN
lofty courage as any hero that rode with
Cordigan Mt BalaklaFa or marched with
Ney a6 Waterloo or died beneath the
shadow Of the Persian spears at old
Thermopvlae, will stand the Rebel
soldier of the South, clad In his tattered
beneath whose folds ID shrined the
and bars OF an Invisible republic
thai lives in history only az . memory