The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-06-10

tCt nfinued from First Pase.e
makes freedom. and loyalty Is the
fruit cf love. Let US therefore, in
love he loyal--~loyal 10 the achieve
mAnts of the brave departed. loyal to
the memory OF the cause. loyal 10 the
efforts our fathers have made to rear
again the broken altar OF oar eiyili-
cation, loyal above all else To the
principles for which thousand can
non heiched ard ten thousand bayo-
nets glinted.
Let Us pause to see in what man
ner wa may show the loyalty that
fills our hearts o-day Our loyalty to
the achievements OF our fathers Is
loyalty to their history and loyalty
to the correct narration of that his
tory. You have not forgotten that
in those bitter years after the war
when the stubborn soil OF political
life yielded little fruit and the brazen
sky of reconstruction sent no rain of
mercy there was little time TO tell
the story OF Your deeds Grim de-
feat sealed proud lips: the very strug-
gle FOR existence sapped your every
energy Thus Il came about that for
a generation our enemies wrote our
history and wrote Ii with their pre-
iuAlN9&. save IN the 1efNtd pages or
Pollard or In the logical lines Of
Bledsoe and stephens, where could
you find the trae history OF the war
or the correct theory OF States rights
Exan to-day we have not written our
HISTORY, for. isalf a century after the
war, YOU cannot place In the hands
of your children a single history writ
ten In love and accurate in statement
The coming generation is growing up
without knowing amid what scenes
they live or what manner of heroes
blood flows In their veins. In the eyes
Of eternity the South's struggle needs
no Justification. but In the minds OF
your children that struggle needs veri-
fscation. We need history that deals
Justly, that nonceals no truth. that
CLOSES no lie; and our loyalty de-
mands that We write that history. In
worthy are Ma~ Of the heritage We
possess unless we give our children
the truth of the brave who died that
the. bright star of a free government
should never be eetipsed.
Must Keep Alive Memory Dear.
*No less imperative Is the demand
on our loyalty to Keep alive. in love.
the memory and traditions of the
cause. Many a time have | watched
the grixzled gray line limp by to pay
its last tribute TO departed worth;
have seen unfurled the bloody. tat
tered banner OF the stars; ] have
seen the marble sentineia standing
by thousands without the tents Of the
dead. and have asked myself IL all
this must perish. Must the day ever
come when so much heroism and SO
much sacrifice and SO much daring
shall pass from the earth. God for
bid. Thrice shame upon us ii We Vir-
Qtnfan% the n {sad'S hest
bravest. ever let the thirtieth of May
pass without covering the graves of
our sires with tears and with BIOS
SONS. May God take away from us
our manhood and our hope as a peo-
pie II the 9Th OF April ever finds us
unmindful or the Sd of July ever un-
prayerfui. Some of us. we sons of
veterans. may meet here when Big
Bethel's thunders shall be an hundred
years old. Let us pledge these war
riors to observe that day and to hon
or and love forever the land Of our
birth. Let us teach our children on
their mothers breasts to put God and
good citizenship first and after that,
loyalty to the memory Of our sires.
Loyalty to Second Struggle.
But We must also be loyal to that
second struggle of the war. For there
were two struggles: One ended when
a broken-hearted army erawied home
ss4 .s1s4 hsEAas
when those same men, as determined
AZ when they faced the Federal fire.
took up the fight for Industrial pro-
gress. the struggle to make q living
for their families a home tor their
children. / hesitate to say which OF
these two wars was more bitter--that
on tho field OF battle or that In the
marts of commerce The first we lost.