The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-04-16
THE BIRTH OF A NATION
By MIrTIE OWEN WpAvID


 his carriage he was literally wreathed
 in flowers by the ladies, and all the
 bands were playing Dixie" Most of
 the tired throng repaired to their homes
 to rest for the brilliant reception to
 the President that evening at Estelle
 hall.
 As soon as the darkness fell, the city was ablaze with light. EverA window on Dexter avenue was lighted with gas, or bright with candles. Estelle hall. at the corner of Dexter and Perry. was decorated with hun- dreds of flags and brilliantly illumin- ated. and the midnight hour closed upon a day made memorable in history. for this was the day of "a nations I birth.
 Just two weeks later. on Monday. March f. a new flag floated over the 1 Confederate capitol
 It was adopted by the provisional Congress of the Confederacy from de- signs submitted by individuals The one accepted was. with some changes the design of the Hon. Porcher Miles of | South Carolina. member of the Lower | House at Washington. It had been | made by the ladies of Montgomery The flag exhibited three horizontal bars of red and white, the upper and | lower bars red and the middle white | In the upper and inner corner, was a blue union, with circle of seven stars Again the people of Alabama flocked to Montgomery for the inauguration of the banner.
 l The crowds gathered once more on Dexter hill. and slowly the great new l flag was unfurled by a beautiful Vir- givian, Miss Lettia Tyler, the grand daughter of an exPresident As she pulled the cord, the flag was quickly run up the staff, and as it | z .-A11 ont up from thousands of throats. Cheer after cheer filled theeair Cam non bomed and,
 Ten thousand, wildly, madly Swore 1t should forever wave yOer their freedom or their grave"
 In the midst of the cheering, there arose one from the capitol porch, with gentle face and hair lying long on his shoulders. His presence hushed the crowd to instant silence. It was the poet-priest, Father Abram Joseph Ryan of Mobile. Raising his hand he prayed solemn blessing on the flag-a prayer for the cause and the south, and pro- nounced a benediction.
 An, who is not familiar with the his tory of that nations four years strug gle forf life and honor. Four dark and bitter years of sacrifice and want and devastation, together with the unequal struggle. Who. but those who heard can know the utter hopeessness of that de- spairing cry, Lee has surrendered"? From mountain top to mountain top, across the wasted valleys, east and west. 1t echoed and re-echoed. like the moan of a lost soul. It was the death cry of lost cause.
 The bonny flag which had ceased to rep resent nation was slowly lowered from it's staff, and its defenders were wan dering back from distant battlefelds. bewildered. crushed and broken, their weary eyes turned toward their wasted lands. to face they knew not what. The once beautiful and buoyant south lay in complete prostration. That she had the courage to rise agaln from the debris of her desolation was a miracle to the world at large.
 With splendid determination she did rise again to face the world and its work. But do not think that the new south will forget her lost cause, and her fallen sons, for
 South winds have long memories" But the memory of those vanished and vanuuished years of sectional prejudice is growing dinner before the increas- ing light of a broader patriotism and we should
 Weep not that the world changes; dii l if keep A stable. changeless course 'twere cause | to weep"
 Today from that flagstaff above the one-tine cradle of the Confederacy floats the Stars and Stripes of America, united people; while close by towers the magnificent monument to the fallen speo- ple-heroes of the lost cause of the south. And across the desert of her hopes the winds of the fleeting years blow gently | the sands of time. erasing and healing the scared and bitter passions, and veil | ing with softening touch the memories | of the days that were.