The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-05-31
Grafton by Alabama Con-
gressman Features Memo
rial Day Celebration
VETERANS OF TWO
WARS IN PARADE
Eloquent Southerner Stirs Audiepce
by Patriotic Address-Numerous
Organizations Take p IN
in the ..,oAo,. fs,ssssa1'
soes.Saoo


GetlNsDurg, N oc.-Ten thousand \
pie gathered at Gettysburg today
the annual Memorial Day observanA
triotic organizations with veterans of the
civil and Spanish-American wars and the
Third battalion, Fifth United States reg
ular infantry preceded ceremonies in tn,
Soldiers National cemetery. The exer.
cises at the rostrum included the reading
of Lincolns Gettysburg address and this
oration by Congressman j. T. Heflin Of
Alabama
Standing on historic Gettysburg battle
field and bringing "a message of re
united country Representative Thoma.
Hefin of Alabama today paid eloauen
tribute to the heroism of the men who
wore the blue and the gray. His was the
first address ever delivered by south
erner at Gettysburg Memorial daN K
ercises.
Mr.. Hefiin spoke as follows:
MY Countrymen-It was an import.
ant day when our fathers for con-
science sake determined to leave tn,
mother country. 1t was kindly \ hi
that led them from the persecution q,
tyranny of the old world into the pleas
ing possibilities of the new Their dog.
ged determination 10 better their con.
dition; their love of religious liberty
and their Willingness 10 do. and dare
for the right was splendid materia
With which to build a republic. They
seemed to hear the voice of one cry
ing in this wilderness of the west say
ing. this is the land and here the OPP
portunity for building a genuine re-
public-prepare We the way" The
hardships and suffering that they en-
dured; their heroic deeds and daring
exploits testify how we'll and how
faithfully they prepared the way. Ween
we look back over the path that
liberty has come We do not see hei
winding through labyrinthian shades
of ease and LUXURY, but we behold her
coming up through human sacrifice
and heroic uffering=through death to
life. King rule died in the 1s colonies
and this republic of the west was
born. The first sound that fell upor
its infant ears was that of the soldiers
tread; the roar of the musketry, and the
thunders of artillery. Our colonial
fathers from north and south and easi
ard west fought together when tises
brought the republic into being They
defended it together in the war OF
1912; they triumphed together under
General Taylor when they carried tn,
stars and stripes into the heritage oi
the Montezumas.
Another Great Battle
But my friends there was another
great battle to be fought before the
unmistakable status of the union was
finally fixed 1t was the conflict o1
internal ideas and forces=the final ane
crucial test of the republics strength
and durability. The combat took place
on the field of battle in the war be-
tween the states. The right of the state
to secede and the right of the unior
to prevent 1t; the status of rights and
relationship between state and fedora
government had to be settled once ano
for all time. This question could not bt
determined in the councils of peace; Il
had to be settled by the arbitrament OF
the sword. DR.. Ellis. northern man IL
his history of our country, says truly
that the question of secession was
never authoritatively settled until tbs
war settled It,
Hopes precious pearl in sorrows cup
Unmelted at the bottom lay,
To shine again when all drunk up
And the bitterness should pass away"
SO the republic once abounding with
conflicting opinions as to rights and DOW.
ers belonging to state and federal gov.
ernment is today the harmonious house
hold of sovereign states-the home of q
brave and happy people. Here we bow
with solemn reverence in honor of oul
nations dead here we pay to their bless
ed memory the tribute of our united love
Heroism never had truer representative.
than those who made this battlefield i'm
mortal. Here the soldier in blue and tn,
soldier in gray read in each others eve.
courage born of convictions-devotion t.
principle-and willingness to do and t,
die for what they believed to be right
Here the soldier In gray met a foemar
worthy of his steel and here the soldiel
In blue met as brave a warrior as eve,
shouldered gun or drew battle blade
Here union and confederate soldiers b,
their daring sacrifices and heroism chal
lenged the admiration of the world Her,
northern valor drew in battle line tn,
bravest of her brave-the noblest speci
mems of her patriotic manhood, and her,
southern chivalry marshaled the fiowe
of her army-the noblest types Of hel
splendid citizenship.
Checked the March
tere the brave union soldier checkef
the march of the hitherto Irresistible con
federate soldier; here the tide of the wa
was turned. and here many contend tn,
decisive battle was fought Here Tough
and fell the heroic representatives or ~,
two bravest armies that ever crossed tn,
fields of carnage or battled for what the,
believed to be right. Here both armie
fought for the right as God gave tben
power to see it. Here in the red glare q
destructive battle fire. two mighty les
sons were taught, one that the unio,
should be preserved. and the other tha
the union should be ever mindful an,
considerate Of the rights of the states
Here the union soldied died that the unio,
might live, and here the confederate sol
dier In his death put stress and em
phasis on constitutional powers and limi
tations that will live while the republi
lasts and human liberty endures. So M,
friends the soldiers of the two armie
who baptized this soil with their bloc,
did not. die in vain. Here, with the,
blood they started the work Of cementin,
the bonds of an everlasting union. for
seems that the fates decreed after mi
battle that the bonds thus cemented wit,
the mingled blood Of brothers north an,
south should never be torn asunder. FIT,
years have come and gone since Gettvs
burg received her baptism of blood. Her
death tv1od foorF,,l x1lt &.-----,, =