The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1914-07-22

= against which there is no armor. Hun
. ger and hardship, sickness and death
did the relentless work. A mere ski-
mish line numbering about 10000 men
with rifles in their hands capitulating
! to more than 100000 finely equipped
! soldiers.
| If our footsteps are slower to-day
than they were when they kept time to
the drum beat of battle: if our spirits
are less lively Ian they were when
!. Confederate cheers rang out in the
. memorable charge, there is no
any change in the sentiment Of
the soul, for our brasts con-
tinue to glow with realty to, with
fondness for the principles interviewer
with our flags and ingrained in our
nature.
Today we revive in memory scenes
of distant and dearly remembered
days, and we refresh in recollection
events which had become as dim as
dreams: scenes that sparkle as stars
before the mental vision, that reveal
to US the glories that were once ours;
the triumphs and trophies Of Shiloh
and Of Fredericksburg, Of Secession
vile, Of Charlottesville and of Chick
amauga, events which touchingly tell
of patriotism the 1oftiest, of fidelity
the firmest, and Of fortitude the most
sublime; ennobling qualities of the de-
tenders of the South were the soul
and the symbol. The words syllable
are expressed in the manly presence
of Confederate soldiers, and in the
hearing of other estimable citizens,
who reverence the hallowed cause we
today fittingly commemorate; cause
enriched by the courage, and conse-
Grated by the rich, red life tide which
flowed from the comrades whom we
mis-, md mourn; cause ennobled by
the moral heroism and patient suffer
ing of the women Of the war; a cause
enshrined in our hearts and embalmed
in our affections, and as dear to Us
today as it was in the noon time OF
Confederate success.
It makes the blood boil with right
eous indignation to read that man
who worthily wore the gray, and held
high rank in the Confederate army,
said that it was fortunate that we fail
ed ia our struggle for rights guaran-
teed by the Constitution; the priced
Magma Charta Of American liberty,
framed by American Statesmen and
established by the hardy and intrepid
followers of that illustrious Southern
er, George Washington. AS an anti
dote for that ulcalled for statement,
let US turn to The soul nurtured words
of the Poet Priest Of the South, Father
RYAN, "The Surrender Of the sword is
no argument against the cause which
drew it from the scabbard. Battle
fields may be the burial places OF
men, never of rights. Above the smoke
and. storm of battle, unaffected by VIC
tory or defeat, calm and immoVab!e
Justice sits on her eternal throne, and
in her eyes is right and right forever;
wrong is eternally wrong, and tramp
led rights is grander than triumphant
wrong. The army and the navy OF
the Confederacy were but the mortal
flesh of an immortal cause
To have asserted that it was better
I for the South that she did not sue
ceed was a tacit acknowledgement that
we were actuated by ambition, that
our Statesmen should not have adVo-
catel resistance to the encroachment
OF Southern rights, but tamely to have
submitted to every indignity, which
men who "camped outside of the Con-
stitutien, wished to infiict upon US.
The wisest and worthiest OF our
leaders believed that the only remedy
was in revolution. They wished peace
ably to withdraw from the Union, oas-
ing their right to do so on the declar-
alton Of independence, in which was
embodied that, 1.-The united colonies
are and of right ought to be free and
independent States"
Anterior to the war for Soutnern
liberty the right of State to with
draw from the Union had been gener.
ally conceded. The power to coerce q
sovereign State was never delegated
to the Federal Government. TO re-
,oice. at the defeat of the cause OF
which Jefferson Davis and Robert Il.
Lee we're the most illustrious OF eH-
emplars. and Of which, comrades, you
were among the most reliable and res
o,ute of its defenders, would DC re-
Aectico on the character OF our great
leader :, and an admission that the
rank and file Of our army were tile
dupes of designing and dangerous
men.
I could cite authorities to prove that
the right of State to leave the Union
MAS claimed by prominent statesmen
in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and IN
New York, but our legal and learner
,,,,ne friend who has come to us from
the Pearl Of the Piedmont, is to follo"
me- and he will no doubt, intellisentiy
and impressively dwell on the question
Of State rights. Love feasts have oeeo
held at which honeyed and highly col
ored words were interchanged' ana III
which the Blue and the Gray" clasp
ed hands ard vowed eternal frleno-