Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1914-05-12
PATRIOTISM OF The SOUTH
Splendid Memorial Address by Rev.
Henry Stokes.
MEN and WOMEN DIDTHEIR FULLDUTY

SoIdiers-the Whole Southern Peo-
pie Proved by Their Heroic cour.
age and Sacrifice their Loyalty to
Their Conviction Of Rights.
Following is the full text Of the ad :
dress delivered by Rev. Henry Stokes,
pastor Of Trinity Methodist Episcopal
church. at the Memorial exercises in
the Presbyterian church Of Yorklast
Sunday afternoon:
Mr.. Chairman, Members of the Win
ME Davis Chapter Of the United
Daughters Of the Confederacy Ladies'
and Gentlemen:
Permit me to express my apprecia-
tion Of the honor conferred upon me by
your kind invitation to address you on
this occasion. shall always regard 1t
as one Of the greatest privileges Of my
life.
A great soldier Of his country and
soldier Of the Cross has said: Next
to God is country, and next to religion
is patriotism"
The Bible has illustrious examples Of
patriotism. When the Jews were in
exile they gave expression to the love
Of their country in these beautiful
words: by the rivers of Babylon
there we sat down, yea, we wept, when
we remembered Zion. II / forget thee,
o Jerusalem, let my right hand forget
her cunning. II do not remember
thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof
Of my mouth; II prefer not Jerusalem
above my chief JOY" The Master him.
self, while world wide in His sympa-
thy and sacrifice, seemed to love with
an indescribable passion the chief city
of his own people. Looking upon 1t He
said: 20 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which
killest the prophets and stonest them
that are sent unto thee; how often
would have gathered thy children to-
gether, as q hen doth gather her brood
under her wings, and ye would not"
So l feel no hesitancy on the Lords
day to speak Of the faithful southern
soldier and the southern citizen who
whether in war or peace deserves the
well-done of his fellowmen.
1t Is not the purpose Of these memo
rial services to keep up hostilities; nor
to expose the battle-scars Of our re-
united country; nor merely to honor
our heroic dead and pay a tribute to
the noble few Of the thin gray line"
still with US, but In meeting today we
realize we owe duty to the past,
present and the future. We look back
ward with due Difference to our noble
dead and their surviving comrades
and forward to the welfare Of the
present and future generations. For II
the sons are to prove themselves wor-
thy of such sires, we must not allow
their daring deeds and noble sacrifices
to fade from the memory Of mankind.
I do not propose now to enter upon
a line of argument to prove that our
fathers were within their moral and
legal rights in the position they took,
but suffice to say that they were, Is
the verdict Of many Of the most bril-
liant constitutional lawyers Of our
common country.
The spirit of the southern soldier
was manifested in the magnanimity OF
his character. When the generals
spoke of their trials and triumphs they
seemed to give all the glory to the
priyates, and I have never heard q
veteran Of the ranks that did not glor-
ify Lee and Jackson, rather than him.
SELF
So what we say Of these great COM
manders is equally deserved by the
humblest private who was faithful to
his trust, for whether he wore the re-
gala of an officer or the plain Confed-
crate gray, each soldier made a COM
plete sacrifice and we, their sons and
daughters, place today afresh the seal
of our approval upon their offering.
Taking then General Thomas j..
Jackson -"Stonewall"- and General
Robert E. Lee as types Of the southern
soldier, let us notice the motive and
the spirit of the men who wore the
gray. The motive that actuated Lee
and Jackson and the boys that follow
ed them was that Of q high sense OF
duty. Neither of these great command
ers wanted to disrupt the Union:
neither advocated Secession. But both
were strong advocates OF States
Rights and believed that every citizen
owed a duty to his state that took pre-
cedence over any allegiance he owed
to the Union. The ruling principle In
the life Of each Of these patriots had
been from boyhood sacred Difference
to a sense Of moral right and personal
duty. When Jackson was a cadet at
West Point, he drew up certain rules
by which to govern his conduct. One
of these was Through life let your
principal object be the discharge OF
duty" When the civil war was pend
ing this maxim Of early manhood help
ed him t, decide under which flag he
would fight.
I'm to the formation Of the Confed-
eracy, Feb. 9, 1861, Major Jackson.
then q teacher in the Virginia Military
academy, was strongly for the Union.
He never was Secessionist and
maintained that it was better for the
south to fight for her rights in the
Union than outside Of it." Before Vir-
ginia seeded, the legislature OF that
state suggested Peace Congress- In
Washington. Twenty-three states sent
delegates. But their efforts were fu-
tile.
When Lincoln called for seventy-five
thousand volunteers to invade the
south, and Virginia followed her sister
southern states in Secession, that set
tied the question for Jackson. He was
ready then to shoulder arms in the
spirit Of his advice to the cadets some
months before, when he said: Young
gentlemen, draw the sword as the last
resort, but when you draw it, throw
the scabbard away"
But Jackson was pre- e-eminently
Christian soldier. No man ever sought
daily divine guidance or believed more
in the Providence Of God
than "Stonewalr Jackson. Beneath the
soldiers armor, there was a true and
tender heart. His strict discipline OF