Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1915-02-04
MAI. ]. C. HElIPHILL'S
ADDRESS
At Lee-Jackson Celebration at
Charles Town, January 10.

i
! Of Virginia the two greatest soldier.
| in the last unavailing struggle for con-
stitutional government were, born
Robert Edward Lee and Thomas
| Jonathan Jackson; the former in
Westmofeland county on January 10,
| 1807--1O8 years. ago, and the latter
in Harrison county on. January IL, 1874
t--91 years ago lacking two days. it
is well on this day sacred to the mem
o-y of the Great Commander that VT:
| should call the name of his great
Lieutenant, and, that we may appraise
| them at something of their worth,
quote briefly from the estimates Of
those who knew them and fought with
them
81 have met many of the great men
of my time" said Wolseley, but Lee
alone impressed me with the feelint
that was in the presence of a man
who was cast in a grander mould, anc
made of different and finer material
than all other men. He is stamped
upon my memory as a being far apAr,
and superior to all others in ever
way.
"a country which has given bntl;
to men like him and those who fol-.
lowed him may proudly look the chiv.
al y of Eurore in the face" said tn,
London Standard on his DEATH" TO-
the fatherland of Sidney and Bayard
never produced anoblet soldier, gen
tleman and Christian than Robert Ed
ward Lee"
In his great Grafton at the dedica
ton of the monument to General Lee
n Richmond nearly quarter OF
century ago, Archer Anderson sac
that in this lofty man eve see the per
feet union of Christian virtue and ole
Roman manhood. His goodness make.
us love his greatness, and the fascina-
ton which this matchless combination
exerts is itself symptom and source
in us of moral health. AS long as our
people t-uly love and venerate him
there will remain in them Drincipa-
of good. For all the stupendoue.
thirty years have lifted these State.
of the earth, are less subject lo-
pride than this one heroic man--this
human product of our country and
its institutions"
Among the worlds great--onc
more American IMMORTAL T. exclaim
ed Charles Francis Adams of the Fed.
eral line in his matchless tribute to
Lee; and so it is that although he be
longs especially to us and to our chill
dren forever. So long as virtue is,
honored or courage admired or char
acter exalted or achievement crowned
whether t be with the laurel or tn
cypress, this man will outlive the files
OF tine. OF Stonewall jackson. Gen
eral Dick Taylor says in his famo,'.
book Destruction and Reconstruc-
to-" "Fo tunate in his death, he tel!
in the summit of zlo-y, before ths
sun OF the Confederacy had st, e-e
defeat and suffering and sclfishncss
could turn their fangs unon him; for
eign nations SHARED the grief. ever
Federals praisee>him. With Wolf dnf
Nelson and Havefeck, he took hi.
place in the hearts of English ak
ing people"
"The hero" says Lieutenant-Co
mel C. F. R. Henderson of the British
Army who lies buried at lexington
in the Valley of Virginia. belonps to
a race that is not confined to single
continent, and to those who speak
the Same tongue, and in whose veins
the same blood flows, his words come
| home like an echo of all that is noblest
in their history; What is life without
honor Degration is worse thar
death. We MUST think OF the living
and of those who are to come after
us, and see that by Gods blessing
we transmit to them the freedom we
ourselves inherited
Of Lee and his associates in com
mand and of the men who made the
Confederate armies immortal may
we'll be said. as Teackle Wallis sale
of the Great Commander; "A1cn do
not gather grapes of thorns, nor figs
of thistles I"
This is the memorial Day. What
does itmean? This, that it may be a
sign among you when your children
ask their fathers in time to come, saw
ing; What mean We by these stones.
they shall be answered thus; These
stones shall be a.memoriaI to the chill
dren of Isreal forever, ut is a holy
thing to remember the dead who died
for us, to extol their fame, to recite
the glory of their deeds, to lay
wreaths upon their graves; but We
shall have misinterpretated the true
meaning of this occasion if we fail to
see through our tears the righteous
ness of the cause for which they
fought and died else these services
are vain and empty mockery. This
is our memorial but memorial of
what? Surely not of Lee and Jack
son and the men who fought and fail
ed with them alone, but memorial also
and chiefly of the holy cause Tor.
which they made the supreme sacri-
flee. If this be not the central idea
of these services we add to our humil-
ity the base of sin of hypocrisy the
NVvrH oeS - -
utterly unworthy of their historic
past and richly deserving the con-
tempt not only of their ancient foes
but of the world as well.
Every stone at Arlington and in
the National cemeteries throughout
the land is monument to the vaior
Of the soldiers who followed Lee and
Jackson and Stuart and Hampton and
Forrest and Mosby who drew their
SWORDS in defence of the Constitu
ton and the rights of the States.
Every dollar paid in pensions to the
men on the other side is their witness
also that they did their duty as they
saw it. Every repressive act of leg
islation, every State that was Cypress
ed by alien rule, every theft and out
Tage committed by invading enemies,
every speech of bomb proof states
man OF political thug in fifty years of
written and unwTitten history, every
Idepartnre from the Constitution OF
the Fathersall these establish the
Justice of the cause for which the
\ South commended half century ago.
We need not worry about the final
4 verdict Of impartial history, but We
should remember on an occasion like
this when we honor Lee and Jackson
and the men who fought with them
| the cause for which they died and
how in honoring them we ennoblc the
principals for which they gave their
lives. There is disposition now
adays to discredit the past, to dispute
the counsels of wisdom and exper-
tience. to say that while the Declara-