Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1915-06-04
GOVERNOR STUART
ADDRESSES VETS.
Makes Speech of Welcome TO
the Thousands Assembled i'm
Reunion in Richmond, Once
Capitol of COnfederacy.

aCy III reunion mere today trudged
through torrents Of rain to cheer 20
the echo the hopes expressed by their
leaders that peace in America NAV
not he disturbed by the war IN Eu
rope. Gri2zled wcarcrs of The pray.
enthuScd IN the twcnty-hfth annual
reunion of the United Confederate
Veterans reiterated their LOYALTY To
the union, shouted themselves hoarsc
IN pledging support to the President or
the United States in any crisis, and
bowed assent to prayers that those
who guide the dcstinics of the Repub
lie might be blessed with wisdom to
deal with pending international ar
fairs.
More than five thoustand of the
sturdy followers of Lee are here. and
ut the opening session of their re
union shared their plaudits alike for
the rollicking air of "Dixic" and mar
tial strains of "'rhe Star Spanrlcd
Banner" while the Star and Bars
and the Stars and Stripes nared from
the housctops of the old Capitol of
the Confedcracy.
1t was day of tribute to their
own departed heroes and one of fer
vent hope that their sons may never
have to experience the baptism of
fire that was theirs. This sentiment
uppermost in. the addresses of the day.
brought the veterans to their feet re-
pcatcdly at convention hall.
Address of the Governor.
The Southern hosts were welcomed
TO Richmond by Governor IL. G..
Stuart, Mayor Ainslie and Judge ID.
&. Tyler, who spoke in behalf of the
veterans of Virginia.
Governor Stuart said:
"fifty years ago the sun of the
Confederate States of America had
just gone down in the clouds of dark
ness The capital city PROSTATE, a
mass of blackcned walls and smoul-
dcring ruins. the men and women who
had borne with heroic fortitude four
years of siege and suffering, with the
last shots of the Cinfedcracy yet ring
ing IN their ears, were laying i'm the
ashes of buried hopes the foundation
OF the noblcr and statclicr city i'm
which we are now assembled. The
smoke of conflict scarce lifted. the
blood of heroes not yet dry on the
battlefield, the exhausted survivors of
hundred victories turning their
backs for the first time to the foe.
were vending their way footsorc and
as the first recorded expression of the
ntions will on the issues which had
torn us asunder.
A Hauriv W.,l,nn,n
But ! am not here to revive the
unhappy differences of the past, but
to welcome the survivors of those
sombre days and right royalty do we
welcome you to our ancient Common
wealth.
TO the Daughters of the Confcd
eracy, the memorial association, spon
sors and maids of honor. extend a
cordial greeting. Your hands have
built the monuments to our dead and
have ministered to the living, and you
have preserved inviolate the truth
of history. The gallant knight prizes
the rewards of victory chiefly that
ne may lay them at his lady's feet.
Therefore, to you belong the trophies
of both peace and war. We glory i'm
the traditions of Southern woman.
hood and in your grace and beauty
find the assurance that you have
maintained its standards and ideals.
Welcome as the flowers of springtime,
sweeter than its most fragrant bios
SONS, are the matrons and maidens
assembled to honor the men who wore
the gray. Sons of Veterans, may YOU
prove worthy Of your sires and of the
smiles of these fair Daughters.
Veterans, all of you are partakers
in the glory of the armies of the
Confedereacy. Your swords and bay
onets made the shining ladder by
which our leaders rose to fame. your
fortitude was the bulwark upon which
rested their triumph, your loyalty
their solace in defeat, whether you
hail from the Lone Star State where
Virginia blood redeemed the Alamo. or
from the western empire which Jeff
erson added to our country, from the
blue grass where Daniel Boone defied
the Indians, the Atlantic Seaboard, the
Appalachian highlands or the shores
of the Pacific. the Old Dominion re-
joices that you meet today within her
borders.
"As pilgrims go to Mecca, so pa
triots come to Mount Vernon to re-
we're the name of Washington, or to
Monticello to venerate the author of
the Declaration of independence, or
gather on yonder hill where Patrick
Henry sounded the war cry of the
Revolution, or kneel at our holiest
shrine at Lexington. Virginia guards
the dust of the immortal dead, but you
are joint heirs with us in our price
less inheritance, and we claim an
equal share in the renown of your
great sons, your statesmen and war
riors, who have shed lustre upon ev-
cry page of American history.
"You are welcome as no other men
upon the globe could be welcome, forl
unn oru in Rinbponal e.. ...L-