The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-06-04

the resources of the south to combat. As often as 1t has been repeated, it | Is not true that slavery was the cause of the war. Although slavery was in terwoven, there were larger and great CT questions involved. It was the un questioned right of a state to exercise those powers not expressly delegated 1 by the states in the federal constitu- tioh to the federal government. With out suggesting that slavery comports to the, spirit of the times and the hu- man progress of today, 1t is remarka- ble fact of history that at the time of the adoption of the federal con stitution, every state, Save one, sane toned it by law and practiced it in principle Little respect can be given to those whose consciences were too sensitive to own slaves as property, but who permitted themselves to become enriched by selling them at high value l to others
 Property Rights. The southland believed that property l of whatever kind should be respected and protected under the laws of the : land. They resisted any invasion of the righNof the states to control their own domestic affairs as a violation or l the federal compact And so, lighting | for such principles, the men and wom- en of the south demonstrated to the world qualities of greatness unexcelled and courage unsurpassed.
 | The south did not want war. It much preferred settling the mooted ques- | tions without war. It tried in every way through it's leaders to avert the l.catastrophe. The leader of the cause, whose birthday we here commemorate was a distinguished senator from my state who deferred resigning his seat as United States senator until all hope of settlement had vanished. But I when the war was inevitable and the | conflict begun, the southern soldier made it his religion to fight and the | world has never seen such bravery and l heroism as was displayed by him. No painter can ever paint the sufferings l he endured. No orator can ever de- scribe the courage he displayed. No bard can ever sing the praises he so richly deserved. No historian can ever write the true story of his vaIor in l that awful drama. Suffice it to say that from the first angry shriek of the 1 cannon at Fort Sumter until taps were sounded at Appomattox, the southern soldier shed glory and luster on the southland. He kept watch over it as long as he could and only sheathed his sword and returned to his home when nothing else remained for him to do. It was a dark day when the flag of southern hope and glory went down in siclouds and tears. Then and there one of the most brilliant civilizations that ever flourished staggered and fell, with broken lance and shattered shield.
 Fame, unrecorded, still is fame,
 Truth, though unknown. is truth the
 same,
 And the grandest glory known to
 man
 Is heroism, though it win
 No victor's wreath. nor conqueror's | crown"
 Immortal Women.
 And by the side of those immortal men through those four long years of anxious suspense, were the noble wom en of the Confederacy. Heaven bless them!
 tuljmiNtaihmtairf hmtairf hmtairftaiail Nay, tell it as you may,
 It never can be told.
 Sing it as you will,
 It never can be sung,
 Nay, no singer yet has sung
 Song to tell how heroes bled,
 When our soldiers home among
 Wept eyes waiting for the dead"
 The terrible suffering that they en. dured will always excite the wonder and admiration of the world Shut in 2 without protection subjected to want and privation. the loneliness and sui fering of fearful suspense-yet she never murmured, never ceased in her devotion and never faltered in her duty These wonderful women were the sen tlnels back home and no human interest was ever more faithfully guarded. Nc comforter had they save their God, and no resource but unwearied prayer and hope
 Glorious womanhood of the south And thus they stood behind our in- trepid armies and were their inspira ton from Fort Sumter with its blazing fire of hope, to the cruel and heart rending surrender at Appomattox , where all was darkness and despair.
 Thousands of Heroes
 While most wars produce one or two heroes, the War Between the States , produced thousands of them, and bril- liant leaders by the score. There was Forest, Beauregard, Longstreet, John- ston. Stuart, Van Dorn, Walthall, Cor don, Morgan, Pettis, Oakes, Clanton, Pelham and host of others, whose names will be cherished by the sons and daughters of the south throughout time. But like the century plant that blooms but once in 100 years. such a general as Lee is born. Cool in judg- ment. scholarly in attainments careful in action. wonderful in military i'm stinct, Robert E. Lee ranks today and always will rank as one of the great est generals the world has ever pro- duced.
 And by the side of him in history there will ever stand one other, a con- secrated Christian, tactful dis clplinarian. brave and great leader, and when he crossed over the river and rested in the shade ~of the trees" at Charlottesville, Robert E. Lee lost his ablest lieutenant and the southern cause one of its greatest generals Stonewall Jackson.
 And by the side of these two illus trious and immortal names history will record the name of the man whose memory we hallow today, the man who has probably been more maligned .l throughout the north than any one who aided or sympathized with the southern cause. No American has been SD little understod and maliciously Imisrepresented as Jefferson Davis. While living, his detractors and ene- mics hurled their anathemas of ma 1 Ilignity at him. and in death and even 1 after death they tried to besmirch his character and reputation They charged him with embezzlement with extortion and even with treason. No accusation was too slanderous for them to make and no crime too hein- GUS for them to accuse him of. All the sins of the south were piled upon his shoulders and every mistake was branded upon his brow. Not only were the accusations made against him wholly false and unjust. but they