Roanoke Rapids herald. [volume] (Roanoke Rapids, N.C.) 1914-192?, 1921-06-10

; that the men who had died under
J the Confederate standard haC
not died in vain. Hear his owr
words.
Shall we say to the Confed.
crate soldier that he died in vain
Shall we say of his mighty strug.
gle that it has no higher meaning
than defeat? Shall we stand
above his grave and declare that
all was lost but honor? From the
smoking altar of his sacrifice is
there no incense to virtue? Does
the world bless him only who
wears a crown of laurel? Is there
no beauty on the brow that wears
a crown of thorns? Were the or
acles of God lost to men when
His chosen people passed under
the yoke of Rome? Were the
laws and languages of Rome lost
to the world when the Goth struck
down her eagles? Was Cromwell
lost to Britain when Stuart came
back to her throne?
THE Confederate soldier has
not died in vain. His. ory will tell
the story of his love and passion,
that men may be lifted up dy the
example Of his devotion to the
memory of his fathers. If they
did not die in vain who fell at
Moore's Creek Bridge, at Kings
Mountain, at Guilford, at Brandy
wine, at Princeton, then their
sons did not die in vain who fell
at Bethel, at Manassas, at Rich
mond, at Sharpsburg, at Fred
ericksburg, at Charlottesville,
at Gettysburg, and on every field
of battle where they sealed with
their blood the covenant made
with their fathers that this should
by a Union of sovereign states,
with a government of express
powers, limited by the letter of
the written Compact. For this
Covenant they died. That no sim
full hand might be laid upon it
they took up arms. The cause for
which they died is not the lost
cause of a dead Confederacy but
it is the vital cause of a living
Union. It's soul and strength, it S
only hope of a future life, and
without which it will Dissolve and
pass away like the smile of a
lream upon the wrinkled face of
.ime."
The above spe ech is considered
me of the best eulogies of the
Confederate cause.
While serving his people in the
state senate for the second time
IN occasion arose which again
gave Captain Mason the oppor-
unity to speak the dictates of
his heart. A group which SEEM
I'd to be in the minority was put
ing forth an effort to rid the
state of the evils of whiskey, a
curse compounded in the lower
regions to destroy the happiness
If peaceful homes, Mason a
devoted Christian and prominent
member of the Methodist Church
serving Gods summons to speak
for humanity and posterity,
arose to his feet and poured forth
from the depth of his heart, a
plea for the mothers, wives and
of the men whose homes
we're ruined by strong drink.
In the most eloquent and truly
speech heard in the
senate chamber in fifty years,
he demanded that the state and
nation rid its citizens of an evil
10 horrible and disastrous.
When Mason rose to begin his
speech the Senate Chamber was
practically empty. But as he
spoke his listeners realized that
hey were hearing an unusual
plea for mankind, and soon word
vas spread that the aenator from
Northampton was at his best.
The galleries were soon throng-
I'd with mass of people, eager
% hear this great orator speak
'or a great cause. Indeed so thrill
ng was his speech in behalf of
he homes and youth of the
and that that which had seemed
to be doomed to defeat was now
.akn ,sn,,o