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VOL. XXX.
PERRY, HOUSTON COUNTY, GA, THURSDAY, MAY 9, 1901.
NO. 19.
HONOR TO WHOMilT IS DUE.
Memorial Address Delivered at Perry
Aoril, 26th, 1901, by Prof. W. W.
' Driskell, of Perry Public
School.
Ladies of the Memoriae Association;
Ladies and Gentlemen:—
Poor indeed is that nation that
forgets its heroes, or that fails to
give expression to its gratitude for
the lustre of their achievements.
Among the marked characteristics
of the great nations of the world,
are those that let live in poetry
and song, in marble and bronze,
the patriotism that proved itself
in sanguinary sacrifices. Histo
rians tell us that far back in the
distant past, blind Homer wander
ed from village to village, singing
praises to the names of Grecian
gods and of Grecian heroes. Even
Bsypt still speaks in the everlast
ing pyramids that hold the sleep
ing dust of her Pharaohs. Eome
raised a monument to the valor of
her Constantine to commemorate
his triumph over the enemies of
Christianity.
Pursuant to a custom first prac
ticed by Georgia women, the peo
ple of the South to-day bring, in
affectionate remembrance, their
floral offerings to the graves of
heroes who fought to a finish the
good fight of faith in a cause that
was dearer to them than life. They
battled for principle; and, taking
into account the adverse circum
stances under which they fought,
history holds nothing' comparable
to the war they waged. Their
matchless valor was a wall of fire
that for four years stood and blaz
ed and burned and destroyed the
overwhelming numbers of invad
ers sent against it.
It is said of the early defenders
of the Christian faith that, after
the destruction of their bodies,
their indomitable spirits seemed
to continue the struggle in mid air.
So every Confederate soldier that
fell in battle seemed to bequeath
his courage to surviving comrades,
for the fierceness of their martial
spirits seemed to increase in pro
portion to the destruction of their
ranks by shot and shell.
Had not the southern soldier
been of the bravest blood that ev
er coursed through warrior’s veins,
he could not have withstood so
long and so successfully the my
riad cohorts from the north.
As he was a product of that civ
ilization now called “the Old
South”, I consider it not out of
place on this occasion to attempt
a renewal of our acquaintance
with some of the characteristics
and achievements of that civiliza
tion, and to offer, a few reflections
concerning the circumstances that
led to the war, and that justified
our fathers in the course they pur
sued. Should this brief retrospect
prove tedious to you older ones
familiar with the facts, let us hope
that it may not be without profit
to the young.
Tht, people who established the
thirteen original colonies in Amer
ica were as different in their make
up as the climatic and physical
conditions of the colonies them
selves. Those who settled in the
North were for the most part re
ligious zealots. Their principal
object in seeking new abodes was
that they might worship God ac
cording to their desires. They
were not disposed to tolerate any
beliefs or opinions contrary to
their own. And, like Saul of Tar
sus, they sometimes thought it
God’s service to put to death those
who differed from them in their
religious practices.
On the other hand, the south
ern settlers early turned their at
tention to the development of the
country and the acquisition of
wealth. If their technical isms
and sensitive creeds were fewer in
number than those of the North,
it was due to their, superior intel
ligence and to their | concern for
the weightier matters of the law.
“The inhabitants of the southern
colonies were the strongest strains
of many stocks—Saxon, Gelt, and
Teuton, Cavalier and Puritan.”
They could proudly prove their
claims to an honorable lineage,
which was held at high value.
Their political, religious,and civil
faith was the product of the wis
est conservatism that England
had produced. Hence, the civili
zation which flourished under their
energies was as unique as it was
distinct. “It combined elements
of the three great civilizations
which since the dawn of history
have enlightened the world. It
partook of the philosophic tone of
the Grecian, of the dominant spir
it of the Roman, and of the guard-
fulness of individual rights of the
Saxon civilization. And over all
brooded a softness and beauty,
the joint product of Chivalry and
Christianity. That civilization
flourished for two hundred and.
fifty years, until its vitality, af
ter four years of invasion and
war, expired in the convulsive
throes of reconstruction.”
“Its distinctiveness, like others
of its characteristics, was refera
ble to its origin, and to its subse
quent environing conditions. Its
tendency was towards exclusive
ness and conservatism. It tolera
ted no invasion of its rights; it
admitted the jurisdiction of no
other tribunal than itself. The
result was not unnatural. The
wojld, barred out, took its revenge,
and the Old South stands to-day
charged with sterility, with at-
temptifig to perpetuate human
slavery, and with rebellion.”
But let us consider some of the
Old South’s contributions to the
greatness of this Union, and let
their undying glory stand as a
monument to her consistent course
all along her blood-stained path-
way.
The Old South made this peo
ple. One hundred years ago this
nation, like Athene, sprang full
panoplied from her brain. It was
the South that planned the first
co-operation of the colonies, then
their consolidation, and finally
their establishment as free and in
dependent states. It was a south
ern colony, under the leadership
of the fiery Bacon, that fought the
first revolution for independence.
And though, after two centuries,
his name still bears the stigma of
“Bacon, the Rebel”, “he and his
followers shall yet be known to
posterity as patriots pure and
lofty, whose motives and. deeds
shall evoke the admiration of all
succeeding time.”
It was a southerner, Patrick
Henry, who first struck the key
note of independence when he
said, “Give me liberty or give me
death”. It was a ; southerner,
Nelson, who first moved and the
Convention of Virginia which first
adopted the resolution that the
United Colonies should be free
and independent, absolved from
all allegiance to or dependence on
the Crown or Parliament of Great
Britain. It was a southern colony
which first emblazoned on her
standard the emblem of her prin
ciple, “Virginia for Constitution
al Liberty’ ’. It was a southerner,
Thomas Jefferson, who wrote the
declaration of independence—that
plea for liberty that thrilled the
world I
These acts created revolution,
and a southerner, George Wash
ington, led the armies ot the revo-
lutionists to victory; and when
victory had been won it was south
ern intellect and southern patriot
ism which created the Federal Con
stitution and made this grand Un
ion of republics known as the Uni
ted States.
It was a southerner,.George Ko-
o-ers Clark, with his brave follow
ers who beat back the French on
the Northwest, and secured to this
Union that vast, territory out of
which have since been carved the
states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan, aud Minnesota.
To the south is due the fact that
Lousiana is not now a French re-
public. To the South is due the
fact that the Mississippi, wafting
;on its bosom half the commerce
! of North America, rolls its whole
I length through the free land of the
| United States. To . the South is
; due the fact that Texas is not a
hostile government. To the South
is due the establishment of this
Union in its integrity, and of the
doctrines upon which it is main
tained.
In 1808, when the Lousiana
purchase was made and a state
carved from the acquisition, it ex
cited such violent opposition at
the North that warnings came
from New England threatening to
dissolve the Union. In 1819. when
an attempt was made to annex the
state of Missouri, the existence of
the Union was again imperilled
by the menace on the part of the
northern states to destroy it. Their
disposition to destroy the Union
was again exhibited upon the ac
quisition of California and New
Mexico from Mexico. And in
1812, New England, her trade be
ing injured by the war with Great
Britain, again threatened to se
cede from the Union. And while
her delegation, representing the
voice of the Hartford Convention,
were on their way to Washington
to announce their intentions of
secession, Old Hickory Jackson, a
southern general, followed by
southern soldiers, hurled back the
British at New Orleans, and
brought the war to a close. Thus
in the war of 1812 and in that
with Mexico, it was southern gen
eralship and southern heroism
that brought victory to American
arms. In the councils of the na
tion, in the forum or on the field
of battle, the representatives of
that contemned civilization al
ways took the lead. “And in the
great Civil War the two greatest
men that stood for the Union, and
to whom its preservation was due,
were in large part the produce of
this civilization. Both Grant and
Lincoln-the great general and the
still greater President-sprang from
southern loins
I know that many statements
are now being made which belit
tle all attempts to resurrect sec
tional sentiment, and such teach
ing is wholesome. Still we ought
to tell the children that secession
and slavery were the product of
northern soil. That they may
know the truth, we ought to tell
them that the people of the South
were the first to oppose slavery;
that Georgia was the first state to
protest against the slave traffic;
that Virginia protested against it
to the Crown of England twenty-
three times. We ought to tell
them that slavery was forced up
on us, contrary to the' wishes of
the best people of the South; that
it was not profitable to the people
of the North, and for that reason
the North sold the bulk of its ne
groes to the South. We ought to
tell them also that the North con
tinued the slave traffic long after
the supposed /mti-slavery senti
ment had taken root there; that
it imported hither slaves from Af
rica, subjecting the negroes to the
indescribable horrors of “the Mid
dle Passage”, which, according to
the records, was a for more dire
ful treatment of the negro than
he afterwards received at 'the
hands of any southern master.
All of which goes to prove that the
personal love which the North had
for the negro was at no time half
so ardent as its love for the fabu
lous gams realized from the sale
of him.
We Have Opened Again
AFTER THE FIRE
X’sT’itlh. a Bran SiTe'w Stools: of
MEN’S AND BOYS’
If slavery was wrong—as many
of us now admit—it was a * Consti-
j tutiohal defect that permitted its
: existence, rather than a crime
chargeable to the southern slave
holder, for the Constitution rec
ognized it, without~which recogni
tion the Constitution itself would
not have been ratified. »
SUITS, HATS m FURNISHINGS. 1
We will be -pleased to have you call.
All Mail Orders Given Prompt Attention.
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As to our fight to secede, New
England had been threatening to
do that very thing for nearly sixty
years before thb South thought of
taking such action, which clearly
implied that their understanding
of the Constitution compact was
to the effect that any state might
withdraw from the Union when
ever it was adjudged that its con
nection with the Union had be
come detrimental to any of its
int erests.
It was. generally understood
that the states could seperate for
cause when the cause came, and
hundreds of the greatest writers,
North and South, had no doubt
about it.
Jefferson had said; “The states
may withdraw their delegated
powers.” Madison said, ‘‘The
states themselves must be the
judges whether the bargain has
has heen preserved or broken.”
Chief Justice Chase said. “If a
state should withdraw and resume
her powers, I know of no remedy
to prevent it.” Edward Everett
said, “To expect to hold’ fifteen
states in the Union by force is
preposterous.” Horace Greely
said, “The Declaration of Inde
pendence justifies the states in se-
ceding.”No,it was not treason,for
when it was proposed to try Jeffer
son Davis for high treason, the
greatest lawyers of the North ad
vised against it, and assured the
government that he could not be
convicted.
That secesssion was a Constitu
tional right is known to all that
have tried to find out the truth.
That the South maintained slav
ery as a right to property under
the sanction and protection of the
Constitution is a fact which can
not be contradicted. But strange
it is that the Old South has been
vilified through all the years be
cause of its maintenance for
awhile of the indefensible institu
tion of slavery, as though it had
never existed elsewhere, when in
fact it had been in existence
among the different nations of the
world from the time of Abraham.
In 1860, President Lincoln’s rela
tives were still working slaves in
Kentucky, and Gen. Grant him
self was living off the labor of his
slaves in Missouri.
The foregoing considerations,
my friends, are some of the rea
sons that called for the material
exercise of southern patriotism in
1861. The war was inevitable, it
had to come. The North was
arming the negroes and trying to
incite them to riot and bloodshed.
The South could brook such dia
bolical insults no longer. It was
natural that she should fight.
She was not born to be domineer
ed over. It was natural for her to
rule. She had ruled this country
for fifty years. In the national
halls her statesmanship had swept
her adversaries into speechless
oblivion. The North was jealous
of her growing greatness, as it had
been eclipsed by the spleudor pf
her past. For the Old South had
given to the presidency of the Uni
ted States Washington and Jeffer
son, Madison and Monroe, Jack-
son and Harrison, Tyler, Polk and
Taylor; to the Supreme Bench she
had given John Marshall and Ro
ger B. Taney, and the cabinets
had been filled with representa
tives of the same civilization.
“Marvellous constellation, bright
er from moment to moment, radi
ant as a tiara of celestial dia
monds,” your light pierced the
lowering clouds of the sixties and
sent a ray of inspiration into the
heart of the Southern Confeder
acy!
I would that I had the genius
to present, in language suited to
an occasion like this, worthy
Ideals of the men who enlisted un
der the banners of the Southern
Cause. But the grandeur of their
achievements is beyond the pow
er of poet to paint, of orator to
proclaim. They did what no oth
er people have ever done, what no
other people will ever do again.
They seceeded from the Union,
organized their armies, establish
ed a government, and maintained
it for four years against the as
saults of the world. And so great
was the death rate of the enemy
and the number of wounds inflict
ed upon him that now, forty years
after the war, the government is
paying pensions to an army of
widows and cripples larger in
unmber than the combined forces
that fought on the Confederate
side. But such is not tp be won
dered at when we remember the
havoc wrought by Johnston upon
the Federals between Chattanooga
and Atlanta, were Sherman would
undoubtedly have surrendered his
whole army had not Johnston
been removed from the command.
Such results are not to be wonder
ed at when thought of in connec
tion with Jackson’s Valley Cam
paign in Virginia, where Banks,
Fremont and Shields, command
ing sixty thousand F-ederals, fled
panic-stricken before the invinci
ble Southerners numbering only
fifteen thousand. I repeat, the
Federal pension list • to-day has
no surprising proportions when
compared with the matchless val
or displayed by Lee and his men
in their defense of Richmond.
Five times the northern host at
tended to crush the great South
ern commander and take the city,
but five times it fell back in stag
gering defeat, losing in killed and
wounded, nearly three times as
many as were defending the Con
federate Capital.
(CONTINUED ON EDITORIAL PAGE,)
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