Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 13.djvu/279

 278 Southern Historical Society Papers.

The Staff of Our Armies : The nerves which contributed to the genius of our great commanders, and through which their inspira- tion was conducted to their troops.

Colonel Archer Anderson.

The Armies of the West : The heroes of Corinth, Chickamauga, and Mobile are worthy comrades of those of Manassas, Gettysburg, and the Wilderness, and will ever greet each other as brethren.

General D. H. Maury.

The Women of the South :

" Land of heroes, your endurance through the strife transcendent shines ; Born of sunlight, 'mid the tempest stood ye firm as mountain pines."

Dr. Thomas J. Moore.

The Dead :

" Their dust sleeps well in the land of their choice,

Their names in song and story ; And fame shall shout with immortal voice, Dead on the field of glory."

Hon. D. B. Lucas, of Jefferson county, West Virginia, whose exquisite poem, "The Land Where we were Dreaming," has touched so many hearts, responded to the last toast in a speech which elicited loud applause. There has been so strong a demand for its publication that we are glad to give it in full.

SPEECH OF HON. D. B. LUCAS.

In responding to the sentiment now proposed to the memory of the dead of the Army of Northern Virginia, I feel and appreciate both the difficulty and the sacred character of the melancholy duty which has been assigned me.

What can I say which shall exaggerate the debt of gratitude or lighten the burden of regret which we owe to the brave soldiers who, by their courage, illumined the most brilliant page of military his- tory, and by their unselfish devotion sanctified the sternest lessons of civil and institutional disaster ?

The formation of this Association was but the outgrowth of a sense of duty to the sentiments which cluster around our dead.