Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/403

 General George Burgivyn Anderson. 397

any other State capital, and if its public grounds do not contain some statue or monument in commemoration of its great men, its legisla- tive halls at least are hung with portraits of its Governors. Then come back to Raleigh ; go into your own State capitol ; see at the base of the rotunda those four empty niches ; pass through the cor- ridors ; enter the legislative halls and look around ! No monument, no statue, no bust, not even a portrait to remind you that North Caro- lina ever produced one man that she thought worthy of remembrance.

Surely if her gratitude to, or appreciation of, her dead soldiers and statesmen is to be measured by the number of memorials which she has established in. honor of them, then it is safe to say that such a sentiment does not exist. Does not the memory of men, like George Burgywn Anderson and his comrades, deserve to be per- petuated otherwise than by such memorial marbles as private affec- tion may erect? And has not the time arrived when, however justly it could heretofore have been set up in a.-iswer to such a demand, the plea of poverty by the State must cease to be respected ? The sen- timent which prompts these questions is the same which inspired the last Legislature to make some provision for the disabled soldiers of the State, and the widows of those who died in her defence — a senti- ment alike jealous of the honor of North Carolina, and tenderly grate- ful to her heroic sons.

My task is done. In the outset I disclaimed any intention of doing more than giving a recital of the leading events in the life of General Anderson, and expressed the belief that I could best evidence my respect for his memory by uttering only the language of soberness and truth. This I have endeavored to do in all sincerity. The subject was worthy of a nobler strain. If true manliness and an exalted sense of duty ; if the strictest integrity, and the most scrupulous re- gard of the rights of others; if a chivalric sentiment towards woman, and a delicate sense of personal honor, if a commanding presence and cheerful spirit ; if dauntless courage and gentle manners ; if a brilliant intellect and extensive knowledge; and, finally, if patriotic service, ending in painful wounds, heroic suffering and death — if all these combined constitute a theme worthy of commemoration by ora- tor or poet, then the duty assigned me to-day might well have been entrusted to the most gifted of men, and the people of North Carolina would havea juster estimate of the life and services of George Bur- gwyn Anderson.