Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 18.djvu/302

 302 Southern Historical Society Papers.

old chief, who came home to spend his declining years within the limits of our State and his, there never was a breath of criticism or repining from his scourged and afflicted people nothing but faith and trust, affection, admiration, sympathy, and honor. It was most fitting and becoming that the evening of his life should be passed on the soil of the state to whose name he had brought so much of honor and distinction. In the dignified retirement of his unpre- tending home, on the southern border of that separate southern nationality for which, in vain, his best efforts and powers had been given, this disfranchised citizen of a government whose flag he had defended with his blood had a firmer hold upon the hearts of his people than any ruler reigning in the world.

There is nothing in history like this. Look over the course of nations from the dawn of time, turn through the books of the world's history whenever written, search all the annals of the earth, and you will find no other single instance where a vanquished people have so idolized the leader of a cause that had failed. Pardon me if I linger upon this thought. It fills me with admiration and with gratitude. I am proud and I am thankful that I am of a people who have this matchless record of devotion to lay before the world proud of whatever of their strength I gain from their example, and if, as has been said, their deep sentimental nature is their weakness, I am thankful that I share that weakness. I glory in that quality, whatever it is, which makes them true to their own history, for it is the same that sustained them in war and gave them strength to bear the greater strain to which they were afterward subjected, and makes them the true and loyal citizens they are to-day.

But what less was to be expected of these people, with their his- tory and traditions and the examples they have had to give them strength and inspiration ? Back to the time when this government was organized, and before, we can turn with pride and point to what Southern men have done to elevate mankind and stimulate and culti- vate the aspirations of the masses of the people and to make this country what it is. From among them came the statesman who wrote the Declaration of Independence, and, strange as it may sound in this day of universal freedom, it is said that all who signed that declaration, except those from the State of Massachusetts, and perhaps one or two others, were slaveholders. From among them came the Father of His Country, the father of the Constitution and the greatest of all its expounders. At the head of great armies, in the presidential office, in cabinet and court, and in all the nation's