Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 19.djvu/410

 404 Southern Historical Society Papers.

of your hand, ye wicked fanatic, then, and not till then can the gush- ings of the well springs of southern hearts be stopped. When you can cease the lightning of the skies and bind it as an abject slave at the feet of tyrannical power, ye South-hater, then, and not till then,, will the proud and haughty spirit of a true Confederate cringe at the foot-stool of southern enemies and, with lips foul, declare that the graves of the Confederate dead are the graves of traitors.

BLOODY SHIRT SHRIEKER.

" When you can harness the winds and make them obey your com- mands, ye bloody-shirt shrieker, then, and not till then, will the courage of southren men and the fidelity of southern women prove so weak as to make them renounce their devotion to Confederate dust, graves, and memories. No, no; these things can never be while the fields of the South bear a plant, her rivers course, her mountains stand, or her rivulets murmur, and if I thought there is one who calls me father who would so far prove false to his lineage, 1 his teachings, and his people as to turn his back upon the traditions, glories, and memories which you and I love, my comrades, I would stand with head bowed and heart heavy over his humiliation and shame."

TO VIRGINIANS.

Colonel O'Ferrall then addressed himself specially to his fellow- Virginians, by whose invitation he was present. He first paid a tribute to the old State, and spoke of the devotion of all of her true sons, and in concluding his remarks he urged upon them the dis- charge of their every duty.

" Duty is the sublimest word in our language." Thus spoke the, great soldier and patriot, hero, Christian and philanthropist, whose fame now fills a universe, whose glories now encircle a hemisphere, whose achievements in war are painted on every canvas, immortal- ized in song and story, and pictured in colors that are fadeless in the skies of military renown, and whose virtues wrap his character in moral grandeur and entwine his memory with immortelles.

" He is gone, but

" in such pomp does he lie, That kings for such a tomb would wish to die."