Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 20.djvu/266

 260 Southern Historical Society Papers.

tude, and unselfish devotion to principle have no parallel in the annals of war.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE MEMORIAL.

What does the Howitzer Monument mean ? What does it stand for ? It means more than that this one fell under his gun never to rise again, or that one will go to his grave a physical wreck. It stands for more than physical courage. It means also that the sur- vivors were among the rebuilders of the devastated South. It stands also for a moral courage that could rise superior to any adversity. In the crowd of veterans that assembled in the Theatre yesterday were hundreds who, when the war closed, were absolutely penniless, but whose energy, enterprise, self-denial, and patience constitute the foundation stones upon which the present prosperity of Richmond and Virginia is reared. These, no less than the gallant youths who ofiered up their lives amid the rush and smoke of battle, and whose memory will never fade from the Southern heart, are typified in "No i in position and out," but ready for whatever may betide. The figure stands for the spirit of the South not only the spirit that was invincible in war, but the spirit that defied being broken or humiliated in peace.

MILITARY WITH THE VETERANS.

The military of the city entered into the spirit of the occasion with the zeal that always characterizes them when called upon to aid the veterans in giving eclat to their undertakings. All arms of the ser- vice infantry, artillery, and cavalry were splendidly represented in the column which escorted the Howitzer veterans and the two Con- federate camps to the site of the monument and saluted the memorial after it was unveiled.

EXERCISES AT THE THEATRE. Dr. Dame's Prayer Mr. White Presents the Orator.

The exercises at the Theatre began a few minutes after 2 o'clock. The lower part of the building was occupied by the Howitzer Asso- ciation, Lee and Pickett Camps of Confederate Veterans, and the present Howitzer Battery. The galleries were thrown open to the general public, and in the throng that gathered in them were many ladies.