Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 23.djvu/334

 328 Southern Historical Society Papers.

the rights of man, nor of the Constitution of the State and of the United States. I rest confident of justification in that great day when the Judge shall disclose the secrets of all hearts.

The South asked for peace, and they gave us a sword. No man but the Governor of Virginia had the right then, nor has anyone else the right now, to order me to the field. I would obey our good Governor as cheerfully now as I did Governor Letcher thirty-five years ago. I still love the flag, but not as of yore. Sometimes the first love is the deepest and strongest.

Let no man cheat you out of your inheritance, my comrades. There is not enough money in the coffers of all the banks to buy the proud claim that I was a loyal soldier of the Confederate States; that from Big Bethel to Appomattox I was true to her flag and glad to serve her. This shield I shall hang up in my house for my children's children, when dust shall return to dust, and the soul re- turn to the God who gave it. It is not often the privilege of a man to serve his country for years without pay and on half rations. This has been your privilege, my dear comrades. Wear this badge of royalty upon your hearts, while they beat proudly your grand and solemn march to eternity. This is but a small part of life. Let your last days here be your best and brightest days. It matters not what sort of garments cover your proud hearts. Gold is gold, whether in the rocky drift or on fair woman's brow. God weighs actions, not dry goods. Oh! how I love dear old Virginia! the mother of Washington, Jackson, and Lee.

"Virginia! Virginia! the land of the free, Three cheers for Virginia from mountain to sea."

[From the Atlanta (Ga ) Constitution, November 9, 1895.]

HEROISM OF A WIDOW.

General Schofield's Recognition of the Bravery of a Southern Woman.

It was on the first and second days of September, 1864, General Hardee, of the Southern forces, was sent to Jonesboro from Atlanta with 22,000 men to head off a formidable flank movement of the enemy which had for its purpose to cut off Southern communication