Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 26.djvu/219

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reverently dedicate to the glory of a common country, and unfold for the benefaction of mankind, the priceless treasure of the life and character of the Confederate soldier.

COLONEL SANFORD'S ORATION.

To Colonel J. W. A. Sanford had been delegated the privilege of delivering the oration preliminary to the unveiling of the figure emblematic of the Confederate infantry. Upon being introduced by the chairman, Colonel Sanford said:

Mr. President, Ladies of the Memorial Association,

Confederate Veterans, Ladies and Felloiv Countrymen:

I congratulate the State of Alabama, and I do especially congrat- ulate the Ladies' Memorial Association, upon the early completion of this magnificent monument to perpetuate the memory of the Con- federate soldiers and seaman of this grand Commonwealth. It for- ever memorizes a cordial appreciation of the superb qualities manifested by the Confederate warriors and people during the war between the States.

Its corner stone was laid by the immortal Jefferson Davis, and is a suitable memento of the dead Confederacy. It marks the close of an eventful era, not only in the career of the United States, but also in the history of the world. It defines the limit of a civilization peculiarly Southern, which, in all the attributes that bless and dig- nify humanity, is the crowning glory of the Christian centuries. The people who established it were characterized by brilliant social gifts and many laudable' qualities; by a generous and unstinted hospital- ity; by pride of race; by a sense of honor which nothing could make them forget; by a conviction that courage was absolutely essential to all true manliness, and that integrity is the fundamental law of soci- ety; by a love of liberty and a spirit of independence that no oppres- sion or injustice could destroy. They cherished an ardent devotion to the rights of the State, and an unfaltering allegiance to its author- ity. They possessed a chivalrous courtesy, and notable deference and delicacy in intercourse with women, who elicited the admiration of the world by their intelligence and purity and modesty and refine- ment, as by their capability of sacrifice and endurance of privation. It is true that some admirable peculiarities, originating with and inseparable from our condition and system of industry, have gone, like the clouds that Rachel watched by Laban's well, nevermore to be seen by men. This statue, representing the infantry, like the