Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 26.djvu/222

 212 Southern Historical Society Papers.

sunshine day by day. To them and their comrades on land and sea, their grateful and bereaved countrymen have erected and now con- secrate this monument, although their names may be forgotten and their resting places be neglected, their fame shall never pass away.

And

" On some day, before his throne, We will find where God's angels dwell, They are no more unknown."

And there when, amid the resplendent glories of the supernal world shall be called the roll of the mighty and renowned men who have lived, and labored and suffered, and fought and died for liberty and the advancement of mankind, every Confederate soldier, unre- pentant and unabashed, shall answer " I am here."

Miss C. T. Raoul, credited with having fired the gun that pro- claimed Alabama's secession, leaning on Colonel Sanford's arm, crossed the space intervening between the platform and the infantry- man's statue which was yet concealed under the canvas draping. Jerking the string that held this draping in place, Miss Raoul recited her own beautiful lines that are inscribed under the statue:

" Fame's temple boasts no higher name,

No king is higher on his throne, No glory shines with brighter gleam, The name of Patriot stands alone."

CAPTAIN SCREW'S ELOQUENCE.

The band played " My Maryland " and then came the introduc- tion of Captain Ben. H. Screws. The eloquent diction for which Captain Screws is noted, won for him the closest attention. He spoke as follows:

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen ;

Those who followed glorious young Pelham, that true son of thunder, and his terrible artillery over the hills and through the val- leys of Virginia, or went with Pickett and Kemper and Armistead up ugainst the hurricane of fire, lead and iron on Round Top, need no monumental marble, to recall the memories of that thrilling era; and those who through the long and bloody hours hurled themselves against the merciless batteries of Rosecrans on the awful field of Chickamauga, withstood the earthquake throes of Missionary Ridge