Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 40.djvu/6



(An address delivered by Lloyd T. Everett, of Washington Camp, No. 305, S. C. V., at the reception by the Camp to the Confederate veterans of Washington, D. C., and vicinity, February 10, 1914. Revised.)

Mr. Commandant, Mr. Toastmaster, Veterans and Comrades:

We often hear it said that the glory of the Confederate soldier is imperishable and immortal; that his valor and devotion to duty have won for him a name and a fame that shall never die.

That is true. History shows us no equal to the splendid blend of physical and moral courage and long sustained fortitude of the half starved legions of Lee — certainly no superior. And while, to use a homely phrase, every tub must stand upon its own bottom; while each man must win for himself, by his own worth, his standing in the community, yet I prize as a priceless treasure the proud fact that I am the son of a Confederate soldier. Nor is this merely a matter of pride or of accidental honor to me. It is a very real incentive to look well to my own course and conduct in order that I may hand on untarnished the shining legacy that was bequeathed to me.

"Duty is the sublimest word in the English language," is a maxim that has been widely credited to our peerless Lee, although incorrectly so according to respectable authority. (I) But, in any event, the sentiment is well worthy of General Lee, whose