MEMORIAL DAY IN SOUTH
CAROLINA
[ Address delivered at Greenwood,
May 10, 1930 , by Col. W.Jasper Talbert, a Confederate veteran and
former Member of the Congress from the Second District of South
Carolina.]
" Ladies, Fellow
Countrymen and may I say, Fellow Soldiers....In accepting the
summons to speak to you here, I hoped that in my humble way I
might add some interest to the day's proceedings. So I am here,
and while I may not be so eloquent as some others, I bring to you a
heart beating as true to the Southern Cross as ever beat in the
breast of living man. If I have more respect for any one
individual than all others, it is for the Confederate soldier; and
I deem it the proudest thought of my life that as a breardless boy
I bared my bosom to the storm of bullets in the Army of Northern
Virginia, under Generals ROBERT E. LEE and STONEWALL JACKSON, in
defense of my country; and I want to say to you, sons and grandsons
of the Confederate veterans, that you should deem it a grander
honor to be the descendant of one of the humblest heroes of the
Army of Northern Virginia than to trace your lineage back to
...Caesar.
This is no ordinary occasion, when it is known that it is a day
set apart to commemorate the deeds and sacrifices of the
Confederate soldier and to place flowers upon the graves of the
departed heroes. Thus it is with the great power impelling the
Southern people to go to war in defense of their homes. The cause
for which they fought and died was worthy of the sacrifice
made..... FOR WHAT ? Was it conquest ? No. Was it that they wanted
to bathe their heads in their brothers blood? No. Was it for more
territory? No. It was for a single word... that word was
LIBERTY .
And the cause
for which they fought is not lost and can never be lost, because
it is the everlasting cause of liberty. In the face of the facts,
it is but natural for those of us who still survive to meet
together to commemorate their noble deeds, and we will continue to
do so as long as the stars twinkle in the heavens, the rivers
continue to flow into the sea, and the dew drops to fall upon
their graves. Ah, but some will say, this is only a sentimentality
expressed. Then I accept the issue as made, for sentiment is but
principle
refined......"