The Darlington herald. (Darlington, S.C.) 1890-1895, July 29, 1891, Image 5
SUPPLEMENT.
S^NEWHl IN THE VHIET.
A nOMMEM TO JACKSON AT
LEAIN6T0N, VV.
Imposing Ceremonies at the I'nveil
ing of the Statue Sculptured by
Valentine—Wade Hampton Pre
sides and the Venerable Jnbal
Early ) elivers the Oration—An
Immense Concourse of Survivors
and Other Citizens Assembles
from the Surrounding Country.
Lexington, Va., .July 21,—This
is the 30th anniversary of the first
battle of Manassas, and Lexington,
the quiet, peaceful littie village, in
which was spent the lifetime.of
Stonewall Jackson, the mo. t picture
sque figure of all the notable men of
the Southern Confederacy, is bright
and bustling with life and color,
while ten thousand strangers are
assembled within ■ its environs to
participate in the exerc'ses. incident
to the unveiling of the monument
symbolic of the esteem and venera
tion felt for the great soldier whose
brilliant career was cut si ort in the
height of his fame.
A crowd of admirers of the great
General began arriving Saturday and
yesterday, when a number of leading
survivors of Jackson’s command
gave a banquet at the Virginia Mili
tary Institute, in which Jackson was
one of the professors at the break
ing out of the war, the town was full
of veterans. Kaon train since yes
terday afternoon/has been tilled with
former Confederates. Their num
bers being so large that the town’s
accommodations, stretched to their
ulgiost by the hospitality of its resi
dents, were insufticient for entertain
ing the throng.Tliere is not a house in
the city, public or private, that is not
tilled* This morning the country
roads are swarming with people, and
every highway leading through the
rolling fields of ripened wheat and
blossoming clovi r is pouring its con
tingent into Lexington.
THE WEATHER
is superb. The day dawned misty
and threatening, but the rising sun
; oon drove away the clouds and fog.
Tiie sky cleared beautifully, aud a
fresh cool breeze tempered the rays
of the*situ, so that the day was as
pleasant as could lie w ished.
jackson’s section room.
The section room at the barracks
of the Virginia Military Institute,
used by Jackson when professor
there, has attracted thousands of ad
mirers. Entering the room, on one
side is a pyramid of potted flowers,
growing up three feet high, near the
chair occupied by Geu. Jackson as
instructor, the chair being garlanded
iu flowers, in front of a simple pine
table; to the left a’ blackboard bear
ing the inseripiion: “Tie fought the
good fight.” To the front, a stand
of guns with the market’s flag of a
regiment. On another blackboard
wai» wiitten : “Lieut Gen. Jackson’s
body laid in Slats in this tower,
May 14, 1803.” Next to this is
printed the order' f his funeral exer
cises at that time, and on an othei
blackboard is the inciiption: “Elect
ed to the chair of experimental
philosophy and military tactics,
1851.” To the right of the profes
sor’s chair were three rows of plain
benches, suggestive of recitation
hours. The whole was simple, but
exceedingly impressiye.
THE STATUE
stands in a circle iu the centre of
the city cemetery on Main street. A
square, containing rbout four acres
of ground, well set off with plants,
hides the statue from view, except in
the rear. The site is a slight mound
crowning an elevation overlo iking
the surrounding con iti^. The sculp
tor is a’Virgiuian, Edward V. Valen
tine, who designed the Lee monu
ment. ’ 'The statue is of bronze, he-
4»ic in size, and portrays Jackson
with uncovered head, leaning on his
sword and left leg, and looking out
upon the Held of battle,' iu his right
hand at his side is a field grass. He
is clad in the full uniform of a Con-
: ? - . -
federate lieutenant general, with
gold lace on sleeves distinctly visi
ble, and with htavy military boots
and spurs. His carriage is easy and
the attitude is one of close observa
tion, with right foot advanced, ready
and alert for instant and vigorous
action. The scabl ard of the sword,
upon which the gauntletted left hand
rests, bear the letters “U. S.” an
historical fact, as it was modelled
from Jackson’s own sword. The
statue proper measures 8 feet and
surmounts a granite pedestal 10 1^2
feet high, consisting of the base,
course, die and capital. On one
face, the die bears the inscription :
“Jackson,” “1824-1863,” and on
another the simple word, “Stone
wall.” Beneath the pedestal is a
vaultcontainingsix sepulchred cham
bers, surrounded by a circular grass
plot, around which is a drive way
with four approaches.
The general effect of the structure
is imposing, and the statue is con
sidered to be a good representation.
Mrs. Jackson, in an interview with
an Associated Press representative to
day, said : “It is strange that 1 have
not yet seen the statue. I missed
Valentine in Richmond and also in
New York aud have not had an op
portunity to see it here, still from
the expressions of opinion of Prof. J.
J. White and Capt John C. Boude
and others who knew Gen. Jackson
well, I am satisfied that it does him
justice.”
Oid soldiers who followed Jack-
son during the war are pleased with
the statue.
THE PROCESSION.
Programme exercises provided that
proceedings should begin at 10 o’clock
but owing to the confusion caused by
the presence of so many people it was
considerably later than the time,
when the procession was ready to
move. The parade ground of the
Virginia Military Institute was the
place of formation, which was under
the direction of Chief Marchal Gen.
James A. Walker, of Wythe, Va, the
only surviving commander of the
Stonewall Br gade.
THE UNVEILING CEREMONIES.
It was 12 o’clock when the pro
cession arrived at the campus. Gen.
Wade Hampton at that hour intro
duced the Rev. H. C. Hopkins, chap
lain of the Stonewall brigade, who
led in a five-minutes’ prayer. Gen.
Hampton then introduced Col. T.
M. Semmes, of the Virginia Military
Institute, who recited n ost beauti
fully three poems, “Stonewall Jack-
sou’s Wall,” “Over the River” and
“Slain in Battle.”
Gen. Jnbal A. Early, the orator of
the occasion, was next introduced,
and began speaking from manuscript.
Gen. Early appeared in good health,
but showed painfully the signs of
old age. He was twice interrupted
by bands that had just arrived. He
stopped speaking, and turning sharp
ly around, asked if there was no way
to stop that fuss. The oration was
received with attention and great
enthusiasm.
A TOUCHING INCIDENT
on the stand was when Mrs. Jackson
met her little grandchildren, whom
she had not been permitted to see for
a long time. She embraced them
warmly aud appeared to be much af
fected, holding little Thomas in her
arms during the oration. Julia sat
alone.
After the oration the parade was
continued to the cemetery, forming
in rear of it at 2 o’clock. At 2.15
Mrs. Stonewall Jackson and her two
Tittle grandchildren, Julia Jackson
Christian and Thomas Jackson
Christian, ascended the stand accom
panied by Cupt. John Carmichael.
Two minutes afterwards, -amid firing
of cannon by the, Boekbridgt Artil
lery, the cord was pulled by little
Julia and the veil fell, exposing to
view the statue. The military and
civic organizations then passed in
view of the statue through the ceme
tery, dropping out of line as they
reached their quarters. «
GEN. EARLY’S IKATION
was a history of the life of Gen. T.
J. Jackson. Beginning with his
birth, he traced his career Jo the'
Military Academy at West Point,
bearing hard on his powerful tena
city and pluck, and bringing out
fully, his obstinacy in i he face of
difficulties. He reviewed briefly Jack-
son’s career in the Mexican War
leading up to his life at the Virginia
Military Institute and his influence
on the young soldiers trained at that
school by'him. He then made an
historic sketch of the army record of
the great leader, bringing out forcibly
the opinion of him by his opponents,
remarking, “they thought they would
have great trouble in finding the
faces of Jackson’s men, but they
learned afterwards that if they did
it was caused by their own faces be
ing turned the wrong way.” He
dwelt at length on Jackson’s cam
paign in the valley, going into dates
and figures to show that he fought
always against larger numbers and
was always victor. His reference to
the manner in which Jackson obtain
ed the name of “Stonewall” elicited
from an imnense crowd of 15,000
tremendous rpplause. He said:
“But Jackson was nut a stonewall
alone as he stood up behind those
Virginians, but a military hurricane,
and his enemies will testify to the
truth.” His speech throughout was
mild and full of argument, being lit
tle more or less than a eulogistic
sketch of Jackson’s life. He ended
his speech as follows:
“Let me ct include by saying, and
let every honst-hearteu Confederate
who fought bravely in the war say,
‘If I should ever apoligize for any
part or action taken by me in the
war, may the lightning of a right
eous Heaven blast me from the earth,
and may I be considered as the spawn
of the earth by all honest men.’”
THE GOVERNMENT CONTROL OF
RAILROADS.
It is very probable that those of
our people who have been led to be
lieve that it would be a good thing
for the country, if the general
Government would buy and control
all the railroads, have ever seriously
considered the subject, or have made
themselves acquainted with the in
surmountable obstacles in the way of
its accomplishment.
The first question to be considered
in connection with this scheme is its
cost; for it is very certain that if the
roads were purchased of a fair valu
ation, it would be simply impossible
for Congress to devise any means by
which the money could be procured
to pay for them. Even if 1 onds, at
low interest, and to run for a long
term of years, were issued and could
be taken up, the taxes necessary
to pay the interest on these bonds
would be so onerous, that in a few
years at most, the Government would
be forced to put them on the market
and sell at a ruinous sacrifice, or be
forced to repudiate the bonds issued
for their payment The main rea
son urged, in favor of this visionary
measure, is that the roads may be
managed by the Government for the
sole benefit of the jieople; and this
being the case, it of course, could
not be expected that they would earn
any dividends; but would simply be
allowed to pay expenses, and conse
quently they would do nothing in the
way of paying interest on the bonds.
It must also he remembered that if
the Government is to own and operate
the roads, it will, of necessity, be
compelled to build and equip others,
and the trouble will not stop with
the building of the ones that are
actually necessary, but Congress will
be overrun with petitions for the
building of roads that could not by
any possible means be made to pay
one-fourth of their running expenses.
This would simply open the do >r for a
large amount of corruption and a
mans qualifications foi Congress won Id
be simply judged by his ability to
secure appropriations for building
railroads.
Even the best of Governments,
like all things else of human origin,
have their defects, and one of the
ins tparable difficulties, in the way of
an ides 1 Republican Government, is
the large number of office holders
that, the proper administration of
the laws of the ■ country, render
necessary: and that are, even under
the most favorable circumstances, a
fruitful source of corruption.
To a very large extent, at least,
the policy of both our great political
partiei has been, “to the victors be
long the spoils,” and the most im
portant offices iu the gift of the Na
tion, have been given as a reward for
political service. Every one, at all
familiar with the course of polities
in our country, is well aware of the
great struggle made by the Demo
cratic party, under Cleveland, to
wrest the control of the Nation from
the hands of the Republicans, ami
what a tremendous influence w’as ex
erted by the great army of office
holders, and how near that influence
came to perpetuating the power of a
p irty that had become insolent by
victory and corrupt by opportunity.
If to*this already too large an army
of office holders is added the many
thousands of railroad employees, it
can be easily seen how impossible it
will be to dislodge any party from
power, that has once secured posses
sion of the government, and how-
vast will be the amount of corrup
tion, when its lease of power can be
indefinitely extended.
No man, who loves Republican
institutions, will give aid or en
couragement to any scheme that has
a tendency to change the theory
upon which the whole fabric
of our National Government rests;
or join in any movement that will
be such a long step iu the direction
of centralization. It is very true
that the National Constitution has,
in some directions, been construed in
a way its framers never contemplated,
and the rights of the States, at times,
have been encroached upon; but this
fact should only make us more cau
tious in regard to encroachments on
the part of the general Government;
that is if we wish to preserve our
Republican institutions in their puri
ty and integrity; for it may be safely
asserted that all legislation of this
character inevitably tends to paternal
ism, and So far from being an im
provement in the science of Govern
ment, is, on the contrary, a
backward movement and one
that savoiw more of the dark ages
than of the enlightenment of the
present time.
As a Nation advances in knowl
edge, the inei itable tendency is in
the direction of greater individual
freedom, and this freedom once ol>-
tained will bejealously guarded, and
any attempt to curtail it is sure to re-
sultin failure and possible bloodshed.
It must also be borne in mind that
the safe and systematic management
of railroads requires, not only re
quires great exprience, but adminis
trative talent of the highest order,
ai .d if the general Government con
trol led the roads, the officials of the
roads would be replaced by politi
cians, who, in all probability, would
Vie utterly ignorant of the duties
that would be required ot then 1 , and
the result would be inextricable
confusion and great loss of life from
the many accidents that would oc
cur. It would be extremely diffei-
cnlt to conceive of a scheme more ut
terly impracticable aud visionary,
and those who advocate it have not
made the direction of showing
how it is to he accomplished.