Sylvanius Jackson Quinn

“ May the great and omnipotent Ruler of all human events, who, in blessing America, has conducted you through so many dangers, continue his favor and protection through the remainder of your life in the happy society of an affectionate and grateful people. I have the honor to be, in behalf of the corporation, with every sentiment of esteem and respect, your Excellency's most humble servant, William McWilliams, Mayor. ”

“ What spot so appropriate for the last resting place of these heroes, as some commanding eminence overlooking the memorable plain of Fredericksburg? And what nobler work for the hearts and hands of Southern women, than upon its summit to rear a monument to the unrecorded Confederate dead, which, through all time shall testify to the gratitude of the people for whom they so gloriously died? ”

“ Within is a country that may have the prerogative over the most pleasant places of Europe, Asia, Africa or America and for large and pleasant navigable rivers, heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for man's habitation, being of our constitutions, were it fully manured and inhabited by industrious people. Here are mountains, hills, plains, valleys, rivers and brooks, all running most pleasantly to a fair bay, compassed, but for the mouth, with fruitful and delightsome land. ”

“ Impartial history will record that the Union soldiers who fought at Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, the Wilderness and at Spotsylvania Courthouse were not only brave men, but that their Valor on those immortal fields decorated the Stars and Stripes with imperishable glory. And no American army of the future, composed of those who wore the blue and the gray, or their descendants, will ever permit that glory to be tarnished ! ”

“ Two hundred and fifty thousand armed men, like crouched lions ready to spring upon their adversary, were ready for the bloody conflict. It was the most restless, anxious night ever passed by the citizens of Fredericksburg. It was the night of terror! The dread of to-morrow hung like a pall over the devoted city, and everybody was hurriedly preparing for the awful destruction that was at hand and could not be averted. The threatened bombardment had long been delayed, and many citizens had returned from their flight. ”

“ To those who believe in freedom of thought and action; in the sovereignty of the people ; in the equality of all men before the law, based upon constitutional rights, restrictions and limitations, made by the wisdom of the greatest men this world has ever produced; in opening the door to promotion to all men whose talents, integrity and general high characters entitle them to such honors, the Declaration of Independence must forever commend itself ”

“ The march to Appomattox was over the battlefields of Spotsylvania, and Appomattox was only the culmination of the courage and carnage of those fields.
It was the conspicuous characteristic of both the Union and Confederate armies that their courage was alike invincible; defeat could not quench it; it shone with additional splendor amid the gloom of disaster, and no soldier on either side need blush to have borne a part in any one of the great battles of the Civil war, whatever fortune may have decreed as to its temporary result. ”

“ It was the ladies of Fredericksburg, Virginians, who inaugurated the move, and carried it on to complete success, to raise a monument to a woman, the tallest and most imposing of its kind that is to be found on this continent. It towers over fifty feet high, the shaft is solid granite, and it marks the grave of the greatest of American women — Mary, the mother of Washington. ”

“ Trusting that as the community and State is in no way responsible for the causes which led to the revolution and have already suffered so seriously during its progress, a magnanimous government will be satisfied with the restoration of its authority, and adopt towards us the policy of leniency and reconciliation which will tend with the people of Virginia to restore friendly relations, soften the asperities and heal the wounds of the past, and enable us to resume our former position as peaceful and prosperous citizens of Virginia and the United States. ”

“ With a climate unsurpassed, an immunity from epidemics, a situation enviable because of its surroundings, water as pure as ever came from mountain springs, with all the advantages as we have before said of tidewater, without its malaria, with all the benefits of the mountains, without the mountain fevers, together with a refined and elevated society—if these, with the additions of home virtues and home joys, be regarded as valuable in life, then Fredericksburg must rank much higher than many a place that has more outward show of prosperity. ”

“ In distant lands, people who have hardly heard of the United States know the name of Washington. Nothing could better show the regard of the world for this great giver of liberty to the people than the way in which contributions came from all nations to his monument in Washington. ”

“ The venerable brick mansion, known as "Kenmore," facing Washington avenue, and the residence of Clarance Randolph Howard, Esq., was built by Colonel Fielding Lewis, a man of great wealth, and who owned a large body of land west of the town. The bricks of which the house was built, tradition had it, came from England, but that is hardly possible, as elegant bricks were manufactured in this country at that time—in the seventeen forties—and the best of clay is found in that locality, where signs of a brick-yard can now be found. ”

“ That all elections ought to be free; and that all men having sufficient evidence of permanent common interest with, and attachment to, the community have the right of suffrage and cannot be taxed or deprived of their property for public uses, without their own consent or that of their representatives so elected, nor bound by any law to which they have not, in like manner, assented for the public good. ”

“ More men fell in the battles of this one small county during the Civil war than Great Britain has lost in all her wars of a century; and more men were killed and wounded in four hours at the battle of Fredericksburg than Great Britain had lost in killed, wounded and prisoners in her eight months' war in South Africa.
When the fog lifted its curtain from the bleak plains about Fredericksburg on the morning of December 13, 1862, the sun flashed down on a spectacle of terrible moral sublimity ! ”

“ If the morals and correct lives of the people of a town are to be judged by the number of churches within its borders, giving due consideration to the number of inhabitants, the people of Fredericksburg would be rated with the best. One of the first things that received the attention of the founders of the town, under the charter granted by the House of Burgesses in 1727, was the building of a house of worship and its dedication to the service of the Almighty, and since that time Fredericksburg has been blessed with regular divine services. ”

“ The ladies, standing in groups along the streets, found it difficult to repress their exultation. Glad to be relieved of the presence of the enemy, and to be freed from the restraints of their power; glad to be once more within Southern lines, and to be brought into communication with their own dear people; but the great gladness was that the evacuation of Fredericksburg showed that the enemy had been defeated on the upper line and could no longer hold the line of the Rappahannock river. ”

“ The very name—Liberty Bell—is music to our ears, and the mention of it should fill the breast of every true American with patriotic enthusiasm. That bell hung over a hall in Philadelphia in 1776, in which the Continental Congress had met to consider the momentous question that was then stirring every patriotic heart—American freedom. ”

“ At that place hundreds of others joined the procession, including the volunteer companies from Fredericksburg, and thus he and his party—his son George Washington and Colonel La Vasseur—were escorted to town by hundreds of mounted men and men on foot, with martial music, amid the grandest display and wildest enthusiasm on the part of the people. He received a welcome to the town no less cordial and sincere than was accorded to Green and Washington, because the liberty, so highly prized and gratefully enjoyed by them, was not achieved by Green and Washington without the aid of Lafayette. ”

“ To all true hearted women and men, who would rescue from oblivion the memory of the brave, who died in defence of home and country, we present this appeal:— The stern pressure of military necessity made it impossible, properly, to care for the remains of the gallant dead who fell on the bloody fields of Fredericksburg, Wilderness, Chancellorsville, Spotsylvania Courthouse and in scores of skirmishes which, in a war less terrible, would have been reckoned as battles. ”

“ The arrows of Mosco at the first made them pause upon the matter, thinking by his bruit and skipping, there were many savages. About half an hour this continued, then they all vanished as suddenly as they approached. Mosco followed them so far as he could see us, till they were out of sight. As we returned there lay a savage as dead, shot in the knee; but taking him up we found he had life: which Mosco seeing, never was dog more furious against a bear, than Mosco was to beat out his brains. ”

“ When the news of the battle of Lexington, and of the removal of the powder, reached Fredericksburg, great excitement prevailed. Over six hundred men armed themselves, from the town and surrounding country, assembled at the Courthouse in town and offered their services to George Washington, who was then in Williamsburg, to defend that city from Lord Dunmore's threatened attack, and the country from his tyranny. After assembling they dispatched delegates to Richmond and Williamsburg to ascertain the condition of affairs and to what point they should report for duty. ”

“ It is true that those who estimate a place solely by the number of industrial enterprises which it encourages, or the amount of traffic which comes to it, would not rank Fredericksburg as highly as some of the more busy or bustling towns of other parts of the country, but those who recognize other agencies besides water wheels and steam engines, and other earthly products, besides dry goods, groceries and general merchandise, will find much here to admire and interest them. ”

“ The reunion of the Society of the Army of the Potomac at Fredericksburg is of peculiar significance, and the generous Sentiment which prompted the invitation, meets with a hearty response from every patriotic soldier of that great army. Every animosity engendered by the conflict is here buried with the more than one hundred and twenty thousand gallant men who shed their blood and sacrificed their lives in their heroic devotion to conviction and to duty. ”

“ That a well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, trained to arms, is the proper, natural and safe defence of a free people; that standing armies, in times of peace, should be avoided, as dangerous to liberty; and that in all cases, the military should be under strict subordination to, and governed by, the civil power.
14. That the people have a right to uniform government; and therefore that no government separate from, or independent of, the government of Virginia, ought to be erected or established within the limits thereof. ”

“ Mellin Chamberlain, late Librarian of Congress, in calm judicial tone, has declared, 'I do not suppose there is the least doubt that Maury was the greatest man America has ever produced.'
"A bill to honor Commodore Maury, with an appropriate monument, lies mouldering in the archives of Congress. It will some day see the light. During the last years of Maury's life the smoke of a great conflict gathered about him and hid his face from the National Government; but the smoke is fast lifting, and the healthy breezes of a great national fraternity will soon blow it far away. ”

“ Among those who had taken a most active part in moulding public sentiment was Thomas Jefferson, who, because of his extreme views in antagonizing every element of English ideas, and its government as based upon an aristocracy, has sometimes been called the 'Great Commoner.' Whether he, more than others, who were upon the stage of action at that time, is entitled to the name, those who know his history must be the judge ”

“ No grander, no more beautiful, no more splendid expression of the very highest type of manhood could be found than was found in the life of the private soldier of both or either army; and when the war ended, with them verily it ended, and they all joined hands in a fraternity of comradeship which was well exhibited by that private soldier of your army who ministered to my necessities and cheered me in my sadness as I sat under the very shadow of defeat and amidst the gloom of surrender at Appomattox. ”

“ For those who would derive comfort from inhaling the pure, fresh air of the morning or evening in a drive, on horse-back or on a bicycle, can find on the avenue and boulevard beautifully graded drives, and a variety of scenes which are ever pleasing to the eye, while the beautiful sun risings and settings, and the deep blue sky above rival in grandeur and sublimity those of far-off Italy. ”

“ That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights of which when they enter into a state of society, they cannot, by any compact, deprive or divest their posterity; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety. ”

“ Some one writing of our water-power some years ago said: "The water-power of the Rappahannock river at Fredericksburg, made available by the erection of a magnificent dam, has been harnessed for work to some extent, but not yet to its full capacity." That this is true is a pity, but that it will not long be true is a blessing. The old dam, which gave us only five thousand horse-power, is rapidly yielding to the touch of time, and already another is in course of construction that will be more substantial and give us more power than the present dam gives at its best. ”

“ This is an epitome of the Constitution of the United States, by virtue of which the government has been maintained to the present time; and the principles laid down therein were, to a very large extent, the suggestions of the men we have mentioned from the locality of Fredericksburg. The Republic based upon this Constitution was an experiment, but it has, for more than a century, withstood the most terrific shocks of the most troublous times. It has waged foreign wars successfully; wild party spirit has always been foiled in efforts to undermine it ”

“ We not only welcome you with open arms and glowing hearts, but we feel that this action on your part rises to the dignity of an impressive epoch in our national life; and we are not surprised that our illustrious President, and all these distinguished men, should desire to grace this inspiring occasion with their presence.
It is the first time that your society has held one of its annual reunions on southern soil, and, in making this new departure, it was preeminently fit that you should honor Fredericksburg with your choice. ”

“ George Washington, Richard Henry Lee, James Madison, Patrick Henry, John Blair, George Wythe, Edmund Randolph, and George Mason, the deputies appointed by Virginia to frame the Federal Constitution, were natives of this territory.
"The inspiration given to the men of the age when our constitution was framed, was a wonder to the world. No nation had ever attempted by a written paper to provide a fundamental basis for government to last for all time and to provide for every emergency which might arise. ”

“ The City Mission was organized on the 14th of March, 1901, mainly through the efforts of Rev. W. D. Smith, rector of St. George's church, and Mrs. J. B. Ficklen. It has been quite an active society and much good has resulted from its labors. The main object of the society is to afford relief to the destitute of the town, especially the sick, and as it is composed altogether of benevolent and kind hearted ladies, we know, from this and their splendid labors in the past, that their mission will be well performed. They do more than look after the sick. ”

“ If the South was, by a wise providence, denied in that grand struggle the honor of final triumph, her people to-day share equally with the victors of that day the glorious fruits of their victory in a more perfect and indissoluble union of indestructible States, under that superlative symbol of a world-power—the glorious Stars and Stripes. ”

“ Can any man of ancient or modern times fail to pronounce Washington peerless?' These comparisons, which are so strange to our ears, and which sound stranger still when used in comparison with Washington, show that his name has reached further than we can comprehend."
Speaking of the Declaration of Independence, Gen. Dabney Herndon Maury says:
[1] ' From beginning to end it was the work of Virginia. A Virginia planter (Mason) conceived it; a Virginia lawyer (Jefferson) drafted it; and a Virginia soldier (Washington) defended it and made it a living reality." ”

“ And yet, with all these advantages, pointing out Fredericksburg as a most desirable place for her educational, industrial, commercial and residential advantages, its prosperity is not what it should be; but with a full development of all her varied facilities which we trust will be done in the near future and which can be done if our people will work harmoniously, we may hope for more prosperous days; for—
"Reason's whole pleasure—all the joys of sense—
Lie in three words—Health, Peace and Competence." ”

“ I was an humble private soldier in the Confederate army, and I am proud here to proclaim that I was a follower of the peerless and illustrious Lee, but I stand here to pay my loving tribute to the private soldier of both armies. His splendid achievements, grand heroism, unfaltering loyalty and unflinching bravery, have no parallel in all time. ”

“ And now, to-night, at this reunion, in this presence, let me urge, as the shibboleth, the motto of both armies, to be our inspiration in peace, our rallying cry, if needs be, in war, this: "Whom God hath joined together let no party, no people and no power put asunder." ”

“ It was the brilliant prowess of the Confederate army on the battlefields of Spotsylvania that shed such dazzling lustre on the Union arms at Gettysburg. If we should blot out the battlefields of Spotsylvania, we should rob Gettysburg of all its glory ”

“ For our great race, when vanquished by itself, proudly rears its crest unconquered and sublime !
One of those memorable struggles closed at Yorktown, where colonial dependence perished, national independence was secured and our great republic born. The other closed at Appomattox, where the doctrine of secession and the institution of slavery perished and a more perfect union than our fathers made was established.
Secession and slavery perished on Virginia soil, and her people. though impoverished by the loss of the latter, have shed no tears over the grave of these dead issues ”