Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 23.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

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[364] Every spot is sacred, every room is hallowed. If these walls could but speak what tales of joy and anxiety, happiness and woe they would unfold. In their massiveness they stand indeed as a memorial to the great man who once occupied them, and in their stateliness as a reminder of the lofty character of the beloved chief magistrate of the short-lived but glorified and immortalized Confederacy.

But while the tendrils of all our hearts entwine his historic structure, there is no lingering feeling of bitterness engendered by internecine strife in our breasts. Neither are we engaged in this work in any spirit of disloyalty to our reunited land. Oh, no. We are one people under the aegis of one flag, affirming allegiance to one constitution, worshipping at one altar, and moving forward to one goal. While we have no retractions to make, no recantations to sing, while we intend ever to be true to ourselves, to our martyred dead and our heroes, dead and living, to our traditions and civilization, to everything that characterized a brave and chivalrous race, we proclaim ourselves loyal sons and daughters of this Union.

I must now discharge a duty which has been assigned me. I must perform a task which, though pleasant, will be labor lost. I have the honor of introducing to you a gentleman who needs no introduction to a Richmond or Virginia audience—the distinguished soldier and honored citizen, General Bradley T. Johnson, who will address you.