New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1875-06-27
THE DAVIS HOMESTEAD.

WI was ceIeDratlug Tue DhtCAe VI OuAns
Hill, Marshall, Texas, saw another sigh
| Marshall was the scene of q grand mas
meeting, having for its object the faisin
OF a fund for establishing home i
J Texas for Jefferson Davis. The money
to be raised by subscription, and the pla
was inaugurated by the ladies. To thi
there can be no political objection. W
; are ready to believe that Mr.. Davis is
poor man, for the poor We have with u
always. Separated from the history O
the rebellion, We believe Mr.. Davis to b
moral man and an upright churcl
member Of Memphis. The insurance
companies have done something for him
along with other Confederates. and nigh
do more. Seriously, if we were Of tn
Confederate Persuasion. we should no
want our hero to be pensioned off in tina
way by Texas almsdeed. The pride O
Mississippians should prevent it. 4 1.-THE
OF the money spent in keeping up thu
color line and sectional strife in Missis
sippi would purchase for Mr.. Davis hi
old homestead. now owned by coloret
man, and there among those who ha6
loved him when he represented them in 8
Congress OF the United States. before
ambition to become the head Of seces
sion Confederacy had seized him, he could
end his days in peace. We write feelingly
and earnestly about this. and would con.
! tribute to fund to keep Mr.. Davis in
Mississippi. He could do no harm there,
and the people Of Mississippi would dc
themselves infinite credit by cherishing
him in age and giving him succor in his
declining years. Bad as the Indians have
been since the progress of civilization in
America. it can not be forgotten that they
were once the lords of the land, and there
is something sad in seeing them con-
tinually driven toward the setting sun.
We would save Mr.. Davis from such o
fate. and from Texas. Right among his
own people should he find home.
We are willing to blot from memory the
personal record of Mr.. Davis from the
year 1860 to the close OF the rebellion. Let
him be as if the war had no! been. and let
him begin anew. 1t was something Of this
feeling that caused Henry Ward Beecher
70 plead so strongly in his behalf. and it
was such spirit Of forgiveness that
prompted Horace Greeley, the ablest
Abolitionist Of the North. to put his name
on the prisoners bond. Let Mr.. Davis be
regarded for what he was before the war.
He can stand upon that. and there are
Northern and Western men who would
subscribe 10 fund for making him a
home in Mississippi. The solicitors in
Texas pursue different course. They
propose to do good to Mr.. Davis for the
good he did to the Confederacy. Mr.. Rea-
gan in his speech at Marshall rehearsed
the services of Mr.. Davis as Confederate
chieftain, his suferings and his poverty at
the close Of the war. The letter of Mr..
Hearsey. of tie Shreveport Times, read at
the mass meeting was in the same strain,
concluding as follows:
Ihad thought at one time to suggest that
Louisiana contribute to your fund, but,
perhaps. she has no right to do SO. Texas.
grandest OF the Southern States, has iuau.
gurated this movement, and ali the honor
and glory should be hers. But, sir, when
your people shall have accomplished their
most noble and generous work trust Lou.
isiana and all OF the Southern States will
\
piness of the grand old Confederate chief.
and testify their pride in his career and
their appreciation of his service. and sacri.
fees in defense OF the great principle of
States rights. which is the life of constitu.
tional liberty.
When it comes to rewarding men for
what they sacrificed. suffered and accom-.
plished in the Confederate cause, there
will be found plenty Of men more de-
serving than Jefferson Davis. In saying
this we but echo the sentiments Of many
who fought on the Southern side. Mr..
Davis is endowed with great ability: he is
able to conduct large business enterprises;
be is able to write. to travel, to make
speeches in Texas. and in many other ways
to earn comfortable living. But the
MANNED private soldier. who had nothing !
but his strong limbs to keep him from
oenury. who cares what he suffered or what |
becomes of him? Every Southern city has
is crippled Confederate soldiers who are
obliged to ask for aims. and they oftener
get cold refusal than the smallest sum
If money. The eloquent empty sleeve
hangs by their side, or they stump upon
he rudest sort Of al artificial leg; for
ears they wore the little faded gray
ackets, having no means to buy other
iothing. Remembering the generals
whose precious lives were spared to
write letters and disturb the peace, who
. there that remembers the private SOL
ier: Who ever heard of monument
eing erected to the memory of man who
ent bullets to the enemy? Fame is re.
erved for the men who stood useless in
ear of the gunners. holding swords. Who
yer heard Of private at a soldiers re-
MON: There are no such persons around
he later day mimic camp fires, where the
'eapons are words and the glory belongs
, the colonel. What were the sufferines
Mr.. Davis. who run away. compared
18th those of the MANNED soldiers who
ought his battles? Sentimentality is un-
s!iable. and always overlooks the real
eroes. Mr.. Davis deserves a farm in
exas. even if for nothing more than ser
ces rendered in the earlier days of that
Iate. EyerxhOdy acknowledges that and |