Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1877-05-17
iEX-Presd't. Davis Makes a Speech
to a Mobile Association.
FROM Tie Ncw orleans Times


The following remarks were made
by the Hon. Jefferson Davis to the
Lee Association of Mobile, on the
occasion of the recent excursion to
this city:
Mr.. Chairman and Mem5ers of The
Lee Association Ladies and Gentle
men--I am deeply sensible Of the
honor you have conferred upon me
b tlial has prompted tie
Complimentary expressions Of your
orator. Not the less SO because l
feel that they very far exceed any
merits which the unprejudiced would
ascribe to me.
Believe M, am the more proud
o. this, as it is the manifestation of a
more rare virtue in the people have
served to the best of my ability.
Never before in the history Of man
has there been, so far as know, an
instance in which a fallen chief was
followed with more affeciionate devo-
ton than his associates had felt to-
wards him in the days of his power.
For people capable OF such magma
nimity, his would indeed be tame
spirit who did not feel it to be glo.
ry to have suffered.
We have passed through terrible
ordeal Of deprivation, Of wrong and
injustice; and you lave borne it
with fortitude only eqnaled by the
gallantry displayed in your desperate
sffort 10 maintain cause which has
been crushed, but not destroyed, for
it was the cause Of truth, which is
eternal; and with all these sad mem.
ories clustering around you, you came,
not to upbraid me as responsible for
your disasters, but to shield me in the
depths of my adversely with the
warm covering Of your hearts best
affections. Cold indeed would be the
nature which did not find in this a
solace for all its disappointments, and
consolation for its ruined hopes.
From the bottom Of my heart I
thank you. Thodgh the silver lining
of the cloud be but family discerni:
bic, yet be not dismayed. But that
I reed not say to men who never feel
any other fear than that of doing
wrong. Then let me say rather, : Be
not without hope" The cause Tor
whichsyou struggled was that Of JUS
tice and of truth. The triumphs Of
these may be postponed, but in The
ordering of Providence must come at
last. Your motives must be appre-
ciated, sooner or later, for your sucri-
fees were made for constitutional lib
ery; and those who died bravely,
though they fell vainly, are not to be
reckoned as the most u fortunate
for, whether bearing a sabre or mus
lke; whether on the battls, field or
upon the vessels d ok, the proper
pIace for man to die is where he dies
for man. ali
For the honor Of the comrades
whose untimely deaths you mourn,
forthe respect due to the cause you
,lovtd, for the pride you feel in your
ancestry, for the hopes you cherish
for four posterity, let not your eyes
revert constantly to the past; but,
confronting the present and looking
periodically on to the future, let
lyour efforts be made to repair what
ha, been injured, and to build again,
higher and broader, or more solid
foundation, the temple Of human lib
lerty, after the model left you by
your fathers.
You engaged in no war for section
al aggrandiaement; you fought no
battles for personal advantage; you
were prompted by no malice, and
your knightly escutcheon.is tarnished
'by no sordid hate. or desire for mean
revenge. Thewar left you stripped
Of all save honor, and your chivalry
was as incapable Of inAicting wrong
as it was Of submitting to il; tamfel,y. 2,
Tie past demands, then, knightly
generosity md faithful devotion to
the, principles youinherited from rev.
3olutionary sires,. and which you will
ibest bless mankind by transmitting
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