The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1877-05-09
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Jefferson Davis.

sion OIL tue recent excursion to New
Orleans: 49,.
Mr.. Chairman and Members of the Lee
Association, Ladies and Gentlemen ::
l am deeply sensible of the honor
you have conferred upon me BY this
visit, and gratefully recognize the
kindness which has prompted the
complimentary expressions of your
orator. Not the less so because | feel
that they very far exceed any merits
which the unprecedented would ascribe
to ne.
Believe me, l am the more proud
of this, as it is the manifestation of
a more rare virtue in the people
have served to the best of ny abili-
ty. Never before in the history of
man has there been, so far as / know
an instance in which fallen chief
was followed with more affectionate
devotion than his associates had felt
towards him in the days Of his pow
err. For q people capable of such
ma nanimity, his would indeed be a
tame spirit who did not feel it to be a
glory to have suffered.
You have passed through q terri
bic ordeal Of deprivation, of wrong,
and injustice; and you have borne it
with fortftude only equalled by the
galiantry displayed in your desper-
ate effort TO maintain q cause which
has been crushed, but not DESTROYED
for it was the cause of Truth, which
is eternal; and with all these sad
memories clustering around you, You
come, MOTTO upbraid me as response
BILE 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 10 this a solace for all its disap-
pointmcnts and consolation for it's
ruined hopes.
From the bottom Of my heart !
thank you. Though the silver lin
ing of the cloud be but family dis
cernible, yet be not dismayed' But
that | need 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 for
which you 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-
ciatel, sooner or later for your $50
riGreS we're made foy Con9&tNtioRGl
Liberty; and those who died brave! y
though they fell ytioiy, are not to be
reckoncd as tie mot unfortunate
for, whether bearing a sabre or 4
musket, whether on the batlse-G Geld
OF upon tie vessels deck, the proper
place for man to die is where he dies
for man.
For the honor of the comrades,
whose untinely deaths you mourn,
for the respect due to the cause yon
loved, for the pride you feel in your
ancestry, for the hopes You cherish
tor your posterity, les not your eyes
revert constantly to the past, but,
confronting the present and looking
periodically on to the future, let
your efforts be made to repair what
has been injured and to build again
higher and broader, on more solid
foundation, the temple Of human lib.
city, after the model left you by
your fathers.
You engaged in no war for section
al ACCOMPLISHMENT, you fought no
battles for personal advantage,
you were prompted by no NAL
ice, and your knightly escutcheon is
tarnished by no sordid hate or desire
for mean revenge. The war left you
stripped of all save honor, and your
chivalry was as incapable of inilict
ING wrong as it WAS of submitting to
it tamely, The Past demands then
knightly generosity and faithful Gle
votion to the principles you inherited
from revolutionary sires, and which
YOU Will hest bless mankind by trans
hitting unchangedto your posterity.
Thrice and four times am thankful
for the indications which the day
brings to US Of the revival ofthe spi-
rit in which our Union was founded,
from which our prosperity springs,
and upon which its perpetuity must
surely depend.
I had not expected to do more than
simply to return my thanks to you.
1t would be in vain for me to at