Daily Kennebec journal., 1878-04-30
The Voice of the Solid South.

OF Jefferson DAVIS 10 the meUoIldi AsSo-
citation at Macon, Georgia. Before the
bold utterances of the rebel chieitan tho de-
ceptiye speeches of the Lamars and Cor
dons are but as chaff They speak with
forked tongues, but when he speaks he
reveals the very soul of the South, Its IN
most thought aud feeling. They speak
from policy. he speaks his honest senti-
ments. Their words are for northern
market, his are for the South. They
would make the North believe that the
South has so far embraced the gospel of
Cancellation that it may be trusted with
the control of the government which it
shed its blood freely to destroy; but Da-
Wis shows us an unrepentant South, glory
ing in the great crime which it committed
and holding solidly together to maintain
at the ballot-box the principle for which
it took up arms in 1861.
Since the last guu of the rebellion was
fred there has not been more defiant
voice from the South than this letter con-
tains.
The arch-rebel wants to hear no "peni-
tential plea from any OF the survivors OF
the struggle against their country ''that
they believed they were right" Such
plea might imply possibility that they
were wrong. Let posterity learn by
this monument" he says. THAT you com
memorate men who died in deJensire
Uar;" as though the Confederates were
not the aggressors in the late war, though
thev took State after State out of the
Union as far as the passage of secession
ordinances could do it, raised armies,
stole forts. arsenals, guns, ammunition and
other property OF the umted States, and
fred upon the Union flag. while the gov
ernment was endeavorng to 'conciiate"
and turn them from their mad and wicked
purpose and before gun had been fred
on the Union side or an order issued to
prepare the country for war They
"strove for the State Sovereignty which
their fathers left them yes, for the great
heresy used to prop up the accursed insti-
tuition of Human Slavery the same which
the South is now employing to control
the ballot in every Southern State and
Congressional District in favor OF the
democratic party, to the end that it may
rule this government with absolute sway
in 1881.
But the sublimity of southern impu-
dence is not reached until the next SEN
tence. in which the Confederate leader
says: 'Let this monument teach that her
oism derives its lustre from the justice Of
the cause in which it is displayed, and let
it mark the difference between war
waged for the robber-iike purpose Of con-
quest, and one to repel inuasion to defend
a peoples hearths and altars, and to
maintain their laws and liberties" The
Justice which there was in a cause that was
the blacklist treason only the microscopic
eye of a southern traitor can discover. And
what audacious Justification it is to liken
the Union war-sacredly waget for the
preservation of the free institutions
of this country and which led the
bondmen of the South as Moses led the
Israslites, from Slavery to Freedom
to a war for the "robber-like purpose
of conquest" while the war on the rebel
side. wsged without cause, begun by the
Confederates after years of preparation,
deliberate. aggressive, aiming at nothing
less than the destruction of the best gov
ernment on the face of the earth, is pro-
nounced only war "to repel invasion ~
"Such was the war in which our heroes
FELL" says Jefferson Davis, "and this is
the crown which sparkles with the gems
of patriotism and Righteousness. &c.
Heaven help this country if it ever puts
its trust in such patriotism" and
righteousness" as the Confederates
displayed in the rebellion. If that were
patriotism, then it is patriotic to fight
against ones country and treason to fight
for it; if theirs was righteousness, then
Andersonville and Libby Prison were holy
places and Moloch is the God worshpped
in the South.
But democrats and dough-iace republ..
cans will say that it is of no consequence
what Jefferson Davis says, that he Is a
disappointed old man with no influence.
and nobody will heed his words. Unfor-
tunately facts do not agree with this view.
He must be regarded as of considerable
Importance In the South or he would not
have been invited to deliver the address
upon the occasion for which his letter was
prepared. His sentiments meet with the
warmest approval by the Southern pa
pers. They agree with what we know of
the opinions of the mass of the Southern
people. No Senator or Representative in
Congress from the South dare rise in his
place and disown this letter, or say dis
respectful word of the man who wrote it.
he