The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-05-09
THE CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL.
jefferson Davis Speak In Fit
ting Terms of our Confederate Dead.

Er-President jefferson Davis Speak In Fit.
ting Terms of our Confederate Dead.
The following letter, addressed to q
committee of citizens, was read at the
memorial celebration in Macon, Ga, on
the 26th instant: y..-..
MISSISSIPPI CITY, April II, 1878.
GENTLEMEN sincerely regret my in
ability to be present at the laying of the
corner stone of "a monument to be erec.
ted at Macon, Ga, in honor of our. dead
Confederate soldiers" The event pos.
sesses every attraction to me; it is in.
spired by the Ladies' Memorial Associa.
ton the monument is to be located in
the keystone State of the Confederate
arch and to commemorate the sacrifices
of those who died in the defense of ouI
inherited and "inalienable" rights.
What though we were oyerborne by
numbers, and accessories not less ETH
cient, truth is not to be measured by sue
cess in maintaining it against force MOI
is the glory less of him who upholds it in
the face of unequal odds, but is it not
rather more to his credit that he counted
all else as dust in the balance when
weighed with honor and duty? On
many stricken. field our soldiers stood
few and faint, but fearless still, for they
wore the panoply Of unquestioning con.
fidence in the rectitude of their cause,
and knew how to die but not to surren.
der. Let not any OF their survivors i'm
pugn their faith by offering the peniten-
tial plea that "'they believed they were
right" Be it ours TO transmit to posteri-
ty our unequiyocal testimony to the JUS
tice of their convictions, to their virtues,
and the sanctity Of the motives by which
they were actuated.
1t is meet that this monument should
have originated with the ladies of the
land, whose selfdenial was conspicuous
through all the trials and suferings OF
war, whose gentle ministrations in the
hospital, and at way.side refectories, so
largely contributed to relieve the sick
and the wounded, and whose unfaltering
devotion to their colntry's cause in the
darkest hours of our struggle illustrated
the fidelity of the sex which was last al
the cross and first at the sepulekEe.
I am profoundly thankful to them for
inviting me 20 represent them, as their
orator, on the approaching occasion.
Had it been practicable 70 accept, their
request would have been, to me, COM
mand, obeyed with no other reluctance
than the consciousness of inability to do
justice to The theme. Thanks to the
merits of our Confederate dead, they need
neither orator nor lard to commend their
deeds to the present. generation of their
countrymen. Many fell far from home
and kindred, and sleep in unmarked
graves; but s.ll are gathered in the love
OF those for whom they died, and their
memories are hallowed in the hearts oi
all true ConfedeIates. 2'' F'So,o
BY the pious efforts of eur people,
many humble cerneteries,- such as, in
their impogerishment, were possible,
have been prepared, and the Confederate
dead have been collected in them from
neighboring battle fields. There an
nually, with reVerential affection, the
graves, alike of the known and the un.
known, are decked with vernal flowers,
expressive of gratitude renewable for
ever, and typical of the hope Of resur.
rection and reunion where the wicked
cease from troubling and the weary are
at rest. 81 I.
To be remembered, honored, beloved
by their people is the reward bestowed
on our Confederate dead. 1t is the high
est which a good and purely patriotic
man could desire. Should it be asked,
why then build this monument? the an.
swer is, they do not need it, but pos,
terity may. 1t is not their reward, but
our debt. If the greatest gift hero
gives his race is 10 have been hero, in
order that this gift may be utilized to
coming generations, its appreciation by
contemporaries should be rendered as
visible and enduring as possible. Let
the monument, rising from earth toward
heaven, lift the minds of those who come
after us to higher standard than the
common test of success. Let it teach
that man is born for duty, not for expe.
diency; that when an attack is made on
the community To which he belongs, by
which he is protected, and 70 which his
allegiance is due, his first obligation is
to defend that community; and that
under such conditions it is better to have
!. Fought and lost than never to have
fought at ALL" Let posterity learn by
this monument that you commemorate
men who died in Il defensive war thai
they did not, az has been idly stated
submit to the arlitrament of arms the
question at issus-questions which in.
volved the inalisnable rights inherited
from their ancestors and held in trust fol
their posterity-but that they strove tt
maintain the State sovereignty which
their fathers left them, and which it wa'
their duty if possible to transmit to theil
children.
Away, then, with such feeble excuse
for the abandonment of principles which
may be crushed for awhile, but which
possessing the eternal vitality of truth
must in its own good time prevail ovel
perishable error.
Let this monument teach that heroisn
derives its lustre from the justice of the
cause in which il is displayed, and let i
mark the difference between war wagee
for the robber-Gke purpose of conques
and one to repel invasion-to defend
peoples hearths and altars and to main
tain their laws and liberties. Such wa:
the war in which our heroes fell, ane
theirs is the crown which sparkles with
the gems Of patriotism and righteousness
with glory un1immed by any motive
of aggrandisement or intent to infic
ruin on others. We present them tt
posterity as examples to be followed, ane
wait securely for the verdict of mankind
when knowledge shall have dispellet
misrepresentation and delusion. Is il
unreasonable to hope that mature reaec
ton and closer study of the politica
history of the Union may yet restore tht
rights prostrated by the passions devel
oped in our long and bloody war? If
however, it sholld be otherwise, ther
from our heroes graves shall come il
mournful tones the
ANSWER fit:
And if our children must obey,
They must, but thinking on our day,
l,J,S,