The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-05-02
MEMORIAL DAY IN MACON.
Ex-pres'dcnt Davis Letter ON tie Con-
Tolerate mead.
TMnCNm Tnlngraph. I

Col. J. =. Fort introduced Mr. ]. L. Sauls-
bury Jr., the gentleman selected to read the
letter Of eN-Presidnnt Jefferson Davis. Mr.,
salisbury rose and in an eloquent manner
read one Of the grandest letters ever penned
by human hand. Tho selection Of the reader
was peculiarly felicitous. In a voice modu-
lated to great perfection and in a manner
which showed how deeply the reader felt the
sentiments of glowing patriotism Of the great
ex-presdent of the Confederacy, Mr.. s. exc
cuted the trust assigned.
The letter was read as follows
LETTER FROM PRESIDENT JEFFERSON DAVIS.
MISSISSIPPI CITY, Miss, April II, 1873.
Gentlemen-I sincerely regret my inability
to be present at the laying of the cornerstone
of "a monument to be erected Mt Macon, Ga,
in honor of our dead ConfeCerates soldiers
The event possesses every attraction to me !,
it is inspired by the Ladies' Memorial Assoc
citation 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 our inherited and ''in-
alenable" rights.
What though we We're overborne by num-
bers, and accessories not less efficient, truth
is not to be measured by success in main
tanning 1t against force; nor is the glory less
of him who uphodS 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 a stricken field our soldiers stood few
panopy Of unquestionng confidence in the
rectitude of their cause and knew how to die
but not to surrender. Let not any of their
survivors iMpugn their faith by offering the
penitcntial plea that they believed they We're
right
Be IL ours to transmit to posterty our I'M
equivocal testimony to the justice 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
Self-denia was conspicuous through all the
trials and sutferings of ar,whose gentle min
istrations in hospitals and at waysde Iefec-
tories so largely contributed to relieve the
sick and wounded, and whose unfaterng de-
votion to their country's cause in the darkest
hours of our struggle illustrated the fidelity
OF the sex which was last at the cross and
first at the sepulchre.
| am profoundly thankful to them for in
viting me to represent Them as their orator
on the approaching occasion. Had 1t been
practicable to accept, their request would
have been to me command, obcyed with no
other reluctance than the consciousness of in
ability to do justice to the theme.
Thanks to the merits of our Confederate
dead, they need neither orator nor bard to
commend their deeds to the present genera
ton of their countrymen. Many fell far from
home and kindred, and sleep in unmarked
graves; but all are gathered in the love of
those for whom they died, and their memo
ries are hallowed i'll the hearts of all true
AOnledefateS.
BY the pous effort Of our people, many
humble cemeteries, such as in their impover-
ishment, We're possible. have been prepared.
and the Confederate dead have been collected
in them from neighboring hattletields. There
annually, with reverential affection, the
graves, alike of the known and the unknown
are decked with vernal flowers expressive of
gratitude renewable forever and typical of
the hope of Il resurrection and reunion where
the wicked cease from troubling and the
weary are at rest.
To be remembered, honored, beloved by
their people is the reward bestowed on our
Confederate dead. 1t is the highest which a
good and purely patriotic man could desire
Should it be asked, why then. build this mon
ument the answer is. they do not need it,
but posterity may 1t is not their reward, but
our debt. If the greatest gift a hero gives his
race is To have been hero in order that this
gift may be utilized to coming generators its
appreciation by contemporaries should be
rendered as visible and enduring as possible
Let the monum mt rising from earth toward
heaven, lift he 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 eXpediency; that when an attack
is made on the community to which he be-
longs, by which he is protected, and to 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