The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1878-05-08
RY President Davis Patriotic Letter.
EEead on Memorial Day at Macon,
Georgia

1 Macon Telegraph and Messenger, "A
MISSISSIPPI CITY, Miss, April 18th,
lS1o-GENTLEMEN: | sincerely regret my
inability to be present at the laying of the
corner stone of : a monument TO be cree
ted at Macon, Ca, 10 honor of our dead
Confederate soldiers
The event possesses every attraction to
me; it is inspired by the Ladies Memorial
Associations; the monument is to be loca-
ted IN the key stone State of the Confed-
crate arch and to commemorate the sac
rifices of those who died in the defense of
our inherited and ''inalienable" rights.
What though We were overborne by
numbers, and accessories not less efficient,
truth Is not be measured by success In
maintaining it against force; nor is the
glory less of him who upholds it in the
face of unequaled odds, but is it not rath
er more to his credit that he counted all
else as dust in the balance when weighed
with honor and duty. On many a strick-
en- field our soldiers stood few and faint,
but fearless still, for they wore the pano-
ply OF unquestioning confidence in the
rectItude of their cause, and knew how to
die but not to surrender. Let not any of
their survivors iInpugn their faith by of
terlng the penitential plea that they be
Ileved that they were right"
Be it ours to transmit to pOsterity our
unequlvocal testimony to the justice of
their convictions, to their virtues, and
the sanctity of the motive by which they
were actuated.
1t is meet that this monument should
have originated with the ladies Of the
land, whose self denial was conspicuous
through all the trials and sufferings of
war, whose gentle ministrations in the
hospitals, and at way side refectories, SO
largely contributed to relieve the sick and
wounded, and whose unfaltering devo-
ton to their country's cause in the dark
est 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
inviting me to represent them, as their
orator, on the approaching occasion. Had
1t been practica BILE to accept, their request
would have been to me, a command, obey
cd with no other reluctance, than the
consciousness of inability to do justice to
the theme.
Thanks to the merits of our Confeder
ate dead, they need neither orator nor
bard to commend their deeds to the pres
ent generation 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 memories are halIow-
ed in the hearts of all true Confederates.
BY the pious efforts of our people, many
humble cemeteries, such as, impover-
ishment, were possible, have been pre-
pared, and the Confederate dead have
been collected in them from neigh
boring battle fields. There annually,
with reverential affection, the graves,
alike of the known and unknown, are
decked with vernal flowers, expressive
of gratitude renewable forever, and
typical of the hope of a 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 monument? the a 1swer is, they
do not need it, but posterity may. 1t is
! not their reward, but our debt. If the
greatest gift hero gives his race, is to
| 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 u.s. to higher STAN
dard than the common test of success
| Let it teach that man is born for duty,
I mr. for hot
is made on the community to which he
belongs, by which he is protected, and to
which his allegiance is due, his first OBJ
legation is to defend that community; and
that under such conditions it is better to
have fought and lost, than to never have
fought at all. Let posterity learn by
this monument that you commemorate
men who died in defensive war; that
they did not, as has been idly stated, sub
nit to the arbitrament of arms the ques
tons at issue-questiOns which involved
the inalienable rights inherited from
their ancestors, and held in trust for their
| posterity; but that they strove to maintain
the State sovereignty which their Fathers
left them, and which it was their duty if
possible to transmit to their children
Away then with such feeble excuse for
the abandonment of principles, which may
be crushed for while, but which possess
ing the eternal vitality of truth must in
its own good time prevail over perish
BILE error.
Let this monument teach that heroiam
| derives its lustre from the justice of the
cause in which it is displayed, and let it
mark the difference between a war waged
for the robber-like purpose of conquest,
and one to repel invasion--to defend a
peoples hearths and affairs, and to main
tain their laws and liberties. Such was
the war in which our heroes fell, and
theirs is the crown which sparkles with
the gems of patriotism and righteousness,
with a glory undimmed by any mo
tive Of ACKNOWLEDGEMENT or intent to intllct
ruin on others. We present them tc
posterity as examples to be followed, and
wait securely for the verdict of m ankind
when knowledge shall have dispelled
misrepresentation delusion. 1t is unrea
sonable to hope that mature reflection
and closer study of the political history
of the Union, may yet restore the right!
Frustrated by the passions developed il
our long and bloody wars If, however
it should be otherwise, then from oul
heroes graves shall come in mournfu
tones the
s'Answer tit,
And If our children must obey,
They m ust, but thinking on our day,
Twill less debase them to submit"
Yours, faithfully.
TrI- IA