The Brookhaven ledger. (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1875-1883, 1878-07-25
DAVIS
Is Presen ted with n Gold badge
and CertIlicaseOf Nembership
Of the Association Of the Army
OFTEN nessee, and makes Pa

Oh the ASAOCuaAuiOu y thAC 'Nssssy
of Ten es.ee, and makesn Pa
trioite speech.
MISSISSIPPI Cry. Mss, July 10.
The following is a brief synopsis OF
the address made to-day by Jefferson
Davis on the occasion of the %presenta-
lion to him of n gold badge and certif-
cate Of membership of the Association
Of the Army of Tennessee. Colonel
James Lyngan made the presentation
address:
Mr.. Davis, after expressing gratitude
for the kindness and honor conferred,
recapitnlnted the stirring events OF the
war and hardships endured; said the
question of State rights and of session
in 1861 was at least debatable, but the
course of the Federal Government after
the war had ceased, indicated the
Judgement of those who held separa-
ton to be necessary for the safety and
freedom of the Southern States; the
unsuccessful attempts to separate left
those in pc yer to mark their will as it
had been manifested when they first got
control of the Government. The
events are too recent TO require recap
itulation, and the ruin they have devel-
oped require no other memorial than
the material and MOI i wreck which
the country presents. The Speaker
reasserted his uushaken belief in the
right of cesession and the duties of
citizens to battle for the cause of State
after secession; reviewed the campaigns
from Fort Henry to Shiloah, and speak
ing of Albert Sidney Johnson. he said:
"Was it that his grand presence in>
spired you with unmeasured confidence
and the hope of happier days when the
opportunity should offer, or was it that
your judgement told you that you fol-
lowed, as 1 verify believe you did, the
greatest soldier, the ablest' man, civil
or military, Confedeiat or Federal"
Mr.. LAWS then reviewed the opera
ton about Vlcksbulg and Port Hudson,
and spoke in glowing terms OF their
defenders. He said, ''Let no M sup
pose that in indicating sour cause,
in paying due tribute to your gallant
deeds. l am seeking to disturb such
peace as we have, or to avoid such log
ic of events; You have done your duty
in the past and | would ask no more
than that. You should fulfill equally
well the duties present and future; the
bravest are, as a rule, the gentlest, and
they are also the truest to every obi
CATION assumed; you struck for indie
~pendence and yon were unsuccessful;
you agree to return to the Union and
abide by the Constitution aud laws
made in conformity with it; thus far,
not farther, do | understand yo1 prom
Use to extend r -ferring to leg:sla-
ton of the Congress- which followed
the war, he said that tax pagers knew
that increased b1r.len was imposed on
them by contracts made with bond
holders; merchants and ship owners
know that we have lost the carrying
trade, and to what will they assign a
policy which will prevent the registra-
ton of an American ship that had
changed its fig during the wal? which
imposes such duties Gu rAw material as
to interfere with ship building and pro
hibits the registration of foreign hnilt
ship. though it be by purchase of the
property of n citizen of the United
States? Will the people, if worihily
the source of all power. allow Il long
continuance of such palpab.e wrongs to
the Masses, such wrong to interests
which have been equally u pride and
means of prosperity; a form of governs
ment must correspond to the character
of the people to which it is appropriate;
it is, therefore that Republics have
failed Whenever corruption enters the
body polite, and rendered the people
unworthy to rule them, they become
fit subjects of despotism. and a despot
is always at hand to respond to the
call, n Caesar could not subjugate a
people who were fit to be free, nor
could a Brutus save them if they were
fit for srbiugation. The fortitude with
which our people have borne oppres-
sion imposed on them since the war was
closed, the resolute will with which
they have struggled against poverty
and official pi!lage. is their highest glo-
ry, and give the best assurarce OF final
triumph. Well may W. rel ice in the
regained possession of local se'f-gpv-
eminent; in the pow Of ihA people to
choose their own rel re, e i~tatives and t"
legislate uncontrolled by btyonAts.
This is t e grea' victory and promises
another MS the sequence 70 1T 'tal
non interference by the Federal Gov
eminent with the domestic affairs of
the States. The renewal of the time
honored doctrine of State sovereignty
and supremacy of law will secure per>
manent freedom. peace and prosperi y.
the constitution of the Uniied States,
interpreted by those who made it, is
the prophets rod to sweeten the bitter
water from which flo we'd the strife, the
misery and shame of the past as we'll
as the foils of the present. Every
evil which has befall our institutions is
directly traceable to the perversion of
the compact of the Union. and the
usurpation of the Federal Government
of ~undelegated powers. Let one mem
orable example suffice for illustration:
When Missouri asked for admission AS
q State into the Union, to which she
had a two-fold right under the Con
stitution and usages of the United
States, aud also under the treaty by
which the territory was acquired. her
application was resisted, and her adj
mission was finally purchased by the
unconstitutional concession miscalled
Missouri Compromise. When the es>
Enlistment of a polite geographical
line was announced to the apostle OF
Democracy who, full of wears aud hon
ors, in retirement watched with pro-
found solicitude the course of the gov
eminent he had so mtinly contributed
to iuaugurate, his prophet vision saw,
the enl of this was the beginning; the
news fell upon his ear like a ire bell
at night: man had differed about meas
ures and public policy according to
their cireum stances Of mental charac-
teris.ic1, sneh differences tended t, the
elncilation of truth aud the triumph
of reason over error; parties so founded
would not be sectional, but when the
Federal Gov, rnment made a parallel OF
latitude 8 political line. a sectional par
ty conld not fulfil the ends for which
the Union was ordained and established
il the limitations of the constitution
had been observed and it's purposes
had directed federal legislation, no such
act could have been passed. The lid
of Pandora's box might have remained
closed, and the country have escaped
the long train of similar aggrcssions
which ~aggrandized one section and inn
poverished the other, and adding in
Ia l., ;,;rrv Tpol1v Ioctrovpd tha