Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-01-26
Mr.. Davis, Recent Speech.

the city of New Orleans, and. among
many invited guests present, was Hon.
Jefferson Davis, Honorary President OF
the association. THE decorations, we
read in the New Orleans papers, ''princi-
pally over the tables of the officers Of the
division, were simple, yet expressive,
being battle fiags-tellIDg of many
hard fought field, opening the floodgates
of memory. and bringing back the stir
ring scenes of 1851 -65-and shield
bearing the inscription "A. n. v, LOuisi-
ana Division, speaking palmer than
words of the dead who sacrificed their
lives for the cause, and OF the living who
survived to honor them" We thus
infinitely quote the details of these
decorations merely to show that this was
nothing more nor less than an assem-
blage Of old friends gathered together to
commemorate old memories and sacred
associations.
After a sumptuOus banquet had been
partaken of, toasts were in order, and
Hon. Francis t. Nichols, active Presi-
dent of the association. arose and pro
posed the first toast, "The President of
the United States and the Army and
Navy" This was drank by all, and was
followed by the second toast, The Day
We Celebrate, and the third, The Army
Of Northern Virginia, to which toast
Mr.. w. R. Lyman responded feelingly
He began by saying This was an oc-
casion which called forth to the hearts
of all present cherished remembrances, "
and he finished by saying:
Let US stand together, Army OF
/ Northern Virginia, and with each year
gather around the board, bringing up
| recOllCctions of the past Let US teach
our children to think of and cherish the
| dead heroes, and remember the glorious
| achievements of their fathers Of the
Army of Northern Virginia. "
After Mr. Lyman had concluded, ex-
President Davis was called upon, amid
tumultuous applause and cheers, to
speak, and, at length, he rose to comply
with the wishes of those present We
have become so accustomed 10 seeing
Mr. Davis remarks, even upon private
| occasions such as this, contorted, twisted
and misconstrued for political purposes
by the Northern press, that it was mat
ter Of no surprise when it was announced
by telegraph all over the Union on Sun
day morning that he had, in the course
of his brief address, declared the cause
of the South mot lost but sleeping" 1t
vas also still less a cause of surprise to
see this cOntOrted phrase taken up by
Northern Radical journals as the text for
some of their characteristic diatribes
against the South and her ex-President,
and that even some Southern Journals
always on the ragged edge of fear lest
the South should do or say something to
offend the sensibility Of her Northern
Radical enemies-shOuld rush with IN
becoming haste to the fore to apologize
for what might be twisted into faint Of
dislOyalty, and denOunce Mr.. Davis for
having given it utteTance.
We felt satisfied, however, that when
the true report of that gentleman's re
marks was given to the public, the ami
madye1siOns Of both these Northern and
Southern journals would have been
proven unjustifable, since, for Mr..
Davis to have said, after he had expert
enced such bitter personal proof in For
tress Monroe to the contrary, that the
cause Of the COnfederacy had not been
lost IN the conflict of arms between the
sections, would have been an absuIdity
Of which we were confident he could not
have been guilty.
L. turns out that we were correct.
Upon being introduced he rose and began
his remarks by saying. Friends and
brothers of a cause not lost, nothing
could give me greater pleasure than to
see so many COnfederates assembled to-
gether" Not one word was said by him
about "a sleeping cause" for after this
introduction the rest of his remarks were
devoted to recalling memories Of Lee,
Jackson and Albert Sydney Johnston,
to paying a tribute to Louisianas sons
for calamity doing what they consider
ed their duty in the past, and expressing
the hope that on all occasions they would
be equally as ready to perform it in the
future.
This is the head and front of Mr..
Davis offending. An old man, sur
rounded by reminders of scenes of the
past in which he stood forth before the
world as a central figure, and standing
amid friends who had survived those
days and been active participators with
him in those scenes, as old memories
rushed upon him like a food, he en-
Enthusiastically exclaimed that he was glad
10 welcome so many friends and brothers
of a cause, which, while lost upon the bat
tlefield, was still not lost in the hearts and
minds of those present. Yet for this he
is denounced. The details of his re-
marks are carefully omitted; the circum-
stances that the occasion was private
and not public, and that the entire as
semblage, Mr.. Davis included, had par
ticipated in the first toast of the evening
The President of the United States
and the Army and Navy''-are all passed
over in silence, while only the fact that
he proclaimed the cause for which those
present fought was not lost to memory
was heralded abroad to give Northern
haters of the South an opportunity to
vent their spleen, and Southern weak
lings fresh cause Tor Fastening to "crook
the pregnant hinges of the knee, lest the
dreaded North should take offense.
It is to be hoped the time will never
come when the South will fail to show
honor and respect to her dead heroes.
She has proven her loyalty and her hon
esty in accepting the results of the war,
and 20 day no section OF the country is
more true or more devoted tothe Consti-
tuition than is she. If, however, to recall
the memories of those who died in her
defense, and to speak with love, honor
and respect of her dead sons, be wrong