The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1886-05-05
JEFF Davis in Montgomery.
war for defense. Well do I remem-


them when their knapsacks and mushets
seemed heavier than the boys, and my
eyes, partaking of mothers weakness,
filed with tears. Those days have passed.
Many of them have found nameless
graves; but they are not dead. They
live in memory, and their spirits stand
out grand reserve of that column which
is marching on with unfaltering steps to-
ward the goal Of constitutional liberty.
Applause
s.It were in vain if should attempt,
. as have already said, to express my
gratitude to you. I am standing now
very nearly on the spot where I stood
when took the oath of Office in 1861.
Your demonstration now exceeds that
which welcomed me then. This shows
that the spirit of Southern liberty is not
dead. Long and continued applause. J
Then you were full of joyous hopes.
You had every prospect Of achieving all
you desired, and now you are wrapped
in the mantle of regret-and yet that re-
gret only manifests more profoundly, and
does not obIterate, the expression OF
your sentiments.
'.I felt last night as I approached the
Exchange Hotel, from the gallery OF
which your peerless orator, William L.
Yancey, introduced me to the citizens OF
Montgomery, and commended me in Ian
guage which only his eloquence could
yield, and which far exceeded my merit,
Ifelt, I say again, that I was coming 10
my home, coming to land where liberty
dies not, and serious sentiments will live
forever. [Applause.l
s.I have been promised, my friends,
that I should not be called upon to make
aspeech; and, therefore, I will only ex-
tend to you my heartfelt thanks. God
bless you, one and all, old men and boys,
and the ladies above all others, who never
faltered in our direst need Loud and
long continued applause
When he retired the shouts were so
long and loud that Mr.. Davis had to go
to the front again. He bowed his ac-
acknowledgements and thanks.
Governor O'Neal, when it was possible
to be heard, made handsome speech III
reference to the cause of the gathering,
and of the love the people Of the South
feel for the statesmen and soldiers of the
South, and introduced General John B.
Gordon, the orator selected to deliver the
address, as in Mr. Davis's feeble condi-
ton it was understood he could only
speak few minutes. General Gordon
received a grand welcome, as many sol
6iers that he had commanded were pres
ent.
In opening his address General Gordon
made an eloquent allusion to Mr.. Davis,
in the course of which he said:
CAST saw him in that first great conflict
of the Confederacy, with the shouts Of
victorious legions in his ears, and the
glory Of battle on his face, he was in the
meridian blaze of his fame, commanding
the unqualified confidence OF his South
ern countrymen and the attention OF
Christendom. But as a prisoner, strip
ped of all power save the power to en-
dure, sustained by that majestic spirit
which no force but death could conquer,
awaiting his judicial trial and all its con-
sequences with repose Of mind, an
equipose and dignity of denleanor rarely
equalled and never excelled, it was then
that he bound himself to the hearts Of
his people in deathless affection and rose
to the subimest height Of the morally
heroic. OF these two scenes, the one in
the fortress was more profoundly I'M
pressiye. Its lesson is Of lnestlmable
value to the young men Of our country.
1t teaches that no revllsion in political
fortunes, however sudden or extreme,
can overwhelm or crush the man whose
aims are lofty and whose life IS blameless.
To my mind, great and grand IS he was
in the hour of his most splendid triumph,
he was greater and grander still IN the
hour of his deepest humiliation. And
when alienation and bitter memories are
zone. when the crucial test of historical
ANALYSIS shall be fully, fairly and truth
fully made, then his name and hi5 fame,
his conspicuous services to the country
before the war, his unrivahed State pa
oers and manly utterances during the
war, ana his moral elevation and match
less fortitude as prisoner OF State after
the war, will command universal respect
and challenge unqualified admiration.
In alluding to the achievements of the
Northern and Southern arueies, General
Gordon said:
II acknowledge inferiority to no man
in admiration of the broad hberahty
which prompted the efforts Of Charles
Sumner to strike from the flags OF the
Union the names of the battles between
his estrangad and embittered country
men; yet subscribe neither to its policy
nor to its justice. AL honor to the spirit
of the man who, facing a storm Of poiti-'
cal wrath, could rise to the lofty purpose
of destroying al mementoes Of Northern
triumph over his Southern countlymenl ]
All honor to the eloquent utterances by
which he sought to make practical his
nagnsnimous conception! But I inter-
" dissent from the opinion that such