Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-04-29

! With tears. Those days have passed Many
Ol lhem nave found nameless graves; but
tneY are not dead They live in memory and
thef spirits stand out the grand reserve of
that column which is marching on with UNI
iaICerlng steps toward the goal of constitU-
uonal liberty. Applause.
PAsTAND PRESENT.
1t were in vain If should attempt as have
dIrcauy sald to express my gratitude to you.
am standing now very nearly on the spot
/ where stood when | took the oath of office
! IN 1851. Your demonstration now exceeds
| that which welcomed me then. This shows
! thaG the spirit or Southern liberty is not
| dead. Long and continued applause.
Inen you were full of Joyous hopes. You
| had every prospect of achieving all you de-
sired; and now you are wrapped in the man
! Tie OF regret, and yet that regret only mani
! rests more profoundly, and does not oblter-
ate the expression Of your sentiments.
LIBERTY LIVES FOREVER.
| l felt last night as | approached the EX-
! change hotel, from the gallery of which your
| peerless orator William l.. Yancey, intro
! duced me to the citizens of Montgomery, and
| commended me in language which only his
! eloquence could WELD and which far eX-
ceeded my merit, felt, say again, that
! was coming to my homecoming to the land
| where liberty dies not and serious sentiments
| VIII live forever. Applause.
| have been promised. my friends, that
should not be called upon to make a speech,
| and therefore | will only extend to you my
| heartfelt thanks. God bless you, one and all,
| old men and boys, and 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 acknowl-
edgements and thanks.
GEN. GORDON INTRODUCED.
Gov. O'Neal, when it was possible to be
heard, made a handsome speech in refer
| IN fhA Of tho Oafbarinp and nf
the love the people of right feel for the
statesmen and soldiers of the South, and
introduced Gen. John Is. Gordon, the ora
| tor selected to deliver the address, as in
| Mr.. Davis feeble condition it was under
stood he could only speak few minutes.
Gen. Gordon received a grand welcome,
as many soldiers that he had commanded
were present.
GEN. GoRDON's ADDRESS.
Mr.. CHAIRMAN. LADIES, BROTHER SOL
DIERs AND FELLOW CITIZENS:
The invitation Of your committee found me
engrOssed with the cares and conflicts of i'm
pOrtant business engagements; but 1t would
have been accepted had the burden upon me
| been tenfOld greater. That request closed
with these impressive words: at will be a
memorable event, upon historic ground. This
invitation appeals to your PATRIOTISM"
Perhaps no more appropriate line OF thought
could be pursued by me than the one sug-
gested by these closing words
The events of this day will be memorable
because the monument whose foundations we
are assembled to lay will testify to future
ages Alabama's appreciation OF the courage,
fidelity. devoted patriotism and self-sacrihce
of the bravest and best of her sons.
This ground is ''histOric" because it was the
home of a race antedating the red man by
centuries; because the Spanish cavaliers
pitched their tents upon these hills nearly 200
years ago; because it was the probable birth
place and home of Weatherford and Tecum =
sch; but. more than all, because here was born
the Confederate States of America. Here,
amidst the prayers and hopes. the aspirations
and appreheDsions Of a proud, brave, free
and freedom Loving people, was christeued
the young republic, destined to only four
years If meteoric life as nation, but to an
eternity of renown. Here the Chief Execu-
tive of that young repubic-its first and
Its last Presldent-called by the
united voice OF the representa-
tives of his people, modestly but
firmly assumed the stupendous responsibility
of his high Office, ! may be pardoned, even
in his presence, brief ailusIOn to two mem
| orable occasions-the only two-upon which
| it was my privilege to meet him from 1861 to
| 1865. These occasions illsutrate the very eli
max in the antIthesis of fortune. The one
was in victory, the other in defeat. On the
| one he was a President; on the other pFls-
! oner. On the one occasion he rode with lofty
| hearing on the battle field of the first Manas-
| sas. the constitutional commander -chief OF
a victorious army: on the other he lay incar-
/ cerated in Fortress Monroe, the vicarious sur
ferer for his vanquished people.
! SEEN IN HIS GLORY.
ASH saw him IN that first great conflict of
| the Confederacy, with the shouts OF victori-
! Gus legons in his ears, and the glory of battle
I on his face, he wa in the meridian blaze OF
! his fame, commanding the unqualified conf
! dence of his Southern countrymen and the
! attention of Christendom. Bat as a prisoner,
! stripped of all power save the power to en-
dure, sustained by that majestlc spirit which
no force but death could conquer. awaiting
! his judicial trial and all its consequences with
! a repose Of mind. an equipoise aud dignity of
/ demcanor rarely equaled and never eNcelled
1T was then that he bound himself TO the
/ hearts OF his people in deathless affection and
/ rose to the sublimest height of the morally
i heroic. OF these two scenes, the one IN
! the fortress was more profoundly impressive.
/ Its lesson is OF inestimable value to
/ the Young men OF our country. 1t teaches
| that no revulsion in political fortunes. how
! ever sudden or extreme, can overwhelm or
crush the man whose aims are lofty and whose
! life Is blamcless. To my mind, great and
| grand as he was in the hour OF his most sp!en-
! did triumph, he was greater and grander still
| in the hour OF his deepest humiliation. And
! when alterations and bitter memories are
/ gone, when the crucial test of historical an e
/ aiysis shall be fully. fairly and truthfully
made-then his name and his fame, his con-
| spicuOus services to the country before the
! war, his unrivaled State papers and manly
/ utterances during the war, and his moral ele-
walton and matchless fortitude as prisoner or
/ State after the war. will command universal
/ respect and challenge unqu slided admiration.
The third and last thought suggested by
| your committees invitation is that the ocea-
! sion appeals to our "patriOtlsm.' | embrace
/ this truth in its broadcast Significance. This
! ''memOrable event upon historic ground" will
/ assurcdly increase the strength and enlarge
| the scope of the patriotism" OF this people.
| The natural, logical. inevitable issue OF this
| and all analogous events must be 70 enhance
! the self-respect, augment the self-relance,
! eXalt the manhood aud heighten the appreci-
| alton of this people for Their past history and
| achievements, and, therefore, intensity
their love of country. The con-
verse proposition is equally true.
should we build no monuments, write no his
tories. cherish no memories OF the men and
the deeds which truthful history would make
immortal we would zap the most solid toun-
datlons Of our manhood AMI bring certain
decay to the patriotism OF our people. The
soldier or the citizen % the North or south
who would frown upon scenes like this in
either section, who docs not esteem the re-
nowu won by both armies ia the late war, az
enrichment or the history aud aliment for the
patiotAm OF tho whole people, Is narrow in
conception and jaundiced in vision.
JUSTICE FOR ALL.
1 am not OF those who sympathize with
the spirit of that narrow though patriotic
clifton OF England who declared that high
praise of the Romans was detractio oil the
Britons. Nor can / suppress contempt for
that shOrtsghted statemanshp IN this c0un-
try which secs la moritcd tributes to Conted-
crates implied detractlon OF the yalorous Fed
I erals. GA the other hand. I acknowledge
inferiority to no man IN admiration OF he
broad liberalty which prompted the effort OF
HharIea Sum npr tO strike from the naws of the