Saint Mary's beacon., 1888-03-22
Saint NaEl s Beacon,

tier Of sscrilege, the boundary line Of
blasphemy, than ever man came be-
fore, he said (:
This moment-in this blessed Eas-
ter week-that. witnessing the resur-
rection Of these memories, that for
twenty years have been buried in our
hearts, has given Us the best Easter
We have seen since Christ was risen
from the dead. This moment finds
Its richest reward in the fact that we
light with sunshine the shortening end
OF a path that has long been dark and
dreary. Georgians, countrymen, SOL
diers, and sons of soldiers, and brave
women, the light and soul and crown
Of our civilization, rise aud give your
hearts voice as we tell Jefferson Davis
that he is at home among his people.
DO not propose to rehearse what
that distinguished representative who
had just been eulogized said in his re-
ply, except in one single sentence. |
will quote one paragraph in which he
refers to the services rendered him by
that iIlustrious man whose statue was
that day being unveiled in a some
what memorable debate that occurred
in Congress. He said
He had nothing to ask, but he had
much to give. and when l was the
last from the South who could excite
any expectation of benefit, it was Hill
whose voice rose triumphant in the
Senate and masued the injurious Yam
kee down.
Referring. suppose, to our friend
who is now in Florence.
Yet, Mr.. President, before the lilies
Of that Easter were faded,
The funeral baked meats
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables,
III New York or Brooklyn, and in
this same year of our Lord 1886, this
same orator, who declared that Jeffer-
son Davis was the uncrowned king Of
the Southern people, and that no
more glorious Easter had arisen since
Christ died on Calvary than that
which gave them the opportunity Of
renewing their devotion to him and
the ideas that he repr esented, made a
pilgrimage to the North, and at the
New England dinner in the city Of
New York poured ont his treacle, cold
cream, honey, and maple syrup all
over the North, declaring that the
South had been wandering in a far
country, that they were anxious to re-
turn to the home of their faith RS, and
the whole Democratic party rose and
fell on his neck, and put shoes on his
feet, and ring on his finger, and said,
"Lo, this my son that was lost is found"
But some protested, in the language
of the Scripture, as the elder son who
had not wasted his substance with
harlots complained that the father had
killed the fatted calf, although Thou
never gavest me a kid that l might
make merry with my friends.
When was that orator sincere, Mr..
President? When did he speak the
sentiments, the feelings, and convic-
tions of the Southern people, when he
delivered that Grafton on the lst day
Of May, 1856, in Atlanta, in the pres
ence Of applauding thousands, or when
he went up TO the New England din
ner, in December of the same year,
and spilled oil and wine all over the
American people?
If our friends who are opposing this
dependent pension bill imagine that
entertain any feelings of ill-will or
malevolence toward them for the
course they pursue, they are mistaken.
do not very well understand how
they can act in any other way. |
have sometimes thought with curious
reflection what my emotion would
have been had te result of the con-
tlict been reversed; if the armies Of
the Confederacy had dictated terms
ofpeace in this capital, if the Georgia
statesman had fulfilled his insolent
menace to call the roll of his slaves in
the shadow of Bunker Hill, and if the
flag that now floats above us had been
q diShonored and degraded rag; if
this Chamber had been spoliated and
sacked as you tried to spoliate and
sack it, If this country had been des-
troyed and overthrown as YOU tried
to destroy and overthrow it, if the
Constitution Of the United States had
become an antiquated relic and Amer
lean citizenship forgotten attribute,
il slavery had been declared to be
right and liberty wrong, and if the
theories Of Calhoun and Of Jefferson
Davis had been declared 10 be the true
measure of Interpretation of the Con.
stitution.
Mr.. President, such calamities were
imminent often during the war. From
the place where we now sit the chal-
lenge'of the sentinel upon the hills Of