The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1890-01-16
An Appeal for Jefferson Davis to be
Buried in Richmond.
From the Richmond Dispatch.

The Delphian wales, the Palestines,
The Meecas of the mind"
HENDERSON, n. C., Dec. 80. 1889.
10 the Editor Of the Dispatch:
The people OF North Carolina have
heard that a mammoth memorial meet
ing was held in the city of Richmond on
the 22nd of December for the purpose OF
expressing the universal desire of the cit
liens of Virginia that the remains of JET
ferson Davis be inferred in the city of
Richmond and that a mighty monument
be erected to perpetuate his memory and
tc tell OF his virtues.
| ask in the name of North Carolina,
who loves her great sister Virginia, to
whom she is attached by thousand
memories; | ask in the name of the noble
women of our grand old Commonwealth
ask in the name of the forty thousand
Confederate n. {. dead, and especially the
fourteen thousand who were killed out
right upon Virginia's battle-scarred
bosom; | ask in the name of the sur
vivors OF the hundred and twenty five
thousand of her sons who followed Jeffer-
son Davis four years through all but
death; | ask in the name OF all my peo-
pie, to be permitted to say through your
most excellent paper, that North Caro-
lima joins with Virginia in beseeching that
the mortal remains of Jefferson Davis be
inferred in the city OF Richmond, the cap
ital of the Southern Confederacy.
North Carolina has not asked this for
herself, because she knows it is SO emf
nently proper that the Confederate chief
tain should find his last resting place in
the city Of Richmond.
NORTH CARoLINA's RIGHT TO SPEAK.
While it is true that North Carolina
was not the birthplace of Mr.. Davis, nor
his adopted home, nor yet contained the
capitol of the Southern Confederacy, still
it is true that her wishes are entitled to
some consideration touching this great
question.
1t is said that "the white plume of
Murat, the 'prieux chevalier,' was a BAN
ner to the host he led, and while it con-
tinued fiuttering over the field of the slain,
hope was never relinquished. Many a
time has Napoleon seen it CHANGING like
beam of light to the charge and watched
it's progress like the star of his destiny,
as it struggled for awhile in the hottest
OF the fight and then smiled in Joy as he
beheld it burst through the thick ranks
OF the enemy, scattering them from his
path like chaff before the wind"
And so the troops of North Carolina
were an inspiration to the brigades and
divisions of which they formed part.
How often did the immortal Eirginians,
Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson,
Stuart and Hill, call on the troops of the
Old North State to make the bloody
charge, and SO long as they could see
through the battle-smoke the line of their
bayOnets like a foam-crested billow of the
sea, rushing to the charge they never
lost hope.
THE LAST CHARGE.
And at Appomattox when the last charge
was made it was made by North Carolini-
ans, and when after driving the enemy for
miles they were hurled back by Ord's
massive columns, as they passed the i'm
mortal Lee he looked upward and ex-
claimed: "God bless North Carolina
Palsied be the tongue that would deny us
the full meaning of that benediction. |
North Carolina, then, has right to speak. |
Richmond was the heart of the South
ern Confederacy, and Jefferson Davis was
the presiding spirit that filed all it's |
veins and arteries with blood, controlled t
It's every throb, and for four years saved |
It from paralysis.
Richmond was the queen flower in the
garden OF the Confederacv, unfolding its
beauty in unequalled and unchallenged |
.Plendor, and Jefferson Davis, during a
memorable season, tended, watched over,
owed, and protected that flower from
he biting FROST the chilling winds, and
he innumerable assaults of the fierce and
rigid North
Ioh, ND 4l,oa a. Il. E ~ |
ederate squadron, and when the pillows
dashed the highest, and the lightning
dashed, and the thunder pealed mighty
ossed sea, from her deck Jefferson Davis,
almly and wisely, and through many
forms, successfully directed the move
nents of the mighty fleet.
The names of Richmond and Davis
'ere inseparably united by principle, vic
DRY, and defeat and thus united were
wined about the hearts of the brave men
nd noble women of the South by the
and of gigantic war.
Stand on the Acropolis and the glories
+ Athens will pass in review; stand in :
he Coliseum or within the shadow of St. ,
'eter's and the deeds of Rome will rise up
efOre you ;stand at the foot of the pyra- !
lids or amid the ruins of Karnak and
ne wonders of Egyptian history will go (
rooping past visit Moscow and you hear 9
gain the tramp of the French Legions, ,
nd yonder in the Petrosky Palace you
9e Napoleon once more awaiting the S
lty Fathers, who never came, to surren- [
er the beautiful Capital; once more you ,
ee the pillows OF flame as they wrap the :,
ty in their fiery embrace and leap in
toward the heavens, and anon r
gu follow in imagination the retreat Of v
lat grand army across the Russian =
lows.
SO it is with the capital of the Confed-
acy. Richmond cannot be visited in v
the ages to come without suggesting v
once the names of Jefferson Davis and .
s immortal followers.
We wish the world to knOw-we wish
the coming generations to know-of
lie honesty, manhood, and chivalry of
e South. They can learn it in no bet
+ way than by sitting by the tomb OF
'fferson Davis in Richmond, and there
fecting upon all that it teaches in it's
,iceless grandeur.
Even as the magnificent GRANDCHILDREN
ate, with its Car of Victory, stands at
e entrance to the city OF Berlin, even az
e Temple of Theseus was situated at I
e entrance to Athens, SO should the
NIB of Jefferson Davis be situated in i
the citadel of the Confederacy
Id the Gateway of the South, so that
nations may see.
Twas for Richmond and Davis that 7
e prayers OF our people assembled to /
eaven, morning and night, for years, 4
,e incense from an altar. Twas int
that Mr.. Davis passed the
ost eventful period of his most illustri-
Is life. There she who now mourns him
she who is loved by the Southern peo-
e only second to her husband rejoiced
til him in hours of gladness, and
burned with him when darkness came,
I'd there she taught him the intense
'auty and holiness of that word-Wife:
Her bosom is a fount Of love that swells,
Nldens,. and deepens. with its own out
pouring,
nd as desert stream, forever wells