The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-05-25

! vile which resulted in the organization Of
/ an association 10 erect suitable memorial
to his memory. Like most movements Of
/ the kind, however, this one did not pro-
! gress rapidly, and after the strength Of
| the initial impulse had died away it
/ threatened to fail altogether. In this
/ emergency Miss Mary A. II. Gay of At
/ lanta was appointed agent of the assOcia-
/ ton. Miss Gay is now about 80 years of
/ age. When the war began she was at the
meridian of happy young womanhOod.
/ She was engaged to be married. Her be-
/ trothed entered the army and was killed.
From the moment of his death she deter
mined to devote herself TO a life of cell
bacy and good works. First she started
the movement to gather together the
bones Of the scattered confederate dead
into confederate cemeteries, and after
ward when she was made the agent of this
Stephens Monument Association, threw
her whole soul into that work. Her sue
cess will be demonstrated when the i'm
pressive monument, which now stands
completed and paid for, is unveiled
AN INTERESTED SPECTATOR.
One of the interested spectators of the
unwilling was Aunt Liza an aged
negress who was Mr.. Stephens house
keeper during his lifetime and who now
lives in a neat cottage near by, enjoying
the income from fortune of $4,000 left
her by her husband, "Uncle Henry Mr..
Stephens faithful and thrifty body serv-
ant.
Letters of regret for non-attendance
We're read from Gov. w. J. Northen, eX
Senator Joseph E. Brown, Senator Cor
don, Gen. Henry r. jackson, A. O. Bacon,
Clark Howell and others. Chief Justice
Bleckley composed sonnet on stephens
which was read by Mr.. Walsh, who had
a large wreath of flowers placed over the
shoulders of the statue in remembrance
of Mr.. Stephens lifelong devotion to the
principles of civil and religious liberty.
EXTRACTS FROM THE SPEECH.
Following are extracts from Mr. Nor
woods speech
We come neither to praise nor to bury the
great commOner of the republic, what of him
was mortal has long been given back to earth,
and what was spiritual needs no eulogy from
us. His fame, like the question Of
CPSar'S death. is unrOlled in the capitol.
and the capital covers the continent. These
red hills echo and reecho this name, and
thousand groves are in part his SanctuarcS.
Wherever he addressed was multitude, and
a multitude followed him as he JOurneyed. He
left undytng memories, and the people won
dered, aud many said: Never man spalTe
like this man And this was a true saying,
for take him for all in all we shall never look
upon his like again, and his like the world
had never seen before. This is no eXtrava-
gance of eulogy, no compliment pardonable
only in an epitaph. 1t is unvarnished truth.
wv
history gives no record of any mortal whose
physical and intellectual combination was
comparable TO that of Alexander Hamilton
Stephens. Wherever he first appeared.
whether on the hastings, on the forum
or in deliberative bodies, his per
sonnet aroused surprise and disappoint
ment in every behoder. With a stature
of near six feet, at no age Of life did his weight
exceed 100 pounds, and yet for the first thirty
years of his manhood, his physical endurance
under constant labor was not surpassed by
Of ms in aiFpaf1a In fl,a
most heated and active physical campaigns
he seemed never to be fatigued. In fact. in
the tiercest of the political contests he gath
cred strength as an eagle rises higher when
storm grows furious. He said of himself: Il
am like kite. / soar only in the rage of q
gale" He was q single exception to the theory
that great intellectual power is conspired with
strong physical development. At no time
did his strength exceed that of a boy of IS
years. Such was the physical man, Alex
ander stephens. But what is to be said when
we turn to contemplate his intellectY 1t is
not saying too much to assert that at the bar
on the hustings and in Legislative halls no
man in America has ever achieved greater
renown He was never defeated in a contest
before the people. In the gladiatorial field
his career was more remarkable than that of
any other statesman of America. In the fifty
years he was prominent in public life people
believed in him because they knew him to be
incorruptible. Inahis private and public life
he was above reproach. Morally and intel
lectually he had no superior in his day.
Op6dhlnB OI bne SOubH WHen MT. fSJeDn-
ems entered public life, Mr.. Norwood
said:
The chivalry of the south was more ad-
vanced than the chivalry of Europe in the
middle ages. 1t was knighthood without its
errantry, without armor or shield. 1t was
the chlvalry of peace, of sovereign equal
ltY, OF Christian eXaltatiOn. 1t con-
quered without sacrifice of blood,
and elevated by gentle subjecting. 1t moved
among menials winning their admiration by
gpi ~ arlr dol loot fall ppT,a lad
and their generation by avoiding both famil-
larity and austere reserve. 1t called up a
spirit of devotion even from bondage
Itself, which the Establishment of prof
fered freedom could not destroy. Above all
1t invested woman with chastity aud drew
around her circle Of protection more potent
than RcheeuS sacred circle of the church 3"
1t approached her with a respect akin to
alteration, wooed her with the courteous
gallantry of an Ivanhoe, and when
won, it lavished on her the courtly homag e
courage OF Lion-Hearted Richard Admitting
no distinction between person and political
honor, 1t stepped from private
station into public trust, free from
commercial methods and designing craft 1t
measured every measure by the standard of
right alone, weighed every circumstance in
the scales of justice, and basing judgment on
the golden rule II claimed nothing it would
not concede, conceded nothing that was un-
justly demanded II was out of such a spirit
and such times that Stephens arose.
In closing Mr.. Norwood pointed the
young men of the country to the life and
character of Mr.. Stephens as a perfect
model for their guidance