The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-07-03

.
/ lhat governments derive their just powers
l from the consent of the governed, but u
l began with public statutes. general elec-
tons and constitutional conventions. Mr.
Davis himself rested In his inaugural,
/ the case OF the new nation at the bar OF
/ the public opinion of the world not upon
/ revolutionary. but upon legal right.
I lie quoted the junior senator from Mas
/ sachusetts (Air. Lodge as saying that
| when the constitution was adopted a.
| Phnadelphia, no one, neither Washing
/ ton, Hamilton, Clinton nor Mason, regard
| ed the new system Is nything but an
| experiment, from which every state had
| the right, peaceably, to withdraw. The
| southern states only exercised right
/ which had often been threatened by New
/ England, and which was generally con-
ceded TO be a constitutional one. Gen.
/ Lee concluded a glowing eulogium Of JEFF
| Ierson Davis pure private life, his ex-
| qulsite courtesy and gallantry as sol
/ der, with the declaration that his dOmi-
| nant characteristics was his fidelity 10
/ principle. It was well said of him, he
| bent TO none but God" He came among
| us as Roman born out OF time. 1t was
/ impossible for him to ask pardon, so long
as he felt he mad done his duty cOnscien-
/ tiously as he saw 1t, and he was never
| forgiven. one after another his great
! comrades entered the beyond, until be
stood alone, but he never wavered. He
! passed from us a stern and majestic hg-
/ ure, broken but never bent.
| Gen. Lee quoted from speech dellV-
| cred by Mr.. Davis in the Senate in Decem-
1
/ union was dear to him as union of fra
/ ternal states He argued from this that
| Mr.. Davis was opposed to disunson, and
| that at the conference called by Gov.
/ Pettis of Mississippi of the representatives
/ IN congress from that state in 1851, Mr..
/ Davis declared himself opposed to seces-
sion as long as the hope of peaceful
/ remedy remained.
As a President, the speaker thought,
| Mr., Davis may have made mistakes He
| was constitutional ruler, not a revo-
| lutionary chief but when the night of
! defeat was darkening and the dismantled
| ship of the confederacy was sinking be-
| meath the waters. he stood at the helm
| to the last
He referred to the popular demonstra-
| tons of affection which always attended
! Mr.. Davis appearance in public, and re-
! ferred with deep feeling to the occasion
| when his remains were enroute to Rich
| mond for final burial No conquerOr's
| march was ever half so triumphant. In
| the capitals throught which It passed his
body lay in state, visited by thousands,
| and everywhere along the way the peo-
| pie old and young, thronged and stood
| with uncovered heads day and night along
the railroads as the train rolled by, to
| testify their devotion to the dead 1t
was spontaneous; it was sincere; it was
universal.
Gen. Lees peroraton was a magnificent
tribute to Mr. Davis as the typical south
erner.
'As a soldier, his brilliant and promis-
| ing career was cut short. He had no op-
portunites to develop the great qualities
of Lee, the prince of commanders. As n
! statesman, he did not quite reach, per-
haps, the commanding statue of Calhoun,
to whose work he succeeded. As an ora
tor, he may have lacked the impetuous
fervor Of Yancey, the splendid declama-
tion of Lamar-he surpassed them all in
| his majestic strength, the chaste beauty
of his thought and his thrilling earnest
ness. But Davis was greater than them
all, in that he combined them all. lie
was an accomplished soldier, great
statesman, and a consummate orator. He
was the typical southerner of his day
| and of all time.
Around him stood that marvellous
| group-Lee, the flower Of chivalry; jack
| son. the genius of war; Toombs, the thun-
| derer of debate; Benjamin, the jurist;
Campbell, the judge Bledsoe the scholar,
| Hunter, the statesman-men fit to meas
| ure with the knightliest. Yet from the
| vantage ground of history his sublime
| head lifts itself above them all.
1T is meet and fitting that the ashes
| of the great should rest in Virginia's soil.
| Round him sleep the mighty ones who
| have gone before-soldiers who won Amer
| lean liberty; jurists who gave it perpet-
| ual form; statesmen who filled its flag
| with glory, and made it honorable through
| out the world. Let Richmond be added
| to Mount Vernon, Monticello and Lex
| ington. The south has committed the
| keeping of his ashes to the mother of
| states and statesmen. Let him sleep in
| Virginia, where every river whispers of
| confederate heroism, and every hill was
! crimsoned with the soldiers blood. Let
| him rest In Richmond, his capital the
city which he walled about with the
| breasts of the bravest Of the brave. His
| memory is safe with you. You were
faithful to the living. you will not forget
the dead.
Tn calmer years, when the last ember
of sectional feeling has burned out and
the last cord of love has gently bound
the hearts of all Americans together,
fathers will bring their little children to
this spot and tell the story of pure,
great man, who suffered for his people,
and for their rights as they understand it,
and now for mis- they loved him as az,
loved no other Long as yonder noble
river shall roll its tide to the sea it shall
behold no man more kingly.
" He was very perfect gentle knight. >
May the story of his life be sweet in
days to come, and at last, all men come
to understand Jefferson Davis"
The benediction closed the exercises and
the great and weary, but still enthusias-
tic crowd began to leave Monroe park for
places to quench thirst, to appease hun
ger and to obtain needed rest
Tonight the city is resonant with the
sounds of departing camps and their bands
playing the airs of Dixie.
The serenade to Mrs. Jefferson Davis at
the Jefferson hotel, by resident and the
visiting Marylanders, accompanied by
the band of the Fifth Maryland regiment
consisting of 40 pieces, was one of the not
able events of the night. and was attended
by all the celebrities present at the re-
union.
Gov. OFerrall gave a reception at the
executive mansion to-day, at which Wis
itors from every state in the south called
to pay their respects to Virginas distin-
guished governor.
When the reception to Mrs. Davis at the
Jefferson had concluded early tonight
Mrs Davis was taken to the Masonic
temple, where she was greeted by a large
assemblage of the sons and daughters Of
| the confederate veterans This with other
social reunions, concluded the meetings.
| which have been productive of much good
feeling attendant upon the sixth annual
reunion of the United Confederate Veter-
ans and the laying of the cornerstone of
| the monument to Jefferson Davis
CLOSE OF THE CONVENTION.