The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1898-04-14
Jefferson DaViS'S Portrait
HUNG IN The CONFEDERATE MUSDUM
IN RICHMOND, VA.
Gift to the Solid -SOut RoOm-the In
yelling Ceremonies - Address of
Capt. John Cussons in Making the
Presentation - An Interesting Oc-
casiOn Which Attracted a Large
Crowd, Including Many Regents.
Richmond Dispatch }

Crowd, Including Many Regents.
(Richmond Dispatch.)
On the walls of the Confederate
Museum there now hangs large and
handsome oil-painting Of President
Jefferson Davis, the portrait having
been unveiled Yesterday with simple,
but appropriate, exercises.
The painting is the gift of the
Solid-South Room, of which Miss
Minnie Baughman is vice-regent.
The work is from the brush of Mr..
John p Walker, a well-known artist
here, and is striking likeness of
the late President of the Confed-
eracv.
The rooms of the Museum we re
thronged yesterday afternoon at 4:3O
O'Clock, the hour at which the ex-
ercises commenced. The Georgia,
or Solid-South, Room, in which the
portrait hung, could not
onc-third of the large crowd that
gathered to witness the unveiling
ceremonies. All Of the rooms on the
first floor of the building were test
ed to their utmost capacity, so great
| was the throng.
Promptly at the appointed hour
Captain John Cussons entered the
room, and Mr.. ID. G. Richardson in
troduced the distinguished soldier,
who, he said, ION behalf of the Solid
South Room, will present to the Con-
federate Museum a portrait OF Jetfer-
son Davis, President of the the Con-
fcdcrate States of America"
CAPTAIN CUsSON's ADDRESS.
Captain Cussons, as soon as the
applause subsidized, said:
Friends, Comrades, Ladies, and
Gentlemen: On the 18th day Of
March, 1S6l-thirty-seven years ago
to-dav-a nation was born. Calmly y,
unobtrusively, majestically, it came
into being by virtue of the uncon-
strained political association Of seven
sovereign States, which had with
drawn their adhesion from the Fed
eral Union. At that time no pub
licist of note denied or doubted the
absolute right of those sovereign
powers to thus exercise their vital
function of sovereignty.
On that fateful day l sat on the
portico of the State Capitol at Mont
nomerv, and noted the sedate yet
earnest faces of that magnificent as
semhlage of gentlemen who had been
delegated by their several States to
adopt Confederate constitution.
There was no bravado there; no
| .lnf;o ~,
word or act. But there was staed-
fastness and temperate courage, and
serene fortitude in the glance OF
every eve and in the curve of every
| lip.
And | said: If the Lincoln Gov
ernment shall attempt to desPoil
these people of their inherited right
to govern themselves by lawful
methods, in their own way, then
must there come conflict which
will not cease while the power OF
resistance remains-a conflict which
will either vindicate for ages yet tc
come the great American principle
of the peoples God-given right te
self-government; or else that prin
ciple, wounded in the house OF it:
friends, will become a by-wOrd ano
mockery throughout all lands, and
to the remotest times.
Four years later, the drift OF event!
had borne me again to the banks 0
that same river, and l made my lionel
camp with a little remnant of For
rests gallant men. But there re
mained in all that region no trace o
any familiar thing. The nation ha'
perished. Four years of mortal strif
of immortal glory, of unfadin!
renown. Four years of fortune
, | tickle moods, her smiles and frQWn
/ l-of hopes and memories, and blind
| ing tears, and sorrows which woul
not be assuaged. The nation ha
periShed. Her armies, worn an
wasted by victories, were reduced t
. fragments which could no longe
form battle line. Her opulen
cities were waste. The flower {
her youth, the glory of her manhood
had passed away; on wind-sweE
plains and in painless forests, a lii
o. tie mound of nameless dust the
only sepulchre Every household
mourning-every home in all thelan
, forlorn and desolate-
- "Ah! realm Of tombs; but let her bear
This blaZOn to the last of times;
No nation rose so bright and fair
Or fell SO pure of crimes.
q OUR HISTORY is HIS.
The history of those eventful da,
n is the history of the illustrious pc
1t sonage whose portrait the Depar
ment of the Solid South now presen
. to the Confederate Museum. AS Il
chief Of fallen cause jefferson Dav
must bear for a season that burdG
which the Fates ordain for those wi
a sink beneath their frown. 1t is ca
IN for the time-serHer to say that o
" leader should have surrendered wh
NJ he saw that the trend of events W
against us But we must rememb
that to his heroic soul there was
>. middle ground between right a
wrong. He stood for the liberties
his countrymen-for those righ
. which men of our race must have.
perish in the attempt to retain the
And even if the Invader had ask
rhiaf