The Tupelo journal., 1903-06-26
MISSISSIPPI THEN AND NOW
The Grandeurs and Glories of Her Ante
bellum Times. II
LoQUENT ADDRESS BY BISHOP GALLOWAY
AT the Dedication of the New Capto1-"No State Ever Had Purer
Patriots, Drawer Leaders, Greater Statesmen, ManEer Men or
Hoier Womsn"-A New Era Of Prosperity.
ut Is Daybreak Everywhere" #'+t

So unanimous and SO loud have
been the praises of the Grafton of
Bishop Charles B. Galloway, deliy-
cred on the occasion of the dedication
of the new State capitol in Jackson,
June 3, and SO many OF our readers
having expressed a desire to possess
it in print, we herewith publish the
address in full:
Bishop G~aIIoway's Address.
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS., Ladies' and Gen.
tlemen-I congratulate you upon the aus
picious dawn OF this great day-a Gay that
marks an era In the history Of our beloved
State-and bid you welcome to its brill
hearts we hail the completion of a mag.
niticent structure, which will ever be the
pride of our people, and with patriotic
reverence we dedicate it to the cause OF
human liberty and constitutional govern
ment. Fair to the eye of beauty, every
line and curve the perfection OF grace and
chitectural poem, and is ~awe-inspiring as
a miracle In stone. As Reginald Heber
said of the Tai Mahal In India, it looks like
the conception of Titans and the handi.
work of jewelers."
This splendid building represents the re-
fined taste, sturdy st|,ngth and progressive
spirit of an allconquering people, and the
freely given treasures of a proud common
wealth. Consummate wisdom has been dis
played In it's planning and construction.
1t did not rise like the walls OF Thebes at
the strains of the Orphean Tyre, but as
wise men planned and patriotic hands held
the plumb-line, and critical eyes watched
1t grow from deep foundation to lofty
dome.
AS we move out of the old capitol into
the new, our prayer Is that the glory OF
this latter house may exceed the former.
building, and honored names are associated
with its sacred history. Wonderful scenes
were enacted there-scenes tragic. heroic,
and sometimes <comic-that changed the
currents of the century and nightly af-
fected the nations destiny. Though its
walls are stained and bare our loving i'm
aginations have adorned every square foot
of space with the portraits Of heroes and
patriots. whose features grow stronger and
dearer with passing years. Its heavy at.
mosphere Is yet tremulous with the echoes
of eloquent voices and the strange presence
of conscious but unseen spirits. Those old
corridors have felt the tread of giants,
Cling for political mastery, have won vic
tory and met defeat. Dear old capitol
treasury of nearly a century's hallowed
and historic memories-memories of peace
ing when the violent hand of an aggressive
commercialism will p%rofane thy sacred pill
lars and command that not one stone shall
be left upon another.
What marvellous changes have been
wrought since the old capitol was first oc-
cupied in 1899! Then the white popula-
~ VI thlo youhS was oAiy
178.667; now our aggregate citizenship is
100000. Then there were only 454 stu
dents In college now there are over $500.
Then there were only S,273 pupils In the
common schools; now there are 412,646.
of whom POS, 346 are colored.
Mississippi was ordained by Providence
to a commanding position In the Sisterhood
of American commemorative. Our State
Is fortunately located within those gentle,
genial parallels Of latitude in which great
results are wrought out under favorable
| cOnditipnx and which have bppn fhp home
and scene of the worlds grandest civil
cations. With an average temperature dur
soft as those that bend over Italy, with
valleys as productive and beautiful as the
Nile. with many streams that drain and re-
fresh every foot of cur soil. and laved by
the tides of the worlds mightiest river,
We have all the geographical and topo-
graphical conditions that enter into men
tai: commercial and industrial empire,
to us the aboriginal history of America.
Some of the most poetic and powerful In.
dian tribes claimed this as their beautiful
the forests in search of game, and rowed
up and down the rivers, their dipping
and dripping oars keeping time with the
the stories of their brilliant feats had have
been preserved and woven into literature
by the genius of some J. Fennimore Cooper,
thrilling interest tales equal to The Deer
Slayer or The Last of the Mohicans.'
The pathetic story of the maid of Pasca-
goula and the mysterious. MUSIC OF our
Southern sea on the trembling Tyre of a
Henry w. Longfellow would make melody
like the song of Hiawatha. To these po-
etic sons Of the forest we are indebted Tor
streams and counties. and for the charm
ing traditions that have come down in the
folklore of the generations;
Mississippi began we'll. We nave a mag
nifcent inheritance In the character of
our fathers who laid the foundation of this
great commonwealth. They were not ad-
venturers and ignorant freebooters, but
mostly men of education and wealth, seek
ing better lands and more inviting fields
for the investment of their capital and
flowed in their rich veins, and by virtue OF
certain historic conditions 1t has kept sin.
gularly free from foreign admixture.
dare to affirm that the white population
of Mississippi contains a larger per cent
of pure American blood and orthodoxy in
religious faith than any other section OF
do not flourish in these parallels, and we
have been bnt slightly affected by the III
fux of foreign doctrines and customs.
names have we to fire our souls and stir
every noble ambition! What manly cour-
age to be initiated What sublime achieye-
% FosIss to to be be e 4epssted What What G radiant R Rir-
tues to be reincarnated! No State ever
had purer patriots or Drawer leaders, or
greater statesmen ne o or m AN nam men o. or ! ho fsM
! NoblCh lac bS 49, NA> .AAASS - 49,
on the canonized roll Of our heroes and
sages.
There was Jefferson Davis, our greatest
chieftain and highest citizen and grandest
hero, who led no army save at Mississippis
and championed no principle or
policy without her direction or cordial
support. In early years he was the pride
of her chivalry at q later period her
greatest statesman and parliamentary lead
er, and, in old age, her patriotic benedic-
ton. His splendid genius was Mississippis
Arrest Jewel: his teachings were her doc
trines his oblation of himself her sacrifice /;
her sorest bereavement. and would that
his honored remains, sleeping on these CAPT.
tol grounds, were her most sacred treas
ure. He will ever be enthroned as the un-
crowned chief of an invisible republic of
loving and loyal hearts.
There was Sargent s. Prentiss, the al
lucrative music of whose inspiring elo.
quence was only equaled by the majestic
sweep of his infallible logic. Chief Justice
fancy said IF he were not the greatest
Of orators l would pronounce him the pro-
foundest Of lawyers" The handsome face,
the eagle eye, the marvelously musical
eager crowds hanging breathless upon his
golden speech, are the wool of many thrill
ing stories of the earlier times, and form
a picture hung up in every Southern home
In the Southwest. Thu traditions of his
triumphs In the court at Vicksburg, Jack
son, New Orleans and elsewhere and the
legends Of his unrivaled eloquence on great
national issues addressed to e%nraptured
thousands, belong to the forensic history Of
the last two generations. Political friends
AND foes alike accord him prominence.