Oxford eagle. (Oxford, Lafayette Co., Miss.) 1876-current, 1903-06-25
MISSISSIPPI THEN AND NOW
The Grandeurs and Glories Of Her Ante
bellum Times.
At the Dedication of the New CapNo State Ever Had Purer
Patriots Baver Leaders, Greater Statesmen, ManEer Men
Holer Wonen"-A New Era Of Prosperity.
at Is Daybreak Everywhere"

will ever proudly remember and delight to
honor He united In himself many OF the
characteristics OF Americas 8
grand senatorial triumyirate. Ne0sterlan IN
his masterful grasp OF great constitutional
principles, and as proiound anu uher1Ins sias
as Calhoun in the stately end steady march
of his logical processes, be could at VIII
the imperial eloquence OF Henry
Clay In the illustration and enforcement
OF mighty argument. He was the hrst
Southern representative after the war 10
rift the darkness of our national skies ana
bring light into the despairing parallels.
ner, like another prophet in the wilderness,
proclaimed the day-dawn OF our national
peace-the cloudless sunhurst of Our Fed.
eral Immortality Well has he been called
the inspired pacif1cator."
But time would fail me to tell of David
Holmes, Mississippfs first and one of her
greatest governors; OF Mai, Thomas Kinds,
for whom this capitol county was named,
who was as confidently trusted in civil life
as he was proudly followed by his brave
dragons !; OF >George Poindexter, the first
codtfier of Missssippis laws, great gov
ernor and a greater senator, figure OF
massive and majestic mould, the hero of
Chapultepec, an accomplished gentleman
II. sharkey, the Chief Justice Marshall of
Mississippi jurisprudence of Edward O.
Waithall, the Chevalier Beyard of the
and en- ideal senator of Ethelbert Barks-
dale the Sir Robert Peel of Mississippi,
leader In any host, a premier In any cabi-
net. peer In any realm, who In all his CON
missed a principle or betrayed cause or
fed field or deserted a friend; of James
Y. George, the great commoner and able
senator, the framer and eIpounder OF con
stitutions of John Marshall Stone, whose
granite character was as majestic In the
councils of peace as In the storm OF war
State. who are worthy to be held In high
and everlasting honor Theirs are the
deeds which should not pass away; and
names that must not wither though the
earth forget her empires.
Through all the. eventfnl years OF our
history Mississippi manhood has stood
many severe tests and indicated every
high confidence. As another Is to speak
especially OF that conclusive quadrennium
which began with the bugle blast of 1851,
am only permitted to say that the bril-
astonishment Of one army and the admira
tion of the other And for the brave souls
who bore the flag of their faith, with un,
falterlng steps , oyer @ every cry eeieaguepeu repca
that is little less than Alteration. Veterans
of the grandest battalion in all history,
now war-worn and growing old, we uncover
In your august presence and crave from
each "a hero's blessing.
The final test of Southern character was
not displayed in laying the broad founda-
tion of new civilization not In the sol
emn but tumultuous cotncils out of which
was evolved our great system or govern
ment not In the historic halls of State
where Titans struggled for the mastery
over national principles and policies; not
in the splendid yalor of her sons In the
storm and red rain of terrific battles; not
in the military genius of her peerless cap
tains. pronounced by critics to be the great
est marshals of modern times. but in their
serene fortltude and unyielding heroism
and unconquerable spirit after the storm
with only "the SCARED and charred remains
of the fire and tempest. surprising the
splendor of their courage In battle was the
grandeur of their fortitude In defeat. The
sublmest hour In the Southern soldiers
life was the time of his pathetic home
coming ! have seen paintings representing
the returned Confederate soldier, which, ID
my Judgment, is not true to the facts of
history He stands in tattered garments
amid the ruin of his home the gate fallen
from its hinges, weeds covering the door
step leaning upon his old musket, with
downcast look and broken heart. AS
matter of fact he only waited long enough
to greet the faithful wife whom he had
not seen for four stormy years and kiss
the dear children who had grown out of
his recollection, and then with grim deter
minatlon put his hand to the stern task OF
reconstructing his once beautiful home and
rebuilding his shattered fortunes on other
and broader foundations. Men of principle
never falter, though they fall. They felt
the bitterness of defeat, but not the nor, .
sons of affuence, addressed themselves
to the grinding condition OF sudden and
humiiating poverty can never be described
by mortal tongue or pen.
And oh those pitlless years of recon,
Struction /, Worse than the calamities of
war were "the desolating furies of peace.
No proud people ever suffered such indig
mites or endured such humiliation and
degradation. More heartless than the rob
ber bands that infested Germany after the
Thirty Years War were the hordes of plum
upon the disarn.ed and helpless South
Their ferocious greed knew no safety. and
their shameless rapaclty sought to strip
us to the skin. As Judge Jere Black, with
characteristic vividness and vigor, said
Their felonious fingers were long enough
to reach into the pockets of posterity-
They coined the industry of future genera
tions into cash and snatched the Inherit
ancc from children whose fathers are un
born confiagration sweeping over the
State from one end to the other and de-
of personal property; would have been
visitation of mercy in comparison to the
curse of such government"
But no brave people ever endured op-
preston and poverty with such calm dig
nifty and splendid self f-restraint. And by
dint of their own unconquerable spirit and
rise from the ashes into afiuence. The
South no longer speaks with pathos or
sighs the miserere" She has risen from
poverty and smiles at defeat. Out of the
State has come undaunted in spirit and IN
unfaltering faith in the future. 1t is said
that the green grass peacefully waving
over the field of Waterloo the summer after
the famous battle suggested TO Lord BY
ron, in his "Childe Harold to exclaiml:
"How this red rain has made the harvest
grow =,
So every battle plain that was once fur.
rowed by shot and she'll and wet with ethe
blood of brothers now waves with the abun=
dant harvests, OF new and larger HsG.
The refiuent wave has set In. After long
and bitter night the morning dawns. 1T
is daybreak everywhere. :.
The total taxable property in Mississippi
is S24l ,o0o. 900. and the rate of increase
Even within the past three years the as
sensI. soTsr Increased increased s5g71s.2f7. The sppro.
for sdqsOn in bandss the same prS
ness of the State has decreased 100000,
while the tax levy has been reduced from
6l9 to mills on the dollar. The total
alton. devoted TO education Is 81, 16S. 1eS 81.
The educational history of Mississippi
Is worthy of the highest henor. Dr. Mayo
such matters. made this emphatic state
ment: mo other people In human history
have made an effort so remarkable as the
people Of the South in Te,estse.isnips Ss tnelr
speaking as far back as 1888. these six
teen States paid nearly Sl,ooo,ooo each
for educational purposes, a sum greater,
according to their means, than ten times
the amount now paid by most of the New
England States" According to per capita
wealth. Mississippi ranks first among the
States of this onion In her contributions
TO education, and in the amount devoted
to this great cause. out of the States total
appropriations. she has no equal in the
whole world Mississippi has been gen
uine friend of sound learning from the
days of her territorial minority. Her Hrss
legislative act was to charter a college
She built school houses in the footprints
of the retreating savages. and has trained
and sent out into the various walks NJ
lie some of the noblest names in our
national history
And believing il vital to the very exist
enee of democracy. there will never be
any abatement of patriotic laws. and work
ing out the mighty problems OF gosern-
ment of the people. for the people and-by
the people. From these basal and eternal
principles let us never be severed or alien
ated.
The wisdom of our great national com
pact. said by Mr.. Gladstone to be the most
wonderful uninspired document ever struck
from the human brain. Is evidenced If we
study politieaf history. The French people
had five written constitutions in ten years
the constitution of 1871, Of '93 of '95,
of 81 and Of 80. One in every Two years
passing through the revolution like the
pictures In magic lantern. Ours has stood
the rest OF the worlds most eventful cen
tury and has become the model for all
modern republics.
And In this connection ] viii farther