American speeches
The first time I ever saw Jefferson Davis
was when, as President of the Confederate
States, he had arrived in Richmond and held
his first reception at the Spots wood Hotel. Our acquaintance, thus began, soon grew into friendly intercourse that became closer and closer, till an intimacy sprung up which ripened into companionship in joy and sorrow, and bound us together in terms of mutual trust and friendship that was to last as long as life, and which will remain forever one of my dearest remembrances.
The last time I saw him was a few years
ago, when we met at Atlanta, Ga. I was
going there with my wife to pay a visit to one of my sons, not knowing or remembering that the day of my arrival was the day when, on the occasion of the unveiling of the statue of Hon. B.H. Hill, Mr. Davis was to deliver the oration. On entering the city I wondered what the holiday appearance, the crowded streets, the festooned houses could mean, but was too late for the exercises. After dinner I went to call on him at Mrs. Hill's, where he was staying, resting at the time, and excused to visitors. But on seeing my name on the card, the kind lady carried me to his room. As I entered the door, and he looked up from the sofa where he was reclining, he sprang up, and rushing upon me, clasped me in his arms, and there locked in each other's embrace, tears testified the depth of our joy once more to meet. An hour never to be forgotten by me! For the solemn feeling that possessed us both at our parting, when, in suppressed voice, he said : "This is the last time we have looked upon each other on earth."
To you, dear brethren, and especially the
Rector, Wardens, and Vestry of this church, and to the whole congregation, I return my thanks, from the bottom of my heart, that you have honored me with the invitation to meet with you on this occasion, and unite with you in doing honor to the memory of the great, the honored, noble son of the SouthJefferson Davis; that among the many proud tributes of praise and glory offered at his burial to-day, I, in my humble position of what proved to be his life-long pastor, may lay a wreath of loving remembrance on his tomb.
We humbly bow in human sorrow to the
Divine Disposer of all things, but lift our
hearts in holy hope that, from a life of toil
and labor and martyrdom, he has entered
upon the rest in heaven, and obtained a
crown brighter than any crown that earth
can weave the crown of glory and eternal
life. These are strong words, but it is my
firm belief, my brethren ; and I believe that
on this point the evidences of my hope are
stronger than, perhaps, those of any other
man. I have been his pastor ever since the
spring of 1861 ; been with him through the
eventful days of those many years of the
war and the sad days that followed ; known
the struggles, the hopes and fears of his
inner life; saw him in his darkest trials; sounded his heart, laid open to me unreservedly, and beheld the man the man himself, the heart, disposition, character in all his faith and purity and gentleness, all his weaknesses, as his firmness of principle, his untarnished honesty and unhesitating conscientiousness, his perseverance through every doubt and every difficult}', his conquest of himself amidst the indignities he had to bear, his undying love to his neighbor, beginning with his own family, through all the gradations of the society in which he moved, his tender, generous feeling towards the poor and with bleeding heart toward his suffering people, true to his country, true to his God. Of course, he had his faults ; he would not have been human without them ; but it was just in the conflict with his failings and the reality of his repentance, the determination to deal earnestly with himself, and not to be satisfied with "a name to live without the power"; Just in these internal conflicts, open to the eye of God, he was preserved from self-deception or spiritual pride, and was the humble petitioner for grace before the throne of God. Those lonely rides which he so often took, I am sure, were not only filled with anxious thoughts about his country and plans for the guidance and defence of his people, but I am convinced they often were the time of sweet, humble, trusting, pra3'erful intercouse with his Heavenly Father and his Saviour.
