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The Montgomery Advertiser of December 7th thus speaks of the mourning of the old capital of the Confederacy when the news came of the death of one who had come among them first as President of the new-born Confederacy, and whom they had received in 1886 with demonstrations such as the proudest conqueror might have envied:

"Montgomery was in mourning yesterday for the dead chieftain of the Lost Cause.

"The announcement of the death of ex-President Jefferson Davis brought a great weight of sorrow to the hearts of the people, and words of sadness and expressions of deepest grief fell from every lip.

"The news of late with regard to Mr. Davis's condition had been rather encouraging, and the people had been led to think and hope that he might weather the storm and regain his wonted health and strength. Still, the fact that his health had been quite feeble for several years, and bore the burden of more than eighty years, forced upon the minds of his most ardent admirers and devoted friends the painful conclusion that he was passing into the valley of the shadow of death; and the news of his death, fraught with sadness though it was, did not come as a surprise to the public.

"The State house was draped in mourning, and the flag on the dome placed at half mast yesterday morning, and all the departments at the Capitol were closed for the day. The flag on the city building was also placed at half mast by order of the Mayor. A number of stores were draped with the sable emblems of mourning. The State house was still and deserted, and stood like a monument to the memory of the statesman who had twice stood under its stately columns and received the plaudits of his peoplewhere he was chosen chief of the young old nation, whose fate was sealed in the death throes of Appomattox, and where he stood after a lapse of twenty-five years and said: 'Your demonstration now exceeds that which welcomed me then. I felt that I was coming home-coming to the land where liberty dies not and heroic sentiments will live forever. It takes a great people to do this.'

"Again the beloved name of Jefferson Davis was passed from tongue to tongue, until the people talked of little else. They talked of his life with his family when they resided in Montgomery during the early period of the war, and of his triumphal visit to this city in the spring of 1886, when he came to participate.in the ceremonies of laying the corner-stone of the Confederate monument on Capitol Hill. He came with all the pomp and ceremony of a conqueror to enter the gates of a great city and the hearts of a great people. He came at the earnest solicitude and frequent requests of friends who desired that the people should have an opportunity of demonstrating to him and the world the great love and respect and reverence they felt for him. He came and was received with open arms and enthusiasm, and greeted with the greatest demonstration of popular devotion ever accorded to mortal man on Southern soil."

Governor Seay issued his proclamation, and the telegrams were sent whic we have already published; the Confederate Veterans held a meeting, at which there were appropriate resolutions and speeches by ex-Governor Thomas H. Watts and others, and arrangements were made for the large attendance at the funeral from Alabama which we noted in our account of the funeral obsequies.

Rev. Dr M. B. Wharton, pastor First Baptist Church voiced the general feeling in the following poem:

THE DEATH OF JEFFERSON DAVIS.

By M. B. Wharton.

Our mighty chieftain breathes no more,
His noble form now cold and still,
Has fallen at last, life's conflict o'er,
Obedient to his Maker's will.
As die the brave and true, he dies;
He rests upon a stainless shield,
The Great Commander of the skies
Alone could call him from the field.

He's gone to that blest world on high,
Where slanders never vex the soul,
And fitting 'tis his bones should lie,

Far, far removed from prowling ghoul;
Among his friends should be his tomb,
Upon old ocean's southmost verge,
Where beauteous flowers perennial bloom
And wild waves chant his funeral dirge.

And he will live on history's page,

While cycling years shall onward move,

As victim once of senseless rage,

Now idol of his peoples love;

When hate is buried in the dust,

When party strife shall break its spear,
When truth is free, and men are just,
Then will his epitaph appear.

Mayor Graham issued the following proclamation:

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"MAYOR'S OFFICE, 'MONTGOMERY, ALA., December 7, 1889. "The illustrious Southerner has passed away. Here he was called and consecrated to the service of the Southern people, and here was the birthplace of the Confederate States. It is peculiarly fitting, therefore, that the people of this city, who honored and cherished and sustained him to the last, should pay appropriate honor to his memory.

"Now, therefore, I, Edward A. Graham, mayor of the city of Montgomery, earnestly recommend the people to close their respective places of business during the hour appointed for the funeral of ex-President Davis, and that the pastors of the several churches cause their bells to be tolled at that hour, and that memorial exercises be held at the Courthouse at that time. "EDWARD A. GRAHAM, Mayor."

Francis B. Lloyd (“Rufus Sanders"), in the Montgomery Advertiser, said: "He was the highest and purest type of Southern manhood-'the noblest Roman of them all.' He was a soldier and a statesman, a patriot and a gentleman. On the battle-field, in the halls of Congress, and as the leader of the brave young nation that rose from the cradle at Montgomery and found a grave at Appomattox-the chosen chieftain of the best and bravest army that ever raised a lance or met the shock of arms on God's green earth-he was gentle as he was brave, and bore himself that the opposed might well beware of him.

"He had been tried by the fires of three wars, and never found wanting. Through all the years of strife, and tumult, and struggle he was true to his high sense of duty, to honor and the right, as the needle to the pole. It had been given to him many times to stand face to face with death and still live. Winter was on his head with the weight of many years and many griefs for a crown of glory, and in his heart was the burden of many wrongs and many sorrows. But never from his lips had a weak word fallen, nor in his eye stood a childish tear."

Memorial Day was suitably observed in Montgomery by the closing of places of business, the draping of the houses, firing of minute guns, tolling of bells, and services in the churches.

But as the city had sent to New Orleans her officials, her military, and many of her distinguished citizens, the great memorial meeting was postponed until the night of December 19th.

The Montgomery Advertiser had the following editorial in its issue of December 12th:

"When the mortal remains of Jefferson Davis were consigned to the dreamless couch of the dead at New Orleans on yesterday, the curtain went down on the scene that removes from the stage of life one of the strongest and loftiest characters of modern times.

"It was a Southern funeral, and over the bier of the dead great man the people of the South mingled their prayers and tears in universal homage to the memory of their old chieftain. Public dignitaries and distinguished representatives and plain, private citizens were there from every Southern State to look for the last time upon the calm, brave features of the dead soldier, patriot and statesman, and follow the still but knightly form to the silent halls of death.

"It is indeed peculiarly gratifying to all loyal and right thinking people to know that the people of the South have had the manliness, the honor

and the courage to show to all the world that they have not sought to lay all the burden of wrongs and sorrows on the big, brave heart of the chieftain of the Lost Cause, but gladly and proudly shared the brunt and burden with him, and loved him and honored him. through all and to the last. The men and women of the South can afford to scorn and forget the cruel and bitter things that have been written and said of him by those who are craven and cowardly enough to stab the dead and desecrate the grave. His life and character and career belong to history. His deeds of honor and courage and devotion to his people are 'not engraved on tablets of stone; but on the fleshly tablets of the heart.""

On the evening of December 19th a very large audience assembled at the Theatre. The meeting was presided over by Gen. J. T. Holtzclaw, and appropriate resolutions were adopted, the concluding one of which reads:

"That the people of Alabama respectfully, but most earnestly, request and insist that his mortal remains be buried beneath the monument erected to the memory of Alabama's Confederate heroes-the corner-stone of which he laid-on Capitol Hill, forever memorable as the birthplace of the Confederate States of America."

Excellent speeches were made by Gen. Holtzclaw, Gov. T. H. Watts, Gen. John W. A. Sanders, Gen. George P. Harrison, of Opelika, and Capt. B. H. Screws.

As Attorney-General of the Confederacy for eighteen months, and an intimate friend of Mr. Davis, the speech of Governor Watts was one of especial interest, and we regret that we cannot fulfill our purpose of giving it in full. Referring to his relations to Mr. Davis, Governor Watts said:

"Before I entered his Cabinet I knew and admired him as a statesman and hero. When I left his Cabinet I loved him as a man.”

He then gave an interesting epitome of Mr. Davis's life, and an able and unanswerable argument to show that he was not a "traitor." He recalled several interesting anecdotes and personal reminiscences, and then said:

“Mr. Davis was a man of strong convictions, and clear judgment, deliberate in the formation of his conclusions, and those convictions, when formed, were rarely changed. He was ardent in his attachments, and ardent in his opposition to all he believed to be wrong. He was a positive. There was no double-dealings or insincerity about him. He was a man amongst men. He was not the cruel and hard-hearted man his enemies paint him. He was as brave as a lion, yet as gentle, as kind-hearted and tender as a woman. One incident will illustrate his high sense of justice and his kindness of heart. While I was a member of his Cabinet, McNeil (I believe that was his name), a commander of the United States forces in Missouri, took on one occasion nine prisoners from the Confederates, and with brutal disregard of the laws of civilized warfare, hung them until they were dead-dead-dead The newspapers and public speakers in the South became clamorous for realiation in kind. So pressing became the clamor that Mr. Davis called a

"

meeting of his Cabinet to consider what should be done. Several members of his Cabinet favored retaliation in kind, and that prisoners of war then in Libby prison should be taken out and hanged. I never shall forget the language of Mr. Davis-'If I could get McNeil, I would hang him as high as Haman; but I have not the heart to take these innocent soldiers, taken prisoners in honorable warfare, and hang them like convicted criminals. I will settle this matter, gentlemen of the Cabinet, by leaving it to the commanders in the army. If they say hang-they are likely to suffer most by the policy-I will forego my individual views.' This was the last of retaliating by hanging prisoners of war.

"Mr. Davis was not only a man of great qualities as a stateman and a soldier, but he was an orator of consummate skill, and of wonderful power over men. I have heard Daniel Webster, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Henry A. Wise and William L. Yancey, and I say that I never heard any man, whose gallant personal presence, resonant voice, and earnest and eloquent utterances wielded more magnetic power over legislative assemblies and people, than Jefferson Davis.

"It is said by speakers and the press of the North, that he never acquiesced in the results of the war-that he lived and died with venom on his tongue towards the Northern people. There never was a greater mistake. He felt, it is true, that he had done nothing for which to ask pardon of the United States. He stood by his convictions and by his devotion to the South until his dying hour. But he left no spot on his character as a Southern Christian gentleman. When he felt that the cause of the Confederacy had become hopelessly defeated, he advised the people of the Southern States to bow to the inevitable-give obedience to the 'powers that be'-make good citizens, and preserve, as best they could within the Union, the great landmarks of liberty embodied in the Constitution of the United States.

"About three years since, while addressing his fellow-citizens at Meridien, Miss., some one in the audience asked, if the South would ever again attempt to secede? He at once replied, 'No! No! No! Every Southern State has in its Constitution a declaration that the right to secede has been settled against the South by the arbitrament of the sword. Let the South build up the South. Be obedient and good citizens. And, if Secession ever comes again, let it come from the North.'

"I heard him on Capitol Hill in April, 1886, when he laid the foundation stone of our Confederate monument. He there uttered not a word to which any honest man North or South could have objected. Then, if he ever desired to utter a sentiment objectionable to the most ultra-partisan of the North, he had the opportunity. The whole heart of Alabama, and the whole Southern people in their sympathies, came out to meet him. The grandest ovation ever paid to living man was then, here in this city, paid to Jefferson Davis.

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