FUNERAL^dlATIOIf
PRONOUNCED IN THE OPERA HOUSE
AUGUSTA GEORGIA,
DECEMBEB lira, 1889,
UPON THE .OCCASION- OF THE MEMORIAL SERVICES
IN HONOR OF
BY
COL. CHAELES C. JONES, Jr., LL. D.
PRBSIDKHT o? THB OoNraDiBATK SURVIVORS ASSOCIATION

IN HONOR OF
JEFFERSON DAVIS
HELD AT
AUGUSTA, GA.
December the llth, 1889
BY THE

FUNERAL ORATION /
PRONOUNCED IN THE OPERA HOUSE
AUGUSTA, GEORGIA,
DECEMBER 11 , 1889, UPON" THE OCCASION OF THE MEMORIAL SERVICES
IN HONOR OF
PRESIDENT JEFFERSON
BY
COL. CHARLES C. JONES, Jr., LL. D.
PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDERATE SURVIVORS ASSOCIATION."
AUGUSTA, GA. CHKONIOLB PBINTING ESTABLISHMENT.
1889

THE ORATION.
Ladies and Gentlemen; In yielding to the solicitation of my
brethren of the Confederate Survivors* Association to address you on this mem orial occasion, I was appalled at the short ness of the period allotted for preparation, and at the magnitude of the theme suggest ed for our contemplation. I am painfully aware that under the most favorable cir cumstances in any attempt to remind you of the virtues and the services of the illus trious dead in whose honor we are assem bled, everything I could say would be an ticipated by your thoughts, and I would suffer the reproach of falling far below them. Nevertheless, answering the call of an Association whose lightest request is to me a command, with all the traditions of a consecrated past thrilling through my veins, and cherishing an admiration roost profound for the character and acts of him who but yesterday was the noblest living embodiment of Confederate manhood, i respond, as best I may, to the needs of this occasion, craving your generous indul gence if I fulfill not the expectation of the hour.
"When Wilkie was in the Escurial study ing those famous pictures which have so long attracted the notice of all lovers of art, an old Jeronymite said to him; I have sat daily in sight of those paintings for nearlv four score years. During that time all who were more aged than myself have passed away. My contemporaries are jione. Many younger than myself are in their graves; and still the figures upon those canvasses remain unchanged. I look at them until I sometimes think they are the realities arid we but the shadows.

6
The battle scenes which the heroes of the South have painted; the memories which Confederate valor, loyalty, and endurance have bequeathed; the blessed recollections which the pious labors, the saintly minis trations, aiid the more than ISpartan inspi ration of the women of the Revolution have embalmed, these will dignify for all time the annals of the civilized world ; but the actors in that memorable crisis, they, the shadows will pass away. Johnston the Bayard of the South Jackson, our military meteor streaming upward and onward in an unbroken track of light and ascending to the skies in the zenith of his fame Lee the most stainless of earthly commanders and, except in fortune, the greatest and multitudes of their com panions in arms have already gone "To where beyond these voices there is
peace." But yesterday Jefferson Davis the com mander of them all the most distinguished representative of a cause which electrified the civilized world by the grandeur of its sacrifices, the dignity and rectitude of its aims, the nobility of its pursuit, and the magnitude and brilliancy of the deeds per formed in its support, entered into rest. The President of the dead Confederacy lies in state in the metropolis of the South, and every Southern commonwealth is clothed in the habiliments of mourn ing. At this moment, throughout the wide borders of this Southern land, there is not a village or a hamlet which bears not the tokens of sor row. By common consent the entire re gion consecrates this hour to the observ ance of funeral ceremonies ia honor of our departed chief. General and heartfelt grief pervades the whole territory once claimed by the Confederacy. Was sorrow so spontaneous, so genuine, so unselfish, so universal, ever known in the history of community and nation sorrow at the de parture of one who long ago refrained from a participation in public affairs, who had no pecuniary or political legacies to

bequeath, and -whose supreme blessings were utterly devoid of utilitarian advan tage? This spectacle, grand, pathetic, and unique, is not incapable of explanation or devoid of special significance.
Within that coffin in New Orleans in silent majesty reposes all that was mortal of him whom impartial history will desig nate as one of the most remarkable men of the nineteenth century. Around his bier in profound rpspect and loving veneration are assembled the trustworthy representa tives of the South. Encircling that vener able and uncrowned bead are memories of valor, of knightly courtesy, of intel lectual, moral, and political pre-eminence, of high endeavor, and of heroic martyr dom. In that dignified form so calm, so cold in the embrace of death we recog nized the highest type of the Southern gentleman. In his person, carriage, cul tivated address, and superior endowments, we hailed the culmination of our patri archal civilization. In him was personified all that was highest, truest, grand est, alike in the hour of triumph and in the day of defeat. He was the chosen head and the prime exponent of the aspirations and the heroism oj the Southern Confederacy. As such his peo ple looted up to and rallied around him in the period of proud endeavor, and as such they still saluted him amid the gloom of disappointment. As we approach that revered form and render signal tribute at the grave of our dead President, every recollection of a glorious past is revived, and our souls are filled with memories over which;.the "iniquity of oblivion" should never be allowed blinqly to "scatter her poppy." It is a great privilege, my friends, to render honor to this illustrious man. Ours be the mission to guard well his mem ory accepting i6 in the present and com mending it to the future as redolent of manhood most exalted, of virtues varied and most admirable.
Although no Federal Flag be displayed at half-mast, or Union guns deliver the funeral salute customary upon the demise of an ex-Secretary of War, we may regard

with composure the littleness of the at tempted slight, and pity the timidity, the narrow-mindedness, and the malevolence of the powers that be. The great soul of the dead chief has passed into a higher, a purer sphere uncontaminated by sec tional hatred, wholly purged of all dross engendered by contemptible human ani mosity.
It were impossible, my friends, within the limits of this hour to even allude to the leading events and mighty occurrences in the life and career ot him whose obsequies we are now solemnizing. Born of Georgia parents in bountiful Kentucky, while yet an infant his home was transferred to .Missis sippi, where bis childhood and youth were spent in a commuaity remarkable for the lofty, honorable, hospitable, and courteous bearing of its men, and the chastity, polish, aad loveliness of its women. In such an atmosphere he acquired at the outset those gallant, urbane, refined, elevated, and commanding traits which characterized him through the whole course of his prominent and checkered career.
Leaving Transylvania college in 1834, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point. Upon his graduation in 1828 he was assigned to the First Infantry, and saw his earliest active service in the Black-Hawk war. On June 30,1835, ha re signed his commission as first lieutenant of Dragoons; and, having married a daughter of Col. Zachary Taylor after wards President of this Republic estab lished his home near Vicksburg where, pursuing the avocation of a cotton planter, for some eight years he led a retired life devoted to earnest thought and intelligent study. Entering the political arena in 1843 in the midst of an exciting guberna torial canvass, he rapidly acquired such popularity as a public speaker and as a political leader, that two years afterwards he was complimented with a seat in the Lower House of the National Congress. During this service, and in debates upon prominent issues, he bore a leading part;

9
never once wavering in his devotion to the Union of our fathers, bat, on the contrary, with loyal lip a ad ready hand endeavor ing to promote the "common glory of our common country."
In June, 1846, he resigned his seat in Congress to accept the colonelcy of the First Regiment of Mississippi Rifles, to which position he had been unanimously elected. Joining his command at New Orleans, he proceeded at once to reinforce Gen. Taylor on the Rio Grande and, during our war with Mexico, conducted himself with a courage and soldierly skill which reflected honor upon American arms, en riched the history of that important period, and won for him, from the chief executive of the nation, promotion to the grade of brigadier general.
"Well do you remember the conspicuous gallantry of Col. Da vis when, at Monterey, he stormed 3?ort Laneria without bayonets, and, amid a hurricane of shot and shell, led his regiment as far as the Grand Plaza. At Buena Vista, too, he attracted the notice of, and evoked hearty plaudits from the entire army of invasion It was there, by his celebrated V-shaped_formation that, unsupported, with his regiment he utterly routed a charging brigade of Mexican JJaneers, thrilling the natioa by the bril liancy and the intrepidity of the move ment, and eliciting from the commanding general commendation coached in the most complimentary terms. It was then, my countrymen, that he received a severe wound from the effects of which he suf fered to the day of his death. Yea, my friends, for more than forty years Jeffer son Davis bore upon his person the marks of a painful and well-nigh" mortal hurt en countered in supporting the flag of his country.
Entering the United States Senate in 1847, he became chairman of the committee on military affairs, and exerted an influ ence second to none in the discussion and settlement of the important questions which then agitated the legislative mind.
Upon the election of Gen. Pierce as President of the United States, Senator

10

Davis accepted from his hands the port

folio of war; and, I am persuaded that I

induge in no extravagant statement when

etfIhafafiaifrcnfsiiretomnhfta,ttthhanaotoft thaeimniwsypoaorcdtrahmtbyai,ninnteiastbntorudfarfteiicaoseunar twwoisfahfsotahcmetpoorarerfye

ceded This I

or has followed him in that position. believe to be the consentient verdict

alike of friend aad enemy.

bcreRarteiisncu1ml8e5ia7nd,gheerhiwsoafssetarhetecion8g6nttihhzeeCdSonaesgnratehtsees.CDheTmahmois

distinguished honor he maintained, with

consummate ability, unusual anxiety and

during a profound

period of responsi

bJnaialntiituoyan,rauyln, t1ci8lo6tu1hn,ecwilshseecneahsnseidownirotheftduMrrenwisesdfisrsoihmpopmithiene,

where a commission cbief of the Army of

as commander-mMississippi awaited

him.

ID smell his

this exciting political service of fire touched the hem

no of

garment. No truculent spirit

contaminated the manhood of his

soul. No utilitarian methods dwarfed the

dignity of impaired

his the

acts, or questionable policy honesty of his utterances.

"ptWhaeritthilsananondsmunwacrhekorstapoiufnr,ptovhsoeeicdfeaathnheerodsb.elnitoeTurhnaectieoddnoaoclfl

trine of popular sovereignty he utterly

rtwepeuedniathteed.indCeapreenfduellnycdeiswtibnigcuhisthheinSgt"abtees

had achieved at great cost," and the Union

wbtmulhoraeioicndoht,fa"hin"alehdidettblteeheeletnoimSqctuoeaem,tenlp-tirltaiytgslsehetdmansbodyntheaeynoe, frfeyaexncwpdteihvniendclohiy

had taken such firm root in the constitu

tional thought of the Although the admitted

Southern people. champion of his

section, he professed and exhibited an

abounding love a willingness to

for the make

Union, and avowed any sacrifice, con

sistent with the preservation of constitu

tional liberty, struggle. Mr.

to avert the impending Davis was no political

iconoclast no disnnionist in the vulgar

acceptation of that term.

11
In the first volume of his "Kise and Fall of the Confederate Government," he has presented in a masterly manner his views upon the weighty question of the reserved rights of the States, and has submitted to the world an argument which, in my judg ment, has not yet been answered save by the arbitrament of the sword, clearly demonstrating that the "Southern States had rightfully the power to withdraw from a union into which they had, as sovereign communities, voluntarily entered; that the denial of that right was a viola tion of the letter and spirit of the compact between the states; and that the war waged by the Federal government against the secedicg States was in disre gard of the limitations of the constitution, and destructive of the principles of the Declaration of Independence."
I haye no desire, my countrymen, in this presence and on this occasion", to discuss issues which have been, at least for the present, settled at the cannons mouth; and yet, in justice to the illustrious dead who by ribald tongue has been denounced as a "rebel" and a -traitor," in defence of you brave women and gallant men of the South, who followed the fortunes of the Confederacy and who are now gath ered together to pay homage at the shrine of him who occupied the chief seat of honor in the day of our nations hope and peril, I cannot refrain from saying, in all truth and soberness, that the States never having surrendered their sovereignty, "it is a palpable absurdity to apply to them, and to their citizens when obeying their mandates, the terms rebellion and treason: that the Confederate State?, so far from making war against, or seeking to destroy the United States, so soon as they had an official organ, strove earnestly, by peace ful recognition, to equitably adjust all Questions growing out of the separation from their late associates," and that the arraignment of the men who participat ed in the formation of the Confederacy and who bore arms in its defence as the instigators of a controversy leading to disunion," is wholly unjustifiable.

12
For many years prior to the civil war the Honorable Jefferson Davis was one of the most commanding figures in the pub lic eye. His services in the Mexican war had won for him military distinction, while his intellect, his oratory, his states manship, and his ability in dealing with questions of moment in the Senate of the United States, and in conducting the affairs of the bureau o war, were admitted by his opponents and applauded by his friends.
In his esteem constitutional liberty was dearer than life. Possessing in an extraor dinary degree those moral traits which are intensified under the test of heroic trial, he lived to show to the world "the match less and unconquerable grandeur of South ern character."
"In mind, manners, and heart, he was a type of that old race ot Southern gentle men -whom these bustling times are fast crowding out ot our civilization." With him fidelity, chivalry, honor, and patriot ism were realities, not words entities, not abstractions. To the South, and the cause which it represented, he remained faith ful even unto death.
On Feb. 9,186L, in his personal absence, and without any solicitation on his part, Mr. Davis was, by the Provisional Con gress assembled at Montgomery, Alabama, cbosen President of the Confederate States. This foremost office in the gift of the South he continued to hold until the disastrous conclusion of the Confederate struggle for independence. It is historic ally true that if bis inclination had been consulted, President Davis would have preferred high military command to the station of chief executive of the, nation.
Summoning to his aid such heads of de partments as aopeared moss suitable, and proclaiming in his inaugural address that necessity not choice had compelled the secession of the Southern States; that the true policy of the South an agricultural community was peace; and that the con stituent parts, but not the system of the government had been changed, he bent his every energy to the .creation and the con firmation of the republic newly born into

13
the sisterhood of nations. Herculean was the effort, involving as it did the entire organization of the Confederacy, the accumulation of supplies, the eonsummation of governmental plans, and the enlist ment, eqnipment, and mobilization of armies at a formative period when that union of seceding commonwealths was little more than a political name. Volun teers there were of exalted spirit and capable of the highest endeavor, but the problem was how to arm them for efficient service. In the language of the venerable historian of Louisiana; If Minerva with wisdom, courage, justice, and right was on the side of the Southern champion, it was Minerva not only without any armor, but even without the necessary garments to protect her against the inclemencies of the weather; whilst on the other side stood Mars in full panoply, Ceres with her inexhaustible cor nucopia, Jupiter with his thunderbolts, Neptune with his trident, Mercury with his winged feet and emblematic rod, Plutus with his hounds, and Vulcan with his forge and hammer."
It is even now a marvel, transcending comprehension, that the Confederate States were able so rapidly to place in the field large bodies of troops. Equally astound ing is it that a government born in a day and erected in the midst of a population al most wholly agricultural could so quickly summon to its support the entire manhood of the land, establish machine shops and foundries, compass the importa tion and irauafacture of quartermaster stores and munitions of war, accumulate commissary, and other supplies at couven* lent points, erect and man heavy batteries, furnish field artillery, place muskets and sabres in the hands of expectant soldiery, and organize the various departments requisite for the efficient administration of public affairs: and all this in the face of an impending war of gigantic proportions. That President Davis, in the consumma tion of this complex and most difficult busi ness, evinced a patriotism, an energy, a capacity, and a devotion worthy of the

highest commendation, will be freely ad mitted.
And what, my friends, shall I say of his conduct as Chief Magistrate of the Confed eracy during the more than four long and bloody years which marked the duration of our heroic struggle in defence of vested rights aod in behali of a separate national existence? Time would fail me to enumer ate even the salient points of his over shadowing intervention in, and controlling guidance of, the operations civil and mil itary appurtenant to that eventful epoch. He was the central sun of our system, around which all lesser luminaries revolved in subordinated orbits. He was the guarddian of our national honor, and the con servator of the public weal. Amid trials the most oppressive, and disasters the most appalling, he never forfeited the con fidence of his people; but under all circum stances retained their loves and their al legiance. His messages, state papers, and public utterances were models alike of statesmanship and of scholarly diction. His constant effort was to maintain, upon the highest plane, the purposes and acts of the government. Every suggestion was discountenanced which was not in har mony with the dictates of the most ap proved international ethics and the prin ciples of civilized warfare. In communing with citizens and soldiers he inculcated sentiments exalted in their character, and counselled every sacrifice necessary for the accomplishment of the vital purpose in view. His energy in the discharge of the multifarious, oerplexing, and important duties which devolved upon him, never flagged.His sacrifice of self was conspicuous. His spotless integrity, tenacity of convic tions, courage in maintaining his opinions, Ms enlightened conscience, his resolute temper, and his clear conception of right and honor in every relation, were potent factors in the solution of the tremendous problems claiming his attention. His res olution formed after the most careful consideration was followed with a relent less fidelity. Some men thought him dic tatorial ; but an iron will, inflexible nerve,

15
and the bravest assumption of personal re sponsibility were demanded by the occa sion. For the guidance of the time and the control of events there were no precedents. Action, immediate, decisive, was the watchword of the hour. "They that stand high have many blasts to shake them," and the marvel is that he was able to en dure the tremendous pressure, and to bear the burthens incident to the position he occupied, and consequent upon the perils which environed his beleaguered nation. Borne there were who questioned the pro priety of certain appointments to and re movals from important commands, crit icised his plans, and denied the advisa bility of some of the public measures which he favored; but no one ever doubted either the sincerity of his convictions or his absolute devotion to the best interests of people and government as he compre hended them. Difficult beyond expression was the execution of the momentous trust committed to his keeping. To say that he perpetrated no mistakes, would be to pro claim him more than mortal. In the ligbt of past events, and in expression of the general v erdict, this we will venture to affirm: that with the resources at com mand, and in view of the desperate odds encountered, President Davis and the Southern people achieved wonders, and accomplished all that the purest patriot ism, the most unswerving valor, the loftiest aspirations, and the most patient endurance could have compassed.
"Till the future dares Forget the past," the fame of both shall be "An echo and alight unto eternity." With the surrender of the armies of Generals Lee and Johnston, and upon the disintegration of the Confederate govern ment at Washington, Georgia, the end came. While attempting to reach the trans-Mississippi Department, and cherish ing the hope that with the assistance of Gens. E. Kirby Smith andj. B. Magruder and the forces under their command he

16

would there be able to President Davis was tachment of Federal

prolong the struggle, captured by a de cavalry. Subjected

stoispteentttywpiitlhlagteneanudsatgoesanonf ocyiavnilcizeesdinwcoanr

fare, he was conveyed Portress Monroe where,

under guard to charged with be

ing an accomplice in the assassination of

President Lincoln, and accused of treason,

separated from family and companions ,

heavy fetters riveted upon him, he was

immured in a stone casemate. "Bitter

tears have been shed by the gentle, and

stern reproaches" have been uttered by

the "magnanimous on account of the

needless torture" to which he was

then did this

subjected. For two long years this illustrious prisoner endure unmerited disgrace, this unwar

yueranonncuclt,ooevsdmeesrayentdhdfehroiemepanpdodrsrestas,asplipavrreteomcaiocbanhiisfntihnsmeemoocfmoefneoftinu.ntr,wCdwhoeiuiactldhhd

President, and reverently life which enfolds his precious would even now discover, on

the shroud body, you those pale

and shrunken limbs, the abrasions caused

by Federal gyves. Behold, my country

men, what tive of the

he suffered as the South! Behold the

representa martyrdom

he then people.

endured for the He was indeed

alleged sins of his "a nations pris

oner." Bravely did he bear

himself

during

this

season of privation, of sult, and of attempted

loneliness, of in degradation, pro

wwtarnaeedrcreetbeoadffpofeulrencndeetdidiln, satahtnotediairttheardecakgbFneyo,ewdtthheleeeradirlgpoeraiwsuotnthnhcaortdruioettoilhetreyss

charge of complicity in the assassination

of President Lincoln was a Jefferson Davis President

lie; and that of the Confed

erate States was not a traitor.

If anything were needed his memory in the affection

to consecrate and the grati

tude of the Southern people, it is surely

tshueppnloibedleninesths iosfvsipciarriitowusithsuwffehriicnhg,itanwd ains

endured.

Time and again since his liberation have

17
th shafts of falsehood, of hatred, ot de traction, and o jealousy, been directed against him; but, successfully parried, they have returned to wound the hands which launched them.
In bis quiet home at Beauvoir, ennobled by the presence of the live-oak that mon arch of the Southern forest .beautified by the queenly magnolia-grandiflora, redo lent of the perfumes of a semi-tropical region, fanned by the soft breezes from the Gulf, and cheered by exhibitions of respect, affection, and veneration most sincere, President Davis passed the evening of his eventful life. Since the hush of that great storm which convulsed this land, he has borne himself with a dignity and a com posure, with a fidelity to Confederate tra ditions, with a just observance of the pro prieties of the situation, and with an ex alted manhood worthy of all admiration.
Conspicuous for his gallantry and ability as a military leader prominent as a Fed eral Secretary of War as a senator and statesman renowned in the political an nals of these United States illustrious for all time as the President of a nation which, although maintaining its existence for only a ferief space, bequeathed glorious names, notable events, and proud memo ries which will survive the flood of years most active, intelligent, and successful in vindicating the aims, the impulses, the rights, and the conduct of the Southern people during their phenomenal struggle for independence his reputation abides unclouded by defeat, unimpaired by the mutations of fortune and the shadows of disappointment.
Surely no token of affection can be too profuse no mark of respect too emphatic no rendition of honor too conspicuous no funeral tribute too imposing for this dead chieftain of the South. Dead, did I say?
"To live in hearts we leave behind Is not to die."
Bven now his name is upon every South ern lip, and his memory enshrined in every Southern heart.

18
Bven now, all through this brave South land funeral bells are tolling his requiem. The bravest and the knightliest are rever ently bearing his precious body to the tomb. Benedictions, invoked by lips touched with a live coal from off the alcar, are descending like the dew of Hermon. Pious drops bedew the cheeks of noble women, and the heads of stalwart. men are bowed in grief. The hour is holy, and the occasion most privileged,
In bidding farewell to our President, we rejoice that, by a kind Providence, it was granted uuto him to spend in our midst
"His twelve long hours Bright to the edge of darkness; then the
calm Repose of twilight and a crown of
stars." We rejoice that he was permitted to render back his great spirit into the hands of the God who gave ic, surrounded by de voted friends, accompanied by the loves of Southern hearts, ana amid the comforts of the metropolis of the South. We rejoice that having attained unto the full measure of human life and enjoyed the highest honors which Soutnern hands could offer all mundane cares overpast he has, as we confidently believe, serenely entered into that Upper Realm where there are trees of unfading loveliness, pavements of emerald, canopies of brightest radiance, gardens of deep and tranquil security, palaces of proud and stately decoration, and a city of lolty pinnacles through which there unceasingly flows the river of gladness, and where jubilee is ever rung with the concord ot seraphic voices."