SPEECH OF ACCEPTANCE 
 
 HON. DUNBAR ROWLAND 
 
Qass t^ ' ^'f 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
PH(5TOGRAPHIC FACSIMILF OF PORTRAIT OF JEFFERSON DAVIS, 
 REPRODUCED FROM ORIGINAL PAINTING BY CARL GUTHERZ, WHICH 
 HANGS IN THE MISSISSIPPI HALL OF FAME. 
 
speech of Acceptance 
 
 By 
 
 Hon. Dunbar Rowland 
 
 Press of Brandon Printing Company 
 Nashville, Tenn. 
 

 (Pefjon) 
 
 ?3Mr*05 
 
SPEECH OF ACCEPTANCE. 
 
 Governor Vardaman, Daughters of the Confederacy, Ladies 
 and Gentlemen: 
 
 In appearing before this cultured audience, which so 
 fully represents the patriotism of Mississippi, it is hardly 
 necessary to assure you that I am deeply sensible of the true 
 significance of the occasion. 
 
 The presentation by the Mississippi Division of the 
 Daughters of the Confederacy to the State of this splendid 
 portrait of Jefferson Davis reveafs the fact that our people 
 honor, revere and love his memory with a devotion which 
 increases with the passage of time. His likeness comes to 
 us, draped in the silken folds of the flags he endeavored so 
 nobly to defend, which is proof of a people's reverence for 
 that past in which he bore so heroic a part, and an evidence 
 of the pride which we of this generation take in the history 
 of our fathers. 
 
 So long as a people honor their past and revere the great 
 characters who have enriched their history, so long will 
 that people give noble deeds to the world. 
 
 This patriotic offering to the State, of the likeness of its 
 most illustrious citizen, is proof of the noble character of its 
 people and bears witness of their affection for his memory. 
 No name upon the pages of American history commands 
 from the Southern people more honor, reverence and love 
 than that of Jefferson Davis. We honor him for his un- 
 wavering devotion to principle throughout a long and event- 
 
ful life, we revere him for his loyalty to a cause for which 
 our fathers bled and died, and we love him because he suf- 
 fered for us. 
 
 Seneca was once asked by an ambitious Roman youth, 
 "Who is the greatest man in history?" His answer was, 
 "He who chooses the right with the most invincible resolu- 
 tion." We are willing to apply that standard to the life and 
 character of Jefferson Davis. 
 
 This likeness of the President of the Confederacy rep- 
 resents him as he was in 1861, when he delivered his fare- 
 well address to the Senate of the United States. It recalls 
 him at a time of life when he was at the full zenith of his 
 magnificent powers, before the black havoc of civil war had 
 swept across his pathway, saddening the light in his eye and 
 furrowing his noble brow with heavy lines of care. 
 
 A description of that scene in the Senate may serve to 
 give this noble portrait an historical setting in the minds of 
 those who have gathered here to do honor to the man it 
 represents. 
 
 Let us, then, picture the American Senate as it was on 
 January 20, i86r. An eager throng packs the Senate cham- 
 ber. Every seat is occupied and every foot of space holds a 
 man. The galleries are filled to overflowing. The excited 
 people have come to witness one of the most dramatic 
 events which has ever occurred in the halls of the American 
 Congress. John C. Breckenridge, the distinguished young 
 Kentuckian, is presiding. The intelligence, genius, grace 
 and culture of the nation compose this splendid audience. 
 All is in waiting, when, during a moment of breathless 
 anxiety, a tall, scholarly looking man with an ascetic. 
 
slightly melancholy air, rises in his seat. There is a look 
 of quiet determination on his face. There is also evidence 
 of deep emotion. You see something in the poise of his 
 head, the dignity of his bearing, and hear something in the 
 deep earnestness of his tones which tell you of a spirit ready 
 for the painful duty that lies before him. That man is 
 Jefferson Davis, a Senator from Mississippi, a member of 
 the foremost rank, a soldier whose superb courage was 
 shown at Buena Vista, a statesman, orator and logician, who 
 is about to deliver a speech which is a personal farewell to 
 the Senate and the valedictory of the Southern States. 
 
 Mississippi had withdrawn from the Union and Jefferson 
 Davis, her strongest stay, would not fail her in her hour of 
 need, but chose to tread with her any path which she might 
 walk in defense of her constitutional rights. She had ex- 
 ercised a right that the nation had taught its sons at its 
 great military academy. 
 
 As the speaker, with majestic calmness and dignity, un- 
 daunted by the suppressed excitement and intense feeling 
 around him, begins to plead the cause which he believes to 
 be right, he is followed with fixed and eager attention. As 
 he continues the pathos of the situation makes strong men 
 weep, for they feel that this is the official announcement of 
 the dissolution of the Union. 
 
 That farewell speech of Jefferson Davis is full of cour- 
 age, dignity and moderation, and is famous in the annals of 
 American oratory as one of the great epoch-making speeches 
 of the century. 
 
 In Grattdn's eulogy of Chatham he says that the great 
 Englishman "was born to strike a blow in the world that 
 
sliould resound through its history." How well does that 
 phrase portray the career of Jefferson Davis. 
 
 There are certain attributes of character which rarely 
 fail to make leaders of men who possess them. Mr. Davis 
 had a rare combination of these great qualities. He was 
 independent, self-reliant and resolute- He had earnest and 
 intelligent convictions, combined with intense devotion to 
 principle. He had a magnificent courage, which commanded 
 the admiration of the people, and an integrity of character 
 which won their confidence. He was not an ephemeral 
 growth, springing into existence from abnormal social con- 
 ditions, but the splendid product of a civilization which had 
 given to the world the most superb characters known to 
 history. Jefiferson Davis was of patrician mould. He was 
 endowed by nature with the rarest qualities of both mind 
 and spirit, to which had been added the highest culture and 
 training. The people of Mississippi delighted to honor him, 
 and during the long period of his public service not a 
 shadow of wrong ever marked his conduct. It was but an 
 added proof of the high esteem in which the Southern peo- 
 ple held him, that when the Confederacy was organized he 
 was placed at its head. Mr. Davis had a wonderful com- 
 prehension of the terrible struggle which was before him, 
 and with rare judgment he called to his side the men who 
 became the heroes of history. Together they led the great 
 struggle for an independent nationality. They felt that the 
 constitution of their fathers had been violated, and with a 
 spirit which animated the makers of that palladium of 
 liberty, they rallied to its defense. The cause for which 
 they fought failed, but greatness does not always consist in 
 
gaining something, but in being true. Not for one moment 
 during that long and bitter struggle did these princely spirits 
 waver in their devotion to duty. They emerged from that 
 bloody conflict with unstained honor, and no memory of 
 their recreancy remains to-day to torture the sons of the 
 South. 
 
 Great as the leader of the Southern Confederacy appears 
 at every period of his life, at no time does his adamantine 
 strength of character display itself as in the hour of defeat. 
 With a courage that could not be broken, and a fortitude 
 which was strengthened by affliction, he bore himself in that 
 dark hour as only a hero could, and gave to the world no 
 outward sign of what his great soul suffered. Though not a 
 ray of that splendid hope, which had arched its beautiful 
 bow above his country, remained to cheer him, he refused 
 to regard life as a burden and a failure. He believed that 
 life was the supremest gift of God, and continued to pursue 
 its aims and ends with a noble interest that is unprecedented 
 in history and beautiful to contemplate. 
 
 He toiled, even to extreme old age, to give as his parting 
 blessing to the children of the South a true history of their 
 fathers' deeds. 
 
 To us he represents all that is best in Southern character, 
 and we shall continue to honor him as long as one fair 
 green stretch of this beautiful land, for whose honor he gave 
 himself a willing sacrifice, remains in our keeping. 
 
 Daughters of the Confederacy, you have wrought well. 
 You have given to Mississippi many noble proofs of your 
 affection. To-day you bring a gift which touches her great 
 heart, for it represents the purest and most unselfish love, 
 
and is proof of that sublime devotion to country wliich so 
 truly characterized your mothers. 
 
 It has been my pleasant privilege to place in the State's 
 Hall of Fame the portraits of many distinguished Missis- 
 sippians, and I have cherished with pride the place which 
 to me is a beautiful memorial to what is true, high and 
 noble in our State life. It is with a heart touched with 
 reverential awe that I shall place this noble likeness there, 
 for in its majestic presence I feel as if I stood before some 
 sacred shrine, upon whose holy altars burn a sacrifice to 
 Truth and Justice. 
 
 In accepting from you this offering of love, this work of 
 genius, for which I tender sincerest thanks, I assure you 
 that it shall have the place of honor among that splendid 
 galaxy of great spirits, and throughout the years it shall 
 serve to remind future generations of the love of those who 
 gave it. 
 
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