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At a convention of young Southerners in 1889, Jefferson Davis, former President of the Confederate States of America, came out of his quiet retirement to say his last public words, which included these. “The faces I see before me are those of young men; had I not known this I would not have appeared before you. Men in whose hands the destinies of our Southland lie, for love of her I break my silence to speak to you a few words of respectful admonition. The past is dead; let it bury its dead, its hopes and its aspirations. Before you lies the future, a future full of golden promise, a future of expanding national glory, before which all the world shall stand amazed. Let me beseech you to lay aside all rancor, all bitter sectional feeling, and to take your places in the ranks of those who will bring about a consummation devoutly to be wished -- a reunited country.” (from page 1058 of The Civil War, A Narrative, Volume Three by Shelby Foote)

Photo of pottery shards of an abandoned village on the Hopi Nation’s Third Mesa.

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Comments from readers

Rosemary wrote:
Very beautiful, Danny. You lead the examined life and you remind us that there is a big beautiful world out there.

Tom wrote:
A timely message!

Lucia wrote:
Could this be more relevant? History does indeed repeat itself.

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