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University Repobter.
I feel the thought all the more to-day, because it was my priv
ilege to know Mr. Davis in the sanctity of his home And 1 am
proud to say that there was not on earth, in my opinion, a more
courtly gentleman. I read that George Washington was so ex
quisitely polite that when he saw that words incidentally spoken
had unjustly wounded a child he made’the most humble apolo
gies. General Lee was punctillious in discharging all social du
ties at Lexington, feeling himself under obligations to call upon
strangers when they came to the town, never dreaming that the
hero would enter their door. And so Mr. Davis was the em
bodiment of that saying : “True politeness is but kindness in
little things.” His courteous acknowledgement to the colored
servant who brought him a glass of water, his delicate attentions
to the guest under his roof, his exquisite bearing to the lady
whom he called his wife, and to his children, was a lesson well
worth one’s study. And be assured, dear young friends, that
such charming manners are only to be learned at home. They
are net mere “polish,” as some speak ; not gilding over a stain
ed or rotten surface. They are the expressions of the inner
man—as the Bible says “the hidden man cf the heart.” The
boy who is a gentleman to his mother, his sister, his brothers
and play-fellows, is the gentleman in after life.
Finally, cherish the deep religious faith, dear young friends
—cherish, I say, the deep religious faith of the “Old South.”
Exceptions among us there may have been, but all our great
men, the types of their people, wei'e marked by religious con
victions The orders of Washington and his State Papers
breathe his soul’s conviction of the Almighty power of a holy
Providence in human affairs. Andrew Jackson, the hero of our
second war with Great Britain, became an humble penitent,
meekly and tearfully confessing his faith in Christ. Robert E.
Lee was never ashamed of Christ or of His name. The piety
of our honored general was like a holy spell over the entire ar
my. Stonewall’s soldiers said that the thought of his prayers
sustained them in battle, and the Confederate President >- as
known to all men as one who feared and worshipped God.
• Two of our great statesmen are reported as holding loose opin
ions as to the atonement of Christ, but they were infinitely re
moved from the slightest approach to scoffing at holy things.
My young friends, I warn you against rejecting that holy faith
