What does Miss Maudie mean by "We are paying the highest tribute we can pay a man" in To Kill a Mockingbird?

In chapter 24 of To Kill a
Mockingbird by Harper Lee, everyone learns that Tom Robinson is killed while
trying to jump over the jail fence. It was the jail guards who did this. They
supposedly shot warning shots in the air, but then went for the kill. In this chapter we
also learn that, to them, they were not shooting at Tom Robinson: They were aiming to
shoot a black man, plain and simple. For that reason alone, they may have felt that they
were doing the right thing anyway.

Atticus is quite
distraught as he listens to the news. He knows perfectly well that Tom's death was
vicious and even possibly pre-meditated. He knows that no prisoner gets shot that many
times just out of warning. On the other hand Aunt Alexandra, Atticus's sister, was even
more concerned because of Atticus's lack of safety in the town  since he is Tom
Robinson's defense lawyer. Miss Maudie responds to Aunt Alexandra's worries by
saying:

"Have
you ever thought of it this way, Alexandra? Whether Maycomb knows it or not, we're
paying the highest tribute we can pay a man. We trust him to do right. It's that
simple."

"Who?" Aunt Alexandra never knew she was echoing
her twelve-year-old nephew.

"The handful of people in this
town who say that fair play is not marked White Only; the handful of people who Pay a
fair trial is for everybody, not just us; the handful of people with enough humility to
think, when they look at a Negro, there but for the Lord's kindness am I.” Miss Maudie's
old crispness was returning: "The handful of people in this town with background, that's
who they are."

In this
powerful rebuttal Maudie basically says that, as long as there is ONE more person in
Maycomb with the sense of humility, kindness and justice that exists in the person of
Atticus Finch, things will look up. That the best way to honor the sacrifice of Atticus
Finch is to believe in that his sacrifice is worth making. They must keep the faith in
knowing that the time he spent on this case, and the heavy blow this case has given to
his reputation have not been in vain. That, in fact, his actions will serve as a legacy
for all the people who wish to be, but do not dare to be, like Atticus Finch. Who knows?
Maybe Atticus will end up being the model citizen of Maycomb and many more will follow
his steps. However, the only way to open the door to a better Maycomb is to allow
Atticus Finch in along with his life philosophy, and the sacrifice he has made on behalf
of Tom Robinson. Believing in Atticus and his view is to honor Atticus and his view. It
is touching the nerve of Maycomb that nobody else has dared to touch before. This is the
stuff that history is made of. What better tribute than to believe in a man who is about
to change the history of a town forever?