The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-10 00:00:00

THE PRESIDENT OF THE CONFEDE-

RATE STATES.

tlelhle,eegtei;,
second
. Jefferson Davis was born on the 33 of June, 1808,
in that part of Christian County, Kentucky, whic.h
now forms Todd County. Soen after his birth his
father, Samuel Davis, a planter, who served dur-
ing thF revolutionary war in the mounted force of
j?)e eat tt:ivlriesg(li
e4eFe‘idreac())lTdiwvaii
lhae
d,h(l
ms
Tfii
ilinl
syeedtnuo songi
.iapnpydi
0,
uav
ladgs
stuenekt
ya,t
wthheieuhsuhael alegfet tionTlrBa2n4sytivoa
graduated in 1828, and was appeinentnieatdeCbr
States Military Aeadem Kn
4e. d-
y at West Point, where he
lieutenant. He remained in the army seven years,
and served as an infantry and staff officer on the
north-west frontier in the Black Hawk war of 1831-
32, with such distinction that on the 4th of March
1833, he was promoted to a fitkst lieutenancy of dra-
goons, in which capacity he was employed in 1834
in various expeditions against the Comanches
Pawnees, and other hostile Indian tribes. He
re-
signed his commission, June 30, 1835, returned to
Mississippi, and became a cotton planter, living in
retirement till 1843, when he began to take an active
part in politics on the Democratic side, and in 1844
was chosen one of the Presidential electors of Missis-
sippi to vote for Polk and Dallas.
In November,
1845, ho was elected a representative in Congress,
and took his seat in December of that year. He
bore a conspicuous part in the discussions of the
session on the tariff, on the Oregon question, on
military affairs, and particularly on the preparations
for war against Mexico, and on the organisation of
volunteer militia when called into the service of the
United States. While in Congress, in July, 1846,
the Ist Regiment of Mississippi Volunteers, then
enrolled for service in Mexico, elected him their
colonel. He promptly left his seat in the house,
and, overtaking his regiment in New Orleans on its
way to the seat of war, led it to reinforce the
army of General Taylor on the Rio Grande.
He was actively engaged in the attack and storm-
ing of Montery, in September, 1846 ; was one of the
commissioners for arranging the terms of the capitu-
lation of that city; and highly distinguished him-
self in the battle of Buena Vista, February 23, 1847,
where his regiment, attacked by an immensely
superior force, maintained their ground for a long
time unsupported, while Colonel Davis himself,
though severely wounded, remained in the saddle
until the close of the action, and was complimented
for his coolness and gallantry by the commander-
in-chief in his despatch of March 6, 1847. At the
expiration of the term of its enlistment, in July,
1847, the Mississippi Regiment was ordered home ;
and Colonel Davis, while on his return, received at
New Orleans a commission from President Polk as
brigadier-general of volunteers, which he declined
accepting, on the ground that the constititution
reserves to the States respectively the appointment
of the offieers of militia, and that the appointment
by the Federal Executive is a violation of the rights
of the States. In August, 1847, he was appointed
by the Governor of Mississippi United States sena-
tor, to fill a vacancy ; and at the ensuing Session
of the State Legislature, January 11, 1848, was
unanimously elected to the same office for the
residue of the term, which expired March 4, 1851.
In 1850 he was re-elected for the ensuing full term.
In the Senate he was chosen chairman of the Com-
mittee on Military Affairs, and took a prominent
part in the debates on the slavery question in
defence of the institutions and policy of the slave
State, and was a zealous advocate of the' doctrine of
State rights. It September, 1851, he was nominated
candidate for Governor of Mississippi by the Demo-
cratic party, in opposition to Henry Foote, the can-
didate of the Union party. He resigned his seat in the
Senate on accepting the nomination, and was beaten
in the election by a majority of 999 votes—a
marked indication of his personal popularity in his
own State ; for at the " Convention election," two
months before, the Union party had a majority of
7,500. After his defeat Colonel Davis remained in
retirement until the Presidential contest of 1852,
when he took the stump in behalf of General Pierce
in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Louisiana, where ho
rendered essential service to the Democratic party.
In 1853 he was appointed by President Pierce Sec-
retary of War, which post he held till the accession
of President Buchanan in 1857. His administra-
tion of the War Department was marked by ability
and energy, and was highly popular with the army.
He proposed or carried into effect, among other
measures, the revision of the army regulations, the
introduction of camels into America, the introduc-
tion of the light infantry or rifle system of tactics,
the manufacture of rifled muskets and pistols and
the use of the Minie ball, the addition of four regi-
ments to the army, the augmentation of the sea-
coast and frontier defences of the country, and the
system of explorations in the western part of the
continent for geographical purposes, and for the
determination of the best route for a railroad to the
Pacific Ocean. Having been previously re-elected
on his retirement from the War Department, Col.
Davis re-entered the Senate for the term ending
March 4, 1863. In the Sessions of the 35th Con-
gress be has been conspicuous in the discussions on
the French Spoliation Bill, which he opposed, and
on the Pacific Railroad for the Southern route, of
hich he is a zealous and most influential advocate.
New American Cyclopmdia•

A LIBERAL OFFER.—A benevolent gentleman,
who has already given the National Lifeboat Institution
the cost (X 315) of a lifeboat and its transporting carriage,
offers to contribute an additional £lOO provided nine other .
persons can be found, by Christmas, to give the institution.
a similar amount, to enable it to meet the present heavy
demands on its funds for new lifeboat stations just com-
pleted on different parts of the coasts of the United King-
dom, and which have compelled the committee to sell out
£5OO from the small funded capital of the society,
REMOVAL OF THE BODY OF THE EARL OF
EGLINTON AND WINTON.—The body of the Earl of Eglin-
ton and Winton was on Saturday afternoon removed from
Mount Melville House to the St. Andrew's railway station,
whence it was conveyed to Edinburgh by the 3.20 p.m.
train. J. Whyte Melville, Esq., was the only gentleman
who accompanied the remains of the late noble earl to the
station, the departure having been conducted privately.
We understand the body is to be retained in the vaults of
St. John's, Edinburgh, for twe or three days, after which
it will be conveyed to Eglinton Castle, where it will re-
main till the day of funeral, when it will be deposited in.
the family vault—Caledonian Mercury.
RICHARD WEAVER, THE CONVERTED COLLIER.
—On Tuesday evening last, the Rev. J. Bligh delivered a
lecture on the remarkable life, labours, &c., of Richard
Weaver, the converted collier, in Fetter-lane chapel. The
various topics were illustrated by some of the interesting
and striking incidents with which Weaver's life abounds.
The audience was unusually large, and seemed deeply in-
terested in the subject. The lecture was in connection
with the London Congregational Association. Rev. R.
G. Harper, minister of the chapel, presided.
SHREWSBURY GREAT HORSE FAIR, Oct. B.
Yesterday the autumn horse fair was held at Shrewsbury.
There was an extensive supply of handsome grown cattle
exhibited for sale, and there was a good show of horses on
private view in the stables the previous day, and from which
many valuable purchases were made. Very best descriptions
of horses adapted for harness purposes, and riding horses of
blood and pedigree, readily found buyers, but an inferior
class of horses were, as usual in the decline of the season,
in dull demand. Young horses for private carriages,.
superior horses
7n5, pglinlicasc.Onveyances, and
making phaetons,
h high
. figures
gs oulrle
sat; fromditt
foro 65 tvoa
town work, 24 to 36 guineas ; hunters of high pedigree and
good fencers ranged in figures from 75 to 150 guineas, and
others of celebrity sold at higher prices ; cobs and hacks 20
to 28 guineas, cart horses and colts 25 to 40 guineas, and
Irish .bred horses 28 to 40 guineas. A sale of blood stock
also took place by public auction. This is the last horse
fair appointed to be held here this year, and the unsold
horses will go to Chester great horse fair, which will be held
to-morrow (Thursday).

A LUCKY NON-COMMISSIONED OFFlCER.—Ser-
geant Campion, Ist battalion 18th Royal Irish, now serv-
ing in India, has, by the death of his brother, come in for a
fortune of £lO,OOO. His brother, who had made his money
in Australia, returned to Ireland and purchased an estato
a short time ago, near Fermoy, and on the day of the pur-
chase (being the worse for liquor) rode his horse into the
river at Fermoy, and was drowned. He leaves, as next
of kin, two brothers and one sister, each of whom will have
£10,000. United 'Service Gazette.
THE MILDNESS OF THE SEASON.—Owing to the
extraordinary mildness of the season, many fruit trees in
the grounds of the market gardeners have assumed a second
display of bloom. In Pentonville, which forms a part of
the parish of Clerkenwell, may be seen on the south side of
Collier-street, a pear-tree in full bloom. This is one of the
remaining fruit -trees which many years ago abounded.
this parish, and of which there are now but few in esbisterncoi
At the siege of Sebastopol the total.num
number of
rounds expended amounted to 253,042 35
tars were used. Of these 10 became unservsr
35 10-inch mortars, 11 8-inch mortars, and 20'
oven Lancaster
and 3 were destroyed by the endellirsy.
57 24 pounders, 3
guns, 8 68-pounders, 105 32-poun
6°B:inch guns were em-
ployed e2°l:slbl cc. ihnfrmeollmmues re
9-pounders, 10 10-inch.
these statistics of a
1
indispensable it is to have
andb
arr onlyno dr a 4remained
batteries, an d service-
ablearmyof
ent stock of artillery, whicir.
e
is now in Pesth, ha.l
sssupplies
p gpllaeite
g;t siegehant
he e and
itfin of
will
fleet,
htbheeel
garrisons, ts
:sr guns,
e i?engneu.om w F
sEungevrhiailliordea.irnero,ivelec: anapdac
whopeeeeskrnan
lately visited the national theatre at Buda, where he was
given an ovation. Hardly had the distinguished French-
housemanhe
hoo
nuhonour
re
rosenotfe rhe
mtdo t hwt
heeel
(bo, ommx
eaehrnsi
egmil gees©a du anf o
ytrhmhe
orchestraw heu tphlea
ywe
dh
inl
all sang upon the stage, the audietioe trosohincoingera