Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1862-03-06
JeT. DaVis' inaugural.
ttrjm tue Redmond Examiner ESira, Feb. 22l
t,.. ..- f.-........ ~. .l... Al. l.; ,,


Of American indepencnco, and
beneath the monument erected to COM
mcmorote his heroic virtues and those OF
his compatriuts, we have assembled to
usher into existence the permanent gov
crnment of the Confederate St0tes.---
Through this instrumcntality under the
favor of Divine Providence, we hope to.
the principles Of our Revolu-
tiOnary fathers. Tho day, the memory
and the purpose seem fully associated.
1t is with mingled feelings Of humility
and pride that | appear to take, in the
presence Of the people and before high
Heaven, the oath prescribed AS qualili-
cation for the exalted station to which the
unan nous voice Of the people has called
me. Deeply sensible Of all that is i'm
piled by this manifestation of the peo.
pies confidence, | AIN yet more profound
ly impressed by the vast responsibility OF
the office, and humbly feel my own un-
worthincss.
In return for their kindncs can only
offer assurance Of the gratitude with
which it is received, and can but pledge
Jealous devotion of every facility to
the service Of those who have chosen me
as their chief Magistrate.
When q long course Of class lcgsIa'
tion, directed not to the general welfare,
but to the ggrandzcmcnt Of the North.
crn section of the Union, eliminated in q
warfare on the domestic institutions of
the Southern States--whcn the Iogmas
of sectional party, substituted for the
provisions of the constitutional compact,
threatened 20 destroy the sovereign rights
Of the States, Withdrawing from the I'm
ion, confcderatod together to exercise the
right and perform the duty Of institu-
ting government which would better
secure the liberties for the preservation Of
which that Union was established.
Whatever Of hope some may have en-.
tertaincl that a returning sense ofiusticc
would remove the danger with which our
rights were threatened, and render it pos
siblc to preserve the Union Of the Con-
stitution, must have been dispclIed by the
malignity and barbarity of the Northern
States in the prosecution Of the existing
war. The confidence { the most hopeful
among Us must have been destroyed by
the disregard they have recently cXhibi-
ted for all the time honored bulwarks OF
civil and religious liberty, Baatics fill
ed with prisoners, arrested without civil
process or indictment duly found ; the
writ Of habcas corpus suspended by Exec
utivc mandate a State Legislature con.
trollcd by the imprisonment Of members
whose avowcd principles suggested to the
federal Executive that there might be an
other added to the list of seeded States;
ry power; civil officers, peaceful citizens
aud gentle women incarcerated for opin.
ion sake, proclaimed the incapacity OF
our late associates to administer a Gov
,crumcnt as free, liberal and humane as
that cStabishc for our common use.
For proof of the sincerity of our pur.
pose to maintain our ancient institutions
we may point to the Constitution of tho
Conlcderacy and the laws enacted under
it, as well as to the fact that through all
the necessities of an unequal struggle
there has been no act on our part to inn
pair personal liberty or the freedom OF
speech, of thought or Of the pross. The
courts have been open, the judicial func-
ton fully executed, and every right of
the peaceful citizen maintained as secure
| " as if war of invasion had not dis
turbcd the land.
Tho people of the States now con(cdcr
ated became convinced that the Govern
ment of the United States had fallen int,
the hands Of sectional ma jority, VIII,
would pervert that most sacred of al
trust to the destruction of the right
which it was pledged to protect The
believe that to remain longer in the Tn
ion would subject them to n continuance
Of dsparging discrimination, submis
sion to which would be inconsistent will
tn ir welfare and intoerable to prou,
I people. They therefore determined t.
/ sever its bonds and establish new Con
=, icdcracy for themselves.
The experiment instituted by our Rev
} olutionary fathers, of voluntary mio
Of sovereign States for purposes specific
# in solemn compact, had been pcrvcrte
. by those who, feeling power and forge
-. ting right, were determined to respect II
:, law but their own will The govcrl
D.. mcnt had ceased to answer the ends f
= which it was ordained and established -
+. To save ourselves from rcvolutio
which, in its silent but rapid progress
was about to place us under the dcspo
ism of numbers, and to preserve in spiri
as we'll as in form, a system of govern
mcnt we believe to be peculiarly fitted t
c our condition, and full of promise fC
. mankind, wc determined to make II ne
association, composed of States homog
, ncous in interest, in policy and in feeling
True to our traditions of peace and OF
n love of Justice, we sen, Commissions
}. to the United States to propose fair al
amicabc settlement of all questions
,, public deb; or property which might
~ in dispute. But the Government
l. ashington, DENYING our right to sci
government, refused even to listen to an
o proposals for peaceful separations
o Nothing was then left to us but to pr
,' pare for war.
r. The first year in our history has bee
II. the most cvcntlu in the annals of til
'c continent. \ new government has bee
:, established, and its machinery put
,r operation over an area exceeding sew,
~ hundred thousand square miles. T.
II. great principles upon which we have be,
II