Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1862-03-15
IRvY DAv1s's 1NNAUeuRAL ADDRESS.

JEFF Davis, delivered at Richmond. upon Il
occasion Of his re-inauguration as President
the Confederate States, is as follows:
FELLOW CITIZENS On this the birtbda
OF the man most identified with the estaE
llShment OF American independence. an
beneath the monument erected to commemc
| rate his heroic virtues and those of his CON
patriots, we have assembled 10 usher int
existence the permanent Government of III
Confederate States. Through this instru
mentality, under the favor of Divine Proyi
dence, we hope to perpetuate the principle,
OF our Revolutionary fathers. The day
the memory is ftIy 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 a uualifica.
tion for the exalted station TO wnich the
unanimous Voice of the people has called
me. Deeply sensible of all that is imphed
by this manifestation OF the peoples conf
denee. am yet more profoundly imp, es,ed
by the vast responsibility Of the ,fficr, aud
humbly feel my own unworthinesS.
In return for their kindness can only
offer assurances of the gratitude with which
it is received, and can hut pledge a Jealous
devotion of every fncllIy 10 the serv ce of
those who have chosen me their Chief Mig
istrate.
When long course of class legislation.
directed not to the general welfare but TO
the agrandizement of the Union, culmiast.
ed in a warfare on the domestic institutions
of the Southern States--when the dogmas
of sectional party, substituted for the pro-
visions of the constitutional compact, threat
ened to destroy lhe sovereign rights of the
States, six of those States, withdrawing
from the URiOn, confederated together 10
exercise the right and perform the duty of
instituting Government which would bet.
ter secure the liberties for the preservation
of which the Union was established.
Whatever of hope some may have enter
tanned that returning sense of Justice
would remove the danger with which our
rights were threatened and render il posi-.
BILE 10 preserve the Union of the Constitu-
tiOn, ,must have been dispelled by the maligni.
ty aud barbarity Of the Northern States in
the prosecution of the existing war. The
of the most hopeful among us
must baVe been destroyed by the disregard
they have recently exhibited for all the
bulwarks of civil aud religious
liberty. Bastiles filed with prisoners. ar
rested without civil process or Of indictment
duly found I; the writ of habeas corpus sus.
pended by Executive mandate a State
Legislature controlled by the Imprisonment
of members whose avowed principles suo.
sested TO the Federal Executive that there
night be another added to the list of Se-
'eded States ! elections held under threats
'f a military power civil officers peaceful
'iIiEeuS, and gentle women ihearcerated for
opinions sake, proclaimed the incspaeity of
our late associates to administer a Govern.
nent as free, liberal, aud humane as thai
for our common use.
For proof of the sincerity of our purpose
10 maintain our ancient Institutions we
nay point to the Constitution of the Con.
ederacy and the laws enacted upon IL, as
o tho fact that through all the necessities
II an unequal struggle there has been no
lct on our part to impair nersonal liberty,
,r the freedom Of speech, Of lhought, or Of
he press. The courts have been open, the
judicial functions fully executed, aud every