True Democrat., 1863-01-28
ADDRESS OF PRESIDENT DAVIS. Delivered in the Hall of Representatives,

,State of Mississippi.
 After an absence of nearly two years 1 again
 find myself among those who, from the days of
 my childhood, have ever been the trusted ob-
 iects of my affections, those for whose good
 have ever striven, and whose interests l have
 sometimes hoped 1 may have contributed to
 subserve. Whatever fortunes 1 may have
 achieved in life have been. gained represen-'
 tative of Mississippi, and before ai have la
 bored for the advancement ot her glory and
 honor. I now, for the first time in my career,
 find myself the representative of wider circle
 of interests; but circle ln which the interests
 of Mississippi are still embraced. Two years
 ago. nearly, l Jeff you to assume the duties
 which had devoved on me as the representative
 of the new Confectionery. The responsibilities
 of this position have occupied all my time, and
 have left me no opportunity for minglng with
 my friends in Mississippi, or for sharing in the
 dangers which have menaced them. Bat,
 wherever duty may have called me- my heart
 has been with you, and the success of the cause
 in which we are all engaged has been first Tn
 my thoughts and in my prayers. thought
 when left Mississippi that the service to winch
 I was called wonld prove to be but temporary.
 The last time had the honor ot addressing you
 from this stand l was influenced by that itsa.
 1 then imagined that 1t might be my fortune
 again to lead Mssssppians in the field, and to
 be with them where danger was to be braved
 and glory won. l thought to find that place
 which believed to be suited to my capacity;
 that of an officer in the service of the State of
 Mississippi For, although in the discharge ot
 my duties as President of the Confederate
 States, had determined tomake no dlsunctioh
 between the various parts of the cOuntry-to
 know no separate State-yet my heart has al- ways beat more warmly for Mississippi, and 1 have looked on Mississippi soldiers with pride and emotion such as no othe-s inspired. But as 1t was decided differently, was called to another sphere of acton How, in that sphere, have discharged the duties and obligations imposed on me, it does not become me to constitute my self the judge. It is for others to decide that question. But, speaking to you with that frankness and that confidence with which l have always spoken to you, aud which partakes of the nature of thinking aloud, l can say with my hand upon my heart, that whatever l have done has been done with the sincere purpose ot promoting the noble cause in which we are en- gagged. The period which has elapsed since 1 Jeff you is short; for the time, whicA may ap> pear long in the life of man, is short in the his tory of nation. Aud in that short period re markable changes have been wrought in all the circumstances by which we are surrounded. At the time o which 1 speak. the question pre- sented to our people was z will there be war; This was the subject of universal speculation. We had chosen to exercise an lndisputable right-the right to separate from those with whom we conceived association to be no longer possible. and to establish a government of our own. 1 was among those whc, from the begin ning predicted war as the consequence of se- cassion, although 1 must admit that the contest had assumed proportions more gigantic than 1 had anticipated. 1 predicted war, not because our right to secede and to form gov ernment of our own was not indlspntabie and 1 clearly defined in the spirit of that declaration which rests the right to govern on the consent of the governed, but because f1resaw that the wickedness of the north would precpitate war upon us. Those who supposed that the e1er- else of this right of separation could not pro duce war, have had cause to be convinced tfa they had credited their recent associates of the north with moderation, asagaclty, a morality they did not possess. You have been involved in war waged for the qualification of the lust of power and of aggrandiZement for your con quest and your subjugation, with malignant terocity and with disregard and contempt of the usages of civilization, entirely unequaled in history. Such, have ever warned you, were 4 ba characteristics or Irv-~.-~.-- ~-ra~--~ those with whom our ancestors entered into union of consent, and with whom they formed compact. And yet, such was the attachment of our people for that union, such their devotion to 1t, that those who desired preparations to be made for the inevitable con fct were denounced as men who only wished to destroy the union. Alter what has happened during the last two years, my only wonder Is that we consented to live for so long time Tn association with such miscreants, and have loved so much d government rotted to the core Were it ever to be proposed again to enter into union with such people, could no more consent to do 1t than to trust myself III den ot thieves.
 You in Mississippi have but little experience ed as vet the horrors of the war. You have seen but little of the savage manner ln which IL is wlged by your barbafous enemies It has been my fortune to witness it in all its terrors; in a part of the country where old men have been torn from their homes, carried into cap- tiyity and immurred in distant dungeons, and where delicate women have been insulted by brutal soldiery and forced to even to cook for the dirty Yankee invaders; where property has been wantonly destroyed, the country raVaged, and every outrage committed. And It Is with these pc )ple that our fathers formed union and a solemn compact There Is indeed a dilferance between the two peoples. Let no man hug the delusion that there be renew ed association between them. Our enemies are A tradtionless and homeless racs from the time of Cromwell to the present moment they have been disturberS of the peace of the world. Gathered together by Cromwell from inc bogs and fens of the North of Ireland aud of England they commenced by disturbing the peace of their own country; they disturbed Holland, to which they fled, and they disturbed England on their return. They persecuted Catholics in England, and they hung Quakers and witches in America. Having been hurried into war with a people devoid of every mark of civilization, you have no donbt won- dered that have not carried out the policy, which had intended should be our policy, ot fighting our battles on the fields of the enemy instead of suffering him to fight them on ours. Thls was not the result of my will, but of the ] over of the enemy. They had at their com mand all the accumulated wealth of seventy years-the military stores which had been laid up during that time. They had grown rich from the taxes wrung from you for the estab- fishing and supporting their manufacturing in, stitutions We have entered upon conflict with nation contiguous to us in territory, and vastly superior to us Tn numbers In the face of these facts the wonder is not that we have done little, but that we have done so much In the first year of the war our forces were sent into the field poorly armed, and were far inferl- or to the enemy. We were compelled even to arm ourselves by the capture of weapons taken from the foe on the battle field. Thus in every lattle we exchanged our arms for those of the
 invaders. At the end oftwelve months of the
 WAT 1t was still necessary for us to adopt some