Holmes County farmer. [volume] (Millersburg, Ohio) 1857-1926, 1865-12-07
Petition for the Release Of JEFF
fersOn Davis.

hctlNlVh tOE the hSPIe3Se OIL Je1-
fersOn Davis.
We copy the subjoincd petition for the re.
lease of Mr.. Davis, from the Raleigh .Scnti-
mel. 1t was written at the request Of many
ladies of Raleigh, North Carolina, by Mrs
Downing, of Virginia, during brief visit
to that city That most highly gifted au-
thoress and lady has her hosts of admirers
in all parts of this country, and enjoys an
enviable reputation wherever the English
language is spoken. She is the authoress of
that interesting work entitled "Nameless," )"
and has another book in press which is
spoken of as one which will greatly add to
her well deserved popularity. The petition
has already be signed by large number of
ladies, and will be- if it has not already been
forwarded to the President. While in a
literary point of view it is admirable, the
spirit pervading it is divine:
PETITION.
To his Eccellency Andre,c johnson, Prest-
dent Of the United States
We, the undersigned, acting on the part
city, and actuatcd by the spirit which ami
mates the women of the entire South, most
respectfully beg leave to present to your
Excellcncy, our petition:
This is in behalfof Jefferson Davis, lately
invested with all the prerogatives Of posi-
ton similar to the one in which your Ex-
cellency, by the direct lnterposition of the
hand of God has been placed, now captive
languishing in prison. Whether that prison
be the Just doom of him who is suffering
from its effects, isnot a question to be argued
by u.s. Iii be conceded that the man who
is the representative Of the people must
suffer the consequences of such representa-
ton, then the decree which consigned Mr.
| Davis to imprisonment in land which has
| hitherto been the world S synonyme for free
dom, was most proper one, and he is un-
dergoing only fitting expiation for the Of
Tended majesty Of the law. But has he not
suffered it sufficiently long? Is it mpossi-
! bic for justice to be tempered with mercy
Will not the resources Of your Excellency' S
mind devise some means by which their an
tagonism may be removed?
Is not America sufficiently glorious? Has
she not been proved sufficiently great to al
low her to rise superior to the petty conven-
tional codes Of smaller nations, and exhibit
to the world at once her power and her
magnanimity, by extending Il free pardon to
one who, though he may have erred griev-
ously against her, is still her child and still
! loves her? Will not your Excellency be
America agent in this matter2 Will you
not as the embodiment of her strength and
greatness, unloose the bonds of the patient
sufferer, who has so meekly and uncom-
plainingly seen the spring blossom into sum
lner and summer fade into autumn-seen it
through his prison bars?
Win you not release him before the dreary
winter comes bringing with it so much OF
material discomfort to his frail end delicate
! acute physical suffering, the wintry chill of
| hope deferred to his soul which pines for
freedom? Give him back, we implore you,
to the women of the South. lie is ours, and
we love him
We bound up our hearts and souls in him
and the cause which he once represented. -
God has seen fit to permit that cause to be
lost forever, and we bow to His decree. In
all the broad South there is no one so mad
AS to cherish the hope that Mr.. Davis may
in any way be connected with future con.
sonant with what our wishes were when he
was invested with the dignity which has
proved so fatal to him. No such thought
has an existence he las no future, and al
ourhopes in him were connected wholly witt
the past and are dead forever
But we would be less than women, if w
| forsook him with whom the cause which w
loved and have lost was identified, and wo
l man like, we cling to him all the more close
} ly because he is suffering and stands in ncct
| of our sympathy.
The sweetest and holiest season ofthe yea
is fast approaching, bringing to human re
membrance Him who opened the prsoi
doors of the cnchained universe and CAV,
| freedom to a ransomed world.
Willnot your Excellency mark the Christ
mas of 1865, year which has witnessed tn
reunion of glorious country and made yo,
its Chief Magistrate, by giving as Christ
mas gift to the women of the South the free
dom Of Jefferson Davis?
Listen. we implore your Excellency, t.
our pleadings; ; give us the boon we ask, no
+ so much because you may consider the gil
, right in itself but because there is no wron
in it, and because we want it so much, an,
, beg for it so earnestly.
Give back Mr.. Davis TO his own It'll
, chidren-give him back to us, who one
{. stood in that relation towards him. Do not
t we beg you, permit Death to anticipate yo
and give to his sorely tried spirit the free
dom which it is now in the power Of you
9 Excellency to bestow and by his relcas
make for yourself home in every Souther
: woman's heart-cause your name TO wrln
: with praise in every Southern woman
mouth, and go up to God, night and morn
= ing with every Southern woman's prayers
c loaded with blessings and shielded by pet
r tions for your long life and felicity.
q Give us back Jefferson Davis, and by S
- giving, in your own right, do what, as you
Excellency is very well aware, has never y,