Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1865-05-23
After The Tra1ic, The CouIe Mu,c,


It is only month since the, whole
American nation was dropping in soul and
draped in mourning at the last cruel act Of
that frightful tragedy known as the Grea,
Rebellion. To-day there is broad grin
of mirth and deep chuckle of ridicule
edging the melancholy muse from the uni
versal stage, at reading of the scene which
on the morning Of the 10th Of May was
enacted in the cypress swamp in Southern
Georgia. Contrasted with the pompous
pretensions Of the "chivalry especially
with the high.sounding declarations of
their leader; with the recklessness he dis
played in shedding the blood of others,
and the glibness of counsel he has on many
occasions volunteered against towards,
skulkers and the like, who, with fear and
trembling. still shrank from the memorable
"last ditch this petticoat scene at early
dawn, in the Georgia wilderness-petti-
coat jumbled up with bowie-knife and
jack boots, and indignant defamation
against the impudence of catching a traitor
SIS, of all comedies, the most comical !;
of all cuts and slashes at the "chivalry."
the deepest and fatalest. It is worse than
the ridicule of Voltaire, or the bite Of
Laconian dog. They only went to the
bone; this to the marrow. This man
Davis had been held up as the incarnation
of pride, courage, Observation-Disclosures Mel
pomene and Mars in one, of the planta-
ton mythology. The man was classical
in all his thoughts and aspirations;
thought to be "the noblest Roman Of
them all" Like Caesar, he had fought
and commanded; like Cicero, he had
GRATED; like Cato. he was inaexible Of
will !; like Scylla, he hated and pursued his
enemies; like Lucifer, he was arrogant and
unbending. That is what his plantation
friends thought and said of him. That is
why they made him their Satan, and built
a high wall and dug deep ditch betwixt
him and rivalry. Others might weaken
under adversely, succumb to defeat, or
cease to hate the Union and despise the
North, but this one-he, at least, would
never disgrace the chivalry, never unbend
his pride or suffer bis spirit to be touched
by the vulgar passions of ordinary men.
What contrast there was between this
magnificent hero of the classic world and
the plebeian Lincoln who was constantly
offending against plantation etiquette,
amid the fearfulest scenes joking his Cabi-
net and generals into tranquil good
humor; eschewing the classical, the dig
niEed, the ornate, the ponderous, and dis
gushing all forms of pedantry by his origi-
nal American style Of thought and speech.
This one, the plantations thought and said,
was no hero. Anything but that; a mere
clown, lout, a sort Of kings fool, vul-
gar tyrant; must come to nought; be the
burlesque of history. sort OF rural
Dionysius to posterity. Certainly, in no
sense could he ever be held up as great,
good, or brave man, because he had no
"chivalry." Fools! They had learned
nothing; forgot nothing. Their eyes
were constantly dwelling upon that para
disc of the charlottesville Dark Ages.
They did not perceive that those ages were
dead and that this war was burying the
last remnant of them. They did not see
that underneath the simple, amiable exte-
nor of Mr.. Lincoln was foundation of
truth. truth always solemn, earnest and
sure to triumph at last; while beneath
the ponderosities of this mail-clad Mars,
Davis. was nothing but errors and men,
dacities, sure at last to exchange their
mail covering for petticoats, and stand re-
vealed to all the world and its pitiless
ridicule, skulking coward and tremb.
ling tyrant. ...
This petticoat scene is very appropn-
ate ending Of plantation chivalry. The
thing was always a farce and lie-a
thing as unlike that immortalized by the
troubadores of Provence as the truly
brave, generous, tender, and magnanimous
Bayard was unlike the 'treacherous and
cruel Apache Indian. Davis, himself,
was one Of the genuine opponents Of the
plantation chivalry. He challenged Sem
ator Wilson, knowing that Wilson had
never fred pistol or handled sword
himself an adept at both. In this he was
both a coward and bully-the most
despicable combination in human charac-
ter. Over two centuries and half ago,
Cervantes struck down with ridicule the
chivalry of Spain, which under the start
ling examples of knight-errantry in the
New World, had taken such an impulse
in growth as was rapidly running it to
seed, and bad seed at that. But the in
stitution which Cervantes laughed and
ioked to death was not half as ridiculous,
empty or barbarous as that which has just
expired in petticoats in the swamps Of
Georgia. The old was bad enough; yet
it was infinitely better than the new. 1t
Dragged less and fought more. 1t was
earnest and religious. The new is sham
and an atheist at heart. The old found
the whole world in darkness and thrall,
and aimed to make it little brighter and
little freer by force. The new found the
whole world suffused with light and lib
er,y, and aimed to undo it abby force
brute force and snake tre1chery. The
mail of the old knights was proof against
barbarous weapons; but the mail of the
new is shot and riddled by thousand
rays of light which truth aims at them
from every direction. The old knight al
ways believed himself in the right; the
new knors he is in the wrong. Public
opinion Of the world favored the old, it
despises the new. Both fought well, and
sometimes the old surrendered but never
in petticoats. That is device original
with the new. Gonzalo Pizarro, deserted
BY his soldiers, betrayed by his officers,
on the battle field, rode fearlessly into the
ranks of the enemy, and trusted to their
msgnanimity. Davis, under similar con.
ditions, dons petticoat, takes to the
woods, and after being caught and dis
armed, scolds, frets, fumes like fish-wo.
man, and at last is marched of to judy
ment and we trust to execution, amid the
erins and ridicule Of all mankind. What
an end to such beginning !-StoeksOn
Independent.