Brownlow's Knoxville Whig, and rebel ventilator. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1863-1866, 1865-02-22
Jefferson Davis Speech nj the African
Church. Richmond.


Wopuhli'hod q row days suco q report Of ,lcl
Dayi. speech IN Richmond afIor tho failure Of tho
poorc negotiations, But VIZ find moro complete
report of this speech in another pupor tho Rich
muuI Eum"rr and quote it in full,
President Davis appeared on tho speaker. stand,
and addressed the people for about half an hour
Tie said hc would have been pleased il the meeting
had been called to commemorate a victory But it
was not only pleasant he felt proud And ocstatc
JOY lu see hi, CountINmon looking whatever disasters
there had been in the face, and pluckmg from sd-
Ncr-ity new courage and resolution; and il was nj
this spectacle that his heart beat high with hope It
WI, well that there should commence here in Nir-
gina that roactonary movement Of the people in
preparation for q new proclamation to meet the de-
mands of the hour. All must now be laid on the
altar of country. If such feeling should now take
possession of the hearts of the people, if they
should give hearty and unanimous answer to the
demands of the present cNigcncy upon them, then
hc could say We stood now upon the verge of sue
e,sses which would teach the insolcnt enemy who
had treated our propositions with such contumcly
that in that conference in which he had SO pumcd
himself with arrogance he was, indeed talking to
hls masters, Tremendous cheers lie said he
had never hoped anything from propositions of
peace made TO the enemy unless accompanied with
victories of our arms; that the true hope of the
Conlcderacy was in brave soldiers in sufficient num-
ber TO contest her claims in the military field; but
he would have been more or loss than man not to
have yielded to II natural desire to testify on every
proper occasion, his anxiety yearnng anxiety for
peace He had received notice from Mr. Lincoln
opening the way to an unofficial conference on the
subject He did not feel at liberty to decline the
invitation which it implied In the note which
passed between Mr. Lincoln and himself in the
matter there was one marked difference He
president Davis spoke always OF two countries. 49,
Mr. Lincoln spoke of common country. lie
could have no common country with the Yankees.
His life was bound up with the Confcdoracy; and
II any man supposed that under any circumstances
ne could be an agent of the reconstruction Of the
Union he mistook every element of his nature
with the ContedeWcy he would live or die. Thank
God, he represented Il people too proud to eat the
eck, or bow the neck TO mortal man. [Grcat
cheering. Although he anticipated that nothing
IN the way of peace would come out of recent con-
lerences with the enemy yet he was not prepared
for such extravaganza of insolenco ms they had
shown, They had not so much as proposed that
'thesc states might come back oven on those condi-
tons which were the first occasion Of their separa-
ton from the Union; but they were to come back
as a conquered people, submitting to all the recent
legislation of the Washington Government nclud-
ing the abolition clause in the Constitution recently
enacted in Congress and pushed with the greatest
haste through that body before the commissioners
could arrive Mt Fortress Monroe. And but n few
days before this, one of Mr. Lincoln's Cabinet had
sat at the feet Of Bcecher in Baltimore, goating
over the picture drawn by that Yankee artist of
words of long procession Of the public men of the
Concdcracy moving TO the gallows to eXpiatc the
crime Of rebellion Perhaps Lincoln's heart
soitcncd at the length Of the procession when he
suggested that in cUse of our submission he might
be morciiuL Laughter He would mover have