The daily phoenix. [volume] (Columbia, S.C.) 1865-1878, 1866-07-04
Jcnsr.,.on Davis.


pen Of the editor Of the Richmond
Times: -
When Napoleon Bonaparte died on
the prison rock Of st. Helena, at the
time he breathed his last and for
hours after his death, one of the most
tremendous storms that ever swept
the face of land or sea was tiercely
raging. Dark clouds draped the
canopy of Heaven like funeral pail,
while the struggling winds, with
dread and mournful sounds, seemed
to give expression to paroxysms of
grief and agony. Vast waves thun-
dered furiously against the rock
bound shores of the lonely island, as
if they sought to tear it from its
adamantine base. Scorchng light
nings shivered the granite crags, and
high above the walls of the xempest
and crash of this awful elemental
strife came the booming of signal
guns from vessels in distress, as they
were whirled through the darkness Of
that night and the dangers of that
sea down to destruction. Amid such
scenes as these, the soul of Napoleon
took its flight. Superstition did not
fail to connect as cause and effect the
death of such great man and the
coincidence Of such storm. The
friends of the imprisoned and exiled
Emperor saw in this great hurricane
manifestation Of Heavens anger
and vengeance at the conduct of his
enemies and the inhumanity Of his
jailor. Certain it is, that this re-
markable tempest was not without its
effect upon the mind and conscience
of Hudson Lowe.
If Jefferson Davis, like Napoleon
Bonaparte, shall die in prison. we
know not whether there will be n
physical storm similar to this 10 he
raid his entrance into eternity, and
strike terror into the hearts of his
enemies. But this we know-that
the death of such a man in prison,
after the world now knows what he
has suffered, ,rM arouse a mo,d sto,'n,
nhicA cM s~eep from the centre to tie
circumference Of Ch,istendom, and pill
lory to shame forever on the page of
history the actors in the dark tragedy
of Fortress Monroe The death Of
Daris IN prison will be an indignant
theme before which the deeds Of the
lnquisition, the crimes of the Bastile,
tho murders Of London Tower, and
the horrors of the Austrian Dungeon,
will grow radiant with the light of
justice and mercy. It will be in vain
then to place the burden of such n
sin on Miles alone. He may alone be
the guilty party; but the name, fame
and reputation Of the American peo-
pie, as represented by the blood
hound party in power, will have to
reel and stagger under the gigantic
infan1v, never to be relieved by death
or burial i'll oblivion. No penance
will then atone for the treatment of
Mr.. Davis, for the world will only re-
collect his virtues and his injuries.
For the radical party there will then
be eternal shame and degradation.
and for Miles there will be peace and
happiness neither here nor hereafter.
Wherever he may 60. conscience will
lash him with her scorpion sting, and
the hlssings of the universe will fol
low him. In the song Of every bird
he shall hear, "Oh! the shame, the
shame" and in the rustic of everv
{ leaf breathed upon by the summers
softest zephyr he shall hear the harsh
rattle of the manacles and the piteous
means Of his victim. Will he travel
by sea? Then spectral form from
Hampton Roads will haunt his ina
ginations and fill his dreams, clothing
the crest of each wave with winding
! sheet and shouting vengeance in the
loom of each billow.
We repeat, if Jefferson Davis shall
die in prison, let all nmenable for it
prepare to meet a tempest and deluge
of wrath and shame, such rs never
before avenged a deed of wrong to
the living or the dead.
The Philadelphia Age has been
doing very bad thing for ID. D. re-
pntation for consistency-if that bird
of i'll omen ever had any. Fcrney,
who is a candidate for the United
States Senate from PENNSYLVANIA,
having recently been inflicting a
speech upon the people of Lebanon,
IN that State, the Age takes the trou-
ble to wade through his nine columns
OF words on that occasion, printed in
the Philadelphia Press, for the pur-
pose of seeing how closely he stuck
to the text of y speech that he deli
vercd ut Lancaster. in 1855. The re-