The Norfolk post. [volume] (Norfolk, Va.) 1865-1866, 1866-01-26
Che Nurfulk gost.
FRIDAY. JANUARY 20, 1885.
THE REPLY.
From the Richmond Examiner. ian "a ,

THE REPLY.
From the Richmond Examiner, Jan. 24.l
Our recent plea for the release of M
Davis has fallen like a bombshell In Il
camp of the Radicals. Ithas been MAJ
r by the Norfolk Post the subject of a fol-
column editorial! The Post calls upu
us to show wherein consists the '.supe
human greatness of Mr.. Davis, A
we simply said that n year ago lie WI
second to nc man living in fame tn,
point is scarcely deserving of motto,
We should dismiss it with this simpl
statement Of the facts, did not on
I critick follow up this misrepresentation
by the silly declaration that the Unite
States Government has done the EXPIRE
sident "a great ~favourr by "imprisOpin
and holding him for trial." and thu
forced greatness" and fame upon on
who had been before q nameless adven
turer. In answer. we quote from a lead
ing English periodical a few sentences
which the reader will recognize as fai
specimens of the European press
Jefferson Davis was one of th,
"soOrtd's foremost men, y n y thu
"calm resolute statesman, who was sale
"by no mean authority to have made the
South into a nation. His dominion
"was no mere insugent district, but q
"region ample enough for many king
"doms. He sent into the field great
"armies, made illustrious by brilliant
victories. Dignified, swaying by his
recommending intellect the able men
that surrounded him eloquent a a
speaker; as a writer giving state papers
ITO the a0ortd Which are among the finest
"prodrcti0ns IN tines--such was the
chosen rulerof one-fourth of the Amer
"ican people. Three minutes may end
that life upon the scaffold, but all the
centuries to come cannot undo the
''deed."
1t is not unnatural that the Post
should deem 1t "odious to compare JEFF
ferson Davis, the mere partisan, tie
leader of a revolution, without an excuse
or an object, to Washington, the founder
of a great state, the Apostle of Liberty,
not a mere f~actionist, Co..
Why the Confederate war for indie.
pendence was "inexcusable" we confess
ourselves unable to understand, as the
conjoint avowal that 1t was "without an
object" Despite the above cited ny0u.
Daents of the consistent writer who takes
us SO roundly to task for 'dogmatism
and unsupported assertion" we are not
yet convinced that the ruler whose
character the ablest pens of Europe
have loved to eXtol was ''second to any
living man in fame" or that the chief.
tain who contended for the principles of
self-government, the rights of person
a the security of property was unlike
Washington, ave in the matter of sue.
cess. Until 1861 the Northern Rostra
resounded with frequent and fervid en-.
cOmiums of that .rirhtAAs---t-ao-y
WHICH even Mr.. Lincoln once character
lied as sacred and invaluable" Posi-
bly,, the Inconsistency of the veritable
people who now denounce the exercise
of this priceless privilege" as "treason"
may be explained by the fact that in the
one instance its assertion was to the de-
triment Of England, in the other to their
own. There are some who can change
their principles to meet their Interests.
with the same n~onchalance that thew
shift their clothes to suit the weather.
We are not surprised at the readiness
with which our critick avows that in a
contingency history would be-
come weary, stale, flat and unprofita- |
If we may judge of the tree BY |
its fruits, the success that he has met in |
its study, having already proved it ''un-
for himself, might well pre-
pare him to accept for others the re-
mainder of his qualifications. Witness |
his dwelling comments upon our asser-
ton that "history records no more start
ling revolution" than was wrought in
the sudden and complete overthrow of a
nation whose prospects were once so
bright as those of the Confederacy. This
statement he combats by asserting that
the failure of the expeditions of Walker
and Lopez, and the fate of detected Fee
mans, are no less startling than the au-
of a Power which fought and
won a many great battles as n nationl
did in the same length of time. In
the same connection he characterizes
The changes that have occurred during
the last twelve months, in the southern
as ''slight." May we no ask
Upon what food has this Cesar fed
hat he has grown SO great?u to whose
conceptions the fall of EN-
pires, the liberation of servile races, and
he Observation-Disclosures and wealthy
peoples appear slight" and paltry
=?
Our s~elf-appointed teacher has criti-
ouruse Of the word ''prowess" in
connection with the exploits of the Con-
ederate navy. We may have erred, but
W uiu ~ ~ AOoiC COiuPdHJ, lOT, III as
military prowess to a Fabius or a
Washington, the world has committed
he same blunder. s.aiaa .s.t vsB
The Post, by citing the case of Napo-
con, refutes (?) u declaration, that at
his stage of the World no people, save
be radical, puritanick masses Of the
North, would condescend to sully the
ustre of so wonderful a victory as thew I
ave gained by employing its advan-
ages to glut a wreak revenge upon a
and unresisting foe. It 1.-THE
POSI- remarks, with singular truth, that
here was at once "a similarity and a {
in the cases of Napoleon and {
jefferson Davis" Admitted :-Napo-
at the close Of his imperial career, J
Utterly bankrupt in means for further J
esistance, every foot of his territory
lnder the control of his enemies, had !
to look to a v their clemency {
o Davis yet remained the TRANSMITS
issippi with its strong and lately {
Notorious army. Napoleon, the imper- !.
onation of aggressive ambition, had !
disturbed the peace of every European
Jefferson Davis, the head of q {
struggling only for self-preserva- =
ion, had carried on a purely defensive {
sole object the conquest of
'eace. The one was banished from the
Continent that he had shaken 10 its {
entire, and precautions taken to prevent
re-enactment of the Return from !
Ilba ~ the other is Gagged like a felon, !
nd will meet. if his enemiea can com- l