Baltimore daily commercial. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1865-1867, 1866-02-23

aumlnlstratlon including immediate Emancipation
by constitutional means" 1t was very short but it
covered all the ground.
The campaign opened by the publication of an ad-
dress, written by Mr.. Davis to the people of Mary
land, which | venture to say is unsurpassed by any
State paper published in this of able State papers
Ior tne warmth and vigor of its diction and the
iucldlty and eonelusiTeness of its augmentation 1t
Is pamphlet of twenty pages, glowing throughout
with the unm istakable marks of his genius and pa
tlotlsm, and closing with these words Of stirring
I'VE do not doubt, the result, and expect, freed
from the trammels which now bind her, to see Mary
land at no distant day rapidly advancing in course
OF unexampled prosperity with her sister free States
ofthe aadi0ided and indiUisiJle Republic +"
Mr.. Davis was ubiquitous. He was the life and
battle, dictated the correspondence, wIote the i'm
portant articles for the newspapers and addressed
all the concerted meetings. In short, neither his
voice nor his pen rested in all the time Of our travail
He would have compromises but rejected all over
lures of the enemy short of unconditional surrender
On the Eastern Shore bespoke with irresistible rower
at Elkton, Easton, Salisbury, aud Snow Hill at each
OF the three last named towns with crowd of Won
derlng American citizens of African descent" lis
tening to him from afar and looking upon him as if
they believed him to be the seraph Abdiel. His last
appointment. in extreme Southern Maryland he
hlIed on Friday afternoon, after which, bidding me
cordial God-speed, he descended from the stand
sprang INTO an open wagon awaiting him, travelled
bridge by daylight. and then crossed the Chesapeake
sixty miles, in time to close the campaign with one of
his ringing speeches in Monument Square, Balti-
toriouS.
But we had yet weary war before u.s. The Legis-
lature had then to pass law calling Convention.
mat law had to be approved by a majority of the
people. Members of the Convention had then to be
elected IN all parts of the State and the Consitu-
uon which they adopted had to be carried by a ma
yorlty OF the popular vote. He allowed himself no
reprieye from labor until all this had been accom-
@ @Rmsneo ana when the rest OF US, worn out by this
GOurt al Appeals to maintain everything that had
been done against all comers-and did SO tri-
Let free Maryland never forget the debt of eternal
gratitude she owes to Henry Winter Davis
II oratory means the power Of presenting thoughts
by public and sustained speech to an audience in the
manner best adapted to win favorable. decision of
the question at ISSUE then Mr.. Davis assuredy occu-
held his hearers in rapt attention until he closed and
then they fingered about to discuss with one another
What they mad heard; L have seen promlseuOus as
Semoy made up OF friends and opponents, stand in
beating rain for two hours rather than orego hearing
him. Those who had heard him most frequently
always made the greatest effort to hear him again.
Even his bitterest enemies have been known to stand
shlvering on the street corners for whole evening
charmed with his marvellous tongue. His stump eff
forts never fell below his high standard He never
condeschded to n mere attempt to amuse. lie always
spoke TO instruct to convince and to persuade through
the higher and better avenues to favor. lneVeT heard
him deliver speech that not worthy of being
printed and preserved As stump orator he was un-
approachabe. in my estimation, and | say that with
clear recollection of having heard, when boy; that
Wonder OF Yankee birth and Southern development,
S. S. Prentiss
Mr.. Davis ripe scholarship promptly rendered to
his thought the happiest illustrations and the most
appropriate forms of expression His brain mad be-
come teeming cornucOpia, whence flowed in ex-
haustess profuson the most beautiful flowers and
themoSt substantial fruits; and yet he INDUCED
IN excessive ornamentation. His taste was almost
austerely chaste. His style was perspicuous, ener-
getlc, concise and withal highly elegant. He never
loaded his sentences with meretricious fuery or
high sounding, supernumerary words. When he did
use the Jewelry OF rhetoric, he would quietly set
metaphor in his page throw a comparison into his
speech which would serve to light up with startling
dlstnctneSS the colossal proportions of his argument.
vi humor ne had none but his wit and sarcasm at
times would glitter like the brandished cmeter of
Saladin and, descending, would cut as keenly The
pathetic he never attempted; but when angered by
malicious assault his invectiye was consuming and
his epithets would wound like pellets of lead Al
though gallant to the graces of expression, he al
ways compelled his rhetoric to act handmade to
his dialectics.
Style may sometimes be an exotic, but when it is,
1t s sure to parake, more andm years increase,
Of the pecuharities of the soil wherein it is nurtured
But tho style of Mr.. Davis indigenous, and
strongly marked by his individuality. Although he
doubtless admired and perhaps initiated the conden
Sation and dignity of Gibbon yet it is certain that
he carefully avoided the mOnOtOnOus stateiness and
the elaborate and oStentatlous art of that most
dite historian | look in vain for his model in the
skeptica Gibbon, the cynical BolingbrOke, OF the
giants; but giants of false belief and practice Not
even from Tacitus, upon whom he looked with the
and impressive diction. Henry Winter Davis was a
man of faith. and he believed in Christ and his fell
low man. His heart and mind were both nourished
into their full dimensions under the fostering inlu-
ences of free institutions: that, being reared
freeman, he thought and spoke became a freeman.
No other land could have produced such dauutleSs
courage and such heroic devotion to honest cOnvc-
tion IN public man; and even our land has produced
but few public men of his stamp and ability His
implicit faith in Gods eternal justice and his grand
moral courage impaired to him his proselyting zeal.
and gave him that amazing hndling power which
enabled him to light up the fires of enthusiasm where
ever he touched the public mind.
10 show his power in extempOraneOus debate, as
we'll as his determined patriotism, will introduce
passage from his speech Of April L. 1864 delivered in
the House Of Representatives. YOu will remember
that the end of the rebellion had not then appeared
Grant, with his invncible IegOns had not started
execute that greatest military movement of modern
times by which, after months of bloody persistence,
hurting themselves continually against what seemed
the trowning front of destiny, they finally drove the
enemy frem his strOngholds, made Fortune herself
captive and, binding her to her standards held her
there until the surrender of every Rebel in arms
closed the war amid the ,exutant plaudits Of men
and angels. Our hopes had not then grown into
victory, and We loo ked forward anxiously the ter
rlble march from the Rappahanpoek to Richmond.
Thinking that perhaps our army stood appalled,
people might be diverted from their purpose To ernst
the rebellion, when they saw that it could only be
accomplished at the cost of an ocean of human blood
a. call was made on the floor of the American Con-
gress for recognition of the Southern C0nfederacy
Speaking of the nation, Mr.. Davis said:
But, Mr.. Speaker, if it be said that time may
come when the question of recognizing the Southern
Confederacy will have to be answered ! admit it."
= = When the people, exhausted by taxa
tion, weary of sacrifices, drained Of blood betrayed
by their rulers deludea by demagogues into beliey-
the path - victory shall throw down thor arms be-
tOTo the advancing foe; when vast chasms across
eTery state shaH make 1t apparent to every eye,
When TOO late TO remedy it, that division from the
South is anarchy a. North and that peace with
out Union IS the end of the Republic; tbcn the indie
pendeace OF the South will be Gu accomplished fact
and gentlemen may without treason to the dead Re
public rise in this migratory House. wherever it may
then be in America, and declare themselves for re-
cognlzing their masters at the South rather than
exterminating them. Until that day. in the name Of
the American nation in the name of every house in
the and where there Is dead for the holy caase
in the of those who stand before us in the ranks
OF battle, IN the name of the liberty our ancestors
nave conhded to u.s., devote to eternal execration
the name of him who shall propose 80 destroy this
blessed land rather than its enemies.
, But until that tlme arriy es it is the Judgment OF
the American people there shall be no compromise.
that ruin TO ourselves ruin to the Southern rebels
are the only alternatives 1t is only resulutionsC
this kind that nations can rise gbOye great dangers
and overcome them in crisis like this. 1t was only
by turning France INTO a camp, resolved that Europe
might eyteTnnate but should not subjugate her. that
France IS the leading Empire of Europe to-day. II
Is by such resolve that the American people, cOerc-
ing a reluctant Government to draw the sword and
stake the nationa! existence on the integrity Of the
hepuohe, are no" anything but the fragments of a
nation before the world the sc0rn and hiss of every
petty tyrant 1t is because the people of the United
States rslng to the h0ght of the OCCASION dedicated
this generation 70 the sword, and pouring out tig
blood of their children as of no account and ovov-
ing before high Heaven that there should be no er1
TO TINS conflict butruin absolute or absolute triuinTh
hat we now are what we are that the banner of the
Republic, still pointing onward hoass proudly in the
IdSo 1uo tnat vast regions reduced
ooedence TO the laws, and Ghat great host in armed
array now presses with steady step into the dark
gions OF the rebellion. 1t is only by the earnest and
abiding resolution of the people that whatever shall
be oar fate it shall be grand tho american nation
worthy of that Republic which first trod the path Of
empire and made NO peace but under the banners OF
victory, that the American people will survive in his
tory. Ard that will save US. We shall succeed, and
not fail.
have an abiding confidence in the frmness, the
patience, the endurance of the American people, and
having vowed to stand in history the great resolve
to accept OF nothing but victory ruin. victory is
ours. And if with such heroic resolve we fail fail
with honor, and transmit the name of liberty com
mltted 10 our keeping untarnished to go down to
future generations. The historian of our decline and
fall contemplating the ruins of the last great republic
and drawing from its fate lessons Of wisdom on the
waywardness fmen, shall drop tear as he records
with sorrow the vain heroism of that people who
dedicated and sacrificed themselves to the casa 3f
freedom, and by their example will keep alive he.
worship in the hearts of men till happier generations
shall learn to walk in her pathS Yes sir if we must
fall let our last hours be stained by no weakness Ii
we must fall, let stand amid the crash of the fall
ing republe aud be buried in its ruins so that his
tory may take note that men lived in the middle of
the nineteenth century worthy of : better fate bu
chastlsed by God for the sina of their forefathers
Let the ruins OF the republic remain testify to the
latest generations our greatness and our heroism
And let hofy, erowness and childless ait upon hsse
rrl43, crying aloud in sad wall to the nations Of the
world, i nursed and broughs up Children and they
have rebelled against r1s. a"
Mr.. Davis ost striking characteristics were his
devo3Gn TO principle and his indomitable courage.
44ere never was moment when he could be truth
fully charged with trimming or insinoerity His
views were always clearly aYowed and fearlessly