Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1867-12-12
A Life Of JEFF. Davis.
Ii is somewhat strange. consit

1t is somewhat strange, consid-
ering the importance Of the sub.
ject in national point Of view,
as connected with the late war.
that no life of Jefferson Davis has
been issued from the press. We
have had elves" ad kbiium Of
dozens Of men, more or less prom.
inent, on either side; but the story
of the war, as connected with the
personal history of the President
of the Confederate States, is yet to
appear. This hiatus will be filled
this winter by the publication Of
a forthcoming lie of the Confede-
rate chief. The author is Mr..
Frank II. Alfriend, of Richmond,
Va, editor, during the war, of the
Southern Literary Messenger, and
since the war connected with the
press of that city. We append q
couple OF extracts from advance
sheets Of the work:
| Jefferson Davis was born on the
third day of June, 1908, in that
iportion of Christian County, Ken
lucky, which by subsequent act
of the Legislature, was made
Todd County. His father, Samuel
Davis, u planter, during the Rev
dictionary war served as an officer
in the mounted force of Georgia,
an organization of local troops
subsequently to the Revolution
Samuel Davis removed to Ken
lucky, and continued to reside in
that State until few years after
| the birth of his son Jefferson,
when he removed with his family
to the neighborhood of Woodville,
Wilkinson County, in the then
Territory of Mississippi. At the
period of his fathers removal to
Mississippi, Jefferson was child
of tender years. After having
enjoyed the benefits of a partial
academic training at home, he was
sent, at an earlier age than is usu-
al, to Pennsylvania University,
where he remained until he
reached the age of sixteen. In
1924 he was appointed, by Presi-
Ident Monroe, a cadet at the West
Point Military Academy.
Among his contemporaries at
the academy were Robert e. Lee,
Joseph E. johnson, Albert Sidney
johnson, Leonidas Polk, John B.
Magruder, and others who have
since earned distinction.
The development in Mr.. Davis
Iof the high and rare qualities re-
quisite to parliamentary leader
jship, was rapid and decisive. His
nature instinctively aspires to in
fiuence and power, and under no
circumstances could it rest con-
tented in an attitude of inferiori-
ty. Independence, originality,
and intrepidity, added to earnest
and intelligent conviction; unwav-
ering devotion to principle and
purpose; a will stern and inexor-
able, and a disposition frank,
courteous, and generous, are fea-
lures of character which rarely fail
to make representative man.
After the death of Mr.. Calhoun,
he was incomparably the ablest
exponent of States Rights princi-
piles, and even, during the life of
that great publicist, Mr.. Davis, al
most equally with him, shared
the iabors and responsibilities of
leadership. His personal cour-
age is of that knightly order,
which in an age of chivalry would
have sought the trophies of the
tourney, and his moral heroism
fixed him immovably upon the
solid rock of principle, Indifferent
to the inconvenience of being in |
a minority and in no dread of the
storms of popular passion. His
faith in his principles was no less
earnest than his confidence in |
his ability to triumphantly defend
them.
No. Impeachment is dead, at
least for the present. A square,