The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1868-10-17

side OF the shield which oVernung Ine
mighty clash of arms. But Mr.. POLLARD
also was carpet knight, and professional
ink-spiller. He, too, beheld the contest
from afar; he, too, rode hobbies; he was as
fond of the great as he is of the little u,
and probably because his transcendent
merits were not appreciated, was chrome
and latulent malcontent. What SORT OF his
tory could be expected from such source!
What sort has Mr.. POLLARD giuen US! A
narration which our contemporary mildly
apolocises for as soften erroneous from in
perfect information While asserting 1t
to be 0in the main satisfactory answer to
Mr. GnEELEYs perversions Of history, yet
q narrative which some of our best officers
proclaim to be itself full of perverslons'
We heard one of them express the wish
quite recently that every copy could be COL
lected and destroyed. Great thanks we
owe this pseudo historian, no doubt Tor
his persistent assertions that we were "a
nation of dupea, misguided by conclavc
of knaves and fools !" And if his his
tory were as often true as it is 'errone-
ous." great thanks would we still owe him
for thrusting himself before the country and
the wcrld as the representative Of the
Southern people. Thoug b writer has IT.
tered some important truths, and has some
times spoken in eloquent strains, it is quite
possible that his defiance of the moral con-
victions of the community may be such
as to discredit his testimony in the one
case, and to nullify his influence in the
other-nay, as to make his very advocacy
and commentator prejudicial. Secession
was l.vt like magnifed street brawi, TOR
the great war like loud voiced and muir
derous coDjugal quarrel-hence it is not
everybody who is competent to relate the
great sufferings and greater deeds of our
people. The noblest spirit Of nation
must recits its annals; the bard who
chants the martial deeds Of yore must be
himself hero.
For our part we do not accept Mr.. Pol
LARD as our historian, and we learn with
profound sorrow and indignation that he
is about to make an attack upon Mr.. DAVIS,
in the form of biography. We do not
pretend to say that the leading statesman
of the Confederacy was not at times self
willed and impracticable, and that he Gid
not commit many errors of policy, which
we can see plainly enough now that the
excitement of the conaiot, has abated and
its smoke has rolled away. Some OF
our public journals took special pains
to stimulate the alarm and sharp sus-
picion of the people against him
when he most needed their trustful CO.
operation. There is jealous foresight
which often proves true, not because of It's
prophetic range, but because it destroys
hope-the condition on which success de-
pends. But whatever might have been MIR.
DAVIS mistakes, there is no man in this
Southern country who can justly deny his
patriotic elevation of character and aim.
He was possessed by public spirit during
his whole official career. In effect, what
sacrifice was he not ready TO make for his
country? Mr.. POLLARD sncers at his de.
sign 10 take command of the armies of the
Confederacy, but the jeers of the historian
recoil upon himself; they simply show his
inability to comprehend that pure and lofty
spirit TO which, when in the service of the
commonwealth, danger and death had no
terrors. Nay, more: What sacrifices has
not Mr.. DAVIS already made? He accepted
our call to Office. For our sake he sacrificed
position, fortune, liberty, home-everything
but honor. He is now under prosecution
for services rendered to US. For US he en-
dured the sleepless vigilance and wore the
CALLING fetters of Fortress Monroe. For US
his health was broken, his pride trampled
in the dust, the bread plucked from the
mouths of his wife and children. And now,
just now, when he is weary, and faint, and
old, when the whole world pities him,
when every generous heart bleeds for him,
when even Mr.. GREELEY appears as his
bondsman, that man who has appointed
himself representative of Southern chivslry,
and vindicator nnd historian of the South
ern struggle, undertakes to denounce and
degrade him before the world And one
of our contemporaries cheers him on. We
can only explain this matter by supposing
that the one is intoxicated-let US say with
conceit-and the other is perpetrating
joke upon q subject, in our opinion, quite
too grave end delicate for such treatment,
Let Mr.. DAVIS be censured by US, if he
must be censured, only when he ceases to
suffer for US. Let his epitaph, like
EMMErrs, be written when his country is
freo