Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1869-05-20

aud enf,eble all the lessons Of history !;
70 render impossible its unity of narrative,
and 10 nu'lify It's p i'o>orhy Respons,-
bilitv must rest somewhere IL history i.
naturally and inevitably ascends and in
res arlinc Mr. Davis as :he prime cause
of the failure Of the South in the late war !.
the author has but simply recognized and
submitted 10 the great law Of logic in
historical composition that. in political
affairs. where q certain result is clearly
not an accident or miSaiventuro, but
must have come from well-ieinel cause.
that cause ultimately and inevitably rests
in the head Of the government.
As the author has said in another his
tod II work. Jefferson Davis cannot es-
cape the syllocism that has been spilled
TO every public ruler since tire world be-
gan. However he may be plastcred with
'glittering gencralitics however paltry
publications may consult the passions Of
the hour; however newspapers made up
of dish-water and the paS:e-pot may depre
cate the vigorous inquiries Of history. and
counsel the suppression OF unp'' q ent
facts, however partisans may dress their
leaders in garish c)lors and the brilliant
and exaggerated uniform of class, the
question comes at last How are those
failures of tie Con eleracy which are ac-
counted errors. and not misfortunes, TO
be ascribed, if not to the foll7 Of rulers :?
Mr.. Davis Was supreme in his admins
tration, and singularly unembarrassed in
directing and controlling public affairs :
There was no question of Disconnected au-
thority for the major part Of his admin
Cabinet of dummies, and people devo-
ted to his person" *
In these circumstances. the responsible
ity Of President Davis was well defined
and taken along with his autocracy, was
almost exclusive But it is not necessary
to insist upon this rigidity of construction
The author has simply sought 10 place
Mr.. Davis in his true logical position as
president of the Southern Confedcracy.-
He has not been content to rest on s,con-
dary causes, Or disposed to enter the prov
ince of hypothesis and -refnements {;
and he has done nothing more than apply
tc Mr.. Davis, four years of presidential
life the same rule of responsibility that IS
familiar in all his ory, and has been ap-
piled to every administration of public af-
fairs in the annals Of America.
It is thus tina; the author, with no dis
affection towards Mr. Davis. and with no
design to discriminate personally against
him, yet feels impclei by the reasonable
logic Of history 10 make him, a it were
a head and centre of responsibility in the
late war, and to gather around him the
causes of the failure of the Southern Con-
fcderacy He risks himself upon the
facts of his work not upon ;ts ingenuity.
He designs a severe narrative. and chal-
lenges the naked application to it of the
common rules of logic. 1t has already been
said that Mr.. Davis has determined to
reply to this work if so, he is welcomed
to the task, and is challenged to the com
bat He shall have facts to oppose and
in such conspicuous, stern and unrelent-
ing contest. the world will decide who
falls, who retreats, or who covers himself
with defeat
Finally, ;ho writer. careless rs he is,
in the just sense Of history, Of the person
Of Mr. Davis, and disdaining whatever
criticisms may grow out of personal feel
ings, is yet sensible that he has underta-
ken great and serious work, and protests
that he approaches 1t in becoming and
collected spirit. He attempts no mean
and evancscent commentary on the late
war In betaking himself to a literary
task excellng all his former ones, and i'll
which he is fired by various desires, he
proudly ventures to produce 4 work that
will not only interest these present times
but that will live permanently and as
suredly, if even among the humber mon
uments Of the historical literature o.
America.
EDWARD 4 POLLARD.
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ed in another column.