New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1869-07-16
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
,o1IARDs LIFE OF JEFFERsON DAVIS.

d..
syo pp. 500 National Publishing Company. .
The secret history of the Southern ConfedeTacy, II
Il be ever written, will doubtless play havoc WIN
many a reputation, and cast unexpected nghV upon
the conduct of some of the most conspicuous a0VOi
in the war Very little Of it has yet been ga'neI'u
from captured documents or revealed Dy oou'noi"
writer's There is no good reason to believe tnat INC
Rebel Archives" at Washington which nave Oeon
No strictly guarded from the curiosity o. historians
are really of much interest or value; ana VIC arc
nite ready TO trust Mr. POllards assertion that tho
,ecrets NJ the Confederacy as embraced in the cor
rcsnondenee of Mr.. Davis and in letters lnVoNine
condolences in the North and in Europe, rest IN con
ceaInent which will probably not be broken uuiins
the present generation. Just before the
of Richmond there was a careful asserting Vi oi'i
and private documents, and the most Important "ei
conveyed away and deposited where thcy PIoO"Oiy
still remain Mr.. Pollard was once per
mitted to see in Richmond communication
60, ,ortoin persons in the North, offering
q. s,r,lv the Confederate armies in the West for q
whole wear, from Northern ganaries and magazines
Jefferson Davis had an extensive secret correspond
ence in the North and with distinguished Northern
politicians. generally those of the Democratic
party0 He had priUate correspondents IN me CR'cdgO
Contention" which nominated Mcclellan IN 1904 ana
ca distinguished gentleman of New-England' wrote
him that that Convention meant peace LOT the
North and independence for the South" SO numer-
ous were the letters and documents OF tins nature
that they were kept in special private deposit
tory called the Presidential Bureau OF GORE
spondence, to the secrets of which not even mem
hers of the Cabinet were admitted. Concerning
these papers Mr. Pollard assures the reader OF three
facts: that they still exist that there are living
persons who know of their concealment; and that
they contain important evidences of the secret his
tory of Mr. Davis's government. He has repeatedly
sought access to them out of historical curiosity but
he has been invariably met with the explanation that
while this indulgence might bestowed him for such
legitimate purpose It would be unsafe for private
reasons and the information, if published might be
diverted to serious consequences to persons yet living
and within the jurisdiction of the Government
In default of the piquant disclosures which these
hidden archives might furnish. Mr.. Pollard has
managed, however, to tell us some things not gem
orally known, which his position as q Richmond
Journalist criticsing the Davis administration with
sharp eye and getting peeps now and then behind
the scenes enabled him to learn. To call his book
"Secret History of the Southern COnfederacy" is
greatly to eXaggerate its Importance. Mr. Pollard IN
deed has remarkable misapprehensiOn both OF the
character of his work and of his capabilities and
temper. He assures us that he has written severe
narrative brstng with hard facts grand and serious
an its scope and destined Z" to live permanently
it with ample literary preparation" and
with the calm freedom from passion
which BELTS a great historian. He draws par
hllel between Davis and Rienzi and then quietly
marks: "The comparison, it viii suggest itself to
the reader is remarkably fine and torcible" Nobody
who knows Mr.. Pollard, however will believe him
capable of writing about jefferson Davis wthoutpas
sion and although he promises in the preface to
frain from defamation and inveetiye. most of the
book is little else than rhetoric the rampage The
violence of his hatred and the evident unfarness of
come of his statements throw discredit upon even
the important parts of his story. and feel
disposed to trust him unless his evidence
is confirmed by other testimony else
by strong intrinsic probability. Tho style Of Mr..
Pollard belongs to the intense school of The Richmond
Examiner and The Charleston Mercury, whose editors
were popularity supposed to write leaders with a
revolver in their left hand and bowie knife be
tween their teeth and to utter yes of fury at the
close of every paragraph. The resources Of The
English dictionary being inadequate to the occasion
Mr.. Pollard has manufactured several new words
expressly for this bOok,-such as "pragmatisns
which he frequently, and "strident." to which
he is still more closely attached, deriving it appa-
rently from the verb to stride" There is no such
word as "strident" but if there it would come
from the Latin sbidens, "hissing.7 As Mr.. Pollard
employs IT, the effect is consequently funny
The early life of Mr.. Davis is sketched very briefly,
md il is not until the secession plot is well under
way that Mr.. Pollard warns TO his subject. Here
his testimony IS interesting He describes the growth
OF the conspiracy with considerable force starting
with the distinct avowal that the was compelled
by few politicians and the people rigidly ex-
cuded from the early drama of its inauguration
For years the ofice-hoding class which constituted
the arsOcracy of the South had INDUCED the thought
of disuniOn seeing in it new careers. and oppOrtuni
ties for emOument and distinction. Mr.. Davis's
record on the question had been singulaTly incon-
sistent. lie had entered Congress a fusOme de-
claimer on the blessings of the glorious union;
yet he afterward violently opposed the Missouri
Compromise, and in 1851 was a candidate for Gov
ernOr of Mississippi the ultra State Rights re-
sistaHoe platform. Defeated, he became an intense
Union man again, and such accepted a seat in
Flerce's Cabinet. He obtained from Mr. Pierce a
pledge to approve the KansasNebraSka bill As late
the Autumn of 1858, when he was a candidate for
nomination TO the Presidency, he made an effusive
Union speech at Portland, and dedicated his infant
son to the defense of the State of Maine elf" said
he >" at some future time. when am mingled with
the dust, and the arm of my infant son has been
nerved to deeds of manhood, the storm of war
should burst upon your city, feel that relying upon
his inheriting the instincts of his ancestors and
mine, may pledge him in that hour TO stand bv
your side III the defense of your heartb-ston.sn
This was the man who appeared at Washington, in
1860 as the leader of the little knot of politicians bv
whom the Southern States were despotically carried
out of the Union, and the miseries of four wears
Of war entailed upon the country. How fixed was
the determination of the cOnsprators to secede at all
events appears from an incident which Mr.. Pollard
relates in the following words:
The author In a company Of Southern members ~
congress When the Information first obtained some
days IN advance OF Mr. Buchanans Message. Dee 1901
that II dsclamed coercion that 10 contained nothing
20 interrupt exasperate tho movement OF Secession
will hoH