Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1871-03-26
Hon. Jefferson Davis.

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From the selma Times and Messenger
For many years Jefferson Davis has
been a conspicuous character in
American politics.
On the hastings and in the Cabinet,
on the field and in the legislative halls,
as a soldier and citizen, he had earned
distinction long before the late war
between the States began, for ability,
courage, purity Of character, single
ness of purpose, devotion to cherished
principles, and f~aithfUlness in the
discharge Of private and public duties.
A citizen of Mississippi, he fought
on the blOOdiest fields of the Mexican
war for the United States; and in the
Federal councils, his craftsmanship
cOmprehended the whole country, and
/ his labOrs were ~cOnseCrated to the
preservation of the Cons tuition,
which he believed equally necessary
to all the Ssates, and to the success OF
/ those constitutional measures which
be thought necessary to the perpetual
ton of the Union established by the
fathers.
At the commencement Of the late
war, x.COlonel, ex~-Secretary and
Senator Jefferson Davis was as well
known in New York and Massachu-
sets as he was in Georgia and Ala
bama; and in no State Of the Union
was there a single citizen who doubted
his honesty, his ability, or his patri-
Otism.
When the States of the South, COM
PEELED to surrender then cO-equal rank
and consent to the establishment of q
consolidated government on the ruins
/ of the confederation, or to secede from
a Union into which they had entered
on the basis of the constitutional COM
pact, chose the course dictated by
honor and duty, and formed them
selves into a new government, all
eyes instinctively turned to Mr.. Davis
for President; and by reclamation he
was made, first provisional, then per
manent President, Of the Confederate
States of America.
No position was ever more embar-
RAISING than that of Mr.. Davis as Pres
ident of the Confederate States. Be
fore the government of which he was
the head was perfectly organized, il
was plunged into a war for existence.
A new power, without recognition, or
money, or credit, or an army or navy,
or arms and munitions of war, or
fOundTies and manufactures, at the
very threshold of existence il was
confronted by the armed hosts of a
mighty and martial people, abundant
ly supplied with all the means Of war
fare and with a bOuudless credit and
open seas and the world to draw upon
for help in the hour of need. Almost
from the beginning, the campaign on
the part Of the Northern States as
sumed a revolutionary character; and
from the beginning the Northern Gov
eminent thrust from it the COnstitu-
ton which hampered its movements
and virtually placed in the hands
Of its chief officer the unlimited
power of purse and sword. At
the South it was otherwise, and
could only be otherwise. One
man virtually controlled to a single
end the power of the United States.
Here secession was in behalf of the
Constitution and State rights; and
neither leaders nor people we're will
ing to cOnCede to the Confederate Gov
eminent the exercise of any single
function not conferred upon it by the
Constitution. No matter what the
peril, no matter how dire the eXtrem-
ity, the President of the Confederate
States would have invited impeach-
ment had ne done one single act not
authorized by law. And IN all those
years Of war and peril, of gradual
coming overthrow, he was surrounded
in the several departments Of the Con-
federate and local Governments with
hesitating, or timid, or impracticlble,
or Jealous, or factiOus men, by whose
unwilling, or hating, or halfway
measures, his best laid plans were
often marred and sometimes thwart-
ed. So thoroughly was he devoted TO
the strict construction and States
rights ideas in which he had been ed
Ucated, that we doubt if it ever once
entered into his head to seize the
power which in one mans hands
might have given independence to
the South, and, appealing to the peO-
pie in the spirit OF revolution, to save
at least the right, when the war should
end, of selfgOvernment.
OF the patience and patriotism,
frmness and fOrtitude, simple hon
esty and sublime herOism, of the
trials and troubles and t%ribulatiOns
which marked his administration
during the last months Of his Presi-
dency, we need not speak; for while
much is known, and much remains to
be known, no tongue can tell, no pen
can describe, no Imagination can paint
all that passed in his mind and pressed
upon his heart in those eventful days.
The worst came, we know. The States
of the South ceased to exist. Provinces
governed by the creatures of arbitrary
power existed where free peoples had
lived and statesmen had sWayed pub
lie councils. The ablest and best men
of the dead C~Onfederacy were scattered
on the face of the earth, or toiIed for
bitter bread at home, or died in pris-
on, or dragged out a wretched lie to
welcome death at hard labor on sun
scOrched and death-smitten islands.
Jefferson Davis, our chief-Whatever
his shortcomings or weaknesses or
errors in power, Our reDreSentatiUe-
hunted down Ike a wild beast, cap
tured, denied the trial which the
victors dared not give him in their
own courts lest they should stand
convicted before the world of high
treason against their constitution and
their oaths, lay irOned hand and foot,
by order of Andrew johnson, Presi-
dent of the Northern Government, in
the gloomy cells of Fortress Monroe, |
and In this vicariOus suffering for his
people blOtted out from their hearts
all feelings but love, and from their
minds all thoughts but honor and
reverence now and iorevermore.
Wherever M. Davis goes now in
these States lately united under his
public administration, there will he |
be received and held and hOnored as
the symbol Of the ancient renOwn, the
cause that is lost, the hopes that are
buried, the dead that fell under the
stars and bars, the humiliation OF a
proud people crushed beneath the vic
tors ruthless heel, of proud memories
and glorious recOlleCtiOns-Of all Of
which Southern men Eand women
think and feel in connection with the
past, and when he shall have gone
from among us, Southern hearts will
worship at his shrine until a race of
bastards shall have succeeded to the
heroes of lS6l-65, and truth and honor
and manhood have been scourged
hence.
eff your God hates idolatry, why
does He not destroy it?" a heather
And they answered him,
81 Behold, they worship the sun, the
moon, the stars; would you have him
destroy this beautiful world for the
sake Of the f0olish?"