Bristol news. [volume] (Bristol, Va. & Tenn.) 1867-189?, 1872-12-24
CAMPBELL on DAVIS.


In the course Of the conversation L
said to Judge Campbell that as the
President Of the Southern COniedera.
cy, Mr.. Davis, was still living, |
should like to know whether in him
there could be found any. usefulness in
the present emergencies, He said.
as near as can recOllect, this.
''It is out Of the question to con-
slider Mr.. Davis as a living man
As to his past cereer, it was n fail-
ure in the light OF Judgment. He
was placed at the head of tie south
ern revolution by that fatal instinct
which leads people to select for their
rulers, men Of impulsive and interpiI
demeanOr. Administration does not
lie in such things but in the capacity
to rect without fatigue the daily re
currences OF small matters, each of
which must be attended to. W lille the
attention should never tire, but all
parts Of the vas'neSs of government
90 on. Such was the war la which
the South embarked. 1t did not re-
Quire for its President a hero, but a
disciplined mind and patient man.
Mr. Davis is supposed in the North as
| have heard, to have been
a man Of strong and sagaciOus decis-
ion. He was not SO. | have seldom
seen a man of the same rank VINO
would chatter and be ickle fer so
long a period over the most trifling
matters. When he retired from his
| office at the defeat, there were prob
ably more papers pigeon holed in his
Office on which no action had been
taken land many of them Involving
important question>) than in any 9th
er department of the south. If he
could be made angry SO that he would
decide points of administration cn
the ground Of resentment or spirit
he was quick enough; but that is
not the order of mind for chief
magistrate"
CAMPBELL ON STEPEENS.
was curious to know what JUS
tice of the Supreme Bench in for
mer days mi sht also think of the
Vice President of the Southern Con =
federacy. and in the course of con-
versatiou the following ideas were ex-
pressed:
"Mr. Stephens course at the
present time" said Judge Campbell.
makes me as nearly indignant as
can well be at time when my po-
liticaI life and influence in general
questions are over. He is dialeti-
cian. and seeks to keep up the strict
constructivenesS of Mr.. Calhoun at a
time when CalhOunism is no longer
ponderable. He WAS placed in an
important Office in the iusurgeant
government, and began his career
there by making speech which al
most at once turned the cOuntenance
Of the world against us. The cor
ner- stone speech. to which | refer,
probably had vast influence in los
Jog us all the European alliances.
For two years Mr.. Stephens hard
ly appeared at the Confederate capi-
tall might say not until the posi-
bilities of the struggle were over and
we we're compelled to look with firm
courage into a period of unendine
disaster. Then he did appear. and
with all the fevor of the destructive
nature he stood beside Joe Brown
and others. prOclalming that the wal
must 60 on with tremendous force,
whereas all the forces in it were al
ready wasted. He ard his cOl!esue
upbraided the Administration with
want Of heart, whereas the time fOr
heart was done, and the softer cOun'
sells of statesmanshiptO to save our Peo
pie should have begun to prevail. -
When We were strong and reSOlute.
making the fight with some possibili-
ties, perhaps. on our side. this man
was weakening us 10 almost every
way, When We at the centre saw the
inevitable shadow rising and darken-
ing about US we heard the cry of this
feeble person for more eKertiOn and
great exploit when the occasion was
gone. And now, when there is q
new condition Of things. so momen-
tous that [ can scarcely look on and
understand the current of events,
hear of Mr.. Stephens taking the ex'
treme Calhounism of a different day,
and seeking to educate another gen.
Grafton IN things neither pertinent to
their era nor consOnent, by any
course Of logic, with TIE rising opIn
| ion of which we must be part,