National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1875-09-01
JEFF. DAVIS.
70 the Editor Of tie Eat,o.aI Republican:

10 I've 60ttoF ~ re n0ltofQb hepuOEcdn.
"The only graceful act Of Mr.. Davis postbel.
praiseworthy letter; to the time Of this express
sion he sulked."-Capital, Sunday.
That letter has been widely circulated and
very generally read. The Capital assumes it
to be "manly, dignifed and praiseworthy." Is
1t right sure that such is the case? May 1t not
be that after ten years of continued bitterness,
Mr.. Davis has been tempted from his true
feelings to follow the hypocriticsl course sue
cessfully pursued by many prominent rebel
brethren?
erners murmured into the ears of vain, ambi-
tious and credulous political travelers-words
teeming with peace, reconciliation and broth
erly love-are as pregnant of guile as they are
full of sweetness, and have been carefully pre-
pared to await the coming Of the peripatetic
peace-hunter. It seems incredible to one that
has lived in the South since the war, and be-
come familiar with the managerial policy
Of the lSouthern leaders, that any
credit can be given to conciliatory
speeches coming at this late day from
rebel lips, or that even the wander
ing statesman for whom they are prepared
should be deceived by them. It cannot be de-
MED that these rebels are deliciously plausible1
That they receive apparently in all loving
kindness Mr.. Y. P. Wilson and Mr.. Con
gresham Kelly, or any other prominent gen
tleman whose coming among them has been
heralded far and near, and blazoned abroad
by the worn out announcement that they are
travelling to ascertain the real sentiments of
the south. The very announcement of their
coming thwarts its object. "Aha," says Mr..
Chairman Of the Democratic local committee,
"Mr. So and So is coming. We will be pre-
pared for him; he must take back good re-
port" And the willy plan is at once con-
cocted. The committee is got together
Prominent citizens are consulted, posted and
prompted. The trap Is set, the tempting bait
displayed, and the dupeis caught. Home he
goes, brimful of the twaddle he has heard,
and proclaims "peace on earth; good viii to-
wards men,"
Real sentiments, forsooth They are never
seen or heard by these gentlemen. They are
as carefully covered from the sight and hear
of the well-advertised professional, as
is the real gall and bitterness that
fills the Southern heart at the ex-
preston of everything Northern, Repub-
lean or loyal, and is smothered for the sake
of this latter-day policy, which has been so
successfully followed.
The spirit of antagonism to the Government
is as thoroughly alive in the South to-day as
as 1t was on the day that South Carolina Sc
coded; and the false Southron knows It.
Even while his cunning lips frame words Of
loyalty and reconciliation, his heart is q hell
Of hate, and his scheming brain teeming with
plans to subyert all that has been accom-
plished by the war. Only noy the lead
having learned the futility of opposin
openly their pigmy strength to the strong arm
of the Government. The Ku-Klux element has
only changed its disguise, and now, instead of
nightly riding to its deeds darkness it adopts
the suGviter IN mode, the guise of friendship,
the mask of hypocrisy, the smooth speech Of
fattery, and wins by fraud what it was unable
to accomplish by force and lawlessness. What
do these self constituted Southern examiners
see of the true spirit of the Southl Nothing;
absolutely nothing An ordinary traveller
from the North unheralded and unannnounced,
sees things nearer as they are. He goes with
out warning and unknown among these fair
spoken frauds, and If he dare assert in any of
these loyal ~ Southern States that he is a
Republican, lover of the Government and an
advocate of equal rights for all men, quickly
follows the ready insult, backed by numbers and
the ubiquitous revolver. This is the real state
of the case. Let "policy" newspapers say
what they may, Republican cannot to this
day express his sentiments (not from the plat
form but in any social gathering) without
meeting with insult.
The willy populations of prominent citizens