American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1878-07-27
The Difference Between Ben Hills
and Jefferson Davis Speeches.

Holly Springs South seems to place
the eloquent and manly vindicatiOn
of the South by Ben Hill, when
Blaine made his cowardiy and libel
GUS assault, in the same category
with that of the recent speech OF
Mr.. Davis. There ia this difference /:
Mr.. Hill's speech was IN season and
Mr.. Davis was out of season. Mr..
Blaine was classifying the facts of the
unwritten history of the war. He
was charging upon the South the
most unhe ,rd>of cruelties, saying
that they surpassed in horror any,
thing he had ever read in regard to
the scourge of Charles the V. and
Phillip in the Netherlands, whereby
Mr.. Blaine proved his ignorance of
the history of the terrible events of
those times, or wilfully and mali>
ciously misrepresented and exagger-
ated the most extravagant reports of
the treatment of Union prisoners
at the hands of the South. Being
assaulted, so unjustly 80 unrighteous
~ assaulted, it would have been base
and puerile for Southern Congress-
men to have let Blaine's charges
have gone forth to the world I'M
answered. It was q time to have
spoken. Ben Hill was armed with
facts aud figures to refute these vile
ISLANDERS, and he did it thoroughly
and effectively. Blaine's wild raw
ing did not amount to much in the
face of facts presented by Ben Hill,
that while the North was in posses
sion Of meaus to make the Confed-
crate prisoners in their hands com
Portable, yet they permitted twelve
per cent. of the Confederates IN
Northern bastiles to die from want,
exposure aud cruelty, while only
nine per cent. of the Union soldiers
in Confederate prisons died. This,
too, while the South vas utterly
-hed and unable to give at
tention to the prisoners in her hands.
Then Hill showed the repeated ef>
forts made to have an exchange of
prisoners, backed by the represents
tons of the Confederate govern.
ment that humanity demanded it,
all of which the Federal admins: ra-
ton steadily and persistently de
clinetl. He, also, indicated the
of Mr.. Davis, the concern
he invariably exhibited toward pris-
oners whose condition it was out of
his power to relieve, and his anxiety
to have them exchanged for the sake
If humanity. Ben Hill was right.
The occasion demanded that the
SANDERS being uttered should then
md there be refuted, and he did it,
getting the advantage of Mr.. Blaine
u the disproval Of the calomnies
hat we're uttered by him in his pas
'iOnate, unnecessary harangue.
But who can say that the late
speech of Mr.. Davis was in season
What was there to call forth bis de.
ense of the right of secession |
What purpose could be served Z
Why proclaim views that are un-
popular with those in power, espe
tally when there was nothing to |
woke them, more than the idle dis
'ositiOu to vaunt them in manner Of
eckless bravaio. We find the fol.
owing comments Of the Vicksburg
Herald so well-timed that we trans
er them to our columns: !
On the 10Th of July the Associa.
ion of the Army Of Tennessee at
City, in this State, pre-.
ented to ex President Jefferson
Davis small gold badge AZ a token
f the high esteem in which he is
eld by it's members. A large por>
ion of the Southern people hold
1r. Davis in high esteem, and he
as the ear of the South at all times.
lie rs known to be an able. earnest,
onest, distinguished Southern gen.
leman. In addition to this, he is
,oked upon as Southern martyr
lie was made to suffer more than
ny other Southern man after the
outh was overpowered by Ameri-
ans, Europeans and Africans. In (,
as he was honored by
ne South, was he made to suffer by
ur conquerors. While he was in
le walls of Fortress Monroe, the
Outh shed tears of sorrow and
o, SO bitt er, because they
ere unheeded by our conqterors.
[r. Greedy was one of the few
orthern men who appreciated the
rep feeling of the South for her
Hen Chieftain, and pumberless
DtblOoded Southerners blessed q
i'm for signing Mr.. Davis bail {
ond. All the history. all the sur ,
of the man himself, are
art of the South, and when he i
PEAKS. he is not only attentively 1
stoned to- his simplest sentence Z
thoroughly analysed.
In his speech at Mississippi City,
hat he had to say about the beau
full badge he received is of small q
iportance. That portion of the