Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1879-04-04
MEMPHIS APPEAL
FRIDAY, APRIL A, 1879.
THE OLD CONFGDERATE LEADER.


northern peOpI.-that 'he is not the devil they have
painted him; that he has neither horns nor hoofs;
much like one OF themselves Mr.. Davis is welcome
TO his figures OF speech IN themselves they are less
objectionable than what he Jus fO ward as his facts.
a. He seems to wish 1t to be understood that he
had no mole TO do with the rebellion than thou
(21 BE also seems to think an extenuation of his
coulss that 1.-THE would have taken place without
him as inevitably II did with him. tits dicult to
the fore or this excavation, which Is like the
Somebody else would have done it. Mr. Dav now
finds mOdesty convenient, and is pleased to under
a. The war might have taken place without him,
gave It the force Of his abilities, the
weight Of his official positions the aid and COM
fort of known to the whole country and uulesS
ne mas pesn gross hfa IE was nu ~ az
the government OF the United States. He was SOL
emRiy sworn to maintain tne constitution. He was
one Of its Official guardians.
a. To say that ne might have stopped the whole
nefarious business might have saved thousands OF
lives ana millions of treasure, mght have brought
back the seeding states to their senses, may TO
say much; but think that he. with the aid OF
two three other men whom he might have infiu-
enced was In a position to make secession mere
(5J He was. az any rate, important enough to be
elected at once and By sort OF reclamation the
(55 Men do not become historically connected
with such events without asreason for such pre-emi
claim what, " the outcome mad been Different he
would have regarded the M st precious OF honors
ton and he is even hopeful of the future Of the
country" He even believes that the whites of the
south better of for the abolition OF slavery.
WHAT is this but an admission that the war Of the
rsb.llon was an egregioIs 6lunder? IL II was var
Davis now admits was an economical mistake. even
he must cOncede, II he has particle of logic in his
constitution. that 1t was mistake which a states
man should not have countenanced.
(8.) A man so Inconsistent may escape the penal
ties OF his errors far IL law Is concerned. but
his errors admitting them to be such, falal to
think S bu1dss worse W. 5an crmes but Sometimes
they nearly alike that It Is not easy to dstin-
guish between them.
The above from the New York Tri-
bKne, we think worthy of answer, though
in the main a rehash of the old false
hoods which that paper mas Indignantly re-
published at stated intervals ever since it
published its Haunting lie,' and insisted
that Mr.. Davis and the statesmen of the
south were right, and the ''erring sisters
should be allowed to go in peace.
ID What Mr.. Davis says is an HISTORICAL
fact. The causes inducing the attempt at
secession go further back than the beginning
of his political career, and were a conse-
ouence of the slavery which the north en-
ioyed in common with the south until Eu-
ropean Immigration brought to 1t more skill
frl. industrious and intelligent labor. Mr..
Davis did not make slavery. He found 1t an
existing fact, and dealt with it as SUCH He
is as much responsible for it as he is for the
war, which was the last resort of the plant
ers of the south to defend species of prop
erty guaranteed to be such by the Federal
constitution, from the depredating hands of
such fanatics as the Tribune was organized
to sustain and defend.
(2.) The war would have taken place, as
Mr.. Davis says, with or without HIM. He
was only one man. True, he was an inauen-
tlal man, leader, who won his place because
of his political integrity, an unassailable hon
esty and an ability that even the Tribune
must acknowledge. There were hundreds of
Mr.. Davis's peers at the south who were
more pronounced than he for secession; some
of whom were to have occupied high places
both in the provisional as well as constitu-
tional confederation of the southern States,
and yet they are not held up as the authors
or causes of the war. And very properly.
The causes of that war were the accommodations
of years, beginning as far back as the
adoption OF the constitution.
(3.) Mr.. Davis has been grossly slandered.
His last speech in the senate is plain deca
ration of his then position. 1t was decla-
his enemies admit to be candor itself In
deed, his bluntness in the expression and
tenacity in adhoring to his opinions, is con-
sidered the great defect of his character.
His views, expressed in a speech that brought
from Mr.. Hale, of New Hampshire, the ex-
preston of q sincere wish that he would stay
and not give up his seat 10 the senate,
brought Mr.. Davis under the ban of suspicion
in his own Stste-the extreme men doubling
conservatism they could not understand.
Mr.. Davis, believing in the right of seces-
sion, questioned the propriety of a step that
was precIpitated without his sanction or ad
vice. When his State passed the ordinance
of secession, he resigned his place in the sem
ate and offered his services to her as a soldier.
As such he was commissioned, and while as
the senior maior-general of Mississippi he
was counseling with Governor Pettus as to
the organization of the troops of the State,
he was elected President of the Coufederacy
under the provisional government.
a. To say that he could have stopped Sc
cesson and prevented the war is to say what
no sane man vii, believe. A peace congress
composed of men. many of them among the
try, tried to prevent it; but if we are not mis-
taken the Tribune did all l. could to thwart
their purpose, and it succeeded Mr.. Davis
was not able to stop secession. He could
neither bring his co-aborers of the Demo-
cratic party nor the people of his State to his
views. He tried to, but could not, stem the
dreadful current; and like sensible man, a
patriot, he went with it. He was true to his
people. and with a courage and an integrity
that should Insure rim the respect, and not
the obloquy, even of the Tribune, he has re-
manned true to them.
(5.) His election was not by reclamation so
far as the politicians were concerned, because
by many of the most influential of these he
was dishked, as was afterward evidenced in
their enmity toward him and vindictive pur-
suit OF him at time when there should have
been neither cabal, intrigue, nor cap
hous or envious opposition to the
Contederacy. He was elected as the
dark horse" the friends of those who had
been selected being unable to agree among
themselves as to which one of their favorites
should be cho en-.
(6.) Mr.. Davis is, therefore, right in bis
disclaimer Of pre-eminence to which the
Tribune has elevated him, and which, not