Sharp County record., 1881-03-24
} JEFF. DAVIS BOOK.

the topics discussed by Jefferson
Davis in his history OF "Tho Rise
and Fall of the Confederate Gov
crnment,' soon to be issued,
Mr.. Davis introduction is a short
one, covering rot quite two pages,
lie dedicatcs the work to the wild
ows and orphans Of the confederate
dead. lie conceiveS it TO be hls
duty to his eounlymen to prepare
this history OF the rise and failure
OF their cause, lie finds in structure
thirteen independent states, and
them relation 10 each other primary
principles and the vested rights on
which he rests his vindication OF
the contederacy. lie evidences the
doctrine Of state sovereignty and
the compact by which these states
voluntarily gave their consent 10
federation, with no design expressed
or implied ever to become fractional
parts Of the nation, and he believes
that those who resisted the violation
OF this original compact were, in
fact, the true friends of cOnstitu-
,ional union. The author, in dis,
cusslng the principles and events in
their natural and logical order, first
gives his attention to African scrvi-
tude, and the long and bitter strife
to which it gave rise. He then takes
ap the question of state rights, Civ
ing constitutional and historical ar
guments, in which he recites the
principle OF state sovereignty, and
quotes copiously from all authorities
Oh the subject. These questions and
Il full statement Of the immediate
causes of the war, occupy one-half
OF the first volume; the remainder
of the work is given to a narrative
of the struggle, including the fullest
statement yet written, from a South
ern standpoint, of the fierce dissen-
sion in confederate councils, and of
his defense of prolongation Of the
war for many months after many
Of the ablest men in the South we're
fully convinced that their struggle
was hopeless one.
In the opening of the work he
treats of the early legislation on the
subject OF slavery. Ho acquits the
South of all responsibility for the
existence in its midst of the peculiar
institution, and calls attention to the
fact that Virginia was the first state
to prohibit importation into Its ter
ritory Of the blacks brought to this
country and reduced to slavery, and
that Georgia was the first state to
incorporate in its constitution the
prohibition of the American slave
trade. All through the work he
treats of slavery not as the cause Of
the war, but only as an incident of
the secession movement. The par
amount question he declares was
equality in the territories, and the
inability of the South TO maintain
it's equal rights in the territories and
newly made states of the union.
He traces the conflict, which was
intensified until it bprst into open
war, While upon this subject he
speaks in condemnatory terms Of
the Missouri compromise, which he
regards as a surrender of the rights
of the South, and which it should
have maintained; but after it was
adopted, he believed it should have
been adhered to, and be arraigns
the North and federal government
for the failure Of compromise
which was practically repealed by
the bills organizing the territories
of Kansas and Nebraska, in 1859.
1t will be observed that Mr.. Davis
takes occasion to declare In many
places throughout the work his de-
voton to the constitutional union
He instances speeches which be
made ir 1861, during his candidacy
for governor of Mississippi, in oppo-
sition to Henry S. Foote. These
speaches contained repeated deciar-
alton of his adherence and devotion
to the union, and he affirms that
his public deeds were at all times
actuated by this spirit, until the
general government began its vio-
lent cncroachments on the rights of
the states. 1t was during the Pierce
administration that the struggle in
Kansas, between the free.soil and
pro-slavery parties, eliminated in
bitterness. This struggle Mr.. Davis
finds was the immediate cause of the
war. He devotes considerable space
10 a description of what he calls the
usurpations of the federal authorities
Congress, it will be remembered, re-
fused to recognize delegate chosen
from Kansas, on the ground that his
election by the pro-slavSry party
had been procured by fraud. He
regards the repeal of the Missouri
compromise as re-opening the ques-
tion of slavery in the territories, and