The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1881-03-04
JEFF DAVIS COMING BOOK,

Is soon to be issued bv il New York house
f nc IohuWlhE summary of its contcuts is
y gwen out Davls's introduction is 4 short
q ohe: covering not quite two pages lie
dchlcltcs the work to tho widows and or.
P'lahS OF the Confederate dead lie con-
ccivcS 1t to be his duty to his cOuntrymcn
ID PiGplrc TINS history OF the rise and fail
ufc OF their cause. lie finds in the struct.
urc Oh the thirteen States and their relations
TO cach other primary principles and vested
rights on which he rests his vindicatiou ni
the Conicdcracy. lie cvnces the doctrine
OF States sovereignty aud compact hv
which States voluntarily gave their consent
to federation, with no design expressed or
implied ever to become fractional parts of =
nation, and he believes that those who rc.
sisted the violation Of this original comn,ct
were in fact the true friends Of constitution
al union.
The author in discussing the principles
and events in their natural and lori,,l ar
"cr: nrst gives his attention to African ser.
vitudc, and the long and bitter sectional
S'r''c TO which 1t gave rise. He then takes
up the questions OF States rights, giving
constitutional and historical arguments on
whlch he rests the principle of State sovcr
ciSnty' and quoting copiously from all au.
thoritles on the subject. These questions
ana luIl statement Of the Immediate causes
~ '''e wa" wa "eenpy one. half of the first vol
u'ic. Inc remainder or the work is r;von
to TO the narrative of the struggle, Including
tue ihlicst statement yet written from \
southern standpoint Of fierce dissentions in
tohtcd rate councils and of his defense for
( 'nc pr''ongatlon Of the war for many months
alter many OF the ablcst men of the Sourb
were luIIy convinced that their struggle WAS
hopeless one In the opening work he
treats OF the early legislation on the subject
"i slavery. llc acquits the South of all
responsibility for the existence in its midst
OF the peculiar institution, and calls alton.
ton to the fact that Virginia was thc f,,,
State to prohibit the importation into itS
territory Of the blacks brought to this coun.
try and reduced to slavery. and that Gcor.
GA WAS the first Stat. to incorporate into |
ITS constitution the prohibition of the Arri.
can slave trade. All through the work he
treats ol slavery: not rs the cause of the
war, out only rs an incident of the secession
movement. Paramount to the question he
Sff6Alr Wps iIR}r III PetrliiHcy' anrr.nrw~.n-.ut
States in the Union. lie traces the con.
Aict which intensified the insult ard burst
into npcn war. While upon this subject he |
speaks in condcmnatory terms of the Mis-.
souri, compromise, which he regards as the
:urrcndcr Of rights which belonged to the ,
South and which it sho lll have maintained. /
hntaitcr it was adopted he believed it should !
have been adhered to, IN | he arraigns the .
North and federal governments ior the fail |
urc of the compromise which was practical. |
iy repealed by the bills of organization of /
the territories Of Kansas and Nebraska in ,
lSJ9. Mr.. Davis takes occasion to declare ,
in many places throughout his work, his /
devotion To th2 constitutional Union. He !
instances speeches which he made in 1851, /
d'.ring his candidacy for Governor of Mis- |,
SlSSipri, in opposition to Henry :. Footc |
These speeches contained repeated dcclara. .
tInnS of his adherence and deviation to the :
Union, and he ailirms TINT his public deeds /
were ut all times actuatcd by this spirit be- |
fore the general government began its vin
lent cncroacamcnts on the rights of the
States. it WAS during the Pierce admins.
tration that the struggle in Kansas between
the free soil and the pro slavery parties cul
minated in bitterness. This struggle, Mr.
Davis finds, was the beginning OF the i'm
mediate cause of the war. lie dcvotcs con.
siderable space to a description Of what he
calls the usurpa,ions OF the federal author
tiles. Congress, it will be remembered. re-
fused to recognize the delegate chosen from
Kansas, on the ground that his election by
the pro slavery party had been procured
by fraud. He regards the repeal Of the
Missouri compromise as rc-oprning the qucs.
ton Of slavery in the territories, and as
prcci ipitating Il conflict between the oppos..
inG parties, which was encouraged by the
ahotiouist Of the North. heard which finally
compelled the South. in sclldcicn>c, TO takca
decided stand. II" holds the violent abol
tioni,lS largcly y responsible for final breach
of the peace; bringing his history down TO
the election of Lincoln, he finds the federal
government i'll the hands Of a party under
| which the Southern States could not live.
/ Lincoln was elected upon platform OF fc.
/ $Mamr" to slavery extension party amta@-
7 uni.lic to the South, aud believing in the
Capitalization rt power in the federal GOV.
crnmcnt, controlled by the executive dcpar-
tmcnt Having devoted half Of Tie first
volume to an exposition Of the causes which
led the South to desire Il separation from
the federal government, Mr.. Davis proceeds
III SGNCfal chapters 10 defend III" Fl%ht oi
secession. In justification Of this right be
quotes largely from Webster, Calhoun,
Douglass, Greeley, Seward, Benton and
=. Clay. In maintaining that the compact be.
tween the State, was of the nature Of Il
confederation, he draws largely Tor the ha
sis of his argument upon the debates i'll tho
constitutional convention Of lIS9. and for
!, tiicS himself with extract from Storey OF
constitution. Elliott's debates and Bancroft.
history. He refers to the memorable dc
D bate on the purchase Of louisiana, whcr
o Josiah Quincy, Of Massachusetts, in th