Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-07-23

"Reminiscences of Jeff Davis, Robert
Toombs and r. NJ r. Hunter.


Toombs and II. M. r. Hunter.
In the year 1850. says the st. Louis Re
publican Of July 18th, jefferson Da-
Wis Of Mississippi, Robert Toombs Of
Georgia. and r. NJ. T. Hunter OF
Virginia were members of the United
States Senate, and not only its
three most influential members, but emf
nent Southern leaders. Each represent
ed a State which claimed and exercised
a weighty influence in the national coun-
ell. and as they belonged TO the then
dominant party and were champions OF
the theories that rested on slavery, they
possessed an authority which, in the
present changed condition Of things, it is
difficult to comprehend, The political
sky wore a troubled look in the spring OF
1860. The John Brown raid on Harper's
Ferry had recently taken place, showing
what daring and dangerous measures
AbOlitiOnism was capable Of; Kansas,
after a fierce struggle, had been
lost TO the South; the growing
Republican party was preparing for the
Chicago Convention that nominated Abra-
ham Lincoln; there were grave divisions
IN the Democratic party that had ruled the
country for nearly fifty years; and, to COM
plicate things still more, there was a
strong native American element in the
Southern States which refused to ally
itself with the Southern Democracy in
defense of the extreme position which the
latter claimed was necessary for the
maintenance Of Southern institutions and
interests. Congress was still in session,
and it was observed that Davis, Toombs
and Hunter were frequently sitting to-
gether in the Senate, as if in consultation.
These consultations usually took place
at the desk of the Senator from Missis-
suppl, and the fact was remarked then, as
proof of the clearer perspicacity, stronger
will, and superior ability Of the man who
was destined afterward TO become chief
of the then only dreamed of Southern Con-
federacy.
These three men are still living. 1t is
strange that it should be so, but there are
many strange things connected with the
tremendous drama in which they played
so conspicuous part. Their experiment
tai COnfederacy was born, lived and per-
ished so long ago that the American youth
of to-day know nothing of it except what
they read of in books. The South has
passed through the blood and agony of a
conflict which left the flower of its pOpu-
latiOn beneath the sod, and SCARED its
mountains, valleys and forests with the
tracks of blowing missiles. Abolitionism
had its way; slavery was OverthrOwn and
ruin ran riot over the Southern land till
there was little left to destroy. Yet the
three Senator's of 1860, from Mississippi,
Georgia and Virginia, have survived all
the havoc and are still above the turf be-
meath which all their prominent cOntem-
poTaries lie buried. Their old abo-
lItion enemies are gone. Garrison,
Seward, Greeley, Chase, Giddings passed
away long ago. Even Wendell Phillips is
dead. Lincoln, the first Republican Pres
ident, has been in his bloody tomb these
nineteen years. The great Douglas sleeps
in Illinois soil, and trees twenty years
old grow over his grave. His Presidential
competitors in the memorable campaign
of 1860, Breckenridge and John Bell, are
asleep, too, each in the soil of his native
State. All the members of the first Re-
publican Cabinet are gone but one-Simon
Cameron-and Simon Cameron was a
comparatively obscure man in the spring
Of 1860.
The Mississippi Senator of 1860 is now
rs years old; the Georgia Senator is "A;
the Virginia Senator is IS. They are not
very old men, yet there are not three other
living men in the world who were actors
in a great historical drama who have
served as pall-bearers to such procession
of eminent fellow-players.