The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1884-08-06
out-Iisng all their old Enemies

In the year I~fH, ss,- the =. Louis
A.puJiacan u io-h, Jefferson DAVIS Ct
Mississippi, Robert Tombs OF Ueor-
pa. and Il. VI. r Hunter Of Virginia
were members 81 the IuIted States Sen
ate. aud not ouly il, three most Influential
membels, but eminent Southern leaders
Each repre~eutated a State ahrch claim
ed and exercised a weIghty influence 10
the national council, and a. they belong
ed to the then dominant party and were
champions of the theoleS that rested on
slavery, they pos sScd an authority
which. 10 the present changed condition
of things, it is difficult TO comprehend
The r~olitical sky wore a troubled look 10
the spring of 1850. The John Brown
raid on Harper Ferry had recently taken
place, showing what daring and danger
us measures Aboiitionllm was capable
of; Kansas, after a fierce struggle, had
been lost TO the South the growing Re-
publican party WIS preparing Tor Chicago
Convention hat nominated Abraham Lin
coin: there were grave divisions IN the Dem
ocratic party which had ruled the country
for nearly fifty years; and, to compllcate
things still more, there was a strong ma
tive American element IN the Southern
States which refused TO ally itself with
the Southern Democracy IN defence OF
the extreme position which the latter
claimed was necessary for the maInten-
ance Of Southern institutions and inter-
ests. Congress was still In session and
it was obsered that Davis, T0ombs aud
Hunter were frequently sitting together
in the Senate, as II in consultation These
consultations usually took plance at the
desk ofthe Senator from Mississippi. aud
the fact was remarked then, a. proof of
the clearer pcrsplcicIty, stronger Will, and
! superior ability OF the man who WAS dos
tined atterward to become chlet Of the
then only dreamed of South nrn Con'cd-
eracy.
These thee men are still living. Ii is
stl ange that it should be so, but there are
many strange things connected with the
tremendous drama in which they played
! SO conspicuous a part Their experiment
tai Confederacy was born, lived and per-
ished SO long g that the Ame1can
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
population beneath the sod. and SCARED
its mount ms, valleys and forests with the
tracks of blowing missiles Abolitionism
had its way slavery was overthrow
and ruin ran riot over the Southern land
| till there was little left to destroy. Yet
the three Senators of 1850, from Missis-
slppi, Georgia and Virginia, have surviv-
ed all the havoc and are still above the tuit
beneath which all their prominent contem-
p%oraries be buried. Their old abolition
enemies are rome. Garrison, Seward, Gree
ley, Chase. Giddings passed away long ago.
Even Wendell Phillips is dead Lincoln,
the first Republican President, has been
in his bloody tomb these nineteen years.
The great Douglas sleeps in Illinois soil,
and trees twenty two years oil grow over
his grave. His presidential competitors
in the memorable campaign Of 1860.
Brockluridgc and John Bell, urc asleep,
too, each in .hc soil OF bis native State.
All the members o. Abe first Republican,
Cabinet are gone but one Simon Came-
ron and Simon Cameron was u compar
lively obscure man In the spring OF 1860.
The MISSISSIPPI = ,Dator of LOO Is now
16 years old; the Georgia Senator /. II;
the \ lrglnla senator Is - They are not
very old men, yet there are not three
other living men the world who were ac-
tors in the great historical drama who
have served as pail bearers to such a pre-
cession Of eminent fellow players.