, 1884-07-08
THE CONFEDERATE CABINET.
All of Them Men of MARKED Charne-
ter and Great Ability.

washington Cor. New York Times1
Tho Confederate cabinet was a fair express
sion of the executive ability available in the
south: not so brilliant or able as its soldier5hip
as illustrated by Lee. Jackson and Gordon,
but equal To such achievements as were pos
sible ia the face Of ~counlless difficulties and
obstacles. A cabinet presenting such names
as Toombs. Hunter. Breckenridge, Benjamin
and Seddon, Is no beggar for appreciation
from the student OF American political his
tory made during the decade preceding seces.
sion. Not only was it the best material the
south Ind, buG it would have been rare ma
ierinl anywhere Toombs, Hunter. Breckin-
ridge and Benjamin were all colossal figures
in the Federal senate. Tooinbs-n Marc An
tony or MiraDeau-was always at his best in
agitation He, with the aid of Governor Joe
Brown, lashed Grorsin, after stubborn resist
aIce, into secession, with Herschel ". John
son, Alexander II. Stephens aud Benjamin II.
lila raro triumvirate OF genius and elo-
quence In opposition TooInbs is hardly
viewed by GeOrgians as the biggest Georgian
uf that day. TnHt distinction was claimed for
Howell Cobb, who was Buchannp's secretary
of the treasury, by thousands Of Georgians. To
Toombs and tOGeorsiaM r. Davis gave the post
OF honor in his cabinet, Cobb being already
president OF the provisional congress. Suisse
quently Virginia wa honoreI, similarly when
@NAAAN ObftliH tNt1DO oFll mn
type of the genius of his ruce. an American
Disraeli, throughout the war Justified the ex-
cutive confidence by fdrIity, capacity for la
bur and inexhaustible fertility of resource.
Seldom was n man of the Calhoun type OF
mind. An acute dialectician, be was nu OK
pert In polemics. OF ample fortune, he had
abundant leisure for study, and passed. an
honorable life, serving briefly in congress, u
which body he was elected OVER the famous
Taln NNF,,.. D-NN, III
impaired by chrouis disease.
Than B~reckinridge the south has hal no
more picturesque public character. ASa sol
dier aud civilian his life was nleteoric IN the
brilliRncy of its triumphs, and yet gave "A uni.
form display OF steady and growing light to
be dimmed at last amid the shadow OF the
falling Confeleracy. He was leader Of his
party Ia the house of representatives at 81;
prered tue Spanish mission by President
P,erce nt33; vice resident when he was only
30. and elected senator while he was still vice
president and under 40. Breckinridse lost
heavily by his participation in the war, to en-
ter which he left nearly n whole term us
United States senator, when he drove out of
kentucky behind his fleet Arabians, distanc-
ng his Federal puisuers in tho race for the
Confederate lines. Had the Charleston con-
IGNITION OF April, 1860. remained in session
long enough Tor u harmonious selection Of a
iohbneo up whom Dlth wings or the De-
muciacy could have united, b reckinridze was
an obvious probability. by reason both OF per-
snnality and geographical considerations.
y IN mated, he wouli Utmost certainly have
D--n elected president II am an extincs VOL
cano," he would shy, when, since the war, his
friends would urge his articipa ion in public
affairs. With pnrd maize pathos his cd time
friends recall the "Young Hickory of Ken
lucky" as they dwell upol the consecutive
lriumphs of his early life and the rich. unful-
tlled promise Of its merid al. Il is no mean
paI Of the epitnPh Of tbe c~onfederacy thai its
military power was crushed just as Juhn
Breckenridge, with Characteristic dash and
,iaring, lad grasped it for final and supreme
sffort-