The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-01-21
NO. II.

ii.
letter written by jefferson Davis to a
Senator now in the United States Senate,
saying that he would cocrca Southern
State if it should attempt to scccde from
the Confedcracy.
Il assert, SIR" said Senator Lamar,
''that no such letter is in existence, and
in my opinion no such letter was ever
written. In saying that" he continued,
y wish to d'sclaim here any reflection
whatsoever upon the vcracity of Gen.
Sherman. That is not my purpose.
What do mean to say is that he has
been misled and misinformcd, and when
the truth comes before him that he has
made an assertion even against q politi-
cal enemy which he cannot sustain, it
would comport better with his high
character and position to acknowledge
an inadvcrtcnt and unintentional inius-
tice than to change the issue before
the American people and raise q ques-
ton as to the character Of the Secession
movement.
|
mar said that he had been throughout q
friend Of Mr.. Davis, and had been often
i'll consultation with him, and if Mr..
Davis varied his opinion from the
beginning Of the Secession controversy
to the end, and to :hcir importance Of
maintaining the movement upon tho
consent of the people engaged in it, and
not upon any force, his most intimate
friends were ignorant Of any such rcso-
luton Of opinion. No man had stood
more firmly than Mr.. Davis by the doc
trnc that it should be government
based upon consent, not force, through
all the cventful scenes of the struggle
Gen. Sherman then was simply misin-
formed. No letter of the character re-
ferred to was ever written by Mr.. Da-
Wis, for no such letter could have been
written by entertaining the views he
did.
''One other thing, Sir" said Lamar, in
conclusion, 1--WE, Of the South, have sur
rendered upon all the questions which
divided the two sections in that contro-
vcrsy. We have given up the right of
the people to secedc from this Union,
We have given up the right Of each
State to judge for itself Of infractions Of
the Constitution and mode Of redress,
We have given up, sir, the right to con-
troll our own domestic institutions. We
fought for them and we lost in that con-
trovcrsy, but no man shall in my pres
ence call Jefferson Davis a traitor with
out my responding with stern and en-
phatic denial"
| Senator Vest said that the Senator
from Kansas (Ingalls) could indulge in
no debate without becoming personal.
That Senator was verbal horror and
an oral terror. One Of the offences
known to the old common law was
that Of being common scold the
punishment for which was ducking,
He would not, however. prescribe such
a punishment for the Senator from Kan
sas. The Confederate States, Senator
Vest continued, were dead. The SOL
dicrs who fought for the Confederacy
and those who fought for the Union
slept side by side, having illustrated
with matchlcSs deeds the valor and he-
roism of both sections. Above them
might be put the ancient epitaph:
| "Thc Knights nre dust,
| Their swords are rust,
| Their souls with God, We trust"
and with that there should be All end of
acrimonious discussion Of the issues in
volvcd in that terrible conflict, but the
Senator from Kansas sought to impute
to Senators disioyalty TO the outh that
was taken to- tho Constitution of tho
United States. The Senator had said
that he (Ecst) had been in the habit Of
,lluding in u spirit Of bonstfulness to
the fact that he had been n member Of
the Confederate Senate. 1t was not
true. The records would show that he
had made such illusions upon only two
occasions. Once in his eulogy upon
Senator Hill, with whom he had served
in the Confederate Senate. and again to-
day in order to assume full share Of
the responsibility which was sought in
certain quarters to be put upon Mr.. Da-
Wis. The Senator from Kansas had said
that he (VcsD had received his creden-
tials from the Governor Of the State Of
Missouri. elected by a majority Of 35,-
600 in time Of profound peace, and his
election was by Legislature elected In
time Of pence. He would say now to
the Senator from Kansas that his (Vests
credentials to the Confederate Senate, az
also those Of the United States Senate,
had mover been disputed by his own con-
stituents, and the Senator from Kansas
would know what he meant.
| Uhe hour Of g O'clock arriving tho .