Nevada County picayune., 1889-12-18
JEFFERSON DAVIS.

h'I't. tit tcHttcT tllDIV IS DTokcn Hntl the vital spark has flown. After
 days and nights of tender solicitude
 and patient watching, the immortal spirit of Jefferson Davis has been called to it's reward. The struggle is over and now, after life's fitful fever,
 he sleeps we'll No more the shafts of envy, the mutterings of implaca-
 blc hate or mortal ills may ever dis turb his dreamless repose. In the matchless grandeur of his own per sonality he lived, and in the fullness of his countrymen' confidence and esteem he died, with no spot on his escutcheon and no bitterness upon his I D or in his heart. Though for so many years target for the pols- oned arrows of malice and blind par tisanship and sectionalism he re- tained throughout all his years the gentleness of spirit which character ized his whole life. His great soul scared above the narrow sectionalism
 which sought to embitter his declin- ing years, and neither in thought nor in word or deed could he ever vio.
 late the divine injunction to return good for evil. In the stirring events that marked the period from 1861 to
 1865, he was true to the cause which
 he had espoused, and he never wavcr- ed nor fatered in his fidelity never doubted nor -hesitated. He loved his native Southland and he gave her the best years of his life, his energies, his hopes, his prospects and his treasure. freely and without stint. With the sad and disappointing ending of the great struggle he went quietly and uncomplainingly to prison. and if his life had been demanded as the pen alty of the failure of the cause it would have been laid upon the altar of his country untllnchingly and with cut a murmur. With him it was no "lost cause" for which he had striven.
 He believed in the sovereignty of the States, and he interpreted the c0usti- tuition handed down by his forefaih- ers-that great palladium of Ameri- can liberty which he so loved and honored-according to his best judg- ment, the result of patient and con scientious investigation. History will credit him with honesty of pur- pose in that he flung away ambition in the zenith of his fame and popu- larity to lead the weaker cause when the future held out such alluring promises of personal advancement independent of secession and revolu- ton. He believed in the sovereignty of the States, and with mm the be- lief amounted to aprinciple for which he was willing to sacrifice his life his all. When the struggle was over and all was lost save honor, when the magnanimity of the victorious union permitted him to do so, he retired to the shades of private life, and was on- ly withdrawn temporarily therefrom
 by the sharp attacks of cruel and inn placable enemies, who he answered with crushing phillipics. He be- lieved to his dying day that the cause for which he fought was just, and no prospect of personal advan- tage or fear of personal consequences could have induced him to renounce that belief. But he recognized the inevitable and accepted the arbitra- ment of the sword in good faith. He loved his country, and he had no thought but for it's welfare and ma terlal advancement. He loved the flag for which he had fought when the Republic was still in its infancy, when the present generation was yet unborn, when many of those who would revile and misuse had not learned to respect and honor the stars and stripes. He loved the same flag when it iloated triumph antly over reunited Union after the Southern cross had gone down in the smoke of battle and ceased to be. He gave many proofs of his lofty patriotism, but he never fawned at the foot of power nor essayed the role of hypocrite. His great soul was above petty malice and petty meanness and he looked with con tempt upon the knaves and dema- gogues who courted popular applause by flaming into flame the dying em- bers of sectional hate. No malice, no hatred for the petty spirits who were unworthy to lace his shoes only pity and contempt. Peace to