The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-02-27
4 CONVERT TO DAVIS.
JANIS RE EDPATH, ABOLITIONIST
AND UNION MAN.

N-''
Comi2darnte Bx-Presidrnt Rebei ol
Traitor-The Case of tho "onth Prc"'nte'
I'm Nutshell.
New York World.
DENVER, Col, Feb l9.-"Neithel
Rebel nor Traitor" Writing with this
for subject, Prof. James Redpath, IN
the Commonwealth, sny of Jefferson
Davis:
81 spent nearly the entire summer
of 1889 as guest of EeMuvoir House,
the home of the late Jellersou Day is
was in his company Tor from six to
ten hours every day during the whole
time Of my visit. ilurlhg that period
We talked of every imE ortnut event in
his long and oventfut life, aud discuss
ed almost every issue between the
North. and South. My position enabled
and authorized mo to ask questions
and to introduce topics which other
wise it might have been uhgracious, to
say the least, OF in bu,i form, as the
latcss phrase *, 20 refer 20 in the home
of,he ex President of lbe Confederate
States by any ;%orlherE writer, especi-
ally one who, ike myself, had been
an AbClition!St of the mO1t radical
school from his earliest lranhood-a
fact we'll known TO my venerable host.
II first met Mr.. Davis il: the sum-
mer of 1888 Mr.. Allen Thorndike
Rico h ID determined to prepare as a
companion volume to his Reminiscent
ces Of Abraham Lincoln, a. q sort Of
Confederate supplement, a volume Of
Remipis ences of Lee and Stonewall
Jackson. Having conv nced him
that it would be impossibI' 10 secure
the contributions he neCr"t from ia
nous Southerncrs without Mt Davis's
cooperation, | was commissioned to
visit BeauVoir and secure /: and to OBJ
tain one or Two historical s8ays from
him for the North American ieview,
Of which at the time was TIA" nunag-
ing editor
"Well, / reached BeauvioH and re-
manned there about week. !Ietore |
had been with Mr.. Davis threeo days
every preconceived idea of hiss utterly
and forever disappeared. Nobody
doubted DaVis's intel 'ectuai capacity,
but it was not his mental power that
most Impressed me. 1t was his good
ness, first of all, and then hi; intellect
ual integrity. / never saw al old man
whese face bore more emphatic evil
dence Of gentle, refined and benig-
nant character. He seemed 10 ne the
Ideat embodiment of sweetness and
light. His conVersatj2I showed that
he had charity for all an malice to-
wand nome | never hnHrl him utter
an unkind word of any ntzA, and he
spoke ofncarly all fh's 'nrre famous
opponents. His mimu'lS could best
be dcscriO bed rs gracio Is, SO eXGui.itely
! 80
dignity Of most of our public men Gttcn
suit it is so evidently put Oil and ill-
fitting. Mr.. Davis's dignity was as
natural and as charming a. the per-
flmo of q rost--the fitting eXpressi On
of q serene, benign and comely moral
nature However handsome he :+ay
have been when excited in uuttiL or
dejate-and at such times, | was told,
he seemed an incarnation of III: most
poetic conceptions of q valiant knight
it surely was in his OVID home,
with his family and friends
around him, that he was seen at his
best; and that lest was the highest
point Of grace and retincmen, that
the Southern character has ever each.
ed.
Mr.. Redpath tells ofhis grcntIriend-
ship for Jefferson Davis, and con
tinues:
"But with this slight aid inadequate
expression of my affection for MIR.
Davis, | must now rest content, in or
der to state rs clearly AMI tersely as
may why the old Confederate chief
tain never 'repented, and why he
never egarded himsG.! as either a
rebel or traitor, but secuted such
titles. whenever applied to hiMself OF
to the Southern people, IS proof that
the utterer Of them wa, ignorant o.
constitutional law and OF NE true ma
ture of the Federal Unu>..
~ returned to Beauvoi' uad remain
ed three or four months Il sisting Mr..
Davis in preparing Sh )rt History o
the Confederate States. Nfter the last
pages Of that work (now in press) haC
been mailed Mr.. Davis consented tt
prcl are for the same publishers an ex
tended autobiography if ! would re-
main to assist him. He had not pro
cLeded tar with his life before busines!
recalled me North. Although / re
turned In q few weeks it was 700 late
az in the mean time Mr.. Davis hat
visited his plantation at Briarfeld
where lie caught the malariaI fever tha
ended in his death.
'In order to assist MI Davis wit.
the least friction and los Of time,
became necessary at the beginning c
my work that | should clearly under
stand the State Rights doctrine as tol
by the Confederate leader. Mr. Davis
therefore, gave me such of his writ
ing8 on the topic a8 embodiod his pei
sonal views and also othor argument
that he approved. In addition to thes
documents I had many and long cor
vcrBations with Mr.. Davis until fe
competent to state the Southern theor
without any doubt as to the correct
ness Of my understanding oft. In tn
paper | will present only such view
ts Mr. Davis himself maintained, I
it understood that the language on
Of what follows is mine; the statemen
are those Of Mr.. Davis
"A traitor is one who violat
his allegiance AMI betrays his ;ou
try.
"a rebel is one. who revolts fro
the country to which he owe,; aileg
anCe.
I.N,,,, F,o., tl,o