Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-01-26

ctv s,rsh He conquered himself and for
gave his enemies. but hs bent TO none but
! God.
spvpnv scRurYSY or ms LIFE AND CHARACTER.
No uublic man was ever subjected TO
| steyner ordeals Of character or closer scru-
tinv ~ conduct. He was in the public gaze
| for nearly half O century; and in the fate
wi,;ch at last overwhelmed the Southern
Confederacy and its President its Official
records and private papers feil into the
Wa" Wary sves now searched to see If he had
overstepped the bounds which the laws Of
war have set to action; and could such
evidence be found wrathful hearts would
have cried for vengeance. But though
every hiding-place was opened; ana reward
was ready for any who would petray the
secrets Of the Captive Chief, whose armies
were scattered aud whose hands were
| chained-though the sea gave up its dead
! in the CONFUSION of his country--there
could be found no guilty fact, anc accusing
| tongues were silenced.
"Whsteyer record ieaped 70 light
His name could not be shamed."
Icould not indeed. nor would / divest
myself of those identities ana partiaiities
which make me one with the people OF
whom he was the chief IN their supreme
conflict. But surely If records were stain
| less and enemies were dumb, and If the
principals now pronounce favorable ludg-
inent upon the agent, notwithstanoingtha t
| he failed. there can be no suspicion OF I'M
| dine favor on the part of those who do him
| honor: and the contrary Inclination could
only spring from disafection.
THE SOUTH KNEW HIM AND THEREFORE, HoNoHs
| HIM.
The people of the South knew Jefferson
Davis. He mingled his daily lie with
J L. Al To ~ flaCn
had bound up with him all that lie can
cherish. =.
To his hands they consigned their desti-
| nies and under his guidance they CON-
mitted the land they loved with husbands,
fathers, sons, and brothers to the God OF
| Battles.
Ruin. wounds. and death became theirpor-
ton. And vet this people do declare that
Jefferson Davis was an unseltsh patriot anu
| n noble gentleman: that as the trustee OF
the highest trusts that man can place IN
man he was clear and faithful and that in
his high Office he exhibited those grand he
roc attributes which were worthy OF It's
dignity and of their struggle for independ-
| ence.
Thus it was that when the news came
! that he was no more there was no south
ern home that did not pass under the
shadow of affection. Thus it was that the
| Governors of Commonwealth bore his
body to the tomb and that multltudes
| gathered from afar to bow in reverence.
Thus it was that throughout the South the
SCARED soldiers, the widowed wives, the
kindred Of those who had died IN the pat
| tie which he delivered met TO give utter
ance to their respect and sorrow. Thus 1T
| il that the General Assembly of Virginia IL
now convened to pay their tribute. Com
pleter testimony to human worth was
never given, and thus it will be that the
South will build monument to record
| their verdict that he was true TO his peo-
pie, his conscience, and his God; and no
stone that covers the dead Will be worthler
| of the Roman Legend:
"CId,us et uir 1ortiss'nnus"
| BONE PERSONAL TRAITS OF CHARACTER.
The life now closed was one of conflict
from youth to manhood, and from man
hood TO the grave. Before he was man
| in years he was an officer In the army OF
| his country, and intermissions of military
and civil services were but spent IN
Furnishing the weapons which were to
shine in the clash of opposing interests. .,
The scenes of the hearthstone and OF
| the closters of friendship and religion
have no place on that large canvas which
portrays the great events OF national ex-
| istence: and those who come forth from
them equipped and strong to wrestle and
contend leave often behind them the por
tions of their life work which, could Others
know them, would reverse all conceptions
of character and turn aversion to alice
| ton. :.
Those who knew jefferson Davis in init
mate relations honored him most and
| loved him. Genial and gentle, approach
able to all, especially regardful of the hum
| Bile and the lowly, affable in conversation,
and enriching it from the amplest stores OF
| o refined and cultured mind, he fascinated
those who came within the circle OF his go
clety and endeared them TO him. Re-
served as to himself, he bore the Affections
of a diseased body with scant allusion even
| when il became needtul to plead them IN
self-defence. With bandaged eyes and
weak from suffering he would come from q
couch of pain tC vote on public issues, and
for over twenty years, with the sight OF
one eye gone. he dedicated ms lao9rs 10
the yindication of the South from the as
PERSONS which misconceptions and pas
sions he'd engendered. -,
At over four-score years he died, with
his harness on, his pen yet bright and
trenchant, his mental eye undimmed, his
soul athirst for peace, truth, justice. and
fraternity breathing his latest breath III
clearing the memories OF the Lost Con-
| federacy.
Clear and strong in intellect, proud,
hich-minded. sensitive, self-willed, but
not self-centred; self-assertive for his
cause. but never for his own advancement
| aggressive and imperious as are nearly oil
men fit for leadership; with the sturdy
virtues that command respect. but with
out the small diplomacies that conclliate
hostility, he was one of those characters
that naturally makes warm friends and Bit
ter enemies a veritable man, terribly IN
earnest" such as Carlyle loved to count
among the heroes.
NEITHER SELFISH, GOLD, NOR CRUEL.
Such q man can never be understood
| while strife lasts: and little did they un-
derstand him who thought him selfish,
cold. or cruel. When he came TO Rich
mond as your President your. generous
people gave him home and he declined 1t.
After the war when dependent on his labor
for the bread of his family kind friends
rendered him a purse. Gracefully re-
fusing. Send it." he said, ito the poor
and suffering soldiers and their families"
His heart was full of melting charity, and
in the Confederate days the complaint
was that his many pardons relaxed discl-
pline and that he would not let the SEN
fences of military courts be executed.
Not human being ever believed for On in
slant the base imputation that he appro--
priated Confederate gold. He distributed
the last TO the soldiers, and the fact 49,"
he wrote to friend, that staked all my
property and reputation on the defence OF
| states rlgnlS ana cOuStitutiOli.u ioCil " %
understand them. The first l spent In
the cause. except what was saved and APP
propriated or destroyedby the enemy; the
last has been persistently assailed by all
which falsehood could invent and malig-
nifty employ"
HUMANITY TO PRISONERS OF WAR.
He would have turned with loathing from
misuse of prisoner, for there was no cha
racteristic of Jefferson Davis more marked
than his regard for the weak, the helpless,
and the captive. BY act of the Confederate
Congress and by general orders the same
rations served to the Confederates were is
sued to the prisoners, though taken from
starving army and people.
Brutal and base was the effort to stigma
TIE him as u .conspirator to maltreat pri-
soners, but better for him that it was made,
for while he was himself yet in prison the
evidences OF his humanity were so over
wbelming that finally SANDER stood
abashed and malignity recoiled.
Even at Andersonville, where the hot
summer sun was of course disastrous to
mon ot thu northern cline we'll nigh as