The Bemidji pioneer., 1900-12-06
ed district attorney in 1858. he held the

eu uiStihct dtlorftey III Iooos ne nefd the
Office until 1873, when he resigned ia
take the gubernatoriai chair, to which
he had been elected as the candidate
OF the Republican party During the
eleven years that followed his retire
ment from the governors office. Gov.
4 Davis sought no political Office His
time was divided between his profess
i sion and his literary pursuits.
In 1887 he succeeded s. y. r.. MchIii-
Ian as United States senator
AS chairman Of the senate's pension
4 committee Senator Davis gained the
gratitude of all old soldiers by orig
| mating and passing q pension bin both
| liberal and just. Toward the close Of
his first term he surprised the country
with an elaborate declaration of the
| present and the future Importance Of
the Sault Ste. Marie canal.
The senator was re- elected In 1888.
During this term he was promoted to
| the much-priZed position of chairman
of the committee on foreign affairs,
succeeding the venerable John sSher-
man. He made a strong fight against
President Cleveland's Hawaiian policy,
and when, subsequently, the Hawaiian
treaty OF annexation failed Of passage,
he put his subtlety once more In evil
dence by substituting for the treaty
joint resolution, thus securing immedi-
ate annexation through the vote 5of. o.
mere majority. rs
Senator Davis most distinguished
service In the senate was before ana
during the war with Spain. In 1899 he
was reelected for the third term TO the
honorable body that he had honored.
u At the capital he was admired So
cially Although by no means rich, he
had been long in receipt Of growing
income from his legal practice. He en-
sftertained with taste. He enjoyed, J, at
his house In Washington, the co-opera-
sfion of a popular, tactful and attract
i've wife. He had no children. Before
Mrs. Davis married. in 1880, she was
Miss Anna Malcolm Agnew Of sit. Paul.
IA few years earlier Gov. Davis had
secured a divorce. on the technical
ground of desertion, ,afrom HIS first wife,
Laura BpwrnaI j. Sheg retained the. es-
:teem OF many friends. she had mar
after his ire turn fgorrna Tie war. Mrs.
property in later years. She Is said to
.sbe living in Z i nsas city.s
U The senator was a Mason and d
member Of THE. Grand ARMY Of the Re-
public, buE Ae was faiIteai with few 9th
;er societies. Although not active AN
religious concagna Reawas norninallW a
congregation alfsf.s
4 Senator Davis was a deep student, /
and found a special pleasure in hisM-
brary. To him. as to most productive I
minds, all literature was valuable.
and Balzac were his "a
vorites. His lecture upon "Hamlet''
his work upon "The Law In Shake-
speare, :" will remain proofs the most
pregnant of his scholarship 81
The lecture upon Hamlet" was writ |
ten in 1882, and was delivered on vaM-.
Gus occasions with much success The
treatise npon Shakespearean law was
published two years 1ater. It was ae-
claimed by law scholars of all Anglo
Saxcny is the work of profound, I'M
genius lawyer. Minnesota was felici- M
tated that her second great Shake
spearean had Judgment sufficient for
The two. 81. s3 il
Cushman K. Davis was an intellectus 4
IL man. For knowledge, therefore, M II
the campus of the intellect, he felt the 4
oartiality conceived by athletes for the i
lime lined field. His was not an abb
stract, spiritual intellectually. 1t was h.
mind applied to man. Senator Davis
1fewed mankind, dealt with mankind,
through his head not through his
leart. He had many convictions. He
aad few sympathies. His seIf-sacri-
Ice was only that OF the present for
he future. He did not disregard the
.ardinal principles of conduct. He was
! faithful son. an honorable lawyer. a
patriotic statesman.
His temperament, SO cold and so
controlling, so shrewd and SO seif-cen-
cred. was reflected in the deep-set eyes
cred, was reflected in the deepest eyes
'elcw his expensive forehead, in the
ieavy. projecting eyebrows tilted to-
yard his cheeks. This was the face Of
Benjamin #. Butler, a polititlan pro-
ound and ingenious. This is the face.
omeliness unheeded, Of Ii Hung
shang, whose superior diplomacy is
onfessed by those who hate him. t
But, nevertheless, If we do not SYM i
'athize with hero or with heroine, we 4
far better than before, the /
reatness Of a great fiction, of a great !
istory. We see with sharper eye, re- !
ect with broader apprehension. For !
re are guided by an uncommon stu I
ent Of the world, political and social,
student who could align his conduct
nth his theory, and who turned from J
20 straight course OF reasoning to
void personal sentiment. q.
TO SWAMP PHILIIPs. I
3K aG8fs4ft 4,