The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-06-03

| death from the muskets of the guard" Dr. Craven gives this observation: No suffering so much himself. appeared to l feel SO warmly for others. Every op- | portunity I had of seeing him. com vtnced me more deeply of his sincere | religious convictions. He was fond of referring to passages of Scripture. com pairing text with text, dwelling on the divine beauty of the imagery. There were moments. while speaking on reii- gious subjects. in which Mr. Davis im- pressed me more than any professor of Christianity I ever heard"
 Hon. A. S. Witherspoon. of Meridian. Mississippi. In e Memorial address in that city, gave the following estimate of Mir. Davis's career in the Confeder- acy: "The greatest wonder of the Con- federacy was the wisdom and genius of it's illustrious chieftain, J3nerson na- wis, the difficulties he oveu&ome, the ob- stacles he surmounted and the uncon- querable spirit he displayed in main taining the greatest war of the world for four years Is the acme of Confed- crate glory. MT. Davis was confronted with the most gigantic problem ot gov ernment ever presented to human statesmanship. and the immense and wonderful struggle which he continued for four years. the great wisdom with which he distributed and maintained
 
 great empire of the South. the resource ful and consummate skill with which the requirements of the Aerculean de- lenses were met, the powerful vigor of the resistance that shook the great North in the sentiment of its people and in the stability of its finances from center to circumference. and the mul- titude of victories that glorify a gov ernment that finally went down in dis aster because of conditions that no hu- | man genius could control. all fix and determine the position of Mir. Davis as the greatest President that ever guided the destinies of a republican govern ment. It is impossible to take the his- tory of any President of the United States from Washington down to Roosevelt, and show that he solved half as many problems of State, and that he displayed half the wisdom, skill and genius in his administration as did Jef- ferson Davis as President of the Con- federacy. The achievements of the Confederaey prove that Mir. Davis was its greatest wonder. and not only that, but history will finally determine that he Is the greatest of all Americans. He was not only the greatest of all Pvssi- dents, but he was great author, he was great military leader; he was a great Secretary of War in the Federal government; he was a great Senator. and dominated the Federal Senate when 1t was filled with intellectual giants. and there Is no other American, neith-1 CT Washington, Jefferson, Lee or Jack son of whom all this can be truthfully said. And while MT. Davis was equalled and possibly surpassed in one or more of these particulars by different men, yet no other American has developed and displayed moral and Intellectual genius in as many departments of hu- man thought as the great chieftain of the Confederacy-Davis towers as high above Lincoln as Lee does above Grant"
 A True Account of the Capture of
 President Davis.
 The President had gone to Charlotte. N. C., where his family had been stay ing, but Mrs. Davis and party left that city before his arrival Mir. Davis writes: After the expiration of the armistice, I rode out of Charlotte. at- tended by all but two members of my Cabinet, my personal stan ,and the cavalry that had been concentrated from the different fields of service. The number was about 1000. Though so much reduced in numbers, they were in a good state of efficiency. and among their officers were some of the best in our service." A company was after. ward detailed as special escort to the President, and he pushed on to reach Washington, Ga, a depot of Confeder- ate supplies, hoping to rally a force for its defense, having heard that the enemy were moving to capture that city. Matters were quiet at Washing ton, however, and the presidential par ty remained day or two the guests of friends. Continuing the quotation as above, T explained to Captain Camp bell. of Kentucky, commanding my es- cort, that his company was not strong enough to fight. and too large to pass without observation, asked him to in- quire if there was ten men who would volunteer to go with me without ques- tion wherever I should choose He brought back for answer that the whole company volunteered on the terms proposed" Captain Camnbell selected ten men who accompanied the President and i've remaining members Of his stan, as they left Washington. MT. Davis continued: ''When I left Washington. Ga, my object was to go to the south far enough to pass points occupied by Federal troops, and then turn to the west. cross the Chattahoo- chic, and meet the forces still SUD- posed to be in the field in Alabama. If there should be no prospect of a suc- cessful resistance east of the Missis. sippt, intended to cross the Trans Mississippi department. where I be- lieved Gems. B. K. Smith and Magru- der would continue to uphold our cause. On the second or third day after leav- ing Washington I heard that a band of marauders, supposed to be strag- glers and deserters. from both armies, were in pursuit of my family, whom I had not seen since they left Rich mond. but who. as heard at Wash | ington, had gone with my private sec- retary and some paroled men who had generously offered their services as an | escort, to the Florida coast. imnle- | diately changed course, and rode rap idly east across the country to meet them. travelled with my family two | or three days, when. believing they were out of the region of marauders. I | determined to leave their encampment 1 at nightfall. to execute my original purpose. My horse and those of my party were saddled. preparatory to a | start, when one of my staff who had