The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1910-07-05
ne has been gibbeted, and thev hove
been applauded. Aey nave

fo.+L ooiiiihanos admiration and calls
hr, laudation. One who
the chaplet Of victory is invastaa ,.its
q ha1o more brilliant than the crown
70" CIVILIAN, however marvellous his
eN.S or magnificent the results of his
puolc labors. BY yirture of his ex-
60 49, positlon, first as the trusted DO
l'iedI reader OF a great party. and
theh as the president of a storrn-crad-
.eo haelon, Mr.. Davis invited antagon-
iSH1s ana could not escape the sharp
est criticism Having to deal with
ne rlValrles of political leaders. the
of military aspirants, the
Di,eeLheSs OF the disappointed, the
s~e1IlShneSs Of the disconnected and in
deed all classes, in every department
OF the civil and military service. he
nao 70 hear every lament and patient
~ bear every complaint In the North
ne was charged with everything, from
me SIN OF secession to the horrors
OF ~Andersonville' and the assassina-
ton of Mr. Lincoln. In the South. he
was held accountable for everything,
from the failure to capture Washing
ton after the first battle of Manassas
TO the unsuccessful return of the
peace commission and the SURRENDER
of Lees tattered legions at Appomat-
tOX.
AS this dicusssion will be the study
of an epochal man and his times
rather than the recital of personal
history, | shall not repeat in detail
the well-known facts Of an eventful
career. The son Of a gallant revolt
uonary soldier, and with the finest
strain of Welsh blood flowing in his
generous veins, jefferson Davis vas
born in the State Of Kentucky. In in
fancy he was brought by his father
to Mississippi, and here his entire
life was spent. At h county school
he was prepared for TRANSATLANTIC
College, from which, at the age Of
sixteen, he passed to the United
States Military Academy at West
Point. In that institution he was dis
tinguished as a student and a gentle
man. and in due time was graduated
with high honor.
Jefferson Davis began life we'll. He
had a clean boyhood, with no ten
dency to vice or immortality. That was
the universal testimony Of reighbors,
teachers, and fellow-students. He
| grew up a stranger to deceit and a
lover OF the truth. He formed no
evil habits that he had to correct, and
forged upon himself no chains that
he had to break. His nature was as
transparent as the light that shone
about him: his heart was as open as
the soft skies that bent in benedic-
ton over his country home; and ms
temper as sweet n CHEEKY as the
limpid stream that made music in its
flow through the neighborlng flelds
and forests.
Graduating from West Point in
1928. he was commissioned a second
lieutenant in the regular army. ana
| spent seven laborious yea IN the
military service chiefly in the middle
! Northwest. He had some conspicuous
part in the Black Hawk War. In
1895 Lieutenant Davis resigned from
the regular army, married the charm
ing daughter of General Zachary Tay-
lor. and settled on his Mississippi plan
tation to follow the luxurious literary
life of a cultured southern gentleman.
But the untimely death, in a few
| short months, of his fair young bride
crushed his radient hopes and dlsap-
pointed all his life plans. After seven
Years, spent mostly III agricultural
pursuits, and in literary study, espe-
| cially the study of political phlloso-
ply and constitutional history, he en-
tered public life, and almost lmme-
| diatehv rose to trusted and consplcu-
Gus leadership.
In 1914 Mr.. Davis was elected to
! Congress, and even thereafter, up 10
the fall Of the Confederate govern
ment, was in some distngulsheo capa-
citv or other connected with the pup
lie service of his country. When ne
entered the halls of Congress. the
"Oregon question:" the remuneration
Of Texas, and the revision or the
tariff were the stormy issues that a.
vided the nation into two hostlfe
camps. The scholarly young repre-
sentative from Mississippi soon APP
neared in the lists and by his thorough
M sterv of the questions involved at
tracted national attention. n veneer
able ex-President John Quincy ADAMS,
he "old man eloquent at that time
a member Of the House, was greatly
impressed with his xtraoralnary apr
49,, and nredicted his brilliant parlia-
~entarv career. Referring to his
first set speech in Congress, a recent
hiooranher makes this just and sug-
,gestave observations: HI manllests
here. in his early efforts as a leglsla-
tor, some Of the larger views Oh na.
tio1al life and development which
have been so persistently ignored by
those who have ~ronicl ms