The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1911-06-06
prominent leaders of the Confede--
reyiled and fraducad hu tho -

prominent leaders of the C~onfeder,
reviled and traduced by the press -
President stood Is firm as a wa ;.
leaning Tor support upon -
shoulders of the dauntleSs and <a,tht
HILL Mr.. Hill relates an interyjew -
had with Mr.. Davis when the Ga
were gathering owe the poor don,
Confederacy and all seemed -.
With an expression Of sincerity cIo-r-
Ing all over his c~ountenance ana -
a reverentia1 pathos / can rexor -
get, the President said: : And ca
knows in my heart l ask all for 80
cause; nothing for myself Mr. F#T
says: "Truer words never fen fro,n
lips, nor warmed from the heart Of y
more devoted patriot These vo-ds
+ express In language h soul. the mind
the purpose, y the ambition Of JET
ferson Davis 1t was his misfortnna
and the misfortune Of the Confederacy
that this was not true of all who vera
In authority. It was his fault per
haps. that he did not use his AUTHORITY
to deprive such of their power 10 do
evil" Mr.. Hill says again: II know
Jefferson Davis as I know few men
l ave been near him in his public
l have seen him by his pri-
vate ffres1de; I have witnessed his
humble Christian devotion, and / chaI-
lenge the Judgment of history when 7
say no people were ever led through
the fiery struggle for liberty by a mob
Ter. u patriot. While the carnage
OF war and the trials Of public life
never revealed a purer and a more
beautiful Christian character" What
more could a man say Of another.
During the reconstruction era Mr.
Hill wrote his celebrated notes on the
situation. There were twenty-five Of
these articles. published on his life by
his son, b. H. Hill, Jr., covering over
eighty pages. 1 remember reading
them at the time as they appeared IN
the newspapers. The great principles
he discussed Is that IN civil war be-
tween citizens Of the same country the
terms of surrender constitutes the law
of the peace between the parties and
that the cOnQuerOr has no right TO add
subsequent terms that are oppressive;
II he does he acts in bad faith to the
conquered. He shows that the Re
construction act violates the terms
Of surrender which constitutes the
law OF the a between the par
ties. are subservive of the Con-
stitutfon. fatal to the very life Of
the American principles Of govern
ment." H. w. Gradzin, commenting
On them, says I'm my opinion they
stand alone as the profoundest and
most eloquent political essay ever
penned by an American. They were
accepted as the voice OF the South ut
tering her protest and her plea, and
as such were discussed on the streets
of London n the boulevards of Paris,
40 less than in the cities Of the north.
Even now they stir the blood and
kindle the pulse Of the most phleg-
matte reader, bat this is bu a hint Of
the sensation they produced when they
were printed. Had Mr. Hill never
spoken one speech, his notes on the
situation would have stamped him as
one of the greatest men Georgia ever
produced" It would make this article
too long to go into detail about his
course after Ii war, SO l shall glance
at a few OF those Of greater import
nee. After the reconstruction acts
were passed in 1857, peace reigned In
the South. The public men did not
know what to do. Stephens was IN
silent despair at Liberty Hall; Howell
Cobb declined to give advice, Toombs
was abroad. Herscke V. Johnson prom
ised to write a letter on the situation.
Mr.. Hill went to Atlanta to confer with
his friends. On July 10, 1867, he made
a speech on the unconstitutionaity OF
the reconstruction acts. General Pope
the military satrop of Georgia, wrote
to General Grant proposing that Hill
should be banished from the state
FEDERAL generals in full uniform. with
glitterfng staff officers, entered the
hall and marched to the front, 10 act
as censor over the utterances of the
orator. But their presence could not
tntimidate the great orator. He cared
nothing for the threatening presence
of soldiers and the jails that yawned
behind him. He denounced their ty-
ranny and despotism. For two hours
he spoke as one inspired and he or
ganized Georgians for the protest or
1858 and the victory Of 1870, when
rescued Georgia from carpetbaS rule.
Georgia suffered less from ~reconstruc--
ton than any Southern State and IL
was because Hill organized the people
Of the State for victory. This speech
gave h people confidence in them
selves after the despair produced ny
the surrender and victory was easy.
His next ~reat speech was at Atlanta
in July. 1868, known as the Bush AT
Dor speech. Toombs and Cobb maze
speeches. Hill lacked the superb pres
ence, the majestic bearing. the person.