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Readers are asked to re- port all cases of books marked or mutilated. Do not deface books by marks and writing. Cornell University Library E467.1.D26 J77 The Davis iii i olin | iui LN) THE DAVIS MEMORIAL VOLUME; OR OUR DEAD PRESIDENT, EFFERSON DAVIS, AND THE WORLD'S TRIBUTE TO HIS MEMORY BY J. WM. JONES, D. D. — Author “ Reminiscences, Anecdotes and Letters of Lee,” “ Christ in the Camp," “Army Northern Virginia Memorial Volume, &¢., and former Secretary Southern Fistoricat Society. PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF MRS, DAVIS. RICHMOND, VA. 2 B. F. JOHNSON & CO,, PUBLISHERS, 1890. Huo Copyright—1889—by B. F. JOHNSON & CO, TO THE NOBLE MATRON, MRS. VARINA HOWELL DAVIS, WHOSE FITTEST EULOGY IS THAT SHE WAS WORTHY TO GRACE THE HOME : AND BRING SUNSHINE INTO THE LIFE OF Jevtierson Davis, THIS VOLUME, WHICH WAS UNDERTAKEN BY HER KIND ENCOURAGEMENT, [3 AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED BY ONE WHO COUNTS IT AN HONOR TO BE CALLED HER FRIEND. HI ll HH WH HA Wi uu AS HE APPEARED DURING THE WAR THRU A i PREFACE. Some years ago my personal relations to President Davis, and my interest in and knowledge of events of Confederate History, induced an arrangement by which, with his full consent, I was to write the authorized Biography of our great Chief, and I had been diligently collecting material for that purpose. But on learning that he had at last yielded toa general Cesire, and was engaged at the time of his death in preparing his own Memoirs, and that since his death Mrs. Davis has decided to complete and pub- lish the book, under her own supervision, I gave up, of course, any plan of my own which could by any possibility conflict with this Memoir. It was suggested to me, however, that a volume which should briefly outline the Life and Character of the great Confederate Leader, and which should gather and preserve choice selections from the world’s splendid tribute to his memory, would be a prized souvenir in the homes of the people who loved him, and not unacceptable to others who are willing to know more of the man who played so conspicuous a part in American History. But even this work I was unwilling to undertake unless it should meet with the full approval of Mrs. Davis, and be so arranged that she should have a ‘‘royalty’’ on every copy sold. I found her not only willing but anxious that these tributes of a people’s love to her noble husband should be thus collected and pub- lished, and I obtained her cheerful consent that I should undertake the work, and her kind promise of valuable material for it. Iam glad to be able to add that the liberality of my publishers has made the royalty large enough to induce the hope that it will be an important source of income to the noble woman who has caught the spirit of her illustrious husband and steadfastly refused all gratuities. The importance of an early publication has compelled the preparation of the book more rapidly than is desirable, and yet great care has been taken, and it is hoped that no serious error will be found. vi r PREFACE. Tam under high obligations to the newspapers generally, and to many personal friends who have aided me in my work, and I regret that the names of those who have given me cheerful assistance are too numer- ous to publish, and that I must content myself with this general acknowledgment of their appreciated favors. And while the book is in no sense an attempt at a full Biography, it is yet sent forth in the hope that it may shed much light on the Life and Character of ‘‘Our Dead President,’’ and may show the world, and teach future generations, what a noble specimen of the Soldier, States- man, Patriot, Orator, and Christian gentleman he was, and what a place he held in the hearts of a grateful and loving people. J. W. J. Atlanta, Ga., April 3d, 1899. INTRODUCTION. I can think of no better introduction to what I may say of the life and character of the great chief of the Confederacy than to quote the first paragraph of the superb oration which he delivered at the great Lee Memorial Meeting held in Richmond, Va., on Thursday evening, November 384, 1870. The spacious First Presbyterian Church was packed to its utmost capacity by an audience composed largely of Confederate veterans, who gave Mr. Davis such an ovation as King or proudest conqueror might have envied, and when the deafening cheers with which he was greeted, as he canie forward to preside over the meeting, had subsided, he began his eulogy on Lee by saying: ** Soldiers and Sailors of the Confederacy, Countrymen and Friends: ‘‘Assembled on this sad occasion, with hearts oppressed with the grief that follows the loss of him who was our leader on many a bloody battle-field, there is a melancholy pleasuré in the spectacle which is presented. Hitherto, in all times, men have been honored when suc- cessful; but here is the case of one who, amid disaster, went down to his grave, and those who were his companions in misfortune have assembled to honor his memory. Itisas much an honor to you who give as to him who receives, for above the vulgar test of merit you show yourselves competent to discriminate between him who enjoys and him who deserves success.” How appropriate this language to the great gathering in New Orleans, and the great gatherings in every city, and well nigh every town and hamlet of the old Confederate States. Describing the immense outpouring of the people, and the solemn decorum of the vast crowds at the funeral in New Orleans, Mr. F. D. Mussey, of the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette, said, in his report to that paper: ‘‘The funeral of General Grant was a magnificent piece set on the stage, but this was a spontaneous outpouring of the hearts of a grateful people.” And soit was, The man who had led his people in an unsuccessful struggle for independence died with a place in their hearts which no victor ever had, 5 - How can we account for this? I suppose that one way of accounting for itis to say that the intelligent people of our Southland have long viii INTRODUCTION. since repudiated the fallacy that ‘success makes right,” and that this is the criterion by which to judge a cause. One of the finest replies that I have ever heard was that given by the late Bishop J. P. B. Wilmer, of Louisiana, when some old friends of his in Philadelphia were twitting him about the failure of the Confed- eracy, and claiming that this proved that he was wrong in leaving his pastorate in Philadelphia to cast his lot with his beloved South. ‘We told you that you were wrong,” said they; ‘and now see how it has been proven that we were right. Look at the result.” “I see and keenly feel the result,’’ said the Bishop ; ‘‘ but I do not see that that proves anything as to who was right and who was wrong in that great contest.’’ ‘“Why the conclusion is perfectly obvious, and we wonder that you do not see it. The Confederacy was overwhelmed, and was, of course, wrong in attempting to establish her independence,” they confidently replied. ‘“‘T cannotsee itin that light,” rejoined the Bishop, ‘‘and I think that I can illustrate it so as to show even you the fallacy of your position. Suppose that you and I were to get into a heated discussion concerpiug some point in theology, and were to so far forget ourselves that words should come to blows. Now you area much stronger man than I am physically ; but suppose that you were to send out and get a burly Irish- man, a big Dutchman, and a strapping negro, and that all four of you should, after a hard struggle, succeed in throwing me down and tieing me, would that prove that you were right, and that I was wrong? Now the North, much stronger physically than the South, had not only the burly Irishman, and the big Dutchman, and the strapping negro, but they had the rest of the world from which to recruit their armies, and after a four years’ struggle, which shook the continent, they finally suc- ceeded in compelling us ‘to yield to overwhelming numbers and re- sources,’ and furl forever our tattered battle-flag. Does that prove that you were right and we were wrong in the contest? Away with any such absurd doctrine.” And so our Confederate people have not looked upon Mr. Davis as the unsuccessful leader of a wrong cause, but as one who bravely, heroically, and patiently, stood for country, God, and truth, as he was given to see it, and died a noble martyr for his people. But Jefferson ‘Davis’s claim to a place in the hearts of his people does not by any means rest on his services to the Confederacy. Asa young soldier on the frontier and in Indian wars he had illustrated the high- est type of the young officer which the United States Military Academy at West Point sent out in its palmiest days; as colonel of the gallant Mississippi regiment he had won imperishable glory on the fields of Mexico, and contributed no insignificant part towards planting the INTRODUCTION. ix “stars and stripes"? on the walls of the Montezumas; as representative of his State in the halls of Congress he had been the peer of the greatest in the House and in the Senate, even though there ‘‘ were giants in those days ;’’ as Secretary of War he had proven himself the ablest the eountry has ever had, and had introduced reforms which are even now blessing the department and the service, which have refused to honor him dead ; as a popular orator and able debater he had few equals and scarcely any superior—even in this land of orators ; and as a chivalric, stainless, Christian gentleman, and an incomparable patriot, he won the respect and esteem of all who knew him, and has left behind a record of which his people are justly proud. Besides all this, he suffered in the room of his people, went to prison for them, had indignity put upon him, and was hated, slandered, mal- treated and ostracised in the land he had served so faithfully—all for them. No wonder, then, that the people in our Southland loved Jef- ferson Davis; that they felt the deepest interest in all that concerned him, as he spent the evening of his days in his home beside the Gulf; that they watched with breathless interest the news of his sickness; that there was mourning in palace and cottage alike when the wires flashed the tidings of his death, and that immense crowds attended his funeral ; that memorial services were held and eloquent eulogies pronounced in every city, town and village in the South ; and that now the people are profoundly interested in everything concerning his life, his character, his death, or his funeral obsequies. In a speech delivered in Atlanta during the visit of Mr. Davis, at the unveiling of the monument of his friend, B. H. Hill, in May, 1886, the gifted and lamented Henry W. Grady, in his own matchless elo- quence, spoke of ‘‘ Jefferson Davis, the uncrowned King of his people.” Thank God, he is no longer ‘‘uncrowned.’”’? His people have crowned him with loving hearts, and redeemed by the blood of that Saviour in whom he humbly trusted, he has come off ‘‘ conqueror—aye, more than eonqueror,”’ and the Captain of our Salvation has given him “ palms of victory ’ and a “crown” of rejoicing— “That crown with peerless glories bright, Which shall new lustre boast When victor’s wreaths and monarch’s gems Shall blend in common dust.” on O67 nen ee WEAN OO Bee Be ae Poy Pera: ‘ Prog CK ter od) I HOE is i Ree a) Dhaai, A toor7 of neguedk pro Pir Darra eine hGES BAN CAAA GSD BA A, For fees fo KA Rey Peng Me Le panes trK a Ds pisrw GLO /ejerugs Ae) a kine by Ho Cpr Lig min. De Lore forward) mick Pret doko paetee Bape BRE Cor pivot Age Oe rater pro EEF en) and BAC-SIMILE OF A LETTER RECEIVED BY Dr. JORES FROM Mrs, DAVIS CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. Tribute to the Leader of a ‘‘Lost Cause’’—He Lives in the Hearts of a Grateful People— Success dves not make Right, nor Failure Wrong—Bishop Wilmer’s Retort—Mr. Davis True to Country, God and Truth—Soldier, Statesman, Orator, Patriot, Christian Gentleman, Martyr, He is no Longer an “ Uncrowned King”of His Peo- Plea ee ee ee EH Hee ee ew ee 8 es Hew wee WbbRLy PART L OUTLINE oF THH Lirn AND CHARACTER OF JerrEmRson DAVIS. CHAPTER I. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JEFFERSON Davis.—Birth—Boyhood—College Student—Cadet at West Point—Young Officer—Marriage—Cotton Planter—Member of Congress— Enters Mexican War as Colonel of Mississippi Rifles—Monterey—Buena Vista— In the United States Senate—Candidate for Governor—Secretary of War under President Pierce—Again Elected to the Senate, and Service until February 18, 1861—Farewell to the Senate—Election as President of the Southern Confede- racy—Service through the War—Capture—Imprisonment—Release on Bond—Resi- dence in Canada—Visit to Europe—Life at Beauvoir... ... ese ee eee se LI CHAPTER II. BIRTH AND EaRLy Lire.—His Devotion to Kentucky—Gift of His Birthplace as the Site of a Church—His Speech at the Dedication of the Church... ......++.- - 404 CHAPTER IIL fur CoLLEGE Boy.—At Transylvania University—Reminiscences of His Old College- mate, General George W. Jones, of lowa—Recollections of Judge Peters, of Mt. Bieri, Bes ceca a Pee eae ew dees a OE DAA RE Se ee eae ROE CHAPTER IV. Tue West Point Capet.—Appointed by President Monroe, through Secretary Calhoun— Recollection of a Fellow-Cadet—List of His Class—Sketch of Some of His Fellow- Cadets who were Afterwards Distinguished... .. 6. eee eee eer eee «SS xil CONTENTS, CHAPTER V. THE Young Orricer.—Second Lieutenant in the Sixth and then in the First Infan- try—Reporting for Duty to Major Riley—The Black Hawk War—Severe Test of Loyaity to Principle—First Lieutenant and Adjutant of the First Cavalry—Mar- riage to Miss Taylor, Daughter of Generat Zachary Taylor—Not a Runaway Mar- TIABO oo ug se) a ih SP Gee ena toel sae Bees, Geri ie enews We BLS cee ow oe BO SOS CHAPTER VI. Ly ReTIREMENT.—Briarfield—Death of'His Wife—Wide Reading and Profound Study. . 63-64 CHAPTER VII. His ENTRANCE INTO PoLiTics.—Candidate for the Legislature—His own Account of His Discussion with 8: 8. Prentiss—Defeated—Democratic Elector in 1844—His Second Marriage to Miss Varina Howell—Election to Congress where He took his Seat in December, 1845—His Brilliant Career in the House... 5.55 e eee ee ee» « O6-20 CHAPTER VIIL. THE MEXICAN WaR.—In Favor of the Annexation of Texas—Speech on Resolutions of Thanks to General Taylor and His Army—He Resigns His Seat in Congress to Accept the Command of the First Mississippi Rifles—His Rigid Discipline—His Distinguished Services at Monterey—One of the Commissioners to Receive tne Surrender of the City—Adventure of Albert Sidney Johnston and Colonel Davis— Buena Vista—The Hero or the Day—Description of Hon. J. F. H. Claiborne—Gen. Taylor's Report—Col. Davis’s own Report—Hon. Caleb Cushing’s Mention of the “V Movement’’—Account of Gen. A. H. Colquitt—“‘ Steady Mississippians’’—His Return Home and Enthusiastic Reception—Refuses a Commission as Brigadisr- General because He thought the President had no Legal Right to Confer the Com- FUUISSL OWS io: soy se ce vus seca sy vee fee fein ea Gee ol Shei sey sew Ot Sates Wh BS eT oo ws Saree eV EO ROD CHAPTER IX, In THE UNITED STATES SENATE.—Appointed by the Governor and Approved by the People—The Peer ot ‘‘ The Giants””—John Quincy Adams's Opinion—Dyer's Esti- mate in His “Great Senators of the United States ’—Pen-Picture of ‘‘ The South- ern Triumvirate,” Davis, Hunter, and Toombs—Recollections of the Old Stenogra- pher of the Senate, E. V. Murphy—Estimate of Prescott, the Historian—Estimate of Frank H. Alfriend—Sketch of the New Orleans ‘‘ Times-Democrat’?—Mr. Davis’s Own Modest Account... ©. 2. eee ere rere eee nv er ee « « 1038-130 CHAPTER X. SECRETARY OF WAR UNDER FRANELIN Prerce.—Reluctant Acceptance of the Position— Thorough Qualifications—Able Administration—Important Reforms and New Measures—The Officering of the Two New Regiments—A Brilliant Galaxy—Recol- lections of Judge James A. Campbell, of Philadelphia, who was in the Cabinet with Mr. Davis—His Own Account of His Administration of the War Depart- ment—The Degeneracy of the Administration since Mr, Davis’s Day. . . . . . 131-142 CHAPTER XI. AGAIN IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE.—Mississippi Returns Him to the Senate—Difii- culties and Dangers of Mr. Buchanan’s Administration—Mr. Davis’s Able and Patriotic Efforts to Avert Sectional Issues—Letter to Senator Pearce, of Maryland— CONTENTS. xiii His Opposition to “‘ Squatter Sovereignty ” and Debates with Senator 8. A. Doug- Jas—Mr. Alfriend’s Contrast between Davis and Douglas—His Reception and Speech in Portland. Maine—At Faneuil Hall, Boston—Introduction of General Caleb Cushing—Mr. Davis’s Great Speech—Speech in New York—Reply to an Invi- tation to a “* Webster Birthday Festival’’—His States’ Rights Resolutions—Conclu- sion of His Reply to Mr. Douglas—Not an Aspirant for the Nomination for Presi- dent—Efforts to Heal the Breach and Solidify the Opposition to Lincoln. . . . 143-195 CHAPTER XII. H ts EFFORTS TO PRESERVE THE UNION.—Not a “Secession Conspirator ’—His Devotion to the Union—His Own Summary of the Events which Led up to the Final Catastro- phe—Letter of November 10th, 1860, to Hon. R. B. Rhett, Jr.—Conference with the Governor of Mississippi and the Mississippi Delegation in Congress—He is Consid- ered ‘‘too Slow "—Letter from Hon. O. R. Singleton—He Favored the ‘“ Critten- den Compromise”—Close of an Eloquent Speech—No “Cabal of Southern Sena- tors’’—Conclusive Vindication of Mr. Davis by Hon. C. C. Clay—Letter of January 20th, 1861, to ex-President Franklin Pierce—His ‘‘ Farewell to the Senate’ January Par ee ec ea ee ee ee eee eee re eee ee mee Ea | CHAPTER XIII. “Was Davis A TRAITOR?”—Reader Referred to Authorities—Able Statement of the Case by Benjamin J. Williams, of Massaciusetts—Clear and Conclusive Paper by Commodore Mathew F. Maury—The ‘Botetourt Resolutions” by Judge John J. Allen—The St™ twenty years with the sight of one eye gone, he uedicated bis labors to the vindication of the South from the aspersions which misconceptions and passions had 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 bis latest breath in clearing the memories of the Lost Confederacy. “Clear and strong in intellect, proud, high-minded, sensitive, self-willed, but not self-centered; self-assertive for his cause, but never for his own advancement; aggressive and imperious as are nearly all men fit for leadership; with the sturdy virtues that command respect, but without the small diplomacies that conciliate hostility, he was one of those characters that natu- rally makes warm friends and bitter enemies; a veritable man, ee | in earnest,’ such aa Carlyle loved to count among the eroes. “Such a man can never be understood while strife lasts; and little did they understand him who thought him selfish, cold, or cruel. When he came to Richmond ug your President your generous people gave him ahome and he declined it. After the war when dependent on his lacor for the bread of his family kind friends tendered himapurse. Gracefully refusing, ‘Send it,’ he said, ‘to 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 discipline, and that he would not let the sentences of military courts be executed. Not a human being ever believed for an instant the base imputation that he appropriated Con- federate gold. He distributed the last to the soldiers, and ‘ the fact is,’ he wrote to a friend, ‘that I staked all my property and reputation on the defense of States’ rights and constitutional liberty as I understand- them. The first I spent in the cause, except what was saved and appropriated or destroyed by the enemy; the last has been persisteni!y assailed by all which falsehood could invent and malignity employ.’ “He would have turned with loathing from misuse of a pris- oner, for there was no characteristic 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 issued to the prisoners, though taken from a starving army and people. “Brutal and base was the effort to stigmatize him as a con- Spirator to maltreat prisoners, but better for him that it was made, for while he was himself yet in prison the evidences .of 264 THE DAVIS MEMORIAL VOLUME. his humanity were so overwhelming that finally slander stood abashed and malignity recoiled. “Even at Andersonville, where the hot summer sun was of course disastrous to men of the northern clime, well nigh as many of their guard died as of them. “With sixty thousand more Federal prisoners in the South than there were Confederate prisoners in the North, four thous- and more Confederates than Federals died in prison. A cyclone of rhetoric cannot shake this mountain of fact, and these facts are alike immovable: “1, He tried to get the prisoners exchanged by the cartel agreed on, but as soon as an excess of prisoners was in Federal hands this was refused. “2, A delegation of the prisoners themselves was sent to Washington to represent the situation and the plea of human- ity for exchange. “3, Vice-President Stephens was sent to see President Lin- coln by President Davis and urge exchange, in order ‘ to restrict the calamities of war’; but he was denied audience. “A, Twice—in January, 1864, and in January, 1865—Presi- dent Davis proposed through Commissioner Ould that each side should send surgeons, and allow money, food, clothing, and medicines to be sent to prisoners, but no answer came. “5, Unable to get medicines in the Confederacy, offer was made to buy them from the United States for the sole use of Federal prisoners. No answer was made. “6, Then offer was made to deliver the sick and wounded without any equivalent in exchange. There was no reply for wonths. “7, Finally, and as soon as the United States would receive them, thousands of both sick and well were delivered without exchange. “The record leaves no doubt as to the responsibility for refusal to exchange. General Grant assumed it, saying in his letter of August 18, 1864; ‘It is hard’on our men in southern prisons not to exchange them, but it is humanity to those left in the ranks to fight our battles. If we commence a system of exchanges which liberates all prisoners taken we will have to fight on until the whole South is exterminated. If we hold those caught they amount to no more than dead men. At this particular time to release all rebel prisoners North would insure Sherman’s defeat and compromise our own safety here.’ “ Alexander H. Stephens declared that the effort to fix odium on President Davis constituted ‘one of the boldest and baldest attempted outrages upon the truth of history which has ever been essayed,’ WAS DAVIS A TRAITOR? 265 “Charles A. Dana, of the New York Sun, formerly assistant Secretary of War, nobly vindicated President Davis while he lived, declared him ‘altogether acquitted’ of the charge, and said of him dead, ‘A majestic soul has passed.’ “When Mr. Davis congratulated General Lee’s army on the victories of Richmond, he said to them: ‘ Your humanity to the wounded and the prisoners was the fit and crowning glory of your valor.’ .And could that army now march by, they would lift those laurels from their bayonets and throw them upon the grave of the Confederate President. “Resentment wreaked itself upon him ere the truths were fully known and while indeed passion turned a deaf ear to them. And if he struck back what just man can blame him? With a reward of $100,000 offered for him as an assassin, charged with maltreating prisoners, indicted for treason and imprisoned for two years and denied a trial; handcuffed like a common ruf- fian; putin solitary confinement; asilent sentinel and a blazing light at watch on his every motion, where is there a creature who can call himself a man who could condemn—aye, who does not sympathize with the goaded innocence and the right- eous indignation with which he spurned the accusations and denounced the accusers ? “ But whatever he suffered the grandeur of his soul lifted him above the feelings of hatred and malice. “When Grant lay stricken on Mt. McGregor he was requested to write a criticism of his military career. He declined for two reasons: ‘First, General Grant is dying. Second, though he invaded our country with a ruthless, it was with an open hand, and, as far as I know, he abetted neither arson nor pillage, and has since the war, I believe, shown no malignity to the Confederates either of the military or civil service; therefore, instead of seeking to disturb the quiet of his closing hours, I would, if it were in my power, contribute to the peace of his mind and the comfort of hisbody.’ This was no new-born feel- ing. At Fortress Monroe, when suffering the tortures of bodily pain in an unwholesome prison, and the worse tortures of a humiliating and cruel confinement which make man blush for his kind to recall them, he, yet in the solitude of his cell, shared only by his faithful pastor, took the Holy Communion which commemorates the blood and the broken body of Christ Jesus, and bowing to God, declared his heart at peace with Him and man. “ As free from envy as he was from malice, he was foremost in recognizing, applauding, and eulogizing the great character and achievements of General R. E. Lee, and with his almost dying 266 THE DAVIS MEMORIAL VOLUME. hand he wove a chaplet of evergreen beauty to lay upon his honored brow. “Sternly did he stand for principle. He was no courtier, no flatterer, no word magician, no time-server, no demagogue unless that word shakes from it the contaminations of its abuse and return to its pristine meaning—a leader of the people. Like King David’s was his command, ‘There shall no deceit- ful man dwell in my house.’ =mories of the men who defended slavery; say naught of moral obliquity, lest the venerable images of Win- throp and Endicott be torn from the historic pages of the Pil- grim Land, and the fathers of Plymouth Rock be cast into utter darkness. ; “When independence was declared at Philadelphia in 1776, America was yet a unit in the possession of slaves, and when the constitution of 1787 was ordained the institution still existed in every one of the thirteen States save Massachusetts only. True its decay had begun where it was no longey profit- able, but every State united in ite recognition in the Federal compact, and the very fabric of ocx representative government s 4 250 THE DAVIS MEMORIAL VOLUME. was built upon it, as three-fifths of the slaves were counted in the basis of representation in the Congress of the United States, and property in it was protected by rigid provisions regarding the rendition of fugitive slaves escaping from one State to another. “Thus embodied in the constitution, thus interwoven with the very integuments of our political system, thus sustained by the oath to support the constitution, executed by every public servant and by the decisions of the supreme tribunals, slavery was ratified by the unanimous voice of the nation, and was consecrated as an American institution and as a vested right by the most solemn pledge and sanction that man can give. “Deny to Jefferson Davis entry to the Temple of Fame be- cause he defended it? Cast out of it first the fathers of the republic. Brand with the mark of condemnation the whole people from whom he inherited the obligation, and by whom was imposed upon him the oath to support their deed. America must prostrate herself in sackcloth and ashes, repent her his- tory, and revile her creators and her being ere she can call recreant the man of 1861 who defended the heritage and promise of a nation. “There is a statue in Washington city of him who uttered the words ‘charity to all, malice to none,’ and he is represented in the act of breaking the manacles of a slave. “Suppose there were carved on its pedestal the words: ‘Do the southern people really entertain fears that a Republican administration would directly or indirectly interfere with the slaves, or with them about their slaves?’ “¢The South would be in no more danger in this respect than it was in the days of Washington.’ : “This was his utterance December 22, 1860, after South Carolina had seceded. “Carve again: “